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Episode 12. Sarah Fergot
49 Plays8 days ago
Welcome back to WILD Onez.
Today’s guest is Sarah Fergot—a mom, ultra runner, swimrunner, and all-around endurance badass who discovered ultras later in life and never looked back.
Sarah has a deep love for trail running and a relentless sense of adventure, drawn to the kind of challenges that push limits and test the human spirit. From rugged trails to multi-day endurance races, she embraces the unknown with grit, determination, and a smile.
Most recently, she took on one of the toughest races in the world, the Cocodona 250, adding another incredible chapter to her growing list of adventures.
Let's dive into Sarah’s journey, what fuels her passion for endurance sports, and why it's never too late to chase big goals.
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Transcript
Introduction and Workout Routines
00:00:01
WILD ONEZ
Hello and welcome to episode 12 of the Wild Ones podcast. I'm your host, Sarah.
00:00:06
Viv
And I'm your host, bev
00:00:09
WILD ONEZ
And what do we got today, Viv?
00:00:11
Viv
Oh, man, what don't we got today? Actually, I don't really know what we got today. We're kind of in a lull after Orca's right now. We're kind of both coming back into working out. Today was a big day, at least. like I don't know why Marcus does this. God bless him. I really got to ask him why because he was like, it's going to a base week, a buildup. I swam today.
00:00:31
Viv
I don't think that's a base or buildup week either. So I think our coach is high. So Marcus, if you're listening to this, i Got some questions, but this week was pretty good. I'm kind of building back consistency training wise. I know you've had a little bit of a different story this week.
Health Challenges and Race Preparations
00:00:47
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, so you well you were coming back from like a concussion before orcas, and now you kind of tested the waters there, I guess, so to say.
00:00:51
Viv
Yeah.
00:00:55
Viv
Yeah.
00:00:55
WILD ONEZ
and you're like, all right, let's go back into full-on training mode.
00:01:00
Viv
A full, yeah, full send essentially on my side.
00:01:05
WILD ONEZ
amazing. Yes.
00:01:06
Viv
How's your week been? Because you you've kind of done, you've faced something completely different than, I think we take turns when we're kind of down for the count. That
00:01:15
WILD ONEZ
Oh my God. I know. Can we just both be healthy for once, please?
00:01:18
Viv
be nice.
00:01:19
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, I don't know. I've just going through like some health things that have like kind of paused my training. And there's a little bit of uncertainty with that that I'm trying to figure out. So instead of me running the 4x4x48 this weekend i ran which was still...
00:01:39
WILD ONEZ
by twelve so i ran like sixteen twelve yesterday which was still
00:01:43
Viv
That's pretty good.
00:01:45
WILD ONEZ
A good, a great training day. But then today I'm going to take a rest day because I like, you know, didn't feel the best.
00:01:51
Viv
there you go.
00:01:52
WILD ONEZ
And so I get to support Matt and he's crushing it. And he's got a couple of the friends here that are also running High Lonesome this summer, which is now officially like a month away and absolutely insane to think about that.
00:02:07
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:02:07
Viv
Are you planning on pacing Matt for that?
00:02:10
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, I'm planning on pacing Matt like most of the back half of it. So from like mile 67 to mile like 80, I think.
00:02:15
Viv
Okay.
00:02:20
WILD ONEZ
don't know. It's like a 20 mile chunk or 30 mile chunk that I'll pace him.
00:02:22
Viv
Nice.
00:02:25
WILD ONEZ
But yeah, super proud of him. He's been killing it and he's doing well with the whole sleep deprivation thing of the And it's been really fun.
00:02:32
Viv
Yeah.
00:02:33
WILD ONEZ
it's been really
00:02:33
Viv
That's a perfect training for oh an endurance race that goes through the night. You're just sticking toothpicks in your eyeballs and you're like, okay, everything's fine. Everything's fine. just got to get it done.
00:02:45
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, it is really funny. I did it like, i don't know, four or five years ago now. It was like right when I started running, kind of how
00:02:52
Viv
like, that's how you got back or kind of got into running really,
Running and Endurance Event Experiences
00:02:56
WILD ONEZ
it, yeah, weirdly enough. Yeah, just why don't you just jump in and do the four by four by 48 and then you'll be ultra runner because that's how i'm already hit it but no, it's it was really funny.
00:02:56
Viv
right?
00:03:04
Viv
It just works out.
00:03:08
WILD ONEZ
That's actually how like I met everybody from Traverse and then actually how Viv and I met. down the line, which is actually quite wild.
00:03:17
Viv
Love at first sight.
00:03:20
WILD ONEZ
Full circle moment here.
00:03:22
Viv
I know. It's a so fun.
00:03:23
WILD ONEZ
But yeah.
00:03:24
Viv
oh Well, we we all hope that you feel better and you get your health stuff figured out because we got some we got a big race coming up, girlfriend.
00:03:35
WILD ONEZ
We do.
00:03:35
Viv
We got worlds this year.
00:03:36
WILD ONEZ
It's like officially 12 weeks away now, which is insane.
00:03:40
Viv
Oh my gosh, that's crazy.
00:03:41
WILD ONEZ
and know I'm very excited.
00:03:41
Viv
i i don't think so. I have flights there. i just, and there and back, my friend Brooke is actually coming. Last year, my friend Kitty came. She volunteered. I think it's the best way to see the archipelago. So even if you know somebody, tack on to their trip and volunteer because I know at until it will take you, of it's the best way to see the Swedish archipelago.
00:04:03
Viv
But now my friend Brooke is coming. So this year we tacked on Dublin. on Ireland, so we're gonna go to Ireland on our way home. But I don't have anywhere to stay in Sweden yet, so we have to figure that out.
00:04:15
WILD ONEZ
Amazing.
00:04:16
Viv
That's just part of it. But you have flights and everything figured out, right? Kind of.
00:04:21
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, yeah. i had I actually had Delta flights that I needed to use up like credits, and so I was like very proactive on scheduling all of that stuff this year, which is like not normally the case.
00:04:25
Viv
Oh, amazing.
00:04:30
Viv
That never happens.
00:04:31
WILD ONEZ
so
00:04:32
Viv
We're usually at the 12 week mark being like, hey, did you buy anything yet?
00:04:36
WILD ONEZ
Or less.
00:04:37
Viv
Yeah, a month.
00:04:40
WILD ONEZ
oh So kudos to us. We are getting our shit together a little bit more every year. so
00:04:45
Viv
I know, oh my gosh.
00:04:45
Sarah F
you
00:04:47
Viv
I know, I'm very i'm very
Guest Sarah Fergut's Endurance Journey
00:04:48
Viv
excited. So we yeah, we're slowly getting there year year by year. But we are, shall we shall i get into who we have today?
00:04:56
WILD ONEZ
Let's do it. I'm excited.
00:04:57
Viv
Okay, I'm so excited too. We have somebody who has actually done Worlds as well and finished Worlds. And she is a gem of a human. I say that about every guest, but literally the people in our life are absolutely incredible.
00:05:10
Viv
They're badasses, especially this woman. We have Sarah Fergut on today.
00:05:13
WILD ONEZ
We're pretty lucky.
00:05:16
Viv
i am so, so excited. She is like... my queen of endurance. She's done so many races, ultras, and kind of just showed up for some incredible feats of endurance.
00:05:26
Sarah F
Thank you.
00:05:28
Viv
She might not have finished all of them. We're going to talk about one massive kahuna today, she she is such a light and such a fun person to be around while doing these races. So I'm so excited to have on the podcast today, Sarah, and this is two Sarah's as well. So everybody pay attention and how much my brain like had to comprehend having two Sarah's who spell it the same S A R A H. Not got the H. It's very important. So welcome to the podcast, Sarah.
00:05:59
Sarah F
Thank you. It's so good to be here.
00:06:00
Viv
good
00:06:04
Viv
just I think it's better to have a podcast because you can just hear the different voices too. This is one Sarah. This is the other Sarah. and think i don't even know how many Sarahs we have in swim run. I think we've figured out there's quite a few as well.
00:06:20
Sarah F
there? i mean, I remember you, Sarah, but I don't, who are the other ones? i mean, we don't have to, we shouldn't even go through it right now, but.
00:06:28
WILD ONEZ
There's a lot.
00:06:29
Sarah F
Well, and it's so funny because like it's hard to know who's even out there because it's hard to see the registration lists and stuff. So a lot of times they're just like figuring out how as you go along and who you see out on the course.
00:06:36
Viv
Yeah.
00:06:40
WILD ONEZ
It's kind of fun though.
00:06:40
Viv
Oh yeah.
00:06:41
WILD ONEZ
It's like, wait, what's your name? Sarah? Mine too.
00:06:43
Viv
Oh my gosh.
00:06:45
WILD ONEZ
again
00:06:45
Viv
And they have to say, how do you spell it?
00:06:48
WILD ONEZ
actually stopped asking.
00:06:48
Sarah F
No, I feel like I know people's teams names better than their like actual names until I really get to know them.
00:06:53
Viv
Oh, I know people's Instagram handles versus their actual name. And it's not anywhere near their actual name. I'm like, oh, like this is you. And he's like, yeah. I'm like, okay, that makes sense. like I'm just going to call you by your Instagram name. and Don't ever change it, please, because otherwise I won't know who you are.
00:07:11
WILD ONEZ
That's funny.
00:07:12
Viv
But Sarah, you have done some. I had to pull up your like ultra like results, ultrasound results, because I was like, how many races had you done a ton?
00:07:24
Viv
You have like 50 Ks.
00:07:25
Sarah F
I'm kind of old. I've been around for a while.
00:07:28
Viv
yeah But you're not that old though. Like you, you've done a ton of races. Like it's so impressive. What got you? Okay. Let's start from the beginning.
00:07:40
Viv
Not, we don't have to go into like your birth story. Like Kate, Kate went the whole nine yards all the way to the beginning, but we to the beginning of your athletic career, how did you get into sports?
00:07:44
WILD ONEZ
Oh my god. okay
00:08:03
Viv
Nice. Oh, that's awesome.
00:08:06
Sarah F
We lived like we kind of migrated south from Maine all the way down as I went through school. and ended up like I went to high school outside of but my uncles and my extended family all stayed in Maine and they were ski patrol. So we'd go up there and ski with them on the weekends and just kind of outdoorsy. then when we moved to Philadelphia, I became a year round swimmer. i had always kind of just done like club summer so swimming, but swimming is really popular in Pennsylvania. So I,
00:08:34
Sarah F
got into that and then that segued into college swimming and, I went to university Maine actually.
00:08:40
Viv
We do go to college.
00:08:41
WILD ONEZ
Oh. Oh.
00:08:44
Viv
Nice, okay.
00:08:57
Sarah F
would go up there and every fall for kickoff training, we went and hiked Mount Katahdin, which is the very northern point of the Appalachian Trail.
00:09:03
Viv
Oh, nice.
00:09:08
Sarah F
we would do like a camping weekend or and we do on another weekend, we do open water swimming, which was like my first exposure to open water swimming.
00:09:18
Sarah F
in in a lake out in Maine. And then there was like a big canoe race in the spring that he always encouraged us to go do. And so, you know, even though I was like very focused in swimming, he he kind of made us dabble in other things.
00:09:30
Viv
Yeah.
00:09:34
Sarah F
So yeah.
00:09:36
WILD ONEZ
That's so fun. So how did, how did swim run come into the picture for you?
00:09:42
Sarah F
Swim run came in actually pretty early because I was a swimmer. And so when I moved to New York City, i did master's there. And I had dabbled as like the swimming leg and this like weird triathlon in Nantucket, actually.
00:09:58
Viv
That's
00:10:00
Sarah F
but it was like, it was a multi-leg thing with, you know, paddle boarding. And I mean, there was swim, bike and run, but there was also like paddle boarding and running on the beach with a 20 pound sand pack and like all these different things.
00:10:11
Sarah F
And my friend and I were sitting there and we're like, you know, there's one girl doing this whole thing, not as a relay, but all by herself.
00:10:15
Viv
Okay.
00:10:19
Sarah F
And we're like, all we have to do is finish and we can like the damn thing. So that's kind of how I got into into triathlon. And then i did my first Ironman in 2005.
00:10:36
Sarah F
And I think it was that year also that I did the SOS for the first time, which does have a bike portion at the beginning, but swim run didn't exist in the United States back then.
00:10:41
Viv
okay
00:10:48
Sarah F
So back in 2005 or 2006, I don't know if you guys know the SOS race, the survival of the Shawanagunks in New Paltz.
00:10:57
Viv
I didn't know what it's what it stood for, but i've I've heard of SOS Race because I think Jared did SOS Racing.
00:11:00
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:11:07
WILD ONEZ
yeah
00:11:07
Viv
Maybe Marcus did too.
00:11:08
Viv
There's there's been a few other swim runners that I've heard it talked about, but like never like really in depth. Definitely didn't know what it stood for either.
00:11:14
Sarah F
So this was like, yeah, so the Shawanagunk range is like in New Vaults and that's like the mountains and the Catskills there. So SOS is survival of the Shawanagunks.
00:11:26
Viv
That's amazing.
00:11:26
Sarah F
And so it's like a, I don't 30 mile bike or something.
00:11:30
Sarah F
And then you ditch the bike and then you so you run and swim for the rest of it and you go through three lakes up there. So I did that a couple of times.
00:11:36
WILD ONEZ
That's cool.
00:11:38
Sarah F
Yeah. And that was long before like all these fancy wetsuits and everything came up and like you couldn't have like paddles and pull buoys and stuff.
00:11:43
Viv
Oh, yeah. had so
00:11:46
Sarah F
So you just, you know, people... Some people like ran in full wetsuits if they got really cold. I did not. I just ran. i just swam in my tri clothes. And I wore like Nike. That was like when Nike Freeze, like I'm dating myself, first came out. so I wore Nike Freeze.
00:12:03
Sarah F
And then like tucked them in like the back of like in the butt of my tri shorts.
00:12:04
Viv
Oh wow.
00:12:08
Sarah F
Like I took them off when I was swimming and then put them back on.
00:12:10
Viv
Yeah.
00:12:11
Sarah F
But yeah.
00:12:12
Viv
Oh wow.
00:12:14
Sarah F
So.
00:12:14
Viv
That's wild to even think about then now going this and run of like, we actually just don't, we just don't take them off.
00:12:17
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:12:23
Sarah F
Yeah. So I did that little, that race like two or three times, I want to say, when I was still living in New York city.
00:12:23
WILD ONEZ
Thank you.
00:12:29
Sarah F
and then we moved out here and I had kids and because I'm connected to the whole, university main area, I heard about, heard about Casco Bay very early on.
00:12:40
Sarah F
It was the town of like the UMaine swim along alum.
00:12:40
Viv
Okay.
00:12:45
Viv
That's awesome.
00:12:46
Sarah F
Yeah. So, I think I had my youngest in 2014 is his birth year. So 2016 was like the technically the first year and I was not prepared for it then. So I missed that first year, but then the next time I was like, right, I'm training and I'm going back and I'm doing it. So, and then I've done every one since 2017. yeah. Yep.
00:13:04
Viv
So you're like a Casco OG then. I mean, besides missing the first year, like you're pretty much done them.
00:13:11
Viv
That's awesome. That's actually so cool. I love talking to people who have like seen kind of, it was like kind of the beginning, I feel like, of swim run in the United States too.
00:13:20
Sarah F
Yeah, I mean, like NC was right around the same time. But yeah, I think they both started right around the same time. And Casco is the only one that's held true and, you know, been every other than COVID year. It's been every year.
00:13:34
WILD ONEZ
I didn't know that Swim Run NC started around the same time. That's definitely one of our favorite races. We're bummed that that one kind of doesn't exist anymore.
00:13:41
Sarah F
I know, and I always wanted to go to that one, but it's, you know, so far away from me that I can only do so many East Coast trips a year. So Casco always wins out because my parents have a house there and it's like a quasi family vacation and visit time too.
00:13:49
Viv
Yeah.
00:13:58
Viv
That's incredible. Oh yeah, I think I remember you mentioning that the last were at Costco.
00:14:03
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:14:03
Viv
Okay, so since you've done Casco before, like, i we go off, like, five different roads. Because with my brain, we totally will. Do you have any advice for anybody who's doing Casco for the first time?
00:14:16
Viv
Because I know it's it's probably the truest, like, land to sea island kind of race we have in the States. Yeah.
00:14:25
Sarah F
Yeah, I mean, like the currents can be very strong. So I would be mindful of ocean swimming. I've done all the years and the last, I want to say like two years have been quite easy years because they've been very low tide.
00:14:35
Viv
Thank you.
00:14:40
Sarah F
i feel so bummed. I finally got this like good, strong swimmer partner in Hugh. And i feel like the last couple, the last two races I've done with him there have been less swimming than any other year that I've ever done there.
00:14:56
Sarah F
so just be really cognizant of the tides and, and the water. And just as like being a mom too, I'm always worried about boats and stuff.
00:15:06
Sarah F
I mean, support so well.
00:15:07
Viv
Yeah.
00:15:08
Sarah F
The ferries are great, but there's a lot of stupid people out there. So just be aware of your surroundings all the time. Yeah.
00:15:18
Viv
No, that's good to know. Sarah and I attempted Casco, but we did Casco the fog here, where we like did like the little loop around.
00:15:23
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:15:26
Sarah F
Yep.
00:15:28
Viv
I think it's like...
00:15:28
Sarah F
Was that the only year you guys have been there?
00:15:29
WILD ONEZ
Oh.
00:15:31
Sarah F
Oh, no, really?
00:15:31
Viv
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:33
Sarah F
And you're not going to be here, right? Because you're doing more.
00:15:35
Viv
I'm like slightly dabbling in maybe coming up there, but just because my one of my college friends is like, we'll well schedule our like family vacation. She's from New Hampshire, and I haven't seen her in years.
00:15:46
Sarah F
Mm-hmm.
00:15:46
Viv
And she's had two kids since. And like I talk to her like almost every week, but she's like, yeah, we'll schedule our family vacation over there. like If you do Casco, and I'm like, oh man, I want to see these tiny humans.
00:15:57
Viv
So flights to Boston are not that expensive right now.
00:15:59
Sarah F
It's the 10th anniversary. I feel like you, I don't know. it's It's hard because you're doing another big trip right on the heels of that. But I think it's a good year to be there from what I'm hearing.
00:16:07
Viv
Yeah. So, well, well and that's, yeah, that's what I'm hearing too
00:16:11
Sarah F
I've heard a few rumors about a different few things. I'm not going to say anything because I don't know what's public or not, but I think you want to be there.
00:16:16
Viv
Sarah! Okay, quick can we get, like, hints? Like, is it, is it like like, course changes? or are we, like, talking, like, swag changes?
00:16:27
Viv
I mean, I know there's going to We will break you.
00:16:28
Sarah F
I'm not going to say.
00:16:32
Viv
I promise.
00:16:34
WILD ONEZ
it's the anniversary for Casco also, isn't it, this year?
00:16:38
Sarah F
Yeah, it's 10, 10 years.
00:16:38
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, so there's probably a party.
00:16:39
Viv
Yeah, 10 years.
00:16:40
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:16:41
WILD ONEZ
They're probably doing like a party for it, would be my guess.
00:16:43
Sarah F
Yeah. So.
00:16:45
WILD ONEZ
Because they're they they're throwing a big party with the Sweden race, so...
00:16:51
Sarah F
I don't know. and
00:16:52
Viv
so much Just smiling and nodding over there.
00:16:53
Sarah F
From what I've heard, From what I've heard, Oracle's was just amazing. And because there's now, it went from it the races overall reduced to like, I think that every event in every race this year is just going to be a bigger party and more fun.
00:16:58
Viv
it's yeah.
00:17:06
WILD ONEZ
Packed. Yeah.
00:17:08
Sarah F
And, you know, so.
00:17:09
Viv
Oh, absolutely.
00:17:11
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:17:11
Viv
Yeah, we were talking to Kate because she's done, she's gone over and done, think, canes? Is that how we say it? Cons?
00:17:19
Sarah F
Yeah, don't ask me.
00:17:20
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:17:23
Viv
But she went and did that race because she was over Europe for work training. And she was like, it was so wild to see that many people kind of like worlds, like just so many people stacked up on the start line. She's like, it was so fun. We need like, and like, that's how Orcas kind of felt this year too. it was like, we're, we were still spread out. We didn't see as many people, but we had so many people at that start line.
00:17:46
Sarah F
yeah and that's always fun because they do the short course afterwards so
00:17:46
Viv
So I think,
00:17:51
Sarah F
Like even I mean, he and I tend to be like we're a little bit more in the back of the pack, but like you start seeing and catching up to like other short course athletes and other people the whole time. So, I mean, it's just there's always people out there. i don't know. It's so fun.
00:18:05
WILD ONEZ
I would love to see the islands someday.
00:18:05
Viv
Yeah.
00:18:08
Viv
I actually see them.
00:18:11
WILD ONEZ
papa
00:18:12
Sarah F
Well, it was really fun for me too because like i've I spent all my time on one island. So I've spent all my time on Long where my parents have a house and I have gone to Peaks quite a bit because that's like the biggest island and I've done Peaks to Portland swim a bunch of times also, which is like a two and a half mile swim from Peaks over to East End Beach where they do the shakeout.
00:18:35
Viv
Oh, okay, yeah.
00:18:35
Sarah F
would love to them in Portland one year too, but I don't know if that's ever possible.
00:18:36
WILD ONEZ
That's cool. wow
00:18:39
Sarah F
no i don't know.
00:18:40
Viv
Yeah.
00:18:41
Sarah F
Casco was fun because like every year, historically at the beginning, a changed course every year. So like every year you were waiting to see what the course was. and then And then now the last three years, maybe I think it's been the same, which is probably much easier for permits and just organization and all that stuff.
00:18:56
Viv
That's pretty good.
00:19:01
Viv
Yeah, i like letting people know like, hey, this area, you will see people who look funny. Just keep walking.
00:19:08
Sarah F
Yeah, well, and it's highly trafficked with like boats and, you know, ferries and stuff. So they really have to be mindful of like who who's doing what swims from which island to the other island and at what times. So, yeah, and that's they actually they have to always have the race on Sundays because it's the only non-working day for like lobstermen and stuff, which is why they do it.
00:19:31
WILD ONEZ
Oh.
00:19:32
Viv
Oh, I just thought races were on Sunday because races were on Sunday.
00:19:32
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:19:35
Viv
Like, and the in the South, we have them always on a Saturday.
00:19:37
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:19:40
Viv
I'm like, everybody else has them on Sundays. Like, this is weird. And nope, I mean, it makes sense for Casco. Like, I mean, that's why Casco, Casco.
00:19:47
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:19:47
Viv
But i'm like, oh, okay.
00:19:49
Sarah F
Yeah. There's like, I'm not the right person to ask. Cause my sailing days are a long time ago, but like, there's all kinds of rules on like which VHF on channels you can be talking on and stuff on like which days and stuff like that.
00:20:02
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:20:03
Viv
so fun.
00:20:03
WILD ONEZ
Nice. Okay.
00:20:04
Viv
Oh, that's wild.
00:20:04
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:20:04
WILD ONEZ
So you have a really deep background in swimming with like high school and college swimming and some open water swimming. And so when did like the ultra running and run part of that come into
Transition to Ultra-Endurance Races
00:20:19
WILD ONEZ
it?
00:20:19
WILD ONEZ
And how have you?
00:20:22
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:20:22
WILD ONEZ
Okay.
00:20:22
Sarah F
So like I just started, i just started running with, when I did Ironman, I lived in New York city at the time and I am like a baby stepper. I lived in New York city on the Upper East side and i but I registered for an Ironman I literally went from like 5k to 4 miles to 10k to 15k like I mean I like did every race in my lifetime in progression
00:20:49
Viv
Amazing. Oh my gosh.
00:20:51
Sarah F
and I didn't do my first marathon until I had actually already signed up for my first Ironman that was back in the day where you got guaranteed entry entry into the
00:20:56
Viv
Okay.
00:21:00
Sarah F
New York city marathon. If you had done like nine new York road and or whatever.
00:21:03
Viv
Oh yeah. It's, it's yeah. Nine, nine plus one. Yeah.
00:21:06
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:21:07
Viv
They still do. That's the only reason I got into New York as well. I did. I, back when I lived in New York, it was like nine races volunteer one. And I was like, I'm done. I'm in, let's go.
00:21:15
Sarah F
Yeah. So I got guaranteed entry every year I wanted to do it.
00:21:17
Viv
Nice.
00:21:18
Sarah F
So I don't know. I did it two or three times. So, so I got into marathons when I was first dating my husband, we did a lot of marathons cause he's a marathon runner.
00:21:28
Sarah F
So we think the first year we were dating, we did like six marathons that year or something ridiculous.
00:21:35
Viv
That's insane and incredible all at the same time.
00:21:38
Sarah F
Yeah. We're like, all right, let's go to do the main marathon in October and then let's do the New York City Thera Marathon in November. And oh, let's go to Vegas in December. we just like kept doing them.
00:21:48
Viv
incredible.
00:21:48
WILD ONEZ
That's a fun way to travel together though. That's awesome.
00:21:50
Sarah F
Yeah, it was really fun. Yeah. So when I lived in New York and I was doing triathlon, I basically only did marathon. And then it wasn't until I came out here to California and started trail running that i really kind of fell in love with the trails and wanted to do more.
00:22:05
Sarah F
And it wasn't until after I did my first Casco Bay 2017 that I knew I wanted to do worlds. And I knew it was 60K of running. So I figured I need to like figure out how to do 50K of running at least.
00:22:19
Sarah F
And so I signed up for my first 50K and I just, I don't know, I just loved it.
00:22:25
Viv
That's incredible.
00:22:25
Sarah F
So, yeah.
00:22:25
WILD ONEZ
That's amazing.
00:22:25
Viv
You're just like, how this makes sense to sign up for this race, so I'm going to sign up for and just have a look back.
00:22:26
Sarah F
So none of I did.
00:22:27
WILD ONEZ
and so
00:22:33
WILD ONEZ
So did you kind of...
00:22:33
Sarah F
Yeah, so i did like I did the baby step progression again. i did like 50 mile, 100K.
00:22:37
WILD ONEZ
i was just going to ask that.
00:22:41
Sarah F
i actually signed up.
00:22:41
WILD ONEZ
Is that...
00:22:42
Sarah F
I went from hundred play to signing up to two for 200, but then I was like, all right, i better do 100. So I did do 100 before the 200 rolled around, but I needed the the motivation of the 200 to motivate me to do 100.
00:22:56
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:22:59
WILD ONEZ
That's amazing. And so this is all just since like 2017. So like in the last 10 years, that's amazing.
00:23:05
Sarah F
10 years. Yeah. Yeah.
00:23:07
Viv
That's so cool.
00:23:11
Sarah F
Yeah. And I am not very fast. I don't like running fast. I don't like running hard. I like running in my all day pace all the time.
00:23:18
Viv
Yeah.
00:23:19
Sarah F
I mean, I've had a long history of sport from college, I mean, even before, but college swimming to like, I'm 50 now.
00:23:24
Viv
Yeah.
00:23:26
Sarah F
And I mean, I'm going to really jinx myself now, but I don't, I haven't gotten in here.
00:23:30
Viv
I'm knocking on wood. I'm knocking on wood. and It's okay. My desk is made of wood. It's great.
00:23:36
Sarah F
But I think that's why, because I like, I'm, you know, i mean, my Ironman coaches used to complain to me all the time that like, I like my comfort zone too much. And I do.
00:23:47
Sarah F
i love my comfort zone.
00:23:47
Viv
Nothing wrong with that.
00:23:50
Sarah F
But I'm not one to like push myself too hard.
00:23:51
WILD ONEZ
You can go far then.
00:23:53
Sarah F
So I just, you know, I'm able to just have longevity, I guess, in the sport. So.
00:23:59
WILD ONEZ
Okay, but also like you're pushing yourself pretty hard if you're running like 100 200 miles. Don't discredit that.
00:24:06
Sarah F
I know, that's what all my friends look like.
00:24:07
Viv
such an easy everyday pace, you know? I'm just gonna go run 100 miles real quick. like
00:24:12
WILD ONEZ
That is so challenging.
00:24:14
Sarah F
Well, you know, actually, like I should take a step back. In 2020, all the races were canceled. And one of our local race directors created this.
00:24:19
Viv
Yeah.
00:24:24
Sarah F
He called it open course racing. And so we have a huge ridge trail in San Francisco. It's called the Bay Area Ridge Trail. areaia ridtrail And it goes all the way south from like San Jose.
00:24:38
Sarah F
And it comes all the way up the peninsula and Marin up to like Sonoma and Napa and around and along the East Bay and loops back around.
00:24:47
Viv
Oh, that's really yeah fast.
00:24:47
Sarah F
It's the entire, it's huge. Yeah. So he created this open course. It was called the Together Relay to like keep everybody together.
00:25:00
Sarah F
he broke the whole thing up. I think the whole thing is like 170 miles. I'm not really sure.
00:25:04
Viv
OK.
00:25:04
Sarah F
But people do FKTs on it and stuff. But he broke it up into 70 different sections. And you basically had to like record on your GPS watch, start and finish.
00:25:15
Sarah F
And then there was like a virtual leaderboard where like you could see which sections people had done. And like, you know, if someone did it faster than you, then they were ahead of you on that section. But it over time added up all the different sections and all your different times and had a whole leaderboard and everything.
00:25:34
Sarah F
And it was like six months to do it.
00:25:34
Viv
That's really cool.
00:25:36
Sarah F
It was like the summer of 2020 until the end of the year.
00:25:40
WILD ONEZ
That's cool.
00:25:40
Sarah F
And so that also really developed my love for kind of long-term trail running. And it also forced me to jump in and be really comfortable with just following tracks on Gaia and going places I hadn't gone before and being on my own and, you know, kind of doing my own thing.
00:26:01
Sarah F
And so there was a lot of logistics because it was different areas, but I would just go and do like three... I would put like three sections together and do like 20 or 30 miles if it was far away on on a weekend and then finish like one area at a time.
00:26:16
Sarah F
It was really fun.
00:26:18
Viv
That's really cool. I mean, now you can say you've done the entire trail.
00:26:21
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:26:23
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, I think a lot of like trail running and running in general was like a COVID hobby for people that they've still really hung on to, which has been really cool to see across the board.
00:26:23
Sarah F
Yep.
00:26:35
WILD ONEZ
Like, yeah, folks just imagine it.
00:26:36
Sarah F
Yep.
00:26:38
Viv
That's...
00:26:47
Sarah F
I found her because we did a virtual fifty k during COVID, and we like actually were on the same trail like an hour had like an hour apart from each other, and that's kind of like how we initially found each other.
00:26:59
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:27:00
WILD ONEZ
That's amazing.
00:27:01
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:27:06
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:27:08
Sarah F
Yeah. And so she lives like one town south of me, but we like, we both ran the ridge like that separates our towns kind of.
00:27:16
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:27:17
Viv
Oh my gosh. Okay, so what races has she paced you for?
00:27:21
Sarah F
She paced me at Tahoe 200. She paced me at Canyons 100. and then we trained for the Big Alta 100K together this year, but we both ran it.
00:27:33
Sarah F
That one actually I ended up DNFing because I missed one of the final cutoffs. I did like 50 miles, I think.
00:27:40
Viv
Nice.
00:27:40
Sarah F
So, yeah.
00:27:41
Viv
Okay. I think this so might be a good segue into the big kahuna that you attempted this year.
00:27:41
WILD ONEZ
Nice.
00:27:49
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:27:50
Viv
You were one of, i don't even know what the total runners who were at the start line, but it looked like a party at the start line of Cocodona 250. How? Okay. Okay.
00:28:00
Sarah F
Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:00
Viv
how
00:28:01
Sarah F
It's a scene. It's, it's kind of like, it's kind of feeling to me more like Iron Man, like, and less like trail running.
00:28:07
Viv
okay
00:28:08
Sarah F
No, it's getting to be more of an event than, you know, trail running is kind of just a bunch of people hanging out in the woods together. And it definitely doesn't have that feel anymore.
00:28:20
Viv
What made you sign up for this race?
00:28:25
Sarah F
So I had done, I finished, I DNFed Tahoe 200 2023 because like I had major career and life issues in 2023. My bank got taken over by the FDIC and it was just a, I like lost my job as it was.
00:28:42
Sarah F
And I don't know, it was a tough year.
00:28:44
Viv
A lot of really just mix the bag, toss it out, and you're like, all right, here we go!
00:28:46
Sarah F
Exactly. So I went back in 2024 and I had a so successful Tahoe 200.
Cocodona 250 Race Reflections
00:28:54
Sarah F
I fell in love with the 200 mile races. I loved being out there for multiple nights and taking dirt naps. And like, I mean, I just loved it. It was amazing. but I knew, i mean, some people go out and do these multiple ones a year and they're just insane and incredible. And I don't know how they do it, but I was like, all right, I'm going to do, I'm going to try to do this every other year.
00:29:19
Viv
Yeah.
00:29:21
Sarah F
is was kind of felt like a good fit for me so i didn't really want to do bigfoot or moab which are the other destination trail races bigfoot seemed really hard moab just didn't really call to me so i just i'd heard so many good things about cocodona 250
00:29:23
Viv
Yeah.
00:29:39
Sarah F
My niece actually goes to NAU and she was supposed to graduate that weekend. And so it seemed like, oh, I could go and my family would be there. So it just seemed like a good time. Yeah.
00:29:52
Sarah F
yeah So I decided to give it a whirl. And last year was the last year that they did just regular signups. And I don't know if you guys heard all, you probably didn't hear all these, but like we like broke the internet, like I'll just sign up like, crashed multiple times and stuff.
00:30:02
WILD ONEZ
Oh
00:30:08
Sarah F
I mean, it was just, it took a couple of days to like really find out who actually made it through registration and who didn't.
00:30:12
Viv
Wow.
00:30:18
Viv
I did not know about that.
00:30:18
WILD ONEZ
my goodness.
00:30:20
Sarah F
that's why they went to the lottery this year. Yep.
00:30:23
Viv
There.
00:30:23
Sarah F
Okay.
00:30:24
WILD ONEZ
That makes sense.
00:30:26
Viv
i don't Can't cross the internet.
00:30:29
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:30:29
Viv
Okay. That's awesome. Okay. So start at the starting
00:30:33
Sarah F
i mean
00:30:35
Viv
What was your mindset going into the race? Because you've done your 200.
00:30:39
Sarah F
Yep.
00:30:39
Viv
It was just 50 miles more, but what how do you prepare yourself for that?
00:30:46
Sarah F
I had a coach for Tahoe 200 and he just focused a lot on like much more on durability and hiking and just mental toughness and stuff more than even running. Like he doesn't even really think that all the running training is all that important. I mean, obviously you have to be fit and able to do all this stuff.
00:31:04
Sarah F
I had actually gone and done the training run about a month before in early April.
00:31:11
Sarah F
The first 32 miles of the race are really, really, really hard. And I had heard this and then I went into the training ran run and I was like, oh my God, they're like really hard.
00:31:16
WILD ONEZ
That's a lot of vert, right?
00:31:24
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:31:26
WILD ONEZ
You're required to carry a bunch of water with you, right? And and you're also climbing a significant amount in those first few sections.
00:31:34
Sarah F
Yeah. So it's, you have an aid station at mile seven and then not another aid station until 32. thirty two so you have but like a really long section and there's two water drops during the race.
00:31:43
WILD ONEZ
That's a long time.
00:31:44
Viv
Oh wow. Yeah.
00:31:49
Sarah F
We didn't have it during the training run, but, where you can get only one extra liter. it's a minimum, minimum requirement for all racers to carry four liters minimum.
00:31:54
Viv
Oh wow.
00:31:58
Viv
Okay.
00:32:00
WILD ONEZ
That's a gallon of water, isn't it?
00:32:00
Sarah F
I,
00:32:02
Sarah F
I don't know what it really, I don't know.
00:32:03
WILD ONEZ
don't
00:32:03
Sarah F
I just do it based on like my flasks and my bladders and stuff. I don't know gallon wise what it is, but I carried somewhere in between five and a half and six liters.
00:32:11
Viv
Math.
00:32:11
WILD ONEZ
know either.
00:32:14
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:32:14
Viv
That's lot of water.
00:32:16
Sarah F
And I refilled at both one liter aid drops and I drank it all.
00:32:22
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, so one gallon is 3.78 liters.
00:32:25
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:32:26
WILD ONEZ
So you carried over a gallon of water with you. That's heavy.
00:32:29
Sarah F
Yeah. I, Yeah. Five and a half to six liter or yeah.
00:32:31
WILD ONEZ
That's, oops yeah, a workout in itself.
00:32:33
Sarah F
Yep.
00:32:35
WILD ONEZ
And that's just the beginning of the race.
00:32:36
Sarah F
Yeah. So leading up to the race, I would just go up my local mountain with like, I mean, I think I only carried four like on training, but it still seemed like a lot. so, then I realized how remote it was.
00:32:44
Viv
Yeah.
00:32:44
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:32:48
Sarah F
So I decided to like take my in reach with me and stuff too. Cause I was like, I don't want to get, I like a rattlesnake and like not have anyone near me or something.
00:32:52
Viv
Smart.
00:32:56
Sarah F
yeah.
00:32:56
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:32:56
Viv
Yeah, that's a good idea.
00:32:56
WILD ONEZ
Mm-hmm.
00:33:00
Sarah F
So and we got super lucky on the actual race day. It was kind of overcast and not that hot, which was, you know.
00:33:09
Viv
You're in the the desert. It's good.
00:33:10
Sarah F
Yeah, it was still hot.
00:33:11
Viv
Wow.
00:33:12
Sarah F
i still drank all the water. And it's just very dry there. i mean, like your mouth is just always very dry. So it's hard to, you know, eat anything and you need water to like just swallow your food.
00:33:23
Sarah F
And yeah And so in that first 32 miles, it's, you know, 10 or 11,000 feet of climbing, I want to say. It's mostly.
00:33:32
Viv
Oh man.
00:33:33
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:33:34
Viv
You get to go down though, right?
00:33:37
Sarah F
There was a little bit of down, but it was mostly just climbing.
00:33:41
Sarah F
Yes.
00:33:44
Viv
That's crazy.
00:33:44
Sarah F
So, yeah.
00:33:45
Viv
Okay. So you you almost 40 miles, i guess, yeah, 40 miles into this race, you're climbing the entire time.
00:33:55
Sarah F
Yeah, up to like, yeah, well, it's about 32. And then you kind of descend a little bit into Crown King. But yeah, it's a lot of climbing.
00:34:04
WILD ONEZ
Did you change your shoes at Crown King this year? I guess that was the thing to do based on the live stream. Everybody was changing their shoes early.
00:34:13
Sarah F
I had a drop bag at Crown King, but I didn't even have like, support there. I mean, my friend's husband helped me out.
00:34:20
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:34:20
Sarah F
And like helped me with my drop bag and stuff. But I didn't change my shoes at all. I wasn't planning on changing my shoes until Sedona, which is like mile 160.
00:34:29
WILD ONEZ
That's awesome.
00:34:29
Sarah F
When I did Tahoe 200, I wore the same pair of shoes the entire time. And I had options change out.
00:34:34
WILD ONEZ
If you can get away with it yeah, if you can get away with it, that's awesome.
00:34:35
Sarah F
But I just feel like once my feet kind of get used to it and like then get blistery, like at least they're like used to them and like where the blisters are and stuff.
00:34:47
Sarah F
And then you don't want to pinch them in new places kind of. I don't know.
00:34:53
Viv
No, that makes sense. I get that. I wore the same pair of shoes, essentially. Again, I'm not doing 200 miles, but when I did my ultra, I switched from a smaller pair to like a bigger pair.
00:35:07
Viv
And I should have just done the bigger pair of the entire time.
00:35:07
Sarah F
Yep.
00:35:09
Viv
But I Yeah.
00:35:10
Sarah F
I feel like if you do the bigger pair too early, you can slide around it and have more friction and cause more issues. So I don't know.
00:35:16
Viv
Yeah.
00:35:17
Sarah F
Really not. I don't know.
00:35:18
Viv
I definitely like never really thought about like changing shoes at all and until I like was watching more like live stream of races and understanding it and I was like oh I still don't get it but cool guess I'll change shoes okay so when do you get to pick up
00:35:34
Sarah F
Yep.
00:35:37
Sarah F
I'm serious enough. i know I'm a very salty sweater, so I tend to get a lot of chafing, and I have to use a lot of lube on all my body parts, but like also my feet.
00:35:48
Sarah F
So I put like lube on my feet, and I pre-tape my toes.
00:35:52
Viv
OK.
00:35:53
Sarah F
So I thought my feet were doing pretty good because I changed my socks two or three times, but then at the end, they were not doing so hot. So...
00:36:04
Viv
So when you get to when do you get to pick up a pacer for?
00:36:09
Sarah F
So I picked up my pacer at Whiskey Row, which was in like around 70, I want to say, something like that. Yeah. So I kind of cobbled together pacers and crew. My best girlfriend from New York City lives in Phoenix now.
00:36:28
Sarah F
So I reached out to her. And I said, do you have any lovely friends? And sure enough, she connected. It was going to be her. it was going to be her boyfriend, like this other guy she knows from running.
00:36:40
Sarah F
And then she actually had a guy fly in from salt Lake City to come help support me. and then Kelly Donatel was going to the last section.
00:36:50
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:36:52
Sarah F
But I didn't make it to her, unfortunately.
00:36:55
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, we we remember because we were we were all chatting in the WhatsApp group for swim run and like cheering you on.
00:37:00
Sarah F
Yep.
00:37:01
WILD ONEZ
And Kelly had mentioned something. And so at what part of the race this year did you feel like things were starting to like be really challenging and that you might not make it to that finish line?
00:37:16
Sarah F
It was pretty early. I want to say it was like around 100K, like around 60 miles. I left Crown King and i had a bit of a tough night. ate mostly only gels through the whole first day and first section just because it was the easiest to get down with all that climbing and stuff.
00:37:34
WILD ONEZ
hard to eat.
00:37:35
Sarah F
I took one of the 300 flow gels in like a flask and just carried that with me. But my stomach wasn't doing so well overnight. I had some like GI issues and upset stomach. And so i made it to one of the aid stations overnight and I just kind of sat in the aid station for, it wasn't that long, but you know, 15 minutes or whatever and had ramen and like took my time to get some like real actual calories in.
00:38:06
Sarah F
And then it was leaving that aid station. I had like my next big climb up to Camp Kippa, which went up to Mount Union and went up to 8,000 feet. So there was a lot of climbing up there too. And I don't do well over 7, 7,500.
00:38:23
Sarah F
Like seven seventy five hundred like i always get nauseous around feet. so
00:38:29
WILD ONEZ
Altitude is hard to eat at as well to try to keep things down and in.
00:38:31
Sarah F
yeah i mean Yeah. And I was already kind of feeling rough just because. So i just, I struggled. and was ready to drop actually at Camp Kippa, which was probably when like people started sending out rally cries to like that group, like send support, virtual support. But all my crew, I, and I wasn't able to see them yet because it was before I was able to have a pacer. They all just said, you know,
00:39:00
Sarah F
go take an hour of sleep, have some food and see how you feel. And I was like, Oh, okay. I feel fine now.
00:39:08
Sarah F
Yeah. So it's amazing what like an hour of sleep will do for you.
00:39:12
WILD ONEZ
Yeah. Did you have a sleep strategy coming into the race?
00:39:13
Sarah F
so
00:39:17
Sarah F
So like roughly, At Tahoe, I stopped after the first 100K because when I did it, it was like an a 100K out and back. And so we came back to the start finish at 100K and my car was there.
00:39:32
Sarah F
So I went to sleep in the car, but it was already like 9 a.m.
00:39:36
Viv
Smart.
00:39:36
Sarah F
or something. And I literally just laid in my car and wasted time for like an hour and I wasn't sleeping. So my strategy was to not sleep until I felt like I needed it.
00:39:48
Sarah F
But at this race, I felt like I kind of needed it already.
00:39:49
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:39:51
Sarah F
So.
00:39:52
WILD ONEZ
Was the weather very different at these two races?
00:39:53
Viv
Fair.
00:39:56
WILD ONEZ
I feel like heat will impact me really quickly and I'll feel sleepy way sooner than if the race was like in a cooler climate. And I'm wondering if like maybe something like that impacts my sleep.
00:40:09
Sarah F
I don't think he really makes me sleepy. He just makes me cranky. Yeah.
00:40:13
WILD ONEZ
That's fair. Me too. Yeah.
00:40:15
Viv
Me too.
00:40:16
Sarah F
I don't like being hot.
00:40:17
WILD ONEZ
you
00:40:20
Sarah F
And like for me, I don't know. I'm everyone always joked in my open water swimming days and stuff. They're like, you're part walrus. Like, like at Worlds, I was fine. At the end, Hugh and I were going by people that were like shivering and like struggling and were like, what is wrong with these people?
00:40:36
Sarah F
Like, this is wonderful. Yeah.
00:40:38
Viv
You're like, this is finally cool now.
00:40:41
WILD ONEZ
Yeah. yeah
00:40:43
Sarah F
so yeah i just i don't do well in heat and i knew going into this race that that would be like a big struggle for me so i did struggle during the days going from camp kippa after i slept i went down into whiskey row for the most part so that was fine going down and the heat was okay.
00:41:07
Viv
It's just...
00:41:07
Sarah F
then I picked up, a picked up my first pacer at whiskey row and then having somebody with me was just very magical.
00:41:07
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, it's usually.
00:41:14
Sarah F
It was wonderful.
00:41:17
WILD ONEZ
Did you spend a lot of time alone out there during those miles? Like how spread out does it get?
00:41:24
Sarah F
So I left, when I left that aid station where I said I had like kind of just taken a stop, that was at Rasta Creek. I left with like two girls and a guy and I stayed with them for quite a while.
00:41:36
Sarah F
so you kind of team up with people. and then you are on your own, but then i don't know, you kind of like leapfrog back and forth.
00:41:38
WILD ONEZ
Okay.
00:41:54
Sarah F
so I saw a fair amount of her. she was part of the reason that motivated me to get out of Camp Kippa because I was waking up from my nap and coming back and like getting ready to like change my clothes. I changed my clothes every morning because just, you know, doing a baby wipe and brushing your teeth and changing your clothes is really nice.
00:42:14
Sarah F
So it is amazing.
00:42:15
WILD ONEZ
It's crazy how far that goes in a race. Oh my gosh, you just like feel like a new human.
00:42:17
Sarah F
Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:22
Viv
Absolutely. It's like a shower, kind of.
00:42:23
Sarah F
So we saw her a lot.
00:42:28
Viv
That's good. I mean, I feel like in these races, kind of like swim run too, you have to adapt because you could go in with one plan and be like, okay, this is when I'm going to go to bed. This is when I'm going to do this.
00:42:40
Viv
And you you have literally no idea what your body or the day is going to like pass you and you just have to adapt and kind of overcome and figure it out, but like still have your consistencies like for you, like changing your clothes and brushing your teeth. Like that was that was the thing that kind of kept you regular.
00:43:01
Sarah F
Yep. Yep. Yeah. And just eating the whole time was a struggle. I mean, after we left Whiskey Row, I had her boyfriend with me. And then we went to Watson Lake and she met us there because it was a crewable aid station. and it was funny. Like I was eating, i think I had pasta with chili and like some watermelon and like some ramen, but I was like trying to take a lot in because I was not eating much in between the aid stations. Yeah.
00:43:25
Sarah F
And at one point I looked her, I'm like, have I had enough, mom? She's like, you have to have three more bites.
00:43:30
WILD ONEZ
i think
00:43:32
Sarah F
I was like, okay.
00:43:36
WILD ONEZ
Yes, you have to get the crew approval.
00:43:37
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:43:38
WILD ONEZ
Move forward.
00:43:39
Sarah F
But it was wild because it was really warm during the day. And then one of the nights, like when we were out at Fane Ranch, It was freezing cold, which was my happy place.
00:43:51
Sarah F
I was fine with it. But my pacer had everything he owned. He had gloves and then he put hand warmers in his gloves and then he put a pair of socks over his gloves because he was so cold.
00:44:05
WILD ONEZ
I mean, you got to use your resources, I guess.
00:44:07
Sarah F
Yeah. So, I mean, it just gives you an idea of like how much, like I think there it was like in the twenties or thirties, it was cold.
00:44:09
WILD ONEZ
What was the temperature?
00:44:14
WILD ONEZ
yeah thats yeah that's cold overnight.
00:44:14
Sarah F
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, i mean, my my old coach, Michael was there supporting his other runner and he was there in like a swim park and like, you know, totally bundled up.
00:44:16
Viv
but Yeah, it's little chilly.
00:44:18
WILD ONEZ
It's hard to regulate body temperature too.
00:44:29
Sarah F
So
00:44:29
Viv
You're like, this is where I thrive. This is great. We're fine.
00:44:32
Sarah F
yeah. Yeah. As long as you keep moving and the minute you stop, then that's a problem. Yeah.
00:44:37
Viv
Yeah, it goes downhill very fast when you're like, oh, hey.
00:44:39
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:44:41
Viv
Yeah, when we were watching the live stream of this race, it just looked like people were really either taking layers off or taking putting things on, putting things off, and it was just like insane to see the temperature changes because it can get so warm during the day and it gets so cold at night.
00:44:57
Sarah F
Yeah, for sure.
00:44:58
Viv
Did you see any snow?
00:45:01
Sarah F
No, but I heard somebody did. i heard at one point, I think at Mingus, which is like mile 107, think the people who got there ahead of us did get snow, I want to say.
00:45:12
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:45:13
Viv
Love the desert, man.
00:45:13
WILD ONEZ
So how many hours into the race did you end up moving through?
00:45:21
Sarah F
So I stopped at mile 107.
00:45:24
Sarah F
And at at least on my watch, which was probably like a little bit more than what the course said. and that was the, oh God, third night maybe or something.
00:45:33
WILD ONEZ
That's so far.
00:45:37
Sarah F
I don't know. i was, i was mentally prepared that it was 50 miles longer and another day longer than Tahoe. But when I was there in like the midst of like near, like past a hundred,
00:45:52
Sarah F
but like not even to 150, was like, I have more than 100 miles to go still. Like, this is crazy.
00:46:00
Viv
Yeah.
00:46:01
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:46:03
Sarah F
So
00:46:03
WILD ONEZ
How did your body feel?
00:46:06
Sarah F
my body felt pretty good. i mean, I'm coming after I left Mingus, we descended into Jerome and that was just a lot of the trails were like old Jeep trails with, you know, like big,
00:46:21
Sarah F
not bouldery, but like big chunky rocks that like, I can't even tell you how many rocks I kicked.
00:46:21
WILD ONEZ
Trunky rocks. Yeah.
00:46:24
Viv
Not easy, not easy to run down and like just get moving.
00:46:28
Sarah F
Like my, my toes were all bloody and stuff like afterwards, because like I kept kicking them.
00:46:32
Viv
Oh.
00:46:36
Sarah F
and then just kind of like slippery kind of, you know, with like the dust and the dirt. so,
00:46:41
WILD ONEZ
Mm-hmm.
00:46:43
Sarah F
I mean, we were pretty close to Jerome and I got to the point where I was just like, I need to lay down and like take five more minutes. And, you know, you just sometimes have to do that. My legs and my body and stuff felt pretty good. My feet did not feel good. And I just felt overwhelmed with what was still left, I think.
00:47:03
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, that's a lot of miles to move through.
00:47:08
Sarah F
Yeah, I think I just, I mean, i I'm not fast. I think if you're even 10 hours faster than me or like, you know, who knows? I don't know what the range is, but if you can just take another hour or two at the aid stations and like sleep or reset, then it's easier to keep going.
00:47:17
Viv
Yeah. yeah
00:47:25
Sarah F
But I just kind of kept getting closer and closer and closer to the, you know, the cutoffs.
00:47:31
WILD ONEZ
next cutoff is that most of what you're chasing.
00:47:32
Sarah F
Yeah. Yeah. And I was making it through and I actually made it through the cutoff of the one I stopped at, but we did the math and I was like, the next one had somehow gotten tighter.
00:47:42
Sarah F
So there was like, no way I was going to make it to the next one. And it was like 1230 at night.
00:47:44
WILD ONEZ
I hate how that happens.
00:47:46
Sarah F
So I was like, I don't really need to go through another night. Like this is dumb.
00:47:51
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:47:52
Viv
this I don't know why i did this, but this is, we're at a point now where it's fine.
00:47:54
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:47:57
WILD ONEZ
Do you have any like mantras that keep you going when you do start to kind of like, you know, feel worn?
00:48:05
WILD ONEZ
Or just something that like keeps you in like a good headspace while you're moving for that long?
00:48:06
Sarah F
Not really. Yeah. I think my favorite thing to do when I'm really struggling is be with a pacer and just, I've, I've told them I, I like to tuck in behind my pacer and especially on the multi-day events. And when I'm on like day two or three, i just like to,
00:48:26
Sarah F
get in behind them and just kind of like watch their feet or watch whatever and just kind of like zone out and like not even think of anything, just kind of move. So, yeah I mean, it's for just, it depends on the race.
00:48:39
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:48:39
Viv
I like that.
00:48:43
Sarah F
Cocodona, one of the things that appealed to me about Cocodona was that the aid stations were closer together than Tahoe. At Tahoe, most of them are in the ballpark of 20 miles that you have to go through before you get to the next one.
00:48:57
WILD ONEZ
That's insane.
00:48:58
WILD ONEZ
That is like almost a marathon before getting aid on a trail when you think of that.
00:48:58
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:49:03
WILD ONEZ
Like that is intense.
00:49:05
Sarah F
Yeah. And I feel like the year that I did it, I don't know. They always seemed like a bit mismarked. Like they always seemed like if it said 18, it was 19. And if it said 19, it was 20.
00:49:15
Sarah F
You know what mean? You were just like, don't, you know, and at that point you're going slow.
00:49:16
Viv
Yeah.
00:49:16
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:49:19
Sarah F
You're going 20 minute miles, maybe even slower.
00:49:22
Viv
Yeah, you're like, it should be here.
00:49:22
Sarah F
Yeah. like it's another 10 minutes or something. It's longer than that. So I was lucky that the aid stations were closer.
00:49:33
Sarah F
So at Cocodona, at least, I felt like I could get more into the mentality of like, just make it to the next aid station.
00:49:40
WILD ONEZ
yeah
00:49:41
Sarah F
Whereas I feel like in some races where they're further apart, that's a more difficult mentality and like mantra.
00:49:50
Viv
Yeah, no, that makes sense of like, you know what?
00:49:50
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:49:54
Viv
Again, it should be here. Where is it? We're almost there. need food out of water. is i mean, especially in the desert too. I think, I'm not sure if there's any, maybe just accessibility and availability of those aid stations of how Cocodona does it and it lays out versus like Tahoe or other 200 races.
00:50:16
Viv
Have you thought about like Moab at all?
00:50:23
Sarah F
My husband wants to do Moab in 2027, I think so Maybe.
00:50:27
Viv
That's incredible.
00:50:27
Sarah F
Let's see. I don't know. So he's thinking of it. I don't, I want to do, the next thing I want to do is I want to go back to like 200 or less, like more than a hundred, but like 200 or less.
00:50:36
Viv
Okay.
00:50:39
Sarah F
I don't, I think trying to edge up to like the 240 or 250 is a little bit, is a little bit challenging for me with the extra day.
00:50:47
WILD ONEZ
It's a lot of miles.
00:50:48
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:50:48
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:50:49
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:50:49
Viv
Yeah.
00:50:50
WILD ONEZ
That's incredible that you've gone this far in running. Like, i don't know. My mind is just blown. I've run a few 50 mile races now and like, like my brain can't even mean like conceptualize how much longer like that would be to go that distance and like how that would feel.
00:51:13
WILD ONEZ
It's just, don't blows my mind. It's incredible.
00:51:16
Sarah F
I feel like they're much easier than like 50 or a hundred.
00:51:17
WILD ONEZ
It's so cool.
00:51:19
Sarah F
Well, 50 is shorter, but like, I feel like 200s are easier than hundreds because they're slower. Like I feel like most hundreds, like you have to be faster.
00:51:25
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:51:25
Viv
Yeah.
00:51:25
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:51:27
Sarah F
And if things go sideways, you have less time to turn it around. But, so.
00:51:33
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:51:34
Viv
It's like the sprint the sprint distance of ultra running. You're like, all right, you got to be done within so much time.
00:51:39
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:51:40
Viv
And at least like the 200, it definitely like seems like the 200 is like a multi-day thing. Like the 100 is like, all right you get a weekend. Good luck. Like okay this is it.
00:51:50
WILD ONEZ
It's kind of crazy how fast 100-mile races have gotten, though. And, like, the course records that are just being absolutely, like, obliterated in recent years, and they just keep getting faster and faster and faster.
00:51:55
Sarah F
It's insane.
00:52:02
WILD ONEZ
And you're like, on my best day, I can't even run as fast as you ran all of those 100 miles. I'm like, that's incredible.
00:52:09
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:52:10
WILD ONEZ
Like, just, yeah, what people can do.
00:52:10
Sarah F
They're so fast now. And I think I read something of that like Rachel Enkerton said that like she realized she finally realized how well she was doing when she like dropped the media person running up Eldon.
00:52:24
WILD ONEZ
again Yeah.
00:52:25
Sarah F
Which is like running up Eldon at like mile like 240 or whatever it is.
00:52:25
Viv
Yeah.
00:52:30
Viv
Oh my gosh.
00:52:30
Sarah F
It's like at like 9,000 feet and you're like dropping people who are, I mean, I don't know how fresh she was, but way fresher than she was.
00:52:36
WILD ONEZ
She's incredible.
00:52:37
Viv
Yeah. Definitely not 200 miles deep in.
00:52:41
Sarah F
ye
00:52:41
WILD ONEZ
It definitely helps when you have the opportunity of training at a higher elevation and like living at 8,000 feet already and then like having the 14,000 foot peaks around you. But like you're still running up a mountain, and girl, after doing like 2,200 something miles.
00:52:57
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, it's incredible.
00:52:57
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:53:00
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:53:00
WILD ONEZ
Definitely.
00:53:00
Sarah F
And I did, I did like all the heat training and stuff beforehand. I did, you know, 10 days of sauna and like all that stuff. Cause I felt I needed it for the heat training, but they say that that's supposed to benefit you for altitude and stuff too.
00:53:06
Viv
Yeah.
00:53:12
Sarah F
I just, I just felt off the whole time.
00:53:13
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:53:13
Viv
definitely.
00:53:16
Sarah F
i don't know. I think I made it through my forties pretty unscathed, but like, I'm finally feeling some like old woman issues. Yeah. I was like, I think, I don't know.
00:53:26
Sarah F
My hormones are just, I
Race Selection and Personal Growth
00:53:29
Sarah F
don't know. I just felt tired the whole time. I didn't feel like myself, just like from the start of the race, really.
00:53:31
Viv
Yeah.
00:53:34
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, that's hard. and you pushed through 136 of that you said.
00:53:39
Viv
That's insane.
00:53:39
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:53:40
Viv
Like, first off, like, to even just say, hey, I'm going to line up at Coco Dota 250 and do – attempt to accomplish 250 miles. And then to like, get over that 100 mark is even more impressive. And then just to keep going, like, in the in the mindset that you had kind of paddled through, like, that's badass. Like, it – like, i don't think, like – A DNF for like a any like any ultra race like is is bad.
00:54:12
Viv
like i I still see it. like You're crazy enough to sign up for something.
00:54:18
Sarah F
Thank you.
00:54:18
Viv
Like that normally no normally no one wants to do. And they're like, oh, you you're so crazy. you have You have to be insane. And you're like, no, I think I'm pretty smart about this. I've put in the time.
00:54:31
Viv
Like I'm not just doing this because like whatever. Like there might have been a whatever moment, but you're still still out there towing the line with like some incredible athletes and just like being there yourself. You're just like, yeah, I'm doing it.
00:54:46
Sarah F
Yeah, the imposter syndrome at the start line of Coco Dota was real.
00:54:46
WILD ONEZ
Okay.
00:54:50
Sarah F
It's like, oh my God, who are all these people?
00:54:51
WILD ONEZ
Really?
00:54:54
Sarah F
Yikes. But yeah, I mean, I've just, my whole life, I've just, I've really enjoyed the training and the process and the lifestyle. And I just, I like having big, scary goals to motivate me to keep training.
00:55:06
Viv
I love that.
00:55:07
Sarah F
But I don't know.
00:55:08
WILD ONEZ
To spend more time outside.
00:55:08
Sarah F
I keep having big, scary goals. Now I'm kind of like, all right, now for the rest of the year, I need like, I need short races.
00:55:17
Viv
Anything less than a 250, please?
00:55:21
Sarah F
I'm going to like a couple of races where I don't need like a headlamp. I don't know.
00:55:29
Viv
be nice.
00:55:30
WILD ONEZ
Yeah. How many headlamps are but we going to need for this race? All right. That's, I can do that.
00:55:34
Viv
Yeah, that's too many.
00:55:36
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:55:36
Sarah F
Yeah. I mean, I like my suitcase was so full of like battery pack chargers because I needed like multiple for my phone and my Kogala and my headlamp. I don't know. Yeah.
00:55:50
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:55:50
Viv
Amazing.
00:55:50
WILD ONEZ
That's a lot of logistics that go into planning for a 250 mile race as well. Like for yourself, for any crew.
00:55:55
Sarah F
Yep.
00:55:58
WILD ONEZ
and so that's,
00:55:59
Sarah F
And Tahoe was a local race for me in the first one I did. So that was pretty easy because I literally just like piled a ton of shit in the back of my minivan and, you know, basically had anything I needed. And my crew met me at a lot of the aid stations with my car. And I could sleep in the back of my car.
00:56:15
Sarah F
So this one was a new learning experience of like, okay, how can I fit this in two suitcases? And like, what, you know, everything I need. with
00:56:27
WILD ONEZ
It's a little different when you're flying. And yeah.
00:56:29
Sarah F
Yep.
00:56:30
Viv
What was your biggest takeaway from signing up for this race and doing this race that you'll take with you throughout swim run and other trail races that you do?
00:56:42
WILD ONEZ
And life.
00:56:42
Sarah F
I think I signed up for Coca-Cola because like the lore of it and it's so popular and
00:56:43
Viv
And life.
00:56:49
Sarah F
I wanted to experience it and I'm glad I did. Many people that I know that DNF right around me signed up for the lottery like right away and they wanted to like go back and retry it. And I think my biggest takeaway is like Arizona desert races are not for me.
00:57:09
Sarah F
I need to be a little bit more self-reflective of like what brings me joy and like what I'm good at and what I'm not good at. So I will also not be doing like high lonesome and like high altitude because I am not good at that
00:57:23
WILD ONEZ
What? You don't want to come taste me next year? but
00:57:27
Sarah F
Pacing is a different thing, but.
00:57:29
Viv
Yeah, you're only doing a section of it.
00:57:31
WILD ONEZ
yeah I guess.
00:57:33
Sarah F
But yeah, like I have a friend who like signed up for Uray or however you say that.
00:57:33
WILD ONEZ
It's no joke.
00:57:39
Sarah F
I mean, he's like, it's basically all at 10,000 feet.
00:57:39
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:57:39
Viv
Oh, yeah.
00:57:41
Sarah F
And I'm like, oh that sounds terrible.
00:57:44
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:57:45
Sarah F
So.
00:57:46
Viv
You're like, no, thank you. You can have that fun to yourself.
00:57:49
WILD ONEZ
need oxygen. i think
00:57:50
Sarah F
Yeah, so just like, I mean, i just need to be better at finding a good fit for me and not just like
00:57:59
Sarah F
what the social media and like other things tell me.
00:58:02
WILD ONEZ
I think that's a really good takeaway though too, because i totally have like thought about the lure of Cocodona 250. I'm not a desert person. I just like melted yesterday on a four mile run like that probably maybe wouldn't be a smart idea or maybe I wouldn't find it.
00:58:17
Sarah F
Yeah, we got so lucky. I mean, it could have been so much worse the first day.
00:58:19
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
00:58:21
Sarah F
i mean, it was like probably low 80s.
00:58:22
WILD ONEZ
yeah
00:58:23
Sarah F
It could have been like 100 degrees, literally.
00:58:24
Viv
Okay.
00:58:25
Sarah F
i mean, it was, yeah. yeah.
00:58:28
Viv
Oh, Lord.
00:58:29
Sarah F
Though I do recommend it.
00:58:30
Viv
That's.
00:58:31
Sarah F
Like it is an experience for everyone to experience. i don't know.
00:58:34
WILD ONEZ
I want to go there and I want to support somebody. So Viv, you can sign up for it.
00:58:36
Sarah F
Yeah.
00:58:38
WILD ONEZ
you're You're more adapted to the heat.
00:58:41
Viv
I am. i did think about putting in for the lottery this year, and i ended up not doing it just because I like had different race goals for next year. But maybe if it continues, I'll i'll i'll put in for it because it it is kind of like you said, like the lore of Copadona. And I never really got into it until like really this year. Like I knew it existed. a new Moab 240 existed. These insane races where you're pushing yourself before beyond what you even think is possible and you're like sleep deprived and doing –
00:59:13
Viv
again, what you didn't think you could do. and I think that's why I like the endurance sports so much is like, it could be a baby ultra or like you're doing a hundred miles, 200 miles, or even doing worlds. You're just,
00:59:27
Viv
I like I always tell everybody whenever they're like oh like how do you think you're gonna do I'm like oh I'm gonna I'm gonna run a 12 minute mile and they're like well you could do better than that and I go I know but I set I set my standards low so that when I like surpass them it's like a surprise to everybody including myself
00:59:48
Viv
but I think it's at doing one of those races would just be really cool I call like call them bucket list races for Sarah and I, where we're just like, what's one race that we want to do? Like before we're 30, okay. Before we're 40, before we're 50, like what are those races that we want to try and accomplish or what's those distances and stuff to do? And just have it be like, Hey, you know what?
01:00:09
Viv
I signed up for Coca-Dona. I might've not finished, but I did it. Like that's insane.
01:00:13
Sarah F
Yeah. Yeah. it's just hard. I mean, like I've got two kids and I've got all their sports and activities. And so like, I basically can't train at night because we have most of their activities then.
01:00:19
Viv
Yeah. Yeah.
01:00:25
Sarah F
So it's like before work in the morning and on the weekends, like when I can carve out time and I probably should have trained more. Definitely that would have helped, but like, you know, I'm every decision, you know, there's a everything you say yes to, you say no to something else.
01:00:41
Sarah F
So, you know, I'm not willing to say no to a lot of their stuff.
01:00:41
Viv
Yeah.
01:00:44
Sarah F
So I just make it work around the schedule I have. And, so, yeah, do all these fun things while you guys are young and don't have like all these like other responsibilities.
01:00:54
WILD ONEZ
you
01:01:00
Viv
We each have two dogs. that Those are our responsibilities right now. i'll Keep us two things a alive.
01:01:03
Sarah F
For sure, yes. But you can take them running, don't you, Viv?
01:01:10
Viv
I do – so there's a rule. If nobody knows this, I learned this. fifty if it's If you add together the humidity percentage plus the temperature outside and it's above – I think it's like 150, 160, do not take your dog on elevated activity.
01:01:20
Sarah F
Mm-hmm.
01:01:28
Viv
So –
01:01:28
Sarah F
Yep.
01:01:30
Viv
it's constantly above 160 down here. So bear and Pippa usually, Pippa's got small legs.
01:01:33
Sarah F
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
01:01:36
Viv
She's like a dachshund, cattle dog mix. And the a bear, he's a great runner. Like he used to do trails in Colorado and in new York city, i would run with him as well. and he loves it.
01:01:47
Viv
However, it's just so hot here. So in like November, December, January, February, March are probably, like, have been the sweet months down here in Louisiana to where, like, he's not dying of heat exhaustion.
01:02:00
WILD ONEZ
He's got a thick throat too. Yeah.
01:02:02
Sarah F
Yeah, my dog has gotten like pretty neglected the last couple of weeks because it's been hot here.
01:02:02
Viv
Yeah.
01:02:02
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
01:02:07
Viv
It's, I feel so bad. I'm like, we're going out at, like, 6 a.m. m and it's still, like, so hot here. I'm like, it's okay, guys.
01:02:12
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:02:13
Viv
We're getting our steps in. Come on, let's go. Minimum a mile. Come on.
01:02:17
WILD ONEZ
yeah
01:02:18
Viv
But that's, you just have to adapt. Does your... dog run with you.
01:02:21
Sarah F
She does. Yeah, but I only take her trail running because I refuse to like have her. I mean, I have a leash with me, so if there's cows around or whatever, I can put her on and off. But I don't take her for longer than like seven miles, maybe.
01:02:30
Viv
yeah
01:02:33
Sarah F
It'd be like the longest you do.
01:02:35
Viv
Fair. Yeah.
01:02:36
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
01:02:37
Viv
Yeah. Barry hasn't really done any double digits in a minute. he's He's six and a half. But like you he really started running when he was like one and a half, two years old, when he was like all done growing, no like bone shifts, stuff like that. like, that is one thing. i was like, you're a large dog. We're not flipping stomachs, and we're not breaking any bones.
01:02:57
Viv
So we're we're covering all our bases.
01:03:02
Viv
But I think animals, like, I having a dog like has gotten me like there's some days where I really just don't want to work out. I don't have any on my schedule. I don't have any planned, but like they need to go outside and get.
01:03:13
Sarah F
I need a little safari or something.
01:03:14
Viv
And so I'm like, all right, well, exactly.
01:03:17
Sarah F
Yep.
01:03:18
Viv
and then it ends up being like two miles and you're like, oh, I'm glad I'm glad we got endorphins, guys.
01:03:23
Sarah F
no
01:03:24
Viv
So what's on the horizon for you? What do you have? Are you doing Casco this year?
01:03:29
Sarah F
I'm doing Costco in Colorado for first Swim
Upcoming Races and Unique Challenges
01:03:33
Sarah F
Run. The next thing that I'm doing is just a party in the city. It's just all fun and games.
01:03:42
Sarah F
I finally finagled my way into the Warriors Ultra, which is in New York.
01:03:47
Viv
What's that one?
01:03:49
Sarah F
That is in New York City. It's based on the Warriors movie from 1979. don't know.
01:03:56
Viv
Okay, yeah.
01:03:56
Sarah F
don't know will be for your guys's time so we have like a 1 a.m conclave in the Bronx and then we reenact the run to Coney Island from the movie but we all have to be dressed up as gang members
01:04:13
Viv
Shut up!
01:04:13
WILD ONEZ
this up.
01:04:14
Viv
That's incredible!
01:04:14
WILD ONEZ
Thank you.
01:04:16
Viv
How did I not know about this?
01:04:19
Sarah F
so I'm doing that with my good girlfriend Marissa who who was my pacer, and then my friend Stella, who was my crew chief for Cocodona.
01:04:31
Viv
amazing.
01:04:31
Sarah F
oh
01:04:32
Viv
Okay.
01:04:32
Sarah F
yeah, you have to find your way into a secret WhatsApp group, and then you have to do a challenge. i had to do a 20-mile run tagging a W w on anywhere, but you had to do a run in the shape of a w and so it's all underground and stuff.
01:04:43
Viv
Incredible.
01:04:47
Viv
That's so cool!
01:04:47
WILD ONEZ
I was like what do you was like, what do you mean by tagging a w
01:04:51
Sarah F
Like on your GPS.
01:04:53
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, that's so cool.
01:04:53
Sarah F
Like your run has to look like a W.
01:04:54
WILD ONEZ
Like you have to map it out.
01:04:56
Sarah F
Yeah, because like in the warrior in the Warriors movie, they like with spray paint, but they like tag W everywhere.
01:04:57
Viv
I thought...
01:05:01
Viv
Yeah.
01:05:03
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
01:05:03
Viv
That's incredible.
01:05:04
Sarah F
so yeah.
01:05:04
WILD ONEZ
That's fun. That sounds really fun. Cool.
01:05:07
Viv
Okay, I...
01:05:07
Sarah F
So I'll be running from like, I don't know, 1 a.m. 5 a.m. or 4, 6 a.m., however long it takes me.
01:05:11
Viv
yeah So what, when is this? Is it in July?
01:05:16
Sarah F
It's in July, yeah.
01:05:17
Viv
Okay, so pretty much gonna end at Coney Island, just hop in the water.
01:05:18
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:05:21
Viv
That sounds lovely, honestly.
01:05:22
Sarah F
I know. Yeah.
01:05:24
Viv
That's a great time of year to do it too.
01:05:28
Sarah F
Yeah. Yeah. so that's it. And then just, and then just Colorado, Hugh and I I think trying to accumulate points for 2027.
01:05:40
Sarah F
That's like the rough plan.
01:05:41
WILD ONEZ
Yay.
01:05:42
Sarah F
But if we are successful with that, I don't know.
01:05:42
WILD ONEZ
That's exciting.
01:05:45
Viv
Yes!
01:05:46
Sarah F
I wasn't going to say anything, but what the hell. I'm actually going to Norway.
01:05:48
Viv
Yes! We're manifesting!
01:05:53
Sarah F
I'm going to Norway in July of next year to do the Oslo Bergen 300k.
01:06:00
Sarah F
so there's a big trail run that goes, well, it's 500k if you go from Oslo to Bergen, but i'm I opted for the 300k. The 500k was already sold out, but I wouldn't want to do that.
01:06:11
Sarah F
I'm going...
01:06:11
Viv
Darn it.
01:06:13
Sarah F
I'm going back to my happy place. I've decided that Sweden and Scandinavia makes me happy and it's not over 5,000 feet, but it's still in the mountains and it's 190 miles is the conversion about.
01:06:20
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
01:06:26
Sarah F
So that'll be my next attempt.
01:06:27
WILD ONEZ
That's going to be amazing.
01:06:27
Viv
Wow.
01:06:28
WILD ONEZ
The mountains over there are very beautiful.
01:06:30
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:06:31
WILD ONEZ
Yeah. I love Norway.
01:06:32
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:06:32
Viv
I love Norway.
01:06:34
WILD ONEZ
Need a pacer.
01:06:34
Viv
Like, honestly,
01:06:35
WILD ONEZ
You could probably, you could probably.
01:06:36
Sarah F
there's no There's no crew and no pacers.
01:06:37
WILD ONEZ
Really? Wow.
01:06:39
Sarah F
And actually, this one's really hard because the aid stations, the checkpoints are like 20 to 40 miles apart, depending.
01:06:39
WILD ONEZ
Yeah. Like,
01:06:44
Viv
Wow. Okay.
01:06:45
Sarah F
So it's going to be like more, much more spread out. It'll be much more backpacking, fast packing.
01:06:48
WILD ONEZ
yeah like
01:06:49
Viv
More.
01:06:50
WILD ONEZ
big packs.
01:06:50
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:06:51
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
01:06:52
Viv
Okay.
01:06:53
Sarah F
So we'll see. i have i have my research and my work cut out for me.
01:06:58
WILD ONEZ
Yeah. Like how to
01:06:59
Viv
Well, hey, if you need anybody at the finish line besides your family, Sarah and I are totally down.
01:07:01
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:07:04
WILD ONEZ
you can That'll be so there's a lot of water in that region. So you'll have like water filtration and like all of that stuff. I'm sure too.
01:07:12
Sarah F
I think so.
01:07:13
WILD ONEZ
Right?
01:07:13
Sarah F
I have to figure all that out. But yeah, I think I'll just bring a like a be free or some kind of like a water filter and just be able to filter.
01:07:15
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
01:07:19
Viv
Yeah.
01:07:20
Sarah F
I mean, I watched some videos, which like some were not even in English, but like it's I think some people just like don't even filter it. They just drink it. But I'd probably.
01:07:28
Viv
So Kate, that will there was one part of Rockman that like Kate and I were like, okay, if it's flowing, we probably drink from it.
01:07:29
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:07:35
Viv
And like, we definitely, I like, I just pulled my cup out and just drank it. I was like, honestly, if I die, i die in Norway. It's okay. Like, but the water's moving.
01:07:44
WILD ONEZ
the The thing is with
01:07:44
Sarah F
I mean, you're just going to get diarrhea or something, right?
01:07:45
Viv
It's okay.
01:07:47
Sarah F
It's not that bad
01:07:47
Viv
Yeah. It's not that bad. Yeah.
01:07:52
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, I think you're better off getting hydration than being dehydrated because the onset of any type of like Giardia is going to be after you finish anyways. So, yeah.
01:08:01
Sarah F
Yeah. Yeah.
01:08:02
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
01:08:02
Sarah F
And I don't think, I mean, they have like some sheep and stuff there, but I don't think they have like cows. And I think that's when you really have to worry about it. Like if there's like,
01:08:12
Viv
yeah
01:08:12
Sarah F
cattle roaming and stuff.
01:08:13
Viv
I don't think I saw any cows. Definitely saw some sheep and it was the highlight of my race.
01:08:17
Sarah F
Yeah. Yeah, where is Rockman exactly?
01:08:19
Viv
That was so fun.
01:08:20
Sarah F
And now I need to look at the at the map and see.
01:08:24
Viv
you go north through the fjord from Stavanger, don't know how many miles it is, but if you type in Prekstolen, it's like the rock that aims out.
01:08:37
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:08:39
Viv
That's probably the best geode.
01:08:39
Sarah F
Mm-hmm.
01:08:40
Viv
geo
01:08:41
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:08:41
Viv
part But that was...
01:08:43
Sarah F
They're not having Rockman. This is the last year, right? and they're not having it next year? Or is that not true?
01:08:58
Viv
So the last dance is just the theme of the race. It's not actually the last Rockman.
01:09:04
Sarah F
The last and?
01:09:05
Viv
Yes, correct.
01:09:06
Sarah F
OK.
01:09:06
Viv
So there was something that was translated. i I'm not sure the specifics details wording, but no, Rockman will continue on next year. It is not the last one.
01:09:17
Viv
They just brought on two more race directors or co-race directors. So we have Thor. I'm blaming their names now. Tristan Marcus. And then i see their faces.
01:09:29
Viv
They do Rub Man in Norway as well. But yes, not the last rock man like previously thought.
01:09:31
Sarah F
okay
01:09:35
Sarah F
I was thinking like that one's like kind of a staple too. i mean, it's like the alternate to like world champs kind of.
01:09:54
Viv
And again, I think I've said this on our podcast before, but if a girl from Louisiana can do Rockman, anybody can do Rockman. You just got to train and lift and do maybe a little bit of heat training.
01:10:02
WILD ONEZ
Yeah. yeah
01:10:05
Viv
So, you and you can do it.
01:10:06
Sarah F
Yeah. Well, it's amazing.
01:10:07
Viv
I promise.
01:10:09
Sarah F
I was doing quad dipsy last year and the girl that I was running with was doing amazing. And she's like a merchant Marine and on a ship like for months at a time. And I was like, how are you doing all these hills?
01:10:17
Viv
Wow.
01:10:20
Sarah F
And she's like, I just do a lot of squats.
01:10:20
Viv
Yeah.
01:10:22
Sarah F
And I'm like, oh, I guess I should start doing more squats every day.
01:10:24
Viv
That makes
01:10:26
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:10:27
Viv
sense.
01:10:27
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:10:29
Viv
That's incredible. oh my gosh. i'm I'm very excited to see what happens this year for you as well as how that 300K next year goes.
01:10:40
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:10:40
Viv
We'll definitely definitely be tracking you and obviously we'll see you at a swim run in the near future, either Casco
01:10:46
Sarah F
and i can't wait to watch worlds. You guys are all going have so much fun. hu
01:10:51
Viv
My gosh, I know. I'm like, we had we had such a...
01:10:53
Sarah F
i knew it would be magical, but like, I don't think you can really truly understand it until you go there and experience it. i mean, it's just, I love trail running and I love the trail running community.
01:11:00
Viv
Yeah.
01:11:18
Viv
That's awesome.
01:11:19
Sarah F
but swim run is just next level.
01:11:21
Sarah F
I mean, it's just, I don't know, even better.
01:11:24
WILD ONEZ
The community is everything.
01:11:26
Sarah F
Yeah. Yeah.
01:11:27
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
01:11:28
Viv
<unk> Yeah, it's top tier, and I think that's what keeps us coming back every single time.
Embracing Endurance Sports and Community
01:11:33
Viv
It's like, okay, the races might get expensive and the travel might get expensive, but the people and the experiences are absolutely priceless and will count more towards my longevity of life than, like, a couple hundred dollars.
01:11:48
Sarah F
yep for sure well and like i mean i thought it was going to be crazy expensive to travel over there and it definitely wasn't cheap but when you compare it to even going to like Maine in the summer or other places.
01:12:00
Sarah F
I mean, tickets anywhere are expensive.
01:12:01
Viv
Seriously.
01:12:03
Sarah F
I mean, and you know, what's another, like you said, couple hundred dollars really.
01:12:08
Viv
Yeah. I mean, you're going to have a top tier experience, like nothing you've ever thought you were going to have. So worth it.
01:12:16
Sarah F
And just staying with all the athletes the night before and like the night after and everything is just, it really, you know, the social aspect of it and being with everyone is just really incredible.
01:12:28
Viv
It's awesome. I will. I can't wait for you and Hugh to go back in 27. That would be nice. That would incredible. So we're definitely pulling for you guys to do that because, again, it was it was so awesome being there and and kind of just watching everybody race too.
01:12:46
Sarah F
yep yeah and you guys are gonna have a nice good crew this year
01:12:47
Viv
It's – yeah, I'm quite excited.
01:12:50
WILD ONEZ
It's going to be a big party.
01:12:51
Viv
It's going to huge.
01:12:52
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
01:12:53
Viv
We're going to have a lot of Americans this year. going to be awesome. big pretty You might you might as well just come on over. spectate. Come see the Swedish Archipelago again.
01:13:03
Viv
you know
01:13:03
Sarah F
Right?
01:13:04
Viv
but
01:13:05
Sarah F
If I didn't have family and kids, I would probably hop on that suggestion.
01:13:11
Viv
Listen, I'll figure i'll figure out something for the family and kids.
01:13:11
WILD ONEZ
Okay.
01:13:14
Viv
we' We'll work out a deal.
01:13:16
WILD ONEZ
Vin's got child care.
01:13:18
Viv
got I've got it covered. Don't worry.
01:13:21
WILD ONEZ
So before we wrap things up here, a question for you, like, what piece of advice would you give to folks that are just getting into like endurance sports or have thought about it, but just haven't taken like the next step into it yet? Like, what words of advice would you give to them?
01:13:38
Sarah F
I don't know. I feel like my motto in life is just say yes to new adventures. I mean, you don't want to like, you know, not have run at all and go do two Cocoa Donut 250 or something, but you want to, you know, make logical choices and not get in way over your head.
01:13:53
Sarah F
But I mean, definitely do it before you're ready because the only way you figure it out is by figuring it out and just experiencing it.
01:13:54
Viv
Yeah.
01:14:02
Sarah F
So I'd say just, you know, every time you experience something new, you're going to learn something new and it's just going to build your you know, i don't want to say resume because that's not the way we look at things, but you know, there's lots of things to learn, whether it's training or pacing or, you know, learning how to navigate on your phone or, you know, it's just, you want to get in and start experiencing things.
01:14:20
WILD ONEZ
bucket of joy.
01:14:39
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, I love that. That's so true. Like the best way to start is just saying yes.
01:14:45
Sarah F
Yep. Yeah.
01:14:46
WILD ONEZ
Doing the thing.
01:14:46
Sarah F
So say yes to somebody who asks you to do a swim run. Say yes to just trying something new Drink the Kool-Aid.
01:14:51
WILD ONEZ
Drink the Kool-Aid.
01:14:56
WILD ONEZ
it think
01:14:57
Viv
depending on the situation drink the kool-aid but
01:15:02
Viv
that's so cool i have one more question we do ask this a lot of our female guests this too but what does it mean Being a woman in endurance sports right now, like seeing records be broken, but also just saying like, what does that mean to you to have been a part of endurance sports for so long?
01:15:22
Sarah F
Yeah, I mean, it's a really fun time to be part of it with, you know, Rachel and her win and everything that's happened. But we still have a really low representation overall.
01:15:35
Sarah F
So every time we can represent, i think we should get out there and be there. i mean, I think sometimes people get in early, but then women tend to take a step back.
01:16:02
Sarah F
they're, you know, they're not skewing it.
01:16:02
Viv
Yeah.
01:16:04
Sarah F
They're doing it based on who registered. but I think more organizations need to do that, especially if they're lotteries and not just outright like signups, um, signups,
01:16:14
Sarah F
I also think as a mom, it's just important to show your kids a good example and be out there doing things, as a mom or a parent. I mean, even if you're a male, but, and also to have your own dreams and to like, you know, not just focus on your career or your kids or, you know, just still have things to big, scary goals and things to dream of and experience and get out there and,
01:16:40
Sarah F
test your comfort zone. I mean, you only grow when you're outside of your comfort zone. So I think it's important to get out there.
01:16:47
Viv
That's awesome. Yeah, I could not agree more. That that is that is a mic drop.
01:16:53
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, yeah. yeah That was great. I feel like I always learn so much by having podcast guests and talking to them and learning a little, like,
01:17:05
Viv
Just like little nuggets of wisdom. I think everybody that we've talked to has been
01:17:06
WILD ONEZ
there we go.
01:17:09
Viv
Through, like we again, we could all have gone and done the same race, but we're all going to see it differently. We're all going to have different takeaways. And that's just, I think, that what's what's been so great about having so many podcast people on here or podcast guests.
01:17:20
Sarah F
podcast Yeah.
01:17:23
Sarah F
That's also to like that point.
01:17:23
Viv
Yeah.
01:17:24
Sarah F
That's one of the reasons why I love the night after world so much as like sitting there at the table after dinner, having beers and everyone rehashing what experience they had, because everyone, like you said, had the same day, but completely different experiences.
01:17:30
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
01:17:39
Sarah F
And it's fun to, you know, see what other people went through.
01:17:40
WILD ONEZ
yeah
01:17:44
Sarah F
Are you guys, here's a question for you guys. are you
01:17:46
Viv
Oh,
01:17:46
Sarah F
What are you guys hoping for the pig swim this year? do you want a and a this year or do you want something different?
01:17:51
Viv
last year was beautiful.
01:17:55
Viv
want on what we had last year.
01:17:57
Sarah F
I feel kind of like, I feel like I kind of got gypped.
01:17:57
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, I want what you guys had last year.
01:18:00
Sarah F
I kind of wished for something harder, but then I'm like, but I didn't experience that. And if I had something harder, would I really regret it?
01:18:05
WILD ONEZ
Anna anna and I had insane waves on the pig swim. Like, I literally was like, I'm getting what i'm getting air back here. Like, watching off these waves.
01:18:13
Sarah F
yeah
01:18:16
WILD ONEZ
So i'm I would be very grateful for a swim that's like glass.
01:18:20
Viv
I'll have like a little bit of waves but like no like seeing Chipper this year he was like
01:18:21
Sarah F
Mm-hmm.
01:18:27
Viv
report Sarah, the pig swim is glass. And I go, do not jinx it, knock on wood. Like I literally told Lexi that we are doing this swim quick because in a moment's notice just it can change. And she's like, what? And I go, just hop on, we're swimming across. like But it was it was nice.
01:18:44
Viv
So maybe I'll take a little bit away, but the horror story of what Sarah and Anna went through, like getting air, no thanks.
01:18:52
Sarah F
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I've experienced San Francisco Bay and like Alcatraz area sometimes where like people have actually literally gotten seasick swimming.
01:18:54
WILD ONEZ
No, Anna, yeah.
01:19:02
Viv
That's insane.
01:19:03
WILD ONEZ
Okay.
01:19:03
Sarah F
Yeah.
01:19:04
WILD ONEZ
thankful that didn't happen. But Anna is such a strong swimmer that like she was able to like not only navigate in those waves, but like she also lost her paddle, like broke her paddle after the first swim.
01:19:15
WILD ONEZ
But like she's such a strong swimmer.
01:19:16
Sarah F
Mm-hmm.
01:19:17
WILD ONEZ
She's like still pulling.
01:19:18
Viv
didn't even need it
01:19:20
Sarah F
I feel like having paddles in that rough of conditions would be challenging, was it?
01:19:25
WILD ONEZ
I mean.
01:19:25
Sarah F
i feel like if it's really rough and choppy like that, like just, hi yeah.
01:19:28
Viv
You're gonna just hit your paddle anyway.
01:19:30
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, well, I've come to the point now that like if a wave hits my paddle and like my middle finger comes out of like the little loop, I can actually put it back through and in mid stride.
01:19:41
Sarah F
Oh, that's impressive.
01:19:42
Viv
That's nice.
01:19:42
WILD ONEZ
Yeah.
01:19:43
Viv
Okay.
01:19:44
Sarah F
I think mine I have lashed down too.
01:19:44
WILD ONEZ
It happens.
01:19:45
Viv
All right, pop off.
01:19:45
Sarah F
too i don't think I could do that.
01:19:49
Viv
I'd just be like, all right, I'm just going to hear the hang on for dear life.
01:19:49
WILD ONEZ
it happened
01:19:53
WILD ONEZ
Like when I was learning to swim with paddles, I think my form was just like so bad that it just happened all the time that I just got good at it. So
01:20:02
Sarah F
I love it.
01:20:04
WILD ONEZ
I'll take it.
01:20:07
Viv
Yeah, so wishing good vibes for the pig swim, please.
01:20:10
WILD ONEZ
Yes. Yes. All good vibes only for the pig swim.
01:20:16
WILD ONEZ
Amazing.
01:20:16
Viv
Oh my gosh.
01:20:17
WILD ONEZ
Well, well, I don't
01:20:17
Viv
Well, thank Oh, rock, paper, scissors. Thank you so much, Sarah.
01:20:23
Sarah F
Yeah, it was fun. Very fun way to spend an hour with you guys or an hour plus. Thank you for having me.
01:20:28
WILD ONEZ
Yeah, i think thank you for joining us, dropping some good wisdom. Definitely a lot of takeaways for me from from our conversation. i think you have a like a really strong spirit and just joy for trail running. And like you can just really see that through how you speak and you tell stories about your experiences on the trail. So super grateful we got to sit down and talk with you tonight. And yeah, can't wait to see what's next for you.
01:20:55
Sarah F
Yeah. Awesome. and Thanks guys.
01:20:57
WILD ONEZ
Yeah. Thank you all for listening and we'll see you next time.
01:21:02
Viv
Bye.