Community Trail Running

If you’re not running as much, then you might as well strength train! The running offseason is an opportunity to make gains in other places and friend of the podcast Kylie Morgan of “The Morgan Method” joined us again to chat about this and had some other great information she passed along. Kylie is always a wealth of information but it was also nice to hear about her personal recovery from knee surgery. It was a long road and Kylie was ecstatic to finally toe the line at the 2022 Squamish 23k race. She gives some great perspectives and tips on how to get through such a long recovery.

“Get the small things sorted before they become big things. Don't keep running through an injury. A couple of days off now is a whole lot better than a couple of weeks off later. It's not going to kill your training.”

Kylie was on the podcast back in episode three and chatted about the benefits of strength training in general. It was a great chat and she had plenty of interesting information to pass along!

Don’t forget to submit your questions for the mailbag piece! Get over there now and submit, there is a google form you can fill out :)

We will be back next Monday with Part 1 of 2 with the Executive Director of BC AdventureSmart, Sandra Riches.

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If you enjoy this podcast, I would really appreciate it if you could like, share, subscribe, or comment! I’m trying to make this the best trail running podcast it can be and I certainly appreciate your time. Thank you all and happy trails :)

Matt Chittim’s excitement is palpable for the new Patreon site, Relay, where he and 8 other running content creators have combined forces to put out at least 20 pieces of various running media each month. The site is entirely paywalled and their goal is simple, to be the best place on the internet for running content. They are setting out to do this by constantly releasing high-quality material through collaboration.

“Ultimately, I have full faith this is going to work for a very simple reason. The people on the team.”

Kara Goucher, Peter Bromka, Lindsey Hein, Zoë Rom, Mike "Kofuzi" Ko, Stefanie Flippin, Carolyn Su, Marcus Brown, and Matt make up the Relay team. The first week of content that Relay created is open for free on the website and will remain that way, so you can get a feel for what they are doing. Check it out for yourself, it’s certainly ambitious and exciting and I’m curious to see how they do! What do you think about it all? Are you interested in a format like this?

The ability to pay for the exact content we want to see is pretty powerful and it seems the world is embracing this. It’s still relatively new though, and people are building new habits, so to see what works and what doesn’t is fascinating. Trail running is in a fascinating place itself as an industry, so all of this could change rapidly and often. It’s going to be a fun ride!

Click above and submit to the mailbag of sorts!

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Music by Skilsel from Pixabay

If you enjoy this podcast, I would really appreciate it if you could like, share, subscribe, or comment! I’m trying to make this the best trail running podcast it can be and I certainly appreciate your time. Thank you all and happy trails :)

Coast Mountain Trail Running’s “Whistler Alpine Meadows” event has a 100-kilometre race that has over 6,000m of climbing and today’s episode features the top three women! Katie Mills, Hilary Spires, and Tara Holland finished 1, 2, and 3 respectively, and shared stories of their time together and apart on the trails of Whistler. They are inspirational and funny and I had an absolute blast listening to these awesome women!

“Instead of freaking out that I was gonna be caught by somebody or whatever, I was kind of hopeful that I'd have a bit of company for the last bit. But it also makes you push in a different way because I knew how strong she was uphill. And I knew that she has really good finishing abilities.” - Katie on the difference between running ahead of friends vs. non-friends.

Who did you go for a trail run with last? Do they know about Community Trail Running? Let them know now!

Hilary has now been on the show two episodes in a row, so a huge shoutout to her! Hilary cracked everyone up talking about how competitive she can be and, as previously mentioned, she hosts the podcast “Trail Running Women”. You absolutely should listen now, so here are a couple of episodes of Trail Running Women featuring today’s guests, Katie Mills and Tara Holland!

“I wanna be on the podium with these two. I really didn't want someone else to catch me. So that made a difference to me.” - Tara on the extra motivation of running with Katie and Hilary.

Hilary is going to run this interview on her podcast as well, so make sure to subscribe to both! I also made the “editorial decision”(lol) to run this interview in full length here, since it’s running on Trail Running Women as well and I felt it should be consistent on both. It’s well worth the few extra minutes, I promise.

“I am a ruthlessly competitive person, like I'll hold your head underwater to win kind of bad-competitive.” Hilary is an open book on the podcast!

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Katie briefly mentions “Salomon Trail Labs” as well. If you’re local to the Vancouver area, check out this awesome running group. It’s so much fun and will be starting up around Halloween:

If you enjoy this podcast, I would really appreciate it if you could like, share, subscribe, or comment! I’m trying to make this the best trail running podcast it can be and I certainly appreciate your time. Thank you all and happy trails :)

I’m taking submission again from you, so please check out the latest article:

It’s likely fair to say those runners who sign up for the Finlayson Arm ultra wouldn’t want easy kilometres anyway. Well, perhaps, a single easy kilometre, but Race Director Myke Labelle made sure those didn’t make the cut! Making the cut wasn’t hard for Hilary Spires, in spite of Myke’s efforts, as she won the 100km race in 2021. Both of these awesome people were kind enough to preview the upcoming races at Finlayson Arm on the latest edition of the podcast. Finlayson Arm is a blast to run that really has a unique feel to it.

“The way the course is set up, that kind of out and back format really kind of lends (itself) to a really intimate, friendly feeling event.” - Myke Labelle

Want to volunteer at this years event? Check’em out on IG (Coastline Endurance)

It’s friendly and feels like a celebration out there a lot of the time, but it is definitely going to push you around. Hilary talked about how she won the race in 2021 and some of the challenges that she faced along the way. She had some great advice for those getting ready to take the event on here in 2022.

“If you don't focus on running the mile that you are in and just break down the course, I think the hugeness of it will eat you up.” - Hilary Spires

Hilary on IG

Hilary coaching “Rugged Conditioning”

Hilary's podcast “Trail Running Women”

Every subscription makes a difference. We’re growing this community together, thank you!

Good luck to all of those who are running Finlayson Arm this weekend, you’re gonna have a blast. Enjoy the celebration of all your training! Matt Cecill visuals made a great video about the race a few years back that is always worth a watch:

Myke was awesome enough to chat with us all about this race on episode 4 of the podcast:

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Music by Skilsel from Pixabay

If you enjoy this podcast, I would really appreciate it if you could like, share, subscribe, or comment! I’m trying to make this the best trail running podcast it can be and I certainly appreciate your time. Thank you all and happy trails :)

“We take down barriers for women and we can change lives by doing so.”

Sophie Power is empowering women runners everywhere through SheRACES. SheRACES is “A global network of champions, driving change to support female athletes.” Sophie founded SheRACES after being photographed while running 2018 UTMB and breastfeeding her newborn child at an aid station. She wanted the option to be able to defer, as she already had to miss the event once, and even though she was able to run the race and breastfeed, many women would not be able to. Sophie said she really wants to address the start line for women.

“I wanted to understand why women aren't on the start lines and see how I could work with race directors to get more women on the start line, give us a better experience when we're racing, and also really start respecting our competition as one that's separate from the male competition and making sure that the female winner is equally valued as a male winner.

Sophie’s passion for the sport and working to make it as great for everyone as possible is infectious. The future of the sport is in better shape because of efforts like Sophie’s to prioritize equality. It was awesome for her to take the time and chat, even with the European 24 hour championships less than 3 weeks away!

SheRACES has a great website that features all the great work they are doing and how you can get involved as well. Check it out and see how your local races stack up. Race directors are some of the most welcoming and positive people who are always looking to make their events more inclusive and successful and you can always reach out and let them know about SheRaces.

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Music by Skilsel from Pixabay

Lastly, I’m accepting entries for your favourite trail races until the end of August!

Get on over there and hit me up, so I can share them with our awesome community.

If you enjoy this podcast, I would really appreciate it if you could like, share, subscribe, or comment! I’m trying to make this the best trail running podcast it can be and I certainly appreciate your time. Thank you all and happy trails :)

An insole that ensures your foot doesn’t slide inside the shoe.

Sounds simple, right?

It is! It’s also unique as Blumaka has created this product and was recently featured on “The Athletic”. This is where I found out about the product and I was immediately fascinated. The San Francisco Giants are a team that is generally known in Major League Baseball as a team to be at the front of the pack when it comes to analytics and development. So when it was them involved, I was piqued. The player, Mike Yastrzemski had some interesting thoughts and the article itself had a ton of great information, none more interesting to me, than this blurb:

“How much force is lost with normal insoles? Blumaka isn’t ready to make any concrete claims yet. But Yastrzemski has done some tests of his own in the team’s biomechanics lab at San Francisco’s spring training complex. “We have some things where we can look at our rotational acceleration” in his swing, the outfielder says — rotational acceleration is measured in G-forces — and he noticed a jump of 5-7g with the insoles versus without. According to Blast Motion, the MLB average rotational acceleration is 17g. - From “The Athletic - Why Mike Yastrzemski and the Giants are sold on special insoles: ‘If you’re slipping, you’re losing’

I had to know more and when I reached out to Blumaka, they were happy to get Stuart on a podcast so we could chat a bit about it!

Stuart Jenkins has been running for decades, including winning some major marathons, and he’s been innovating in the shoe industry the entire time, Blumaka is the latest. Stuart loves trail running and prefers it to road running, he even talks about how it influences where he purchases a home. It’s a great conversation with Stuart about him and the product, and you’ll find more interesting bits from the man who once ran for 22 years, 1 month, and 1 day straight!

“You're not making anything 20% or 30% better, but you're making it a little better. Why do all baseball players wear batting gloves? Babe Ruth had a lot of home runs without a batting glove, but somebody figured out you're going to have less slipping in your hands if you have a glove on your hands.”

Find out more about Blumaka here.

It’s not all baseball talk, I promise :) Check it out and see if the insoles make you curious at all. Let me know what you’re thinking in the comments! I have a pair that Blumaka sent me and have been giving them a go myself. They are very receptive to feedback and really want to hear from runners, so if you do get them, give them as much feedback as you can!

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Music by Skilsel from Pixabay

If you enjoy this podcast, I would really appreciate it if you could like, share, subscribe, or comment! I’m trying to make this the best trail running podcast it can be and I certainly appreciate your time. Thank you all and happy trails :)

Whether you are challenging for the top spot or finding the cutoffs a challenge, cursing Gary Robbins during one of his events is a rite of passage. So you will have to guess if that’s Jeannine Avelino’s quote (finished 2019 Squamish 50k with less than 4 minutes to spare) or Jeanelle Hazlett who said it (won the 50 mile in 2019 and finished 2nd in the 50 k in 2018). Of course only one of them said it, but it almost doesn’t matter who it was, does it?!

Jeannine has plenty of experience on these trails and has simplified the race in order to tackle it.

“I'm treating it as three main climbs, which is Galactic, the Climb Trail, and the Mountain of Phlegm, which, after looking at the elevation gain, it's really nothing compared to the other two. But at 40 km in, it feels like twice, three times that. It's also pretty technical. A good mix of technical and runnable trails. It's pretty fun.“

Jeannine’s “Everything but Weddings”.

Jeannine on “Chasing Cutoffs” podcast.

Jeanelle is coaching Jeannine and will be following her closely as she tackles the course. Jeanelle is not running herself this year but has some pretty vivid memories of how tough this course can be.

“It can be hot. It's relentless. There are lots of roller coaster elements to this course. I'll never forget running and the feeling like my feet were going to blow up leaving Far Side because it's just so up and down that by the end of it, everything is smashed.”

Work with Jeanelle at Ridgeline Athletics.

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Music by Skilsel from Pixabay

Squamish is a tough course and so much fun with the atmosphere that Coast Mountain creates. Coaches can help you prepare for these kinds of tough weekends. Jeanelle is an awesome runner and coach, and she was on the podcast to talk about coaching for Ridgeline Athletics previously:

Jeannine is a good friend of mine and has provided the newsletter with her input several times, including her trail running tips for trail runners:

Best of luck to all those running Squamish this weekend! It holds a special place in my heart after I finished the 50/50 in 2021. You can read all about that here:

Don’t forget to submit your race recommendations to me as well!

If you enjoy this podcast, I would really appreciate it if you could like, share, subscribe, or comment! I’m trying to make this the best trail running podcast it can be and I certainly appreciate your time. Thank you all and happy trails :)

Everyone craves a big plate of pasta and tall glass of wine while running an ultra, right?! Sarah Lavender Smith of Colorado Mountain Running and Living chats about one of the most memorable aid stations she’s ever encountered, as well as shares her experience volunteering at mile 58 of the Hardrock 100 and how she used that experience to strategize for her own 100 miler, the High Lonesome 100. Even though Sarah has run countless ultra events, she still experienced a first at the High Lonesome 100!

“I took up ultras in the early 2000s after a decade of road running. I've done like 100 ultras. I've never puked. It's like losing your virginity, puking in an ultra. It's the thing everyone does at some point. And I finally, like the full on uncontrollable yawn. Just horrible.”

We paint lovely pictures on the podcast! ;-) Sarah is a great guest and follow, both on Substack and social media (IG and Twitter). She’s also written a book “The Trail Runner's Companion: A Step-by-Step Guide to Trail Running and Racing, from 5Ks to Ultras.” I reached out after she wrote “Anatomy of an Aid Station” and knew I had to chat with her about it!

“I would pinpoint one runner and latch onto him or her and say, “Hey, I'm your helper. Let me know what you need.“ I would stick with that person and do everything I could to help that person, whether it was helping them get their shoes off and change their socks and deal with their gross feet or getting them food or wrapping. Those were just some of the things that made it special.”

Check it out and let me know some aid station stories of your own in the comment section! Thank you to those that submitted your questions for Sarah, it’s always appreciated. We didn’t quite answer them all, but the best aid station memory that Sarah shared made up for it…

Next week the podcast is back! We’re getting ready for Squamish 50 and we’ve got the first multi-guest show coming to preview the weekend. This podcast will take place of the written piece that would usually come. Guests have been awesome and generous, so we’re gonna roll with it!

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Music by Skilsel from Pixabay

Don’t forget to recommend your recent favourite races!

If you enjoy this podcast, I would really appreciate it if you could like, share, subscribe, or comment! I’m trying to make this the best trail running podcast it can be and I certainly appreciate your time. Thank you all and happy trails :)

Galiano Island is a singletrack paradise. The ease with which you can get onto the trails and run is unparalleled, and the vistas offered up are second to none. The island is the perfect spot for a trail-running weekend. With great food, accommodations, and other entertainment available, a weekend on Galiano is a weekend you won’t regret. The island has something for everyone!

The Galiano Trails Society is a huge reason for the amazing trail running network. They help build and maintain the network of trails up and down the island. On the podcast, I speak to two board members of the Society about what the Society does and how the network of island trails continues to grow. Those board members are Vilupti Corlis and Jesse Keefer and they also shared a few other things they love about the island. I’ve already covered some of this in a written piece that went up last week:

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I also had a couple of close running friends, Jeff Radomsky and Chris Shier, join me for a running weekend on the island. I included some of their feelings about what it was like to run on the island. It was a ton of fun to put this series together, as Galiano is a special place and I love being able to share it with anyone on any level. Listen to this podcast, read the written piece, and book your trip to Galiano. You won’t be disappointed!

Music by Skilsel from Pixabay

If you enjoy this podcast, I would really appreciate it if you could like, share, subscribe, or comment! I’m trying to make this the best trail running podcast it can be and I certainly appreciate your time. Thank you all and happy trails :)

Addie Bracy is a Mental Performance Consultant, and so much more. She’s a professional runner, she’s a cofounder for OUTrun which connects and supports LGBTQ+ individuals, she is a Runners Alliance ambassador, which highlights harassment on the trails, and she’s the author of “Mental training for ultra running”.

She was kind enough to join me on the podcast and talk about how she got to where she is today and we even got to a listener's question from Twitter. It was a great chat and I think you will enjoy everything she had to say! She is really excited about getting to share what she has learned and make it accessible.

“My main goal was to make that information very accessible. The book was mainly the first project I did after school. I want this to be distributed as much as it can be. So that's been kind of the motive the last few years.”

“I think sometimes people just want to not have those negative thoughts and they think that if they do, then, okay, well, I'm having this negative thought about this situation and it kind of spirals from there. Obviously, it's hard to come back from that, but in reality that's normal.”

Here you can follow Addie’s Instagram and Twitter pages.

Her personal practice is Strive Mental Performance and her run coaching is Sharman Ultra Coaching.

Her insight into mental performance is really fun to listen to. She’s been featured on many other podcasts and you may end up going down the rabbit hole to find more!

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Music by Skilsel from Pixabay

If you enjoy this podcast, I would really appreciate it if you could like, share, subscribe, or comment! I’m trying to make this the best trail running podcast it can be and I certainly appreciate your time. Thank you all and happy trails :)