This past weekend I competed in the Monument Valley 50 miler.

The best way to describe the experience was “Life in a Day”.  I experienced the whole spectrum of emotions throughout nine hours of sand dunes, mesas, hogans, and even found moments of desert isolation.  I hollered with joy running down Mitchell Mesa, I had my breath taken away by the beauty of the valley in the Arches Loop, and I welcomed the darkness of exhaustion while staggering my way towards Brigham’s Tomb.  It was exhilarating.  It was exactly what I wanted and needed from the race.

Special episode this week as I try to explain to my buddy Brady Manriquez the why, what, and how of my experience.  We talk about the constantly changing mindset throughout the miles, share tips on motivation to endure such a long event, and attempt to explain how my emotional and mental benefits from an ultra completely overshadow the pain and discomfort.

This is just PART ONE of our race report!  In a few days we will release Travis and Brady’s stories which I promise will completely blow your mind.

Enjoy! If you’re enjoying the podcast, help grow the tribe by spreading the word! Subscribe to iTunes, leave us a review, tell a buddy, do all that super fun social media sharing you kids are into these days, etc.

Love you guys! Enjoy the week!

Ridiculously excited this week as we welcome Adam Casey to the podcast!

A month ago in Nederland, Colorado I spent a few hours running with Adam.  We were cruising along, chatting and instantly I knew I wanted him to share his story on the podcast.

Because, quite frankly, Adam’s lived a life.  His journey to where he is now, a computer programming major at University of Colorado, has been unconventional.  He’s been a former Mizzou football player, a U.S. marine, a biologist, a cancer survivor, and, most recently, a sky diving badass.

He also started the nonprofit I Do It For Her which supports under-privledged children in the Saint Louis area and individuals with lofty life goals who believe that “the best weapon in a world deterred by the risk of failure are individuals who are willing to accept the challenge to better themselves through adversity.”

On this episode Adam shares stories from his time attempting BUD/S training ….or to us common folk Navy SEAL training.  Commonly known as the absolute hardest training cycle in the world, Adam paints a picture of day to day life, describes a few of the extreme mental, physical and emotional obstacles a trainee faces, and explains why he NEEDED to attempt it (even while concealing a debilitating illness).

This one gets real and gritty.

Life is all about the journey, the peaks and valleys, and, unfortunately, Adam has been forced into exploring the deepest depths of the valleys.  As an eternal optimist, I can only believe that his new chapter of life is in Colorado to give him the opportunity to start adventuring up some peaks!

Thanks again to Adam for chatting with me and for everyone who listens week in and week out.  Super grateful for you!

Link to Adam’s nonprofit: http://www.idoitforher.com

All of our previous episodes: https://soundcloud.com/chris-ward-126531464

Adam’s Ted Talk:

BUD/S

This week we are joined once again with Travis Steffen (episode 10) .  Travis is a successful entrepreneur and athlete working in the heart of the insanity that is Silicon Valley.  Through the last ten years he’s created multiple businesses from scratch, played college football, pursued MMA, fought in Thailand, completed triathlons and ultramarathons, climbed mountains, competed in body building competitions and so on and so on.

How was he able to step up and confront all of these challenges?

Travis attributes his success to regimented discipline, daily goal setting, and a focused mindset on success.

On this episode Travis shares his intense morning routine, his affinity with lists, what drives him to set lofty goals, how he visualizes a “life trophy case”, his hilarious experience running his first marathon, and how he plans on finishing his first 50 miler.

We also reopen the “City Slickers 1 v. City Slickers 2” trial….in which I present some very damning evidence.

As are most of my conversations with Travis, this one is all at once enlightening, silly, inspiring, highbrow, lowbrow, and brings a smile to face!

Enjoy!

Check out our previous episode here: https://soundcloud.com/chris-ward-126531464/like-a-bigfoot-10-travis-steffen

There’s so much I could write about as I attempt to describe Jason Schlarb in a few short paragraphs. He’s a professional runner, Altra sponsored athlete, world traveler, family man, and an all around good dude. He’s ran (and won) an insane amount of trail races all around the world, he’s explored mountains, beaches, jungles, and deserts, and was the first American to finish UTMB in 2014 (the Super Bowl of Ultrarunning), amongst so much more! The dude is legitimately one of the best ultra runners on the planet!

Best of all he’s a Coloradoan who, like most people who live here, loves being outdoors and exploring the wilderness. Running, hiking, climbing, or skiing, he’s a badass mountain athlete through and through.

In this episode we nerded out about Colorado before discussing one of the state’s craziest and most intense races- the Hardrock 100, a race Jason won in 2016 as he finished alongside ultra running superstar Kilian Jornet….you know…the dude who’s trying to set the fastest known time up Everest.

Hardrock is a special race through Jason’s backyard in the San Juan mountains, the area widely known as the most scenic part of Colorado. It’s a race designed by tough people FOR tough people and always breeds the quirkiest, most epic stories of grit, endurance, and badassery that comes with enduring one of the toughest 100 mile races in the world.

I’ve been geeking out over Hardrock every since I first read about it in Born to Run, so I was stoked for the opportunity to chat with someone who not only ran it, but WON the whole freaking thing!

Oh yeah….Jason was also part of a three man team who became the first to traverse the entire course in the WINTER, which you can see in the documentary posted below and also on our Facebook group.

Hope you enjoy the episode half as much as I enjoyed recording it!! If you find some wisdom through the amazingness that is Jason Schlarb, help us out by sharing it with your buddies, checking out our other episodes, or subscribing to our show on iTunes.

Thanks again to Jason! Good luck at Hardrock this summer! I’ll be there cheering you on, in awe of all the crazy hardrockers!!

Skiing the Hardrock:

Jason surfing down..I mean running down Grant Pass:

Jason’s UTMB Race Report:

Imagine walking sunrise to sunset day after day for 2,650 miles through brutal winter weather.  We’re talking summiting gigantic frigid mountains, freezing cold river crossing, waist deep snow, without seeing other hikers for weeks at a time through intense wintry wilderness.

Those are only a few of the obstacles Shawn Forry and his hiking partner Justin Lichter faced while successfully completing the very first WINTER thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Thru-hikes have always fascinated me.  What it must feel like to immerse yourself into the wilderness with nothing but the winding trail for months at a time.  In fact, every time I did a day hike on the Appalachian in Virginia I would unsuccessfully try to get into that headspace.  Beyond the completely awesome story of the winter PCT, I was pumped to chat with Shawn just so I could nerd out on some of the billion of questions I had for an experienced thru-hiker.

On this week’s episode Shawn shares stories from the winter PCT trek, explains how his thru hiking career began and the factors that drive him to continue, how he’s created a mindset that helps push him through seemingly insurmountable adversity, and so much more!

After reading Shawn’s history on his website www.shawnforry.com, I have to honestly believe he is one of the most experienced thru-hikers in the world having trekked over 20,000 miles in various countries over the last 14 years.  The Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest, Continental, El Camino De Santiago, Hayduke, Great Himalaya Trail, are some of the highlights of his extremely impressive resume.

Shawn was a pleasure to talk to and I hope that this inspires you to get outside and immerse yourself in the beauty of a local trail….or do a really long walk….or realize that you have the power within you to achieve a seemingly impossible goal!

Enjoy the convo and we’ll get back at you next week!!