On November 11, friend of the podcast Allison Mercer ran a new American record for masters women at the Tunnel Hill 50-mile! This week, we got to talk to Allison about how she prepared for the race in the six weeks between running the Berlin Marathon and Tunnel Hill, and we heard all about her crew, her nutrition, her race strategy, her shoes, and of course, how the Ragnar Relay we did together in April contributed directly to her performance.

This week, we got to talk to longtime endurance athlete Brian Hetherington about his experience at the 2023 Ironman Arizona. Brian has been a runner and cyclist for years, and we dove into what brought him to long course triathlon and what he plans to do next. (Spoiler alert: it's 4-person Race Across America!)

This week, we talked a bit about the results at the New York City Marathon, then we spent a while discussing Michelle's approach to her long runs. Along the way, we shared a bit about what the research says on whether to fast or fuel and how far to go.

Episode 273--Are UTMB and USATF Wrecking Our Sport?!? by Most Pleasant Exhaustion

Episode 272.1--Ironman World Championship Race Report with Jaclyn Nasser! by Most Pleasant Exhaustion

On September 10, the men's Ironman World Championship was contested in Nice, France, and Joseph McLeod is here to tell us all about it! After years of trying to qualify, Joseph earned a spot based on his performance and Ironman Chattanooga, and he came on the podcast to tell us about his training and his race experience.

Only one week after the Blue Ridge Relay, Erik ran more than fifty miles at the Doggettville 12-Hour race, once again taking the "Double Dog Dare" trophy. (He's the only man ever to have won it!) This week, he told us all about the race, his strategy, how he fueled, and how he got more miles than he's ever gotten in this race despite having a compromised build.

George ran the 2023 Berlin Marathon, and he gave us a full race report this week--everything from his training and pre-race meals to his shoe choice and post-race soreness. We discussed how he approached the race, whether he met his goals, and what it was like to share the course with the new women's world record holder!

GC Kuss! For this extra episode, our friend Justin Dugan joined George to talk about the US's latest Grand Tour Champion, Sepp Kuss! Last week, Sepp, from Durango, CO, became only the fourth U.S. cyclist to win a Grand Tour when he took first place at the Vuelta a Espana. It wasn't a straight path, though, and we discussed the challenges he faced in taking the win.

This week, we discussed George and Erik's experience at the 2023 Blue Ridge Relay! This was the sixth times they've run that race, and they recounted the challenges they faced, the shoes they wore, and why they keep going back to this one race.