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#515 The Unforgiving Hours with Shannon Hogan
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In Episode #515 of the 303Endurance Podcast, we sit down with endurance athlete and author Shannon Hogan to explore her powerful new book The Unforgiving Hours, a tribute to the grit and resilience of athletes who tackle the toughest endurance challenges. We celebrate Coach Lauren Brown and Sasha Goldsberry’s epic performances at the 2025 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Marbella, share a shoutout to Sarah Barr ahead of her Battlefield 12K, and break down TriDot’s Workout of the Week: Power Builders. Plus, don’t miss our Fun Segment—Legends of Leadman Trivia! This episode is brought to you by our Show Sponsor Vespa Power and Ask A Coach Sponsor Grit2Greatness Endurance.
Feature Interview: Shannon Hogan on “The Unforgiving Hours”
Shannon is an endurance athlete, journalist, and author of The Unforgiving Hours, a book that tells the stories of athletes who take on the most unforgiving test of endurance.
Her own journey spans ultrarunning, long-distance cycling, and open-water swimming, giving her a unique perspective on what it means to push beyond limits. She is also an amazing human being. (https://www.instagram.com/the_unforgiving_hours/
Show Sponsor: Vespa Power
Vespa Power Endurance helps you tap into steady, clean energy—so you stay strong, focused, and in the zone longer. Vespa is not fuel, but a metabolic catalyst that shifts your body to use more fat and less glycogen as your fuel source. Vespa comes in CV-25, Junior and Concentrate.
Less sugar. Higher performance. Faster recovery.
Home of Vespa Power Products | Optimizing Your Fat Metabolism
Use discount code - 303endurance20
Website - Grit2Greatness Endurance Coaching
Facebook - @grit2greatnessendurance
Instagram - @grit2greatness_endurance
Coach April Spilde
TriDot Signup - https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/aprilspilde
RunDot Signup - https://app.rundot.com/onboard/sign-up/aprilspilde
Coach Lauren Brown
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RunDot Signup -
Coach Rich Soares
TriDot Signup - https://app.tridot.com/onboard/sign-up/richsoares
RunDot Signup - https://app.rundot.com/onboard/sign-up/richsoares
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
You know, we say, if you have something to do and someone to love and something to hope for, you're fine. Like your life is, you're sorted.
00:00:11
Speaker
And that's what we, that was our theme for that deployment. Cause we had something to do cause we were training for this dang race and we definitely had something to hope for. Cause it was amazing when she got home and we had something love cause we were doing this thing together. Two sisters training for 140.6. Welcome everybody to your 303 endurance podcast.
00:00:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:00:40
Speaker
Aloha, everybody.
00:00:48
Speaker
Podcast. Welcome to the 515 of the 303 Endurance Podcast. We're your hosts, coaches, Rich Soares, April Spilde and Lauren Brown. Thanks for joining us for another week of coaching questions, get gritty tips, workout wisdom, and always some fun. But listen, we are full straight this week with Coach Lorne back from 70.3 Worlds. And we have a very special interview with our new friend and soulmate, Shannon Hogan, author of The Unforgiving Hours.
00:01:15
Speaker
We're really excited to be talking about this book. ah Very enjoyable. But let's see how my good friends here. Coach Lorne, we're glad to have you back.
00:01:26
Speaker
Excited to hear about Marbella. Let's start with you. How are you doing? I am doing fantastic. I had an amazing, magical, wonderful time in Morbea. It is great to be back. I'm like, so thankful to see your faces, but was saying earlier, um but I'm a creature of habit, so I am happy to be home, but what a trip.
00:01:48
Speaker
Yeah. We enjoyed your photos, videos, watching you on the tracker. It was just like, we could be there with you as much as possible, which we loved. Yeah. And got, it's like so wild, like now seeing a lot of the posts coming up on Instagram and Facebook with all of the images of, of the worlds. And I'm like, what a wild experience. Cause now i'm looking at it and I'm like, I was there. I know exactly.
00:02:16
Speaker
I did that run. I did that swim. And it's just, it was so beautiful in Marbella. Unlike anything where all I was thinking was, I hope my brain like does me good and remembers these like snapshots that I'm taking in my brain as I'm going through the bike course, because it was stunning.
00:02:40
Speaker
right there Precious moments, precious, rare moments, right? Soak them yeah Don't wish them away. i had you in my ear multiple times, Rich, because I was like, this is the only shot I get at my first time being on the world stage. So was, was soaking it up.
00:03:01
Speaker
That's awesome. Congratulations. Congratulations to Sasha too. It's just awesome. Everybody that was there. Yeah. Coach April, you ready to rock and roll? Yeah, let's do this. Ready to jump on in.
00:03:14
Speaker
Oh, that's me now, huh? I'm supposed to go the shoot, do the show sponsor. Let's do that. was like, did you freeze? Yeah. but very well Yeah, and it did. That's okay. This would be a great suspense.
00:03:26
Speaker
I just love these. people
00:03:29
Speaker
Let's give a shout out to Vespa power endurance. They help you tap into clean, steady energy so that you can stay strong, focused and in the zone longer. Vespa is not fuel, but a metabolic catalyst that shifts your body to use more fat and less sugar as your fuel source.
00:03:47
Speaker
It comes in these different packages. it comes in CV25. It's for athletes that are, i think it's over 140 pounds. it comes in a junior, which is ah like a nice orange flavor, and it is for athletes lighter than 140 pounds.
00:04:01
Speaker
And then they also have a concentrate, which you can actually mix into your bottles, which is awesome. This stuff is amazing. It will really help you avoid you know, the soreness from the day after and, you know, from the lactic acid that would otherwise be building up in your race.
00:04:16
Speaker
Less sugar, higher performance, faster recovery. Use the the link here in the show notes and the code 303ENDURANCE20 to save 20% off of your very first order.
00:04:27
Speaker
Now, I think we're ready for what's in today's show, April. Absolutely. um i I do want to ask real quick, Lauren, I know you've used Vespa during Marbella. How did that feel?
00:04:39
Speaker
I'm really happy that I used Vespa because I'm going to say, um not to go into too much detail about the race, I guess, but i learned a lot about my need to work on my bike handling skills, especially when it comes to the descents, because was, put it lightly, terrified and right And I just need to work on that. So with that, I was super tense. I did not take in nearly enough nutrition on the bike, but I did make sure I was taking in Vespa and i was getting nervous towards the end of the bike ride where i was like, shoot, I hope I feel okay on the run because I'm a little bit behind the eight ball right now. And my run
00:05:28
Speaker
RaceX had my predicted pace at maybe like 8.15 minute pace and I held like a 7.57 pace. So I'm going to credit that the fact that I had Vespa in my corner helping to keep my body going when i definitely fell behind on my fueling on the bike.
00:05:52
Speaker
So that's my thank you to Vespa. Wow. Yeah, it's awesome. Yeah. like Like about rocket fuel. Amazing. Yeah. I think I only took in like 130 grams of carbs on the bike.
00:06:04
Speaker
Yeah. Wow. What a nice, what a nice safety valve to have. Like, you know like that, you know, like, you know, yeah. Whether you, you know, the phone a friend or the, you know, you know, get that, get that little wish there of something to help your help you go longer.
00:06:18
Speaker
That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love that phone a friend call in the Vespa. that fuck Yeah. Okay. Let's jump into today's show. Rich is going to bring us our announcements and news. We have a special feature interview with the author of the unforgiving hours. Her name is Shannon Hogan. We had such a blast with her. Can't wait to bring her in.
00:06:41
Speaker
We are also going to forego the get gritty. Cause she covered it all. It was an amazing interview that talked all about grit, resilience, perseverance, and humor too. So we also have our tri-dot workout of the week, which Coach Lauren will be bringing us power builders. I'm looking forward to that. And then our FUD segment, this is for you, Rich, is called the Legends of Leadman or the Lead Challenge, which includes the Leadville 100 trail race. So we are going to be talking about all things legends and lore of Leadville.
00:07:16
Speaker
Awesome. Are you ready to get it? I'm going show you how little I know about Leadville. That's pretty um Probably no less. Oh, you guys seem be funny.
00:07:27
Speaker
All right. Well, let's get into this. Announcements and news, folks. So first, topic number one, the 2025 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. Hey, congrats again, Coach Lauren. Now, you and Sasha have already talked about how incredible you guys are and what a great race that you had.
00:07:45
Speaker
But I know yeah you were going to hold off talking about it, but Maybe, you know, for our listeners, how about we go into like something that you learned ah that you'll take away and maybe add to your next season and, you know, tell the story behind it maybe.
00:08:01
Speaker
So i will share one thing i went into 2025 really wanting to focus on was my swim. So this year I did do try dot pool school and I not only wanted to become a stronger swimmer in the sense of that my pace was faster.
00:08:19
Speaker
I wanted to be a stronger swimmer in the sense that I really loved the swim and that I didn't get stressed out in the water and i enjoyed that part of the race as much as I did the bike and the run.
00:08:33
Speaker
And going into Marbella, I was nervous a little bit because it was an ocean swim. And you know i of course you start looking at like what's the typical conditions at this time of year and all of that. And I'm just so thankful. The swim was hands down, it was my strongest leg and it was my favorite part of the race.
00:08:54
Speaker
And if you would have asked me a year or two ago, i would have said, I'm probably going to have a panic attack in the water. And I'm probably going to be questioning halfway through why I'm doing what I'm doing. And it was just such ah an empowering feeling for me that i I really loved the swim. I enjoyed it. I was like,
00:09:16
Speaker
There was definitely swells, but I was, i felt like I was like riding them and I was in my element and I did not panic and I finished strong. So for me, my takeaway is that for 2026, I want to put the same love and effort into my bike ride because, or to my, the bike portion, because didn't, I spent a lot more time on my trainer on the bike as opposed to being outside riding. And I i need to so flip that.
00:09:43
Speaker
But My thought coming away from Marbella is that for anybody listening who is maybe, whether you're a newer triathlete or not, I guess, if you struggle with a leg and specifically the swim, because I think a lot of triathletes, if you don't have a swimming background, find that to be so overwhelming that you can a thousand percent have that become the strongest part of your race because I used to call myself a self-proclaimed head case.
00:10:14
Speaker
Right. So that for me was always my, my biggest stress. um So I was beyond thankful that I could walk away from that, seeing that it literally was my strongest leg of the 70.3. That's awesome. Yeah.
00:10:31
Speaker
Yeah. What a, you know, what a great feeling to be that confident, right. In your, in your swimming, when you're out there racing, like, cause you know, usually that's the place, like if you're, you know, that hasn't been your strength, it's where hold back. It sounds like you were able to really push it.
00:10:45
Speaker
Yeah. It was literally like, it was my, my strongest, my happiest place in that race. So, yeah. That's amazing. Talk about a transformation. Mm-hmm.
00:10:58
Speaker
And what a great way to go into the bike, right? Not stressed out, not you know mentally fatigued, not yeah frustrated. you know i don't know if you saw, ah I put a post up. i was It might've been in my story. Oh no, I posted it that my mom had shared of me running in transition to get to my bike. And of course my whole family was there. So on and another side note, my whole family, i you know i traveled 11 people deep.
00:11:25
Speaker
They all had stick figures, the head, the, whatever you call those heads. So big heads. yeah as a big ja like and the call And so between seeing, and they all had on pink shirts that said, said grit to greatness. And it had um my name and my fricking head. So between having an amazing swim and they were all on the fence right by where I was running towards my bike.
00:11:52
Speaker
So my smile is like huge. And it was, an amazing, amazing way to transition into the bike. And, and I will say even on the bike, like I was most nervous about the climbs and I would have climbed all 56 miles over the descents, but, uh,
00:12:14
Speaker
Yeah, it was it was awesome. That's awesome. Now, i you you know as a maybe a public service announcement, traveling and racing abroad, ah you know going to another country, sometimes there are some logistics and hiccups.
00:12:28
Speaker
ah Tell us what you learned about the travel. Oh, yes. Well, the travel was... what your worst, like kind of like your nightmare of what happened where our flight was basically rerouted. So we landed in Malaga without any of our luggage.
00:12:49
Speaker
So my bike was in Lisbon, all of my luggage. The only thing, the one thing that I did have on my back, which this is tip number one for anyone traveling abroad is obviously you can't carry on your bike, but I had everything in my backpack. that I had my wetsuit, my tri kit, my run shoes, my bike shoes, my helmet, sunglasses, race belts, everything that I could possibly need besides my bike.
00:13:13
Speaker
But my bike didn't, I didn't get my bike until i didn't get home until 1130 at night on Thursday. So I spent a good six hours of the, you know,
00:13:24
Speaker
a day where I really wanted to be carving up and folk staying off my feet and getting my bike checked in the airport. And there was an angel of an athlete that was also online who, this might not be legal, so hopefully I'm not going to say her name.
00:13:40
Speaker
True confessions. She bought the cheapest plane ticket she could find to be able to get through the gate. at security because all of us were like, i was like, I have an air tag. My bike is like 800 feet from me. Like let me through. And they, they were not letting anyone through. And it was and like hours upon hours week. So she bought the cheapest plane ticket she could find.
00:14:02
Speaker
she, went through the gate and was calling her husband and was like, what bikes am I looking for? i was like, I have, wow i have a Skycon arrow fit case. It has a red lock on it. My name's Lauren Brown.
00:14:14
Speaker
And she came out with three bikes. And when she was running through the gate, I literally ran over to her. i was like, you're like an angel. And I need to hug you. And I think I'm in love with you. I was like, wow, it was amazing. And then another woman did the same thing and went through and got two other people's bikes. And my oh my god brother-in-law who was with me and my, my friend two of my friends who were with us, they were like, this is an amazing community of people.
00:14:41
Speaker
And that to me was also what triathlon is about. Like, granted it might not have been legal. So I don't know if so again, I'm not saying names, but it was like the way we all just got together and we're like,
00:14:54
Speaker
calling each other and just get my bike, get my bike. You got it. And it was amazing because there was a point when I was sitting next to one of the other athletes and she's like, I I'm kind of accepting that I'm not going be racing. I'm like, please don't say that. I don't even, don't even want to hear that because I don't want that thought floating in my brain.
00:15:12
Speaker
So yeah, it was a wild, wild experience and we all got to race and it was not the prep that I would have wanted to have leading into the race, but then I went to QR, they did a free, you know, free bike check.
00:15:30
Speaker
So I got that done right before I had to check my bike in So I didn't get to see the course. I didn't get to, the only thing I was able to do that week leading up to my race was swim. I got one swim in and no runs, but you know, it, it is what it is. And I'm just, again, I was like, I'm thankful because I didn't know if I going race.
00:15:52
Speaker
Well, I love the story about the triathletes all banding together and doing illegal crap again to get each other's bikes out of the pokey. but That's awesome.
00:16:04
Speaker
But wow, what what an experience and what a great tip to you don't have people Whatever the most important things in that bag, because you just don't know. Right. Wow.
00:16:17
Speaker
Well, thanks for, for sharing that. That's awesome. Anything else about the, about the weekend or. Anything else? I mean, i I'll say it was amazing getting to, to meet people in person and I got to meet coach K for the first time in person. Yeah.
00:16:36
Speaker
And he was there at the finish line. So I was crying at the finish line. I was like, 10 seconds, you're allowed to cry for 10 seconds and you have to be happy and excited.
00:16:48
Speaker
but yeah, it was great. That's awesome. I would say I would do it all over again in in a heartbeat, even though I'm not happy with the my bike. You know, that was one thing that I was like, you know, beating myself up about, but I'm like, that's just...
00:17:05
Speaker
What say? It's water under the bridge. hu Yeah. Pack up your bike. Come on out here. Fourth of July. We've got a mission for you. Yeah. We will do some hills. Yeah. As I'm descending. I need to just have people that I can ride with where i don't get nervous because of you know, crazy New Jersey roads. Yeah.
00:17:27
Speaker
Exactly. I know exactly what you're referring to, Rich. And yeah, that's a that's a good one. That's a good one right there, Lauren. You consider it 4th of July. We have a date okay with a certain mountain peak.
00:17:39
Speaker
I am so down. All right. I'm going to register this week for Lake Placid. So like nice. A little prep. oh that Oh, yeah.
00:17:51
Speaker
Talk about power builders. You know, listen, what a great community, and you really want to be a part of this community. We are still taking applications, aren't we, for our 2026 Grit to Greatness Ambassador team.
00:18:06
Speaker
We are taking applications for two more weeks. yeah Okay. You've got until the last day of November, and then we are announcing first week of de December, I'm assuming, hey who our 2026 ambassadors are, right? And we are so proud. the people that are The applications that we are getting, they are just amazing. So thank you if you've submitted one. ah We're very excited to to have you on the team if you've got the grit, we've got the greatness.
00:18:37
Speaker
But if you have not, again, you've got the grit. We've got the greatness. Put in your application. Come see us. We will we want to hear from you and be a part of our team. And and then you can actually come and join us for our year-end party.
00:18:52
Speaker
and I'm excited. I was just talking to Robina earlier. yeah We were going to do a one-on-one coaching session that day. Instead of coming down in the morning, she's coming down in the afternoon. And then we're just going to pop on over to ah to bowling.
00:19:06
Speaker
Fun, fun, fun. Right? I mean, it could be more fun. Talk about efficiency, too.
00:19:14
Speaker
Yeah, well exactly. Yeah, December 13th is going to be our year-end party. We're excited about that. and But wait, there's more. but We also have our webinar coming up next Tuesday, guys. We are, um, we are going to be doing a season kind of a season strategy workshop. So the idea is you come in with your races in mind, ideally come in with your, you know, having done a SWOT analysis on yourself, you you know, just kind of outlining your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats,
00:19:52
Speaker
Call out two or three priorities out of that. Look at that and go, look at that list and go, hey, what are the but are the things I really, like, don't get don't make it a long list, make it a short list. What of the things I really want to focus on?
00:20:03
Speaker
Come with that. You come with that. you're goingnna You're going to spend an hour with us and you're going to walk out with an awesome bulletproof strategy. How about that, guys? do think? Excited? I love it.
00:20:13
Speaker
I'm so ready. My plan. Oh, you just kind of did the wave there, April. I saw that. I did. I That was pretty awesome. We are doing it. I got some wrist flexibility.
00:20:24
Speaker
um Well, you know, you might be doing the wave because you're going to give a shout out to one of our athletes, I think. I am. What a great transition, Rich. Bravo. I would love to wish ah Sarah Barr, one of our Great to Greatness athletes, she has a 12K race this Sunday called the Battlefield 12K in Spanish Fort, Alabama.
00:20:47
Speaker
She's going to be using this race as a simulator for her anticipated marathon pace at a marathon she's running called the Donna Marathon in early February of 2026. So let's go, Sarah. We know you've got everything you need. Now we just need to execute.
00:21:01
Speaker
Ooh. Yeet. Yeet. Oh, I might have to say it, Lauren. Ain't no shame in my yeet game.
00:21:12
Speaker
i mean like I literally cannot remember what the saying And this whole time I kept wanting to go, sums down, sums out. Somebody tell me. Max points, April. Max points. Thank you. I was almost going to write it in like a chat. Like what's the saying? What's the saying again? My brain is fried and I literally keep wanting to go suns out, guns out. i like definite'sly Oh yeah. That's a good one too though, Lord. yeah Shame in my game.
00:21:35
Speaker
dang I could have used it earlier. You could have. I was like, man, that was a good point. I know. I was a good scott i should have put it in the chat. Next time I will hook you up. You had to have seen my, like the, like the, like the smoke going in my brain where i was like, what did say before? the heck was the saying?
00:21:53
Speaker
Oh, I love it. yeah so we We gave Lauren a challenge before the podcast that she had to use that use that phrase sometime in the podcast and April beat her to it.
00:22:05
Speaker
Thank you. I literally, I would have We probably would have ended the recording. i would have been like, no shame in my game. Isn't that, that's, that how it works. We aren't cutting any of this out.
00:22:16
Speaker
No, it's rolling. Okay. Continuing to roll with the, uh, no shame here. Our sponsor today for our ask a coach or our interview with Shannon, uh, is grit to greatness, endurance coaching.
00:22:33
Speaker
So, Hey team, let's talk some smart training. Grit to greatness. Endurance has teamed up with predictive fitness to help you train with precision purpose and progress from effortless onboarding to personalized plans and deep dive analytics. You will know exactly how to improve.
00:22:50
Speaker
You can try it for free. Then keep building for as low as $14.99 a month. Check out our signup links in our show notes and start your smarter training journey today. And I just want to throw this in here.
00:23:02
Speaker
The new Run.platform has just launched. It's amazing. And we also have a free trial for that. So please check out our signup links. Yes. Thank you for putting that plug in. That's awesome. Yeah. It's a, I just downloaded it earlier today.
00:23:19
Speaker
kicks butt. It's so slick. and And the, and the tryout, the new tryout one's coming soon. I can't wait to see that one. Yeah. Really cool. All right. Well, listen, this is what this is the the main subject here today, folks.
00:23:34
Speaker
We've got a feature interview with Shannon Hogan on her book. This is her actually first book, The Unforgiving Hours. She actually is a journalist. She was a journalist with the Colorado Sun, I think it was.
00:23:47
Speaker
And anyway, she's an endurance athlete, journalist, an author of this book ah that tells the stories of athletes who take on the most unforgiving tests of endurance. Her own journey spans ultra running, long distance cycling, and open water swimming. She was actually a pro mountain biker, giving her a unique perspective on what it means to push beyond limits. She is an amazing human being as well, as you will get to know here shortly.
00:24:12
Speaker
Let's get into our interview right now with Shannon Hogan, and we will see you on the other side. All right. As you heard in our lead up to the interview, we are excited to have Shannon Hogan, author of The Unforgiving Hours, The Grit, Resilience, and Perseverance at the Heart of Endurance Sports.
00:24:34
Speaker
Shannon is an endurance athlete herself. She's a journalist and an author of this book, of course. And it's a book that dives into the raw reality of ultra distance and endurance challenges and the athletes that take them on. I've personally found this to be really just a fun journey ah into some things that were familiar to me and some things that were not familiar to me. So ah thank you for your storytelling.
00:24:57
Speaker
ah Listen, her own journey spans ultra running, long distance cycling, open water swimming, and giving her a really unique perspective and lens on what it means to push beyond limits. In her book, ah Shannon explores the iconic feats of the Western States 100, Race Across America, English Channel Swims, and even the Ice Mile stories that capture the heart of endurance and perseverance.
00:25:22
Speaker
Today, we are going to talk about Her inspiration for writing The Unforgiving Hours, The Athletes and Stories That Shaped It, and The Deeper Meaning Behind Endurance. But before we get into all that, let me just, big welcome, Shannon. Thank you for being with us.
00:25:35
Speaker
Thank you, Rich. Thank you, April. You're both such um inspirations yourselves. I'm in very good company. they I love her already, Rich. I know. I know. she's okay You want to be our friend. um you youre You can come back anytime. We just love hanging out with you already.
00:25:54
Speaker
yeah Well, listen, we haven't even gotten started. but Before we get going, we really you know we're going to go into a little bit of your bio. We're going to go into the book. We're going to talk about some of the messages and inspiration and all of that.
00:26:06
Speaker
But before we do, we want to let our our listeners get to know you a little bit better. and we have this fun little icebreaker called Two Truths and a Lie. We'll ask you to say three statements about yourself, two that you know to be true, one that you know to be a lie. Mix them up so we can't tell where which one in what order.
00:26:25
Speaker
April and I will try to guess which is the lie out of the three statements, and we'll just have a little fun with it. We're ready. When you're ready, I've got pen and paper. Okay.
00:26:36
Speaker
I will start with, I've been sent to the sin bin in 140.6 Ironman. Number two, i've breastfed a toddler, aid station to aid station in an ultra.
00:26:54
Speaker
And number three, i once streaked at a mountain bike event in Vermont. Oh my goodness. These are some of the best weird one-liners I've heard. They're all incredibly delicious. I can't wait to figure what this is. Well, you know, your listeners are here for a long time and a good time.
00:27:21
Speaker
So yeah let's deliver. Streaker, Sinbin, or breastfeeding the toddler at an ultra. Oh my gosh. Yo, this is a movie waiting to be. okay All right. All right.
00:27:35
Speaker
All right. I am going to say, ah man, I think, I think it's number three, Streaker. That's my, that's my guess. And I don't have a caveat for it. I'm just going to go for that.
00:27:47
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. i want I want that to be true. That's why I'm not going to pick that one. Fair. Fair. Right. I mean, come on. I mean, mountain bikers. mean I know we are. a yeah much Well, and ultra runners, right? I mean, like pick up dirt and eat it, right? Oh yeah.
00:28:03
Speaker
I am going to say. Sinbin is the lamest of the three. I'm i'm sorry, but sorry, Rich. I might've stole your answer. Yeah. Well, you know, and I've got to say, i yeah i can definitely see the breast, you know, breastfeed thing happening during an ultra. I've actually seen someone have to pump.
00:28:21
Speaker
during an ultra. So, you know, during Leadville, I'm going to go number one is the lie. You, uh, you either, uh, the distance is wrong on the sin bin or, you know, maybe the temperature was, I don't know, something was, something's off about number one. Right.
00:28:36
Speaker
Okay. So would you like me to say, do you want me to go in order or shall I start with the lie? Where do we begin? Tell us how we suck so bad at this. yeah then actually Actually, you you're your answer would get you into the, you know, I don't know, mount and like baseball hall of fame. Like you're batting 500.
00:28:59
Speaker
Okay. I'll let you. Happy you are correct. right Reveal the lie. And then what we're going to do is we're going to then talk about the truths. Okay. So the lie is ah I did not go streaking. However, back in the nineties, when I was a kind of a serious mountain biker at um various im like, like world cup events,
00:29:25
Speaker
there would be a naked crit and we would all go. And, you know, it was a lot. But my but my eye my I was fully clothed. So if you've never seen a naked crit,
00:29:38
Speaker
I don't know if I can highly recommend it, but, but we laughed until we cried because the pseudo costumes and like, like, Oh, was amazing. So, and it was before, you know, smartphones and some of the inhibition creation that might exist today. So, so no, I did not streak at world the world cup events in, in Vermont.
00:30:08
Speaker
i my first ultra was the Vermont 50 and um I had a toddler at the time and my dear friends took the I'll call her baby, grab the baby and like leapfrogged ahead the way you do when you crew an event, but this time with the baby. And so then I, you know, have to get to the next aid station, nurse the baby.
00:30:34
Speaker
And it wasn't for nutrition, lest anybody, you know worry that I was passing on you know too many goos or, you know, too, too, too, too much nutrition.
00:30:45
Speaker
you know, whatever, hammer products. Not that that wouldn't be great for a kid. I'm sure it would be amazing. But yeah, it was just to just to comfort her, right? And so she would nurse and then handed the baby back. And, you know, this is the kind of, these are the kind of people that are in this book, the kind of friends who show up and say, not only will I babysit your baby, I'll go in the back country with her and figure out in Vermont Country Roads how to get to the next aid station, which isn't always intuitive, right? Like, you know, this isn't easy.
00:31:21
Speaker
And these are the kind of people that are in this book, like you know, like to people who will figure this out and get your take on your crying baby and get her to your next aid station and then be there at the finish when we all celebrated, you know, like it was the best day that ever had happened.
00:31:41
Speaker
And it felt that way. Because that was my first big race after having my first kid. What a return. Yes. Yes. As for the sin bin, this that that baby grew up, as did her younger sister. And they constantly give me the hardest time.
00:32:03
Speaker
because I'm such a rule follower. And sure enough, on the Cozumel Ironman course, when they brought us into town, it's real super tight. Everybody kind of got funneled in You know, I'm super diligent of always keeping distance on my bike in an Ironman event because ah of course, but we all got funneled in into this section in town and it was more about making sure, you know,
00:32:34
Speaker
no one was, you know, no bikes were touching. And then sure enough, a moped came out of nowhere and flashed a red ticket at me. And I, you know, literally, i i mean, the swear jar was full after that because it's like, you are not serious right now.
00:32:54
Speaker
And, you know, I was trying to get people to, you know, plead my case for me, everyone around me, but I did learn a good lesson at that Cozumel that I will mention very quickly for your um for your triathletes who might be doing an event maybe abroad.
00:33:17
Speaker
and In that case, I finished and a very good friend of mine who is a terrific athlete and finished Western States 10 times. very helpful to me in terms of helping me with my running because he's a certified coach and yeah just a great human.
00:33:34
Speaker
And he said, Shannon, what happened? And I said, what what do you mean? i was so elated, you know, that we finished and it was a great, great race. And he said, they have you as DNF.
00:33:46
Speaker
So because the system wasn't perfect in this kind of, ah you know, it wasn't super polished, ah they I eventually found someone who said, oh, you have to go tomorrow morning 6 a.m. and find this one guy and he'll fix it for you. And it turned into a game of, oh, you don't need to go see this person. You need to go see this person. You need to go to this other place and talk to this person. And sure enough, ultimately it turned into one guy
00:34:22
Speaker
with probably three inches worth of index cards, three by five index cards with various infractions. And when the person did the thing and when they went in the send bin and when they were let out and I made him go through every single one of those cards to prove that not only did I go in the send bin and I much to the hilarity of my family who were laughing
00:34:53
Speaker
at the you know the the very notion of me trying to cheat during a bike race, which I was a mid-packer. It was like, what there it made no sense.
00:35:04
Speaker
But anyways, I had to find this guy and then I had to drag him to a computer to make him do the data entry to prove that I in fact was not a DNF.
00:35:18
Speaker
So anyways, From the minute you pack your bags for triathlon abroad till you are confirmed, you know your your finish is confirmed. The work never ends.
00:35:35
Speaker
you are You are in it and um it is it is not easy. And maybe that's what you signed up for. Love that. What year did you do that race? What what were year was this?
00:35:48
Speaker
So that was Cozumel was I had just before Coeur d'Alene. know what?
00:36:00
Speaker
ah the the iron man i had done just before it was ah was cor e lainene I'll have to get back to you on what year that Cozumel race was the year before, a couple years before i was 2008.
00:36:18
Speaker
twenty oh eight um I did Coeur d'Alene. And the reason i know that is because my sister called me out of the blue from abroad and said, would you sign up for Coeur d'Alene Ironman with me?
00:36:33
Speaker
And when your sister calls you from a forward operating base and in a military and deployment in Iraq and says, will you do this with me? There is only one answer.
00:36:46
Speaker
So we signed up for Coeur d'Alene Ironman and she did it. She wanted to sign up because she wanted a way to pass the time during that deployment.
00:36:58
Speaker
And it was the least I could do for someone serving. And my sister, who my youngest sister, who's a just a, you know, a sweetheart,
00:37:10
Speaker
So it was my pleasure to do that. So we signed up for d'Alene and, um, and finished that race together. And it was, it was the thing that got her through that deployment.
00:37:22
Speaker
Um, you know, we say, if you have something to do and someone to love and something to hope for, you're fine. Like your life is you're sorted.
00:37:34
Speaker
And that's what we, that was our theme for that deployment. Cause we had something to do cause we were training for this dang race and we definitely had something to hope for. Cause it was amazing when she got home and we had something to love cause we were doing this thing together, two sisters training for 140.6.
00:37:50
Speaker
hundred and forty point six And so anyways, after that, um, we signed up for Cozumel as a family and everybody went down to Cozumel.
00:38:01
Speaker
What year that was, it might've been 2010 or 11. ten or eleven There have been a lot of races, so it's it's a lot. So Shannon, yeah first of all, that that story was amazing. i love that you did that with your sister. I have also done an Ironman with my brother, so I get it.
00:38:21
Speaker
and And thank you for the quote, I think, that we'll probably use as the teaser for this whole podcast already at 13 minutes and 45 seconds. It's like a new new record.
00:38:32
Speaker
So my very first Ironman was Ironman Cozumel 2009. Okay. Second was Coeur d'Alene 2010. Third was 2011 back in Cozumel. So I wonder if we raced together, there was a major downpour um ah in 2011. It wasn't that year.
00:38:49
Speaker
Yeah. Okay, keep going. So so you raced and it rained the whole time? No, just on the just on the run. But okay my point was um i i also get those two races yeah in sequence because I had to sign up.
00:39:05
Speaker
I signed up for my second Ironman before I did my first Ironman. Because back then, order to really guarantee signing up for a race in Coeur d'Alene in 2010, we volunteered
00:39:20
Speaker
in 2009, six months before Cozumel in 2009. So, you know, yes I get it. Yes. Yes.
00:39:31
Speaker
Awesome. and that's the Those years, it what you did have to you had to be ready to sign up. and yeah And that's you know she called me and said, would you do this thing with me? I mean, she was already doing when you're in the military, obviously you're, she was, she's army intelligence, but still she had to do the exact, you know, same PT as everybody else.
00:39:53
Speaker
And um so it was just a incremental uptick from, from PT and we did it. Yeah. Just a little bit. Just a little bit.
00:40:04
Speaker
Well, yeah. I mean, actually I don't, I don't need to tell anyone who doesn't love a treadmill that, you know, the whole, Dreadmill in the desert thing. Yes. Because it wasn't, obviously it wasn't safe to run. Outside. Outside. yeah So, so that is, that is a certain kind of tough.
00:40:25
Speaker
Oorah, I say. Oorah. Oorah. Well, how about do this? um We've got a little, we get a little bit of a teaser here about you. we know a few, a few nuggets. Would you do us a favor? I know that you want to, I know we really want to talk about the book, but let let our audience just help us understand the arc of Shannon's story. We know, we know when you hit the Ironman circuit, ah tell us around, frame that up for us, would you?
00:40:50
Speaker
Okay. Well, you know, I was a mountain biker first. I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time. And that is the nineties.
00:41:02
Speaker
I happened to live one town away from the headquarters of Cannondale. So I was in Connecticut and I was racing mountain bikes in the new England point series and the Connecticut point series. And, um, just had a real steep learning curve.
00:41:23
Speaker
Like every ounce of energy I put into it, I got it back in like exponential ways. And so I loved it My husband and I, we rode our bikes everywhere and well past when the streetlights came on. Like we just didn't want to stop mountain biking. It was so fun.
00:41:43
Speaker
And i had the great fortune of my local bike shop had these terrific people. I know this sounds familiar to everyone listening.
00:41:56
Speaker
These terrific guys who whispered into the ears of the people over it in Wilton, Connecticut at Cannondale, you guys should really sponsor this energetic girl and because she's just tearing it up out there.
00:42:12
Speaker
And they did. and and then the next thing I knew, ah friend said, um you should come do this iron. it Excuse me. It was a triathlon, but it wasn't.
00:42:22
Speaker
It was a different brand. It was the Japan Strongman, which is yeah on a small island off of Okinawa called Miyakojima. And asked Cannondale, never having done, by the way, never having done any triathlon, would it be possible to get a bike?
00:42:43
Speaker
They're like, what do you need? What can we get you? Totally hooked me up. just by the grace of being at the right place at the right time. The nineties mountain biking. And this was going to be so epic, this crossover situation.
00:43:00
Speaker
So I started training for, you know, the, the three sports and, um, you know, loved it, loved it as much as I love mountain biking and couldn't get enough.
00:43:13
Speaker
and And, then it was like, You know, i I wanted to do all the things. Like, I wanted to sign up for everything. And um when I could, I did.
00:43:25
Speaker
And if I wasn't signing up for something, I was volunteering or crewing, you know, just to be in that busy every weekend. um You know, it we it would it was a little...
00:43:39
Speaker
it was a little less structured than things are now. I feel like it was a little more disorganized. You had to ask people about races because there weren't like web websites and, you know, collective signup pages. And so this very grassroots thing, i just, I think I was in the right place at the right time over and over and over again.
00:44:01
Speaker
and and it I had the great luxury of, you know, they say always play tennis with someone who's better than you are. Like, I just always found people who were way better at the sports I loved. And then I hung out with them and, you know, I had to keep up. I had to keep up with the guys who were out in front and I had to, i had to figure out how those women were running so fast so that I didn't get dropped, you know? And, and I would say just the, you know, the great people and the very non-linear people
00:44:38
Speaker
way it happened. yeah I could have never tried to find myself running ultras or swimming in very cold water or, and you know, biking in stage races. Like that was never part of my plan, but you know, where there's, where there are good people and um you're always having a good time.
00:45:05
Speaker
i don't know. I'm a sucker for that. My mom always taught me just keep good company and everything else will fall into place. And I think that's that's probably the the the story behind the story.
00:45:21
Speaker
Yeah, love your adventurous heart. And I can just see it in your face and how much you light up talking about not only your start, but just like you said, you're in the right place at the right time and just all the good memories. And I feel that that positivity. And I think and think this is where this book comes into play, because you are sharing some incredible stories.
00:45:47
Speaker
Some are very humorous. But some are also extremely just amazing as far as the amount of sheer perseverance, grit, resilience, all the things that people are willing to go through to to accomplish something much bigger than themselves.
00:46:07
Speaker
And i I drew a lot of inspiration from this book. It was fun read, but also just, again, just so just awe inspiring. um So I would love to know, shannon Can you walk me through kind of what prompted you to to collect these stories and kind of the vision behind the Unforgiving Hours?
00:46:28
Speaker
Well, thank you April, for asking. I found myself telling these stories, retelling these stories. I'm at a bike festival and I'm telling the story of this 24-hour bike race where instead of just handing the baton to the next player,
00:46:49
Speaker
to the next rider, the, the athlete who just finished a lap took off the shorts and handed the shorts to the next racer. And they put on that athlete's dirty bike shorts, pulled them up and started their next lap.
00:47:07
Speaker
And I would, you know, tell the story of team huge ass and, ah first people would say that is absolutely not true. And I, and I would, you know, have to, you know, insist it was in fact the case, but then there were also the, all these moments where,
00:47:27
Speaker
ah And as experts, you can appreciate when we go deep into one sport, sometimes it doesn't give us a lot of lateral room to really know as much um as we we might like about other sports. So I would tell the stories of my swim friends to my running friends, and they would not believe it because my
00:47:59
Speaker
My swim friends only swim and they don't know why anyone would go to Moab and run 240 miles. You know, that doesn't make any sense. My run friends are the toughest people I know.
00:48:14
Speaker
but then I would, you know, tell the story of Sarah Thomas swimming over 100 miles in one go. And the the record she managed to secure it and it. And they would say, that's not, that can't be, you know. So I was i was having the same conversation between my mountain biking friends and my and my ram friends and my swim friends. And and i was like, you all need to be in one room. Like I need to get y'all together and we need to, I need to introduce you all. And I, and at the end of the day, was like,
00:48:52
Speaker
what if I just get these stories in one place? And if I provide ah journalist's, um you know you know, super bibliography and I've got great primary sources and I, you know, really take the events and quests and round them out, not just me at a bar telling one of these stories as usual,
00:49:20
Speaker
um If I really round out these stories, a couple things. My friends will all know that I was telling the truth about the other group and what they were doing on the weekends.
00:49:32
Speaker
um But they just might see in the other... that which they either did not know or a lesson that they had yet to maybe learn. But because they were all endurance athletes, they had enough in common, despite these different genres, they had enough in common that there were lessons there for them.
00:50:00
Speaker
um So this book is is a little bit like, I want my this one group of friends to meet this other group of friends. And Quickly, the other part of it is i really feel like you don't save your compliments for your friends until you unfortunately find yourself writing a eulogy.
00:50:21
Speaker
Pass a compliment to the heroes in your lives and the people who are awesome. Say it while they're alive. And I'm just like, these are young people, but I just need to get this out. People need to know just how terrific these athletes are because they're unheralded.
00:50:39
Speaker
um They are too modest to tell their own stories. They're too busy doing their expert stuff to like slow down and be and be interviewed or, you know, have proper, you know, credit for their contributions to their sport.
00:51:00
Speaker
And, you know, the excellence is kind of a salve if, you you know, you're having a bad day or you don't like, you know, the feeling of, you know, the, the salt isn't, you know, isn't great, you know, excellence and awesome people. It's just cheers you up.
00:51:22
Speaker
And when they're humble people, insulted the earth people, and they look like your next door neighbor, these are, so these are stories that everyone can relate to because these are really relatable people.
00:51:35
Speaker
So we're going to just you know go by the seat of our pants on this, okay? just you know We're going just going to follow this where you lead us. Okay. you know what i what i i think i understood at a very conscious level when i read the book was that Because you framed this with a quote and and ah and a poem that you know like made that club come together for me in my head. you know This club of, I want these friends to meet these friends.
00:52:08
Speaker
Those were the intersections. like like I thought that you you chose those so wisely, both the the poem if... And the I love the the quote, mother nature bats last and father time is a undefeated.
00:52:22
Speaker
That apply to all of these sports. could Could you just like share like where do those come from? you know i know you have a journalistic background and all of that, but like where do those come from and how did you see those as your anchors?
00:52:35
Speaker
One thing about these athletes is they're really bright. They're very clever. and It's been my experience that athletes in this space are.
00:52:49
Speaker
They're typically um inquisitive. They're curious about like how far limit testing can go. um They are eager to learn.
00:53:05
Speaker
So as much as this could have been a just a book of you know, obvious swear words and crazy events and silly activities that I've seen and and or been a part of.
00:53:26
Speaker
um I knew the audience that I've run and and been able to cycle and swim and and adventure with, ah they they they would demand something that hit on many different profiles and had sort of depth.
00:53:50
Speaker
um And so i trusted the reader to not mind the swing from um a poem written by Rudyard Kipling as advice to his only son.
00:54:08
Speaker
um That swing you know, to quoting Animal House and jim and John Belushi's character. Like i knew this i knew the people that I've adventured with could handle it and and they would need that kind of dimensionality because they're good readers and they're well-traveled and their experiences um would make
00:54:40
Speaker
would call for something beyond, you know, body. I don't know. Undercarriage stories. Yeah. Yeah.
00:54:51
Speaker
But in in my um you know full disclosure, for a long time when this book was getting off the ground, and amongst friends, like the working title was, of course, that's a terrible idea.
00:55:05
Speaker
What time? you know like hisz this is you know of course that' Of course, that makes no sense. But yes, I'll be there. And so it's it's that dichotomy. It's it's the intensity and of...
00:55:22
Speaker
You know, you are you are made of stars, be confident and you are made of dust. Be humble.
00:55:32
Speaker
You know, you put your pants on one leg at a time, like everybody else. Don't let that podium go to your head now. Just because you can run a hundred miles does not make you any better than anybody else.
00:55:45
Speaker
And, you know, that's the thing with this crowd is you would think that the accomplishments on paper of the people I interviewed, both the the core 11 athletes, as well as the people around them, you would think that they would be a highly, I don't know, overconfident crowd.
00:56:06
Speaker
But actually the dichotomy is they're not, they're actually the most humble people i know. They don't walk around with the logo gear.
00:56:17
Speaker
They don't prattle on about their last race because, you know, the the events they do are not for some kind of, I don't know, accolade out at the at the grocery store or something. You know, it really is about the thing, doing the thing, challenging themselves, being with the people who love them to the degree that they would crew all night for them.
00:56:46
Speaker
um that they would be their guide, that they would, ah you know, be the person to drive them home after they've been awake for 72 hours. Like, this is the kind of stuff that, like, people are awesome. You will not convince me otherwise.
00:57:05
Speaker
You just won't. I'm sorry. And I, so and Your Honor, I submit, you know, exhibit A, the unforgiving hours. And again,
00:57:16
Speaker
If that cheers you up after a long day where you're like, um or you read the headlines of the newspapers. Right. Wow. This is the answer.
00:57:27
Speaker
Like, these are the people that will get us through to the thing where we get back on our feet. We get through our injury. We get through this tough time we're going through. and they're timeless stories. They're not from last week.
00:57:40
Speaker
Like, what you know, I brought it back to 72. want, I want. evidence out there that people have been awesome for a long time.
00:57:51
Speaker
You know, going back to when they decided to restart the Athens games and 1896, they decided to throw in a long distance run. wasn't in the original. They just said, you know what? we're Well, let's do it. Let's do this long distance run.
00:58:07
Speaker
And, you know, they, people loved it. It made no sense. It wasn't part of the original Athens games. But, you know, and people have been loving this endurance phenomenon, loving watching it, participating, volunteering, um earning their way to a start line, to the chance to toe the line.
00:58:32
Speaker
i mean, it's a part it's a part of our, um the best part of our species that endurance is is in each of us.
00:58:43
Speaker
And we just love that you told it with so many layers. I love that you said that your audience would demand layers and and context and depth and and you brought that. Thank you. So what we should we should talk about some of the stories. some of the We should highlight a couple of the athletes, a couple of stories.
00:58:59
Speaker
So people, our our audience can hear you know just a teaser about like who are some of these amazing folks. And um I'll let April, April, you to take it? April, do you yeah do you have a question? You just, you just need to know. Oh man, I am like dying to ask this and I i will preface it a little bit here.
00:59:19
Speaker
So go I love these stories, but one that really spoke to me was racing to Alaska without a motor. And the team sail like a girl. And there's specifically a part in this story that the captain, Captain Jeannie, has to go to a dark place with Kelly Danielson, who the story is focusing on, right? Kelly is the triathlete, the cyclist, getting us rolling through this thing. But Kelly is also the newest person to this, right?
00:59:51
Speaker
So she has the inexperience, whereas Captain Jeannie has the ability to calm her. And when you talk about calming her, this, this really spoke to me is she got on her level.
01:00:04
Speaker
She was there to comfort her almost like a child. Right. And I just love that you captured this, this strong woman talking to another strong woman who was quite literally losing her shit and just was able to get her to, Hey, this is and where we're at right now.
01:00:24
Speaker
Tomorrow will be better. I'm going to make sure you're fed, you're warm, and you can sleep. And I just, it takes that kind of sensitivity, but also like confidence to help someone in a totally dire, desolate situation, which they were in, they were...
01:00:45
Speaker
middle What the India passage, right? So just insane. And I, you know, I've been to Alaska, we were talking before, I was just like, the, the, the magnitude of what they did.
01:00:57
Speaker
And these women just coming together to be such a force. It just blows me away. And then that moment right there um a how sensitive yet strong these two women are in that that moment. That just, I loved it.
01:01:13
Speaker
So my question, if this is a question. was just saying, I'm so happy. I'm so happy. Because if you knew them, you would love... it even more.
01:01:24
Speaker
so so what was it like? Yeah. What was it like walking through that with them to get this story? Cause you did such a great job of capturing these moments. So I knew the story because I had been following them and I was so excited for your listeners who haven't yet heard about race to Alaska race to Alaska is 750 race.
01:01:50
Speaker
race from Port Townsend, Washington to Victoria, BC. That's one stage. And then the second stage, it's titled To the Bitter End.
01:02:01
Speaker
And it's all the way to Ketchikan, Alaska. And it's taken people more than a month to go this distance. It is not around the corner.
01:02:14
Speaker
When I say it's a vessel race, this is, it takes place on a body of water that is called the Inside Passage. So if you can imagine the west coast of Canada where it's just a series of islands and ah just evergreen jewels and very grindy, unkind water.
01:02:43
Speaker
And you cannot just pull to the shore without without a care because there are grizzly bears waiting there for you.
01:02:54
Speaker
And in fact, the race directors say on their website and their list of like frequently asked questions, one of the questions is how do I not get eaten by a bear?
01:03:09
Speaker
So the the course is grueling and While it takes place in the middle of summer, it is cold. it The winds are unbelievable.
01:03:25
Speaker
And white caps are just a part of the day-to-day activity where motion sickness is just a part of this event.
01:03:36
Speaker
And um this miles, just to give you a little bit of understanding of just how, what this crowd is like.
01:03:49
Speaker
this This event has been finished in something resembling a rowboat, something resembling a rowing skull, two oars, indigenous canoe style vessels.
01:04:07
Speaker
But the 2018 race that April is talking about featured eight and then eventually seven women from the kind of um the islands to the west of Seattle, kind of San Juan you know and and islands around Seattle.
01:04:29
Speaker
They put together the first female team of sailors who decided to buy a boat and see if they could be the first females to do it.
01:04:42
Speaker
Now, how did this triathlete cyclist that you mentioned get looped into this thing, you ask? Well, they decided that the way to get this boat through the doldrums, that is when there's no wind, right?
01:04:56
Speaker
And they don't have the oars of these indigenous canoes or these rowers or scullers. The way that they were going to keep this boat moving is they were stick two stationary bikes on the back of this open transom boat. By open transom, I mean there's no back on the boat.
01:05:17
Speaker
Okay, why that's important. An open transom boat is a day sailor. Why is that important? A day sailor is not meant to be an overnight.
01:05:29
Speaker
No. Voyager, which... I'll let the readers enjoy the lack of creature comforts that follow.
01:05:42
Speaker
How did I get the story from these great women? I didn't know what the story was. I mean, I knew the story, but that's an important part of this book. Sports writing is not about the what.
01:05:54
Speaker
Because anybody can write the the scores in ah in a box and the number of ah RBIs and the number of touchdowns that a team scores every any weekend.
01:06:07
Speaker
Sports writing is about the how and the why. So I was going into this like... Why did they do this? And then obviously I was very curious about the how, because I knew how Spartan a boat this was. And I knew there were going be seven women on it for, in theory, as long as a month.
01:06:28
Speaker
And what would that be like? And what do you eat? And like, how do you, how do you, how do you do it? Because you're in charge of your own navigation, your own water, your own food,
01:06:39
Speaker
It's unsupported. So no one can deliver stuff to you. You can't cash stuff. It's not like you know you can go drop some water bottles out on your favorite you know run course or your favorite biking route.
01:06:54
Speaker
um And know that there are going to be water bottles there for you in three days time. No, no, no. Unsupported. And all their own navigation, all their own mechanical.
01:07:05
Speaker
there These women needed to be in charge of every inch of that boat. So how did they do it and why did they do it? And those were the questions I asked. I hope, I hope your listeners will like the chapter as much as you did April. I think they will. It was just, yeah. Because these women deserve it. They deserve the, they deserve credit for just, you know, again, yeah talking about dichotomy so yeah strong and the ability to just come undone and then rely on each other to put it back together ye and how to, you know, how to be a team and, um,
01:07:42
Speaker
You know, endurance is about never suffering alone. That's one thing that I've come, come away with all these stories. You will suffer, but if you don't do it alone, you will get through, you know, and, um, that chapter, chapter two is a good example of that.
01:08:04
Speaker
so These pearls, these pearls of wisdom are just so good. oh you're sweet. I would be, i think it'd neglectful if I didn't just show the cover of the book. You know, for me, this, you know, this, this told me I was at the top of Hope Pass, honestly. um You know, maybe, yeah, honestly. um And, you know, pick your story. You know, I don't know. Like, you know, I want i want to talk about chapter four, Swim Like a Girl, too. but But, you know, even though, you know, Leadville's calling me here.
01:08:37
Speaker
ah we have We had the pleasure of ah interviewing Sarah Thomas and right after her four-time crossing. And not only was she inspirational to talk to, but when our...
01:08:50
Speaker
but our when our followers came for the live podcast, they actually showed up with peanut M&Ms because they had heard her story. That was the first thing that she wanted to eat on shore, you know? so you know, just in solidarity with Sarah, but you know, why, you know, actually with what I really want to know. Yes. Anything.
01:09:10
Speaker
is as it relates to let's you know the chapter Swim Like a Girl or any of the other ones. Yes. Tell us, pick one and just tell us about your connection with the athlete and how that relationship developed and maybe the process of how did you go through and unpack the layers of the story?
01:09:33
Speaker
Well, if there's ever a compliment that you know, given to this book, it's really just a compliment to the athletes who kindly told me their story. And each of them are actually really good writers. They could have done it themselves, except they're so busy being so incredible.
01:09:51
Speaker
um They probably just didn't have the time to sit down and and um write as eloquently as they were interviewing.
01:10:02
Speaker
They, um to the very last person, were incredibly gracious and generous with their time. And when I had follow-up questions and, you know, I often like to do the thing where I say at the end, well, if I should have a question about anything that, or i forgot to ask you something, would you mind if called you, you know, or emailed you again? and Over and over again, i never once was refused there their company.
01:10:38
Speaker
And, you know, a little bit on the genesis, it was it was very interesting how i landed here. Made a point of going around and asking all of the best athletes in their field, you know, I know how awesome you are um at what you do.
01:10:59
Speaker
But which performance, which event, which quest did you witness that just knocked your socks off?
01:11:09
Speaker
That which one inspires you? So these are the stories that the best in these fields, I kept hearing over and over and over again.
01:11:21
Speaker
And people were still talking about them. And then I, you know, eventually looked and just saw, you know, there's not enough archive here. We need to archive these stories.
01:11:34
Speaker
if these are the If these are the stories that inspire the people who are at the top of their game and these stories aren't properly in our catalog, you know, captured,
01:11:51
Speaker
I will have missed an obligation, right? To the sports that have been so good to me. And um i had this experience even with writing about Kona.
01:12:07
Speaker
Your listeners will all appreciate that. I was very excited to write about world championship in Kona. And while I was writing it Valerie Silk, who took over the race from the original um family who who began the race, and she passed away. And it just really drove home that when you have primary sources, you need to get you need to get the information in the archive. These are so these are stories that need to be told.
01:12:43
Speaker
We need to make that that Even you know when people are ah when people don't toot their own horn and are modest, that doesn't mean that you know they get a pass.
01:13:00
Speaker
like There should be a journalist making sure that these stories are are on a library bookshelf for some young inspired triathlete, Olympic distance triathlete to read about, or a young...
01:13:17
Speaker
cross country kid who dreams of bigger things, you know, that I just want, I wanted to make sure that, that I did right by the people who, you know, who's, who set the course for us or who, and you know,
01:13:37
Speaker
did the hard things, but now are the race directors or who did the hard things and are now doing search and rescue and are being ham operators and doing all the behind the scenes.
01:13:48
Speaker
Like for those people, it you know, I felt really, um, driven to make sure these stories, um, were captured here. And I have plenty more. There are lots, lots, lots more great stories to tell.
01:14:05
Speaker
um But I had to start somewhere. So these were the 11 very generous people who in some cases, I had to push them a little bit because they're too modest to want to talk about themselves, which I appreciated. And and I tried to be very collaborative and I made sure that Every word was right for them.
01:14:31
Speaker
i did not overstep in any way. And I made sure that these were points that either they wanted to make or parts of their history that they wanted to talk about and um lessons that they wanted to share. So um it's ah you know it was a freshman effort. No book is perfect, but I might've been around perfect people. So it was a good place to start.
01:14:56
Speaker
Wow. I mean, you're just like, i the position from where you tell these stories of just you know such humility and wanting to tell their story, I think is what really makes it so powerful because the your intent just comes through. So thank you. thank you for And thank you for, I guess, tolerating the how I built this format question. No, anything's fine. I'm just so thrilled to get to talk shop with People who who are in the trenches, who know, who've done the damn things.
01:15:32
Speaker
Yeah, I love the explanation behind the the relationship as well as honoring people. their story, right? I think yeah that goes a long way. And you can tell when you go through this, the and the intimacy, but also just the the capturing of, from a third party perspective too, right? So you've got their side, but you've also got like, hey, here's some facts about this.
01:15:59
Speaker
Like, did you, know let me put this into perspective for you. Yes. Yes. Well, because I would like non-athlete to be able to read this book. Like, yes ah ah you know, it's not a technical manual.
01:16:11
Speaker
It's not a, you know, it's, I also didn't want to be too inside baseball so that it felt like people were not in the club. Yeah, you couldn't follow along. That's not the objective. Exactly.
01:16:23
Speaker
You couldn't see yourself there. yeah Yeah. So yeah it it would be something where you can appreciate why that athlete has that joy that they can't you know they can't hide their light under a bushel. they're just They have to go do this thing and they're so stoked, right? So it was very important to...
01:16:47
Speaker
Frame it so it wouldn't be a Darwin Award, right? Like, oh, these people have a some kind you know they what they they they have a You know, they're not right.
01:17:03
Speaker
I mean, I had to frame it so that was never the case. that was never yeah That was never the question. Because if that would be disingenuous. Because all of these people are...
01:17:17
Speaker
the most careful, the most prepared, the most attentive. They do not want to put any anyone in a difficult position from volunteers, crew, you know, anyone affiliated with their undertaking.
01:17:40
Speaker
There's more, more attention and, and more care from these athletes than, you you know you will find in adults in regular life. So I really want, you know with you tell them without telling them, I really wanted the reader to to to walk away with the sense that these are fully formed, really interesting, terribly curious, smart as all hell people.
01:18:13
Speaker
Lest there be any confusion. do this. this um i I would, ah would you tell us like, maybe like, I would love for us to be able to get folks to buy this book, you know, for you um and your publisher.
01:18:36
Speaker
ah Maybe you can, maybe give know, tell us who the publisher is. Tell us, so you know, like where folks can, you know, where you recommend people pick up the book. Oh, thank you so much. So the book is sold um wherever you buy your books.
01:18:51
Speaker
That would be lots of online retailers as well as brick and mortar because, you know, print ain't dead. ah Brick and mortar, um Barnes and Noble and your indie bookstore.
01:19:07
Speaker
And if you are not, if you're trying to um to keep it your footprint light, ah you can, I invite you to go to your local library because libraries are the best place on earth.
01:19:22
Speaker
And go spend time with the people there because they're awesome. And spend some time with the librarian and thank them for their service. And then if you want, you can ask them to put the book on um on their suggested buy list.
01:19:36
Speaker
And that's a way for you to get to read the book, but also and enable other people to read it too in your community. So... so um Yeah, so it's a it should be available wherever you like to support independent bookstores and mom and pop retailers and all the all the online folks, too.
01:20:02
Speaker
That's awesome. That's great. And I want to thank Caroline Young-Henry for making an introduction that made this interview happen. That happens to be one of my athletes that knew your publisher, which i made this happen. So thank you, Caroline. we appreciate you. Thank you, Caroline.
01:20:20
Speaker
shan has been a bull It's been a blessing being with you. Thank you. I mean, you have inspired and put things in perspective for me. And I feel you know like you know this is one of those, you're you're welcome back anytime. yeah Well, we you know we have hope past conversations yet to fully yes explore. So at some point- We can have hope pass along conversations. and And I know you want to talk about Lynn Cox because who wouldn't?
01:20:49
Speaker
but And i will brag on Lynn and all the athletes of this book anytime. So when you when you need some rowdy storytelling, yes, experience is the best teacher.
01:21:06
Speaker
It's sometimes, you know, the tuition is pricey. But in this case... I think you will, yeah, you can and have me over anytime. talk We'll talk shop. We will definitely do that. It sounds like you have enough stories for another book. So maybe there's Unforgiving Hours Part 2 coming.
01:21:23
Speaker
Yes. I mean, there are backyard races to talk about and there are ah all kinds of shenanigans out there by some of the best people.
01:21:36
Speaker
And like I said, they won't, They won't tell you, so somebody's got to do it. and It's my pleasure. I got to say the amount of adjectives, rowdy, streaking, shenanigans. i You had me at hello, Shannon. I mean, birds of a feather. Yep, yep. Yep, yep.
01:22:00
Speaker
Yeah, the difference between you two and me is you have the good sense to live and train in Colorado and then go to sea level and race. Some of us aren't that bright.
01:22:13
Speaker
i but So we're cut from the same cloth, but some of us are just a little sharper than others. Well, you have an invitation. You come out here anytime.
01:22:25
Speaker
Oh, i i will be in Breckenridge next August. There's more Breck epic ahead. Yes. A friend is doing his 30th Leadville, so I'm crewing that.
01:22:41
Speaker
I know. Yeah, Jeff jeff Leanouts is his name. I'll drop so i'll i'll be a name dropper. Yeah, he's- Oh yeah, we're we're definitely talking again. I mean, i yeah, i have I have some pretty hairball Leanouts stories as well as just Leadville stories.
01:22:57
Speaker
So anytime you want to talk, you know, that kind of nonsense.
01:23:04
Speaker
that's all I mean, most of, you know, I know your listeners are buttoned up Triathlon sort of, sort of, sort of crowd. But if you want to, you know, loosen up, but loosen it up a little bit.
01:23:21
Speaker
Yeah. We talk about some weird shiznit on this podcast too. So we love it. We've got some range. Yeah, exactly. You do have range. You do have range. We do. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. This is going to be great. Well, I look forward to it.
01:23:35
Speaker
Like they say, the best surfer is the one having the most fun. So let's do it.
01:23:41
Speaker
Wow, guys. You know, Coach Lauren, too bad you were traveling. We would have loved to have had you doing that interview with us. But Coach April, really, you know, love the book, obviously. A few things that, you know, I could relate to.
01:23:58
Speaker
But I really love the the depth um and the kind of sort of the texture of the book, you know, with the, you know, like as we talked about, know, I ended up getting sort of into a how we built this or how you built this sort of format because I got so interested in how she was telling the story.
01:24:15
Speaker
um I personally lost track of some of the highlighted athletes, but you did a good job of calling out one of your favorites. Thank you, partner. I also really enjoyed the personality of the book. It's it's it's quirky, it's fun, it's relentless.
01:24:30
Speaker
ah and And honestly, you can just tell she captured this athlete's stories very well in the way that, and shes she mentioned it multiple times about their humility.
01:24:41
Speaker
And I'm just so glad that she could be a herald for them because of, ah their stories are incredible. So yeah. ah She also had me at hello when she told me she was a pro mountain biker.
01:24:54
Speaker
Oh, right. I know. that. Yeah. It was a great interview. And she's welcome anytime on the podcast. She's just such a yeah you know what I loved was she really did not want to be the focal point of this Right.
01:25:10
Speaker
Yep. She wanted it to be about the athletes, just like her book. You know, it's so funny. Like, you know a lot of people write their book about their accomplishments. Yeah. You know, and that was the thing that's like a little different about this book. It's one very passionate, very successful and accomplished. I mean, Boston qualifier. Yeah. You know, I mean, she's done it all, but she won't talk about herself.
01:25:31
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. yeah She would talk about the process of writing the book and telling other people's stories. Yeah. But anyway, great interview. Yeah. so hope you hope folks enjoy it.
01:25:43
Speaker
And again, the book is out there. She talked about, of course, easy to get your hands on a book. But I also loved her tip on using the library and going to your library and suggesting that they carry it. I thought that was a good tip.
01:25:59
Speaker
All right. Well, how about we talk little bit about a try that workout of the week? Coach Lauren, can we pitch it to you? All right, let's move on to the workout of the week, which is power builder. So on the bike. So today's workout of the week, it's a go-to session for developing both your top and power and your aerobic durability. So if you train with try dot, you've probably seen this one pop up in your calendar.
01:26:27
Speaker
Power builders are exactly what they sound like. It's a targeted hit to lift your power ceiling while reinforcing your endurance foundation. And for me, I personally love these kinds of workouts where you're going pretty freaking hard, but it's not for a crazy long time. So these for me are a lot of fun, challenging, and you do get to, again, hit that power while also getting some you know aerobic endurance foundation into your session. So this workout also does tie nicely with our upcoming webinar on designing your perfect race season strategy, because where this workout shows up and how often it shows up depends a lot on your race goals and a couple of other things that we'll talk about.
01:27:18
Speaker
ah We're going to first break down the actual workout and what it could look like. It could will typically be about an hour, 60 minute workout with your warmup, which if you've listened to us talk about bike workouts, you're gonna hear us say it often. It's pretty you know standard to have some spin-ups in there. So 30 seconds, spin-ups, 30 second recovery, do that twice.
01:27:42
Speaker
You'll do three by one minute zone four efforts with one minute recovery. And again, the idea here is to wake up your legs, prime your nervous system, gently bring the heart rate up so you're ready for the actual work that's going to come.
01:27:57
Speaker
With the power builders, your main set is going to be four rounds of one minute at zone five, followed by one minute recovery. So you're going to pretty hard for a minute, you're going to get that recovery.
01:28:14
Speaker
After that, you'll settle into 10 minutes at zone two So this allows you to keep building aerobic volume without totally shutting things down. And then your second block, you're going to do three rounds where it's going to be the one minute at zone five with the one minute recovery.
01:28:31
Speaker
You'll finish the rest of the workout for your prescribed time in zone two. It's a very simple structured workout that packs a punch.
01:28:44
Speaker
Yeah. Does it ever. And I'll tell you what, this is why I love this workout. This is like one of my favorites. It's like one of the hardest, but it's like one of my favorites because it really helps you develop that combination of, you know, that high power and that fast recovery. So this is, i mean, you're talking about you're in, you're you're trying to increase your that ability to surge. And this is like a beautiful workout. If like you're a draft legal triathlete or you're a bike racer or you're a mountain biker, April, like, right. You're like, I know you're like tuning into this hard. I'm jonesing right now. Yep.
01:29:23
Speaker
I mean, this is going to help that VO2 max and that anaerobic power, that short bursty high end surgy power. It also helps you to do that over and over and over again, because you get to learn what that fatigue feels like.
01:29:39
Speaker
And you, you get to like challenge that fatigue. And when you challenge that fatigue, your body reacts and adapts to that. So when you're out there racing and you're, and you're, you know, the rest of your competitors are because they've been bursting in, but they haven't been really doing it, repeat you know, doing the repeatability of it.
01:29:58
Speaker
They fade and you don't, and you got the confidence to keep going. Race specific resilience. This is that, like somebody's got you on the ropes, but you've got them on the ropes too, because you can actually, you know, like, you know, I keep coming back to, for me, it's draft legal. i know for April it's, you know, mountain biking, right?
01:30:18
Speaker
Sometimes you just don't know when you're going to crest that hill and when the switchbacks are, are done. Right. Yeah. And the surges, knowing how to surge and and then recover, surge and recover is really, it is top end and then recoverability.
01:30:34
Speaker
And for mountain biking in particular, you also have the technical aspect of the bike handling skills. And so if you can't recover fast from those surgy things and that really like...
01:30:45
Speaker
that really you like fast Twitch fiber work. ah Yeah. you Yeah. You, you're going to get outworked by somebody else. So how often you're going to see this in your program, if you're using the TriDot program um or, you know, if you're not, you should be like using programming that does,
01:31:01
Speaker
You want to see this every, during your, you know, I like to see this in the development phase when you are really trying to develop that power and trying to increase that, you know, FTP, you know, each month through these, you know working mesocycle after mesocycle. So, you know, you're looking for this between, you know, one to three weeks, you should be seeing this you listen, this is going to help your experience level when you're racing. It's going to help, you know, the demands of the race.
01:31:34
Speaker
And this is going to be something that's going to really help you respond and adapt to that high intensity work. So in your off season or pre-season, you might see it occasionally ah to maintain that high end fitness, but really going to see it in that build or development phase.
01:31:50
Speaker
So this is when we are sharpening our VO2 max, get, uh, Fast before far and strong before long and um hope you enjoy the workout. Yes. So how does this tie into your race priorities?
01:32:05
Speaker
Power builders may show up in athletes who are training for a hilly 70.3, let's say Marbella 140.6 courses.
01:32:14
Speaker
ah or one forty point six courses It also can be in races with frequent surges or wind. i like the addition of wind wind can be so demoralizing.
01:32:26
Speaker
So this is really good to help you with that sudden gust or that long, just, Oh, and then stop. And then, Oh, I like the crosswind or the headwind. Absolutely.
01:32:36
Speaker
Short course racing when high power matters, such as that draft legal or a crit race, um, If you're a race is flat and steady, you might see it less frequently or the emphasis shifts more towards sustained race pace work.
01:32:53
Speaker
This is really where race prioritization and season design matters. Um, this is something that we're definitely be talking about in our webinar series this next Tuesday. So please check it out when we talk about prioriti prioritization and periodization.
01:33:07
Speaker
These are the type of workouts that we want to see that reflect your goals, right? so With that, the next time you see power builders show up in your program, you know that this is meant to be.
01:33:20
Speaker
So embrace it. It's there to help you improve. And if you want to better understand how workouts like these fit into your big picture race strategy, make sure you do join us for next Tuesday's webinar.
01:33:32
Speaker
on how to build uh, outstanding race season and strategize to make it work for you. We're going to walk you through our prioritization. We'll walk you through how to structure your year, including strength training and make sure that you have everything that you need to set yourself up for success.
01:33:49
Speaker
So that is your workout of the week. your TriDot Power Builder session. Give it your best effort and hit those zone zesty, zone five intervals with intention and enjoy the strength you're building for the season ahead.
01:34:04
Speaker
Like that, the zesty. Awesome. that's I love the zesty. You're bringing the zest. I just did not see that coming tonight. And I also want to applaud you again, April, for saving my bacon here and making the call out about the webinar next week.
01:34:19
Speaker
You know, we, you know, let's really plug that. We're going to put it, we'll make sure there's a link here in the show notes. So thanks for mentioning that again. Yeah. That has to be my new catchphrase, saving my bacon.
01:34:30
Speaker
fit
01:34:34
Speaker
Zesty. You got it. Zesty, bacon, all the things. Ain't no shame in our game. my bacon We're going off the rails. I love it. That's actually perfect because we are about to allow it to happen in our fun segment.
01:34:48
Speaker
This is all about Leadville, folks. So buckle. those hydration vests, grab your electrolytes because today's fun segment is going to take us straight into the high altitude proving grounds of the endurance world. That is Leadville, Colorado.
01:35:06
Speaker
We're going to talk about the lead challenge. The iconic, not slightly, it is over overtly unhinged, okay? Oxygen optional challenge that strings together a series of endurance events that you'll need some lead in your veins to complete. And that's straight from their website.
01:35:27
Speaker
This isn't just racing. Obviously it's a lifestyle. It's a really crazy, awesome choice, a personality trait. And today we're going to put your Ledman lore to the test with some trivia inspired by the athletes who brave the 10,000 plus feet of altitude on predictable weather and trails that eat quads for breakfast.
01:35:47
Speaker
So Lauren and rich, I want you to tighten your laces because we're going to do some legends of Ledman trivia. You ready? Yeah. Ready. Oh my gosh. This is awesome.
01:35:58
Speaker
Okay. So these are multiple choice. Your first question, what does an athlete have to complete in order to earn the title of lead men for this challenge?
01:36:11
Speaker
Is it a any three Leadville events in one calendar year, 100 mile run and the mile mountain bike C, a specific five race sequence across the months of June through August, or D, a marathon plus a 50 mile run plus a 10K.
01:36:35
Speaker
I am between C and d because they seem like the most challenging. um I'm going to guess C because you were a little bit more specific with those.
01:36:49
Speaker
So it seems like C final answer. Locking it in. That's funny. Yeah. I, well, I think it is C as well.
01:37:00
Speaker
I don't, I'm not an expert at this, but I've really, that's, I believe it is also a very specific five race series. Yep. You both are correct. It is right specific five race sequence.
01:37:13
Speaker
And it is between the months of June and August. It's it's it's when we get into it, I'll share with you later. Cause I don't want to give too many answers away here, but it is insanely hard.
01:37:24
Speaker
um You know, I'm an endurance athlete. I've lived here almost my entire life. I better do pretty good on this. Yeah, you got to step up.
01:37:33
Speaker
Question two. What is the cutoff time for the infamous Leadville 100 mile trail run? Is it 24 hours? hours? 30 hours? Or D, 36 hours? going to 30.
01:37:45
Speaker
c thirty hours or d thirty six hours i'm go to say thirty I'm guessing this because I was reading up on the book that the unforgiving hours. And now I'm like, i don't know if it was that race, but somebody had finished it just before the cutoff and she finished it in 29 hours. So i don't know if I'm referencing the right race, but if I am, that's my guess.
01:38:11
Speaker
I backed into it by, because I know it starts at 4 a.m. and it goes all day, all night, and then it ends at 10 a.m. 10 a.m. is the cutoff.
01:38:22
Speaker
on So 4 a.m., guess it's 4 a.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday. And so, yeah, so 30 hours. Way to do the maths, Rich. You both are correct.
01:38:34
Speaker
If you don't know, just go with C. know. jackie Yeah, there you go. Oh, that's so good. Someone leaked the answers. No. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So a little bonus here to earn the coveted silver and gold of the Leadville trail, 100 belt buckle. Cause those are the prizes, right?
01:38:53
Speaker
You must finish the race in under 30 hours for the small buckle, which is a kept small buckle and under, uh, 25 hours for the big buckle.
01:39:05
Speaker
All buckle times are based on individual runner chip times as they have been in years past. It's pretty cool, huh? It's awesome. Rich, i mean have you seen the buckle? Because I know you paced.
01:39:17
Speaker
I've seen the buckle, but I've never, I don't, I i didn't pace to the finish. Okay. So my, you know, I wasn't there with my athlete when yeah actually, well, sadly, she actually didn't finish that year. So anyway, ah that's another story.
01:39:33
Speaker
so it's not It's not for the faint of heart at all. Oh my gosh, no. And what a legend i mean what a legendary... Boy, by the way, this the the history of Leadville and how that race saved Leadville is quite something. Because it's like a lot of you know mining towns. I mean, this is a big mining this is mining country.
01:39:53
Speaker
it's I mean, Colorado School of Mines. I mean, come on. ah yeah like this is This is our spirit here. So, you know, what's crazy about this is too, you have like, you know, like the turnaround point is a ghost town, like literally a town that went under and everybody left.
01:40:15
Speaker
Oh, all right. Ready for question number three. Sorry. No, I love it. i You upped the ante, Rich. You upped the ante on the awesomeness of ah knowing about Leadville. So you you've hit the mark for sure.
01:40:28
Speaker
getting carried away. Question three, what iconic prize do Ledman? This is the lead challenge, right? What iconic prize do Ledman finishers receive? Is it a, a bronze mountain goat, B a gold plated Colorado Rockies medallion, C a silver cowbell or D a pickaxe buckle.
01:40:52
Speaker
I'm going to say C or D again now.
01:40:57
Speaker
When in doubt, go with C, right? I know. I want to say D, but now I feel like I should say Oh, don't say Okay, I'm going to go Oh, it is D. I'm going go with D too.
01:41:08
Speaker
It is D, and I just realized I put buckle on the end, but it's actually a pickaxe. It's a gold pickaxe. Yeah, ah yeah it's okay, so it's I remember is a pickaxe. Yep.
01:41:20
Speaker
Yep. So you guys are slaying this. That was teamwork there. Cause I was like, it goes back to the mining history, you know? Yeah. You, you know, your context clues are really great, Rich.
01:41:35
Speaker
That's part of like my, my little, like, you know, advantage codes here. yeah All right. How long is a turnaround between the 100 mile mountain bike race and the mandatory 10 K run?
01:41:48
Speaker
long ah Is this on an open-ended question? Oh, my bad. No, it's not. A. Same day. B. 12 hours.
01:42:01
Speaker
C. The next morning. Or D. One full week. Oh, wait, can you say those again? So a is the next morning. So the turnaround time between the 100 mile mountain bike race and the mandatory 10 K run, is it a same day?
01:42:17
Speaker
B 12 hours, see the next morning or D one full week.
01:42:24
Speaker
I feel like I'm guessing either the next morning or 12 hours because the same day is kind of like having time that with everyone. um And like the next week is just too long.
01:42:36
Speaker
So. I think that these are like scheduled over like weekends typically. So like I i think it's the next week, but I i could be wrong. Oh, hmm.
01:42:47
Speaker
The next week or, okay, well, so I'll, I'm going to guess that you're probably right. But for the sake of us then not being the same answers every single time, I'll say the next morning.
01:43:00
Speaker
Coach Lauren, you have just claimed a victory on this one. it is the next morning. Of course. Awesome. No shame in my game. No shame in my.
01:43:13
Speaker
Leadville game. Don't be late to the race because you were you know like you thought you had a week to you know yeah hang out with me. Hey, what? Isn't there a race today? No, that was last weekend. Are you sure? You missed it.
01:43:28
Speaker
Yeah, so for 2026, the Leadville 100-mile mountain bike is on August 15th. The Leadville 10K run is on August 16th.
01:43:40
Speaker
Nice. Nice, right? That just sounds gnarly. Honestly. Yeah. We're learning as we have fun.
01:43:49
Speaker
And you're using your reasoning and deductive skills, like the context clues. Oh, my gosh. Game, gamification. This is... I love it. Oh my gosh. We're such nerds.
01:44:02
Speaker
All right. Question five. What is considered the final boss event of the lead challenge? Is it a the 50 mile bike?
01:44:12
Speaker
B the trail marathon, see the 100 mile mountain bike race or D the 100 mile trail run the final boss.
01:44:23
Speaker
First I was thinking like marathon, but then I'm like, well, that doesn't seem like a Boston compared to a hundred mile run. That's insane. I want to say the 100 mile. Oh, wait, no, but you said the 100 mile bike happened and then the 10K run happened.
01:44:36
Speaker
So it can't be the 100 mile bike. C or D again. or D again.
01:44:43
Speaker
What do you think, Rich? I like the drum roll, first of all. I thought that was actually very helpful for me. you know i the Final boss, I call it a final beast. I am going with D, the 100 mile trail run. 100%. I'm going to follow your lead on that one.
01:45:01
Speaker
Pickaxe drop. You are both correct. Ding, ding, ding. And that, yeah, what a beast. So with this challenge, right, I'm just going to go over with this, uh, the full challenge with you. And then when we talk about the 100 mile run, that's where they get presented the pickaxe. So the first of the series is the lifetime Leadville trail marathon.
01:45:26
Speaker
And that's, uh, for 2026, that'll be held on June 27th. Then there's a lifetime silver rush 50 run or lifetime silver rush 50 mountain bike, a race present. Um, that is going to be July 11th through the 12th.
01:45:42
Speaker
Then they have the lifetime Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race, August 15th, the Leadville 10K run, August 16th, and then the Leadville Trail 100 run on August 22nd, 2026.
01:45:56
Speaker
And that is your lead challenge. That's awesome. What an education. Thank you, April. That's wild. Have you guys seen race across the sky? No.
01:46:08
Speaker
Oh, April, as a mountain biker, you've got to watch this race. cross Is the 100 mile mountain bike race. And this is actually back when Lance Armstrong did it. And, you know, before like, you know, everything blew up, but, um, but it's amazing. What a great story. it kind of, yeah, <unk> you'll love it.
01:46:28
Speaker
I'm going to check it out this weekend. Thank you, Rich. I love that. And I'm so excited to see that. So cool. Well, that wraps up our legends of lead men. So even if you got half of those right, congratulations, you're either a diehard Leadville fan, which you both have proved your stuff here.
01:46:47
Speaker
You're an encyclopedia of suffering, or you're someone who has once Googled, why do people do this to themselves? So huge shout out to all the athletes who have ever taken on the lead men or any of the lead bill endurance series events or dreamed about it or wanted to watch the docker and documentary while whispering baby one day.
01:47:08
Speaker
Rich, I need you to bring us back before I sign myself up for something I can't explain to you, my coach. ha i'll tell you I'll tell you what. First of all, I i feel like a bit of a poser here because I've never done it. I've only paced somebody over Hope Pass.
01:47:26
Speaker
But... I have a lot of friends. In fact, one of my friends, one of my mentors actually in the sport when I was just getting into it was kind of the head of the club at the time. And he has done it nine times.
01:47:39
Speaker
Holy. Wow. Holy Hannah. Yeah. Right. I mean, amazing. So those are the, those are the real athletes. Guys, this has been an amazing podcast.
01:47:50
Speaker
So much freaking fun. out we we go Just, just for grins, what do you guys got going on this weekend? I am going to do an easy bike ride tomorrow.
01:48:02
Speaker
i see you got your bike in the background. Is it, you feel like it made it okay? Yeah. I got it. Not that, I mean, quick plug though. The Skycon arrow bag, the soft case bag, best thing to travel with. after stasha Especially with what happened with her bike. I'm like, I'm so happy. I have the the bike that I have. So going to just,
01:48:24
Speaker
Inflate those tires, put her on the trainer tomorrow, get an easy ride in before a family party, some hot yoga on Sunday, get an easy run in i and I'm enjoying like being back to reality and being able to train how I want to train and- don't know, you know, relax.
01:48:44
Speaker
love it Rich, I am hoping, i am hoping to get another mountain bike ride in probably going out to castle rock again. Cause that's just such a fun roller coaster trail ride. And I'm also really hoping to get a swim in because I'm going, I'm on day 45 of no swims and the pool should be open, but it also kind of sat there not being treated.
01:49:05
Speaker
So I'm all, I'm just like, man, I don't know how much longer I can go. so Yeah. Yeah. this Say a little word for me there. Could be more dangerous than swimming in Boulder Reservoir when it's 75 degrees out. Don't go in there with any open cuts.
01:49:22
Speaker
No. Exactly. Yeah. Like Lake Michigan. Yeah. Like somebody. Dummy. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. oh yeah. like ah you know It's going to be a beautiful day, I think, tomorrow. But you know what? i I'm investigating this velocity...
01:49:39
Speaker
you know, cycling yeah group training program. And I got a little bit of a training session on it today. So I am actually going to do a indoor ride. How embarrassing I'm to be doing an indoor a ride, but I think I'm going to be geeking out using this this new platform, just trying to get myself oriented to it. So, and I've got, what i'll I'll be sharing with you what I learned. So.
01:50:03
Speaker
Oh, I can't wait to hear about that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, great meeting with them today. Great overview and introduction. Actually, I've got another, I've got to schedule a part two of it. So there's a lot to cover, but man, we're going be able to do just, you know, spitballing here inside the coaching thing.
01:50:23
Speaker
inside you know the coaching thing We are looking to do online, ah like virtual rides where we would do sort of like, sort of like a spin class, if you will, but do a group workout, do it live. They actually, you know, a camera and a headset so that it's like a studio appearance is the idea. And, you know, we will lead, you know, we'll maybe just start out with like Saturday group rides throughout the winter.
01:50:52
Speaker
I'm so excited. Bring your workout. So. ah cool Anyway, well, great. Well, what a fun, uh, what a fun time with you guys. Let's wrap this thing up folks. Thanks for listening this week. Be sure to follow through three triathlon and a grit to greatness endurance.
01:51:06
Speaker
Of course, go to iTunes, give us a rating and a comment. We really appreciate it. And you stay tuned, train informed and enjoy the endurance journey. For your 303 Endurance Podcast.
01:51:17
Speaker
It's your 303 Endurance Podcast. It's your 303 Endurance Podcast. It's your 303 Endurance Podcast.
01:51:54
Speaker
Oh, three.