Susan Donnelly is amongst the elite list of athletes who have done 100 plus of the 100-mile ultra running races.   What exactly is the limit of human endurance you may wonder because when you fathom Susan's accomplishment comes, it baffles one's mind.   She has to her credit over 300 ultra-run finishes in a span of 20 years, that's an average of 15 ultras per year.   We get the opportunity to understand what's behind the scenes for this incredible achievement., what got her started, what kept her going, how did she find her purpose, her foray into life coaching, and finally what's next in her journey.

#everest #mountaineering  

In todays’ episode, we have a young man who has made mountaineering the central theme of life. He started trekking at the age of 15 and has completed over 800 treks across Sahyadri's and Himalayan Mountain ranges., eventually summitting Mt Everest at age 24.  His mission is to make adventure sport mainstream in India.

Our guest today is Kaushik Sunder , a scientist, musician and budding ultra runner, who recently crossed the finish line of the 250+ miler Cocodona 250, a grueling foot race across the desert landscape of Arizona.   What's more fascinating about his story is that he went from zero to 250 miler racing in just less than 5 years.   We also a candid conversation around mental health, and the need to be open about it , the need for awareness, and that there need not be shame in seeking help.

Subbu Venkat is a Houston area runner, who has been getting faster and fitter. He is an active community volunteer, having served in HARRA the Houston area runners' association, and more recently on the board of the Chevron Houston marathon.  We explore how he got into running, his approach to training that's making him go faster, his love for all things Japan, his touching act of being a live organ donor, and finally what's next in his journey.

Youtube link : https://youtu.be/NWTej-wrOKk

Coach Pani'- as he is fondly called - took up serious running during his Indian Air Force days. While serving the country for 21 years, he also participated in various middle distance running competitions and winning them. He was also head coach Bangalore NRC (Nike Run Club).  He is always looking out to learn newer things and enriching his knowledge. He is a certified Personal Trainer (Americal Council on Exercise - ACE) and Level-1 Certified Animal Flow Instructor.

Video on YouTube https://youtu.be/VyWD9ofT8uw

CHAPTERS

0:00 Start

2:33 Flashback, where it all started

13:43 Life after retiring from the forces

17:23 The wake up call after 10 years gap

18:57 The marathon journey

23:45 The six majors

27:51 The secret of maintaining pace/ key training principles

32:37 Approach to Nutrition

34:32 The coaching jounrey

38:43 What about ultras

40:56 Key Beginners mistakes

44:36 Personal fun trivia Q&A

#worldrecords #marathons #BQ 

In the house today, the incredibly inspiring Gene Dykes, the fastest known 70+ marathoner with a PR of 2:54:23 in 2018.  

Dykes has become one of the most prolific and successful septuagenarian racers of all time, winning multiple masters national championships, setting a number of national records, becoming the oldest person ever to run the Triple Crown of 200s (three 200-mile races in a single year), and achieving multiple sub-3 marathons in one year at 70 years (young).   You can reach Gene on his website at https://www.ultrageezer.com

In the house today is Pradeep Pise, who recently completed an epic 260+ mile foot race in the deserts and mountains of Arizona. 

Pradeep is the average Indian guy, who didn't play many sports growing up, got busy with career and family,  and one day wakes up to the possibility of running. What followed is a blossoming passion for marathons and over the last few years,  ultra-running. He has to his resume over 40 ultras that include 50 miler and 100 miler races, and more recently the incredibly challenging Cocodona 250.  

We explore with him what inspires the need to push limits, training strategies that have helped him scale endurance, what’s changed in his nutrition, what’s the recipe to manage the holy trinity of family/work/training, and finally where he is headed next.

In the 50th episode of the podcast, nothing more special than talking to Danny Dreyer.  

Danny Dreyer is the co-founder of ChiRunning and ChiWalking—revolutionary forms of moving that blend the subtle inner focuses of T’ai Chi with running and walking—along with his wife and business partner, Katherine Dreyer. A leader in revolutionizing the running world for the last two decades, Danny based his work on his 30-year practice of T’ai Chi and 45 years of running and racing. He has taught thousands of runners all over the globe how to embrace the principles of intelligent movement to bring energy efficiency and injury prevention to runners and walkers. Danny also effectively trained hundreds of instructors how to accurately teach the methodology of ChiRunning and ChiWalking to help share it with the world.

Pam's started her journey in running during her 20(s) and then took a 12-year hiatus to raise a family until the running bug hit again in her early 40(s). She came back stronger and went on to qualify for Boston marathons multiple times   In the last few years, she went to work on her swimming and pivoted into the world of Triathlons. She went ton to qualify for the Ironman 70.3 world championships. Clearly, she seems to be getting better with age, setting new personal bests, and placing in her age group.  We talk about her journey and the secret of getting fitter with age.

Rajeev Patel is an all-star in the Bay Area. An accomplished ultra runner, he is also a passionate coach who has supported over 700 runners cross the finish line around the SF Bay area.  He is also a pioneer of sorts for the ultra scene amongst the Indian American community.  His running experience is so rich and laced with so many initiatives, we spoke at length about how it all started, his philosophy in coaching, his adventures in ultra running, and what's next in for him  You can read more about his adventures on his meticulously maintained blog http://rajeevtherunner.blogspot.com