Join me on a little recap of my trip to fascinating Ecuador, including running up and down volcanoes, running in the cloud jungle, and around beautiful Quito.

Bill Stahl
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David’s second-to-last podcast was with Dean Karnazes, a household name to most serious runners who know that he won seven of the tough Western States 100s.  While the average American might not know him by name, a large percentage know him when I mention that he ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days.  Dean has a ton of other accolades, including winning the Badwater 135, an ESPY, and being named Competitor magazine’s endurance athlete of the year three times.  His best-selling book Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner convinced legions of people to become runners and/or to greater challenge themselves.  He has written several other great books like Run: 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss.  In this episode, Dean and I have a great chat about his latest book, A Runner’s High, My Life in Motion, in which he describes in vivid detail as a now-aging runner, his adventures competing in the Bishop (CA) High Sierra Ultramarathon, returning to Western States, being a running State Department ambassador in the Borat-like world of three former Soviet republics in Central Asia, and getting pulled into the White House as an unexpected guest on one of the most momentous days in U.S. history.  His family has supported him throughout his adulthood of pushing himself to his limits, and he describes now wrestling with his relationship with them in ways both real and imagined in his own headspace.  I have no doubt this endorphin-fueled book will fire you up to go lace up your shoes and set the bar higher on your goals.  I liked one observation in particular when he said, “I didn’t run to live longer, I ran to live fuller.”  I think we are all missing out on the deeper meaning to why we run if we strike out on this key point, just as he said, “Reaching the finish is not the ultimate prize, it’s the story that’s lived along the way.”  Whether you are a hardcore or casual runner, or not an athlete at all, I think you will enjoy this chat with the Ultramarathon man himself.

Dean Karnazes
ultramarathonman.com
[email protected]
Facebook @DeanKarnazes
Instagram @ultramarathon 

Bill Stahl
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Facebook Bill Stahl
Instagram @stahlor

I am fascinated by how nutrition can affect our health and the role it plays in many chronic and lifestyle diseases that plague our world, and so when I heard about Kristen Bowen and Living the Good Life Naturally, I didn’t hesitate to reach out.  She sent me a bottle of magnesium soak and I tried it with an open mind.  I don’t have health issues other than my ever-present orthopedic and running problems, so I wasn’t looking to cure any particular malady.  However, I am a notoriously poor sleeper, and I did discover after using it that my sleeping has markedly improved.  Obviously, sleeping is a major determinant in our recovery rates and other areas like alertness and productivity, so this is a welcome life enhancement.  One of the athletes I coach has told me that she uses magnesium soaks to successfully lessen the frequency and severity of her migraines.  This is a really good chat, and Kristen does a great job here of explaining the science behind magnesium in our bodies, what makes it an essential mineral, the issues that can arise when we don’t get enough of it, and the best ways to add to our intake and absorption of it whether through foods or transdermal methods like soaks.  Kristen lives in a really beautiful part of the California coast, so I think that also contributes to her upbeat demeanor when discussing magnesium.  You can explore many useful ways to get more magnesium into your body at livingthegoodlifenaturally.com

Kristen Bowen
[email protected]
livingthegoodlifenaturally.com
435-213-9048
Facebook @LivingTheGoodLifeNaturally
Instagram @ltgln.health 

Bill Stahl
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We're heading into the winter months, so here is my best advice to achieve and enjoy getting lazy and out-of-shape before the spring. ;)

Bill Stahl
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Many of you know my long history of injuries and surgeries.  More than 20 years ago, I had worked with a Feldenkreis practitioner who had noticed that I have a strong tendency to rotate onto the outsides of my feet (which unfortunately is still my tendency today), and favor my left knee due to the four surgeries I’d had to repair its ruptured quad tendon.  Therefore, on the supposition that some of these subsequent issues might also be related to my biomechanics and running form, several years back I sought out Douglas Wisoff of Radiant Running in Lafayette, Colorado.  Douglas was a strong trail runner in his earlier days, and has dedicated himself to helping runners improve their training and results.  I am constantly reminding myself during my runs of the techniques he drilled into me, and I in turn share some of those with the athletes I coach.  Douglas happened to be at the American Heroes Run where one of the athletes he coaches, Karen Kay, was running, so we decided to get together to chat.  Hopefully there are some tips and ideas in this conversation that will be beneficial to your running.  And if you feel this sort of work will help you run better and more injury-free, perhaps this will motivate you to look up a form coach in your community, or give Douglas a call because he can coach you remotely as well.  As he says here, it often only takes a few sessions.  Funny thing, just prior to Douglas and I recording this, we discovered that we are both from the same town, Huntington, Long Island, New York, and we didn’t even know that about each other before!  A once-small whaling village where back in the day at the bar at Finnegan’s you could buy a beer when you were 16 years old without raising an eyebrow, order a hamburger at the Hamburger Choo Choo that would get delivered to your seat on an actual model train, and get slices of pizza at a joint called Village Pizza at 2 a.m. or later.  I hope you enjoy joining us for this fun and educational chat!

Douglas Wisoff
303-499-2062
[email protected]
www.radiantrunning.com
Facebook @radiantrunning 

Bill Stahl
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As motivational coach and author, and frequent WASP contributor Gary Stotler describes, Halloween was often the beginning for him of two months of losing focus on his goals due to holiday eating and parties, family gatherings, and more.  We discuss ways to be true to yourself during this time of year and maintain the discipline it takes so you will not find yourself self-loathing for falling short of your goals.

Gary Stotler
garystotler.com
Facebook Gary Stotler
Instagram @coachgarystotler
Find his latest book, "Success is Spelled Action" on Amazon 

Bill Stahl
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Get ready to get fired up with Shawn Anderson.  Shawn is a top-rated motivational speaker and bestselling author, who has twice bicycled across America, and walked across Spain, Portugal, Ireland, England, Italy, France, and Japan.  I love that he has gotten the mayors of more than 500 U.S. cities to issue proclamations each year to recognize November 1 as Extra Mile Day, a day recognizing the capacity we each have to create positive change in our families, our organizations, our communities, and ourselves when we “go the extra mile.”  Hopefully getting people to develop an attitude that will carry over all year.  I’ve spent a bit of time on his Web site, shawnanderson.com, which contains his blog posts, quotes, and podcast episodes chock full of great empowering nuggets of wisdom and motivation.  I highly recommend checking it out!  I tremendously enjoyed our fun and spirited chat and hope to have Shawn on the WASP again in the future.

Shawn Anderson
310-402-4826
[email protected]
www.shawnanderson.com
www.ExtraMileAmerica.org
Facebook @extramileamerica
Instagram @toshawnanderson
Twitter @ToShawnAnderson
linkedin.com/in/gotheextramile

Bill Stahl
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The high school cross country team I help coach completed its season this past week at Regionals, and while none of the runners qualified for the State meet, there was a tremendous amount of progress.  Most of all, I enjoyed the opportunity to help provide these kids a positive experience, and that they did was evident at the end of the season.  I've had many experiences like this in 35 years of coaching, as well as operating my own youth sports business for 14 years.  It's something that you can get involved with, too.  There are plenty of opportunities without having to look very far.  Try it, and you'll be rewarded, too!

Bill Stahl
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As you know, when I’m not running in the Leadville Trail 100, I work at the Winfield aid station at mile 50.  That’s where I had a very brief encounter with plant-based endurance runner Robbie Balenger, who was completing his summer-long Colorado Crush.  Robbie had previously run the Leadville Marathon as well as the Silver Rush 50-mile.  I’ve had runners who don’t run ultras gasp, wow, he did all that?  Which kind of cracks me up because lots of people have done that, including me.  However, between the marathon and the Silver Rush 50, Robbie also ran the entire 587-mile Colorado Trail in 11 days.  And in-between the Silver Rush and the LT100, Robbie climbed all of the Fourteeners, the 58 14,000 peaks in the Colorado Rockies.  Now that’s worth gasping over!  Rather than put his feet up and light up a cigar, Robbie then headed over to England to help friend William Goodge complete 48 marathons, one in each county in England, in 30 days.

What struck me about Robbie at Winfield was that despite the fact he had to have been massively tired, and like most race competitors, needed to get out of the aid station as quickly as possible, he graciously posed for selfies with aid station volunteers.  Robbie lives right here in Denver, so I’m very grateful he stopped by the Hive to chat.  His generosity and good nature comes through in this episode.  He was driving his very cool wrapped van that he used on his earlier cross-country run.  In addition to that feat, Robbie this March set the FKT for running the looped road in New York’s Central Park during its open hours from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m., 16 laps and almost 100 miles in total.  I’m personally just amazed that he spent that much time in Central Park without getting mugged at least three times!  Maybe muggers don’t like to touch vegans.  Yes, he does all of this as a plant-based athlete, so listen along if this intrigues you.

Robbie Balenger
www.robbiebalenger.com
Facebook Robbie Balenger
Instagram @robbiebalenger
Twitter @robbiebalenger

Bill Stahl
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It's so easy for us to take on too much in our lives and get overwhelmed.  How much of this is due to us thinking "If I don't do this, no one else will," taking on tasks that simply aren't essential anyway?  How can we delegate instead those tasks in our homes or jobs that don't have to be done perfectly or you don't like to do so that we are not doing everything ourselves, preventing us from raising our stress levels, lowering our performance, and burning us out?  Hopefully this discussion opens your eyes to not be a sucker, and decide what tasks you actually need to do, and what others can do for you.

KoopCast, Jason Koop's podcast
"The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It" by Michael E. Gerber

Bill Stahl
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Instagram @stahlor