We Are Superman

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I have a treat for you today.  If you want to get super-motivated, keep listening.  As soon as I got done recording this episode with Hellah Sidibe, I headed out the door for a run.  Hellah’s infectious enthusiasm and positivity might just do that to you, too, so you might want to listen to this just prior to – or during – your workout.  Hellah grew up in Mali, a former French colony in West Africa.  He moved to the United States to attend the University of Massachusetts, where he played soccer.  He played professional soccer for a while before realizing his career wasn’t taking off.  Trying to find his direction, one day Hellah asked himself what was his biggest fear, and decided it was running.  So he went out for a run.  He has run every day since for almost five years.  Even though he wasn’t running long distances, he got the idea one day to run across the country.  As it turns out, he became the first Black person to ever do this.  But also as a Black man, this epic run wasn’t without its share of incidents.  Hellah does all that while eating plant-based, too.  Hellah’s fiancée Belle had begun recording his running streak and posting it on social media, and somewhere out of the blue, people identified with his journey, and he started blowing up in the cyberworld.  Hellah now has a gazillion followers, and follow him on Instagram and YouTube if you also want a great daily dose of inspiration.  Hellah has demonstrated how to get comfortable in uncomfortable situations and that no one is limited.  His story is about taking risks, chasing your dreams, and re-imagining your potential.

Hellah Sidibe
Instagram and Twitter @hellahgood9
YouTube HellahGood
https://soles4souls.org

Bill Stahl
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Instagram @stahlor

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I love a good challenge, and that's the way I look at foreign travel.  Languages I don't speak, different food and cultures, navigating transit systems, enduring the intricate Covid policies, and in this case, dealing with a potentially devastating crime.  I came through this trip to Europe feeling much richer for all of the experiences and very appreciative of the hospitality of my hosts, the helpfulness and friendliness of people there, and the many opportunities to experience Europe, including many enjoyable runs.  I think you might be surprised as much as I was about many of the the things I saw there.  Thank you for listening to this fun episode!

Bill Stahl
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Would you find it inspiring to listen to an episode about a guy who can run a 16:49 5K, a 1:17 half-marathon, and a 3:03 marathon?  Maybe a little.  How about if I added that he has done it as a double-amputee?  Oh yeah, that’s a lot different!  I randomly met Brian Reynolds last summer during the Leadville Trail 100.  We were both at Mitch Dulleck’s house on 4th Street not far from the finish line waiting in the cold wee hours of the night for a mutual friend, Tyler Andrews, who was on WASP episode #129 in May, to complete his first LT100.  We sparked up a spirited conversation and I quickly realized that this guy is a special kind of human.  Brian lost both of his legs below the knee when he was just four years old due to meningitis.  This tragedy never defined him, but not until the 2010s did he embark on trying to see what he could accomplish in the world of running.  The results have been impressive, and if he can overcome some injuries that have been plaguing him, he hopes to test himself at this spring’s Boston Marathon.  We discuss many of the unique athletic challenges he faces, as well as some incomprehensible barriers.  For instance, it baffles me to learn that there isn’t a track event longer than 400 meters in the Paralympics.  However, as you’ll hear, Brian has a very sunny attitude befitting a man who has seen many wonderous things happen to him in the last decade or so through athletics, including meeting his future wife and having three great kids.  I hope you’ll also feel uplifted listening to the chat Brian and I had.

Please consider donating to help Boulder County fire victims relief:
https://www.commfound.org/grants/get-grant/Boulder-County-Wildfire-Fund

Brian Reynolds
Facebook and Instagram @brianreynoldsrunner

Bill Stahl
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Kevin Roth had a life-changing epiphany, packed up and moved to an idyllic place on the beach, and hung out a shingle calling himself a life coach.  Oh, you say you’ve heard this story before?  Wait, hear me out.  Kevin was a prominent folk singer who played with Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul, and Mary, and wrote the theme song for the PBS children’s show, Shining Time Station.  He recorded more than a dozen albums, and performed at the White House and at festivals all over the world.  Then came a diagnosis of stage 3 melanoma and being told he had only a few years to live.  Kevin stubbornly took control of his own treatment and has come out successfully on the other side.  It taught him how to truly thrive in his life.  Part of that was moving from Kansas to San Diego.  I think that would improve anyone’s outlook, you know?  Kevin found and now teaches ways to remove and replace the negatives in his and others’ lives – similar to the lessons espoused by our friends at Addict to Athlete.  Kevin’s vehicle though is music.  Kevin learned to play the dulcimer, a stringed instrument with a very peaceful, melodic sound.  It has a very strong de-stressing effect and he has an intriguing program with it called dulcimeditation.  Kevin works with clients one-on-one to help them change their lives in amazing ways.  He also does group sessions, seminars, and he offers on his Web site a Teachable Course called Creating a Life of Meaning and Abundance.  I think you’ll hear in our conversation that Kevin is just a down-to-Earth guy very much at peace and wanting to share with others his methods of de-stressing, and enabling them to better goal-set and re-direct their trajectories so they can enjoy a more fulfilling life experience.  I know that may sound like a bunch of hippie mumbo-jumbo, but he comes across as the kind of guy you could meet one day at the bar and realize you’ve walked away a lot richer for having had the experience.  When I listen to many speeches, seminars, Ted Talks, etc., I always hope to walk away with that one golden nugget.  I think that if you pay close attention to Kevin here, you’ll likely gain several that will inspire you.

Please consider donating to help Boulder County fire victims relief:
https://www.commfound.org/grants/get-grant/Boulder-County-Wildfire-Fund

Kevin Roth
[email protected]
619-794-8599
www.kevinroth.org
www.kevinrothmusic.com
Instagram @happysoulsurfer_kevinroth

Bill Stahl
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This is a very special episode of the WASP, partly because I have a personal connection to our guest.  We often highlight inspirational stories about people making comebacks from things like addiction, obesity, and major injuries or illnesses.  I hope these have served very much to inspire you to improve your life and achieve your own epic accomplishments.  I’m willing to bet that we will never have a greater comeback story than in this episode.  This is the story of a wonderful 95-year-old woman named Lillian Berliner, a survivor of the Holocaust.  Her family led a normal life in a Transylvanian town that flip-flopped between Romanian and Hungarian rule until the Nazis came in and sent the town’s Jewish residents first to a crude ghetto and then to Auschwitz.  Lillian and her mother survived that notorious camp, then a labor camp, death marches, and finally the Bergen-Belsen death camp.  The horrors they saw and experienced are truly indescribable.  By the time they were liberated by the British Army, her mother weighed only 60 pounds.  Lili met her future husband Walter, an Austrian who had become a U.S. citizen and joined the U.S. Army, in postwar Germany and the two of them then built a life in America.  They lived in New York, raised two sons, and Lillian worked until she was 85 years old in the medical field helping others.  What is remarkable is how upbeat and vivacious she is despite her absolutely brutal experiences as a girl.  She has written a memoir called “And the Month was May,” that details her incredible life, and just as importantly, displays her amazingly positive and grateful attitude and loving personality.  Even though you might think that Holocaust stories are all very dark, this is a story of hope, love of hard work and America, family, and remembering and learning from the past.  I have a conversation here with her son Steve, who was my roommate at the University of Pennsylvania, who along with his wife Meryl, helped Lili put her story onto paper.  Interspersed throughout, you will hear clips from a conversation Steve had with Lili about her inspiring life.  This is a riveting episode, as is her memoir, which I encourage you very strongly to obtain from Amazon.  It’s less than 100 pages, so it’s no War and Peace, but it’s bound to have a deep impact on you.  I will also be posting on my social media several photos of Lili and her family as well as with members of the Belgian family whose father had aided Lili and other prisoners during the war and that through social media incredibly connected with Lili many years later, and they still keep in touch with each other to this day.  I’m very thankful that you are taking the time to learn from, and appreciate, this extremely important story.

Please consider donating to help Boulder County fire victims relief:
https://www.commfound.org/grants/get-grant/Boulder-County-Wildfire-Fund

Steve Berliner
Facebook Steve Berliner
Instagram @berlinersteve

Bill Stahl
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As you know, I love a good comeback story as well as people who have conjured up a unique, daunting challenge to tackle.  In this episode I chat with an old coaching friend, Karen Smidt, who is the long-time head cross country and track coach at Brighton High School, in a growing suburban, formerly rural, community northeast of Denver.  Karen is a Navy veteran, and has been the head librarian at the school for many years.  She is very welcoming as a coach and her teams routinely attract large numbers of kids to come out, and more importantly stay out, and her Bulldogs regularly finish at the top in their league championships.  Karen has always enjoyed running herself, especially on trails, but she hit a major bump in the road several years back when she required neck surgery, and then that procedure led to what are likely nerve issues that have left her with almost no feeling in her hands and feet.  That’s obviously not very ideal for a runner, much less a trail runner.  So she did what any self-respecting WASP guest would do, she created a challenge, and hers is to run fifty 50-mile races, one in each state, while she is in her 50s.  And she didn’t get started until arriving in her mid-50s, plus several states don’t have 50-mile races, so that’s added to her quest to complete this challenge before she hits 60 years old.  As Karen’s husband Dan said to her after we recorded this, the only thing she likes more than running is to talk about running, so hopefully you’ll also enjoy our lively chat about her inspiring quest.

Please consider donating to help Boulder County fire victims relief:
https://www.commfound.org/grants/get-grant/Boulder-County-Wildfire-Fund

Coach Karen Smidt
Facebook Karen Stanley Smidt
Instagram @karensmidt

Bill Stahl
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Running hills gives more bang for your buck than almost any other workout.  They can be part of your transition workouts - along with tempos and fartleks - to bridge you to speed workouts, or they can be to practice the specificity needed to run hilly races.  In this episode I share many tips for workouts you can do to prepare your body as well as form essentials and ideas if you live in an area where you don't have hills readily available.  Don't hesitate to reach out if you would like to discuss how to incorporate any of these into your own program.

So many people lost everything in the recent Boulder County wildfires - more than 1000 homes were destroyed - and rebuilding lives will take a very long time.  If you are able to, please donate to help those in dire need to the Boulder Community Wildfire Fund at:
www.commfound.org or
https://www.commfound.org/grants/get-grant/Boulder-County-Wildfire-Fund

Bill Stahl
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Before we get off of the topic of setting our actionable goals off in the strongest possible direction, I wanted to bring a guest into the Hive that will fire you up to achieve your 2022 wellness and fitness goals.  Dr. Matt Chalmers regularly works with people in all walks of life ranging from CEOs and pro athletes, to local-level competitive runners, weekend warriors, and housewives.  He is the author of the bestselling book “Pillars of Wellness,” which helps readers cut through the crap about wellness, exercise, and diet to figure out the actions they can take that will have the greatest impact.  His book details how to fuel the body physically, mentally, and spiritually.  Dr. Matt is passionate about leaving his legacy of getting his solidly-reasoned message out, so the book is available on Kindle for only 99 cents, and he loves to appear on podcasts like this one for the same reason.  In our fun chat, Dr. Matt gives well-researched knowledge and a lot of excellent practical pointers to improve our body’s functioning: cut down on sugar, drink more water, get better rest, what supplements are necessary and that the RDAs set for most of them are meaningless for most bodies in motion, how to decide whether it makes sense to eat plant-based, keto, or something else, and more.  I’m confident you’ll enjoy and undoubtedly gain some great insights from this lively interview.

Please consider donating to help Boulder County fire victims relief:
https://www.commfound.org/grants/get-grant/Boulder-County-Wildfire-Fund

Dr. Matt Chalmers
(214)-446-5300
[email protected]
www.chalmerswellness.com
https://linktr.ee/DrChalmers1
Facebook and Twitter @DrChalmers1 
Instagram @drchalmers1 and @chalmerswellness
YouTube - DrChalmers1
"Pillars of Wellness" is available on Amazon

Bill Stahl
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I hope your 2022 is off to a good start.  To continue on the theme of adding ancillary exercises into your training program that I started with the year’s inaugural Power Play, I’m welcoming Coach Dan Herman into the Hive.  Dan followed a similar path to David, maxing out at 375 pounds and having an unhealthy relationship with food as well as with his self-body image.  He also had an inoperable degenerative spinal tumor that rendered him practically immobile.  Illogically, Dan bought a pair of running shoes and started discovering a different way to live his life.  Like David, Dan’s first runs lasted for what seemed like an eternity, even though they were less than a minute long.  But he persisted until he reduced to (and has stayed at) 200 pounds and has completed marathons.  Dan has brought his philosophy of transformational change to his personal training business, Phoenix Training and Performance, in which he challenges his clients toward self-discovery and achieving their own epic training goals.  Dan is also a motivational speaker to empower audiences to find the most authentic versions of themselves.  I think you will be very entertained by our chat, as well as find some valuable nuggets to help you start the year on an uplifted note and with some more tools to help keep you moving in a healthy fashion.

Please consider donating to help Boulder County fire victims relief:
https://www.commfound.org/grants/get-grant/Boulder-County-Wildfire-Fund

Coach Dan Herman and Phoenix Coaching and Performance:
www.phoenixcoachingperformance.com
[email protected]
Facebook @phoenixcoachingperformance
Instagram @coachdanhermancpt
#TogetherWeRise

Bill Stahl
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Happy New Year!  May 2022 be the year you crush some epic goals!

First off, I do want to offer my sympathies to all of those affected by the wildfires in Boulder County.  So many people lost everything - almost 1000 homes were destroyed - and rebuilding lives will take a very long time.  If you are able to, please donate to help those in dire need to the Boulder Community Wildfire Fund at:
www.commfound.org or
https://www.commfound.org/grants/get-grant/Boulder-County-Wildfire-Fund

One key to crushing big goals this year is by staying healthy.  As sort of a resolution, I encourage you to add ancillary exercises to your training regimen, including core, hip/glute exercises, and weight training/bodyweight exercises.  I have seen directly how these will keep you on your feet and moving faster.   Hip and glute exercises are probably the most overlooked, so I describe a selection here  that you should add to your program, as well as discuss what I feel are the most important muscle groups runners should focus on in weight training, namely the triceps and lats.  Please contact me if you would like my workout sheets and/or videos to help you get rolling on these important exercises in the new year.

Bill Stahl
[email protected]
Facebook Bill Stahl
Instagram @stahlor