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The Steep Stuff Podcast
Denali Strabel - Pre Broken Arrow 46K Interview
Denali Strabel returns to the Steep Stuff Podcast for a deeply personal conversation about her journey back to the Broken Arrow 46K Skyrace after a five-year hiatus. The Alaskan mountain runner opens up about the transformative path that led her here – through pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and the heartbreaking loss of her twin sister.
From the moment she arrived at the race venue, Denali's connection to this special place is palpable. Since 2008, she's been drawn to these mountains, first for college training camps and later with her sister when they craved elevation. Her 2019 race proved she could compete with the best "down in America," finishing fifth and feeling like her career was just beginning to soar. Then came pregnancy and the pandemic, dramatically altering her trajectory.
What emerges in this conversation is the portrait of an athlete reborn through challenge. "I wasn't fueling right," she admits about her pre-motherhood approach. The demands of breastfeeding while returning to training forced a revolution in her relationship with food: "I eat a lot and my body is strong." Working with coach David Roche, she's redefined success on her own terms, building back gradually from nerve damage and hormonal challenges through a quality-over-quantity approach.
While dreams of making Team USA flicker in her mind (especially poignant given one of her final conversations with her sister), Denali approaches this race with beautiful perspective. Her strategy reflects the wisdom gained through life's obstacles – patience on the first loop, then "catch the carnage, don't be the carnage" on the second. Most movingly, she carries her sister's ashes to spread on the mountain, merging her competitive ambitions with profound personal meaning.
Join us for this intimate look at motherhood, grief, comeback, and the enduring spirit that drives mountain runners back to the places that challenge and heal them. Follow Denali and the strong Alaskan contingent as they take on Broken Arrow and demonstrate what's possible when passion meets perspective.
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What is up, fam? Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. I'm your host, james Lauriello, bringing you another Broken Arrow 46k preview episode, this one with Alaskan-born mountain runner one of my favorite people in the sport, I have to be honest with you Ms Denali Strabel. Denali joins us just as she's starting to ramp things up for her 2025 season. I know this is going to be an A race on her calendar that she's going to come out. She's out there now to go compete out on Saturday. Denali's got some experience at the 23 K, so this is going to be a second loop. She'll be running around the mountain, which is pretty sweet. Yeah, super excited for Denali. It's going to be a really fun to follow her race and just see what she's. You know what she's going to accomplish on race day.
Speaker 1:So, guys, I hope you enjoy this one. It's a personal favorite of mine. Denali, like I said, uh, this one's near and dear to the heart. Um, as Denali, you know both as a mom, you know, coming off the backside of postpartum, um, and dealing with the tragic loss of her sister, um, you know she's. She's out there, um, and continues to fight, and it was just such an inspiring human. So, without further ado, none other than Denali Strable, denali Strable welcome back to the steep stuff podcast.
Speaker 2:How's it going? It's going well, just settled into. Um, we're actually right by the start line, finished start line area. So just got in here last night and we're acclimating Well, uh, yeah, things are looking great, I love this area. So just got in here last night and we're acclimating. Well, yeah, things are looking great, I love this area.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful. I know this one's kind of near and well. Actually, maybe we'll start with that. I think it's a good starting question. I know this race is kind of near and dear to your heart, that you've spent a lot of time out here training. I know it's very important to you. Maybe talk about, like, just what the area means to you, the race means to you, things like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've been coming to this area since 2008. First started off as an elevation camp with my cross-country team in college, and then my twin sister and I would travel up here whenever we would miss the mountains when we were moving down, living more in Modesto area, and so we would come up here a lot. So I have I have photos at King's beach for over a decade of just us hanging out and playing, and I went to this race in 2019. That was probably one of my last big efforts before I got pregnant and before COVID, so it was just such a fun time.
Speaker 2:I kind of come into these races as an underdog. No one really knows who I am. I usually race in Alaska, so the 2019 race was something like that kind of solidified me as like, okay, I can run with these girls down in America and I know I don't run a lot down here, but it was just an exciting time for me that I finished pretty well. It was just an exciting time for me that I finished pretty well. Not like on the podium, I was fifth, but I finished in a way that I thought, oh my gosh, this is just the starting. And then COVID happened and then I got pregnant, so it's been six years.
Speaker 1:So I'm just so happy to be here, I'm just so juiced, I love it. I love it. It's such a special race and it's such a special area. Maybe talk about. You're kind of a totally different person since the last time you raced. I mean going through pregnancy, going through postpartum, going through all these things. You're transformed in a lot of ways. Can you maybe talk about just how you're, I want to say, maybe the best version of yourself going into this?
Speaker 2:I love that because I'm trying to be the best version of myself. Um, like, I want to be the best Denali, and I think it took going through postpartum to realize that I wasn't fueling right. I wasn't um doing anything right, pretty much, uh. When I did Broken Arrow in 2019, I was a has-been um, no consistency, uh, definitely no fueling, and I actually ended that season with, um, a fracture in my foot, um, and so, you know, dropped a lot of weight. I don't need to be dropping weight, um, and so since then, I've learned how to be consistent, how to be be nice to myself, find the love I always wanted, and also to fuel like.
Speaker 2:I eat a lot and I I feel like I know there's this fad about, like high carb and whatever, but I had to do that because I was breastfeeding my child and I was also trying to run and I was double downing on like still taking care of myself but also take care of my son.
Speaker 2:So I kind of like naturally started to to eat more because I had to survive that way and now I just race so differently, like, I am at a better weight, I have a great cycle and my body is strong, like, super strong goal, um, and my body is strong like super strong, um, so I mean, you know, it's just like I had to deal with a bunch of nerve damage and a bunch of wackadoodle hormones, um, so I didn't get all the training I wanted, but learning so much about my body the last six months has been, um, just such a game changer and I'm so excited for like, possibly like what could happen at this race, just just because I know that I did so much more than I've ever done, and not just the training, just more like how can I get my body to not be broken anymore?
Speaker 1:That's a beautiful answer. Now. I appreciate you for being so honest and being open about it. Yeah, let's talk a little bit about the build. Build, obviously, I mean just from what I've seen and kind of followed along, I knew you were on the bike for a little bit and it seems like you've been running a bunch now and kind of doing your thing. Obviously you have an amazing coach in David Roche that seems to prepare people so well for these races. Maybe talk about just how the build's been going and kind of where you're at with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the last time we talked I literally had gotten close to 90 or a hundred miles of biking and then I just, um that just kind of like set the tone of. I got excited again for training. Um, I still wasn't able to run, and so on. On the side of Zwift biking, I was learning all about my hormones and about the nerve damage, and then one day, one day, I just could run, and then I could run again and again and I started with like 20 miles a week and I ended with like I, I, I run and I walk, I walk like twice a day. So I always add that into my totals at the end. And I've been, I've hit like some high mileage and some like really high elevation gain consistently. Um, so for me personally, I think that I had like a 13 week spread of some really good, really good um, like just some high quality. So, like the game right now is is quality not quantity. Um, you get what you get, you don't throw fit.
Speaker 2:And I think David has just been so great, like I should have done a race up here in Alaska. And I think David has just been so great, like I should have done a race up here in Alaska and I just wasn't feeling it and he was so quick to say hey, we're in this to have fun, we're in this for the love of it, scratch the race, go have an adventure. And like that day I had an adventure out like almost five hours out in the mountains and and that like just really recharged me of like, yeah, I do want to still race and yeah, I do still want to be here and I don't care if people like even know my name, I don't care like how I place right now, like I just know that, like I have these goals of just getting to the start line and like it's just been like so cool to like keep the momentum for, like you know, a short period of time. Like, yeah, I've got self-doubt, I'm super worried, and like you know, yeah, but like I love, I just like I just like I'm here to have a good experience and to hopefully be an example of. You know, it's so cool to see like these mothers get the recognition they need, you know.
Speaker 2:And so like there's some of us who are just like taking our time and like I'm I'm four years into postpartum, five years since my body's been changing, and I'm just taking my time getting back into high, like competition outside of Alaska and like. So it's just like for me, like this buildup is just like the beginning of I'm, I'm, I'm excited again, and there was a moment where I thought I'm going to have to defer Broken Arrow and this is going to break my heart because I just want to get back to broken arrow and like. So I just, I just, you know, I had to find my reason why.
Speaker 2:And sure, making that USA team is like, oh, if I had that perfect day, I'd be the underdog of underdogs and people would be like, ah, that girl totally screwed up all my fantasy picks and that would be awesome. But also I know, like my real goals are just to like, make it two laps around and hopefully be one of the top mamas and you know, like, and just have a good experience, and I have my sister's ashes with me and I'm going to spread them on the mountain. Um, so it's just like, it's just such a good, good vibes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. Let me ask you this I know, I know like you can't be going into this race, not like, hey, there's like you gotta, you gotta throw yourself in the ring obviously. Like there's a possibility, like you could definitely make it onto the team. Like what would that mean to you if you make it on team usa?
Speaker 2:uh, gosh, it would mean a lot. Um, no, because one of the last conversations I had with my sister before she died, um, was just that she was like don't, don't give up on trying to make a team. You know, don't, don't give up. And I was like it's not, it's not really about that. Like you know, they're obviously every runner wants to make a team. But so like, yeah, in the back of my head I think, oh, that'd be so cool, that'd be so cool, and like broken arrow is like something that like is right up my alley. But I also know, like you know, I got to go up against girls like Jennifer and Claire Rhodes, who I just like, I just want Claire Rhodes to win, like I want her to smash out of the park.
Speaker 2:So it's just like I just know that like it would take a lot for me to make this team and it seems like a lot of Alaskans.
Speaker 2:So I just think that, like I'm just going to hold dear to my heart and like, remember that like my sister believed in me so much and so maybe, maybe, like, if the opportunity arises, I'm going to be an absolute viper out there and I'm going to show them what, like these girls don't know, because I've been out of the game for a long time it feels like so it's just like yeah, if the opportunity arises, I'm absolutely going for it. I'm absolutely going to be the downhill queen if I have to like grab that spot at the very last, like mile, absolutely Like, so it would mean, it would mean so much to me. But I've kind of put like the USA qualifier in the back burner, but like definitely, if it like arises, like I know that, like I'll do it for my sister. Absolutely Like, absolutely no doubt. Like she was such a better competitor than I ever was, so I would just like channel her and be like yeah, I'll get the job done.
Speaker 1:Oh, man, that's a beautiful answer. Well, yeah, there's so many ways to race this race. Right, like I know, a lot of people take it out so aggressive, and there's two loops and you got to be so strategic, right like you have to put yourself in the race, but also, like we've all seen, like epic blow-ups occur. How are you gonna race it?
Speaker 2:like, obviously like are you gonna chill out a little bit on the first lap and put yourself in it like what's your brother let me tell you, the one thing I do remember about this race six years ago is that, um, I think it's like the first three miles are very runnable and, um, I'm, like you know, telling myself, honey, boo, boo, you do not need to be running, that, you just need to make it to that first climb. And so, like my, my attitude is going to be like just don't freak out. Don't freak out because everyone's going to go bad out of heck, and just like, run it because it's runnable. I mean like it's. And what's really cool about this race is they do bring that kind of Euro style where you know they've got the music, they've got the hand clapping, they're like let's do the Macarena before. And it's like, Whoa, my heart rate is at 180 right now. And then they say go.
Speaker 2:And you're like what the heck? Um, just remember. Like don't do that, Like just just chill out, make it around one lap. And I want to get back to that village and say, okay, now it's game time. Now it's like now we go after the downhill segments, Now we just like crush anybody, like catch the carnage, don't be the carnage. And so I just really have to settle in and be okay with possibly being like just in the top 20, that first lap, and just like be okay and not freak out.
Speaker 1:No, I agree. This is such a smart way to race it, I guess. Like that's the thing, you see people take off so crazy and then you're reeling them in within the first, like you know, a couple of miles you'll start people people just blow up.
Speaker 2:It's kind of funny, yeah, and like I, I could easily be the person who blows up, but, like I also know that there are gals who are just like crushing it and who are gonna like maintain. So it's just kind of like I want to stay in my wheelhouse and, like I said, like my main goal is to just like be one of the top moms who have like a toddler and just like, hopefully in that 30 age group, just kind of be Um, cause I do not think my resume will make this team. Everything I've done is just in Alaska, um, and so like I, just I, yeah, I. There's no like I mean, unless I do really well here, and they say, yeah, that girl did a great broken arrow, but I just don't, I, I, yeah, I've just.
Speaker 2:This has been my whole postpartum journey and I wish, on that form, you could say, look, I've been in postpartum this whole time, I'm surviving my sister's death, like this is what I've done. But, like you know, you just have to put your races and you just hope for the best and I'm thinking, oh God, like they don't know what these races are outside of Mount Marathon.
Speaker 1:Never say never. Well, you know, I listen, I'm such a big fan of it, like the alaskan mountain running scene, like you guys put. Like you put put in like the world on notice lately, like people were no, like it's so funny, I was in the live stream and I, like david norris, wasn't even listed on like the elite group.
Speaker 2:I was like which was so crazy.
Speaker 1:I was like guys, what are we doing here? Like did we not know who david is probably gonna go win this race and I literally said it on the live stream and they're like, oh, yeah, and like I guess it started to register when I said that. But sure as shit, david goes and wins the race. Yeah, absolutely, there's so many of you guys that are just like crushers. So, yeah, I, like I said, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Alaskan contingents to absolutely dominate this race and just have another amazing show.
Speaker 2:There's quite a few Alaskans in this race and I hope that we all podium. That's my dream and listen it's not, it's not like.
Speaker 1:I told Sophie this before the like before Sunapee, I was like yo, there's a world where, like like we have an Alaskan on like pretty much every like team like easily and it's it's pretty close, like it's gonna be yeah, it's pretty darn close and it's gonna be so awesome, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I obviously I don't going to be yeah, it's pretty darn close and it's going to be so awesome, yeah, yeah. So obviously I don't want to be the Alaskan left out.
Speaker 1:That's so true. That's so true. All right, I think we got pretty much everything. Thank you so much for taking this call. I know it's like 6.30 in the morning where you are, so I appreciate you. I am literally fingers crossed Wishing you such the best of luck, and I hope you have an amazing day out there. It's going to be so fun to follow along.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:I'm going to get this out now. I'm literally going to go like edit this now and get it out.
Speaker 2:Okay, awesome have a good day.
Speaker 1:Bye, denali. What's up, guys? It's summer and you know what that means. You're going to need a new pack, hydration solution, bottle belt, you name it. Guess what? Ultimate Direction's got you covered. Guys, I don't know if you've been perusing on the Ultimate Direction site lately, but we've got two new vests that have just dropped. That's going to be the UltraVest 12 liter and the RaceVest 6 liter, in two beautiful colorways. And you know what? Guess what? We also dropped a quiver, finally. The quiver is here. The quiver is there. Get it on the website right now. Use code steepstuffpod for 25% off. All of these things are already extremely affordably priced. I think Ultimate Direction does an amazing job at their pricing to make it affordable for athletes of all economic abilities. And guess what? You're going to get yourself an additional 25% off by using code steep stuff pod.
Speaker 1:Like I said, it's summer, it's broken arrow week. It's crazy. The vibes are high, the stoke is high. You're going to need a new vest. You're going to need a hydration solution. Like I said, go to ultimate direction. They've got you covered 25% off with the code steep stuff pod and you are all set out the door. So, guys, enjoy your week. It's broken arrow week. Steep, stuff, pod and you are all set out the door. So, guys, enjoy your week. It's Broken Arrow week, go crazy, go wild, guess what? Next week is Trail Con, and then we are in Western States. This is the best few weeks of our sport. So it's wild, thank you.
