In this episode, Chris Thomas sits down with legendary ultramarathon paddler and “Queen of the 650”, Salli O’Donnell from Alabama. While Salli certainly has a very decorated paddling career, most recently she’s coming off of overall solo victories in the Suwannee 230 and the Alabama 650 in earning the new Southern Harm award in the process. We cover so much in this episode from her transition to ultra paddling from ultra running, the North Carolina Challenge, the James River 100, the logistics of planning for ultras, a continuous improvement mentality, recovery strategies, pre-race and in-race game plans for skin protection, paddling technique, nutrition rabbit holes, dealing with adversity and slumps, the importance of not wasting any opportunities, the evolution of ultramarathon paddling, and entering into the sprinting world. There’s so much more to this episode, but I’ll let you hear it from Salli herself on this 33rd episode of the Dabbling in Paddleism Podcast…

Salli’s book recommendations:

Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown: https://a.co/d/7Y4RE5P

Find Salli on FB at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1552487491685668/