For The Long Run: Exploring the Why Behind Running

This week's episode is with Paddy O'Leary. Paddy is an ultra runner from Ireland, living in San Francisco. In this episode, we talked about: -Getting into running -His experience leading and participating in November Project -Why he loves racing short distance trail races and cross country -His professional career as a cancer researcher -His relationship with his sponsors and thoughts on racing full time You can find Paddy at instagram.com/poleary87 and twitter.com/poleary87!

In this week's episode, Mike Wardian talks all about: -what it's like to race every weekend -some of the amazing adventures he's been on -what balance means to him -what scares him -what keeps him motivated -why he pushes his body to such limits You can find Mike at www.instagram.com/mikewardian and www.twitter.com/mikewardian!

Anna Mae Flynn and I sat down in Tahoe the week of Western States to talk about her DNS and what she and others can and should learn from it. In this episode we covered: -Longevity vs chasing short term goals -Connection and community in the trail world -Sharing the journey  -Future goals and much more! You can find Anna Mae on Instagram at instagram.com/annamaeflynn

This week’s guest is Chris Mocko.  Chris is a trail runner, ultra marathoner, and long distance specialist who is currently training for the Western States 100 Miler at the end of June.  We talked about what excites him about the hundred mile distance, as he feels he’s figured out the road marathon but still is pretty uncertain about the hundreds, which he finds to be a fun challenge to try and figure out. We talked about Mocko’s experience as a full time athlete, as he’s quit his job twice now. He talked about balance as well as his YouTube channel and general social media presence. Chris opened up a bit about vulnerability and the shared struggle of things not going well all the time, as well as what scares him.  Enjoy! Chris runs for Nike and hopefully one day, Kodiak Cakes. You can find Chris on Twitter at @chrismocko, on Instagram at @cmocko, and his YouTube at youtube.com/themockoshow

This week’s guest is Matt Daniels.  Matt is a trail and ultra runner, as well as a coach. Matt has run a sub 4 minute mile, and this summer he’s taking on the hundred mile distance for the first time, after coming from a track and short distance background. Talk about range!  Matt spent three years stationed in Japan with the US Navy. After that, he returned Stateside to run for a DII running powerhouse where he truly sharpened his speed and ran that sub 4 minute mile.  Over the next few years, he found himself loving the trails after moving to Boulder, Colorado, where we recorded this podcast.  We talked about the dangers of comparison and sticking to your own path, especially in a town like Boulder where the running joke is that “Boulder Average” means having a shoe sponsor. Towards the end of the episode we talked a little about mental strength and Matt’s experience with battling depression and how running helped to bring the joy back into his life. I hope you enjoy our chat!  Matt runs for Nike Trail, Unived Sports, Little Tree Labs, and InsideTracker.  You can find Matt at @mattdaniels480 on Twitter and Instagram!

This week’s guest is Corrine Malcolm. Corrine is an ultra runner, coach, writer and scientist with a degree in Health and Human Performance, living in San Francisco, California.  We sat down to chat about all things ultra running and science, and this one had a lot of tangible takeaways for athletes, particularly heading into the summer. We talked about heat and altitude, as well as what got her into high performance sport as both an athlete and on the scientific side of things.  Corrine was training for nordic skiing at the Olympic level, and talked about how she was overtrained during the 2010-2012 Olympic Cycle in biathlon and found the trails and mountains and hasn’t looked back. We talked about how to find joy in the day to day, how to reframe discomfort as something productive, and so much more. Enjoy! Corrine runs for Adidas Terrex, InsideTracker, coaches for TrainRight, and writes for iRunFar. You can find Corrine on Twitter and Instagram at @corrinemalcolm.

This week’s guest is Kyle Robidoux. Kyle is an avid skier, runner, local beer enthusiast, and non-profit manager who has worked tirelessly to ensure that he is not defined by the boundaries that others place on him and his vision.  Later this month, Kyle will be the first visually impaired athlete to race the Western States 100 miler… while having a visual field of about 2-5% of what a normal eye would see.  In this week’s podcast, Kyle and I talked about his experience as a visually impaired athlete and what motivates him to explore his limits both on the roads and on trails.  We talked about what got him into running, and why he continues to do it. Kyle’s no excuses approach is pretty awesome and I’m excited to follow along with his journey from Squaw to Auburn in just a few weeks! You can find Kyle on Twitter at @kylerobidoux and on Instagram at @blindbeerrunner

This week’s guest is Sally McRae. Sally is a pro trail runner, mother, wife, coach, speaker and world traveler.  Sally uses her platform as a pro athlete to connect with people all across the world, often through sport.  We sat down in Woodstock Vermont at Sarah Canney’s Rise Run Retreat, where Sally was a guest and speaker.  This was a fun one. As you’ll hear in this interview, I’m a big fan of Sally’s, and not just because of her accomplishments on the trails. If you follow her on social media, you know that she’s one of the most positive people out there, always supporting others and helping people to see the best in themselves.  We dug into that and talked about her history which has helped shape her into the person she is today, and about her fears and dreams.  This one could have gone on for hours, and I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!  Sally runs for Nike Trail, Spring Energy, Coros, O2 Health Lab, LiquidIV, Igloo, and InsideTracker. 

This week’s guest is Teri of a Foodie Stays Fit, which is her blog all about food and fitness. Teri was born and raised in Utah and now lives in North Carolina. She's run a handful of marathons, and we spoke on Wednesday after the Boston Marathon, so that’s why I might sound a little horse!  Teri wrote in her journal when she was 21 that one of her life goals was to qualify for Boston. At the time, she was running 11 minute miles, and over the years, she got closer and closer to making it happen, and eventually did. She has now run Boston twice! We talked about some of her tips for finding enjoyment and fun in the process, even if you’re far away from your goal. Teri just left corporate america after 13 years to run her own business. We dug into this, taking risks, and her take on balance. We also talked about how important racing something like a 5k can be, for the lessons you can learn in running and in life in general. You can find Teri on Instagram at @AFoodieStaysFit

I sat down with my coach to talk about our progress over the last year and what led into the Providence Marathon breakthrough, a race that we decided on only about 8 weeks out. We covered the idea that without struggle, successes aren’t as meaningful, and that acknowledging discomfort and pressure is necessary and helpful in both running and life. I hope there are a lot of fun takeaways in this one for everyone to learn from!