Miles & Mountains
Join Nick, a social worker and coach by day, as he unravels the inspiring stories of athletes and the public, uncovering the motivations behind their actions, from conquering mountains to participating in ultra-endurance races and competing in rodeos. Get ready for heartwarming tales of community support, acts of kindness, and the revelation that everyone has a deeper story to tell. Whether it's running, climbing, or participating in rodeos, these stories will inspire and uplift. #Running, #Climbing, #EverydayAthletes, #Rodeo
Miles & Mountains
Michaela Trinidad Conquering Bigfoot: The Mental Game of 200-Mile Ultrarunning
What drives someone to run 200 miles through rugged mountain terrain? Just three years after her first ultra marathon, Michaela Trenidad conquered the infamous Bigfoot 200, completing the punishing course around Mount St. Helens in 74 hours.
Michaela pulls back the curtain on what she calls "the stretch of carnage" - a seven-mile section where exhausted runners collapsed alongside the trail every mile. She reveals the surreal experience of hallucinations after days without proper sleep, describing how the mind struggles to process reality when pushed to extreme limits. "I'm convinced you can sleep while walking," she shares, explaining how she navigated through nighttime sections with her eyes closed, trusting her trekking poles to keep her upright.
The conversation challenges conventional wisdom about training, as Michaela reveals she typically ran just 40-60 miles weekly while preparing for this enormous challenge. This speaks to a central theme that emerges throughout: ultrarunning success stems more from mental fortitude than physical preparation. "I had no other options," she explains about her mindset approaching the race. "I had thought about it so much leading into it... it was almost like life or death in a way."
Beyond the physical journey, Michaela shares touching insights about the ultrarunning community, the spiritual dimensions of seeking solitude in nature, and finding purpose in extreme challenges. Whether you're an experienced ultrarunner, a curious newcomer, or simply fascinated by what drives humans to test their limits, this conversation offers a window into the transformative power of embracing seemingly impossible challenges.
Have you found your "why" for the mountains you're climbing? Join our community of trail runners and share your story with us on social media or leave a review with your own experiences pushing beyond comfort zones.
Shout out to:
Michaela Trenidad
The Trenidad Family
The TriCities Wolfpack
Badger Mountain Challenge
Ben, Lance, Matt, Jason, Brandon and the rest of the Tri Cities running community.
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Kayla Trinidad how are you?
Speaker 2:I am soaking in a lot right now.
Speaker 1:Well, you've been through a lot. Yeah, to chop it up, because you had a certain someone in the community asking about beta details on your recent adventure or recent race, bigfoot 200. I was like sure, why not? But I didn't think it was going to be. I mean, yesterday was the final day yeah, it finished.
Speaker 2:13 hours ago was the official cutoff right 11.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:From the time we're recording right now, it was 11 pm on man, I'm even lost in what day it is, but it was 11 pm on Tuesday that the cutoff was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you finish what day? Sunday, monday.
Speaker 2:Monday Okay.
Speaker 1:I want everybody to know how much of a B BA, how you know a badass you are. You did it two days, two hours 29 minutes. Do you recall that I saw the official results?
Speaker 2:72, excuse me, 74 hours 74.
Speaker 1:So the official results on the yeah.
Speaker 2:Ultra signup just posted. Oh, it's ultra Sign-Up.
Speaker 1:I looked on Destination Trails.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:So 74 hours.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that one was confusing. It's like they took my last aid station time maybe, and put it in the finish time or something. Yeah, it was.
Speaker 1:I didn't know they did Ultra Sign-Up. I thought it was. Destination Trails was just Destination, destination trails and their own little get up they're ultra sign you think you spend so much money, you think they would update the website correctly. Well, my bad. When I saw it on destination trails, you, to put things in perspective you were only four runners away from goggins.
Speaker 2:Four, four runners, guys, four runners away from Goggins Four, four runners, guys, four runners. I think the final results were a little bit more than that, but I had in mind that he was up there somewhere.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what did he do 60 hours?
Speaker 2:Yeah, something in the 60s yeah.
Speaker 1:I think your last aid station and then his finish. It was only an hour away but, like I said, my bad Didn't know. Ultra sign up and destination trails. It's nothing yeah yeah, yeah, but still seeing that and you're four behind. Goggins says a lot, says a lot. It's crazy.
Speaker 2:What. There was just about every aid station station.
Speaker 1:There was mention of Goggins yeah, well, goggins, the man, he's been out. He's been away for five years working on his leg. I mean, I forgot what he had. Did he have, like some? He had something wrong with his leg that if he pushed in pushed in his leg it would. It looked like jelly almost. It was like almost a foam, like he slept on a foam. Yeah, it's crazy. Something happened to his leg. I don't recall what it was, but he took a step back after a few few big races and said, hey, I'm gonna work on myself. And then, man, I didn't think he was gonna go silent. And now he. Now he's back and now he's just cussing up a storm.
Speaker 2:Is he out interviewing and?
Speaker 1:posting more content.
Speaker 2:Or you just mean like, just in general, that's how he is. Yeah, just in general, that's how he is.
Speaker 1:I mean, you know, surprise mother, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, it's like come on and like right before he made a video, right before he went to the finish line, he was like you'll make me sick, you know. And yeah, yeah, yeah, he's a pretty funny guy. He'd be a fun guy to interview or just be around and chit chat not just take a picture, but chit chat, you know, see how he is? And, yeah, just only a couple big names know how he really is. But it's cool. It's cool to know that he's back and people are talking about him and everything else, whether it's the people who love him and also the haters. I think he loves the haters more than he loves the people that, like you know, ride his shoulders. Let's say, put nicer words.
Speaker 2:As far as like the comments about him being out there, most people are like oh, did you get a picture? Did you see, Goggins, did you hear him? But my favorite comment was coming up to Mount Margaret. I was with Lance Harp, another local runner.
Speaker 1:Yep, yep, yep, shout out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we were coming up to Mount Margaret.
Speaker 1:They had a photographer out there and the photographer said I actually got goggins to crack a flight smile, I think really. But he said but I didn't get it on camera so there's no proof, lies lies. He got it on camera. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think I think goggins overall you know great person I I think a lot of its show. I think deep down he is a great person and you know the cussing and everything else aside, man, he's an athlete. He's an athlete, but the way with the cussing and the way he is, it just you know better explains what he means.
Speaker 2:You know another I didn't realize that Is he. Is he mostly just in the ultra world? Is that where he's a big figure In my mind? He's in so many spaces. Yeah ultra or just his messaging is so broad that it's far beyond ultra. But it seems like my family, other friends outside of ultra running don't know who he is, don't know. He's just in the ultra world and it's surprising to me and put his body to the world and it's surprising to me and put, put in his body to the limit and that's what happened to his leg.
Speaker 1:I can't recall what happened because it's so far long ago, but he's I think he's a truer version of Cameron Haynes. Everybody knows Hank Haynes, you know, but I think Goggins.
Speaker 2:He Haynes, you know, but I think Goggins he's the one that's just out there to do it without the show. It's funny when I first met ultra runners and started getting into ultra running. So basically, brandon Lott, okay, yeah, how long ago.
Speaker 1:Was that Not trying to age? You just trying to figure out when you started getting in this game, and now you're busting out 200s like it's truth be told, I'm on ultra sign up.
Speaker 1:Anybody can find my age, okay, so no big deal right, yeah it's all good so there's a lot of people, a lot of podcasts out there that like to do the ultra sign up. Yeah, I, I don't do that. I I, I try to look at that, but I I lost touch with ultra sign up when it just didn't matter. It just doesn't matter. It's like any dog can have its day and when you don't have your day, you know they dock you for it. You know that percentage.
Speaker 2:Oh, I wasn't even thinking about that. I just mean from the perspective of finding races, finding, looking for the next adventure. Okay, that's what you mean. Okay, yeah, perspective of finding races, finding, looking for the next adventure.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's what you mean, okay yeah, but a lot of podcasts like to go back into the person's ultra sign up like, ah, that person doesn't matter, I'm not even gonna, I'm not even gonna do them, I'm not even gonna put them on. I'm not gonna put her on, I'm not gonna do yeah, there's a lot of people that do that they check your ultra sign up. I, on the other hand, I don't't. So my question when did you start?
Speaker 2:2022 is when I met, is when I met.
Speaker 1:Well, no 2022, and now you're knocking out 200s 2022.
Speaker 2:What, okay, so in 2022, I had moved back to the Tri-Cities.
Speaker 1:Dora Castaneda. Shout out to her. I follow her. She's always out, she's always outside.
Speaker 2:Yes, I owe so much to Dora.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So she and I had been connected about running for a while, for years, through other friends. And then she said, hey, I noticed like it looks like you're running back in the Tri-Cities here for a while, like are you moved back here? What's going on? And I said yeah, I'm back. She said, well, come and run with us 4.45 am, monday, wednesday, friday, come join us. I'm like, okay, I like morning running, that sounds great. So I go out there and I think like the first morning or so that I was out there, she's like Kayla, I'm running 100 miles in two months and you need to do it with me. And I was like you know what? This is a once in a lifetime thing. I, yeah, I need to do it with you, dora, yeah, and so we 2022.
Speaker 1:Three years passed and now you're busting out 200s. Is this your first 200? Yes, yeah, but then you knocked out the hundred, right, yeah, okay, I won't go. I won't ask what's next, but no, so what makes a person, three years down the road, go from zero to 200? Well, there's been a lot in between. Okay, a lot you moved.
Speaker 1:I know you've moved back to new mexico yeah okay, and that's why you're here, because you said hey, just got done, bigfoot, got tri-city, and you're gonna go back tomorrow. So I was like I and you're going to go back tomorrow. So I was like I can fit you in, let's go 12 o'clock.
Speaker 2:Here we are, here we are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:So Dora and I did the Badger Mountain Challenge together, and how awesome because we were training with local runners and then to get to celebrate with all of them at. Badger Mountain Challenge. I love the Badger Mountain Challenge for that.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And I love the Tri-Cities trail running community when you move away and you don't even realize what you've got here until you move away.
Speaker 1:Right, I'll just say that I got you I got you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, we were talking about ultra sign up down in. I now live in New Mexico and when you search for races near the Tri-Cities, if you search on ultra sign up, I need to find a race near the Tri-Cities. Yeah, you get more results than ultra sign up can spit out, right, okay, you search near Carlsbad, new Mexico, where I live, and I think you get eight, that's crazy.
Speaker 2:Why is that? Zero of them are 100 milers until, I think, 2024 was they finally brought in a 34-hour event? I think they're just using. Maybe they're just using different tools, but also there are very few hundred mile events in new mexico.
Speaker 1:Is it the weather, maybe?
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:It has to be, but this is no different. I mean, yeah, you know Ellensburg, you got the tree line. You have west side of Ellensburg, you got the east side of Ellensburg. Yes, you know each side has their seasons, but I'm curious why Newxico wouldn't have as many adventures you've been down there recently, love it, even though they have a bad rep of the least, I guess, the most dangerous state in the nation.
Speaker 1:Did you read that? No, yeah, I did read that. I'm going to check UltraSino, but I do follow a lot of New Mexico news and that's one of the things I'm like where at? Maybe Albuquerque, maybe Roswell, I'm not sure, but outside of those two cities it's a beautiful state.
Speaker 2:It is, it's a beautiful state. It is, it's a beautiful state. It is wild. The license plates say the land of enchantment.
Speaker 1:Yes, it is, it is.
Speaker 2:The desert is enchanting down there.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I would say that the mountain towns are the best.
Speaker 2:It reminds me of Tahoe actually. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Riedoso. Oh yes, riedoso. Right, is that how you pronounce it? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, yeah, it reminds me of Tahoe a little bit. Yeah, it's nice.
Speaker 2:And Taos. You went up near Taos as well, right, yep, yep. My husband and I were up there recently. Yeah, that's a great spot to visit.
Speaker 1:Going back, but by myself, next spring break to tackle the mountain by myself. Not going with anybody. Tired of that? Okay, that is a different story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, michaela okay, sorry the goggins, no, no, it's cool, it's cool no, it's great because it makes it feel like old times, you know.
Speaker 1:But yeah, goggins, you saw him from afar or you saw him near I didn't.
Speaker 2:I don't know that I ever saw him, no you. Or you saw him near. I don't know that I ever saw him, no you can't miss him.
Speaker 1:He's huge. He's a huge guy.
Speaker 2:Out of all the ultra runners we stick out, but there were 230 runners plus all the crew and pacers and supporters. There were so many people at this event and I wasn't particularly looking for you know I was. I had a couple of other locals from the Tri-Cities around me and we I don't know we were, we were doing our thing, you did you did run.
Speaker 1:I watched it very carefully because I've been cheering on Ben and trying to get Ben to just finish the race a hundred or more and I was watching and you did get some miles in with him.
Speaker 2:You bet I did. Yeah, that was part of the plan.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but then you got even some miles. I don't know that he knew it, but that was part of my plan.
Speaker 2:Okay, I really wanted to share miles with the runners that I knew that were out there and do what I could to support them. But then, yeah, I I needed to have, I needed to do my thing too.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and it looked like. You know, you guys were there for a little bit, but then you were smoking like, oh, my goodness, it was like back to the future. You know when they go back. You just flew by.
Speaker 2:And didn't look back. Okay, so they made some course changes in the couple of months leading up to this year's bigfoot. I don't know if they're permanent course changes or if that it seems like each year they have landslides probably there were fires that caused some of the changes. The the first change, I don't. I don't recall what the cause was. Either way, we started out with a 12-mile segment, as in from the starting line to the first aid station was 12 miles.
Speaker 2:Yeah that's nuts. And then there was a 25-mile section and keep in mind you're still right there by Mount St Helens.
Speaker 1:Right. Oh yeah, the Luit Loop.
Speaker 2:Well, I've never been over there before.
Speaker 1:Oh it's, beautiful, yeah, it's crazy yeah. It was so exposed.
Speaker 2:It was the grand tour of Mount St Helens. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we saw Mount St Helens from just about every angle. Oh yeah, and full-on experience through the blast zone, through lots of rocky sections all of that, the Luit Loop, lots of rocky sections, all of that.
Speaker 1:A lot of people, you know, give the enchantments we won't go there. This, this one, we won't go there, but the enchantments you know, it's due, it's it, it's glory, but there are so many other loops or places in and around the washington state that you don't need a permit and lewitt. Lewitt Loop is probably hands down the most underrated loop or trail system. You can ever ask for.
Speaker 2:So you know, what was so cool is I got to do that 25 mile segment with Ben. Oh, nice and so, yeah, we got to share a lot of time together and I hadn't really spent, you know well, definitely not one-on-one time with Ben, and so that was just awesome. I mean, he's such an awesome person and I knew that already going into it, and then, like really getting to know him, I was like what a special day He'll give you the shirt off his back, for sure.
Speaker 2:And he, he's been out there on that trail so much and he knows all these fun factoids about Mount St Helens. It was almost like having a tour guide, but like a fun one, you know, not just a boring tour guide Really like the best kind of tour guide out there is fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you'd spent 25 miles. Shout out to Ben, yeah, 25 miles with Ben, and then you didn't look back. I mean, you were blazing, you were blazing, I. There's one person that I know that is on that basically did the same thing not spend time with ben and then blaze, but just start, start at a moderate pace and then, while miles go, just nonstop, nonstop, and that's Deshauna Jo, did you?
Speaker 2:run into her. I don't Again.
Speaker 1:230 miles, 230 runners. There's only one Deshauna Jo.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I haven't met her.
Speaker 1:Shout out to her, she's a good friend. She's the reason why, after every episode since she's been on that I put a a missing and murdered. Indigenous awareness, women awareness on there.
Speaker 2:I remember listening to that podcast.
Speaker 1:It was very inspiring to joe and saying how much it mean to her like just life, you know on the reservation and how you know they they don't get as much help as they need, you know and I know there's an issue. So since then and to rise up from that yeah, yeah, and man, she is powering through 200 milers she did what was it she did? Did Cocodona? She did Crazy Mountain? I believe she did another mountain right before a race, right before this one.
Speaker 1:Like I said I don't look at ultrasound, but just don't. But yeah, she just knocks them out. And to ask her, when I asked her what her training was, did you know what? She told me she does 25 miles a week.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, she just goes outside she doesn't run.
Speaker 1:She does run, maybe like on a saturday, sunday, yeah, but she's just out 25 miles a week. That's crazy compared to a lot of other people yeah, yeah it.
Speaker 2:I guess, if that's what you do, what it takes to, but she just has grit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, grit, and I'll say you how many miles. Did you have a week training for this?
Speaker 2:My training plans. So I'd Okay, I'll just say roughly 40 miles a week was the goal. I think maybe it went up to 60. I don't even know, I don't. I mean I track, I keep all the numbers but I don't look at it often enough to really know it. Yeah, I think maybe I was doing 40 to 60 miles a week. But you know my, my training plans were set for roughly 40 miles a week and then life yeah, oh yeah, life, yeah, so so mostly give or take.
Speaker 1:What was your average, and I'm not trying to dissect it.
Speaker 2:I'm trying, I'm trying to put in perspective on.
Speaker 1:Like you know, people say more is more, more is better, but I the more. I am talking to the people who actually do it, like Deshauna Joe, a random forest runner. I had him on, forgot his name, but he won Barkley, you know, and everything else and he put 60, 60 flat out flat and he's an engineer, so you know he's going to do flat and he's very regimented and everything else. But the more I talk, the more I find out. Less is more.
Speaker 2:Less is better. In general, I'm shooting for the most mileage I can. That fits with life.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But it's probably right around 40 is about where I can manage.
Speaker 1:Right, Hiking, running, all like just keep moving, or do you Most? Of?
Speaker 2:it's running, running. But then you know, down in Carlsbad on the weekends I get out to the Guadalupes a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Can't help but slow down Right. And hike and enjoy it Gotcha. Especially this year it's been really rainy, and that means blossoming cacti everywhere it's amazing.
Speaker 1:Yes, nice, do you get the fruit? They're more, it's more in the fall okay, yeah, the prickly pears harvest the harvest what do you mean? The flowers, oh, the prickly pears.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah have you ever tried? Have you ever done? Have you done that? No, so the little spike, because they still have little spikes on them and those things are so annoying because we've I've done that right. I've had family members come and visit and it's charming, like, hey, the prickly pears are in bloom, let's have some right Trail side and those little, they're so fine. And the name prickly they mean it.
Speaker 1:It's true.
Speaker 2:They just stick into everything and then you think you got it off and you take a bite and now it's like sticking on your lip, your gums and your teeth. Yeah, never mind, but they're really great. They taste somewhere between I think somewhere between a kiwi and a raspberry.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I also heard they make the best jam as well.
Speaker 2:They're not bad, I don't know. I think some people try to spike it with other fruit. Gotcha, I call it spike. But you know, they're mixing a little raspberry to bump up the flavor.
Speaker 1:Gotcha. So what you're saying is it's sour.
Speaker 2:It's sour, okay, or just I don't know, maybe if you haven't picked the right ones, yeah, then you're not getting enough fruit flavor. That it's just kind of a, you know, just a sweet, just a generic sweetness, yeah so 40 give or take?
Speaker 1:did you have that in mind? What, what was? Let's say mindset during game day. When that came, how many miles did you think and believe you were going to finish the first day?
Speaker 2:Or do. So I went into it with the intention of I was not going to run the first day. Okay, right, so we started at noon Do?
Speaker 1:majority people run that.
Speaker 2:Depends on what you mean by the majority.
Speaker 1:Exactly, exactly, go ahead. I'm sorry to cut you off.
Speaker 2:And I mean, in truth, be told, when I look at ultra running, I do look at it as I think there's. I think we're just seeing the beginning of it, right. I think there's from 2022, when I started to. In the last three years, it is changing so much and 2025, even 2024, records are falling left and right. Oh yeah, right. So we're just seeing the beginning.
Speaker 1:I also think the reason why that is is PEDs. I'll let you know it's not sanctioned and I'm not bringing on anybody's parade, but until they figure that out, it's going to be Destination Trail and you know, Aravaipa, I'm going to cover my ears and do the la, la, la.
Speaker 2:I'm pretending not to hear this because I like to think that ultra running and the pure love of nature type trail races and records going down because there's no, yeah, no, uas for that.
Speaker 1:If once there's uas, a lot of people will not attend and give out the money. So, yeah, now is there a purse. I've been wanting to ask you is there a purse, purse for the top three runners on destination trails?
Speaker 2:I don't know. To be honest, I really don't know. I know on a lot of other places.
Speaker 1:They have purses for people who win. So I'm curious, if there's a purse, but once that purse goes away, a lot of people won't show up too. You know what I mean. But once that purse goes away, a lot of people won't show up too. You know what I mean. It really is messed up the more you look at it. But am I taking away their athleticism? Nah, I'll tell you this I was a huge fan of Lance Armstrong Still am.
Speaker 1:Did he have help? Yes, but man, that didn't change the way how he went up those hills and the mountains and rode like nobody's business. You help, yes, but man, that didn't change the way, how, how he went up those Hills, the mountains and road like nobody's business you know right.
Speaker 1:Barry bonds, you know didn't. Or Jose can say go, mark, why didn't it help them on the speed of the bat? Or the pop off the bat? Yeah, you know locate, you know the ball on the bat to get it over, and also I don't know it, just it's fun to watch, but it's also, I feel, is killing the sport too. And that's just me and sorry to say this on your podcast, no it's the truth.
Speaker 2:You can start to see it more and more that there's almost two fields. In my opinion, there's two different sides of ultra trail running. That you see. You see the side, the old school, where it's just you and nature and you're taking on that battle, yeah. And then there's the side where you've got all of the tech and the pressure to perform and the pacers, the crew and getting everything perfectly dialed in and get your blood tested and your sweat tested and all that.
Speaker 1:Yeah Right so.
Speaker 2:I'd say I'm old school.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's coming down to the high school too. You know that right Coaches are asking for blood tests so they can get the iron right and all that other stuff. Yeah, and that's a lawsuit waiting to happen. But there are schools, elite schools, in the top 25 of high school I'm just saying of high schoolers, the high school realm doing blood tests. That's crazy. Wow, that's nuts. For parents to even agree for a coach to get the you know the results, that's unheard of.
Speaker 2:No, I'm not that person, you know I love this idea of you know, pushing the limits, raising the bar right and and just like, and pulling as a team right to like, just bring it up a notch and encourage others that we can all raise it up.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and there are the people who we're talking about. They do do that, but there's the ugly side.
Speaker 2:I like the side of it though of raise it up in the purest way with raw grit. Deshauna, Jo grit.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, show me the UA, yeah, show me the UA, yeah, show me the UA yeah so three years in. Right, yeah, three years in, and I think there was a course record this year on Bigfoot Killian. Did he make the cut, the course record?
Speaker 2:Oh, again, I'm sorry I'm still digesting so much, I'm not. He probably did that guy is amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, did you see, did Ashley.
Speaker 2:Paulson also must have gotten awfully close. She was top 10. Oh yeah, I mean, that's very impressive for a woman to be up there in the top 10, such a strong field up there, men and women. Oh, yeah, so just very impressive for her to to push it to that limit, yeah. But yeah, you know, and he didn't he just break the killing. Sorry, back to killing. Didn't he just break the record at Tahoe?
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, yeah, it's crazy, it's crazy. But so, like, as I was watching you and Ben, you guys were like mile 20 to 30 together, right, and majority of the pack was around there to 50. Killian and Avery Collins and Brody Well, avery shot up front for a while, right, but then Killian, how it looked, he was in the 70s, he was like 30 miles away from the top dog, okay, and then all of a sudden from last time I saw it, when he was in the 70s with the main pack, like Goggins and all that stuff he shot up 30 miles and then ended up 10 miles ahead of Avery Collins. I'm like wow, did Avery take a long nap or get sick?
Speaker 2:or something.
Speaker 1:But it was nuts that he did like almost 60 miles like that.
Speaker 2:So okay, so there's a couple different factors you have to consider when watching those live streams. I know one of the aid stations I came into and they said my tracker was not functioning so they had to go and make some adjustments on it. And then I know too, when I finished, I think it said I was still back to aid stations when I would actually cross the finish line already. Yeah, so there's, there's that right live tracker. The the spot trackers do glitch a little bit everywhere.
Speaker 1:Did you see that they had been everywhere? Yeah, like he was off track, he was like miles off track. But I looked on others and, yeah, ben was the only one that looked like he messed up somewhere. I'm like, oh, it even looked like he got a ride somewhere. It was it's weird. But then you looked on everybody else's and they were just fine. Oh weird, yeah, but you think you spend that much money. You think they're, they'll be flawless I don't know that there's.
Speaker 2:I don't know that there's a spot tracker system out there yet that has. That's accurate. That's that's.
Speaker 1:If you look, they're pretty good if you look at the pack there there's the leaderboard, but then there's like oh gosh, I forgot how it was. But if you look at the leaderboard on destination trails you'll see there's this little icon right by leaderboard somewhere around there. You can see on everybody's pace and momentum. And you look at Killian's, at that time it just surpassed everybody. Maybe his tracker was messed up, but the guy, he was in the pack, and then all of a sudden he's 10 miles ahead of the pack.
Speaker 2:And then he's in the zone, flying from the pack. Do you know roughly what mileage that was at? And then he's in the zone. Yeah, flying from the pack.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you know roughly what mileage that was at the surge? Yeah, it was from 70 to 110.
Speaker 2:70?
Speaker 1:70, because he was in the pack. Okay, he was in the pack with the gang, with the front.
Speaker 2:There was really fun terrain from about mile 70 to 100.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Right, yeah, it's the kind of stuff that you would fly on if you're, if you're used to, Then that that's probably what he did, because it was. If you saw the momentum his just skyrocketed. I mean, it was almost a 90. Yeah, and then you said to 110, yeah, the 110 and then he didn't look back. It was almost avery caught him.
Speaker 2:They were like probably a three to four miles apart and then killian, just yeah, out of the water, oh yeah. And then at 110, you hit this unbelievable. I surprised you remember a shocking wall?
Speaker 1:Yeah that, that's crazy.
Speaker 2:There's what I remember are like the spots that were exceptionally fun and then the spots that were exceptionally not fun. Yeah, or I shouldn't say not fun, but just surprising challenges.
Speaker 1:I should say what was the most challenging thing? Like for that Tricidian that asked for some beta, what was the most challenging about it?
Speaker 2:You wouldn't believe this, but I think the number one, my opinion, I've heard others.
Speaker 2:Well, in others that I was talking to at the finish line, others who finished, I think there was general agreement that there was about seven-mile section. That was a very mild climb. But those who were doing that at the same time as I was, we were doing that overnight and that was night number three. Uh-huh, it was brutal. I had every intention. Until I hit that seven-mile section. I was planning to just keep pushing through the last two aid stations and just get done. Why? Because I just wanted to be done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:From about Sunday morning. I was like I have plenty of time, but I just want to be done.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I was just going to push on through, but that seven miles of it was just a mile. It was a mild uphill.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But it was just something about it was so monotonous.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And that was one of the that was the last minute course change that they had to make no complaints. Right, destination Trail. You did what you had to do.
Speaker 1:Kansas is good at what she does, make no complaints. Right destination trail. You did what you had to do. Kansas is thankful. Yes, did what you had to do.
Speaker 2:The big bucks but I also I also did it wrong. There I was, I still had some pretty good momentum came up on a pack of runners and thought, well, it's nighttime, maybe I'll, maybe I'll, you know, have some company here for a little bit. But then they were at more of a walking hiking pace and I was still like an easy jog on this mild uphill.
Speaker 1:Jogging uphill guys, not power hiking jogging uphill guys. Okay, keep going, keep going.
Speaker 2:But I slowed down just to have some company for a little bit and it just, you know, it just that was just another segment of not going at, you know, going at a different pace, and all that than what I had trained at, and I think my body was just like nope.
Speaker 1:Overexerted a bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's where. So somewhere in that seven miles my knee said no, thank you and that was what mile again seven miles before twin sisters. I should just have the aid station chart right so twin sister?
Speaker 1:is that the?
Speaker 2:second to last aid station. Second to last. Yeah, I am going to pull the aid station.
Speaker 1:So you have, like what? Less than 20 miles left.
Speaker 2:No, because from. Twin Sisters, you have 27 miles to go.
Speaker 1:So less than 30. Yeah, so 30. Okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I guess you're about 170.
Speaker 1:So you could easily have said okay, my knee is shot, I'm done.
Speaker 2:Could have, but I was like there's no way.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:You don't have that much time left and you know, go in and say I'm done. You go to the aid station and you start problem solving. What are we going to? All right, what tools do I have here to help me out? And I was waiting for a medic because it was middle of the night when we got to twin sisters waiting for a medic to to talk to them, see if we could tape it up or something, and I fell asleep. And I have no idea how many hours. I'm pretty sure I was there somewhere between two to five hours sleeping well, that's good.
Speaker 1:It was much needed. Well, I you know, what your time?
Speaker 2:I woke up and my knee felt a lot better. I still taped it, just yeah, just, you know reassurance, but I don't know, it was a little bit disappointing because again I had, I had the mindset coming into it like I could just, I can just get a little caffeine, just enough to just keep pushing through 27 miles. After all that, like it's nothing but you had the goal right.
Speaker 1:You had a goal to finish. At what time, when? And I and I talked to you about it through text what? What was the time?
Speaker 2:so I I thought that sub under 80 hours was was a pretty comfortable goal for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I had stretch goals that I maybe could have. Well, you have to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, within the 200 mile range yeah, come on.
Speaker 2:Give yourself some credit, give yourself some credit.
Speaker 1:Okay and how? All right, 80 hours Under 80. And so what did you end up getting? You did six or seven. 74 hours Under 80. And so what did you end up getting? You did six or seven 74 hours and nine minutes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so beat it by about six hours. Are you happy with that, yes, because I had a plan and I got to stick to that plan and then, if nothing else, that plan just got elevated because I had some surprise yes, yes, okay, people from the running community, yes, and anybody from the new mexico running community come see you no, they had, they were.
Speaker 2:They were blowing it up on on. You know we have. We have groups out there on facebook and strava and they're blowing it up on. You know. We have groups out there on Facebook and Strava and they're blowing it up out there like with all their support. And I didn't have any kind of. I kept my phone on airplane mode the entire time, so I had no connection with all that, but I knew that there was a positive vibe coming through. You could still feel it. People were watching it, yeah.
Speaker 1:I was watching it.
Speaker 2:I was watching it. Yeah, I was watching, I was watching. But yeah, new mexico has been incredibly supportive and yeah, look at the terrain yes. So the interest interesting thing is down in carlsbad there's no running groups, there's not even a. There's not even a. I haven't seen that there's a consistent annual 5k like a road 5k. Yeah, every town has a 5k. Carlsbad does not have a consistent annual 5k that I've seen funds.
Speaker 1:I mean, is it, what is it? Is it all political, you like? Is it bureaucratic nonsense trying to get something going with, you know, the city of Carlsbad to get a race going?
Speaker 2:I don't know, I don't think it's that. I think when you look at what's going on in the Tri-Cities, you see people in the community who have such a passion for it that they just make it happen and they sustain it because they love it. And we're starting to find we're starting to build that in carlsbad, so maybe it's I. I'm trying, you know, as much as I, as much as I can, I yeah, I bring a passion to it yeah, you do for the three years.
Speaker 1:I thought it was longer but, man, the more I I interview the runners. You know, as of lately, they all started 2018 or later you know, not like 2010 or, you know, early 2000s okay, so maybe I should back.
Speaker 2:There's a couple of small snapshots before the 100 miler.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Okay, in 2021, there was one race I did in the Tri-Cities Because at the time I was living in Virginia, right near the Appalachian Trail.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:But I came back. We happened to be here in March of that year, so I ran the race up the snake. At that time it was oh yeah. Now it's shifted to Lalique.
Speaker 1:Yep, yep so.
Speaker 2:I ran that it's.
Speaker 1:Albertson's race.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm, yep, yep, okay, I was two months postpartum when I ran that.
Speaker 1:Ladies, they're amaze me Okay.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm going to give you one more nugget that will blow your mind, because it still blows my mind and I'm not saying this to brag, but I just want to put this out there because, women, you have so much more strength and power in you than you even realize.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, Absolutely.
Speaker 2:It was two months postpartum. Women, you have so much more strength and power in you than you even realize. Oh yeah, absolutely, it was two months postpartum. I set the Strava record on the goat hill Really. It is, I can't break it. Nobody has broken that record yet. Is that the year that it was blizzard no. It was really cold. Okay, the blizzard that day.
Speaker 1:I will never forget the blizzard. That day I will never forget the blizzard race there. No, it was fun. I think a lot of people would forget that. Yeah, yeah the lady, what you were saying. Yeah, ladies, do have more than what they have.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They just have to get it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you got it, you got it, you got it and congrats, congrats well, and especially after you do, if you have the opportunity or if it's right for you to become a mom and you go through the childbirth process. There's a lot of like lessons about your body and all that that you get to gain that you can carry into other aspects of life. So there's a lot of like lessons about your body and all that that you get to gain that you can carry into other aspects of life. So there's that too yeah, anyway, proof, okay.
Speaker 1:so the least favorite part, or the challenging part, was a seven miles, 30, less than 30 miles away from the finish, but you did it.
Speaker 2:You know, let me just give you more perspective on this.
Speaker 2:Okay, so again, we're doing our best to charge up this long, long, slow hill, and it's like every race has its spot where there's all this carnage, and this hill in the middle of the night was the spot for the carnage.
Speaker 2:I mean, over the course of every mile, throughout that seven miles, somebody was on the side of the road sleeping or puking, or something Like every single mile there was a body, yeah, so it was like the stretch of carnage. There was one person who you know I, he as I was, as I was coming by him, he said all right, I'm gonna try to keep pace with you for a little while, right, and so he picked up with me and then, after a while, I think, he said he needed to go close his eyes for a minute. So he became carnage for a few minutes. What was cool is then I don't know some 15, 20, 30 minutes I don't know how much longer he came cruising by, right, he just needed that little power nap and he's like I'm so done with this, I'm just going to run this out and did he.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he, yeah, he made it up to the top, maybe 20 or 30 minutes before I, before I got there, but it was just. It was inspiring, right, he were feeding off of each other's energy. I was, I had it, and then he had it, and then I picked up on his energy again. It was good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so what after the seven miles or during the seven miles of struggle? What mindset, I mean. What flip of a switch did you do? I mean, what do you tell yourself to completely finish the race instead? Of you know saying I quit.
Speaker 2:Well, at that point you're like it's only after all this, like there's just one more aid station. Yeah right, just get to one more aid station. Oh oh, it's 16 miles.
Speaker 1:I'm terrible I should know you're good, I'm gonna call it 16 miles. Yeah, you know, bigfoot, mind I. I mean days from finishing. Yeah, a day or two from finishing and now you're on a podcast.
Speaker 2:But here was the added challenge for that 16 miles To get all right 16 miles to the next aid station and then 11 miles to the finish. Yeah, you know, if you break that down over the course of a 200, 16 miles, that's all right, that's manageable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then anything in that perspective, in that mindset yeah, it's manageable. Yeah, now if you were struggling, at 110, then.
Speaker 2:And in my mind, the we had already gone through the, through the bulk of the climbs right, Right For roughly 42,000 feet of elevation gain total. We have gone through. There was still one more Pompeii, but I felt like we were, for the most part, close to the last. Maybe there was another 2,000 or 3,000 feet of climbing, I don't know. Not that much, not that much. So one last climb and then we're all downhill.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, and that's why you kept telling yourself that, yeah, you kept telling yourself.
Speaker 2:Downhill is so fun.
Speaker 1:Downhill after 42,000 feet Okay.
Speaker 2:It's funny, that's my, that's my joke, every joke, every every mountain race.
Speaker 1:I'm like I'm here for the downhill party yeah, no, it that that it hurts after a while it hurts. You know people are finding out real quick on asgard pass. I say asgard, a lot of people say I say it wrong. But just recently somebody tried to go down asgard Pass and ended up breaking an ankle down the wrong. It's like come on, you don't do that yeah so. But yeah so you learned a lot. You still learning, still recovering, yeah, mentally.
Speaker 2:I tell you what coming out of Twin Sisters into that 16 mile segment, right, so I had a rough patch coming into twin sisters, had a good re-energizing visit there. Yeah, I'm like, okay, got my knee taped, got refueled, ate a bunch, got my pack all ready to go. Let's do this yeah there's a big garbage can right there. As I'm exiting the aid station Threw up in it three times.
Speaker 1:I've never thrown up running Good thing there than 99, mile 99 or mile 78.
Speaker 2:Maybe Maybe I don't know, it can really I mean mentally and emotionally and physically destroy you, yeah, I guess, and I was just like, well, I guess that was just another step in the process, let's go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right.
Speaker 2:Because I was just so determined to be done?
Speaker 1:Was it nerves, you think?
Speaker 2:I maybe between I had I had just drank a lot of water at that aid station, Okay, and I think I don't from from from all I've listened to and learned through about trail running, there's this balance and this is one of the key balances in ultra and trail running If you take too much water without enough electrolytes, you're going to be puking.
Speaker 2:If you take too much electrolytes in your hydration, it's going to be coming out the other end too much. So there's this perfect balance. And then every race is going to be so different, because when it's hot you're going to need more of the electrolytes, but then yeah, but then if it's high in elevation you need more electrolytes, but then you know there's so many balances, but you figured it out though. For a good chunk of the race, but then I don't know, there's always there's too many factors. You killed it though.
Speaker 1:You killed it. Shush, you're top 10 of females, correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:Female number nine there you go, give yourself some credit. I know it's only a day or two from from, you know your complete race, but still it's like are are you understanding what you just did? Or do you understand the 200 miles and what? How many hours?
Speaker 2:74 something like this, to me, is so surreal, like the fact that the fact that we that I, I through that yeah, that I have that, that I get to do things like that is just surreal yeah like leading up to the starting line. Yeah, is this really happening? At the finish, did that really happen?
Speaker 1:I don't know do you think you can do that without race? Can you go on your own adventure like that, or do you need a race to push yourself the way you just did?
Speaker 2:you mean. So, if I, if I understand the question right, you're asking could I run 200 miles in 74 hours just on my own?
Speaker 1:yeah, good, or could you have as much excitement as you did in just a regular adventure, that's don't have to pay two thousand four thousand dollars oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's every weekend, okay. So maybe to help put it into perspective, to be able to fit ultra running into my life and to be able to get the training in and do it in a way that speaks to I. Do it because I love it, right, okay, and so my training runs. I want those to be something that I love also. It right, okay, and. And so my training runs. I want those to be something that I love also. I don't I I really have a hard time just running out the front door because that's, that's just not. I don't have a love for. It's not fun.
Speaker 1:My neighborhood yeah, it's not fun.
Speaker 2:I did it this morning and but you know it's toward an end goal, it's towards some kind of a goal that there's a love for that goal, whatever you're you're heading for. So sometimes what I will do just to be able to do the training the way that I love I will, with with amazing loving support from my husband I will get the kids off to bed and then I go pack everything up, go sleep at the trailhead and get up at three in the morning, get my miles in and try to get home before noon.
Speaker 1:That's how. That's the way to do it.
Speaker 2:That's how I do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when I was not cancer and injured. Yeah, that's what I did always, or I'll leave at three o'clock in the morning, get by the trailhead or on the trailhead before like eight. If anything after eight. It's like oh God, it's not good.
Speaker 1:I'm doubting myself or like I'm like OK, I need to get this mile in to this so I can be home by six at the evening, but that's awesome. Yeah, so you're. You're one of the original people that go from sleep at the trailhead, get the early morning start and then be done by noon or be back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I want a good chunk of that day with my family.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, Totally good Now. I always got a complaint of being too tired when I get back and not being functional. Yeah, I had to change that up a bit. So what I did was continue to sleep at the trailhead, not drive early in the morning. But sleep or you know, drive that evening, the next morning wake up and then that makes a big difference, don't you?
Speaker 1:think yeah, oh, a huge difference. So I always will go to the trailhead the night before, fall asleep and then start like buck crack at dawn, like four or five o'clock.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when, when your family and those around you can kind of wrap their minds around the fact that that actually does make more sense to do it that way, it it? Yeah, that's it. All in all, it works out better for the next day being able to have a better day with the family.
Speaker 1:For sure. And, uh, one of the one of the training grounds that I am mostly talking about is Smith Rock. I will drive there and be back by five o'clock in the evening and, do you know, do 24 miles and come back by five.
Speaker 2:Like it's crazy.
Speaker 1:I can't do it anymore. I can't do it, I can't do it, but totally understand what you're saying Now, are 200s the limit or are you going to push it?
Speaker 2:So, to be honest, right around mile 150, 160, I was having so much fun on that trail I mean there's Said no one ever but you.
Speaker 2:But right around and ironically, maybe that slow forest road climb had to do with it but right around 150, 160 I I also decided that that's probably about as far. That would be my preferred distance. I don't, I don't think I need to do another 200 for a while. It's it's not my thing. You know what it really was. The hallucinations, yeah, I, after a while I could not enjoy the wilderness the way that I typically like to.
Speaker 1:Yeah I, daytime or nighttime, it did not matter daytime hallucinations are worse than nighttime in my book, and the reason why is because when you're at night you have the, the flash or the, you know the light, sure you only have, you only see things in front of you yeah, daytime hallucinations you're, oh wow you see it from your peripheral.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the worst feeling ever. So I understand, and philip lowry, who ran the race with you as well this year, talked and other people have talked about bigfoot 200, that one, because you're on like this, uh, native land, the hallucinations run higher in that area than any other place forgot what it's called.
Speaker 2:But but uh by chances, lewis river or quartz ridge, I'm not, I'm not sure where it was.
Speaker 1:I know it's heavily wooded and it is a section that people have that I've put on the podcast, talked about that area, yeah, and they start seeing things and, yeah, it's mostly at night.
Speaker 2:And it was. It was, I mean, it was every time I would look up from the dirt underneath my foot. Something was and it wasn't. It wasn't scary or anything like that, it was just. It was just. I didn't, I didn't need it, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's like you're tripping, yeah, I mean, you know. Yeah, it's like you're on something and all you're on is a caffeine, electrolytes, water, caffeine.
Speaker 2:And then you're, you're like well, I'm tripping balls, but I'm not even on anything and lots of wraps yeah, okay, so what overall?
Speaker 1:what did you learn in your 200?
Speaker 2:the sleep. The sleep element was very and I heard this over and over and over leading into it that the sleep part of it was different. Everybody that I met who had done 200s you know they knew that I'd run hundreds but not 200s and so that was their first question what's your sleep strategy? Yeah, I had done hundreds that are longer, hundreds that are longer. So in those I had the experience of, okay I'm just when my body is like falling asleep on the trail, I'm either going to take a quick trail nap or I will just try to keep it to like a 15 minute here and there when I need it, or whatever my body needs when I need it. That's what I'm going to do.
Speaker 1:Were the trail naps easier or difficult than you thought? That's what I'm going to do.
Speaker 2:Were the trail naps easier or difficult than you thought. I ended up not sleeping at a trail nap as in like just finding a soft patch. Yeah, I ended up not doing any trail naps.
Speaker 1:That's dangerous.
Speaker 2:I don't know how people do it. It's a matter of need. If it's needed, you just do it. Yeah, I take that back. I did, I did, I don't. Maybe I slept, maybe not I. On the on again, the, the, the forest road, the, the infamous seven mile forest road yeah. I stopped and was stretching my legs and I actually even sat down to like do some some good hamstring stretches and all that, and I let my eyes close while stretching. So I don't know if that counts as stretching or sleeping.
Speaker 1:Both.
Speaker 2:Yeah, stretch sleep. But also, speaking of sleep, I'm pretty convinced that you can sleep while walking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, while walking You're doing that. Yeah, I mean, I have my poles out, I'm just Walking, you were doing that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I have my poles out. I'm just in such a rhythm going up that road. I'm just like I'm just going to close my eyes and move.
Speaker 1:And you didn't find yourself like a drunken person you know, going side to side, Not too bad.
Speaker 2:The road was. It was a, you know, for a forest road. It was in pretty good condition.
Speaker 1:Good thing there wasn't a cliff, there were well okay, I might have made some different decisions if there was a cliff, but quite a few cliffs, that's what I'm saying like wow, that's, that's dangerous. Yeah, you did it, you did it. So for that tricidian who wants beta, people who are listening overall and thoughts results, what what have you thought of like?
Speaker 2:I know like what's the secret?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah. What's the trick?
Speaker 2:well, yeah, and how did you do it mental? It is like purely, yeah, I and it's not even. It's not even like, oh, I'm mentally strong or anything it's. I'm mentally coming into this like this is just a mission or this is something I have to do. I think I had thought about it so much, leading into it, of why I wanted to do it, that I was convinced that I just I had to do it. I had no other options, right Almost to the point of it being like life or death in a way, like I just I have to do this. There was no doubt in my mind that I I mean, okay, in all fairness, there were a lot of unknowns about what I was going to face, and I respect that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you have to but you conquered it though. You conquered it, yeah, but you made it.
Speaker 2:But I just think have to, but you conquered it though. You conquered it all. Yeah, you made it, but I just think that is so, so you made it your own. I can't stress that enough, though that how important that is, to have no, to have your why? Okay, I think that that holds true for 100 miles and for 200 miles.
Speaker 1:And what was your? Why, if you don't mind me asking three years in it and you're doing a 200 mile what is your why?
Speaker 2:you know, the why for when I signed up was different than the why for when I ended up is it to show your daughter that you're capable? No, I would love, I would love it if she's, if she isn't, whatever she chooses to do, that she chooses to do something and endures and, you know, perseveres into whatever she chooses to do. But when I first signed up, we it was actually a group of us from the Tri-Cities we had signed up for the Tahoe 200 for 2024.
Speaker 1:And it snowed out right, wasn't it, no, weathered out?
Speaker 2:I had a family event come up.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:A very celebration. My sister became the commander of the USS Constitution. Oh, wow, so we were celebrating in Boston. Heck, yeah. Yes, so I could not be in Tahoe when I was celebrating in Boston. Yes, so I could not be in Tahoe when I was celebrating in Boston, but that meant that I had to defer my destination trail entry. I didn't have to, but I chose to, and when I stopped to think about it, the destination trail race that I wanted and preferred was Bigfoot. Right when I talked to Brandon Lott and Matt Newton, the gurus- Giddy up.
Speaker 2:They said that was the one that was I'd take.
Speaker 1:Tahoe.
Speaker 2:I'd take Tahoe yeah.
Speaker 1:Over Bigfoot.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm not a, it's just different. It feels different. It's just different. Scenery Helen's is beautiful. Different, it feels different, it's just different. Scenery helens is beautiful, but the back, the back country, from tahoe to washington or san luis I love the idea of this dark, thick forest, and you know how that's where, challenging that's where challenging.
Speaker 2:That sounds I got you and and my mindset going into it was like I'm gonna think of this dark forest as embracing right. It's almost like this.
Speaker 1:This forest is like yeah, would you have done it without your entourage? Yeah, yeah you would have done it without anybody, like lance. And yes, you've really yes.
Speaker 2:Okay, In fact, that was my plan up until just a couple days before, and then I had no idea that Lance Colby and Natalie were going to be there.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it was a surprise.
Speaker 2:It was Well. Again, it was a nice surprise. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Huge surprise.
Speaker 2:Like I said, I'm more old school. Huge surprise. Like I said, I'm more old school. I like this idea of out there and conquering whatever it is that you are going to face.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And not try to. But don't get me wrong. I welcome Pacers, crew and all that for them to have an experience. I got you. If somebody wants to see what is a Bigfoot like I, welcome them to come and have an experience. I got you. If they, if somebody wants to see what is a bigfoot like I, I welcome them to come and and have an experience you want to know what a bigfoot is, just do the 20 mile or the 40, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know a lot of people don't do the cutoffs. They get the cutoffs on the 40 miler. No, yeah, when I did it, there's a 40 mile. Or a lot of people didn't make cut off because there's a rope section.
Speaker 2:Oh, I know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you weren't on that rope at a certain section, they will cut you off, and that was like half the fuel.
Speaker 2:I got a great picture of Ben on that rope. Yeah yeah, nice, that was good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's different. Destination Trails is quite the Destination Trail LLC or organization, whatever they have at the end of it. But yeah, definitely, if you want to experience it, not full-fledged in the 200, just do the 20 or the 40. You get your cake and eat it too, and then you'll find out that your 20-miler it lasted six hours or less or seven hours. And you're okay with it yeah. You're okay with it because you did it. That's the toughest 20 miles you'll ever do.
Speaker 2:Yes, for real, even. I mean even, or even just to. You don't even have to sign up for the race, just to go there, be there among those amazing trail people, just do a little loop and yeah, like go. Hey, I just want to go see what this section of the course is like and just go check it out. Yeah, all the information about the course is out there on the internet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I think a lot of people need that race just to like push them, push them. They just need that, that push from a race that they can't get when not in a race.
Speaker 2:You think about some of the elements that come in, like the camaraderie. Right, there's other people who are, who are facing the same challenges. Yeah, the, the aid stations, the aid, oh, the volunteers do so much, right, you, you come in and they've got a full menu. They've got hot food, cold drinks everything you could imagine Outside of Badger Mountain Challenge.
Speaker 1:They got the best entourage out there and Jason Rutherford does a good job for Badger Mountain Challenge.
Speaker 2:Does an outstanding job.
Speaker 1:It is shout out to jason, the best in the pacific northwest yes, I would say so, but I best in washington state by far. So do you think we gave your friend enough beta or do we need to go more?
Speaker 2:It's more mental, so one more thing that was a shock to many of the many of the the 200 milers right after you've hit a hundred miles Right, and so this was, this was a. This was a fun thing for someone like me who's not done a 200 miler right after you've reached 100 miles a lot of people haven't done two right, okay, so so you get to so you get to the lewis river aid station, 101 miles.
Speaker 2:The next section you're going up to quartz ridge and it's 18 miles, right after you just hit 100 miles, right. And so now you're like, okay, now I, now I'm going to a new limit and the last. Let's see you go eight miles in and it's this fun kind of up and down, more down than up, going down to the river Maybe it's the Quartz River, I don't know A couple of river crossings there, but then eight miles miles. It felt like it was almost eight miles continuous of a steep and I mean a steep, yeah, climb, I don't again. This was another middle of the night section. This was the second night. So this is where hallucinations and and well, I don't even like to call them hallucinations, it's just like my brain is just trying to like make sense of things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I got you.
Speaker 2:But when it's trying to make sense of it, it turns into an elf, a suit of armor, a wedding dress.
Speaker 1:Your daughter, your husband, just weird things out there, what you're going to eat.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I saw the aid station at least a dozen times before I actually got to the real aid station. Right, because my brain is is trying to make sense of it anyway, this eight miles of almost continuous climbing, I I would venture to guess that quartz ridge was probably the highest drop rate in this race.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Because that climb was killer.
Speaker 1:Did you find yourself tackling the hills easily or fluently more in the dark or during the day when there's light?
Speaker 2:It depends.
Speaker 1:What did you feel was the best answer for that? Did you enjoy the hills by not seeing it from A to B, or did you like to see what was coming?
Speaker 2:up going across this course because every time you just want to power up as quickly as you can and I knew too that I needed to use my arms, needed to use my poles as much as I could, and so just pole placement and being able to take quicker steps up the hills was became very intentional. So I was just really focused in on, like my body movement. Normally I'm focused more on the trail and the steps and where am I going to get even just a couple of flat steps to stretch my legs a little bit different how my body is moving through that hill, and it made a big difference whether it was daytime in a thick forest or daytime in I don't know what it was. The sun was just sweltering. And this was, you know, down in New Mexico. I'm up at 3,000 to 9,000 feet. My home is at 3,000 feet. I train at 6,000 to 9,000 feet. My home is at 3,000 feet, I train at 6,000 to 9,000 feet. The sun is it's different.
Speaker 2:Yes, and you're getting sun everywhere. You go down there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But here I don't know what it was. I guess it had to have been humidity. I can't think of any other reason why the sun would have felt as intense as it did in there but humidity and just something about that forest just trapping the heat in there was really a different element.
Speaker 1:No, breeze.
Speaker 2:But it was overall. I was still very thankful for the trees. I mean, they bring just a warmth, a different element well, shade different elements shade shade lots of shade.
Speaker 1:Okay, you think your tricidian will be pleased on the beta. Just the mindset and it's more mental I hope so, but there's there's so much to it, I mean we can spend hours on just dissecting it. Do you think we did it justice? I mean, even though it's been a little 24 hours since the last person DFL, and then you finished two, three days ago.
Speaker 2:Well, I think the other thing is, you know, I have one view of Bigfoot. I think when you talked with Lance Har lance harp, he's probably mentioned bigfoot, although his bigfoot he did bigfoot last year and his was different. They had a lot of course challenges last year, so it was a very different course last year but still it's a.
Speaker 2:it's still the same forest. A lot of similar challenges to face, but and he would have a very different strategy Brandon Lott would have a very different strategy, I mean everybody has a different strategy for it.
Speaker 1:Brandon will tell you that, the way you know he leans, his strategy on when he leans and when he doesn't lean, and he'll tell you if he's leaning. He has to change something up. And Brandon's a good guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:He's been very quiet lately. He's been injured, correct, hasn't he?
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's working through some different things, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know, injury was stopping him a bit. But, like the last year not this last year, but the year before I saw him with Mr Giddy Up and Giddy Up's son and that was the last time I seen them actually on top of McBee training for their 10th 100.
Speaker 2:For Badger oh for yeah when Matt earned 10.
Speaker 1:I think it was 9th or 10th. I think it was 9th.
Speaker 2:Matt has 10.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I saw him when he was doing ninth Okay, training for his ninth one Okay. That was the last time I've seen him, but a lot has changed he's very much in the thick of things.
Speaker 2:still, he was out there at Badger Mountain Challenge in this 2025 running. He was out there at aid stations and whatnot. Running right, he was out there, uh, at aid stations and whatnot, I think he was. He was contemplating, maybe heading over to bigfoot to, to you know to join the festivities there too.
Speaker 1:It just didn't work out, but that's okay if he has, if you have his name and his reputation, he can do pretty much whatever he wants. He just has to give canvas call like hey, can I hang out?
Speaker 2:and like yeah, sure, yeah you spent enough money, you can but also anybody who's ever contemplating, contemplated a 200 I don't know you're toying with. Hey, maybe someday possibly go out there and volunteer at at the 200 and see, see what it what they go through. Yeah, oh yeah, and not to like scare anybody away, but you can better, be better prepared yeah, there's.
Speaker 1:There's been complaints and there's also people been disqualified on uh races for treating volunteers poorly there there too oh yeah, yeah. They gotta no f around to find out policy.
Speaker 2:If you treat them like crap, they will kick you out cocodona as well yeah, you can't complain with that, I mean, you can't disagree with that, I mean yeah, these guys are volunteering, yeah the event wouldn't happen if if those angels weren't out there. I call them aid station angels. They're not volunteers, they're aid station angels.
Speaker 1:So learned a lot. Are you going back or are you done for 200s?
Speaker 2:I have other things, so the other thing is back in the April-May timeframe. I was really, to be honest, I was really struggling with why am I doing Bigfoot? July is the big mountain running season and if I ran anything else in July that would pretty well sabotage.
Speaker 1:So you had to hold back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I hate that. I hate that, no, but it all worked out. Because I had the opportunity to go volunteer at Hard Rock yeah, I hate that. I hate that, no, but it all worked out. Because I had the opportunity to go volunteer at Hard Rock, yeah, and you know, otherwise I might have just waited until my name got pulled in the lottery someday. So it was, and that was such an important experience to have this year. So I guess, in a way, thank you, bigfoot, for bringing me closer to hard rock, a better understanding of hard rock.
Speaker 1:Okay, how about?
Speaker 2:that yeah, no, but I do need to. I have a list of things I'd like to try in the hundred mile space that I want to work more on that list before I go back to 200,. I think I want to work more on that list before I go back to 200, I think, although Candice says that she's possibly going to have a Colorado 200 in 2027.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Depending on what time of year it is.
Speaker 1:That's not the one that Mike and Ben Light are part of. Right, They've got their own thing correct. I'm not sure I recall they were trying to get something going, a huge race like a 250 or 300 in colorado ben light and mike mcknight I'm not sure if what came about that, but it might have you know, yeah, put her little fillers in and made it her own.
Speaker 2:Let's see In 2024 was the first running of the Summit 200. And that's in like the Breckenridge area.
Speaker 1:It might have been. I think they have that. I don't know. But she's putting a 200 in Colorado.
Speaker 2:She's working on it. There's some who don't think it's going to happen because they say, oh, there's been too many race directors trying to put more races in Colorado and permits just aren't going through. But Candice, I heard her say that she feels that she really has a lot of experience in the permitting space and she's confident she's going to just continue working through it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Okay. Well, shout out to Candice again. I think she should put something together in the New Hampshire Vermont area.
Speaker 2:That you know that's a good point. I don't know much about that area, but it certainly sounds like it has a lot to offer.
Speaker 1:I think that would be the first one I even attempt of hers. If she puts something in the Northeast, it's just weird, it's just different. The mountains hit different there. And you know, I can have my cake and eat it too If I just go up, you know, bigfoot or Tahoe, or Cocodona I mean, I've thought of Cocodona for the longest time, even signed up for.
Speaker 2:And now it's going to be, it's heck, it's really yeah. It's a circus trying to get in, and all that now.
Speaker 1:So I found out that you know I'll do my races, my fixed races, now that you know I'm in remission and everything else, and didn't want to do too many.
Speaker 2:High fives, high fives, brother, too many races.
Speaker 1:So I signed up for one. I deferred it last year because I was in treatment during the race. It's across the years, doing across the years, and that was the only race I signed up for. And you know how difficult it is just to sign up for one race. It's difficult because I used to go like three a month, you know, and now it's like one year and I'm gonna do that and then I'm gonna stick to two to three a year and just you know, grit things out at a crossfit and just explore the limits of my body. Yeah, that I've been doing for years, but but it's taken its toll. It's taken its toll. And my ankles I can't, especially my left ankle, I just can't deal with it right now. I mean, I can just be walking up Badger and it'll just.
Speaker 2:You know. I like the idea of continuing to study the secrets. There's some really amazing older runners out there.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, right, I don't want to be that one.
Speaker 1:I don't want to be that person.
Speaker 2:What do you mean? You don't want to be on the starting line at 60?
Speaker 1:No, If I am, it will probably be a 10K or a 10-miler. I love 10-milers or 20, but I don't think I'll do anything that big when I hit 50. You know, I think Denali is when I. I want to hit Denali before I hit 50. That's my Everest and that, if and when I do that, that means I've done everything I can do. That's awesome, and so when I do that.
Speaker 1:I'll do trail runs to an extent but just stick to 10 to 20 milers. But from now till Denali I've started to enjoy fixed races. Oh the time.
Speaker 2:Fixed time.
Speaker 1:Fixed times and loops, because you don't have to carry anything. And if you need to stop, you can stop, and you know, not worry about anything. I mean, don't stop for a while. But I like the fact that everything's there, from electrolytes to water and everything else, and you don't have to, you know, have a bag, a 20-pound bag, or you know just something carrying it around. So I really like the loops and that's what across the years is.
Speaker 2:I did one. I love the idea of the. You know some people think oh monotony of the course, and that doesn't bother me, but the thing that's challenging to me is a lot of times those are flatter and I did a 34 hour once yeah, yeah and I ended up sleeping for a total of like three hours. Yeah, I don't even sleep, yeah, no. And then, and then they cut. They cut us off at 33 hours. They didn't think anybody could do another four mile loop and I was like I could have done it my last loop was 45 minutes.
Speaker 2:I could have done it. My last loop was 45 minutes.
Speaker 1:I could have made it, you cut me off, but anyway, where's that at? It was by have you heard of the Yeti Runners. They're based out of.
Speaker 2:Virginia. They have a Yeti 100-miler event in Washington, but he's based out of Virginia, he does races all over the place and he's the one who brought oh, okay, he brought the 34-hour to New Mexico near Redoso. Okay, all right, great spot for a. Yeah, oh, yeah, hey, you should check it out. If you like Redoso, you should come check it out. Try it. So, 34-hour and he Thank you, yadiz, for doing that. He also has ambitions of bringing a Western States qualifier to New Mexico. New Mexico is one of the few states that does not have a Western States qualifier at the time, at this moment.
Speaker 1:Where do you think he'll have the race going through?
Speaker 2:Well, I don't know all the details of it, but he said that he had talked with Western States and they said well, if you just take your 34-hour event course and he had to make a few slight modifications to it, and he could use something in the vicinity of that course by near Rodoso to formulate a Western States qualifier. So we'll see if he can make that happen.
Speaker 1:Before I interrupt what we're going to say, if you can remember, you can recall what you were going to say, something, and I just interrupt. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's a I don't know, it's okay.
Speaker 1:How do you feel?
Speaker 2:about this episode. Good, I hope. I hope we dug into Bigfoot enough. Right, there's lots of aspects of ultra running.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can't really say everything, because then the mystery is not there anymore. You know, and each person is different.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So what, your likings won't be somebody else's likings, you know, mm-hmm, yeah, you know, yeah, yeah it just I think, if we say the whole thing, I think it will just ruin the surprise, I think.
Speaker 2:I think another another side of it is I had done a couple of of mountain races that brought more perspective to coming into something like Bigfoot. So, for example, when I was trying to lay out like how, how do you come up with a time? Like how, nick, how long is it going to take you to run 200 miles?
Speaker 1:or to get through 200 miles.
Speaker 2:You're like I have no idea. Like, do you start looking at other people who've done it, do you? No, you should try to try to stick with yourself. But then you're like, well, well, the closest I have is a hundred mile difference and you're going to double it.
Speaker 2:Yes, so at least one thing that I assumed and came out relatively true was I had done I Am Tough, 100. So Idle Mountain Trail Ultra Festival, I Am Tough and that has an elevation gain of about 22,000 feet and so I was looking and considering. They're both in the Pacific Northwest generally. All right, I'm just looking at Bigfoot as basically a double. I Am Tough. Okay, that's how you tackle it. But it just helped also, not just for coming up with a time perspective, but it just helped also not just for coming up with a time perspective, but also to just feel confident of would I feel comfortable getting through?
Speaker 2:I Am Tough and then turning right like immediately turning, yeah, yeah yeah, but giving myself more time to go through I Am Tough and then be able to do it again, gotcha.
Speaker 1:Just having something that— but it worked, though, gotcha Just having something that.
Speaker 2:But it worked though. Yeah, Because if you can't, I don't. I can't see like going from something like Badger where there's no thick forest.
Speaker 1:There's no, really rocky Just elements Uphills, yeah, and weather and deceiving trails. Badger is deceiving.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yeah, so yes, yeah, oh yeah, so yes, yeah, that's a whole nother. That's a whole nother discussion you coming back. I really enjoy it, so I'd like to come back in some capacity. Also, matt Newton is very inspiring with his 10 finishes.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I've done the Badger Mountain Challenge 103 times and I would like to yeah, I've. I've done the bedroom mountain challenge 103 times and I I would like to. Yeah, and you know, what really inspires me lately is seeing more and more Tri-Citians signing up for the a hundred miler. And I'm not saying like everybody needs to do a hundred miles, it's not. It's not for everybody, but for those who want to try it. I really have a passion. I really want to try to help them.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay. Well, you're great at that. You're great at uplifting people. We're done. You think we're done? Can I share something? Do you think we've explained everything before I go on?
Speaker 2:Trying to think, if there's you want to help?
Speaker 1:yeah, I want to. Yeah, all right, at first I thought, like you know you, when you first found the podcast and you wanted to be on, you were trying to change up the whole format and I'm like, oh my goodness, what is she doing? Oh my gosh, I've been doing this for a while you know.
Speaker 1:But but that was just in my head during that time. You know I'm like what? Okay, all right, whatever. And then you know you would message me from you know, on and on. But you know, probably three months out, you know two months out, and check in didn't seem to realize what you were doing until I was out on treatment. You know, and understanding what you really meant by you know, just those reach outs, uh, so, like here, I was thinking michaela was trying to change my format. She wants to be on but she wants to be in control, you know this is my, my mindset.
Speaker 2:I'm just letting you know. Oh yeah, you didn't know. We didn't know each other.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I'm just like, what is she trying to do? And I'll be the first one to tell you I I messed up, and you know ben, you know he was in the midst of it too I'm like who is this lady? I don't know. And then it didn't dawn on me what you were actually doing when this is what the help comes until I was in treatment and you were checking in on me. And then you would critique the episodes, like you're the only person as of lately who critiqued just random episodes.
Speaker 2:That sounds like. That sounds like a harsh word, though is that okay?
Speaker 1:okay, no, because no one else you know explains on how like an episode made you feel like I.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of fake out there okay, you, I can tell it's not fake. And you just going up to our random episode which is like boom, I'm like why is she listening? Wow, that's back. Then okay, wow, yeah, there's a lot of things that I could have done differently. But here you are in the chaotic world of treatment and losing my dad and losing my father-in-law and whatnot, and you're checking in, you continue to check in and you critiquing, in a good way, of the podcast and everything else really meant a lot in the world when I tell you what you. And then there's two other people that went besides my wife, that went in the treatment. It was Joe Garcia. Shout out to Joe, jose Garcia, he's been on the podcast and Coach Litkey, outside of that. When it comes to the running community, the running community is not around.
Speaker 1:I'm just going to tell you that I am but you really disheartened to hear that you on the other hand, like brought me to the point that it was just like okay, the community's still there, but it meant a lot because I I got a lot of not good feedback on the podcast just because I'm going to the athletes western lifestyle hardly any runners, hardly any runners, because it's it's tough to get the runners on. It's really tough to get the runners on. If I get them on, I get them on. You know, steph, amazing, I would have all the time.
Speaker 2:I listened to that episode at least two times, three times I think I would.
Speaker 1:I would have her on, but majority of the runners majority of the runners not not around here because I'll get any runner in here egos get to them and the more you interview them, the more you digest what they're saying, the more you end up finding out it's not my kind of life you know I don't want to get into it it wasn't fun.
Speaker 1:It wasn't fun and so, like what, I was trying to find out what was fun. I love the rodeo world. I love the athletes perspective. Come to find out rodeo worlds, enjoying the running world. Some of the runners, some of the runners love the rodeo. They're just now sorry, I'm talking to my hands. They're just now understanding like we're all alike.
Speaker 1:The only thing different is that they got an animal between them and the ground. But it's, you know, it's. They all have the same why. But here I was thinking you're, you know, reaching out, you had some other plan and come to find out, you're just a friend in the running community that I didn't know existed until you reached out at that certain time when. I didn't have anybody checking in.
Speaker 2:I really love this running community.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I was just like. I just want to talk about it in a way that celebrates it and lifts it up.
Speaker 1:So, no, I appreciate you and you are helping, you helped me. But no, I appreciate you and you are helping, you helped me, and that's why I thought, like me, ending this on the way I did is just the honest truth on what you bring to the community as a whole, so not trying to get teary eyed, but like I was not a believer.
Speaker 1:At first I wasn't a believer. At first I wasn't a believer. But then, when you were checking in on me, I was in my own little world with my family trying to get treatment. You had to, but you changed it in your friendship. You're checking in on the smallest times and I'll say critique. It's not a bad thing, it's just you just dissecting. I'm good, cool, I'm going to continue. Say critique.
Speaker 2:It's not a bad thing. It's just you just dissecting, I'm good, yeah, cool. I'm going to continue to critique it's more uplifting than than as of recently.
Speaker 1:So appreciate you and thank you, Michaela, Thank you.
Speaker 2:Nick, I think I told you from the beginning I was going through. You know I was going through the c word on in my own family too.
Speaker 1:So I got you, but I, I, I don't think I can talk about that yeah, no, and, and you, you don't have to, but I, I wanted you to know, like, at first it was just like no, I was like who, who, yeah, and that's when I was getting all those runners that it was a bun to put them on.
Speaker 2:It's nothing around here, it was just the big teams, you know, you know but you got to admit, though, too, with running, and especially if you're going into a race, that naturally the human spirit has competitiveness that wants to come out. But that's where I like looking at ultra running as a team sport. You're like what, how is that a team sport? I'm not talking about crew and pacers, yeah, yeah, yeah, I got you. I'm talking about every single person who's out there is battling to get to the finish line. Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2:And anyway, and it's the same thing and I like how it's a mini representation of life.
Speaker 1:I got you Yep, so I just wanted you to know. Since you helped me, I know you can be out there and helping others and you have the right mindset and the right goal to be out there to help others. And you helped me, so I know you can help others. And that's the end of results on that talk. Thank you thank you.
Speaker 2:I feel like I just got some critique. It was, it was good, thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for that yeah, it's just no one. No one else does it, no one else does it. Sometimes, you know, I'll get messages from the the slightest. Oh what are you? A rodeo guy now like what do you?
Speaker 2:remember? Do you remember where, where the the slightest oh what are you? A rodeo guy, now, like what do you remember? Do you remember where, where that started? Because it was quiet for a long time and I feel like you've been a voice. I'm especially not live because I don't live here right now. Visit as much as I can, but because I don't live here right now, you're the a voice. On behalf of the, the trail running community here yeah and that's where I was.
Speaker 2:I was like, oh no, the voice went quiet for a while and that that was one of the reasons I I had reached out to was was I really appreciate what you bring? Thank you for this trail trail community too appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it still blows my mind that people still listen. And yeah, I mean I don't have to put out stuff for for like months and I still have big more hits than you know I do spitting them out you know and I know this one's gonna be successful because you're in many well, you're in this huge community and then you're elsewhere too, so it's a big hit. Yeah, it was, it was. It was quiet because of the deaths and just trying to figure things out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, be healthy myself and I'm out and about, I'm getting there just picking and choosing where I step foot, you know, and it's crazy to hear people like I listen to this. I'm like really, oh okay, you know. And then there's some people like in the rodeo world I'll tell you this or just being out and about, I know that voice from somewhere. I didn't know who you are, but I know that voice.
Speaker 1:I'm like dang it. Yes, I'm the guy. So that's pretty funny because, you know, people don't see me that much, even though I, like you know, try to take pictures with everybody. They're like I. I've heard that voice before, are you? Yes, I am.
Speaker 2:It's pretty funny, it's funny so, to be the, usually what happens is I'm I'm listening to a miles mountains podcast yeah and then, and then it'll start rolling into the next you. You know I target one right.
Speaker 1:Like.
Speaker 2:Oh, there's that interview. It's he got Stephanie Inslee on Cool. I want to. Yeah, I want to learn more about Stephanie, oh yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's tough, but where were you? Yep, what were you saying?
Speaker 2:But then it rolls into the next one and it happens to be moving into a rodeo topic and and I'm like I have no idea what they're talking about, I don't know, like same thing, yeah, but I mean it was like there's like a front person and a back person, a healer, yeah, yeah I have no idea what they're talking about, but they're, they're really into it, and so I don't. I don't pick up as much of the pieces from it, but I tell you what. There was, one that you did recently.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Blew my mind. What was this? I'm trying to figure it out the Outlaw.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, Yep Outlaw Echoes.
Speaker 2:Yes, outlaw Echoes. Thank you, and it was just eye-opening. I grew up in the countryside, really small town, but the way he described a western lifestyle was something completely new to me yeah right, wisconsin countryside is totally different. I mean I I mean, yeah, redneck, whatever you want to call it, yeah, that's. You know. I was familiar with all that, but the Western lifestyle and the way he described it was different.
Speaker 1:A lot of people will get it mixed up, and that's why I like the fact that you know I get some of the runners like, hey, I'm going to a rodeo, you're going to be on there. You know you're going to be here, let's meet up. You know I'm going to my first rodeo, thanks to you, you know, just random people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's cool and, like tomorrow, I'm going on a four day run with a 22 year old kid out of Sela, wiley Coyote. You've probably seen some of my posts. I went on the run with him in Cle Elum and I'm going to go four different rodeos in the next four days. But uh, nice that's what I mean to run and it's. It's pretty interesting. All walks of life goes in there and it just enjoys the moments and you know carefree and enjoying.
Speaker 1:You know the rodeo clown or the the entertainer, depending on who you talk to, and and paralleling back to trail running and everybody lifting each other up and supporting each other.
Speaker 2:Everybody wants them to be successful.
Speaker 1:It's all alike, and those closed minded people that are like, oh, why don't you do runners anymore? I'm like I do it, just it's tough, it's really tough, it's tough to get a lot of the runners back on and whatnot, but it's, they're still there, like you want to come on. I'm like, heck, yeah, let's go, let's go, let's do it. You know, and I thank you for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, thank you for the opportunity. But also, I didn't particularly care to talk about all of it, but any. But it was that, that local runner who said, gee, I, I wish I knew more about what. Oh yeah, you know what can help. What went into what went into a successful bigfoot?
Speaker 1:if I can help anybody out, that's I mean, that's that voice, right? I try to help people out as much as I can and you, you know, try to get people to understand, like you know, people who are curious on what's your why, what brought you to destroy your body for 50 miles, let alone 200 miles.
Speaker 2:You know what I?
Speaker 1:mean, it's just, it's always that feeling. I know my why continued not to. I say little here and there, but I wanted to tell the story. But I just can't find the right time. But I know my why and a lot of the people that I've asked their why aligns with mine a lot a bit. So that's what I try to do Just tell their story through their lens and just be the mediator and have fun while I do it. So thank you, michaela. Thank you, you're welcome. You're thinking what's going on. Yeah, what are you thinking about?
Speaker 2:Just earlier you asked me why and I told you why I had registered Earlier. You asked me why and I told you why I had registered. But I guess I never did touch on like again when I, the last couple weeks leading into stepping my Strava, I I won't go into all the background, but just I, long time ago I I committed that my running is a gift and I just want to give thanks every single run for the gift, gotcha. And then so my why leading into this one was I don't know. This probably won't make sense to a lot of people and some people might not even want to hear this, but there's someone who is just the most amazing doctor ever and people were just flocking to him to get his help and I can only imagine how overwhelming it probably was at times. And it said he would often like kind of pull away into the wilderness for prayer.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And that was Jesus and that's. And so I read that and that was my why going into Bigfoot Okay Right. And that was my why going into Bigfoot Okay Right. There's a lot that can be overwhelming in life and taking that opportunity to step into the wilderness for a quiet moment in your life is.
Speaker 1:That's your why. Anyway, that was my. No one can take that away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because.
Speaker 1:Who cares what people think right?
Speaker 2:And you think, well, gee, isn't like, can't you just go to the I don't know, go to a park for an hour?
Speaker 1:That's not the same. No, it's not the same. No, it's not the same. No, it's not the same, no. So that's your why.
Speaker 2:That was my why for Bigfoot. Yeah, Every race it's different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, next race.
Speaker 2:I Am Tough.
Speaker 1:I Am Tough. When is it the half Bigfoot?
Speaker 2:right, yeah right, I'm kidding. I'm kidding, it's not a half Bigfoot, it's a 36-hour cutoff, I think. So it's right. I mean, bigfoot, you have 107 hours to cut off, so Big, I Am Tough. You have 36 hours, you got it, so you got to run, you got it. Yeah, yeah, it'll be my third, I am tough. Okay, and it's the end of September, okay, and I'm super excited because local runners are going to be joining this year and we're going to have some others. We're going to come out and you know crew or pace and all that. And if it intrigues anyone, I genuinely open up. If you're curious about those kinds of events, they can try to see, if they can reach out to me and I welcome them to see what the experience is like.
Speaker 1:You're on Facebook, but not on Instagram, correct, right, okay, so where can people find you on facebook?
Speaker 2:the people that don't know you. To be honest, I'm just, I'm not the only reason I have on facebook is because that's how I connect with my immediate family, my, my siblings my parents yeah, yeah, and, and it's right, and it does turn into a means to connect, to find, like to find people who I've. I see them at races or something and then I want to find them. I want to find Nick, and Facebook seems to be a place where I can do that, and I appreciate the correspondence and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Sure, whoever you help, in the grand scheme of things and the you know outside of the running world, inside in and outside of the running world, that they would appreciate every lick of it so as much as I have. So, kayla, until next time, yeah sure promise yeah is it everything you thought it was, or worse or more, or?
Speaker 2:I don't know, I'm not going to listen to it.
Speaker 1:It is what it is. You're not going to listen to it? No, because you're going to go cheeky and you're going to be like we should have done this, we should have done that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yep, yep, Yep Hold this I'll see if my husband wants to listen to it and he can share his thoughts. That's right, he's the better half. Is it difficult or easier? It's conversation-based. A lot of people they're like, oh, they're stressing, they stress, they have high anxiety. But then when they start talking they're like, oh, it's a lot easier than I thought.
Speaker 2:It depends, you know, because we had first talked about doing a podcast back around the time I was moving to New Mexico.
Speaker 1:And that's when I was like who's?
Speaker 2:this lady. Yeah, I was like I don't want to do. I don't want to do anything over the phone. I'm an in-person type.
Speaker 1:Let's do this. Anytime you're in the tribe, stop by. We can go two hours, like we have today or no way.
Speaker 2:Sorry, no, can you believe it's been?
Speaker 1:that we've been rolling for a while. Okay, you don't know, don't apologize no.
Speaker 2:So here's the that 25 miles I spent with Ben. We talked about trail running almost nonstop in that time. I just love talking about it and I love talking about the trail. So no, it's totally natural and comfortable If it's something that you love.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a lot of people stress, they're like I don't know if I can do an hour, and then they come to find out they do it over an hour and they're like wow it didn't even seem that long. Yes, it's long, but no, you don't have to apologize. It's great, it's great. So till next time. Yes, anytime you, steph, shout out to all the people you shouted out goggins to ashley to well, just my dashana joe, she's crazy. You need to get in touch with her I yeah, dash Tashauna Joe.
Speaker 2:She's not local though.
Speaker 1:She's not no Colorado.
Speaker 2:I mean not that that matters.
Speaker 1:Colorado. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I like to spend time in Colorado. She gets around, she travels. I don't know how she does it, but she is.
Speaker 2:Okay, I will.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you got to get base. Please feel free and thank you for reaching out when things were questionable, so appreciate you. Thank you, we'll see you next time.