Monica Soileau with the help of her amazing crew recently finished the Badger Mountain Challenge 100 Miler. This race has over 17,000 feet of elevation gain. Of the 127 registered, 65 finished. We love to feature our fellow Team BU people when they accomplish hard things. Monica couldn’t share her story without her incredible crew being a part of it. When people pull together to help someone accomplish their goals everyone wins. This is a fun one!
Isabel and Stacey have been pushing their training and it is all paying off. A long uphill goal of not walking was met by Isabel and she notices some positives of running with other people. Stacey tests her legs with lots of vert on her long run this week! Enjoy the show and following along!
Kristi and Kelsey are continuing to put the work in for their big goals. Kristi is on her feet a bunch dancing for a production of Spamalot so Coach Basham pulls back her volume a bit to match. Kelsey has a brutal long run and they refocus on the fueling. Enjoy the show!
Coach Annie Hughes is fresh off her win in the desert around Moab as she helps get Jasmine and Darin closer and closer to their goals of the 50k and 50 miler this coming June. Jasmine ran her first sanctioned 50k in Oregon and shares her experience running the Pacific Northwest for the first time. Darin feels the training take hold as he runs a PR for the 5k. Things are looking great for this crew!
John Kelly is a husband, father of four, ultra-runner, and explorer. He has a PhD in electrical engineering and is the tech co-founder at Envelop Risk Analytics. He is also part of an elite group of people to have finished the Barkley Marathons. One of only 17 people to have finished and one of three people to finish more than once.
In this conversation we discuss what it takes to succeed at the Barkley Marathons, how the BM has evolved for John over the years, training and preparing for it, and why Laz has made changes over the years. We also talk about John’s amazing Hard Rock finish. John also shares how he balances family, training, and his career. He has an incredible mental toughness and positive mindset and looks forward to hard challenges. This one is sure to inspire you to do that hard thing.
IG- @randomforestrunner
Join Scott and Ian Sharman as they talk about all things running, coaching, training, and more. Ian owns Sharman Ultra, a long time partner of Becoming Ultra. They get to talking about the business of online coaching and where they see it going in the near future. They talk about some races that don't get enough love and bounce around the running world to share some of their experiences. Enjoy the show!
Lauren Jones is the founder of Life’s 2 Short Fitness. She has a passion to educate, encourage, and empower women through her many retreats. Lauren is one of the most positive and encouraging women we have ever met. We have had the pleasure of sharing trail miles with her and experiencing it firsthand. She has her own story of struggles to share. We discuss that and the power of staying positive and never giving up on your goals. Lauren believes you don’t know your limits until you push past them. This conversation is full of inspiration. Hopefully you will be encouraged to step out of your comfort zone and have an amazing adventure.
IG - @lifes2shortfitness
www.lifes2shortfitness.com
Running is rarely ever the main thing when it comes to ultra running and the people who toe the line. Delorean is a great example of keeping himself strong and ready to be there for his awesome family. We hope you enjoy their story and finds ways to support them all.
As we continue to follow Darin and jasmin as they prep for their first 50k and 50 miler we talk mindset on long uphill efforts, mentality in going to run a 50k around people when training is usually solo, and what to do when unruly customers try to ruin your day! Enjoy the show!
Jeff Browning (aka Bronco Billy) is a veteran ultra-runner and endurance coach. He has competed in some of the world’s most difficult ultra-mountain races over the past two decades, amassing nearly 200 ultra-marathon finishes and 39 career ultra-wins. Of those, 27 were in the 100-mile plus distance, placing him second in the world for the most 100-mile wins in history. He holds multiple course records, including Moab 240 and The double record for the fastest combined times of Western States 100 and Hardrock 100 (a mere 19 days apart). He was ranked No. 3 in Ultrarunning Magazine’s North American Ultrarunner of the Decade (2010-2019) and has been ranked seven times in the Top Ten of Ultrarunning Magazine’s North American Ultrarunner of the Year – the first and only man over 50 to make the list. He lives and trains in Flagstaff, Arizona with his wife and three children.
We really enjoyed this conversation with Jeff. This guy has been doing Ultras for a long time and is full of knowledge and wisdom. We covered so many topics on this one. Jeff talks about how embracing the process of training has kept him motivated. He also talks about nutrition and how that has made the biggest impact on his performance. We also talk about balancing family, career, training, and coaching. We even got into a fun discussion about music. Jeff’s words of encouragement are some of our favorite. We know you will enjoy this conversation as much as we did.
IG- @gobroncobilly
Coaching - www.gobroncobilly.com
Dave & Jenn Goins are no strangers to ultra-marathons. They were Becoming Ultras first married couple selected as part of season 10 and they have not stopped taking on challenges. In February they ran their first ultra-together, Black Canyon 100K. On this podcast they talk about the highs and lows and how they got each other through it. We love to see couples supporting each other.
We are almost at the halfway point for season 13 and the runners are getting it done and learning along the way. Learning how to get training in when travel is imminent and learning what running on trails feels like after a long winter. Hillary was traveling too and shares a little about her time in Spain. Enjoy the show!
Kristi and Kelsey had some good questions for coach Basham. Their training is right on schedule for the big day in June. Becoming Ultra is all about following the journey of ultra runners!
Coach Annie Hughes catches up with Jasmine and Darin as they prepare for the 50k and 50 mile run in Oregon. Darin ran into his first snake of the season in Arizona and Jasmine gets ready for a 50k in Oregon soon. Becoming Ultra follows the journey of ultra runners!
Riley Brady is a 27-year-old trail runner and bicycle mechanic, who recently moved to Boulder, Colorado. They are spending the next few months focusing on running but eventually hopes to move into the frame building side of the bike world. Outside of running and work Riley loves goofing around with friends and internet cat videos.
Riley is living their best life! We had a great time chatting with them. Their positive energy is contagious. We covered so many topics on this one. Riley discusses their Javelina 100 race that earned a Golden Ticket as well as being name one of the top ranked ultra-runners by Ultra Runner Magazine. We also discussed being a non-binary athlete and inclusion in ultra-running. Riley shares some DNF experiences and how they view them. This was one of our favorite conversations. I hope you listen with an open mind and open heart.
IG - @rye.outside
Melissa McGaughey has always been passionate about health, fitness, and nutrition. However, in today's society there is so much conflicting information, fad diets and trends to follow that we become overwhelmed. This can lead to unhealthy habits and leave us under fueled when we are trying so hard to live a healthy life. Through years of experimenting with the latest and greatest trends, fad diets and attempting to live a healthy life, she found herself unbalanced and unhealthy. Having a baby inspired her to follow her passion for health and fitness, so she could learn to decipher the conflicting information about nutrition and fitness, truly nourish her body, and be a good role model for her daughter. Melissa studied to be an integrative health and nutrition coach at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in NYC, where she became a Certified Health Coach. Further expanding her nutrition and fitness knowledge by becoming a Master’s Sports Nutritionist and Certified Personal Trainer at the National Association of Sports Nutrition in San Diego, where she became proficient in exercise metabolism, body composition testing, metabolic evaluation, pre and post workout fueling and nutrition for recovery. she also discovered a love for reformer Pilates and completed the training to become a Pilates instructor. Hours of reading, research, and certification through the Self Talk Institute, taught her that your mindset and internal self-talk play a vital role in whether you're successful in achieving your goals. Melissa is also an avid runner and advocate for being outdoors.
This is a subject we have been wanting to talk about for a while. This is a great conversation about nutrition, fitness, and aging. Melissa has so much knowledge, we could have talked to her for hours. We discuss macro training; intermittent fasting; whole foods; protein and the unique needs all of us have. We also talk about mindset and internal self-talk and much more. Melissa is a wonderful advocate for a healthy life and wants to share that with everyone.
IG - @melissa_eduralife
www.enduralife.com
Darin has a scheduling snafu for the last team call so Coach Annie Hughes hopped on a call and sent us the recording to catch up on Darin and his progress in training. Enjoy the episode!
We had the chance to sit down with RD's Scott and Ellen on this episode. They share stories from runners of their Wisconsin backyard event and we talk about where grit comes from, Ellen shares some of her crazy hallucinations from a recent winter race. We love talking to small homegrown race directors and think you'll enjoy the chat!
Isabel and Stacey take some classic advice from their coach Hillary on this most recent episode! Stacey juggles parenting and dark mornings and Kelsey keeps plugging along in the early training for the Oregon Ultra this coming June!
In 1998 at 17 years old Harold Jr. Allen’s young life was forever changed. He was arrested for a crime he did not commit and served 10 years in prison. Initially filled with anger and despair, he eventually resigned himself to serving his time and making the most of it. After his release he gradually slipped into destructive behaviors until 2014 when he was recruited to run a local 5k, he loved it and within a few months was training for a marathon. Harold has been running 100 milers for the last five years. Seven years ago, Harold created Buckle Up a fitness / running group that provides a positive and encouraging environment designed to help others discover what they can achieve. Harold turned tragedy into triumph!
Buckle Up everyone! Harold has remarkable story to tell. Harold talks about the lessons he learned in prison and how he learned to believe in himself. We talk about his path to running and eventually to 100 milers. Harold has found a way to inspire his community with Buckle Up, we talk about what this gives back to him. We covered so much in this hour of talking. Harold is someone who turned tragedy into triumph. He follows the best advise he was ever given, love life and love people.
IG - @haroldallen19811
If only every week and every run would feel perfect everyone would do this stuff. The truth is, it rarely goes as smoothly as you would like. This last week is a perfect example. Delorean and Chelsea both have been dealing with some issues but we gameplan how to get back on a roll. We hope you can relate and enjoy the show!
Beth and Rebecca are both very driven and have finished some extremely challenging events. They have also experienced DNF’s. On this podcast we take a deep dive into the emotions that go along with a DNF. This is not always an easy topic for people, we appreciate their candor. Our hope is that if you experience a DNF you will remember some of the wisdom shared on this podcast and move forward ready to tackle another goal.
On this epsiode we talked about the early volume with the runners, how to deal with Texas winters, when to fuel on your longer runs, and coach Basham talks about her New Zealand racing experience. Kristi and Kelsey have had a great start to the season 13 training. Enjoy the show. Looking for adventure? Check out our retreats.
Brian Murray is an accomplished real estate investor and author who loves trail running and is an amateur endurance athlete. He was on Season 9 of Becoming Ultra and has completed 16 marathons and three ultramarathons. His biggest brush with fame was when he got to be Carly Heard’s teammate on Becoming Ultra. Brian recently returned from a trek to Everest Base Camp and is currently training for the Black Canyon 100K in February. He lives in Alpharetta, Georgia with his wife, son, and two dogs.
It was so fun catching up with our Becoming Ultra teammate who was Carly’s partner for season 9. Brian is not just inspiring because of his accomplishments but because of how he lives his life. Brian shares with us what led him to getting fit later in life, how he maintains good habits, and why it is important to step out of your comfort zone. We also talk about his latest adventure at Everest and how much he gained from the experience. There is some great insight on this podcast. We know you will love this one as much as we do.
IG- @crushingitbrian
If the title says anything it's that these two runners were dealing with some stuff in the last couple weeks. We talk about lot's of life and running in this one so I think you'll enjoy and be able to relate. Enjoy the show!