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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
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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
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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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I spent 22 years in the computer industry, made good money, but I found fulfillment earning less while owning my own youth sports business, teaching kids sportsmanship, teamwork, and giving them a healthy outlet, as well as in coaching running.  I find there is a lot more gratification in showing kids that their hard work can lead to positive results and lessons that will last them a lifetime, as well as showing adults that they can achieve their most epic goals.  The Law of Dharma or Purpose in Life: "Everyone has a purpose in life... a unique gift or special talent to give to others.  And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals."

Bill Stahl
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I’m excited to return with some ultrarunning royalty, record-setting Zach Bitter.  Zach dealt with the pandemic by lowering the record for 100 miles on a treadmill by 23 minutes to a mind-blowing 12:09:15.  Yes, on a treadmill.  In his house.  I remember well when David Clark ran 77 miles in 12 hours on a treadmill, so Zach bested that by, oh, 21 miles or so.  Prior to this, in 2019, Zach smashed his own world record for 100 miles, averaging 6:48 per mile while running on a 443-meter track for a total time of 11:19:13.  Just for good measure, he tacked on the record for 12 hours, tallying 104.8 miles.  Zach and I chat about how he is able to maintain his high-mileage training, the advantages of his low-carb diet, the mental fortitude needed to achieve these epic feats, and we get into a lot more in this lively conversation that I think you’ll enjoy as much as I did.  I’d also urge you to check out his Human Performance Outliers Podcast, which includes many fascinating stories about how people achieve their own audacious goals.

Zach Bitter
www.zachbitter.com
Facebook Zach.Bitter
Instagram @zachbitter
Twitter @zbitter
Human Performance Outliers Podcast

Bill Stahl
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I hope you’ve had a chance to listen to Cole Chlouber and Adrian Macdonald on the last two episodes discussing the Leadville Trail 100.  Like Adrian, Annie Hughes was a relatively unknown rookie winner of this year’s race.  At age 23, many might have dismissed her as one of those cute stories of a youngster taking on too steep a challenge.  When I began running ultras many moons ago, it was the realm of old goats who were getting slower, so we ran further.  In fact, I believe in the 90s when I first ran the Leadville 100, there had never been a finisher less than 23 years old.  It was considered too much discipline for so-called youngsters to be able to train for races that rigorous.  Then along came young studs like Kilian Jornet who broke that mold and became something of the Michael Jordan of ultrarunning and opened the door to many more younger ultra specialists.  But even when Clare Gallagher entered Leadville, who I had watched as a very strong high school cross country runner at Cherry Creek High School here in Denver, I thought it was cute that Clare would attempt it.  Then she not only won, but she ran the second-fastest time ever, behind only the legend herself, Ann Trason.  However, Annie Hughes has some serious cred.  She was third woman a year ago at her first 100 in Bryce Canyon, Utah, and set the FKT for the Collegiate Loop of 160 miles, which she completed in 61 hours.  In 2021, she won the Collegiate Peaks 50-miler outright, including beating all of the men in the race.  She followed that up by finishing second overall in Mace’s Hideout 100, a great tune-up for Leadville just two months later.  One cool part about watching her run Leadville was the amount of local support she got.  Yes, she is well-known there because she manages the Leadville Race Series store on Harrison Street, Leadville’s main drag.  She is also well-known for her ebullient personality, which does come through in our spirited conversation, and she has a deep love for getting up into the mountains.  By the way, her Instagram handle of outdoorableannie is among the best and appropriate ones I’ve ever seen.  Annie has her sights set on the Moab 240 in October, where she will likely take on the current queen of ultrarunning, recent UTMB winner Courtney Dauwalter.

Annie Hughes
Instagram @outdoorable_annie
Strava

Bill Stahl - contact me to join the American Heroes Run Challenge!
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