Transcordilleras: An 8 day bikepacking race up and over the three mountian ranges of Columbia. A race recap with Griffin Easter.

Griffin's Recent Results:

Transcordilleras: 1st GC

Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder: 1st GC

USA Cycling Gravel Nationals: 5th

Rebecca's Private Idaho: 2nd

BWR SD: 3rd

BWR Cedar City: 2nd

BWR Kansas: 3rd

Wasatch All-Road: 1st

Crusher in the Tushar: 3rd

Alyssa reached out in April and asked if I’d be up for a long “swimrun” effort. I asked her to send over the particulars of the race, she did, and I immediately replied that I’d need some time to think about it. Respect the distance. And good golly am I glad I did. 

Sweden: where water meets topography. 43 miles of swimming + 136 miles of running. Over 100 transitions as teams of three swimrun through an archipelago. 

I went to race an Extreme Triathlon in Sweden a few years back. The topography was soul branding. An incredibly healthy water table certainly lends itself to swimrun, and it’s far north so the daylight is long. Conveniently, there are chains of islands connecting some fantastic open water swimming. And that, coupled with some very deep roots in swimrun culture, is where One Water Race sprouted.

Back to Alyssa, the guest on this episode. She doesn’t fuss around. Alyssa is the current record holder for the Female Supported Fastest Known Time (FKT) on Vermont’s 273-mile Long Trail, completing the trail in 5 days, 2 hours and 37 minutes in the summer of 2018. In 2020, she set the current Female Supported FKT for the 46 High Peaks in the Adirondacks, becoming the second fastest human to climb the 46 peaks, in a time of 3 days, 16 hours and 16 minutes. In 2022, Alyssa set the Overall Supported FKT for New Hampshire’s 48 High Peaks, in a time of 3 days, 8 hours and 56 minutes. 

Traithlon, trail running, bike packing, long walks. It’s all good stuff, but what about swimrun? Don’t know unless you go. And if you are going you might as well try hard. 

Yours in sport,

Andrew

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One Water Race on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@onewaterrace6713

Keep up with Alyssa: @alyssagesky on Instagram

A picture is worth a thousand words but it never tells teh who story. Photography is art. It's a wonderful way to feel something or someplace. The process. The grit, elation, and let down--the smell in the van or the texture of the rock. Climbing, endurance, and adventure photography has room for a narrative. Story told from behind the lense helps us go there without going there, yet.  

Eric Wynn has been an industry leading photographer and film maker in the realm of endurance sport for over 20 years, and now he owns Slowtwitch.com

In the world of triathlon, Slowtwitch is the gold-standard for news, classifieds, and community dialogue. 

This is the first installment of a mini-series "The Story Behind the Lens".

I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. 

Daniel finished Tour Divide three days ago. The weather was particularly challenging this year. He stayed in two hotels and slept in a lot of pit toilets (for shelter). Over the course of 17 days, 10 hours, and 48 minutes Daniel covered ~2,362 miles.  We unpack his kit and experience and his passion for "relentless forward movement". When it comes to tackling Tour Divide or trying cycle touring for the first time, as Daniel puts it: "if you can pedal around your neighborhood, you can cycle tour." 

Above all else, just keep pedaling.

Your pal,

Andrew 

Some people say wisdom comes from experience. Mike Nelson has an affinity for experiences, and he's a darn good story teller. From open boat canoe racing to climbing mountains followed by 28 Ironman finishes and then more recently a "To or From" swim project on Lake Washingon in which Mike swam 'to' or 'from' every public access beach on the shoreline (...it's a a huge lake). Mike is 75 years young and more curios and ambitious than most people I've met. From single speed bicycles to his recent qualifying race for Ironman 70.3 World Championships in St. George--Mike is a scientist of  sport/life. Retired chemist actually, but that's not the point. 

Enjoy. Link to the Andrew Fast Podcast in Bio and via most listener platforms. 

Eric Zaltas developed an affinity for pedaling hard and the science of nutrition at a young age. Growing up in the Bronx, New York, this meant racing bikes through Central Park and attending the Bronx High School of Science. After college, he raced full time for the US National Road Team collecting 75 career victories including a US National Championship in the Team Trial. Amidst his bike racing career, Eric had the unique opportunity to base out of Switzerland, the home of Nestle world headquarters. While in Switzerland Zaltas helped lead research collaborations with some of the top sports scientists in the world including the UK-based Asker Jeukendrup and Louise Burk of Australia. In the realm of fueling for performance, Eric and his colleagues helped provide evidence based clarity by testing common questions in the lab and implementing them in the field. Eric doesn’t have a PhD after his name– though he certainly could– if only he wasn’t so busy spending his spare time with extracurricular activities. Hammering up all the famous climbs in the Alps, racing IM Switzerland, and prepping for his next marathon is just who he is–and I think that’s a good thing.

Here are the key questions Eric helps to answer in this episode of the podcast:

-Carb Loading: Is it still a thing? If so, how do we do it?

-Solids vs. semi-solids: salted red potatoes + bacon or caffeinated cake frosting?

-Day to day Pre-session fueling: What, when, how?

-How does a person train the gut to absorb what it needs for long efforts?

-General parameters for intra-session fueling.

-Protein: post training when and how much?

If you'd like to support the podcast click here to donate or via the link below:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/andrew-fast-podcast?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

Becca Windell is a Wildlife Biologist and this year's Bear 100 Mile Endurance Run champion. In this episode, we talk about Home Range a non-profit dedicated to advancing wildlife conservation by conducting high-quality research, educating aspiring biologists, and engaging local communities. As a co-founder of the organization, Becca speaks to what we can learn from animal movement patterns, their response to fires, and living in areas that are increasingly densely populated among other things.

As an athlete: Becca became a full-time professional cyclist right out of high school. She learned some hard lessons early, which we talk about in this episode. Lessons that ultimately every endurance athlete faces to varying degrees at some point. After quickly realizing a life comprised of purely training and racing wasn’t healthy for her she made a bold move and quit cycling and go back to school to become a wildlife biologist. During this time Becca discovered the joy of long-distance running. In the realm of racing, Becca is a silent warrior and definitely one to watch.

In this episode, we talk about stepping back into the ring of competitive racing and Becca offers some guiding principles to help strike a balance between racing and the rest of life.

To learn more about Home Range: https://www.homerange.org/home

To support their efforts: https://www.homerange.org/donate

On Instagram: @homerangewildlife

Becca’s Instagram “Running, wildlife, coaching, writing, dogs.”: @beccawindell

David Norris is an elite nordic skier and mountain runner. He is the 2019 US Nordic Skiing National Champion and 2016, 2018, and 2021 Mount Marathon Champion. If all goes to plan David is en route to represent Team USA at the Olympic Games in 2022 as a nordic skiing athlete. David is the most genuine (and talented) athlete I’ve had the honor to interview.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Learn more about David here: http://www.norrisnordic.com/blog

Help David continue to pursue his Olympic dreams by supporting him here http://www.norrisnordic.com/supporters

This episode is brought to you by SkyRun, your one-stop-shop for trail, mountain, and ultra-distance running needs: https://skyrun.skimo.co