Some “Hella Good” Podcasts
On Sunday I ran six miles, and that last mile was hard. I didn’t get up early enough, I was running in the heat, I haven’t been doing long runs… etc. etc. There were all sorts of reasons, but I couldn’t help thinking- “How in the world am I going to run 50 miles in February if I’m struggling to get through six?” I remember having those same thoughts while training for my 50K. How am I going to run a 50K when I can’t run ten miles without getting nauseous? How am I going to run 30 miles, when 23 was this hard? But… it all worked out. One thing I did (in addition to, obviously, training for the race) was that I constantly listened to podcasts about people doing much, much harder things than running a mere 50K. And I’m still doing that! Here are a couple of my recent favorites. Hellah Sidibe was recently interviewed on Sally McRae’s podcast. In case you haven’t heard of Hellah, he currently has a SIX YEAR run streak going. Yes, he’s run every day for six years, and also during that time has done a couple other “little” things- like run across the United States, and he recently completed the Western States 100 mile race. Yep- he does those things while upholding a daily run streak. He’s also a super nice and inspirational guy- look for HELLAHGOOD on instagram. (Side note- Sally McRae is one of my favorite ultrarunners and I didn’t even know she had a podcast! It’s relatively new, and I can’t wait to binge all 24 episodes.) Speaking of Western States… you can’t mention this year’s race without talking about the GOAT, Courtney Dauwalter. She broke the women’s course record this year by 78 minutes, and then turned around three weeks later and won Hardrock (another 100 mile race), also breaking the course record. This episode of I’ll Have Another with Lindsey Hein was recorded between the two races. When asked how she was going to recover from Western States and be ready for Hardrock, Courtney’s response was something along the lines of “I have no idea!” Apparently it worked out. At the end of the interview, Lindsey asked if she had any advice for us mere mortals, and Courtney’s answer was, “Have fun, try hard things, see what’s possible…. why not?” Yes, WHY NOT??? Why not sign up for a 50 mile race? What’s the worst that could possibly happen? (Well, I guess I could die- but we take that risk just by walking out the front door every day.) Realistically, the worst thing that could happen is that I’ll fail to complete the race- and no one will really care. One last podcast of interest was Floris Gierman’s Extramilest podcast where he interviewed Chris Hauth. Chris is an endurance athlete and coach extraordinaire. I first heard him on Rich Roll’s podcast (he’s Rich’s coach and long-time friend.). He recently completed the 7X Project, which was 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. The goal of the project was to raise awareness for mental health issues among veterans. In addition to talking about the training and execution of this escapade- the logistics alone are mind-boggling- Chris talks about training in general, and how it pertains to mental health. He talks about the importance of having something to aim for, and also the importance of enjoying the process along the way. My favorite quote was, “I don’t know where I’m going, but I know how to get there.” We can’t know the outcome of our goals, but we know what it takes to get there- consistency, hard work, and a solid plan. I don’t know how my race is going to go, but I know what I have to do to get myself to the starting line. As Chris says, “Consistency and longevity are superpowers.” So many good quotes in this episode! Sometimes I can’t find anything good to listen to, and then sometimes there are so many podcasts I don’t have time for them all! I can’t wait for my workout tomorrow so I can listen to another one. Do you listen to podcasts? – I listen while I’m working out and when I’m driving. If you do like podcasts, what’s your favorite?