Jessica Hepburn’s Marathon Swim Story
Hello and welcome to Marathon Swim Stories, I’m marathon swimmer and coach, Shannon Keegan.
In this episode, I share more detail about my road to motherhood than I ever have out loud. Which is funny because this was supposed to be Jessica Hepburn’s marathon swim story! We had a rich conversation about enjoying the journey, learning to let go, recognizing you weaknesses, accepting your tendencies, and so much more.
But we talk about miscarriage and still birth, things that are taboo in daily conversation. Reading Jessica Hepburn’s book, 21 Miles: swimming in search of the meaning of motherhood gave me the courage to tell my story.
Her book helped me acknowledge my pain and find comfort in how I chose to heal from my loses by pursuing “project me” on my road to motherhood. But it has also helped me accept the mother, marathon swimmer, and coach that I want to be. What a gift.
I hope this episode, touches someone else as much as Jessica and her book have touched me.
Enjoy!
From http://jessicahepburn.com:
Jessica Hepburn is an award-winning author, arts producer and adventure activist who has become one of the UK’s leading voices on fertility and family, as well as endurance sport.
She has been nominated as one of Amnesty International’s ‘Women of Suffragette Spirit’; ‘Woman of The Week’ in Stylist magazine; and won the Fertility Foundation’s inaugural ‘Fertility Hero’ Award for her role as a fertility advocate.
Formerly Executive Director of one of London’s leading theatres for ten years – the Lyric Hammersmith – Jessica led from inception to completion the theatre’s £20m capital redevelopment and was nominated as ‘Theatre Manager of the Year’. Whilst doing this, she was also trying to become a mother and went through eleven rounds of IVF at a range of UK fertility clinics which resulted in multiple miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy that almost took her life.
In February 2014, Jessica published a book about her experiences The Pursuit of Motherhood. It became an Amazon bestseller and catapulted her into the limelight as one of the first people prepared to talk openly about the stigma of infertility and unsuccessful IVF. Her second book 21 Miles: swimming in search of the meaning of motherhood was published in May 2018 (paperback released in April 2019) and became a ‘Mumsnet Summer Read’ and an ‘Outdoor Swimming Society Book of the Year’. Both books are also available on Amazon Audible, narrated by the author.
