Off The Couch

New races and running events seem to be popping up all the time, which raises the question: Are there some specific characteristics, policies, and practices that should be built into pretty much every running event?

To start thinking about this question, we talked to Caleb Efta, the race director of the High Lonesome 100. Caleb started the High Lonesome 100 in 2017, and the race is already a Hard Rock 100 qualifier.

Caleb has thought hard about how best to structure races, so I talked with him about how and why he started High Lonesome, and we get into some of the specific policies and requirements of the event that are designed to mitigate its environmental impacts and increase gender equality. It’s good stuff for all of us to be thinking about how and in what areas we can improve.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Caleb’s background (2:18)
• Why the name “High Lonesome”? (26:32)
• Overview of the race (32:15)
• Conservation efforts (37:00)
• Progressive gender policies (43:44)
• Becoming a Hard Rock 100 qualifier (1:00:55)
• Future goals for the race (1:03:40)

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For 2019, Brendan Leonard (@semirad) set a goal for himself: run 52 ‘marathons’ in 52 weeks. He told very few people about this goal, and we are proud to report that Brendan accomplished his goal with several weeks to spare. 

So in this conversation, Jonathan Ellsworth talks to Brendan about what prompted him to create this plan; why he decided to tell very few people about it; exactly what the parameters were for these ‘marathons’; how he handled the logistics; what he learned along the way; and more.

This is a fun one, and it might just inspire you to think creatively about some goals for 2020. 

TOPICS & TIMES:

• What did you just do, and why? (1:50)
• Defining the rules for these ‘marathons’? (8:10)
• Eating donuts & running (20:51)
• Why did you tell so few people about your goal? (23:01)
• Injuries? (29:25)
• What was the hardest part of the project? (32:08)
• What was the best part? (34:35)
• Funniest moment? (40:00)
• Goals for 2020? (45:10)

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We talk with Blister reviewers, Maddie Hart and Gordon Gianniny, about how they handle running and training in the cold and on snowy, icy roads and trails. Maddie and Gordon offer their tips and tricks and perspectives on this age-old conundrum of when and whether to run when the days are short and summer is a distant memory.

So check it out, see if you agree or disagree with some of their practices and suggestions, and in the show notes to this episode on the site, we’d love to have you share your own best tips, tricks, and practices.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Winter running & training changes (10:25)
• Dealing with icy / snow roads & trails (22:46)
• Winter gear — layering (24:30)
• What gear is useful & what isn’t? (32:24)
• Work on Weaknesses (36:52)
• Work on non-running stuff (39:06)

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By the time she was 5 years old, Kelly Newlon had already identified two of her biggest passions: running and cooking. Those passions led her to running longer and longer races and becoming a classically trained chef.

And these days, Kelly and her husband Morgan operate RAD (“Real Athlete Diets”) out of Boulder, Colorado, where they are — quite literally — feeding and fueling the ultrarunning community, including a high number of its elite performers.

So in this episode, Maddie Hart and I talk to Kelly about eating well and performing well; the entrepreneurial story of how she went from training at the Culinary Institute of America, to working on a food truck, to starting Real Athletes Diets; dealing with the huge range of the dietary restrictions of runners; and more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• The story behind Real Athlete Diets (RAD) (2:00)
• The pressure of fueling performance (6:10)
• Growing the company (10:32)
• Runners’ relationships to food (18:55)
• Kelly’s background in running & cooking (20:41)
• Training with Jason Koop (40:25)
• Gourmet vs. utilitarian cooking? (44:33)
• Thoughts on nutrition & dieting (48:04)
• Favorite event to work with? (57:43)
• Reducing catering’s environmental impact (1:01:18)

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Stevie Kremer is back on the show, and she came to BLISTER HQ in Mt. Crested Butte to talk about her experience at this year’s New York City Marathon — including all the gory details and the lessons she learned; the things about running she truly loves and truly hates the most; how many children is too many children, and more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Running in freezing temps (5:15)
• NYC Marathon: gory details & lessons learned (8:23)
• Cuba?? (23:40)
• Books & TV shows (26:00)
• The switch from teaching to counseling (27:20)
• Winter plans + how many kids is too many?? (31:06)
• Thoughts on Big’s Backyard Ultra (33:35)
• What Stevie loves (and hates) about running (42:21)

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Mr. Cappuccino of the @cappuccinocowboys is back on the show to issue an apology for his performance last week. And then Jared Hazen and Eric Senseman join us, so we got to ask them why they continue to associate with Mr. Cappuccino, and more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Apologies for last week (1:45)
• If “The Guys” were Sex & the City characters (2:50)
• Mr. Cappuccino on Jared & Eric (6:25)
• Jared & Eric join the call?? (9:38)
• TNF 50 Recap (14:25)
• Which @cappuccinocowboys post made you genuinely angry? (16:45)

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What is Cappuccino Cowboys, and who is the person behind it? Is he an evil genius hell-bent on ruining ultrarunning? A provocateur shaking up the stodgy state of running media? Or is he just a giant pain in the ass of Jim Walmsley, Eric Senseman, Jared Hazen, Cody Reed, Tommy Rivs and a few other unfortunate souls? We spoke to Mr. Cappuccino himself to find out.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• What is @cappuccinocowboys? (1:55)
• Who are the Cappuccino Cowboys? (11:10)
• Do you think you deserve to be on this show? (24:01)
• Why do people let you hang around? (30:55)
• Why cappuccino? (36:30)
• Exclusive memes for Off The Couch (40:20)
• Are your parents proud of you? (43:31)
• Lifeboat Q: Jim, Jared, Eric, Tommy, & Cody… (44:45)
• Helping Walmsley get lost at Western States (47:50)

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Maggie Guterl just became the first woman ever to win Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra, a multi-day race that does not have a fixed-distance finish line. So we talked to Maggie about how this extraordinary race works, and Maggie does a brilliant job of detailing what it was like to overcome the unique physical and mental challenges of Big’s; the significance of being the race’s first female champion; the next insane race she has her sights set on, and more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Salad and M&M’s (1:40)
• What is Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra? (5:50)
• Approaching a race that has no fixed end (10:02)
• Big’s vs. other ultras (19:14)
• Your physical / mental limits? (28:52)
• Being the first woman to win Big’s (40:00)
• Mike McKnight & Zack Bitter’s records (34:50)
• Barkley Marathons vs. Big’s Backyard? (39:29)
• On NOT running (46:28)
• Why do you run? (50:39)

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Simply put, Mike McKnight’s story is amazing. This year, he won the Triple Crown of 200’s, which includes the Bigfoot 200 in August, the Tahoe 200 in September, and he just won the Moab 240. And in covering those ~640 miles of racing, he smashed his own cumulative-time record for the three races by … 43 hours.

That’s probably not what you’d expect from a chubby kid who grew up on a dairy farm and didn’t participate in sports till he tried one season of highschool football, nor what you’d expect from a person who broke his back in a ski accident 8 years ago and had 2 rods and 9 screws placed in his spine, along with part of his hip bone.

So we talk to Mike about all of this and more — including getting a total of ~30 minutes of sleep over the course of ~640 mile races.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Mike recaps his Moab 240 win
• Mid-race conversations with David Goggins (4:52)
• Getting lost for over 2 hours (9:32)
• Farm life & football (20:37)
• How a broken back led Mike to ultrarunning (26:39)
• Jumping from 100 milers to 240’s (40:31)
• Longer races? 300 milers? 500 milers? (49:41)
• Reflections on his Triple Crown win (54:27)
• Mike’s diet — and current week-long fast (59:46)
• Mike’s work at Altra (1:06:50)

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What’s it like to run two hundred and one miles … and know that you still have another 40 miles to go? And why would you sign up and subject yourself to such a thing?

To find out, we went to Moab, Utah, to the Moab 240 Endurance Run — a two hundred and forty mile race — to capture the very raw and unfiltered reactions from runners, pacers, friends, medics, and concerned mothers from the Geyser Aid Station located at mile 201 of the Moab 240. And we also learned what this race — and this community — is really about.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Wes Plate & Bryan Fillman (5:05)
• Gordon Gianniny (aid station director) (8:39)
• Chris Plunkett (16:02)
• Catra Corbett (18:29)
• Scott Bailey (22:23)
• Wilk (pacer extraordinaire) (23:36)
• Byron Roca (28:22)
• Masato (32:44)
• Hans Siemelink (36:55)
• Toby Ballard (race medic) (40:27)
• Daneri Gay (concerned ultra mom) (52:40)

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