Podcast Episode #3- The Olympians: Lauren Bay Regula

This podcast marks the start of a series of segments where I get to sit down and talk with a few very good friends who happen to also have competed at various Olympic games, and who have some awesome stories about how they got there and what it’s meant to them since then.

Today’s episode features Lauren Bay Regula, who played as the team captain for Team Canada’s softball team at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, and is mounting a charge to make the team qualify for the 2020 Olympics after the sport was taken out from the Olympics for 2012 and 2016. In the meantime, she’s started a family with a husband, 3 busy kids, and running a gym of her own along with her husband, Dave Regula (shout out to TrAk Athletics in Akron, Ohio).

[powerpress]

Show Notes:

2:20 – her decision to step back into competition after an 8 year layoff

7:35 – the challenges of qualifying for the Olympics in a team sport

14:00 – how the competitors have changed since her first go around in international competition, and how her own training has evolved.

22:49 – cameo appearance of my dogs barking in the background

23:18 – how life is different now with a family and business compared to when she was in school and lived for playing softball

25:35 – what advice she would give her younger self to give a competitive edge.

29:12 – advice from her brother, MLB standout Jason Bay, and also her good friend from high school, NHL player Barrett Jackman

34:35 – how the members and other trainers at her gym have helped cover, support, and be a network to help her get on the mound again

35:24 – Would she be successful as a individual sport athlete as she is in a team setting?

37:50 – why I’m a terrible person for not getting home to the Kootenays in British Columbia in 4 years.