Scott has a great talk with Nick and Jackson about training and what to expect in the near future with their training.  The idea of staying present in running and worklife came up as Nick is about to head back to school to teach and Jackson's work flow changes seasonally.  It was a great call and we hope you all enjoy!

Alexa Hasman lives in Portland, Oregon and is a mom to two small humans, ages 5 and 7. She owns a coaching business called Fit Life which she opened in 2014. She likes to make each of her clients feel special and empowered as they work towards their goals. She also owns a race company with her business partner, Zina. They purchased it a year and a half ago and just kicked off their second season of races. The company is called Gorgeous Relay Series and they do one day relays in the most beautiful parts of Oregon. They can also be run as ultras, as a single person team and that is something Alexa is most passionate about growing for this business. Alexa is currently finishing her dual masters in exercise science and sports psychology and will then be pursuing her PhD in sports psychology. In her free time, she is a passionate ultrarunner with a love for the longer and more mountainous races.

Did you ever meet someone that felt so familiar?  That is how we felt when talking to Alexa.  We had a great conversation about how she is using her coaching business and race company to empower women.  You feel her passion for this when she speaks.  Alexa is also a busy mom of two young children.  It is always interesting to hear how inspiring women balance priorities.  We also discuss her recent 100 miler and the community she has embraced and is working to build.  We recorded this one on a Friday morning.  It was the best way to kick off the weekend! 

Once again Dayna and Natalie prove to be the disciplined and coachable runners we hope for with this project.  Natalie gets back to Colorado and Dayna keep plugging away.  Someone is worried about alligators in Florida. Ellie shares her epic berry expeditions.  It was a great chat and we hope you enjoy it all!

Ultra runner Pam Smith shares her training and race experience with the epic Badwater 135 run through Death Valley.  We talk about why she thinks confidence is underrated and how she prepared for Badwater.   It's a great chat that shows how many different ways strong runners get to the finish line!  Enjoy the show!

Christy has been playing sports since she was a young girl and carried her love for Soccer into high school where she played Varsity and was captain her senior year. She absolutely hated running and can remember barely finishing the one mile run during try-outs. Fast forward a few years, Christy continued playing on co-ed leagues, and stayed semi active, but soon after she married her husband, got pregnant with her first daughter, Emma, and two years later, had her second daughter Carleigh. After her second daughter, she started to run more to get back into shape, and when she was finally hitting her groove, BAM, she found out she was pregnant with baby number 3. Baby 3 would be the turning point of her entire life, where she soon found out at 20 weeks that her son, Alex, had Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) and would later pass away at 24 weeks pregnant. After losing Alex, Christy created a social media page called All For Alex where she set a goal to run 100 miles in July to honor his short life. This page allowed the community and even people from around the world to join in with this July goal and friends, families and strangers were flooding the page with running pictures in July in honor of Alex.  Since that day, Christy hasn't slowed down...well actually she did when she got pregnant again in September with identical twin boys who were born that following May. 

Lauren first started running in 2015 after a tragic house fire. She was living in an apartment where she found the apartment gym one day and would run to relieve the stress. When the stress or anxiety would consume her, she started to hit the pavement and never looked back. Lauren continued running throughout the years, finished her first half marathon,  and even while pregnant with her daughter in 2021, continued to run and stay active . Christy and Lauren have always been super close, but when Christy moved on the same street as Lauren, they started to chat more about crazy challenges which one would always convince the other to do. 

They have both ran at least one race a month for over two years, completed the 24-hour Yeti ultra-challenge, and they just completed their first 12 hour ultra this past August. 

We had a blast hanging out with Christy and Lauren.  We discuss their super fun Instagram.  They talk about how it keeps them motivated and accountable.  We also talk about balancing family, work and staying healthy.  They have some great advice for those of us trying to find balance.  Their support of each other is really special.  They are very different runners but always work together to achieve big goals and keep each other going.  We love these stories of support.  Enjoy!

IG- BecomingUltraMoms

Liza Howard trained in the Texas heat and the Lifetime fitness sauna for the effort that is Badwater 135.  Crazy heat, stomach issues, hypernatremia and more didn't keep her from finishing. Enjoy the chat today on the show and be sure to check out our updated website!

Coach Ellie is moving her runners right along as they have not missed a single run in their training so far.. Pretty amazing to be honest.  Dayna deals with extreme Texas heat and Natalie finds a way to check out the Badwater course.  Enjoy the show!

Angela Tortorice lined up for her first marathon in support of her former husband, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1997. Since then, she has taken part in 999 marathons across North America and all 50 U.S. states. Through this journey, she has raised over $170,000 for MS. On April 2, 2022 she finished her 1,000th marathon at the Irving Marathon in Irving, Texas making her the youngest woman to complete 1,000 marathons, at the age of 54 years old. She also holds the record for most marathons run in a calendar year but a woman (129).

Most people have running one marathon on their bucket list.  Running 1,000 seems unimaginable to most people but Angela is not like most people.  On this podcast she talks about why the marathons and raising money for Multiple Sclerosis is so important to her.  We also talk about how she has managed her life to achieve this huge accomplishment.  She also shares some mental tricks that have come in handy over the last 25 years. Angela is proof that if you are committed and passionate about something you can accomplish big things.  

www.rtdtexas.com

The training continues for Jackson and Nick as they both ramp up their efforts.  Nick is looking for a good effort at a half marathon this weekend and Jackson is getting his head around longer efforts and more time training with the balance of family life.  Enjoy the show!

On this episode Dawn shares her crazy Badwater experience and Dave is flying solo after Makena drops out of the project.  Enjoy the show!

Hey friends, we are back for another season!  Catch up with us after our month off and let's chat about some upcoming guests!

Rebecca Roehm is no stranger to sufferfests as she was the only Becoming Ultra runner to run her first ultra as a 50 miler at the Voyageur 50 in Minnesota a few years back.  Since then she has done a 100k, a 100 miler, and just last week she took on the Vol State run across the state of Tennessee.  She covered 314 miles in 7 days and so we had to have a chat while it was still fresh and while she was easy to get ahold of recoverng from the effort.  Enjoy the show!

To say that Katie has been through the ringer in the last few weeks is about right.  Running setbacks and illness got her down but she is making a strong comeback.  Jason continues to beat the Florida heat with early runs and wonders, "Does Hillary even like me?" after some of the tough training!  Enjoy the episode!

On this episode we learn a new tactic to get first in line for a new car and we find that surprise, Texas is hot!  Dayna and Natalie are doing great in their training and get some great coaching from Ellie Greenwood once again! Enjoy the show!

Nick and Jackson have been training hard and seeing some results recently.  Nick is getting close to his longest run ever in training and feeling pretty good.  Jackson get's some family time and continues to push!  Enjoy this episode of the Becoming Ultra show!

Scott gets to talk with Shawn Livingston about his life and running.  Shawn's life from early sports to military and now, ultra runner, has plenty of lessons about addiction, family, and perseverence.  

Natalie and Dayna continue their journey to run their first ultra!  Natalie wants to be a morning runner but does it even makes sense to try?  Dayna went out fast in her hot 10k on pavement, in Texas.  Ellie helps guide these two runners through it all!

Jackson and Nick are both doing great from different parts of the country and different levels of training early on.  Nick get past a frustrating foot issue and Jackson has a 25k he is ready to push at for a little competition.  Enjoy the show!

On this episode Jason and Katie are training more after recovering from big efforts and nagging injury so we get to see what their coach, Hillary Allen, has them doing.  Don't worry, we dive into more bird questions with Katie from hawks to babies and what to do if they fall out of the nest.  Jason talks about the importance of preventative care!  Enjoy the show.

On this episode we troubleshoot issues Dave is having with achilles and catch up with Maken after her most recent race, a 25k in Whistler. Enjoy the show!

Zoe is a Colorado based writer and trail runner. Southern storyteller turned mountain dweller, she starts every day with a cup of strong coffee and a good story. Her work has appeared on NPR, in REI Co-op Journal, Discover, Rock & Ice, Trail runner, Backpacker, and Threshold Podcast. Zoe merges her passion for storytelling with her love of trail running in her work as an editor at Trail Runner magazine. She currently hosts and produces the DNF podcast from Trail Runner magazine. Her trail running accomplishments include 1st place at the Crested Butte 100k, Athens Big Fork Trail Marathon and two consecutive wins at the War Eagle 50k. Her running and coaching are powered by the belief that with smart, efficient training and enough self-belief earth is 97% runnable. 

I can’t think of anyone else who finds as much joy in running as Zoe.  Her motto is pay attention to the things that make you feel joyful and run towards them.  We had so much fun talking with Zoe. We talk about how she juggles running, writing, and podcasting and stays present.  Zoe tells us why she always knew she would be a writer. We talk about how she found her way to running and the parallels between running and writing.  Zoe in Greek means full of life, and we think it describes her perfectly.

IG- @carrot_flowers_z

https://www.trailrunnermag.com/collection/the-trail-runner-podcast

On their second call of the season Nick and Jackson are plugging away.  We have a good chat about footwear and getting around some discomfort early in the training with Nick and Jackson is balancing multiple time intensive roles with work while trying to get his training in.  Nothing too crazy but definitely things most of us runners go through at some point!  Enjoy.

Coach Dawn and Scott get to know Makenna.  Dave is ramping up and dealing with a small niggle.  Dawn gives tips on finding a good ART specialist.  Enjoy!

Jameelah Abdul-Rahim Mujaahid is a Georgia super-woman, she is a single mom of 6, works a full-time job and runs Ultra marathons.  It is common for Jameelah to drive several hours to a race, run 100 miles, jump in her car for the long drive home and go to work the next day.  Jameela has always been athletic and excelled at the 100 meters to 400 meters. In her adulthood she became fascinated with the longer distances, she would go out and make herself run as far as she could, this began her obsession with running the long distances. Always looking for more Jameelah has accomplished some big goals from 100k and 100 miles to multi-day races up to 314 miles.  Jameelah does not believe in quitting! 

We are going to call this one the no excuses episode.  After listening to Jameelah you will be inspired to think of reasons to succeed instead of excuses to quit.  Jameelah shares so much with us including the moment that changed her life. We also discuss ultra-running and motherhood and how she has managed to do it all and remain devoted to her family.  Giving is very important to Jameelah, she talks about how she is giving back to the community and encouraging minorities to get involved in running. Jameelah believes 100% that if you are here, it is not impossible. 

IG- @hotlotsofkids

Jason and Katie are back for their second call of the season and Jason came with stories of running 7 marathons in 8 days last week on his quest to run one in every state.  He also give some good PT advice to his teammate Katie who is dealing with some foot issue.  They both have recovery planned from their coach, Hillary Allen!