Hello, and welcome! I’m happy to announce that the 2016 edition of my Podium Retreat for Women Runners will be held October 13th - October 16th! 

This year, the retreat will be held at the beautiful Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona. Check out this beautiful, luxurious resort and all it has to offer here: https://www.loewshotels.com/ventana-canyon/photos-videos.

This will be my third retreat, and I can’t wait for this year’s event! I try to make my Podium Retreats a meaningful, inspirational and life-changing experience for all of the ladies that choose to join me - this year we’ll have 7 amazing women join us as guest speakers (they’ll talk about health, fitness, nutrition, running, passion, everything!), time for group runs, and tons of time to talk, listen and get to know each other! My Podium Retreats are open to runners of all levels and abilities - everyone is welcome - and they are such a dream come true for me. My retreats are a chance to bring women together and work to build each other up so we can all leave feeling stronger, more capable, loved and appreciated. I am so proud to share with you the details of this year’s Podium Retreat because my retreats have truly become one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. I hope that you will consider coming to this year’s edition!

Now for the details!

The cost of registration is $850 plus the cost of room and board at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. Once you are registered for the Podium Retreat, I will provide you with information to contact the resort to sort out reservation details. Transportation will have to be organized by retreaters. 

At the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, single rooms and double rooms will be available for $159 per night. When you contact the resort to make your reservation, you will be given the option to reserve a single room or a double room. Single rooms offer more privacy and are ideal for 1 guest, while double rooms will be a little cheaper per person per night and are ideal for 2 guests to share (it comes to about $79.50). You must stay at the resort to attend the Podium Retreat - no exceptions. We will attend workshops and talks around the resort throughout the entirety of the retreat - I wouldn’t want you to miss out on anything! There are a limited number of spots available, so make sure to sign up as soon as registration opens!

Registration will officially open here, on my website, on August 1st, 2016 at 10:00 MST for former retreaters and August 2nd, 2016 at 10:00 MST for new retreaters. This year’s Podium Retreat will last 3 days, from October 13th - October 16th, and we are adding 10 additional available spots! I can’t wait to meet and retreat with old friends and new friends! Registration details and more information will be posted on August 1st.

As usual, we will have amazing gift bags provided by some of my favorite brands for all retreaters. This will be the weekend of a lifetime! I hope you can all attend! 

Schedule (this may be slightly modified later!):

Thursday October 13:

3:30pm- 5:00pm: Check In
5:30pm - 7:00pm: Welcome from staff and social hour
7:00pm - Dinner

Friday October 14:
7:00am - 8:00am: Breakfast
8:00am - 9:00am : Run (runs will be spilt into groups based on how far/fast you want to go. Please don’t be intimated, you definitely will have someone to run with!)
9:00am - 9:30am: Stretch and sharing circle
10:30am - 11:30am: Speaker - Shanna Burnette - “Passion and Purpose”
11:30am - 12:30pm: Lunch
12:15pm - 1:15pm: Speaker - Lottie Bildirici - “Health Nutrition and Demo, My Story”  
1:30pm - 3:00pm: Speakers - Megan Marshall and Jody Whipple -  “F.L.Y. Movement, Fuel Love You”
3:00pm -3:45pm: Kara core and Pilates with Tracey
5:00pm: Opportunity to shop products from my sponsors
6:00pm: Happy hour and product talk from sponsors
7:00pm: Dinner
8:00pm: Former retreaters open mic 

Saturday October 15:
8:00am -9:00am: Breakfast
9:00am - 10:00am: Run (this is a good day to get up early and do a long run if you need one for the weekend. We are purposely starting a little later this day so people with long runs can get one in! Once again, don’t be intimidated! You’ll have someone to run with!)
11:00am - 12:00pm: Speaker - Amy - “It’s All About Race Day”
12:00pm - 1:00pm: Lunch
12:45pm -1:45pm: Speaker - Anna - “Possibilites”
2:00pm - 3:00pm: Kara, yours truly - “My Story”
3:00pm - 3:40pm: Kara Core and Pilates with Tracey 
5:00pm:  Shopping Opportunity
6:00pm: Happy Hour and talk from sponsors
7:00pm: Dinner
7:30pm: Speaker Panel FAQ / Discussion

Sunday October 16:
8:30am: Breakfast starts
9:00am - 11:00am: Circle of Sisterhood
* The Circle of Sisterhood is the closing of the retreat and it is the MOST IMPORTANT event of the retreat! Please plan travel and transportation accordingly - you won’t want to miss it! You can run before or after, but we strongly encourage you to make sure you are there on time so that we all have a chance to speak and be heard! You won’t regret it!

The theme of the 2014 Podium Retreat was “We Are Unlimited” and the theme of 2015’s retreat was “Be Brave”. What will 2016 hold? Come and experience it with us!

Shanna Burnette:
Shanna leads ModCraft’s client acquisition, account management, and media event design. As a collegiate all-star Division I NCAA runner and MBA graduate, Burnette has always set track records both athletically and professionally. She has close ties to fashion, health, sports, and fitness editorial communities across North America and internationally. She nurtures her relationships with key editors, and is skilled in helping niche brands break into mainstream media outlets. She has consistently placed clients in top media outlets and hosted press events that generated engagement, increased brand awareness, and drove sales.

Lottie Bildirici:
Lottie lives in Brooklyn, New York. She currently swims, bikes, runs and does everything in between. She's completed 9 half marathons, including NYC, Disney Princess and Long Branch, where she placed first in her age group. Besides for half marathons, shes competed in countless smaller distance races around the NYC area. You can always find her running the streets of Brooklyn or trying new and challenging fitness classes in NYC. Lottie interned for Candle Cafe  as a recipe developer, worked at Basin Bar in Asbury, NJ as the head raw food chef in 2013 and does several food demos and private/semi private cooking classes including demoing for Nike athletes. She is also a blogger for women's running magazine along with her own blog runonveg.com. Over the last four years she has totally transformed her lifestyle. Started eating cleaner food and began to work out daily. She found tremendous benefits not only in the way I feel physically, but emotionally as well. Along with attending the Fashion Institute of Technology as an Advertising and Marketing Communication major, Lottie also is attending The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, class of December 2015. And is certified holistic health coach wor
king with athletes all over the world. 

Megan Marshall, M. Ed.
As a D1 athlete I experienced mental health issues (depression, anxiety, ED).  I currently work at Penn State as an academic adviser, while educating students on body image & bystander intervention on our campus.  I wanted to create this platform in athletics where you can talk about anything without judgement.  There is a freedom and feeling of flight to that.  Hence, The F.L.Y. Movement.

Jody Whipple, RD, LDN, CDE
I have been a Registered Dietician for 24 years and realized very early in my career that I wanted to educate and support my clients to be healthy at all shapes and sizes, as well as learn to eat intuitively.  This path was a natural avenue to working with individuals suffering from eating disorders, which I have done in my private practice for 16 years, as well as at a large university. 

Amy Oldenburg, MD
Runner, wife, mother of 5 year old twins, sports medicine physician. I started running when I was 5 doing local fun runs. I thought it was so fun I have continued ever since. I ran my marathon PR in NYC at age 37, 3:00:17.
University of Wyoming, BS in Exercise Physiology
University of Minnesota Medical School
North Colorado Family Medicine Residency
Hennepin County Medical Center/University of Minnesota Fellowship is Sports Medicine

Anna Paffel
Anna Paffel, MSW, LCSW is a clinical social worker who received her Master of Social Work degree from Columbia University. She practices at Kaiser Permanente in Colorado. Anna is married to Tim, and is the mom to William (8) and Eddison (4). When not at work, she enjoys yoga, skiing, reading and spending time with family and friends. 

Tracey Katona
Tracey Katona is a level 5 certified Romana's Pilates Instructor.  A former professional ballerina with the American Repertory Ballet, she began classical Pilates to stay healthy throughout her ballet career. After retirement from ballet, she moved to the west coast from NY and began teaching Pilates  at Nike WHQ.  Her passion for teaching authentic Pilates has made her  the most sought after Pilates Instructor at Nike for over twelve years.  Tracey recently created the Nike Training Club Core Strength Workout for their app featuring Gracie Gold this past year. She has taught many professional athletes and celebrities such as LeBron James, Antonio Brown, Melanie Griffith, Emily Infeld, Evan Jager, Channing Frye, Chris Paul, Lindsey Vonn, two of her faves Adam and Kara Goucher and many more.  In 2013 Miss Katona choreographed Michelle Obama's launch with Nike and the White House for Let's Move Active Schools.
For over 10 years now Tracey serves as a featured instructor for Canyon ranch Spas. In addition to launching Katona Pilates this year, Tracey also has added technical advisor to her resume working on photo shoots and video for movement for Nike and other brands.  Like her mentor Mari Winsor, her purpose is teaching and supporting people to move with quality, control and grace through the work of Joe Pilates.
Her favorite quote? "If you see someone without a smile, give them yours." -Dolly Parton