"One of the most wonderful things that has happened to the world is Trail Running", says Gordy Ainsleigh in a face to face conversation we recently enjoyed.  Gordy talks about where ultra trail running has gone and his thoughts on where is is going.  He talks about his passion for the sport and his secret to life-long running.  He answers some of the Nation Members' questions too.  Find out why Gordy believes in cotton t-shirts, grape juice and beards - even in the summer months.

Gordy has finished Western States 100 twenty-two times, most recently in June, 2007, though he unofficially completed the race in just over 30 hours (the official cuttoff) in 2010.  his fastest time is 20:55 in 1984, after starting 8 minutes late.

"Race Course in Review" by Vasque Running Shoes

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition   

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Karl Meltzer is the record holder for the most 100-mile trail wins and most 100-mile wins in one season.  He joined the Nation with a studio audience the day before Way Too Cool 50K to discuss his race strategies:

He also talks about Wings For Life World Run coming up on May 4th.  100% of the $50 race fee goes to find a cure for spinal cord injuries.

Check out this video of Karl's Red Bull Human Express, his 2064-mile Pony Express record run in 2010.

Check out our video simulcast HERE

"Race Course in Review" by Vasque Running Shoes

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition   

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

We talk with three of Nike's newly-formed Trail Elite Team: Sally McRae, Chris Vargo, Alex Varner, and Team Manager: Pat Werhane.  This interview was recorded the afternoon before Chris and Alex finished #1 and #2 at a 1200-participant, Way Too Cool 50K.  Some of the topics we discuss are:

Sally: “Back it up” by Gwen Staphanie

Chris: “Helecopter” by Bloc Party

Alex: “The Sign” by Ace of Base       uhhhhh, yea :)

Check out our video simulcast HERE

"Race Course in Review" by Vasque Running Shoes

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition   

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Nation member, Candice Burt joins us to discuss a recent lighthearted  blog post she wrote on how ultra runners take things to excess.   DUH!   That's who we are. 

Fun article about people that make up excuses for not racing well.

Here are some of the races she directs:

Tahoe Rim 200 mile race

Bellingham Trail Marathon 

Bellingham Trail Running Series

Cle Elum Ridge 50k & 25K

Rainshadow Running

"Race Course in Review" by Vasque Running Shoes

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition   

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Ultra Trail Running is distinctly different in culture and mental preparation than other running or endurance sports.  Veteran Trail Ultra Runner, Bob Crowley, visits with the Nation about what is unique about this sports culture.

An interesting perspective from Geoff Roes in his article, "Ultrarunning is Dead"

Join the Trail Animals Running Club

"Race Course in Review" by Vasque Running Shoes

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition   

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Ashley Walsh has been busy weaving a tapestry of trail philosophy on her blog AshRuns100s, training and racing.  In fact, she recently killed it at Pistol 100 Mile in TN, where she won with a sub 20-hour finish!  You gotta run this one just for the buckle!

Grab bag topics include:

Ashley, always up for a challenge, was dared by her husband, Dan, to include this list of words. Did she succeed?

"Race Course in Review" by Vasque Running Shoes

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition   

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

If "ultra running is 90% mental and the other 10% is in your head", shouldn't we train our brain?  Is there a repeatable process for winning?

Lanny Bassham went from a kid that others said would never compete as an athlete to a 2-time Olympic medalist and 4-time world champion with four world records.  All winners have common threads that they do differently than everyone else.  He has discovered a formula to preparing mentally to be a champion.  Since retiring from competition, he continues as a coach to many World and Olympic champions, Fortune 500 companies, the United States Secret Service, the US Navy SEALS, the United States Army Marksmanship Unit, the US Marine Corps Marksmanship Unit, and the FBI.

"With Winning in Mind" is in it's third edition and is a MUST read for all Nation Members.

Learn more at Lanny's web site:  Mental Management

You will learn about the

"Race Course in Review" by Vasque Running Shoes

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition   

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Download a free audio book at Audible

Get out your dictionary and slow down the playback on your MP3 player!  Ben Greenfield, fitness expert and top ranked Iron-Man triathlete teaches about

Ben can be found on four of his own podcasts:

You can also find other valuable articles and tools on many of his web sites:

Here are some of the links to information that we talked about

"Race Course in Review" by Vasque Running Shoes

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition   

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

What if there was a nutrition training program that is NOT a calorie-deficient diet, NOT low-carb / Atkins-like, NO need to count calories, and requires NO special foods or supplements?

Our favorite nutritionist, Sunny Blende, teaches us how to train our metabolism: increase our fat burning enzymes so we can be efficient running machines!

Other Podcasts with Sunny:

"Race Course in Review" by Vasque Running Shoes

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition   

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl

Trail Runner Nation's Southern California corespondent, Jimmy Dean Freeman, joins the Nation to discuss new year's resolutions and goal setting.

Stuff we referenced:

Here are SOME steps we came up with to achieving your running goals:

Check out our new sponsor's, "Race Course in Review" by Vasque Running Shoes

Take the Tailwind Challenge at: Tailwind Nutrition   

Check out the cool headlamps made for trail running at Petzl