Hive Life

In this episode, a vivid, behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to be a professional cyclist—and a member of a very young team on the front end of what they hope is a thrilling, lucrative career riding with, and against, the best cyclists in the world. You’ll hear from Axel Merckx and from several other voices that evoke the joy, promise and struggle of being a hugely talented work-in-progress, with your athletic life ahead of you.

Kara Winger, three-time Olympian and 8-time U.S. National Champion, is one of the best at what may be track and field’s most idiosyncratic sport: javelin throwing. Kara talks about her mental game, and how it helps her set big but achievable goals. And with a degree in fitness, nutrition and health, she’s refreshingly open and insightful about weight and body image in sport. She talks about how her views have evolved & about how it felt to hit a new milestone when she stepped on a scale last spring.

In this episode, elite marathoner and Hive Platinum athlete Jared Ward, who is preparing to run in the Olympic Marathon Trials. He enters the Trials with the field’s fourth-fastest qualifying time—2:09:25, which he ran in Boston. Jared finished sixth in the heat at the 2016 Games in Rio. He discovered afterward that he had a fractured pelvis, which changed his approach to marathoning and opened his eyes to the importance of balance and injury-prevention. He talks about things that all marathoners are familiar with—and usually dread: fear, anxiety, and the inevitable presence of pain.

Ski jumper Sarah Hendrickson is a two-time Olympian, three-time National Champion and current member of the USA Nordic National Team. In 2012, Sarah won her first World Cup at the age of 18, and a year later she won the very first Women’s World Championship. Now 25, Sarah is one of her sport’s most successful jumpers and among its most dedicated and inspiring. But she’s also dealt with multiple injuries in her career—serious ones. She talks about her struggles, comebacks and what she’s learned from both.

Episode 20 features our first winter athlete, Chris Rogers. Rogers is a snowboarder and master snowboard instructor who knows more about the sport than anyone as a result of his decades of riding, competing and coaching. He talks about the unique joys and idiosyncrasies of snowboarding, how he accidentally built a career out of his passion, and how you can too! Best of all, he emphasizes the importance and the value of teaching and learning, and the connection that exists between them.

The first episode of the new year is a sports-nutrition special featuring Kayla Martin, a consultant with Honey Stinger and the Director for Performance Nutrition at Penn State University. Kayla, who’s also a runner, talks about how she balances the needs of the 800 athletes under her nutritional care, about what you should eat and—just as crucially—when you should eat it, and about how both of those priorities vary from sport to sport and athlete to athlete.

In our first episode recorded in front of a live audience, at the New York Road Runners’ RUN CENTER in Manhattan, host David Willey talks with 8 Hive athletes the day before they ran the TCS New York City Marathon. The runners, a mix of elites, first-timers and avid athletes who've overcome adversity share their hard-earned insights into training, nutrition, motivation and the power of the running community.

Ultrarunner Courtney Dauwalter talks with host David Willey a few weeks after completing 143 miles at the 24-Hour World Championships, despite a hip injury that had caused a rare DNF at the Western States 100 in June. Courtney discusses that “wake-up call,” as well as her unorthodox training methods, how she fuels herself for such long races, and the time she went blind during a 100-mile race...and continued running anyway. She also shares what she loves so much about this demanding, transcendent sport.

Episode 16 is our first on-the-ride interview, with track cyclist, Mandy Marquardt, who races for team Novo Nordisk. To give you a sense for what it’s like to sprint around a track at over 40 mph, we mic'd Mandy during a short but lung-searing acceleration known as a jump. Mandy is an 18-time national champion and a 2-time U.S. national record-holder. She talks about how important nutrition is in managing her Type 1 diabetes, her goals and the hardest but most fulfilling parts of this fascinating sport.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month, and in the next two episodes we’re featuring Team Novo Nordisk, the world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team. Lakota Phippen, one of the team's most inspiring athletes, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 24. Fueling properly can be tough for any athlete and even harder for diabetics. Lakota talks about managing the disease, what it's like to inject himself with insulin during a race, and why, for him, honey is the lifeblood of much-needed energy.

Episode 14 features our second on-the-run interview—a revealing conversation between host David Willey and Achilles NYC runners Brooke Danielson and Melissa Blume. Brooke guides Mel, who is legally blind, throughout the run just like she will in the TCS New York City Marathon. You'll hear how Brooke goes about keeping Mel safe—although that's not all she does—and appreciate how grit, fearlessness and friendship make difficult things not just possible, but worth doing in the first place.

In this episode, we enter into the world of Obstacle Course Racing. First, Amelia Boone perhaps the best-known and most decorated obstacle-course racer in the world opens up about her eating disorder, body image and what she learned during her layoff. Also, Nicole Mericle, who won the World Championships. She talks about what drew her into the sport, why she now loves it, and also about living in and training out of the customized van she currently calls home.

Pole-vaulters are among the most remarkable—and, unfortunately, obscure—athletes in the world. And Katie Nageotte is one of the best. She is a two-time national champion, with a PR of 16’ 1 ¼”, and she has high hopes for this year’s IAAF Track & Field World Championships. She opens up about her career ups and downs, the difference between fake and real confidence, and why her sport is so hard but rewarding & even addictive. Plus: It's National Honey Month. Hear why honey is such an ideal fuel for athletes.

Jared Ward is one of America's best marathoners. He finished sixth in the Rio Olympics and ran 2:09 in Boston, and he has high hopes for the TCS New York City Marathon and the upcoming Olympic Trials. He shares his secrets for optimizing his training, nutrition, pacing and mental game so that you, too, might run 26.2 better than ever. Plus: Part 2 of our RAGBRAI series on the weeklong cycling pilgrimage across Iowa.

Brian Reynolds lost both his legs to a childhood illness—and then his athletic career began. Now 31, he holds the world record in the half marathon (1:18:42) and once held it for the marathon (his PR is 3:03:22). But he’s more than just a great athlete. He is remarkably resilient, grounded and optimistic. He talks to host David Willey about all the good that has come from his medical nightmare and about the challenges that he, and other amputee athletes, face in order to compete.  Also, this episode features our first field-reported segment. It captures the unique experience of taking part in one of the most challenging, idiosyncratic sporting events in America— RAGBRAI, a weeklong cycling pilgrimage of sorts across the entire state of Iowa. Honey Stinger is the official nutrition sponsor of RAGBRAI, although it’s not a race. It’s a ride—but not in the way one normally goes out for a ride.

Axel Merckx is cycling royalty, the son of the legendary Eddy Merckx, who was nicknamed “the Cannibal” for his relentless competitiveness and is widely regarded as the greatest rider in history. Axel aspired to be a soccer start when he was young and got a relatively late start in the family business. But he was quite successful in his own right as a professional cyclist. He rode in 8 Tours de France (some with Lance Armstrong on Team Motorola in the 1990s), won a stage of the Giro d’ Italia and earned an Olympic bronze medal for his native Belgium in 2004. Today, as the owner and director of Team Hagens Berman Axeon, he helps prepare young cyclists for success at his sport’s highest level. In this fascinating and wide-ranging interview, Axel shares what makes a great cyclist, and what he says was his proudest achievement as a pro (it’s not the Olympic medal) as well as his darkest moment on the bike, when he had to drop out of the Tour de France while climbing the grueling Alpe d’Huez. He reflects on the extraordinary innovations in sports nutrition since he rode while eating sandwiches, and reveals what he learned about motivation from Armstrong and how he applies those secrets with his team. He also recalls, in vivid detail, the punishing rides he suffered through with his father, who remained the Cannibal even with his young son. Finally, Axel touches on an issue front and center for a lot of riders: safety. You’ll hear how he handles the increasingly frequent and sometimes hostile encounters with cars in British Columbia, where he lives and rides, mostly recreationally. Even if you’re not a cyclist, this conversation will give you some insights for building an inspiring and maybe, in some small way, a legendary athletic life for yourself.

Episode 8 features an interview with Jeremy McGhee, a multi-sport paraplegic athlete. Jeremy talks about why continuing to be an athlete is so important and life affirming, what he struggles with most in his day-to-day athletic life and what sport he misses most. He shares the complex nature of motivation and his comparatively simple secret to push through anything. Jeremy also describes the high-tech mountain bike that enables him to continue riding on remote, demanding terrain and discusses what he would like able-bodied athletes to know about para athletes. This conversation will inspire you and, perhaps, get you to think about your own challenges a little differently.

Ultra runner Clare Gallagher talked with host David Willey just 10 days after her huge win at Western States, a 100-mile endurance run in California. The Western States race is regarded as one of the world’s toughest tests of human endurance. It begins in Squaw Valley, California, near Lake Tahoe, and ends on a high school track in the town of Auburn. Races this long and grueling usually aren’t dramatic but this year’s race was different. Clare was in the lead and running confidently until mile 93, when Brittany Peterson caught her, seemingly out of nowhere, just before the final aid station. The runners emerged in a dead heat with about six miles to go, ridiculously high stakes for a 100-mile race. Clare covered the home stretch, winning by 11 minutes and finishing in 17:23:25, the second-fastest time ever. Clare talks about the six mile effort in detail in the interview and also provides a rare peek behind the curtain at some of the lesser-known aspects of Western States—the personal interactions between runners out on the course, the post-race interview scrum, where finishers struggle to remain upright while providing soundbites they may or may not remember the next day and even into the “pee tent” where top finishers get mandatory drug tests under less-than-solitary circumstances. Besides Clare’s win at Western States, she and David talk about her environmental activism, how climate change may be impacting endurance running as a sport and her unorthodox pre-race taper.

Nathan Collier, an endurance mountain-bike racer and member of the Honey Stinger/Bontrager Team, tells host David Wiley that he never thought about becoming a professional mountain-biker when he was younger. As a self-described fat kid with low self-esteem, Nathan stumbled upon the sport randomly after his brother stole his bike and rode it in a race. In 2008, two years out of college and living in his hometown of Rock Island, Illinois, Nathan rode the same bike in that same race and not only won the Novice category, but, won the entire race series. He then got serious about the sport and quit his job, moved to Colorado and turned pro in 2014. Endurance mountain-bike races are typically anywhere from 50 to 100 miles. They are not to be confused with “enduro” which are mountain-bike races where only the descents are timed. In endurance racing, the clock is running the entire time. It takes pro rides like Nathan 6 to 8 hours to finish. Nathan, who is 37, trains hard usually towing his 4-year-old son, Nolan behind. Nathan talks openly about how difficult it was to become a new father while still competing as an elite athlete, and also about where the fine line is between dedication and addiction. But Nathan insists that becoming a father has made him a better athlete, and he has lots of great advice for juggling work, family, training and high-level competition and all the other demands of a modern athletic life. In the second segment of this episode, Honey Stinger’s Isaac Madsen spoke with a range of athletes at the GoPro Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado. He talked to Hive athletes about their nutrition strategies for before, during and after the race.

Episode 5 features Hive Gold Athlete and world-class wrestler Jenna Burkert. Jenna, who is 26, is remarkably energetic and forthcoming. She talks with host David Willey about mental toughness, fear and unstoppability. Burkert started wrestling when she was 6 years old, before there was even a path for girls into the sport. Jenna created her own path and went on to become a national champion and qualify for several world championships. And, that’s not it, thanks in part to her; Women’s wrestling became an Olympic sport in 2004. Now women’s wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. There are currently 58 college teams and an even bigger push to add more collegiate and high school programs across the country. Jenna is not only an elite wrestler but is also a Unit Supply Specialist based in Colorado Springs, and is part of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program. Even if you’ve never wrestled or watched wrestling, you will come away from this conversation feeling inspired to knock down whatever obstacles stand between you and your goals, whatever they may be.  

Episode 4 features an interview with Honey Stinger co-owners Bill Gamber and Rich Hager, who reflect on the company’s early days as a seat-of-the-pants startup and share why their own athletic lives and ambitions are such a key part of Honey Stinger’s DNA. Bill and Rich are entrepreneurs and business partners but most importantly they are dedicated athletes and adventurers, just like their customers. And from that point of view the two wanted to make something that not only they wanted and needed themselves but what they believed other athletes wanted and needed, too- a healthier, more natural source of energy. That foundational belief not only guides the business decisions they make every day but it’s part of Honey Stinger’s culture and it’s the reason the company was formed back in the first place in 2001. Several years before that, Bill and Rich were competing in triathlons together. A key moment in their early attempts to get their company off the ground came at the Ironman in Kona, where they made honey-based smoothies for any of the competitors who wanted them. And that’s just one of the great, fun stories the two share about the early, freewheeling days. You’ll also hear in the episode about the third co-owner of Honey Stinger, Len Zanni. There’s something else that makes Honey Stinger’s origin story unique. It encompasses several other companies: a honey-based food company started in Pennsylvania by Bill’s grandparents in 1954, an apparel company Bill started while still in college and Big Agnes, a company that still makes high-end tents, sleeping bags and other camping gear. It is unlikely that without the help of these three start-ups that Honey Stinger would exist today. Fuel School is back! In our second segment, Hive athletes share their nutrition strategies for before, during and after the Popular Brooklyn Half.   

Episode 3 features our first on-the-run interview—a unique conversation between host David Willey and Hive athlete Stacy McAllister, a former competitive figure skater and new ultra-runner. Most runners know that conversations they have out on the roads and trails are different. They’re better. There’s something about being outdoors, on-the-move, with endorphins flooding our brains. We tend to be more open, honest, insightful, self-deprecating, and present-in-the-moment. Usually, what gets said on the run stays on the run, but these interviews aim to change that. We essentially invite to you come along and listen in as David and Stacy, wearing customized recording gear on a five-mile loop in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, talk about her evolution as an athlete, the scariest—and most fulfilling—things about doing a 50-K, and how her grandfather, who died from complications related to multiple sclerosis, continues to inspire her to become a runner and continue to challenge herself with ambitious goals.

Episode 2 features an interview with Chhiring Sherpa, a revered climber and guide who has summited Mount Everest 16 times, but also works at Honey Stinger. Our second segment features an in-depth interview with Kim Hess, a Hive Gold athlete who’s very close to becoming only the thirteenth woman to complete the Adventurers Grand Slam—that’s climbing the Seven Summits (the highest peak on each of the seven continents) plus traversing to the North and the South poles. Kim began this quest eight years ago, and she’s had some pretty extreme highs and lows, including a fall and emergency evacuation from Mt McKinley. She talks openly about all of it, as well as the challenges of being a woman in a traditionally male realm.

The pilot episode features an interview with pro marathoner, Hive Gold athlete and new mom Neely Spence Gracey, who had her first child, a son named Athens, this past July. In 2016, she won two half-marathons and finished as the top American at the Boston Marathon. Spence Gracey had planned to run through her pregnancy but ended up having to take six-months off from running, which she found to be surprisingly difficult and disorienting. She talks openly about her struggles and how she overcame them, and also about her post-pregnancy comeback, how being a working mom has changed her approach to just about everything, and how great it feels to be an athlete again. A second segment, called “Fuel School,” shares nutrition strategies for before, during and after a big race from several half-marathoners from the Hive. There’s also a conversation with Katie Black, who manages the Hive, explaining how the community works and what makes it so special.