We Are Superman

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The 10 Warriors, first brought together by David Clark, took on the Leadville Heavy Half and Marathon in a triumphant return to racing for everyone in the Leadville family.  All of the Warriors, may of whom come from near sea level, conquered 13,200' Mosquito Pass, a sizable achievement in its own right, but also reached deep inside themselves to continue their life transformations to Superman-sized endurance powerhouses.  Best of all was the support and camaraderie over the course of the weekend.

I personally urge you to look yourself in the eyes in the mirror and ask yourself whether you like the person you see.  If that is a person you want to change, please get in touch with me.  You can also be a Warrior achieving audacious goals like these instead of repeating the same patterns that have made you unhappy, and disappointed your family, friends, co-workers and more.  The supportive 10 Warriors might be the place that can help you transform yourself.

Bill Stahl
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Well I have certainly met my superior for positivity.  And energy.  And inspiration.  And amazingness.  You name it.  Today you are going to meet Stan Cottrell, who is running across the country from L.A. to Washington DC.  He already set the record for the fastest transcontinental run 41 years ago in 1980 in 48 days.  Now he’s doing it for the third time at age 78.  Yes, I said 78 years old.  Stan was the real-life inspiration for Forrest Gump.  His background includes being a college instructor, pharmaceutical executive, International VP of Business Development, and CEO of an international bio-technical/environmental firm with offices in 35 countries.

Stan was invited to appear last week at a high school track meet in the small town of Bennett CO, out on the plains about 25 miles east of Denver and we recorded this episode in his RV in the stadium’s parking lot, so you’ll hear a lot of voices and other noises, not to mention some interruptions.  It was very hot that day, and there is no shade on the plains, yet Stan is out there pumping out 30 miles every day for 100 days on what he calls the Amazing Friendship Run.  Some other running facts about Stan: he has been running for 73 years and racked up more than 270,000 lifetime miles.  He has run across 40 countries.  Not just IN 40 countries, ACROSS 40 countries.  Including some like China before it opened up to the West; Vietnam before it re-normalized.  Cambodia during the reign of the ruthless, genocidal dictator Pol Pot.  Cuba, where as you’ll hear he met Fidel Castro.  I wonder if he’ll run across North Korea with Dennis Rodman someday!  He ran across Europe in 80 days.  And a lot more.  You know what, go to his Web site, friendshipsportsassociation.org, and see more of his amazing feats, and the charities he is supporting, including ones for kids and veterans.  But more notably, you’ll see its tag line Positivity.  Kindness.  Unity.  Stan runs to promote health and fitness, and to show how running can cross cultural and political boundaries.  And you will hear through his rural Kentucky twang an incredibly powerful and motivational speaker.  If you are like me, you’ll find yourself repeatedly rewinding this conversation to absorb the nuggets of wisdom Stan has garnered through the equivalent of running around the Earth more than 10 times.

Please contact Bill for more info about the We Are Superman Ten Warriors, the Unfuck Your Fridge Challenge, or about editing for your book project at [email protected], on Facebook, or Instagram @stahlor

Stan Cottrell:
friendshipsportsassociation.org
e-mail: [email protected]
Facebook: Stan Cottrell, Cottrell Stan, The Amazing Friendship Run 2021
Instagram: @runstanrun2021

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In this Power Play, I continue the discussion about transition phase workouts, describing fartlek and tempo runs you can do to bridge your training from base building to speedwork and lessen the chance you will incur injuries in the process.  Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions.

Workouts - start all with 10-15 min. warm-up jog and end with at least 10 min. cooldown:

2x12 min. with 60 sec. rest interval comfortably hard (10-15 sec. slower than 10K race pace, or 10 sec. faster than half-marathon race pace, or 80% of max. HR or 2-5 bpm slower than lactate threshold HR)

3x8 min. with 75 sec. RI at 5-10 sec. slower than 10K race pace

3x6 min. almost full effort with 2-3 min. RI

3/1 tempo: alternate 3 min. easy with 1 min. at one-mile race pace

5/2 tempo: alternate 5 min. easy with 2 min. at 20-30 sec. faster than 5K race pace

8/3 tempo: alternate 8 min. easy with 3 min. at 5K race pace

Bill Stahl
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In this Power Play part two, ultra endurance coach Jason Koop and I discuss getting over your fear of returning to racing in 2021.  Jason is the host of the very entertaining and informative KoopCast podcast that I would highly recommend if you are an endurance athlete.  Enjoy!

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

Jason Koop:
jasonkoop.com
trainright.com
Facebook
Instagram and Twitter @jasonkoop
YouTube

Also mentioned:
Black Men Run
blackmenrun.com

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In this Power Play part one, ultra endurance coach Jason Koop and I discuss the state of ultramarathoning, its future direction, and returning to races, building on my recent episode with Simone Brick.  Jason is the host of the very entertaining and informative KoopCast podcast that I would highly recommend if you are an endurance athlete.  Enjoy!

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

Jason Koop:
jasonkoop.com
trainright.com
Facebook
Instagram and Twitter @jasonkoop
YouTube

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We are bringing back an old friend of the WASP all the way from Melbourne, Australia, Simone Brick.  Simone and I were on with David last year in his next-to-last episode, right after lockdowns had begun and we discussed the psyche Down Under and in the world as pandemic-related events began to unravel.  I listened again to that episode, and it was actually interesting to hear how we expected things to unfold versus what has actually occurred.  We were certainly wrong about some things, although we were not predicting Covid would just go away by Easter!  This time, Simone and I talked about how things are now in Australia where they had much stricter lockdowns than we had in the United States, plus, with their summer now ending, how their racing season proceeded, which is instructional for us in the Northern Hemisphere as racing now opens up for us.  She is now preparing to travel to race in mountain running events in Europe this summer.  For those of you who don’t remember Simone when she appeared with David back in episode #93 in September, 2019 she has a quite remarkable story.  Once a depressed, traumatized, overweight teen, Simone set a deadline for herself to either change or commit suicide!  In the meantime, she spent long stretches institutionalized while battling mental health issues.  The woman she is today is nearly unrecognizable from that.  She has won both the Australian and New Zealand mountain running championships, and is a bundle of energy with endless optimism.  Definitely listen to that episode with David if you have not already, or listen to it again.  It’s quite jaw-dropping.  I always love chatting with Simone.  I hope her energy will fire up your own training and daily lives.

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Please join Nico Brooks and me having an emotional talk about the ongoing and future legacies of David Clark one year after he left us.

Bill Stahl
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Today I’m having a discussion about training principles, team dynamics, and career progression with Coach Adam St.Pierre.  Adam is a very accomplished ultramarathon runner and coach, including for Carmichael Training Systems and his own ASTP Coaching.  He’s made a significant mark in the world of skiing.  He was until recently the driving force behind the Boulder Nordic Junior Racing Team here in Colorado, teaching young cross-country skiers, and turning dozens into All-Americans and sending many onto the U.S. Ski team and onto many collegiate teams.  He is the Cross Country Sport Coordinator for U.S. Ski & Snowboard.  After a long time in Boulder, Adam is currently moving his young outdoorsy family to Bozeman, Montana, where he took over an underperforming Montana State University Nordic ski team this year and led them to a 5th-place finish in the NCAA Championships this past March.  Adam attributes a lot of the Bobcats’ success to transforming a subpar team culture into a positive one, something that comes rather naturally given his easy-going nature.  I think there is a lot for everyone to learn from this great conversation, whether you are a coach, athlete with aspirations, or are part of any kind of team.  Adam previously appeared on the WASP with David in episode #91 in early 2020 talking about mental toughness versus physical strength, so that’s an episode in these pandemic/post-pandemic days definitely worth going back to have another listen to.  Please enjoy!

Please contact Bill for more info about the We Are Superman Ten Warriors, the Unfuck Your Fridge Challenge, or about editing for your book project at [email protected], on Facebook, or Instagram @stahlor

Adam St.Pierre:
[email protected]
Facebook
Instagram: @coachadamstpierre
Twitter: @adamstpierre

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In this Power Play episode, I discuss how to use hill training to make the transition to speedwork, as well as how to train on hills to make you a stronger hill runner in trail races and ultramarathon distances.

In coming weeks I’ll be making an announcement about the Unfuck your Fridge Challenge to help you adopt a better eating lifestyle and improve your health.  Also, please contact me if like many people during this pandemic, you have written a book and are looking for editing or proofreading services to ensure that it goes to press perfectly-written without typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors.  Nothing destroys your book’s credibility more than poor writing and editing!  

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

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Kim Welk came to me several months ago because she’d heard I had edited David Clark’s last two books to see if I would proofread the manuscript for the book she is writing called Why (Not) Me about Brad Kelley.  While reading this very easy-flowing draft, it immediately hit me that Brad’s story would be well worth telling as a WASP episode.  Brad was stuck with an autoimmune disease called Guillaume-Barré Syndrome, and his doctors gave him the devastating news that he might not walk again.  You know how this is going to turn out.  Brad stopped saying, Why Me?, and flipped that into Why Not Me?  Brad went on to complete various Ironmans, and eventually the Kona Ironman World Championships.  He has since completed Double Ironmans and longer events, and does a lot of heart-warming work to inspire and encourage kids with disabilities as well.  I think you’ll find this episode to be very inspirational as well as the book Why (Not) Me when it is available.

Please contact Bill for more info about the We Are Superman Ten Warriors, the Unfuck Your Fridge Challenge, or about editing for your book project at [email protected], on Facebook, or Instagram @stahlor

Brad Kelley:
Book "Why (Not) Me" on Amazon and elsewhere
bradkelleyspeaks.com
Facebook
Instagram: @ironmanbradk