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Becoming Ultra

Becoming Ultra is all about that first Ultra. We follow other runners training for their first Ultra, interview race directors of Ultra's, talk training tips, and just about anything for that next, very long, step.
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Now displaying: 2022
May 6, 2022

We are pumped to introduce Dawn Lisenby, the race director and coach in charge of East Coast Trail Racing.  Her race, Jack's Trail 50k will take place in Palm Coast, Florida this coming October and benefit a scholarship fund for her brother Jack.  She shares her coaching philosophy, the history of the race and region, and why she is pumped to partner with us for another epic season!

May 6, 2022
We sit down with founder and podcast host of Chasing Cutoffs, Ben Mead.   As a self proclaimed back of the packer Ben thought there should be a show about the runners that don't always have the most perfect days racing.  That, and the fact he interviewed Season 4 Becoming Ultra runner Rebecca Roehm who had one of the more epic cutoff chasing races we have ever been a part of was reason enough to have him come share his vision for Chasing Cutoffs!
May 3, 2022
Annie Hughes lives and trains year-round in Leadville, Colorado. This past summer at 23 years old, she became the youngest ever female champion of the Leadville 100 and the Moab 240. She ran one of her very first ultras at the Silver Rush 50 when she first moved to Leadville in 2019 and ended up qualifying for the 100. Annie has since fell in love with the sport and the longer 100 – 200 plus mile distances. Living in Leadville opened so many doors for her as an up-and-coming ultra-runner. She has met so many inspiring and supportive people and enjoyed training in one of the most beautiful places on the planet with endless trails to explore. She is so excited to share what she has learned the past few years on the “My First Ultra” podcast!  

Annie Hughes was everything we thought and more.  Her positive, happy energy really comes through.  On this podcast we talk about what it is like to be the youngest female champion of the Leadville 100 and Moab 240.  Annie shares fun stories about some of her other adventures and what drives her to keep pushing for more. We also discuss the influence other female ultra-runners have had on her.  Annie embraces living and training in Leadville and shares some of her creative runs. We are excited to see what she does next!

IG- @outdoorable_annie

Apr 29, 2022

Lene makes her way across the world to run her first ultra in Colorado and Caitlin enjoyed 98% of her first ultra.  Coach Ellie Greenwood gets to hear how it all went down on this post race recap call from Season 11 of the Becoming Ultra Project!

Apr 26, 2022

"Mom strength will prepare you for anything."  Coach Hillary

" Why would you not do something that gives you the feeling that you can do anything."  Evangelyn

"My rigid limitations of what I think is possible for me have gone away."  Jeremy

Running these long distances are more than just running. Enjoy the show!

Apr 26, 2022

Anthony Costales is a Junior High PE teacher and Ultra-Trail runner from Salt Lake City, UT where he lives with his wife Katie, 16-month-old daughter Piper, and their cattle dog Brighton. Born and raised in Northern California he started running in 6th grade after his Jr High PE teacher suggested he go out for the cross-country team, having no idea what that was, he showed up and the rest is history. He ran XC/Track at his local high school and continued on competing for American River Junior College and Chico State University. After obtaining his bachelor's in Kinesiology and teaching credential, Anthony moved to Utah and spent a few years road racing in distances from 10K to marathon, he then started the transition to trails. In 2018 he ran his first Ultra at the Moab Red Hot 55K and has now competed in distances from 50 miles, 100K, and 100 miles.

 

Anthony was so much fun to chat with.  He is a very focused and disciplined runner who juggles family and career responsibilities and manages to excel in the ultra-world.  We talk about his experience qualifying for the 2018 US long distance mountain running team and winning the Canyons 100k which earned him a Western States Golden ticket. We also discuss balancing teaching and running and share a few laughs about it.  I loved hearing Anthony talk about the impact his High School coach has had on the trajectory of his life.  This is a good one!  Enjoy!

IG- @acostales54

Apr 24, 2022

Cale and Meghan followed the training, put the work in and sacrificed when needed for a big goal and we couldn't be happier for them.  Listen to the post race recap from the Desert RATS 50k in Fruita, Colorado!

Apr 19, 2022
Brittany Peterson is a Minnesota native who has been running since Junior High School. She has been in Idaho for the past 12 years, which is where her ultra-running and mountain running really took off post-collegiately. She has run professionally for Nike Trail since 2018 while she also balances a career as an occupational therapist teaching at a university. Brittany and her partner, Cody, enjoy traveling, running with their dogs and exploring the mountains in their backyard. They put on a Technical Mountain Running camp each year to share their passion and expertise in off-trail, mountain running. Brittany enjoys all distances, but particularly enjoys the 100k distance, where you can incorporate speed, while still having to problem solve any type of situation that may arise during an ultra-distance event. She has finished 2nd and 4th at the Western States Endurance Run in northern California and was the 4th top female in the 2021 Ultra Runner of the Year ranking. 

We had so much fun chatting with Brittany.  We talk about the transition from road to mountain running and the importance of keeping it fun.  We discuss how she balances working and running as a professional athlete. Brittany gives some great advice on this topic.  We also had a great conversation about the struggle with comparison to other athletes. We are excited to watch Brittany this year at Western States.  Brittany is one of those people you instantly like.  We think you will enjoy getting to know her a little better.

www.brittanypetersonruns.com/running-camps

IG- @runhappyb

Apr 16, 2022

Audience, family, and friends left messages for runners of Season 11!

Apr 15, 2022

Jeremy and Evangelyn dealt with the weather and life to get here to the start line of their first 50k. This is their pre race call with their coach.  Enjoy!

Apr 15, 2022

As Amy heads down to the lower 48 to test her legs this weekend as the Pearson's ready themselves for their first ultra.  This is their call with their coach before the race! Enjoy!

Apr 15, 2022

The time is here.  Caitlin and Lene trained through a pretty interesting 6 months and their days is upon us.  They will be running their first ultra. This is the call with their coach before they get it done. Enjoy.

Apr 13, 2022

We had some good questions from listeners online and a couple runners joined us to ask theirs as well!   How do you keep your energy up after long training runs?  How do you know when to go up in distance and more!  Enjoy!

Apr 12, 2022

Hector Rodriguez is a husband, father of two girls and an Ultra Endurance athlete that resides in San Diego, CA.  Since 2020, he has competed in over 20 Ultramarathons all over the country.  His resume includes multiple 100+ milers on treadmills, top 5 finishes in 24/48-hour races, and four 200+ races including the Triple Crown of 200s in 2021. Hector is also very passionate about giving back to his community.  

Hector has this amazing energy that makes you smile and pulls you in.  We had so much fun chatting with him.  Inspired by David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me book Hector has mastered the mental toughness it takes to keep going no matter what.  We talked about the life changing experience that happened during the Moab 240 and running the Triple Crown of 200’s.  We also discuss Hector’s running community, the Wolfpack and how they helped him stay focused with training through COVID.  Hector believes to build a life of your dreams you have to help people build theirs.  We talk about why that is important to him and how he is using his website as a platform for that mission.  We are big fans of Hector and you will be too!

Instagram - @hrod619

Website - www.wolfpackendurance.com

Apr 5, 2022

Training for Ultra is the brainchild of ultramarathon runner Rob Steger and includes a website, an Amazon TV series, multiple films, a self-published book, and a globally ranked podcast. Rob started running in 2015 and since then he has run 30 ultramarathons including four 200-milers. He is currently getting into race directing and recently hosted his first virtual 50k! On his podcast, Training for Ultra, he has hosted numerous guests including Eliud Kipchoge, Courtney Dauwalter, Camille Herron, Dean Karnazes and many other fascinating people from the running world. Rob hopes to use his platform to inspire people to enjoy running and find fulfillment in life through healthier lifestyles and more time outside. 

We were so honored to be able to talk with Rob.  He is very busy with several projects going on, we had to pull him away from editing for our chat.  We had some questions lined up, but our conversation went in another direction.  Rob shares his struggles with dyslexia and how he embraced his learning difference and used it to succeed in many areas “Embrace failure and learn from it”. We also talk about Running the Triple Crown and the why behind it.  Rob is someone who cares about helping others and is using his platform to support and encourage people.  This was a very special episode.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Podcast - The Training For Ultra Podcast
Instagram - @TrainingForUltra
FaceBook - Rob Steger (Training For Ultra)
Twitter - Training4Ultra
YouTube - TrainingForUltra

Mar 29, 2022

Beth Freymiller is a wife, mom of three girls, engineer, yoga teacher, cyclist, and trail runner with a passion for being active in the outdoors. Beth was a college track and field and cross-country athlete.  She took a long break from running after college just returning to the sport in 2020 as a trail runner. Since then, she has completed two 50k’s and one 100k. Beth is also active as a cyclist who competes in endurance races on gravel, mountain and fat bikes. Beth is a total bad ass with an unbelievable drive and focus.  She is also  highly proficient at driving her coach nuts by signing up for too many races. 

We had a great chat with our friend and fellow Team BU member.  Beth embodies focus and determination, she believes in herself and is always striving for more.  Beth is not just a runner but an avid biker, we discuss her dedication to both running and biking.  She talks about her big goals and how she is balancing family and work life to make them happen.  We also talk about the importance and impact of the running and biking community.  After you listen to this one you just might feel like stepping up your game and tackling some big goals.

Mar 26, 2022

Cale and Meghan deal with some seasonal allergies but keep increasing volume and look strong.  Amy gets more miles on the bike as her leg continues to be an issue but she is keepnig it positive!

Mar 25, 2022

Coach Hillary gets her crew mentally ready for the coming weeks!  Jeremy plans to practice eating aid station foods and deals with a hip.  Evangelyn has a tough long run!  Enjoy!

Mar 24, 2022

Ellie meets with her runners on this episode to talk about the last few weeks before their first 50k!  Lene looks for solutions for the end of her long runs.  Caitlin gets a little tough love and seems to have found a distraction on the trails!

Mar 24, 2022

Coach Scott Jones fields a handful of questions from runners.  Is cadence that important?  How do you maintain 100 mile weeks?  How do you get better running downhill?  Enjoy the show!

Mar 22, 2022

Sarah Cummings is a marathon, ultramarathon and ultra-trail runner. She is a 2-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier (2:34.47 personal best) and 3-time member of Team USA (Road 50K x2, Pan American Games Marathon). In 2014, she was 10th at the Chicago Marathon. 

Sarah started her running career at Corona del Mar HS in Newport Beach, CA and continued at Princeton University where she graduated in 2011 with a degree in Economics. While at Princeton, Sarah was a 4-time Ivy League Champion and earned All-America honors in 2009 in the 10K. In 2017, following a near career ending hamstring surgery, Sarah discovered her love for the trails while on a "runcation" in the Dolomites. It was only in 2020 that she got the chance to trail run and adventure on a regular basis after moving from New York City to Park City, Utah. 

Sarah's top ultra and ultra-trail performances include a win at the 2021 JFK 50mi in 6:18.43 (and a runner up finish in 2020), overall (M/F) win and CR at the 2021 Arches 50mi, win and CR at the 2021 Antelope Island 50K, and a win at the Hardloop 50K in 3:19.15 (Road 50K PR). Sarah was named #5 2021 UltraRunner of the Year by UltraRunner Magazine. 

Sarah is a winter sports aficionado. She loves snowboarding, splitboarding, nordic skiing, and ice skating. Sarah is an assistant coach for the Park City High School Cross Country team. 

 

“Accept what your body is willing to give and stay present”. Wise words from Sarah Cummings!  Sarah takes us through her running career and how she came to be one of the top trail runners of 2021.  We also talk about what inspired her move from New York to Utah.  Sarah also talks about her almost career ending injury and how she came through it.  Sarah has so much gratitude and it really comes through when you talk to her. We are excited to follow along with Sarah’s running journey and are rooting for her.  We know you will be too! 

IG- @sarahcummings

Mar 15, 2022
When you google teamwork, you just might see Willy’s picture next to it.  Also google crazy, same pic different outfit. Willy is all about helping others and hates to be the center of attention. At 49 he was very overweight, mentally strong and positive but not physically well.  Being the great polish wife, I am I got his fat ass a gym membership and put us both on a nutrition plan. We were in this together!  The weight loss is what started the journey.  One day he woke up and said he is going to start ultra-running. He applied and was chosen to be one of the two runners on season 8 of Becoming Ultra, completing his first 50k. Later that same year Willy was diagnosed with tonsil cancer. Cancer didn’t stop him from doing a 24-hour running event to raise money for a local veteran or attempting a 100-mile run with 30,000 feet of vertical at Mt. Hood. Willy is currently battling a recurrence of the cancer, this time in the lymph nodes in his neck.  He is doing it with the most positive attitude and resiliency and still taking the time to help others.   

What a fun and inspiring conversation we had with Will.  He is one of a kind in the best way.  We got to know Will from the COVID season of Becoming Ultra, he was one of two people selected to run their first 50k.  Since then, Will’s life has taken a few turns.  Diagnosed with tonsil cancer, he never let that stop him from setting goals and doing hard things to help others.  Subsequently, Will discovered he has cancer in his lymph nodes.  Still can’t stop this guy!  His mindset and positive attitude are amazing.  This one is full of fun talk and lots of inspiration.  We feel so fortunate to know Will and hope you enjoy this one.

Mar 12, 2022

It happens to everyone at some point.  You feel guilty for running when you have so much else to do.  Sometimes you just need a little perspective and that seemed to be the theme on today's episode with Caitlin, Lene, and their coach Ellie Greenwood!

Mar 10, 2022
Evangelyn has an epic time in Moab.  Jeremy wants to know how to mentally prepare for the distance when you don't go all the way in training.  Another great conversation for Season 11 runners!
Mar 8, 2022
Amy made her way to Arizona and vounteered for a race while the Pearson's have a couple big weekends in the books.  Enjoy the show!
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