Podcasts about us national championships

Unfortunately, we use a lot of toxic materials in the outdoor industry and have for some time.  This reliance on synthetic and sometimes harmful materials has seen some major shifts due to regulations, but there are always some brands at the forefront of big changes.  One change we're seeing in the watersports industry is the phase-out or move away from using PVC.  In episode 156 of the Outdoor Minimalist podcast, we explore what PVC is, why it's been a popular choice for inflatable paddle boards, and the environmental concerns associated with its production and use.  To help break down these talking points and share a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes for a brand to make these types of material changes, I sat down to chat with Jimmy Blakeney. Jimmy has stayed true to his passion for board sports and paddle sports for his entire life, even when it meant living in a van down by the river and budgeting $10 a day for food just to spend more time on board and in boat. His stubbornness led to full time sponsored athlete status for 10 years and a US National Championship title, interspersed with gigs in every facet of the business side of things, from marketing and branding to product design, sales, logistics, customer service and more. He's currently President and product designer at ISLE, where he tries to balance his brain's inability to stop focusing on new product ideas and customers needs with running one of the industry's top brands.  ISLE believes life is better in balance and that creating balance can be as simple as taking your first paddle strokes or catching your first wave.  Established in San Diego, CA, ISLE is the original surf and SUP company manufacturing products and accessories to keep you balanced, equipped, and inspired for adventures on the water. Since its inception in 2004, the brand has expanded its watersports offerings to include variations of hardtop and inflatable paddleboards, surfboards, hybrid kayaks, paddles, bags, and accessories. Learn more at: https://www.islesurfandsup.com INSTAGRAM: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/outdoor.minimalist.book/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ WEBSITE: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theoutdoorminimalist.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YOUTUBE: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theoutdoorminimalist ORDER THE BOOK: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theoutdoorminimalist.com/book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LISTENER SURVEY: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://forms.gle/jd8UCN2LL3AQst976⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ----------------- ISLE Paddle Boards Website: https://islesurfandsup.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/islepaddleboards/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/islesurf Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ISLEpaddleboards --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/outdoor-minimalist/support

In this episode, I traveled to the International Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode. I take you through the Hall of Fame Museum where the first US National Championships were played. We go through the history of tennis starting from its origins of Jeu de Paume in France. The Hall of Fame holds so many different collections of various objects from racquets to fashion to trophies. Truly a magical place for any tennis fan. Cheers!Check out the website I made for my channel.Find videos, blog posts, and merch! www.tipsy-tennis.comFollow me on Instagram

Are you curious about what it's like to be a professional cyclist? In this episode of The Dialed Health podcast, I chat with professional cyclist Sean Quinn to get an inside look at what it's really like to ride in the Tour de France.  Sean shares fascinating details about the intense fight to make breakaways, the camaraderie among American riders, and how even elite athletes sometimes wake up not wanting to ride. But the most surprising revelation? Sean's hidden talent as an electronic music producer on SoundCloud! Overall, we discuss a candid and multifaceted view of life as a professional cyclist, from the highs of winning the US National Championships to the daily grind of Grand Tour racing. Find more from Sean Quinn: Instagram: @seanquinn1_ Find more from Derek Teel: Website: https://dialedhealth.com/  Instagram: @dialedhealth Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dialedhealth  What We Discuss:  01:43 - Sean's various home bases (Denver, Nice, LA) 03:59 - Cycling in Los Angeles 07:55 - Sean's approach to training data and racing dynamics 13:52 - US National Championships 18:47 - American cyclists' recent successes 23:22 - Sean's experience at the Tour de France 32:42 - Richard Carapaz winning Stage 17 39:54 - Dealing with fatigue during Grand Tours 45:41 - Sean's favorite racing moment from the Tour 52:55 - Strength training and off-bike work 1:03:37 - Sean's secret talent as an electronic music producer

Welcome to Episode 188 of Pelo Buddy TV, an unofficial Peloton podcast & Peloton news show. This week we cover the following topics: Peloton Studios New York extended their summer closure to be from August 19 –  DJ John Michael confirmed that Peloton's All For One Music Fest would be back this year. Peloton shortened how long Peloton Studios London will be closed at the end of the month. Peloton employee Nick Mead won a gold medal in rowing at the Olympics in Paris. A look back at Peloton's partnership and classes from the 2018 Olympics. The “Peloton Instructor Games” are taking place. Cody Rigsby is celebrating his 10 year anniversary, and other featured classes in “This Week at Peloton” A featured artist series with Chappell Roan took place this week. There will be some “Pace Target” events in NYC & London to showcase the new feature. Peloton has shared details for their 3rd German member weekend (London Calling) of 2024. Peloton was hit with an outage of the on-demand library on August 5th. The original Peloton bike was removed from the rental program in US & Canada. Some new colors of the Peloton x lululemon Scuba collection were added. Happy Birthday to Jess Sims, Alex Toussaint, Olivia Amato, and Christine D'Ercole this week. Christine D'Ercole is racing at the US National Championships this week. Jennifer Garner gave a shoutout to Becs Gentry & Peloton. Several Peloton instructors are attending the Olympics. Peloton employee Nick Mead will be the flag bearer for Team USA for the Olympics closing ceremony. Mariana Fernandez shared some tips on getting started with yoga. Susie Chan's book was released in the US this week. Cody Rigsby was on the “Out & About” podcast. Matt Wilpers was on NY Living TV. Amanda & John share their, and the community's, class picks of the week. Enjoy the show? Become a Pelo Buddy TV Supporter!  Find details here: https://www.pelobuddy.com/membership-account/membership-levels/ You can find links to full articles on each of these topics from the episode page here: https://www.pelobuddy.com/pelo-buddy-tv-episode-188/ The show is also available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PeloBuddy This episode is hosted by Amanda Segal (#Seglo3) & John Prewitt (#Kenny_Bania).

This week Hayden and Brendan are joined by Evan Herndon to talk about his recent win at the US National Championship. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ArsenalPass Review Us: https://ratethispodcast.com/arsenalpass Email: arsenalpassfab@gmail.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClhUUppHaVDBUOJHXL-a0EQ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6H2Y8uTHZaVgxpjhnTBn6n?si=R6Uya7paT_e2HOr4n2KC-w Twitter: @BrendanAPG (Brendan) & @Fyen_Dale (Hayden) Hosts: Brendan Patrick and Hayden Dale

It's been a long time coming, but the US finally has a professional squash league (The National Squash League) and it's something outside the box that is set to really take off in 2024. The brains behind it all include two talented Americans, World #29 Timmy Brownell and World #67 and 2023 US National Championship runner up Spencer Lovejoy. They take us through season one of the NSL, how the league came to fruition, the unique playing format behind it all and much more. We also take a quick look at their respective 2023/24 PSA campaigns, and Timmy and I do a quick recap of the British Open. Check out the NSL homepage at www.nslsport.com

In this episode, host Craig Dalton interviews professional cyclist Andy Lydic. They discuss Andy's journey in the world of cycling, from his early days in high school to his decision to pursue a career as a professional cyclist. Andy shares his experiences racing for amateur teams in Spain and his transition to gravel racing. He also talks about his participation in the UCI Gravel World Championships and his goals for the future. The conversation highlights the growing popularity of gravel racing and its potential as a pathway to professional cycling. Episode brought to you by AG1. Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  About the Guest(s): Andy Lydic is a professional cyclist from Boulder, Colorado. He began his cycling journey in high school, transitioning from track and cross country to mountain biking and road racing. Andy joined the Boulder Junior Cycling team and quickly progressed in the sport. He decided to pursue a career as a professional cyclist and moved to Europe to race for amateur teams in Spain. After facing challenges with team closures, Andy shifted his focus to gravel racing. In 2023, he participated in the UCI Gravel World Championships and had a standout performance as the unofficial under 23 world champion. Andy continues to pursue his passion for gravel racing and aims to make a mark in the professional cycling world. Episode Summary: In this episode, host Craig Dalton interviews professional cyclist Andy Lydic. They discuss Andy's journey in the world of cycling, from his early days in high school to his decision to pursue a career as a professional cyclist. Andy shares his experiences racing for amateur teams in Spain and his transition to gravel racing. He also talks about his participation in the UCI Gravel World Championships and his goals for the future. The conversation highlights the growing popularity of gravel racing and its potential as a pathway to professional cycling. Key Takeaways: Andy Lydic's passion for cycling began in high school when he transitioned from track and cross country to mountain biking and road racing. He joined the Boulder Junior Cycling team and received mentorship from experienced cyclists, which helped him progress in the sport. After facing challenges with team closures in Europe, Andy decided to focus on gravel racing as a pathway to professional cycling. Gravel racing offers a unique combination of physical and technical challenges, making it an exciting and competitive discipline. Andy's participation in the UCI Gravel World Championships showcased the potential of gravel racing and its ability to attract top-level riders. Notable Quotes: "I want to use gravel as my pathway to pro... I want to write the story of what is the future of gravel." - Andy Lydic "Gravel racing is a true test of a rider's strength, endurance, and technical skills." - Andy Lydic "The U.S. has limited opportunities for young American riders to race in Europe, and gravel racing can provide a unique pathway to professional cycling." - Andy Lydic Resources: BMC (Andy Lydic's bike sponsor) It Could Be Me (Andy Lydic's title sponsor)  Maurten (Andy Lydic's nutrition sponsor) Northwave (Andy Lydic's shoe sponsor) Don't miss this engaging conversation with Andy Lydic as he shares his journey in the world of cycling, his experiences in gravel racing, and his aspirations for the future. Tune in to gain insights into the growing popularity of gravel racing and its potential as a pathway to professional cycling. Automated Transcript (please excuse the typos): [TRANSCRIPT] [00:00:00] - ():  Craig Dalton: Andy, welcome to the show. [00:00:04] - ():  Andy Lydic: Thanks so much for having me. I'm stoked to be here. [00:00:07] - ():  Craig Dalton: I'm excited to get into a little overview of your career and What's in store for you in 2024. I always love to start these conversations by just learning a little bit more about you. I mean, you've been involved in bike racing for a long time since your junior days, but why don't you just say, you know, where did you grow up and how did you originally get into cycling? **** - (): And we can kind [00:00:26] - ():  Andy Lydic: of go from there. Yeah, totally. So I'm from Boulder, Colorado, grew up here in Boulder, Colorado, and got into cycling in high school, probably my junior year of high school. I used to run track and cross country, and I used to also be a downhill ski racer previous to that, and I was pretty burnt out on track and cross country as a high schooler, just didn't find it that fun. **** - (): And a bunch of my friends were doing high school mountain biking. A couple people that I knew, but weren't really my friends at the time were doing road racing as well. And my dad was pretty into the cyclocross scene here in Boulder. We've got quite a few local events in the front range area. So he got super into that and there was sunshine hill climb my junior year. **** - (): Sunshine's a big climb here in Boulder. It takes like 45 minutes or an hour or something like that. And he was like, yo dude, if you go right up sunshine during this hill climb faster than I do, I'll take you out for a burger and some ice cream. And I was like, yeah, totally. I want to go get a burger and ice cream. **** - (): So I love those dad [00:01:23] - ():  Craig Dalton: incentives. I feel like I had one of those similar ones from my dad to run cross country one year. And it was like, that works for me. It doesn't have to be a big incentive. Just a little one works as a high schooler. [00:01:34] - ():  Andy Lydic: Yeah, just something. So from there, I did the Sunshine Hill climb. I actually thought I was wearing a kit for the first time. **** - (): And I think I was wearing tennis shoes on my mom's road bike. And I was like, you know, it's kind of strange, you know, you're wearing tight clothes biking out in public. But then I thought about it and I was wearing short shorts running. So it's not all that different from there. I decided I wanted to do the high school mountain biking team. **** - (): So I told the cross country coach that I was going to stop running cross country and go to the high school mountain biking team. And from there, I've had a bunch of my core friends who are still a bunch of friends. Now, some of them are really high level racers, mountain bike and road just across the country and across the world. **** - (): So they got me into mountain biking for the first season. I was borrowing bikes from people from, I don't think of the five races in the Nike league, I use the same bike twice my first year, just because I was borrowing bikes from people. And from there, I progressed into, I joined the Boulder junior cycling team and had a pretty good time there. **** - (): I did. Like three races of a cyclocross season, my senior year of high school. And then also did high school mountain biking again that summer following, I was like, yeah, I'm going to get into road too. I'd been training on the road a bit and done a couple of road races with the Boulder junior cycling team and decided from there, like. **** - (): Yeah, let's see what I can do with this bike racing thing, but was still pretty focused on going to college. It was COVID when I chose where I went to school. So I ended up going to CU Boulder. I was debating between a couple schools in California and a couple schools other places in the country and mid COVID I was like, you know what? **** - (): I'm just gonna start here at CU. See how I like it. It'll give me the chance to keep riding and see how much I like riding and from there my freshman year of college. My dream of being a professional cyclist kind of really took off. And from there on, I was like, that's what I'm going to do. I want to be a professional cyclist. **** - (): I want to race on the road. And I want to see how high of a level I can get to at this store. [00:03:28] - ():  Craig Dalton: Interesting. So going back to those Boulder junior cycling days, is that the type of program that is, you know, giving you guidance and really trying to create elite level athletes? I think of sort of the NICA program as like, Great jumping off point, obviously a lot of infrastructure to bring people into the sport and create good vibes around mountain bike racing. **** - (): Was Boulder Junior Cycling kind of a next level of that, which is a little bit more intentional to create elite level cyclists? [00:03:57] - ():  Andy Lydic: Yeah, I think it's a bit of a step up. It's not like what you would see with the old team that used to exist, Lux, or what you'd see with Hot Tubes or something like that. But there was definitely like a lot of really talented guys from Boulder or the front range area who went through the program, guys and girls who went through the program and have stepped up to pro road level racing and pro mountain bike level racing. **** - (): You see a couple of those guys and girls are over racing in Europe now on professional teams. A couple are gravel privateers now. So I don't think the team's intention is to create elite athletes. But I think the Boulder community and some of the mentors like Joe Lewis was my first coach there and he was a pro for quite a long time and had a lot of really cool experiences that he was able to share along with us. **** - (): And it provided the platform of inspiration so that riders like myself and riders like like Bjorn Reilly or Mattie Monroe or Riley Sheehan, all those guys came through Boulder Junior Cycling and now they're racing at the top level of the sport across the world. So it's a bit of the team and I think also just a bit of the Boulder community, pretty high achieving people here. [00:05:03] - ():  Craig Dalton: Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. I remember moving out to Boulder from the East Coast and immediately being knocked down a peg because there's got such a great scene and such great riding out there. You mentioned starting CU Boulder during COVID. Was the CU Boulder cycling program able to be active during that first year? [00:05:24] - ():  Andy Lydic: They weren't. I don't think or not at least that I was involved with because we started in 2020 fall and then 2021 spring there wasn't really road racing here in Colorado and at that point I was also racing with a club team, the cinch elite club team here in Colorado so I was just racing with them. I was a cat three and then upgraded to cat two my freshman year in college that spring. **** - (): So I don't think the CU team did a whole lot that year, or at least I wasn't super involved with it if they did. And then the fall of my sophomore year before I ended up moving to Europe to start racing, I did collegiate mountain biking. I did like two races just because it was a way to keep me motivated and have fun and been doing mountain bike racing in high school. **** - (): So I was like, I want to keep doing this. It's fun racing on the dirt. I like it. [00:06:13] - ():  Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, it sounds like that experience racing kind of with, with the cinch program and you're moving up through the categories at least said, Hey, I've got some, I've got some potential here taking that potential and then saying, I'm going to move to Europe is a little bit of a leap. **** - (): So can you just talk through like what that looked like and did you just move and then try to figure it out or do you, is there a way that you contacted some programs over to Europe to help you at least have a focus point? [00:06:43] - ():  Andy Lydic: Yeah, I sophomore fall was sitting in my dorm room and I was like, I want to go move to Europe and be a professional cyclist. **** - (): Like that's what I want to do. I don't want to go to school this spring. I want to be a pro cyclist. So I went on the databases of email contacts for all the teams in Spain, all the teams in France and all the teams in Italy. And I think I sent like 400 emails to every amateur team I could possibly get the contact to saying, Hey, what's up? **** - (): I'm 19 years old. These are my power numbers, I'm looking to move to Europe, I want to start racing, what can I do? And I think of the three or four hundred emails that I sent, I got like 16 total responses, and of 16 total responses, maybe like five of them weren't immediate no's. And from the non immediate no's, I had like a couple people entertain the conversation. **** - (): They're like, yeah, we might be looking for an American writer. I was like looking at France. I was looking at Italy. I was looking at Spain. I kind of knew I wanted to go to Spain because I speak a bit of Spanish just from high school. And so I was like, yeah, that might be easy. And then I connected with an agent who works with a bunch of the amateur teams in Spain. **** - (): And he got me placed on a team and he was like, yeah, man, like you fly out in February and this team's got housing for you. They'll take you to a bunch of really high level Spanish cup races and stage races across Spain. Like all you got to do is just be ready come February. And it was kind of, it was pretty uncomfortable at first cause I'm sending all these emails to a bunch of people. **** - (): I have no idea who they are, no idea what language they speak. And I'm just the silly American sending English emails saying, what's up? Here's my power file. I don't actually know how relatively good it is, but I'd really like to come race in Europe for you guys. Because that's the dream, isn't it? Like go racing for a European team. **** - (): So then from there, I ended up moving to Northern Spain and racing for an amateur team. And unfortunately that amateur team folded in March, which would be kind of set a precedent for how my amateur racing experience in Spain went on. So I raced with that team from. End of January, beginning of February, until the end of March, they folded. **** - (): I moved from northern Spain to Girona. Started racing with another team and got a really cool experience to go race in Denmark at some UCI races, and also do some other cool Spanish races with that team. And then they folded in July, sitting in Girona, just not sure what to do. And that's kind of what led to the whole gravel idea. [00:09:16] - ():  Craig Dalton: And was that July, 2022, just to try to timestamp it? Yeah, July, 2022. Okay. So you're sitting in, you know, the, the road aspirations are having some, some, uh, detours and some challenges along the way. You're sitting in Girona in July. Um, yeah, talk us through, how did you spend your time the rest of that year? **** - (): Yeah. So. [00:09:38] - ():  Andy Lydic: In the midst of the teams falling apart, I'd moved from the team house in Northern Spain to a friend's apartment in Girona. I was connected with a couple of different people who lived in Girona or spent time there just through Boulder, the Boulder community. A bunch of pro cyclists come and spend time here in Toronto Altitude while they're in the U. **** - (): S. And then one of my friends, Sean, was at CU Boulder and he had an apartment in Girona. So when this team folded, I was like, Hey man, can I come crash with you for a couple of weeks? And in that time, I was just training, hanging out in Toronto, get to meet a whole bunch of pro cyclists, which is really cool. **** - (): And at that time you're enamored because you're like, wow, like everybody here is a pro cyclist. Everybody here knows what's going on. And you found out after a couple months that all factor wears off and you're like, wow, like I'm, I'm just living here. This is pretty sweet. So from that time after the team folded, I came back. **** - (): Or after the second team folded in July, I came back to the US and I knew I had a prospect with a team that was hopefully gonna be starting in the fall of 2022 and gonna be officially a UCI team in the spring of 2023. And so I had that idea in my back pocket, came back to the US when I was back in Boulder for, I think it was like a month and a half total of 2022. **** - (): I raced Steamboat Gravel. I did a pretty decent ride there and that was my second time doing Steamboat Gravel and at that point I was convinced I was racing with this team that was going to be a Conti team. I had a good ride there, went back over to Europe, moved into another apartment in Toronto where I was living with some of the guys that were going to be on that team. **** - (): And we're supposed to be going to university in Girona, and the whole premise of the team was like, you're part of the team, you're going to university, and you got to learn how to become a professional athlete and somebody off the bike as well, which is super cool idea, super cool concept, and I think there's definitely space for a program like that in the sport. **** - (): This one just. Didn't end up working out. So they then fell apart in the fall. And while that was all happening, we were, me and the other guys who were supposed to be routing for the team were kind of like, okay, well we're gonna have to figure out what's next. And some of these guys were like, oh, just gonna go back to the us. **** - (): Other guys were holding on seeing if they could race with other Spanish teams. Spanish amateur teams. 'cause we were all in Spain already. So it just makes sense too. Yeah. And I was like, you know what? I've done gravel a couple times. I've done Steamboat gravel twice, and I did a local race here in Colorado. **** - (): That's pretty fun. And those races are really hard. So I want to see, you know, there's privateers popping up in the U S and there's a booming scene in the U S and there's a couple of races in Europe. What can I do to make, make that an actual thing? So then in the fall of 2022, I got a pretty good result at one of the UCI qualifiers and was able to go to the first ever UCI gravel world championships in Italy. **** - (): And that was a super cool experience because, you know, it was my first ever world championships, my first time ever seeing a bike race at that high of a level. And I was able to ride for the elite team because there hadn't been a whole lot of people who were super interested. Everyone, all the American riders were like, Oh, this is a test event. **** - (): We're going to see where this goes. And I had qualified and I was like, I want to see if I can race for the elite team. So sent some emails back and forth with you and say, cycling, they made that a pretty easy process, but it wasn't really team oriented that year. So we all just showed up, got our own accommodations, our own hotels. **** - (): I traveled with some of the friends I was living with in Toronto and yeah, just had a blast. Like, yeah. What an amazing experience. That whole trip. That race was super cool. And it was my first time getting to race against guys that were that high of a level you got to race against. Yeah. Like Matthew Vanderpool and wow. **** - (): Then our, and Greg Van Avermaet were all there. And then I'm at the back of the field. I didn't know how sick I was, but I had COVID it ended up and I was super sick, ended up DNFing the race. But I look back at that experience and I was like, that was. One of the coolest races I've ever done like standing at the start line, looking at my superheroes. **** - (): That's [00:13:43] - ():  Craig Dalton: pretty sweet. Yeah, it sounds amazing. So it sounds like, you know, you had, it's the end of the season. I think October 2022 would be the timeframe of that UCI world gravel championships. So then you're looking at 2023. Your road program has dissolved at that point. What were your plans for 2023? [00:14:05] - ():  Andy Lydic: Uh, I think it was officially December 15th or December 12th or something like that, that we were told the road program wasn't going to go on, wasn't going to exist. **** - (): So then we were all kind of scrambling and I was, the UCF just announced they're going to do this European gravel series. And I was just kind of stubborn, told my parents multiple times, I was calling them every day, like, I don't know what I'm going to do. And like, well, like you can talk to other teams, start racing for amateur teams again. **** - (): And I was like, no, I'm going to another team that's going to hold again. Like. That's just not something I wanted to keep doing because it while the racing is really cool The life off the bike when you're racing for these amateur teams is it's pretty tough and it can be really isolating and lonely Just you know, you're sitting in a team house Don't have a whole lot of access to a social life a social experience and I knew I was having a really good time in Girona, so I was like I'm gonna stay here in Girona and chase these gravel races So from that point, I was like, okay, well to race gravel, I have to have a bike to do it and I have to have sponsors to support me and I have to have a mission and a vision for what I'm going to do. **** - (): And at that point, I had just started working with a new coach and my new coach at that point was like, yeah, man, like I think there's definitely an opportunity to get to a really high level if you're racing gravel. It's the first time there's like a full UCI series, but. Check it out. Let's see, let's see where you can go. **** - (): Let's see what you can do from it. So I had a lot of really good support from my coach. I had good support from my parents. Um, the first people I started working with were BMC, who I just met in Toronto from just being in Toronto. It's, it's such a funny, small place because. So many people in the bike industry and the professional racing industry live there. **** - (): So being there and that one of the guys who works in marketing, I was able to get a deal with BMC to ride their bikes for the 2023 season. Just having that kind of gave me the confidence that, you know, I'm worth something. I'm able to go out and build my own program and build my own sponsors. And I've been learning how to make sponsor decks from my friends, from my parents. **** - (): I've gotten really good mentorship and how to put together. Like a pitch to a sponsor and say, Hey, this is who I am. This is my mission. This is how I think I can add value. This is what I want to do. And this is who I want to be. Will you help me tell that story? And from there, then I started working with on a roadway safety organization from here in Boulder, who was my title sponsor for last year. **** - (): They're called, it could be me. And they work on. Improving the relationship between roadway users, cyclists, runners, and drivers, and improving safety protocols, local legislation, and stuff like that. And I had those two in my pocket, and they were my biggest supporters through last year, and then I added a couple other sponsors to the line and was able to put together a season that, at first, I was really, really nervous about and really hesitant about. **** - (): And now, I look back on it with a lot of pride, being like, wow, like, It was December 20th, and I had no idea what I was doing. And then by the end of January, I had my first sponsor. And by the end of February, I had two more sponsors. And then the beginning of March, I actually went and raced with an amateur team, some UCI road races in Greece. **** - (): And then flew back to Girona from there, and here the gravel season is. Yeah. [00:17:27] - ():  Craig Dalton: Amazing. I mean, kudos to you for pulling that together after such a tumultuous year. I know how tough it can be for American riders living abroad and especially when you're the team you're trying to ride for, in this case, multiple teams folds right underneath you and you're sort of left with, you know, are the gods telling me something? **** - (): Should I be quitting the sport? Is there no future? So yeah, huge kudos for kind of pushing through that. I'm curious about, you know, awesome that in 2023, you kind of, you know, built this plan and you got some sponsors together. And I know you're going to be pursuing gravel pretty hardcore in 2024 and we'll get into it. **** - (): Is your mindset that You know, there will be multiple pathways for you in the future. Like there's still this idea that you could go race professionally on the road. [00:18:14] - ():  Andy Lydic: Yeah, I think that's the big story that I want to tell right now. I think right now gravel is a lot of guys exiting the world tour exiting pro teams, whether it's for mountain biking or cyclocross or other pro road teams. **** - (): And they use it as like a stepping stone out of their careers that gives. gravel a lot of validity in the fact that there's a lot of really high level, really talented riders that are doing these races. Like I'm getting to race against Val Verde and I'm getting to race against, um, riders on plenty of world tour teams from Israel to, uh, Alpes and Phoenix. **** - (): Like all these pro world tour teams are sending riders to these gravel races as one off expose. And then you see that at the world champs this year. And so the whole story now that I want to tell, and I knew this since last year as well, like I want to use gravel as my pathway to pro, but now that's kind of the big story I'm trying to push. **** - (): And I've been using this hashtag future of gravel that I've kind of coined and I've got a personal email address, Andy at future of gravel. com. So I'm trying to write the story of what is the future of gravel. And what I believe that to be is because the racing is at such a high level, you get. A really high level physical performance out of a gravel race. **** - (): You know, you're racing for three, four, five, six, seven hours full gas. Like it's a spring classic, but you're also on tricky technical terrain where the requirements, not just that you're a strong bike rider, but that you're. A capable bike rider as well that you're technically skilled and technically talented. **** - (): And I think there's definitely I don't know of anyone who's used gravel to get into a professional cycling organization yet, but I definitely think there's room for it. And if the directors of pro road teams are the directors of pro mountain bike teams. Are taking a look at what is really required to win these races. **** - (): They'll see the power numbers required to do these races is equal to and or greater than that of some of these really high level road races, as well as the fact that. You're getting a really good router if you pull a gravel rider out of the gravel along the road. [00:20:21] - ():  Craig Dalton: Yeah, I think it's a super interesting discussion, Andy. **** - (): I think, you know, for, for listeners who maybe aren't familiar with the road scene, there used to be this tried and true pathway that involved a lot of development programs. And then maybe you get on the development team of a big pro tour team. And then maybe in your mid to late twenties, you were given a shot on the elite level team. **** - (): And the last number of years, obviously on the roadside, we've seen a lot of young athletes just kind of come out of nowhere, whether it's a Pogacar or Tom Pickock, all these riders who they clearly didn't come out of nowhere, but they didn't go through that traditional pathway. So I do think it's fascinating for you to kind of hold up your hand and say, like, I'm going to I'm going to go all in on this gravel in a world where data files can be readily shared with coaches and would be agents and teams. **** - (): They're going to see the amount of power that you can put out there. And to your point, the technical nature of a lot of these gravel races is going to showcase, yeah, you may not be racing, uh, you know, in a one day classic, but you're. On varied terrain with various technical challenges in a big group and a lot of undulation, a lot of technicality, clearly it's showing your professionalism as a, a by Candler. [00:21:37] - ():  Andy Lydic: Yeah, totally. And I think also as an American writer, especially it's, it's incredibly valuable opportunity right now because the U S only really has two development teams, two under 23 development teams for young American guys to get the chance to go over race in Europe. And. You know, as cool as it is to race crits, I'm A, not built to race crits and B, that's not the kind of racing I really want to do. **** - (): And that's really the only professional level of racing that you can do in the U. S. The U. S. is so crit centric that these development teams, which only have a certain number of spots for riders, can only send so many people over to Europe. So, You know, as an American rider, the pathways to getting too professional in Europe, which is where, you know, the money in the sport is the visibility and the sport is the fame and the sport is. **** - (): The pathway to that is pretty limited just because, you know, each team has 10, 12, 15 riders, and there's only two of them. There's one that's purely American and one that's got four or five American riders, but that's it. So I think having gravel as an opportunity to progress to professional could be a really unique, a really unique pathway that won't end up being that unheard of in the future. **** - (): I think if one rider can do it, I'll set a precedent. And then once the precedent's set. You'll see guys who went from high school mountain biking to gravel racing to pro teams more and more because the level of riders in America is really incredible. There's just not a whole lot of road races and there's not a whole lot of opportunity for those riders to get to the European road races where there is the opportunity. **** - (): Yeah, [00:23:15] - ():  Craig Dalton: yeah, yeah. That's super exciting. Continuing on your 2023 campaign, you got selected for the United States World Championship team once again. So you got to attend your. Second world championships, you mentioned in that first one, which I recall, there wasn't a lot of team camaraderie, um, or alignment with the people participating, but it sounds like from talking to a few of the, of the other athletes in 2023, there was much more of an alignment. **** - (): So can you talk about what it was like racing with that crew and how the day unfolded for you? [00:23:48] - ():  Andy Lydic: Yeah, it was a super cool experience having USA Cycling step up and say we want to go to this race and we know we have riders who can perform really highly in this race. So the US National Championships for gravel was an auto qualifier for the top three positions at that race to get to be on the Elite World Championships team. **** - (): And then everything else was a petition process and going into the petition process, I knew that I had raced more of the UCI gravel races than any other American had. So I thought I had a leg up there, but it ended up being a pretty tough process. And I think it was a tough selection process from USA cycling, because there was definitely a bunch of really deserving guys who applied to be on that elite team and who wanted to go to the world championships that applied for it, but didn't get selected because you know, the team only gets a certain amount of slots. **** - (): And so it was definitely. Definitely fortunate that I was able to get that spot on the elite team again. I think, I think I had earned it just because I had done so many of the UCI races and I had gotten pretty good results at some of them. So from there, the USA team put together an email list and we're all on the same page of Okay, we're going to this race and we want the USA to show up and show up. **** - (): And we knew we had Keegan. He's one of the most talented and one of the strongest riders in the world, just bar none. So we all showed up and USA Cycling had organized a hotel, so a bunch of the riders stayed at the hotel and, you know, they had food and everything for us. We had soigneurs, we had mechanics, and they did a really good job just organizing, putting together. **** - (): Look, we want to perform. This is what it takes to perform. So it was almost like being in a professional team for a week because, you know, staying at the hotel with the guys on the team, that was super inspiring getting to hang out with guys you've raced against, but don't really know was super fun. And then going into the race, we had a plan to ride for Keegan, which everybody was on board with. **** - (): Cause everyone's like, you know, Keegan can podium or if Keegan can win, that means a lot more than. A whole bunch of us getting 30th place. So yeah, it didn't end up working out incredibly well to ride for him. Just because in gravel, I think the nature of the sport is, you know, it is more of an individual race. **** - (): It's more of an individual sport, but we went into it all knowing, like, we're going to try and get our best rider as high up as possible. And that result, Deacon had a really great ride. He finished fifth on the day. And then the other American boys had a really good ride and I had a ride. I'm super proud of. **** - (): I call myself the unofficial under 23 world champion in gravel because I was the first under 23 rider in the elite field to cross the line. So while it's not something UCI gives a Jersey for yet, uh, I'm hoping they're going to give an under 23 world champs Jersey next year, I'll still be eligible for that, but I had, I had the ride of my life too. **** - (): There was a point in the race where I'm riding next to. Wout van Aert and Matej Mohoric, and I stick both my elbows out to see if I could touch both of them at the same time and just because it was such a surreal experience that I was riding elbow to elbow with Matej Aert, I was like, this is crazy. I had a really good ride there that I was super proud of. **** - (): And I think the course designers did an awesome job of making a course that actually really was a feeling of a gravel race course. Like we have hard gravel climbs, hard farm roads. There was flats, there was climbs. There was two river crossings in the race. Like, it definitely wasn't just a one day classic disguised as a world championship. **** - (): It was a true gravel race, and I think it spoke a lot to the riders and gave a lot of validity to the sport beyond the fact that Some of the world's best riders were racing [00:27:26] - ():  Craig Dalton: it. Yeah, I agree. I think, you know, they continue to improve the format. Obviously, they're melding what we think of gravel in the United States with what Europeans think of gravel and UCI has their own perspective on how long events should be And what they should look and feel like, but clearly like in 2023, it did capture the attention of both male and female elite level gravel racers in the United States. **** - (): And there was this dramatic shift in desire to actually go attend the worlds, which I, for one, I hope continues on. I do think it's important for us to have enthusiasm for the world championships. Cause I want nothing more than to have the rainbow stripes on an American at some point in the gravel [00:28:09] - ():  Andy Lydic: discipline. **** - (): Yeah, totally. And I think, you know, to speak to the validity of the race in the Europeans mind, like I think there was 50 plus pros in the race of including pro Conti and world tour riders. And then you add in continental riders and that's another 30 And then you have pro mountain bikers and pro cyclocross racers on top teams in the world. **** - (): Like the field was. Completely stacked. And it was really cool to see all these super high level riders there, as well as the U S putting in a really good result. Like I know Keegan was hoping to win it and I really believe he was capable of it, but you know, it's a race races don't always play out how you expect. **** - (): And I think it won't be too far in the future when we see an American wearing. I [00:28:57] - ():  Craig Dalton: love it. 2024. [00:29:02] - ():  Andy Lydic: Yeah. So I started the race season two weeks ago at one of the, at the Low Gap Grasshopper race in Northern California. Had a pretty fun ride there. It was for being a, one of the smaller season opener races. **** - (): There was a pretty strong field. We had Chris Blevins and Pete Stetna. Uh, Brent Wurtz and John, no, not him, but a bunch of really high level riders, super cool. So started the season there, got 7th place after a silly little crash, 4k from the line, but then Looking forwards in two weeks, I'm going to fly over to Greece and start my racing season in Greece, actually racing on the road. **** - (): So I'll do a stage race in a one day in Rhodes, Greece. And then from there, I start with the UCI Gravel World Series race. So I'll be hitting, I think, six races in Europe over a seven week period. I'll do a UCI gravel race in Austria, a three day gravel stage race in Spain. A one day UCI gravel race in southern Spain and then up to Netherlands for a one day back to Spain for Traco, which is one of the biggest gravel races in the world now, but it's, I'd compare it to like, it is the, it's the unbound of Europe and then I'll finish the season off in Scotland at the UCI gravel race there. [00:30:22] - ():  Craig Dalton: Amazing. And then will you be dipping your toe back in the United States throughout the season? Or are you mainly focused on the UCI gravel events internationally? [00:30:31] - ():  Andy Lydic: Yeah, after that race block, I'll come back to the U. S. in mid May and kind of refocus as the American season gets going. I think the American gravel season. **** - (): Gets going slowly. And then through the summer, it picks up quite a bit. So I won't be doing some of the big American stuff. I won't be doing Unbound, which I'm pretty happy to not be doing, but then I'll do Crusher and the Tusher. I'll do Steamboat. I'll do a couple of marathon mountain bike races. I'm hoping to go to. **** - (): Marathon mountain bike, national champs. I think that'd be a super fun experience. And then some local races here in Colorado and then the rest of the lifetime Grand Prix races after unbound. [00:31:11] - ():  Craig Dalton: Okay. Yeah. It's interesting to me, you know, I remember sort of historically speaking, they would often try to keep younger riders away from the super massive distance races, like an unbound 200. **** - (): And that's what was curious, you know, in the UCI vision of what gravel distances should be, they're not, they're not going 200 miles. They don't want it to be sort of an ultra endurance fest. They're, they're looking for it to be more active racing. How do you feel about, like, it sounds like. Not doing a 200 mile gravel race sits okay with you for this next season. **** - (): But do you think about it like that? Do you feel like 200 miles is too much for you as a younger professional? [00:31:53] - ():  Andy Lydic: I think it's hard as such a young guy to compete with the likes of Keegan or the likes of the other world tour pros coming from Europe to the U S to do onbound because These guys have lifetime miles, which gives them a level of durability that it's really hard to have as a young rider. **** - (): And so beyond the fact that it's just a long day in the saddle, I think it's hard for young riders to really perform there and you know, it's well doing as a career changing result. But that said. I really like the UCI format of the shorter races. I like racing for four hours. I like the four hours to be really hard. **** - (): I like it to be really tactical and it feels like a road race that's more technical because you've got the gravel and you've got the, you know, whether it's a tricky descent or a river crossing or something like that. It's still a hard gravel race, but you're not out there for seven or eight or 10 hours. **** - (): Yeah, like you would find in some of the longer American races. So it's nice. It's nice to get the speed from the European races and hopefully I can get the speed from the shorter races and then take it into the endurance that the longer American races later in the season will [00:33:02] - ():  Craig Dalton: require. Yeah, I think it's fascinating. **** - (): I mean, look, there's, my opinion is there's room for all these types of events on the calendar. But it is interesting. And after talking to the UCI about like their perspective on the format, I have to acknowledge that like the dynamic racing element of a four to five hour race is just higher than a, a 10 [00:33:23] - ():  Andy Lydic: hour race. **** - (): Yeah, totally. And it's not, not that the racing in the U S is like not tactical because I think it's completely tactical, but it's just a different way. Whereas, you know, if the race, if you know, the race is 130 K or it's only going to be a four and a half hour race on the gravel guys are going to take much bigger poles, have much bigger attacks and yeah, it's going to play out more like a race that you'd want to watch on TV. **** - (): Whereas, I didn't really think it'd be super interesting to follow unbound for all 200 miles of it, just because, you know, things happen a lot slower because it's a much longer race. Riders have to think a lot more about conserving. Riders have to think a lot more about whether it's their fuel strategy, their nutrition strategy. **** - (): I think, you know, that's still equally important in the shorter races. How good your pit crew is doesn't determine your result in a UCI race, because you don't have a, that's not a thing that doesn't exist. It's you go out there, you race full gas for four hours, and then when you're done The race is over and, you know, some guys are wearing hydro packs. **** - (): Some guys are not, but it's not so much a war of attrition as much as it is like a proper race. Yeah. [00:34:32] - ():  Craig Dalton: Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. Um, how are you supporting your 2024 campaign? Do you have a set of sponsors that are carrying over from 23? [00:34:42] - ():  Andy Lydic: Yeah. So I'm working with quite a few of my sponsors from 2023 continuing into next year. **** - (): And I've added a couple other sponsors as well. I think this year has been definitely tricky to get sponsors and to work with sponsors because it's so such a difficult bike market right now. You know, I've heard all across the industry, like, Oh, 2023 was a really tough year and that really impacts marketing budgets. **** - (): And marketing budgets is where, you know, privateers and writers like me get the finances to do the season. So it's actually not a complete process for me right now, figuring out how I'm going to pay for the entire season and pay for my living and everything. That's an ongoing process. And I think looking outside of the industry is something I've been doing recently as to how can I get some money and how can I share my story and how can I provide value to brands inside or outside of the industry? **** - (): While it's this late. The other hard thing for me was, you know, my best result, the unofficial under 23 world champion wasn't until October when a lot of people have already signed their contracts for next year. So my best results did come late. Moving into next year, I anticipate I'm continuing to work with BMC. **** - (): I'm continuing to work with It Could Be Me. I'm now working with Morton as a nutrition sponsor, which is really exciting and that's honestly a grail sponsor to me because I've been using their products. Been buying them for two years now and it's really exciting to get to work with the brand now. And I work with Northwave for shoes and Getting helmets from them. **** - (): So it's really cool that the product support I'm getting is really strong and fairly well covered when it comes to product, but definitely still trying to tie up some ends when it comes to financing the whole season. Yeah. Yeah. [00:36:19] - ():  Craig Dalton: Got it. Well, I love that you're forging your own way and you know, you've got a unique racing calendar that should appeal to some sponsors and wish you best of luck and certainly hope you're wearing the stars and stripes Jersey for us in the world championships again, [00:36:35] - ():  Andy Lydic: in 2024. **** - (): Yeah, that's the goal. I'd love to go back and double love it if the UCI offers up a jersey for the under 23. And even if they don't, I'm going to go and see how good I can do in that elite race. So that's the goal. [00:36:49] - ():  Craig Dalton: Amazing. Thanks for the time today, Andy. Great to get to know you. [00:36:53] - ():  Andy Lydic: Yeah. Thanks so much, Craig. **** - (): Have a good one.    

We offer a preview of our top selections for the inaugural race of the Skyrunner World Series, Ancantilados Del Norte. Additionally, Dani engages in a conversation with her coach of seven years, Terry Howell, covering his coaching journey, training philosophy, the spectrum of athletes he mentors, and his specialized approach to Dani's training for sub-ultra distances. Under Terry Howell's mentorship, Dani has proudly represented Team USA on four occasions, clinched two US National Championships, achieved numerous top-five finishes in renowned races worldwide, stood on the podium at the Marathon du Mont Blanc and OCC in 2023, and has steadily ascended the global rankings, currently holding the 6th position in the United States. Support the pod  Sign up for Sub Hub Headlines - our monthly newsletter! YouTube - @SubHubPod Our website - https://www.thesubhubpodcast.com/ Episode Sponsors:  Neversecond : SUBHUB25 for 25% of your purchase Skyrunner World Series

We recap the exciting US Nationals 2024 competition from Columbus, OH, featuring a dramatic upset in the women's event, a stellar fight for the podium in Ice Dance, promising performances from the Men, and an underwhelming Pairs event.   The 2024 US National Championships gave us a little bit of everything. We saw a quad axel and second nationals win from a slightly messier than usual Ilia Malinin. We witnessed a Women's final where Amber Glenn and Isabeau Levito both struggled — with Amber scoring just enough to take her first national title. An awful case of the flu still didn't stop Chock and Bates from taking the Ice Dance gold. Lastly, we watched a Pairs field filled with promise but, unfortunately, so many errors. Women's Competition The biggest story out of this event is the long-awaited win for fan favorite, Amber Glenn. We were amongst those pulling for her on every jump from home — and while she did have a great short program and landed her triple axel, the second half of her long program suffered from several errors that but the top of the podium in doubt. However, Isabeau Levito — who led after the short program — had three falls in her free skate and had to settle for the bronze. In the silver spot, we saw perhaps the highlight of the competition from Josephine Lee. She delivered two fantastic programs, with her free skate being the cleanest of the night. She's too young to go to Worlds this year, but watch out for her in years to come! Ice Dance Competition Madison Chock & Evan Bates stunned with their Queen rhythm dance, which was helpful because their free dance saw some uncharacteristic errors due to them both dealing with a horrible case of the flu. They nearly withdrew from the competition, but had enough in the tank to still take gold. In second, with what seemed like breakout performances from them, Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko shined. Their free dance especially won the night, and saw them skate with their full technical and artistic prowess — but also with more emotion and freedom than we've seen before. Taking the bronze, a bit of surprise came with the medal for Emily Bratti & Ian Somerville. This young team has all it takes to have a big career, with Ian especially bringing star-power to the ice. But their podium-step ahead of former silver medalists Caroline Green & Michael Parsons in this competition was unexpected, though well-earned. Men's Competition As expected, Ilia Malinin dominated the competition with quads a-plenty. He even broke out the quad axel in the free skate — along with an unplanned triple lutz / triple axel / triple toeloop combination near the very end to make up for a few errors and secure the top spot. In silver, the class of the field Jason Brown skated two gorgeous programs, which both saw uncharacteristic falls. He still had him trademark appeal — and, most importantly for Team USA, enough quality and exceptional skill to rely on at Worlds. In bronze, a wonderful completion for Camden Pulkinen landed him not only on the podium but also won him a trip to Worlds. In fourth, we saw a stellar showing from Maxim Naumov. Looking forward to more from him at Four Continents. Pairs Competition At the end of the short program, favorites Spencer Howe & Emily Chan led the field. However, due to Spencer's continued recovery from surgery, they withdrew from the competition — though were still selected for the World team. The pairs that remained mostly struggled with singles elements and delivered a fairly messy competition. In the end, Ellie Kim & Danny O'Shea squeaked out a victory. Right behind them, the new team of Alisa Efimova & Misha Mitrofanov won the free skate and showed they have a lot of skill — look for them to move up over the next few seasons. In third, Valentina Plazas & Maximiliano Fernandez took their first National's bronze with a crowd-pleasing performance in the long program. Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show  

We preview the upcoming United States Nationals 2024 competition, including expected wins from Ilia Malinin and Chock & Bates, the likely podium but potential surprises in the women's division, and the total crapshoot of the Pairs competition.   The 2024 US National Championships are upon us, and there is a lot to be excited about in Columbus, Ohio this week! From a wide open Men's field behind the near-guaranteed winner — QuadG0d himself, Ilia Malinin — to a potentially tighter-than-expected Women's competition, this promises to be full of surprises. Plus, a stacked line-up of dance teams — including reigning World Champions, Madison Chock & Evan Bates — are sure to make this a stellar event. Men's Competition While not a “lock”, it's hard to deny that Ilia Malinin will be near-impossible to beat here. After his huge win (and score!) at the Grand Prix Final back in December, Malinin looks for his second national title with no one else really in his league technically here. The big question will be if he throws the quad axel in one or both programs. Our bet is on no, since he won't need it, but he's surprised us before! The only man who just might be able to triumph on the right day is the brilliant Jason Brown, who cannot touch Ilia's jumps but can out-skate most men in the world when it comes to skating skills, artistry, choreography, etc. It would be a shock to say the least, but anything is possible! Also to keep an eye on for the podium (and perhaps a trip to Worlds): Camden Pulkinen, Andrew Torgashev, Maxim Naumov, and Jimmy Ma. Ice Dance Competition The deepest field of competitors at US Nationals is definitely in dance. At the top, and the clear front-runners here, are Madison Chock & Evan Bates. Their programs this year are outstanding and they are fresh from a victory at the Grand Prix Final. Unless disaster strikes, just sit back and enjoy these two! When looking at the rest of the field, it's wide open. The safest bets would be Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko and Caroline Green & Michael Parsons. Both have performed well on the Grand Prix, but perhaps not as well as expected. Right behind them, teams including Oona Brown & Gage Brown, Emilea Zingas & Vadym Kolesnik, and Eva Pate & Logan Bye are all in the mix. Also, don't discount the team of Isabella Flores & Ivan Desyatov — who have only recently been able to officially skate for the US. We're excited to see them here! Women's Competition While defending national champion Isabeau Levito comes in as the favorite here, she will have stiff competition. Isabeau has had an up-and-down season to date, with the high of winning her first Grand Prix event and the low of the short program at the Grand Prix Final. She's known for her consistency and grace, both of which we hope to see on display in Columbus. Right with her in the running for the title will be Amber Glenn, who has also had a wobbly season. However, international judges have shown they are ready to support her — so fingers crossed for two great programs here. Also in the medal hunt, the NHK Trophy silver medalist, Lindsay Thorngren, who has been getting better all season. Also, Starr Andrews is in the mix, as is the up-in-comer Elyce Lin-Gracey. Looking forward to seeing how this one plays out! Pairs Competition Without Alexa Knerim & Brandon Frasier here this year, the pairs field is fairly open. The strongest team in the past, though we have not seen them in a while, is Emily Chan & Spencer Akira Howe. They were 5th in the World in 2023 — and, if they are on, should be you clear winners. However, the rest of the field feels unclear. The two teams most likely to vie for medals are Ellie Kam & Danny O'Shea and Chelsea Liu & Balazs Nagy — though we could see a surprise from Valentina Plazas & Maximiliano Fernandez or another team, as there are a lot of partnerships on a similar level here. Again, this one promises to be anyone's game. Follow Scoreography: Website — https://scoreography.show Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/scoreography Threads — https://www.threads.net/@scoreography BlueSky — https://bsky.app/profile/scoreography.show  

Fresh off the trip from Louisville, Curtis and Tony recap the stories that made 2023 US National Championship. From course desgin, to tire choices, to the fans and the event, we get into all the highs and lows while also looking ahead to the World Championships. For the love of cross, you don't want to miss this one! @curtisjwhite www.curtisjwhite.com 

Melina Costanza swept the US National Championships in October, making one hell of a comeback after her competition break. She returns to the podcast to talk about why Nationals was the hardest competition she has ever done, how to use nerves to focus and thrive, training for Nationals, praising effort, her fueling strategy, gaining weight to be more powerful, Alex Johnson's hype shirt, balancing training with fueling and mental health, choosing good over perfect, upcoming goals, and much more!Become a Patron - 7 Day Free Trial!patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing Check out AG1!drinkAG1.com/NUGGETUse this link to get a free year's supply of vitamin D + 5 travel packs!Check out Rhino Skin Solutions!rhinoskinsolutions.comUse code “NUGGET” at checkout for 20% off your next order!Check out Rumpl!rumpl.com/nuggetUse code "NUGGET" at checkout for 10% off your first order!Check out PhysiVantage!physivantage.com (link includes 15% off coupon)Use code "NUGGET15" at checkout for 15% off your next order!We are supported by these amazing BIG GIVERS:Michael Roy, Craig Lee, Mark and Julie Calhoun, Yinan Liu, Zach Emery, Alex Pluta, and Matt WalterShow Notes:  thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/melina-costanza-returnsNuggets:0:04:40 – Recovery from her foot surgery, and sweeping the National Championships in Boise Idaho0:07:05 – Trying a new approach with fueling and training0:08:17 – A message about Melina from Tyson Schoene0:09:55 – Why Nationals was the hardest competition Melina has ever done, and finding flow in the sport climbing final0:16:00 – Training primarily for bouldering, and proving to herself that she is a better climber than before0:21:39 – The limit is higher when you focus on getting stronger vs. lighter0:23:28 – The nerves and joy of competitions, and a weight lifted0:29:10 – Training for lead and bouldering at the same time, and her training phases before Nationals0:34:51 – How she won lead despite her lack of power endurance after getting covid, and the mental side of competition0:37:11 – Praising her effort more than her performance0:41:21 – Effort is trainable0:42:48 – How Melina's fueling strategy has changed, eating more carbs on comp days, and Sour Patch Kids0:51:13 – Gaining weight to be more powerful0:54:06 – What Melina does when she has dark thoughts around eating, and how to know when you're “overtraining”0:58:51 – Knowing when to take more rest vs. put your head down and do the work1:01:51 – Doing every part of your training for a reason1:06:30 – “You just have to go to win.”1:10:55 – Coming out last in finals, and pressure as a privilege1:13:46 – Alex Johnson's shirt1:16:03 – Balancing training, fueling, and mental health, and choosing good over perfect1:19:01 – What Melina would tell others who struggle with eating disorders1:22:07 – The false promise of success, achieving your goals while being true to who you are, carrying guilt, and giving each other permission to be imperfect1:27:37 – Surrounding yourself with people who love you unconditionally1:29:55 – Melina's goals1:33:11 – Melina's thoughts on the Paris Olympics, and the 2028 Olympic games1:35:56 – Thanks to Melina for bringing us along on her journey1:37:16 – Check out this week's Patreon bonus episode for more fun facts with Melina!

In this episode of the "Sweet on Leadership" podcast, host Tim Sweet engages in a captivating conversation with Aaron McConnell, president of TransRockies Race Series. They explore Aaron's journey from a childhood fascination with mountain biking to becoming a trailblazer in organizing multi-day running and biking events. The discussion delves into the challenges, triumphs, and the essence of creating a career around one's passion.Aaron McConnell shares insights into his early experiences with mountain biking, from discovering the sport as a child to organizing races and publishing newsletters. The conversation touches on pivotal moments, such as winning the bid to host a mountain bike World Cup, the challenges faced during the pandemic, and the strategic thinking behind sustaining TransRockies Race Series for over two decades. Aaron emphasizes the dual nature of the event-organizing industry, balancing the glamour of on-site experiences with the behind-the-scenes grind of logistics, budgeting, and team management.About Aaron McConnellAaron McConnell, the president of TransRockies Race Series, has built a remarkable career around his passion for mountain biking and event organization. Starting with a childhood interest, Aaron evolved into a key figure in the industry, organizing races, publishing newsletters, and contributing significantly to the endurance sports community. With over two decades of experience, Aaron's leadership has not only shaped TransRockies but also inspired enthusiasts to pursue their love for outdoor adventure.Resources discussed in this episode:Alberta Bicycling Association: albertabicycle.ab.caRidley's Cycle: ridleys.comAlberta Alpine Ski Association: albertaalpine.ca--Contact Tim Sweet | Team Work Excellence: WebsiteLinkedIn: Tim SweetInstagramLinkedin: Team Work ExcellenceContact Aaron McConnell | TransRockies: Website: transrockies.comInstagram:@aaronmcconnell@transrockiesraceseries@transrockiesrunningTwitter: @TRraceseriesFacebook: TransRockies Race SeriesLinkedin: Aaron McConnellYoutube: @TransRockiesRaceSeriesTransRockies Race Series Events TransRockies RunTransRockies Gravel RoyaleTransRockies SingleTrack 6Moab RocksGolden UltraMoab Run the RocksMoab Fondo FestGolden RushGran Fondo BadlandsTranSelkirks Run--Transcript:Aaron 00:00You need to follow our strengths really, figure out where we can bring value to the organization, value to our participants, and work hard to really ensure that we are creating sustainable performance and being able to be in a position to provide these great experiences and have that icing on the cake, which is part of the year that we get to spend with our participants and in really cool places. Tim 00:28I'd like to ask you some questions. Do you consider yourself the kind of person that gets things done? Are you able to take a vision and transform that into action? Are you able to align others towards that vision and get them moving to create something truly remarkable? If any of these describe you, then you my friend, are a leader, and this show is all about and all for you. Welcome to the Sweet on Leadership Podcast, episode 21. Tim 01:03Welcome back to Sweet on Leadership. Today, I am going to welcome one of my best friends in the world. This is Aaron McConnell. I've known Aaron since I was just a wee tike. I mean, we started in what? Grade one, pre-school? Aaron 01:18I don't know if it was kindergarten, or grade one. But yeah, I think we lived a few blocks away from each other. And yeah, we were friends all through grade school.  Tim 01:29Yeah and then I mean, since we've also been working, well we've done professional things together, things have just progressed in such a neat way. But today, I'm excited to let people in on your story, because, to me, it represents this move of taking your passion and creating a career around it. And when you and I were kicking around the idea for this podcast, the phrase that kept coming up in my mind was, if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. And I think as we go through this conversation, I want us to challenge that because I'm not sure that's entirely true. I think both of us have the advantage of doing what we love. But I'm not sure about the second part. So, anyway, Aaron, tell our listeners a little bit about yourself so that they can they can develop a picture.  Aaron 02:21Sure, I'm president of TransRockies Race Series. And so we're an event production company, we primarily organize races. So, like running races, and bike races. And we do a lot of multi-day events, multi-day trail running, multi-day mountain biking, gravel cycling, road cycling, and they're mass participation events. So, for the most part, they're not for professional athletes, they are more for, as you would say, enthusiastic amateurs, weekend warriors, and people who love to stay fit outdoors.  Tim 03:01Absolutely, but they still are serious races. And they are where people test themselves. And then where people really can achieve something that may have been in their bucket list for years and years. And so I know that the reputation around Calgary in the Rocky Mountains is quite high when people think of your brand. So, I'm certainly excited to be involved. It's just something that I love to see every year, year on year, how much better it gets and how much stronger the team gets. So, I'd also like you to just take us back. And when I think about us hanging out at your house, or we'd be in your kitchen, I remember your dad had that den that was off the family room. And there was that, you know, first-gen Macintosh that was in there. And I'd love you to tell us how did you first discover mountain biking, and then take us up to the point where you began a newsletter which I remember as a kid, I thought that was just the coolest thing ever. Aaron 04:00Well, how I discovered mountain biking was my family was into hiking when I was a kid. And yeah, I don't know that I always enjoyed hiking that much as a little kid. Yeah, you're in these beautiful places and exploring but it's also kind of long grueling hikes. And my mom would feed me lifesavers, as a five-year-old to try to motivate me to keep going. I remember we were hiking one time and these people came ripping by on bikes. And I have this kind of vivid memory of how exciting that looked. And, you know, I think I spoke to my parents. I said I'd like a mountain bike. And they said, well start saving your money and I think within a few years I had the best Canadian Tire mountain bike that money could buy when mountain bikes were still pretty new in the early 80s. Tim 04:56Yeah. And then this didn't just happen, It wasn't just a one-and-done for you though it wasn't just start writing and be excited about things, you got into all aspects of the sport and what it meant. Aaron 05:08Yeah, for sure, I did my first race when I was 12. I did one race that year. That would have been 1987 and I was probably the youngest person in that race. And it was just outside of Calgary, organized by Release Cycle. And I did that race for many, many years. Yeah, so that was my first encounter. And then with racing, and then I got more involved with racing over time, as the scene developed. And there were more mountain bike races around Calgary and Canmore. And around the world. And then I guess, to get to your question about the newsletter, as you alluded to, as in the early days of the Macintosh computers, and home desktop publishing started to become a thing. And so we had this computer at home. My dad was an art professor at the University of Calgary and computers are starting to become part of that. And I don't know what made me think of it. But I started publishing my own little newsletter about the local scene. So, I do it on the computer at home, and then I'd have these high-quality masters outputted and then copied into newsletters. And so it just sort of gave a little report from all the different events and results. And I distributed them to the local bike shops. I think they sold for a quarter. It just sort of helped to build the mountain biking community at that time. Tim 06:35Yeah. And how old would you have been at that point? Aaron 06:38Well, I guess I would have probably been closer to 15, I'm guessing. Yeah, cuz I've been racing for a few years when I started to put those together between 12 and 15. Tim 06:48And they ran for how long? Aaron 06:51I think we did it for a couple of years, or I did it for a year or two on my own. And then the Alberta Bicycle Association, which had become the sanctioning body for mountain biking, officially, I could do it as part of their newsletter. So, it became a subsection of the Alberta Bicycle Association newsletter, which then led to me becoming more involved in the Alberta Bicycle Association as well. Tim 07:14So a columnist by 17. Aaron 07:17Yes, something like that. Yeah. Tim 07:19All right. So, this happened and I remember around that time you started working, you were sponsored by a couple of different shops and manufacturers. You were on a team. I remember you were on Chugs team. And that was a big deal because he was designing and building his own bikes west of the city. And then it became more and more of a profession. So, you were working at bike shops, I bought bicycles off you, I remember that?. Tell us a little bit about how it became part of your career, then how did that open up? Like how did it become your initial working experience? Tim 07:56So, I rode for Ridley's Cycle in Calgary. It was the first team I was involved with. And I think that was just because I was hanging out at the shop so much, they wanted to organize something, so that I wouldn't be asking them questions all the time, or something like that. And then I was on The Cycle Tech team that was a local distributor that had their own branded bikes for a couple of years. And then Jeff Shugg, with Cog frameworks, he was a custom frame builder out in Springbank. And I was working for him and started kind of organizing his racing team, which was like a, it was not really a pro-team, but like a semi-pro team to promote his bikes. So, it's kind of in the Calgary area, but also beyond. And so we were racing Canada Cup circuit a little bit into the US National Championships, that sort of thing. And so I was working in a shop, helping with the frame building a little bit and mechanical work and then organizing the team, organizing sponsors. And then we started organizing some races, really just to support the team as a fundraiser and profile builder. We did weeknight racing life at Blackfoot Motorcycle Park in Calgary for a while, and that led into more opportunities with organizing bigger races or organizing Canada cups for a few years. And that led to World Cups. And, you know, by that time, I guess you can say I was organizing events full-time by my early 20s, I suppose. Tim 09:36Yeah, and at the same time, you're going through and doing your degree in kinesiology. And that's all happening, but this is all happening at the same time. And it's funny, you know, I'll be around traveling around the world. I'll be in, in Southeast Asia. I'll meet up with Canadians and if it happens that they are from Western Canada, and happen part of the mountain bike scene. Last, you know, Aaron McConnell and they always say, oh, Aaron was the guy that ran that newsletter, or Aaron was the guy that was running the events, and you had such an impact on that community. I don't think you'd ever set out to develop a brand for yourself. But that happened, right? And that really became part of it. So by 20, you're running full-time events. And that's when you started getting heavily involved in that life. Right? And so the early part of your career, what was the event seen? Or what was the event roles that you would be part of? Aaron 10:36Yeah, well, I think when we won the bid to host, a mountain bike World Cup was a pivotal one. And I think that was what set me off on the path of being sort of a full-time professional event organizer more or less since then. And I was early 20s, just finished my bachelor's degree. And we've done a few Canada Cups and kind of on a whim, put in an application to host a World Cup. And we were actually really surprised when we got a three-year sanction to host a World Cup in Canmore. So, that was a World Cup cross-country race. And, you know, the people that were part of the scene at that time, I think, still talk about it, because all of the top pros were there. And big crowds at the Canmore Nordic Centre. I think, on some of those years, they were some of the biggest crowds that anyone had seen, you know, since the Olympics at the Canmore Nordic Centre. That was really key. You know, there was definitely some challenging times to that, as well as, you know, lots of excitement. And I was honestly pretty inexperienced and pretty green to be taking on something of that scale. But I built a great team around me, I had a good business partner, who helped a lot with the business side of things. And, you know, we did that for three years. But then the World Cup was going in a different direction, the venue was no longer really suitable for what they wanted to do. And so there was a change. And I did a few other things over the years, but kind of kept coming back to that management. So, I worked for 24 hours of adrenaline doing their 24-hour mountain bike races for a few years, I worked for Alberta Alpine Ski Association, which was a little bit more peripheral on the event side, and then had an opportunity to join TransRockies, in 2004, when the company was just a couple of years old. Tim 12:34Sure, and at that point, it wasn't run by you, it had been started by another gentleman, right? Aaron 12:40Well, a couple of people. My current business partner, Hiney, who's in Munich, and another gentleman, Chester, who came from Germany, but was based in the US, and then Ken Reid, who was one of the crazy Canuck famous Canadian alpine skier was, was one of the partners at that time. And the owner of the bike shop at that time in Calgary, Kevin McNaughton was also one of the partners.  Tim 13:06So, leading up to that point, here's a question for you. Was there an instance where you knew that this was going to be your profession by that time? You'd run the newsletter that had a lifespan on it, you had worked part-time for others and supported others as employees, that had a lifespan on it. You picked up the rights to hold the World Cup for three years that had a shelf date on it because of the menu and their direction. So, in this entire build-up of your career, and all of these different roles that you had, and these different events that you run, and these different ventures that you that you embarked on? What was the moment that you realized that I was gonna go all in on this?  Aaron 13:49Yeah, I think it was somewhere between finishing the World Cups in 2000. And starting with TransRockies, in 2004. The other thing that happened in that time period was I started working on my MBA in 2001, I started and I guess when I started working on my MBA, I didn't know that I would want to continue as a small business entrepreneur, and I guess a field that maybe seemed like it might have questionable viability from a business perspective. And it wasn't really until I started with TransrRockies, that it seemed like, this is probably going to be something that I really pursue. I'd had that vision since before we started on World Cups in the late 90s. But I didn't know if it was something that would kind of work out. Or, you know, there'd be other opportunities that would be more attractive down the road. Tim 14:52And I know that there's always periods where different opportunities are presented to us and we look at them and there's those questioning periods where we say, would I jump to do this or try something else? And then there's that question of, you know, do I keep going? And I go through those. I mean, I go through those in my own in my own career and with my own company. But when we compare, say, my line of work as a consultant to your line of work, as a guy organizing these amazing events, there's something too that I think, is really interesting. And that is, every once in a while, okay, from my perspective, I'll be facilitating a session, I'll be having a lot of fun doing it. And then I'll get people coming up afterward and saying, you know, I look like you're having a lot of fun there. And this would be pretty interesting. And I wonder if I could be a consultant or I could be a facilitator, or I could be a coach? And you present yourself in a way that they think this looks funner than my day job? Man, I really like to do this, this must be you must be just having a-rockin' good time. Yours is even more extreme. I mean, you're out. I love, TransRockies, for those of you who haven't yet looked at it, you need to go to TransRockies, transrockies.com, show notes in the link, link in the show notes, sorry. These are great events, you often talk about them as if they are summer camp for adults, right? And so people are out there and they are having a blast. And they're doing what they love. And they're out in the sun. And they're out in nature. And they're sweating in all the right ways and good food, good drink, good friends, campfires, the whole nine yards. And they must look at you and say, Wow, what a job to be able to do this for your entire career. Right? Become this adult, camp counselor, camp manager? How much fun could this be? But what's the behind-the-scenes of all that, Aaron? What are your experiences with people having questions and assuming certain things? And then what's the reality? Aaron 17:03Well, there's definitely two sides to it. So, we live double lives, I guess. And in this industry, because there is the times when we're in the field, basically. So, when we're at an event, we're working on an event, and we're with the athletes. And for the most part that's really positive. You know, unless we're dealing with some kind of crisis that comes up, which does happen sometimes as well. But that's what we live for at events, or even when we're on a scouting trip, or doing route planning, or something out in the field. And that's where the glamorous side of the event promoter lifestyle is maybe a little bit true. I mean, yeah, sometimes we're trying to figure out where to put the porta potties or something, but, you know, still, you know, being creative and hanging out with great people in really cool places. And then the other side is making it all work on the back end. So, you know, we're on our Twitter, we're on the phone, we're, you know, booking the toilets, we're working on budgets, and having to do all that behind-the-scenes work to make sure, A. everything works logistically for the event, we're meeting our sales targets, we're spending within budgets, and really being like a grown-up organization. And the interesting thing about, I guess, race organizing is that a lot of people that organize races, do it as a sideline. They might be professionals in their real lives, but they kind of organize races as a hobby. And they don't necessarily have to take a salary or that sort of thing, they put on sometimes some really awesome events, but they don't necessarily have the ability to scale or the ability to stick with it over a long period of time, that sort of thing. Because they're only doing one event, we're doing 35 event days a year, over many years with a business that's intended to outlive its current employees and shareholders. So, we have to kind of run it to a different standard and think differently about risk and profit and all that sort of thing.  Tim 19:13For everybody's information, you've just completed which season now?  Aaron 19:1621st, I guess, yeah. 21st season of operation. Tim 19:22And that 20th season was happening the year before this one was happening right at the sort of tail end of the big of COVID and the pandemic. And that pandemic, I mean, having been there with you through that, that put into sharp relief, you know, where the business required support and adulting or whatever you want to call it. That was a rough year for many events or a rough few years for many events. And a lot of event companies didn't survive. You know, a lot of companies just had to shutter but you saw it through, and you had put levers in place and supports in place so that you could make that through. When you think back on that time as really a massive milestone in all of this, how did you conceptualize your journey, at that point, thinking back 20 years when it all started? And did you draw on that, in order to make it through? Did you have to draw on the passion in order to make it through the real, tactically risky portions of those few years? Aaron 20:35Yeah, absolutely, we had been through some challenging times, just with trying to make the events profitable and survive as a company and grow. And we had actually, a few years before the pandemic, we'd taken on a new group of investors, which just helped us with some financial strategy and some advice. And, you know, it really helped us during that pandemic, to be able to get together and talk about things and strategize, you know, I'd also been working with you for a few years, which was another great source of support. And it was definitely the biggest crisis we'd seen. But it wasn't like we hadn't seen crisis before. So, on one side that helped. It also, I think, helped that, you know, there were a lot of signs that kind of reassured people in the endurance sports industry, that there was demand, and that demand would come back. It took longer to get back to events than anyone thought, especially in the beginning. We thought we'd be back to events, you know, later in 2020. But it was really late 2021, in the US, and 2022, in Canada, when we got back to a semi-normal season, that accumulated a lot of rollover liabilities from people that didn't get to go to the event that they had signed up for. And we promised them that they could get their entry later on. And meanwhile, we kept all our employees during that time. So–  Tim 22:11Added employees during that time. Aaron 22:12Yeah. Yeah and then we also did look at it as an opportunity. We took the bandwidth, it opened up and created a few new events, which we operated for the first time in the last couple of years. It actually allowed us to scale our business, that was still a big time of an investment. But I feel like we've got something to show for it, coming out of it. You know, the way that it transformed all industries in terms of how we looked at remote work, and how we operate as a team also transformed us. Tim 22:45So, the big picture that I've got in my mind after talking today, and watching you for these many years, and then working with you since what 2016, is exactly what you said there, there are people that can come on, and they can run these events once. But to sustain them and to keep them fresh and to make them economic and to have them be a place that can employ people and really make it into a standalone venture that isn't simply a one-off. It really is an achievement. And I think to Richard Young, who we both know who's been on the show before, and he talks about, we have to get out of our talk around just high performance, but it's sustainable high performance. Anybody can podium once, can they podium again and again and again, can they perform over and over? And really that's what you're demonstrating. And that becomes the behind-the-scenes that people probably don't really appreciate. What's that saying? You know, you're an overnight success that happened to take 20 years to create kind of thing, right? So, when we look at this, and we round around to some of our initial questions and thoughts here. So, this rounds us around to the question of the day, after seeing you go through all of this over the years, and being there for a lot of it with you, which has been an absolute joy. It's been one of the highlights of my work. Can we say that there's any truth to that statement? That if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life? Is that statement incomplete? Aaron 24:19It goes back to what I said before about living two lives. There probably are some people in certain industries that can come a lot closer to that, where they can really follow their passion. But we get a piece of that when, as I said when we're in the field, which is a good chunk of the year, but you know, there's lots of other parts of the year where we are grinding, for sure. And I think in that part of the time, you need to follow our strengths, really, and figure out where we can bring value to the organization, value to our participants, and work hard to really ensure that we are creating sustainable performance and being able to be in a position to provide these great experiences and have the icing on the cake, which is part of the year that we get to spend with our participants in really cool places. Tim 25:20I know for you, between the two of us, we've had, you know, a little metric off to the side, which is how much time can Aaron spend in the saddle or as a participant, right? And that's really important. And I love the point that you made about, we have to play to our strengths or realize our strengths. It's also about surrounding ourselves with people that enjoy the things that we might find a grind, right? So, that we can really make sure that we maintain that love and that excitement that ultimately is going to carry through to the experience that the customers have, because you can't you can't give away what you don't have. Right? So, you have to be living that joy. But there's very real work in behind that that goes into it. So, it's not always roses, but we have to keep the capacity open for the enjoyment of it, as well. And have you found that that has to be a conscious decision to make sure that you are maintaining that time for yourself? Aaron 26:21Yeah, absolutely. We've made more of an effort in recent years to go to other events, people's events that we don't produce, and try to participate in other events, both as individuals and sometimes as a group as well. Which can be, you know, a bit of a team building thing, but it's fun for us and we all sort of buy into the lifestyle, and yeah, that's why we're here. But it also kind of gives us legitimacy as event organizers, when, you know, we know what the experience is, like on the other side of the fences. We know what it means to suffer out on the trail and celebrate with a beer afterward, you know? Tim 27:05Yeah, well, I mean, the energy from these events is palpable. And, again, anybody who's listening, I would really encourage you to go and check out Aaron, check out Aaron on social, check out TransRockies on Instagram, and you'll get a feel for what the energy on these transient race track campuses are from event to event. And it's really something. So, with that in mind, what's got you excited about TransRockies, adventure sports in general? You know, what really do you feel is going to be the next step for you and the company?  Aaron 27:42We're kind of at an interesting point now, where our season is very full. For the number of employees that we have, there's basically six of us that are either full-time or between half and full-time. And, boy, we're busy with the number of events that we have. And so on the one hand, we're looking at optimizing, you know, which events make sense to continue, which ones might not, where does it make sense to grow? Can we grow with our current structure? You know, because we're sort of mostly in a place now where we can only be in one place at one time as an organization. And how do we make that step to being in multiple places at once? You know, does it even make sense to make that step? Or are we better just to focus on doing fewer, or the current number of things that we're doing now? How do we avoid burnout in our core crew? If we're growing the organization, what's going to be most viable and sustainable for us as a group? So, that's kind of exciting. Right now we've got certain aspects of our business that are doing really well. And so we're looking at opportunities to grow in those areas. And, you know, others we're maybe struggling a little bit and trying to change our format up and make it more attractive to people and more accessible, which is all, you know, really interesting, kind of creative, strategic thinking, work that is keeping us engaged. Tim 29:11And it's all around if we go way, way back to the Macintosh sitting in your dad's den. It goes back to the fact that there is a community that needs to be served, right? You've done it all the way along your career. And there are technical challenges, there are organizational challenges, those have gotten bigger and gnarlier. And, you know, regulatory and everything has gotten tighter. But you're still holding that at the core. Right? And that excitement around bringing that to people and seeing them light up and when you get Junior riders coming out and seeing them experience it for the first time. Maybe not on a Canadian Tire special, but you know, in their own ways. So, that's just got to be full of it. Well, Aaron, I want to say thank you for joining me today. I think your story is one that people will really be able to empathize with in their own ways. In that way, I hope that people find what they love within their career. Aaron 30:09Well, thanks for having me on giving me the opportunity. And also thanks for all your help and support and coaching and so forth over over quite a few years now. Great to have you as part of the TransRockies team. Tim 30:22Yeah, it's always been my pleasure and I love getting into it. And I love spending that time with you and the crew. All right, let's also not miss this opportunity to tell people if they want to get involved, if they are avid in running or cycling, and would like to check these events out. What's the best way that they can get in touch with TransRockies? Or you? Aaron 30:42Yeah, absolutely, for TransRockies, it's transrockies.com. The main social handles are @transrockies and @transrockiesrunning. And then myself, it's @aaronMcConnell on socials. Tim 31:00Well, we're gonna put a link to that in the show notes, we're also going to put a link to each of the different events because you've got the Fondos, you've got the runs, you've got all of the marquee events that you put out over the years. And really, there's something there, for everybody and for every skill level. And it's a great way to get involved. And I know it still attracts some of the hardcore competitors too. So, it's not like they're absent from this. It's just such a great opportunity to get out and enjoy things and what a milestone for people. So, really encourage you to go check it out. It is so much fun. Tim 31:43Thank you so much for listening to Sweet on Leadership. If you found today's podcast valuable, consider visiting our website and signing up for the companion newsletter. You can find the link in the show notes. If like us, you think it's important to bring new ideas and skills into the practice of leadership. Please give us a positive rating and review on Apple podcasts. This helps us spread the word to other committed leaders. And you can spread the word too, by sharing this with your friends, teams, and colleagues. Thanks again for listening. And be sure to tune in in two weeks' time for another episode of Sweet on Leadership. In the meantime, I'm your host, Tim Sweet, encouraging you, to keep on leading.

Today is a LLP TAKEOVER while Kel is away casting the US National Championship for Flesh and Blood! Azz and Bill discuss why exactly FAB has such an excellent community as well as answer a ton of YOUR questions! Email us questions/comments at: thelivinglegendspodcast@gmail.com Introducing the very first sponsor of the LLP, The Banish Zone! Use our promo code to get 10% your first purchase of ANYTHING on their site! FAB, Warhammer - you name it! Code: Living10Legends Site: https://www.thebanishzone.com/

Bad Penny Press is a joint project by Archon Arcana, Data Forge, and the r/KeyforgeGame subreddit. https://archonarcana.com/Main_Page https://www.twitch.tv/dataforgestream https://www.reddit.com/r/KeyforgeGame/ Top Stories: https://keyforging.com/tournament-format-changes/ Highlights from the Keyforge 2023 US National Championships at Gen Con Indy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-9TGhhAIgc https://keyforging.com/hail-to-our-us-national-champions/ Online Wrap-Up: NKFL Discord - https://discord.gg/rdscJrP https://nkfl.online/ Aug 27th - MM Max SAS 70 - Signup here - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelCuoYRdaz4LCYQC_u5oyRGoT_YDSBNybm4v5OR5uMU3bb2g/viewform Sep 10th - DT Max SAS 70 - Signup here - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8R2EwBprMyLJw6GOwtFg3I4LDEZgVcMPvfYvV3KSzyu0oIg/viewform ABR Discord: https://discord.gg/hVBz9PMsZW KFPL Discord: https://discord.gg/kxE9X55xWK KFPL 5 Brackets: https://challonge.com/ldrvyb8s https://challonge.com/8cckxr48 https://challonge.com/3d0no72f KFPL 5 Decks: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14mdsRFRlrRSAWAg8nizJvg1QjWHZGTVUwAkoZIuy964/edit#gid=1886164799 KFPL 5 Player and Set Statistics: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1q92h--gW5BH-D_6-oX0-hyDAR25FvgWuAF-nWXbytN0/edit#gid=223331310 Creator Feature - Keyforge Vault Tour Roseville by Tabletop Royale https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUgcj4m2aIqigQJuRoeVfkD4w5q4BEdIx Master Vault https://archonarcana.com/Master_Vault#Registered_decks Bad Penny Press on Substack: https://badpennypress.substack.com/ Bad Penny Press on Anchor or your favorite podcast provider: https://anchor.fm/bad-penny-press Bad Penny Press on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@badpennypress Links to contact us: Dead-Sync: https://www.reddit.com/r/KeyforgeGame xoque: dataforgestream@gmail.com blinkingline: gee@archonarcana.com Please let us know if you have any feedback!

Do you want to maximize your mental fitness?  On this episode of the Live Greatly podcast Kristel Bauer sits down with Professional Rock Climber and World Champion Sasha DiGiulian to discuss mindset practices for peak performance, navigating fear, mental prepartation tips and lots more. Tune in now! Key Takeaways from This Episode: How Sasha got into rock climbing Personal mindset practices Sasha uses to achieve peak performance How visualization helps The key to feel empowered in the morning Sasha's most fearful experience while climbing & how she got through it Resiliency and recovery after an injury What Sasha does to mentally prepare Why Sasha created Send Bars A brief peak into Sasha's upcoming HBO documentary The mental game of climbing   ABOUT SASHA DIGIULIAN: As the most decorated woman in rock climbing with two Female Overall World Champion and three US National Championship wins under her belt, Sasha DiGiulian has reigned as the undefeated Pan-American Champion for a 10-year span.  Excelling in a sport traditionally dominated by men, Sasha is a passionate advocate for equality, founding Female Focused Adventures - a production company that centers around storytelling in the female adventure space and empowering women content creators. Sasha shares her rise to the top, most thrilling climbs, and lessons learned along the way in her first book, Take the Lead: Hanging On, Letting Go, and Conquering Life's Hardest Climbs, available September 26, 2023.  Sasha is the Founder and CEO of Send Bars. Kristel was excited to recieve a complimentary box of send bars to try. You can use the code livegreatly for 20% off of send bars by clicking HERE Website: http://sashadigiulian.com  LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/sasha-digiulian-86895a203/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sashadigiulian  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sashadigiulian/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Fsashadigiulian  About the Host of the Live Greatly podcast, Kristel Bauer: Kristel Bauer is a corporate wellness expert, popular keynote and TEDx speaker, and the host of top-rated podcast, “Live Greatly,” a show frequently ranked in the top 1% for self-improvement. Kristel is an Integrative Medicine Fellow & Physician Assistant with clinical experience in Integrative Psychiatry, giving her a unique perspective into optimizing mental well-being and attaining a mindset for more happiness and success in the workplace and beyond. Kristel decided to leave clinical practice in 2019 when she founded her wellness platform “Live Greatly” to share her message around well-being and success on a larger scale.  With a mission to support companies and individuals on their journeys for more happiness, success, and well-being, Kristel taps into her unique background in healthcare, business, and media, to provide invaluable insights into high power habits, leadership development, mental well-being, peak performance, resilience, sales, success, wellness at work, and a modern approach to work/life balance. Kristel is a contributing writer for Entrepreneur and she is an influencer in the business and wellness space having been recognized as a Top 10 Social Media Influencer of 2021 in Forbes. A popular speaker on a variety of topics, Kristel has presented to groups at APMP, Bank of America, Commercial Metals Company, General Mills, Northwestern University, Santander Bank and many more. She has been featured in Forbes, Forest & Bluff Magazine, Authority Magazine & Podcast Magazine, has contributed to CEOWORLD Magazine & Real Leaders Magazine, and has appeared on ABC 7 Chicago, WGN Daytime Chicago, Fox 4's WDAF-TV's Great Day KC and Ticker News. Kristel lives in the Chicago area with her husband and their 2 children.  She can be booked for speaking engagements worldwide. You can learn more at https://www.livegreatly.co/  To Book Kristel Bauer as a speaker for your next event, click here. Website: www.livegreatly.co  Follow Kristel Bauer on: Instagram: @livegreatly_co  LinkedIn: Kristel Bauer Twitter: @livegreatly_co Facebook: @livegreatly.co Youtube: Live Greatly, Kristel Bauer To Watch Kristel Bauer's TEDx talk of Redefining Work/Life Balance in a COVID-19 World click here. Disclaimer: The contents of this podcast are intended for informational and educational purposes only. Always seek the guidance of your physician for any recommendations specific to you or for any questions regarding your specific health, your sleep patterns changes to diet and exercise, or any medical conditions.  Always consult your physician before starting any supplements or new lifestyle programs. All information, views and statements shared on the Live Greatly podcast are purely the opinions of the authors, and are not medical advice or treatment recommendations.  They have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration.  Opinions of guests are their own and Kristel Bauer & this podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests.  Neither Kristel Bauer nor this podcast takes responsibility for possible health consequences of a person or persons following the information in this educational content.  Always consult your physician for recommendations specific to you.

In this episode, Nick and Scott speak with longtime friend and professional runner Kent Pecora. They kick things off by discussing his transition from collegiate running to professional running before they focus their attention on injuries and the work it takes to stay injury free. Kent Pecora is a Division III National Champion and US National Championship runner with a PB of 8:36 in the steeplechase. Throughout his post-collegiate career, Kent overcame injuries, balanced his 9-5 work schedule and is very familiar with the mental demands and discipline of training alone. Don't forget to follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more training tips and updates. Follow Nick on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠ // Follow Scott on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more information about training with professional athletes, please visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.tagalongwithapro.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download the⁠⁠⁠⁠ iOS app⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Android app --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tagalongwithapro/support

Chatting all the excitment that went down between Izaac and Cam, what the rules are vs. what we think they should be, Saya is back in the mix, Alise doing Alise things and winning more races, Buccardo winning US National Championships, as well as the action that went down in Junior and U23 at National champs. Enjoy! #Chatter

It was such a joy to talk to one of our heroes, Joe Gray! Over his legendary career, Joe has won 22 US National Championships across mountain running, trail running, and cross country. Plus 9 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS! He is one of the best mountain runners of all time, with a legacy of sustained dominance that might never be matched. We have gotten to know Joe over the years at races, and he always takes his time to uplift young athletes, including us when we started out. He is an inspiration on and off the trails! We talked about what drives him after all of these years and his thoughts about the future of the sport. Joe also talked about the challenges of being a Black athlete in America, starting with a terrible experience when he was a young runner, and how racism affected his journey as a professional athlete. Now, he mentors Black athletes on and off the trails. We discuss how things have changed, and the problems that remain. You may also learn a thing or two about his favorite food, Oreos. He said he "only" likes 7 of the varieties of Oreos, which implies there are more varieties than 7. We learn something new every day! Joe is a running and life BEAST, and we can't wait for you to hear his story! For a weekly bonus episode (and bi-weekly newsletter), make sure you're subscribed to our Patreon. We love you all! WOOHOO! Support the podcast: patreon.com/swap Try Athletic Greens: athleticgreens.com/swap

He did it! In front of a home crowd, in proper cross conditions, against a deep field, and in dramatic fashion, Curtis achieved his life-long dream and became the US Elite National Cyclocross Champion! It was an instant classic that will echo in cyclocross lore for years to come.  Just two days after winning, Curtis reflects on the race and the 18-year journey that brought him to the pinnacle of the sport. You don't want to miss this one!  @curtisjwhite www.curtisjwhite.com

Keri was a former national team swimmer and is a 5x Olympic Trial Qualifier. Keri was also a bronze medalist at the 2007 Pan American games. She placed 2nd at the 2009 US National Championships and also 2nd in the World championship trials. In this episode we talk about the lessons Keri learned through swimming, her epic comeback from just missing the olympics, dealing with failures, training in a competitive environment, managing her feelings/emotions, and more. Social Media: Keri's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kerihehn/ Andrew's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewmsmith9/ Success With Smitte Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/successwithsmitte/ #olympics #swimming #successwithsmitte --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/successwithsmitte/support

Chari Hawkins is currently one of the leading track &field athletes in her discipline. She recently secured the US National Championship pentathlon title. She also represented Team USA in the heptathlon at the 2019 World Championship and became the British Outdoor Champion in 2018 while studying at the University of Bath in England. Shari was a five-time All American while competing in college for Utah State University. Off the track, Chari is an advocate of mental health and wellness and offers mental strength coaching to her community through her "30 Days with Chari" mental strength program. In this episode Chari and Jamie talk about her inspiring comeback from injury, how she trains for multi-event sports, her battle with anxiety and her passion to help others succeed through 30 Days with Chari.  Be sure to tell Chari and Jamie what you think about this episode by leaving a review and rating.  It helps us get the message out there!          Find out more   https://linktr.ee/bigideabigmoves                    Follow us on Instagram @bigidea_bigmoves                      Facebook www.facebook.com/bigideabigmoves       For amazing Lifestyle Clothing epitomesportswear.com  Our listeners get 20% off with the code BIBM            For Human Resources and Talent help contact www.epitomeHR.com Take their free assessment                        Talk to us about partnerships    https://beacon.by/epitome-hr-inc/bibm-sponsoship-packages                     Follow Chari and access 30 Day with Chari on Instagram @_charihawkins  or charihawkins.com

This week we recap the 2022 US National Championship, where WOGA dominated the junior and senior division. Ashlee was also on the scene in Tampa and gives us insight into her first week as an official gymnastics reporter for Inside Gymnastics! Thank you to our monthly Patreon supporters: Abbie M, Derek H, Kerry M, Cathleen R, Lucy S, Paul M, Becca S, D.F. Pendrys, Amy C, Blake B, Alainne E, CookieMaster, Faith M, Kristin R, Lori S, Sabrina M, Erica S, Maria L, Milan W & M. You guys rock! If you would like to support our podcast and become a Patreon member, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/allthingsgympod --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/all-things-gymnastics/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/all-things-gymnastics/support

I'm pleased to welcome Shelby Houlihan to the show, one of the greatest female distance runners in the world. Shelby is the American record holder at 5000m and was in 4th place in the 2019 world championships at 1500m. She's also an 11-time US national champion and an extraordinary competitor, so you will learn a lot from hearing her talk about her training, focus, dedication and development as an athlete. Unfortunately, Shelby did suffer from a pretty big setback that was both highly publicized and extremely dramatic. You will hear the disturbing details of her doping violation—and while Shelby sees it as an ordeal that has helped her grow as a person overall, there was a tremendous injustice heaped upon her by the anti-doping authorities in global sport, which will be revealed in this episode. While it is acknowledged that we have a massive problem in modern sports (one we have had for decades) when it comes to doping and cheating, as you will hear in this show, it is completely undisputed that the ingestion of this banned substance (which was found in mere trace amounts) did not confer a performance advantage—yet she received a four-year long ban! You will hear the truth about her experience with the legal system, not receiving due process and having to empty her bank accounts to defend herself, and how she has dealt with this challenging situation by using it as a way to grow as a person and learn how to remain positive regardless of external circumstances.   TIMESTAMPS: Shelby Houlihan, today's guest, will be talking about her career and also how the anti-doping organizations disrupted her career. [01:17] On the road to being one of the best runners in the world, Shelby hit a major bump in the road, a burrito from a food truck! [06:51] What are the steps for anti-doping procedures? It is hard to trust the system. [17:29] People question Shelby's integrity. She is the one who has the burden of proof of her innocence. [19:32] All the agencies and all the arbitrators she went before agreed that the amount of this substance did not affect her performance. [31:57] She felt so helpless through this long ordeal. [36:26] Are the people who work in the field of anti-doping fair? [41:41] How does Shelby manage day to day life in this adversity? [44:16] The hardest part is doing workouts by herself. [55:59] What is she not allowed to do while under ban? [01:02:06] What is Shelby's opinion about the state of competitors cheating? Are people breaking records legitimately?  [01:07:02] This has been a year of personal growth for Shelby. [01:11:51] Is Shelby confident that she will not be past her prime when she returns and how is she surviving the losses? [01:15:43]   LINKS: Brad Kearns.com Brad's Shopping page Shelby Houlihan statement after ban ClearShelby.com Donate to Shelby's legal defense here Shelby winning US National Championship 1500m   Join Brad for more fun on: Instagram: @bradkearns1 Facebook: @bradkearnsjumphigh Twitter: @bradleykearns YouTube: @BradKearns TikTok: @bradkearns   We appreciate all feedback, and questions for Q&A shows, emailed to podcast@bradventures.com. If you have a moment, please share an episode you like with a quick text message, or leave a review on your podcast app. Thank you! Check out each of these companies because they are absolutely awesome or they wouldn't occupy this revered space. Seriously, Brad won't promote anything he doesn't absolutely love and use in daily life. Brad's Macadamia Masterpiece: Mind-blowing, life-changing nut butter blend Male Optimization Formula with Organs (MOFO): Optimize testosterone naturally with 100% grassfed animal organ supplement BeautyCounter: Complete line of cosmetics tested to be free of typical toxins and endocrine disruptors. Try Brad's favorite vitamin-C skin serum and make the switch away from toxic mainstream skin-care products!  Butcher Box: Convenient, affordable home delivery - free shipping! - of the highest quality meat, poultry, and seafood with customizable box design. Click here for special promotion.  Bala Enzyme: Electrolyte and triple enzyme recovery drink mix. BRAD30 for 30% off BiOptimizers: Top quality performance supplements like magnesium, probiotics, and digestive enzymes. BRAD10 for 10% off Paleo Valley: Nutrient-rich, ancestral inspired health products. BRAD15 for 15% off BradNutrition.com: Coming soon - the ultimate whey protein superfuel formula for peak performance and longevity Ultimate Morning Routine Online Course: Learn how to custom-design an energizing, focusing morning exercise routine. Enroll now for earlybird discount Check out Brad Kearns Favorites Page for great products and discounts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part 2:  The man who attacked figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, Shane Stant, will always be known as a former felon and it limits his job opportunities.  His sister, Maile Stant, only knew him as a protector while she was growing up and has a rewarding career. Filmmaker Justin Kawika Young brings this story to the screen in the documentary, "My Hero, the Hitman."  Shane and Maile talk to host Heather Kelly about how abuse in their household led each of them down different paths, financially and morally.  Justin explains why he wanted to tell this story after meeting Maile. You can follow this show on Instagram and on Facebook. And to see what Heather does when she's not talking money, go to her personal Twitter page. Be sure to email Heather your questions and request topics you'd like her to cover here. [Photo insert courtesy of ABC News.] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The man who attacked figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, Shane Stant, will always be known as a former felon and it limits his job opportunities.  His sister, Maile Stant, only knew him as a protector while she was growing up and has a rewarding career. Filmmaker Justin Kawika Young brings this story to the screen in the documentary, "My Hero, the Hitman."  Shane and Maile talk to host Heather Kelly about how abuse in their household led each of them down different paths, financially and morally.  Justin explains what led him to tell this story after meeting Maile. You can follow this show on Instagram and on Facebook. And to see what Heather does when she's not talking money, go to her personal Twitter page. Be sure to email Heather your questions and request topics you'd like her to cover here. [Photo insert courtesy of ABC News.] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stefy Bau was born and raised in Italy.  As a child, she barely remembers a time when she wasn't on a motorcycle.  She was first introduced to bikes by her father at age 4 and by 6, she was hooked on motocross.  At that point, she told her parents that she would one day race professionally and live in the United States.  Because her parents supported her 100% and told her she could be anything she wanted to be, she pursued her dream with great passion.She was successful from the beginning as she won every race she entered.  She was the first woman to win every round of the WMA National Championship in 1999.  Her career led her to seven Italian National Championships, 5 US National Championships, and 3 Women World Championships.  She was considered one of the fastest women motocross racers in the world.  But in 2005, her career suddenly ended.At the age of 28, a mishap with a jump completely shattered both of Stefy's ankles.  She was told that there was only a 1% chance that her left leg could be saved.  After being bed-ridden for 6 months and then in a wheelchair and eventually crutches, it took 10 years of surgeries to fix her ankle so that she could walk again.She was angry and in a very dark place at first, but then decided to take the positives out of the situation like being able to walk again, and proving all the doctors wrong.  By her parents telling her she could do anything, coupled with finding the positive in everything, Stefy was able to defy the odds in a devastating injury and stay in the sport she loves.Oh, the power of positive thinking!Stefy is currently the CEO of Init Esports where they focus on SIM-Racing and the development of women in gaming and Init Sports that develops athletes and brands in the motorsports industry with particular attention to the electric motorcycle market and the Ebike industry.  Stefy also serves on the advisory board of WiST (Women In Sports Tech) and continues to mentor women in sports and gaming to help grow the community.

Eric Zaltas developed an affinity for pedaling hard and the science of nutrition at a young age. Growing up in the Bronx, New York, this meant racing bikes through Central Park and attending the Bronx High School of Science. After college, he raced full time for the US National Road Team collecting 75 career victories including a US National Championship in the Team Trial. Amidst his bike racing career, Eric had the unique opportunity to base out of Switzerland, the home of Nestle world headquarters. While in Switzerland Zaltas helped lead research collaborations with some of the top sports scientists in the world including the UK-based Asker Jeukendrup and Louise Burk of Australia. In the realm of fueling for performance, Eric and his colleagues helped provide evidence based clarity by testing common questions in the lab and implementing them in the field. Eric doesn't have a PhD after his name– though he certainly could– if only he wasn't so busy spending his spare time with extracurricular activities. Hammering up all the famous climbs in the Alps, racing IM Switzerland, and prepping for his next marathon is just who he is–and I think that's a good thing. Here are the key questions Eric helps to answer in this episode of the podcast: -Carb Loading: Is it still a thing? If so, how do we do it? -Solids vs. semi-solids: salted red potatoes + bacon or caffeinated cake frosting? -Day to day Pre-session fueling: What, when, how? -How does a person train the gut to absorb what it needs for long efforts? -General parameters for intra-session fueling. -Protein: post training when and how much? If you'd like to support the podcast click here to donate or via the link below: https://www.gofundme.com/f/andrew-fast-podcast?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/andrew-fast/support

Nancy Fiddler came late to elite ski racing having had started skiing in college. Her world cup career started when she was 31 years old. Despite this Nancy won 14 US National Championship titles. She participated in both the 1988 and 1992 Olympic games. At the 1991 World Championships she finished 15th place. Nancy also coached and worked in the ski industry at Mammoth Mountain. Recently Nancy in a collaboration with others finished the book Trail to Gold which tells the story of the US Female Olympic Nordic ski racers. The interview exposes how things were in the US and elite ski scene in the late 80s and early 90s. Nancy also gives her thoughts on many topics and some really valuable advice at the end. I think this is an important interview with an amazing athlete and person. I hope you think so too.

After a 2-week break from recording, we are back In The Red just in time for the US National Championships. In this episode, Curtis recaps Pan Ams, talks about his mindset heading into the biggest race of the season, and Tony has a Flo-spiracy that you won't want to miss.  @curtisjwhite www.curtisjwhite.com

In episode 114, I spoke with elite runner Mike Wardian. Mike Wardian is quite simply one of the world's best ultra runners. He loves to compete, run and see what his best looks like. I would list all his achievements and races but I'll leave it here, Mike has competed in nearly 300 marathons and over 100 ultramarathons all over the world. Mike has competed in the US Olympic Trials three times (2004, 2008, and 2012), has won the 50k and 100k US National Championships, and is a four-time USA Track & Field Ultra Runner of the Year. In 2019, he ran 20 marathons, including setting a world record for running 10 marathons in 10 days on seven continents, and running across the entire country of Israel in 10 days, setting a new FKT for the Israel National Trail. We spoke about some of the things you'd expect, but we also spoke about how poker chess and beekeeping relate to running and developing an adaptable mindset. Plus we spoke about so much more that he hasn't covered in other conversations. You can follow him Instagram: @mikewardian Twitter: @mikewardian Facebook: www.facebook.com/michaelwardian ————————————————————— Thank you to my patreons your help pays for editing, equipment and much more. If you value the content I deliver, please consider becoming a supporter of my podcast by donating via my patreon page. This helps me provide quality content. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marcus-brown9/support

Rose Grant is the current and 5x marathon MTB national champion and 2x Leadville 100 MTB Champ. She has been a member of the US National Championship team 4 times, and has accumulated countless podium finishes and across the world over the course of her Mountain bike racing career. Balancing life as an athlete, wife, and mother is a difficult task, and Rose is no exception! In today's episode, I sit down with Rose and she tells us how God has brought her from a place of pain and shamefulness to a place of freedom. She shares how, although her journey was hard and full of injury and devastation, she can look back at how the Lord intervened on her behalf every time. I hope that our conversation will bring you hope that although there may be pain in the night, joy is coming in the morning. In this episode you will hear: Rose Grant's mountain bike career How the enemy uses isolation How God restored her marriage For all things mentioned in this episode visit click HERE.

Welcome to the 108th Episode of the Ministry of Dice – the UK based, bi-weekly best in Dice Masters podcast chat. We've got to accept that, with the wait for the mythical Q1 releases there's very little to actually talk about, so you better strap in for a very old school episode of the MoD, re-visiting the randomness of our early days LOL We start, as usual, by getting the latest ins & outs on what the lads have been up to with the 2-week review – what game they've been playing, who won the Dice Masters stream match this week, and what has Chris been posting on the YouTube channel. Then its on to a Community Focus. There's a quick reminder about Roll for the north 2 (link below) and then we announce the next MoD Dice Masters vs Cancer fundraising event. Head on over to the BritRollerSix.com blog for the details tomorrow. Then we have a classic Ministry of Dice “Ramble-y chat” about IPs we wouldn't want to see in Dice Masters. Andy brings his usual, controversial flair to his list, but you'll have to decide whether Chris was intentionally trolling you all or not

Mike Wardian is quite simply one of the world's best ultra runners. Name an event and the chances are Mike's done it. He's competed all over the globe, raced at the US Olympic Trials, and holds numerous world records.Mike grew up in Virginia, graduating from Oakton High School, where he took part in and won his first ever race – a Turkey Trot with a free school lunch up for grabs. However, Mike's running story isn't one of love at first sight. He played lacrosse as a kid and only started running (“to keep fit”) in his junior year at Michigan State University, and didn't run competitively until after college.It all began in 1996, when Mike heard that his friend's Mum was running the Boston Marathon. He thought it sounded like fun, so trained for the Marine Corps Marathon and qualified for Boston by running a 3:06. He competed in his first Boston Marathon a year later in 1997 (he's since ran it 19 more times!) and was completely hooked from that moment onwards.Since then, Mike has competed in nearly 300 marathons and over 100 ultramarathons all over the world. Indeed, racing as much as humanly possible has become somewhat of a trademark for Mike. In 2019 alone, he ran 20 marathons, including setting a world record for running 10 marathons in 10 days on seven continents, and running across the entire country of Israel in 10 days, setting a new FKT for the Israel National Trail.Mike has competed in the US Olympic Trials three times (2004, 2008, and 2012), has won the 50k and 100k US National Championships, and is a four-time USA Track & Field Ultra Runner of the Year.Perhaps most unbelievably, Mike manages to do all of this whilst holding down a full-time job as an international ship broker (rumour has it he hasn't slept since 1996). He lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife and two teenage boys, who often travel with him on his wild adventuresMike can be found over on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/mikewardian/?hl=enIn addition, Hoka One One NZ is giving away one of their NEW Rincon 3 road shoe for NZ based listeners - amazing! Click here to enter the competition: https://forms.gle/eK3USgSPnChFSuNp7Click here for more detail on the Rincon 3 road shoe: https://hoka.co.nz/collections/rincon?gclid=CjwKCAjwzOqKBhAWEiwArQGwaAsfzUW714_HMF4Xjifk3zzrvjRvWEzUxlgwf7E7nc6mnqte69pXJRoCa_4QAvD_BwE Mikki's linkshttps://mikkiwilliden.com/https://www.facebook.com/mikkiwillidennutritionhttps://www.instagram.com/mikkiwilliden/https://linktr.ee/mikkiwilliden

Jonathan Marcus is an American running coach, meet director, podcaster, and total running geek. Jonathan has over 15 years of experience and success developing runnings of all levels and abilities. He's coached several US Olympic Trials and US National Championships qualifiers as well as individual champions at the high school, college, and professional levels. In 2015, Jonathan founded High-Performance West. Originally a track & field club for national class athletes based in Portland, Ore., HPW has evolved to become an online platform that strives to inform, educate, and better running coaches of all levels by publishing regular free and paid subscription content of the highest quality. In addition to coaching, Jonathan has dedicated his career in athletics to providing highly competitive opportunities for runners at the local and national levels. He is a founding meet director of notable American high-performance middle distance meets such as: Portland Track Festival, Adrian Martinez Classic, the USATF Middle Distance Classic (formerly OXY High Performance), and Sunset Tour. He also served as the elite fields coordinator for the Brooks PR Meet, an elite High School track & field meet, and the FloTrack Throwdown High-Performance Meet. In 2011, Jonathan was recognized by USATF as the Long Distance Chairman of the Year for his efforts to advance long-distance running opportunities in the state of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Jonathan is the co-host of the On Coaching podcast with Magness & Marcus, started in 2015 with his good friend and colleague Steve Magness. Steve and Jonathan founded the Magness & Marcus Scholar Program, a continuing education program aimed at providing distance running coaches of all levels with relevant and practical information and knowledge in the form of online courses and programs of study. His most recent project, Super Running Training, provides 1-on-1 coaching, training, recovery, and club membership services to runners of all levels and abilities. Jonathan currently holds a Level 1 Coaching Certification from USATF and Strength & Conditioning Certification from USTFCCCA. He enjoys working with runners of all levels and currently lives in Oregon with his wife, Kristen. Coach Marcus takes us through his myriad of mentors and experiences to develop him as a coach. Jonathan talks about what he learned NOT to do as a coach. He continues on to discuss the importance of creating great experiences for our athletes. Coach talks about stressing the process over accolades. Johnathan talks about how expectation is the killer of joy. We discuss the importance of the human element in coaching over the X's and O's. Coach Marcus talks about the vitality of funding needed for coaching and educators. Jonathan educates us on his takes aways he learned from going back to teaching the roots of track & field in high school. He then walks us through some of the training progressions he did with an abbreviated season. Coach explains how Covid has forced us to be better at what we do as coaches. We discuss the reality of the identity crises most coaches will face in their careers. Coach and I chat about reframing poor moments into something positive to better ourselves. For elite performance technology please visit: https://store.simplifaster.com/sku/83/ To purchase the Sprinter's Compendium visit: https://store.vervante.com/c/v/V4081803315.html To follow Coach Marcus on Twitter @jmarpdx --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ryan-joseph-banta/support

Brett Lanpher joins Chase from On the Table Gaming to talk about the recent Organized Play news for A Song of Ice and Fire the Miniatures Game as well as the upcoming 2021 US National Championship. Things are starting to pick back up but please follow your local guidelines for public health and safety. 2021 … Continue reading On the Table Gaming Ep 109: Organized Play and ASOIAF 2021 US National Championship with Brett Lanpher →

Christian Deschamps (Hot Tubes Cycling) and Lucas Bourgoyne (Hagens Berman Axeon) came on to talk about their recent US National Championship wins, obstacles they faced this year, and the importance of resiliency. Christian is the 2021 US Crit champion for U19 Cat 1-3 and Lucas is the 2021 US Crit champion for U23 P12. Both are currently racing in Europe with their teams.  Music: Back to the Woods by Jason Shaw Links: Hagens Berman Axeon Hot Tubes Cycling Blazing Saddles Stage Race Sun City Crit Wild West Shootout Crit Fort Hood Challenge --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dropbartexas/message

Kendall Reusing is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt instructor and world champion living in Southern California. She is widely regarded as one of the top competitors of her generation. After a successful career as a freestyle wrestler, Reusing dominated the super-heavyweight division as a colored belt, before joining the black belt brackets in July 2019. During her first 6 months in BJJ's professional division, Kendall conquered the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World No-Gi Championship in both her weight and the absolute division (open weight), cementing her status as one of the top tier athletes in the sport.She has traveled around the states for competitions and training seminars. The demands for traveling will only increase as her skills are showcased more and more. We have a great talk about balancing her diet while traveling while still enjoying the cities she visits as much as possible.Kendall Reusing BiographyWith a sporty and outgoing personality from an early age, Kendall went through an array of activities as a child, from gymnastics to judo, wrestling, jiu-jitsu as well as singing and acting.Brazilian jiu-jitsu was the first martial art Reusing engaged in, a sport she initiated at the age of 5, through her parents' influence. Kendall's father, Tom Reusing had moved from the southeastern state of Georgia to California, years before she was born to study jiu-jitsu and gradually instilled in his daughter the same love for martial arts.By the time Kendall was 7, she was already practicing BJJ (with coach Ricardo Guimarães and dad, Tom) as well as judo, sports she broke from as a 13-year-old, to focus on her wrestling career. Reusing spent the following 6 years on those wrestling mats, winning a California State Championship, as well as 4 US National Championships in high school.In 2012 Reusing started wrestling with Team USA internationally, training at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for a few years, competing at the World Teams and several international teams tournaments at various levels, going on represent the Simon Fraser University (British Columbia) for 1 year (2015-2016), before returning to California, and jiu-jitsu, in 2016.Once home, Kendall Reusing quickly made up for lost time, conquering some of the top events available in BJJ's colored belt divisions. Her numerous wins were the catalyst for her black belt promotion, a promotion that took place in July 2019, led by Tom Reusing.SUBSCRIBEYou can subscribe to The Travel Wins Podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, YouTube, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spreaker, Podnews, Castbox, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, and Amazon.The Travel Wins intro song by Allison Johnson and Steve StevensWebsite Design by Stack Host#kendallreusing #reusing #bjj

Kendall Reusing is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt instructor and world champion living in Southern California. She is widely regarded as one of the top competitors of her generation. After a successful career as a freestyle wrestler, Reusing dominated the super-heavyweight division as a colored belt, before joining the black belt brackets in July 2019. During her first 6 months in BJJ's professional division, Kendall conquered the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World No-Gi Championship in both her weight and the absolute division (open weight), cementing her status as one of the top tier athletes in the sport.She has traveled around the states for competitions and training seminars. The demands for traveling will only increase as her skills are showcased more and more. We have a great talk about balancing her diet while traveling while still enjoying the cities she visits as much as possible.Kendall Reusing BiographyWith a sporty and outgoing personality from an early age, Kendall went through an array of activities as a child, from gymnastics to judo, wrestling, jiu-jitsu as well as singing and acting.Brazilian jiu-jitsu was the first martial art Reusing engaged in, a sport she initiated at the age of 5, through her parents' influence. Kendall's father, Tom Reusing had moved from the southeastern state of Georgia to California, years before she was born to study jiu-jitsu and gradually instilled in his daughter the same love for martial arts.By the time Kendall was 7, she was already practicing BJJ (with coach Ricardo Guimarães and dad, Tom) as well as judo, sports she broke from as a 13-year-old, to focus on her wrestling career. Reusing spent the following 6 years on those wrestling mats, winning a California State Championship, as well as 4 US National Championships in high school.In 2012 Reusing started wrestling with Team USA internationally, training at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for a few years, competing at the World Teams and several international teams tournaments at various levels, going on represent the Simon Fraser University (British Columbia) for 1 year (2015-2016), before returning to California, and jiu-jitsu, in 2016.Once home, Kendall Reusing quickly made up for lost time, conquering some of the top events available in BJJ's colored belt divisions. Her numerous wins were the catalyst for her black belt promotion, a promotion that took place in July 2019, led by Tom Reusing.SUBSCRIBEYou can subscribe to The Travel Wins Podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, YouTube, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spreaker, Podnews, Castbox, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, and Amazon.The Travel Wins intro song by Allison Johnson and Steve StevensWebsite Design by Stack Host#kendallreusing #reusing #bjj

In this episode of The Greg Bennett Show, I chat with my neighbor, Frank Shorter in Boulder, Colorado   Frank is a remarkable man, who by all accounts is the father of the modern running boom. His Olympic marathon gold in 1972, is generally regarded as the launch of this running movement. He followed this gold medal performance 4 years later at the Montreal Olympics with a silver medal behind an unknown East German who was later documented to be part of that nation's doping system.   Throughout the 1970s he won a multitude of US National Championships over the 5k, 10k, and marathon distances. He won the ‘Fukuoka International marathon Championship' on 4 occasions.   But he's more than a runner and Olympic Champion, he was instrumental in helping athletes make a living from what at the time was mostly amateur. And from 2000 to 2003, he was the chairman of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, a body that he helped to establish.   This was a very special conversation for me. It truly felt like he was chatting with one of the great icons of the world of sport. Frank shares his journey into running and when he realized that he had some ability. He describes the emotions of the terrorist attacks on the 1972 Olympics and how he had to compartmentalize the trauma of what happened and focus on the job at hand. He discusses the running into the stadium at those Games with a 2-minute lead and he shares the 1976 Montreal Games, and his thoughts on drugs in sport, his relationship with USA iconic runner Steve Prefontaine and the impact of his sudden death. And so much more.   If you love sport, if you love sports history then this is a must-listen. Do yourself a favor and listen through to the end. You won't be disappointed.   Discount Codes and Deals   Athletic Greens - a FREE year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase by visiting athleticgreens.com/greg   Hyperice - Click https://bit.ly/3jzyFDa for exclusive offers on all Hyperice products or visit at hyperice.com and use the code mentioned in the show   FormSwim Goggles - formswim.com/greg for $15 off - The coupon will be automatically added to the cart. Or use code GREG2021 at checkout.   Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26936856 "The Greg Bennett Show" -  

Newly Crowned US 93 kg Champion Jonathan Cayco reveals the battle he faced on and off the platform to secure his second US National Championship.His dramatic win by 0.5 kilo to nudge ahead of Gavin Adin with a final titanic pull is recapped, as well as the intense adversity he faced leading up to Nationals. 

For today's episode, we've got ultrarunner Addie Bracy (@addiebracy) in the lab. Addie ran track at the University of North Carolina, and is a three time qualifier at the US Olympic Trials. Since 2016, she's embraced the world of trail running, winning three US National Championships and helping Team USA to gold and silver medals at the World Championships.Addie represent Nike Trail, and at ultra distances, she's finished 2nd at Leadville and 9th at Western States, and recently co-set the unsupported FKT for the Rim to Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon. Addie graduated from the University of Denver with her graduate degree in Sport Psychology, and specializes in working with runners and adventure/endurance athletes like skiers and climbers through her private practice, Strive Mental Performance. In this episode, Addie shares her lessons learned after interviewing the top athletes in ultrarunning on her way to publishing the book ‘Mental Training for Ultrarunning'. Her experience as both an elite performer and a mental performance coach puts her in the unique position to understand and explain what the best are doing with their mental skills. We cover the power of starting with a curious mindset, why confidence journaling is so effective, and how to dance with the uncertainty and discomfort that comes with performing at your edge. 

In this episode we talk about everything that happened at 2021 US National Championships! Check out All Things Gymnastics podcast for part two of our discussion of 2021 Nationals, including our new Olympic team predictions, our feelings about who was NOT invited to Trials, and more. Follow All Things Gymnastics on Twitter and Instagram @allthingsgympod and go listen to part two! They're so lovely and we're so excited to share these episodes.linktr.ee/HIHOPodcastMorgan's Day 2 Floor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZJWQiCX3q4

Reese Hanneman has represented the US 36 times in World Cup and Olympic Games. Reese has 4 US National Championships wins all in the sprints. He also won a NorAm race in 2016 in the Classic sprint. Reese has been on the US National Championship podium 9 times including a 2nd in 15k Classic and a 3rd in 50k Classic. Reese has 7 SuperTour wins. He retired from World Cup racing in 2018 but then did the Tour de Ski China in 2019. Reese was the feature athlete in the Toko Winter Warrior ads and thus is also known as the Winter Warrior. Since retiring, Reese has gotten his degree in Mechanical Engineering, focused on developing his marketing and PR firm, and also has a travel service start up. Reese and his brother Logan both were on the 2018 US Olympic team. Reese lives in Anchorage with his wife Jessica who is expecting their first child shortly. I loved every minute of this interview and hope you do too.

David Freedman a 6th generation business owner stays true to the roots of the family business and innovates into the 21st Century. Listen to hear his secrets to success. https://freedmanharness.com/ TRANSCRIPTION: Speaker 1: From his first job flipping burgers at McDonald’s and delivering The Washington Post, Craig Willett counts only one and a half years of his adult life working for someone else. Welcome to The Biz Sherpa podcast with your host, Craig Willett. Founder of several multimillion-dollar businesses and trusted advisor to other business owners, he’s giving back to help business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs achieve fulfillment, enhance their lives, and create enduring wealth. The Biz Sherpa. Craig Willett: This is Craig Willett, the Biz Sherpa, joining you today from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’m pleased to have with me David Freedman, who’s a premier harness maker, saddle maker, and leather goods maker. He started out six generations ago. He’s the sixth generation in the family of harness makers. I hope you get a good flavor for what a good business family the Freedman family is, and particularly what David’s been able to do and innovate today. Welcome, David. David Freedman: Thank you, Craig. Craig Willett: Glad to have you as a guest today, and David hails from Toronto, Ontario, Canada and has also figured out how to have a business in the United States, not just on the road, but permanently. Maybe you can tell us a little bit about what it’s like to be a sixth-generation business owner. David Freedman: Well, that’s obviously a long-winded answer that I would come up with to answer this question. But it’s interesting to be part of a very old family business. And I think it goes through a lot of different stages. I’ve been on my own since ’91, since my dad’s passing, so quite a few years already. As a young man, apprenticing under my father for nine years, hearing about the family business, hearing about its movement from Europe to Canada and how my grandfather came over, and restarted in Toronto. Craig Willett: And so, where did they start in Europe? David Freedman: My grandfather came from Poland in 1910 to Toronto, and set up shop in downtown and his work primarily was for drays and street delivery wagons in the early 1900s. That was the— Craig Willett: Before the car. David Freedman: Before the car. And that was the mode of transportation and delivery and commerce, Things were moved around. And back then, people didn’t buy a complete set of harness for their milk wagon, or bread wagon, or delivery dray. They bought parts and pieces, and there was a lot of repairs. My father used to tell me as a young boy, he remembers downtown in Toronto on Center Avenue there’d be a lineup of these delivery drivers all around the corner waiting for my grandfather to open up the shop so they could come in. And it’d be to splice a rein, put a new piece in it, or repair a trace, which is the piece of leather that connects the horse to the wagon, or put a stitch in, or something to that effect or— Craig Willett: So, they could do their work for the day. David Freedman: So, they could get their work done for the day or pick up and go on. And I have these old logs, really interesting old log books. And it’d say “Borden’s Dairy. Splice a trace. Five cents.” “Repair up tug,” which is a part on the set of harness, “20 cents,” and totals it up for the month. It would be, total for the month is $23 or something to this effect. And I’m not even sure how— Craig Willett: In 1910. David Freedman: And beyond, I’m not even so sure how these guys carved out a living back then. But somehow they managed to carve it out and make it happen. Craig Willett: So, it’s definitely a trade that has to be learned. It’s not something you can just pick up and say, “Hey, I want to be a harness maker someday” and buy a business and be able to do it without skill. David Freedman: Exactly. My grandfather had an interesting thing happen to him. A gentleman by the name of Eddie Godfrey, who was English who worked in the Chicago stock yards, had an aunt that lived outside of Toronto in a small town called Bobcaygeon. And it was his only family in North America. So Eddie moved to Toronto, somehow found my grandfather, and they worked together for years and years. Because Eddie had worked in Chicago stock yards because he was from England, he knew the finer side of making Hackney harness, fine harness, carriage harness. And Eddie would be the man that would teach my father at the ripe old age of 10 how to make this fine quality workmanship and finer types of harness different than what my grandfather made from the street. Back in those days, if you had a sewing machine or a harness stitching machine, it was a sign of laziness and poor quality. So, everything was done by hand and anything that was done by a machine in the daytime, the machine was covered up with a tarp so the old teamsters and drivers couldn’t see. Craig Willett: Oh, really? You were doing it by hand. David Freedman: Exactly, you weren’t doing it the old-fashioned way. So, Eddie taught my father all the finer points. My father tells me at 10 years old, he remembers Eddie picking him up, sitting him up on the bench, and my dad watching this all day long, watching Eddie work. I think that relationship with my grandfather lasted—oh, well into the—right through World War II, actually. Craig Willett: Really? David Freedman: Until Eddie passed away. Craig Willett: So, how did the family—what was the evolution like because then the cars came in. So the heavy duty work harnesses probably became less and less in demand to be made and to be repaired. David Freedman: That’s right. They became obsolete, just like the horse and the wagon as we knew it. And this was the only trade my father really knew. He was trying to make ends meet. He was trying to figure out what to do with his life. And he went to the first Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, famous indoor horse show after World War II, and was actually driving a cab. And he looked around and he saw American Saddlebreds. He saw Hackney ponies. He saw people with private carriages and coaches, and hunters and jumpers. As a visionary guy, my father was really bright this way, said, “These things are not going to go away. There’s going to be people that horses create value for and they’re going to want to do things with these horses that were different than my grandfather did.” And he had the skills and knowledge from Eddie how to make this harness— Craig Willett: And a love and a passion for leather, I’m sure. David Freedman: Exactly. With a grade six education self-taught to read and write— Craig Willett: Really, grade six? David Freedman: Grade six. So, a gentleman that woke up every morning and read the newspaper sort of start to finish, was interested in sports, but had a real passion for quality and emulating the past. Craig Willett: So, he was driving cab to make ends meet and he saw this horse show, and it inspired him to take—what step came next for him? David Freedman: He was working, doing some work and trying to make ends meet. And he managed to—he had a couple of friends that were in the Hackney pony business in the Toronto area. And slowly, through a couple of different barns he got bigger and bigger and bigger. He was introduced to the Armstrong family, famous family from the Toronto area that had ABC farms. They had a lot of Hackney ponies and horses. And— Craig Willett: And so, they had a lot of demand for harnesses like these to show. David Freedman: That’s right. But even then, they weren’t ordering complete sets. “Here son, make three bridles.” My dad would go back and make the three bridles. Three bridles, it’d be like an order for 50 sets today, especially for a one man shop. So, he got a lot of nice little orders like that. And then grew and grew and grew until he met some people from England named Frank and Cynthia Hayden—and this would be in the late ’60s and sort of mid ’60s—and they took his work to England, which— Craig Willett: Really? David Freedman: —brought him international fame right away because nobody overseas was doing this type of work. Craig Willett: Really? So his craftsmanship that he learned as a 10 year old sitting on the bench became world famous. David Freedman: Very quickly. And sometimes it’s a question of how many people are doing the same thing you’re doing and it’s also a question of who you know, not what you know. So, I think the combination of those two things took him international right away. Craig Willett: What was the purpose of the Haydens taking the harnesses to England? David Freedman: They were showing a lot of horses and ponies as well. They were deeply involved with the royal family, with a lot of coaching and carriage driving in England, and they also worked for an astute gentlemen in Amenia, New York named Chauncey Stillman, who had a lot of coaches and carriages as well. And they also worked for a family in Toronto, and they traveled the world working with Hackney ponies and horses for different people. Craig Willett: So, people saw his workmanship in Europe and all of a sudden they were sending orders back to your dad to make them. David Freedman: It didn’t take long, but it wasn’t enough business still. Craig Willett: Really? David Freedman: Just about sometime in the ’50s, nighttime Standardbred racing took off in Canada. There was no Toronto Blue Jays. There was no NBA. There was the Toronto Maple Leafs, and we had our Canadian Football League and that was it. So if you wanted to do anything other than going to your Sunday night bowling league, you had to go to Parimutuel betting, you had to go to the Standardbred or Thoroughbred races, and nighttime Standardbred racing became a big thing and he— Craig Willett: And they need harnesses for that. David Freedman: And they need a lot of harness. So, through the— Craig Willett: And heavy duty because that’s— David Freedman: That’s right. ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s he was building 1000 sets a year of this harness and supplementing the Standardbred business with the high-end quality of the Hackney and Saddlebred and some Morgan, Arabian business as well. Craig Willett: Wow. And now today you continue. We’re here at the US National Championship for the Arabian horses. So, you continue to go to the shows for Saddlebreds, which I’ve showed in before, and I use your harness and love it. And it’s been a key to my success. You taught me a long time ago that the harness, if it’s set right, should help do all the work because that’s where your leverage points are. So you’re not, as the driver, having to do all the work. But anyway, you go to the Morgan nationals, so you travel quite a bit to get to these shows. How did your dad—is this something you started to do? Or is this something your dad started to do? How did you get out of the shop in Canada and into the showroom at the horse shows? David Freedman: I remember this really distinctly, Craig. My father was a—he was a “just do it” kind of person. I remember we’d go to a few shows. We’d go to a carriage driving show and my dad went to Devon every year. Sometimes I went with him, and sometimes I didn’t, but on foot, never with a booth or a display. And I’d asked him in the early ’80s when I first came into the business, “What have you not done with this business that you always wanted to do?” Because I really didn’t want to rest on his laurels. And I’ll circle back to how he enabled us all to move ahead. And he said, “I always wanted to make handbags and belts and high-end leather goods. And that’s something that I have always wanted to do, I just didn’t have the opportunity to do it.” So, I took the bull by the horns and started going down this road, and I’d met some people from New York City that have worked with Ralph Lauren. And they wanted to meet me. So, I said to my dad, “Hey, dad, these guys want to meet me in New York City.” Craig Willett: Boy, people that worked for Ralph Lauren, that’s quite an opportunity. David Freedman: It was an interesting opportunity. Now, cross-telephone conversation between our buckle supplier and their buckle supplier in England. And at that time, this buckle supplier had a little bit of a liquid lunch every day. So he got me confused with the guys in New York— Craig Willett: Oh, really? David Freedman: And he started calling me by this gentleman’s name, and it was a little bit confusing. So, I ended up calling this guy up saying, “Hey, we’ve got the same buckle supplier,” and we hit it off on the phone. He said, “What do you do?” I said, “I make harnesses, saddles, and et cetera in Toronto.” “Oh, maybe you can make belts for us.” Come on down in New York City and meet us. I thought, “Okay, that’s great.” So I went and told my dad, I said, “Dad, I met these guys on the phone.” And everything was phone those days. And my dad said to me something I’ll never never forget, which has been an interesting piece of my life. He said, “Just jump on the airplane and go meet them.” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “Just go buy a ticket and jump on a plane and go.” Craig Willett: And you’re like, “We’ve never done that before.” David Freedman: Yeah, we didn’t do that kind of thing. Craig Willett: We sit here and take orders and fulfill orders and ship them all over the world. David Freedman: So, I jumped on the airplane and bought a ticket and went down there. And those days, maybe I flew once a year, once every other year on family vacation or something like that, but it wasn’t like now where—pre-pandemic—when you’re on the airplane every other week. And he was so encouraging to reach out, go for what you want, and explore it that it changed my life and made me global quickly. Craig Willett: So, your vision became taking what your dad’s inspiration was. He was visionary to going into show harnesses and saddles and seeing this opportunity going from the old industry of commercial harnesses for work purposes to now something fancier. He had a vision also of handbags and leather goods. But he really planted that seed in your mind. So how did that meeting go with Ralph Lauren in New York? David Freedman: It actually went really well. We did some work for them for a number of years, private label. And we had a great relationship with those people. We did a bunch of different things in the private label corps. After my dad’s passing in ’91 when you’re looking at what you’re doing and where you’re going, I started to really struggle with doing anything wholesale. I didn’t think the margins were there and available to bank on all this handwork and hand labor that we were doing. And we were in a recession—’91, ’92—and I sort of stepped away from the entire wholesale business. I’d get phone calls from these guys. “Hey, Freedman, when are you coming to New York? What’s happening? What are you showing us? What do you have for us?” And I was more about, “Well, I’m going to retool here and figure out what I’m going to do in Toronto and try and make some harness.” Craig Willett: So, how’d you take it to the next level? I mean, you can sit back and continue to fill orders for your retail customers in your—with the reputation you had worldwide, but now I see, and our viewers will see what you have here a little bit later, but you have quite a display and quite a range of product. How did you decide to take that on the route? David Freedman: I think it’s a question of change over time and being cognizant of that possible change. At that particular time in my life, I had a business mentor. I’ve had many over the years that sat me down. My parents had passed away close together, 10 months apart, and I was pretty much down in the dumps in ’92. I didn’t know what I was doing. I really didn’t have a lot of direction or purpose. I’d just been married, and was trying to find a way to support my family. Craig Willett: So, you’re hitting the reset button in ’92. You’re going, “Hey, wait, I’ve got this business. My dad passed away. There’s a legacy here, a family legacy I want to preserve. Now I got to figure out what to do with it. David Freedman: And they’re big shoes to fill because my dad had this international reputation. So, it’s a question of, are you hitting the hard reset, or are you hitting the full reset? It was a question of what’s going on? And I had this business mentor—he was a real fashion Maven, he had a lot of retail stores. And he sat me down and he said, “What do you do for a living?” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “What do you do for a living?” I said, “Well, I make harness, belts, handbags, small leather goods, men’s and ladies.” He said, “No, no, no, what do you do?” I said, “Well, I make harness and—” Wound off the same thing. And he said to me— and I was struggling at all of it. None of it was going really well. And international reputation for doing the best work around and being the best you can be, and here I am— Craig Willett: That’s a lot of pressure. So, that’s one of the things going from fourth, fifth to sixth generation. It’s hard because there’s a big shoes to fill, and it can be overwhelming. David Freedman: Very hard and very overwhelming. And after I said this over and over again to this gentleman, he said to me, “Don’t you guys have an international reputation for building the best harness?” I said, “Yes, we do.” Then he said to me, “What are you doing building belts and handbags? Nobody knows you in that business. That’s going to be a difficult business at retail to meet people, to get it out to the mainstream, nobody knows what you do, nobody understands the story.” And that sort of— Craig Willett: Let alone the cost to promote it. If you have a reputation, then the cost to market this is considerably less than trying to get into a retail market. David Freedman: Exactly, and I was struggling. You’re in the middle of a recession, I couldn’t get paid by these retail stores. So not only did you have a hard time making the goods, then you couldn’t collect the money, and all these different things. So, that set me back and I let it all go, and then all these belts and handbags sort of went to the wayside, and— Craig Willett: And went back to the core of the family business. David Freedman: Right back to the core competency of the business. Luckily, in ’93, there was a world championship horse show in Gladstone, New Jersey for carriage driving, for driving two horses at one time, and it gave us a chance to again relaunch the company, reposition the company as what we did. And we filled our order book. So, we didn’t look back. Once we filled that order book, things started to really move on the carriage driving side, fine carriage driving for antique carriages, reproduction harness, really bespoke type work. And— Craig Willett: And there are some major competitions around the world in that. David Freedman: There are, there are, and we had some really good clients that helped us get all the best work that we could possibly get into the shop. And we had a small crew, I think we had maybe seven people working at that time in the shop, old artisans, most of them were inherited through my father, through inheriting the business. So, whether— Craig Willett: So, these were true craftsmen that knew the trade. David Freedman: And whether I wanted to do things my way or not, they were getting done their way. So, because they’re inherited. So, that’s just the way it’s going to be. So that’s sort of how it went. Craig Willett: So, it’s not like you can just go out on the street and say, “I need a harness maker and you put an ad in the paper. I can hire one.” David Freedman: Very difficult trade to hire skilled people for, and getting obviously more difficult as time goes by. We can hire different allied trades from the shoe side, from the handbag, or even jackets side. Craig Willett: And translate some of their skills. David Freedman: Some of them. Craig Willett: Right. But I think what’s really interesting, though, is that you went back to the core business, and I think easily, and it happens to all of us in business we think, “Okay, I’m going to try to be all things to all people and people like our stuff and there’s demand and when that demand goes away, really you have to look at what is your core. So, you were able to capitalize on that in the harness making business. David Freedman: And I wanted to learn all about it. Everything about this part of the business. Craig Willett: So, how did you go about learning it? David Freedman: Like everything else I do, I threw myself into it. I went to as many shows as possible, talked to as many people as possible, learnt a lot about antique carriages, and about all their equipment, equipage, and how these things should be harnessed and with what types of horses and all the appointments, and everything surrounding it. Read a lot of books, and it became very, very interesting. And that market was growing, so that was great at the time. We always had our finger on the pulse of the American Saddlebred and Hackney pony business, but they weren’t as key or in the forefront as they have been the last 10 or 12 years, or even more now, but— Craig Willett: Well, you said something really interesting too, that I’d like to follow up a little bit about and that is, you not only went to the show, and you got orders, but you said you had some good clients who made sure you got good orders. So how did that go about? Because it seems to me there’s a relationship here. It’s not just “Okay, we’re great harness makers, but we care about people.” Because you went out and taught yourself by talking to people. And that’s—sometimes we get stuck sitting back in our shops or back in our offices thinking we’re going to brainstorm and come up with the best idea in a vacuum, so to speak, and you strike me as an individual who has been successful, because you’ve lost yourself out there, exposed yourself to your weaknesses and your strengths, but put yourself in front of people. How did that go? You said some good clients, how did that come about in New Jersey? David Freedman: You’ve got to put yourself out there, like you said, and these people were spending quite a bit of money. And they’re taking a piece of your heart in respect to your workmanship, because you’re putting your heart and soul into this workmanship. So at that level, I felt that I need to have relationships where I got to know these people and their families and what they do and exactly what they were doing with this harness that we were building. You’re talking 20, 30, 40, 50, even $60,000 set of harness. That’s a big piece of time, and a big piece of your heart and soul and life. And I’ve gotten some great business advice over the years. Martha Stewart told me years ago—I was doing some work for her—she said, “Don’t take on a client that won’t take you to your next clients because that’s just a waste of time.” Craig Willett: Wow. David Freedman: And I thought, “Okay. So, if Craig Willett knows somebody, he can introduce me to somebody else that may need my wares.” And that’s how I’ve sort of built this whole reputation along. Craig Willett: And I know you’re not just saying that too because I’ve experienced it. I can walk in at any show, and you could be with a client or a customer, and you’ll always remember my name. And that makes me want to come back and makes me want to tell other people about your product. David Freedman: Yeah, I think on the retail side of meeting people and selling people, it’s still about relationships. I think the buyer experience is a little bit more than just pushing buy online. Sure, if they know what they’re purchasing, and they’ve purchased it before, that’s fine. But I think there’s more value in building relationship, especially if you’re building a reputation. Craig Willett: So, I can go online and buy these harnesses, and headstalls, and everything, right? David Freedman: And people do, all the time. And we are not ever surprised by the people that buy them because they’re people that we have already met at shows. They’ve already done their research. Craig Willett: Right, so some of your repeat is they know what they’re going to get. David Freedman: They know what they’re buying. They know what they’re going to get. They understand the consistencies and how they work here. And they are okay with the purchase, the product that they’ve purchased with that user experience. Craig Willett: So, David, one thing that our audience really is curious about, and I think they should be, is how do you deal with the customers? There’s so many options out there, you have competition, how do you stay ahead and stay foremost in the mind of your target audience? David Freedman: Well, that’s a pretty deep question. I think you—I think it all comes down to product. You still have to have the product. You still have to uphold your reputation and the values that are true to you and your family and your business because these businesses, these old family businesses, they morph and they change, but you have to steward this somewhere, whether it’s for yourself or for the next generation. We try to let the product do the talking in respects to building great products. We try and build products that people want, and we try and build products that are in demand. And I don’t ever profess to be a product genius in respects to coming up with products on the market that nobody has. I just make sure I keep my ear to the ground, and listen to our horse trainers, and listen to our industry experts that dictate what products the industry needs. And then I develop those products for the need. Craig Willett: So, you kind of go to the experts even in the industry. So, if I’m new in the show business, which I was at one point, and I’m sitting there trying to decide I need a harness for a horse because I’ve decided this is something I want to do, I may find you at a show, or I may talk to someone I trust who’s training my horse, and they may know you and your workmanship and say, “You really need to go visit with David Freedman. He’s got the right equipment for your horse.” Is that kind of how it is? I mean, how do you get people to influence people and drive traffic to you? David Freedman: It’s exactly how that is, Craig. And really, what happens is these trainers subconsciously know that my product is evolving. So, it’s easy for you to speak to your trainer and say, “Hey, what was Freedman Harness like 25 years ago?” And they could say, “Oh, it was good. It was great. But it’s different or better now.” And it may not be any better, but it may have morphed into a different type of product where it may be more user friendly, maybe we’ve evolved with the shapes and styles for the type of driving or breed are showing now, because these breeds evolve as we breed more horses. So, I think that that’s a key point in the first contact, and through one of your trainers, I wouldn’t have never met you and your family, if it wasn’t for one of these trainers. So, Jim Stachowski, in particular, and he puts a lot of faith and confidence in us that we will deliver excellence to you, which in turn delivers excellence to him, reliability. Craig Willett: I was driving and showing in it. I don’t know, I was using one of their older harnesses. May have been yours, may not have been yours, I don’t know. But as I started to do better and better, and I was competing at the national level for national championships, I started thinking, “You know, my dad always said you got to practice with what you play with.” And I’d go to the farm, and they’d always put this old work harness on. I’d say, “I’m only going to be in the show ring for four minutes to win a world or a national championship. I need to practice once in a while in what I’m going to really show in.” And you show in probably something other than you work your horse in every day, but it has a different feel. So, I thought to myself, “I need that.” And that’s where I got introduced to you. David Freedman: That’s right. Craig Willett: So, how do you—I mean, these are made well, and they’ll last a long time unless you have a really strong horse that can break one of these. So how do you continue to keep clients and continue to grow your business when you make kind of a lasting product? David Freedman: That’s a difficult thing. As you know, it could be a declining curve in respect to production. We don’t produce in the thousands, we produce more in the hundreds. So, it’s easy to maintain that level. But we still need a certain flow of newcomers coming into the business. We need new horses coming into the business. We have to hope and pray that you have one driving horse and then you’ll need another one, which means you’ll need another set of harness. Craig Willett: Exactly. David Freedman: Some of the reasons behind our big development recently into so many different products the last—I guess since 2010, 2006 really—has been to facilitate that need that maybe you need a saddle, you need a bridle, you need a brow band, your wife needs a handbag, you need a belt for yourself. Part of that circle of care— Craig Willett: On the handbag, you got that right. Last Christmas, I’m trying to think, “What’s unique?” And you have some unique—and our viewers will see this—you have some unique things that you’ve crafted out of some very good saddle leather and interesting colors. So, that was a Christmas gift last year. David Freedman: Exactly. Made your Christmas list, right? Craig Willett: Right. David Freedman: This has been it because it really is possible to sell you one product and then you’re gone. And whether you choose to stay in the horse business or not that’s where we have to make an impression to say, “If Craig leaves the business, how will we retain him as a customer? What else do we have to sell him?” And that’s sort of the short and long of it in respects to maintaining you and retaining you as a client. We’re hoping you stay in the horse business, obviously, and come back and buy more horse things, which you do. But in general, we’re thinking worst-case scenario, “What’s the cost of acquisition of a customer? And how long can you keep that customer? And what else can you sell that client?” Craig Willett: I’d like to talk—I think that’s interesting because we’ve talked a lot about harnesses but not a lot about saddles. I think I met you first not even on the harness, because my wife Carol needed a saddle and one of our trainers says, “You really need to go visit with David. He’ll have the right—he can—this saddle,” and they were showing us one they had, “will be the right one for you.” So, how did you go from harness making to saddle making? David Freedman: That’s an interesting story. Not long after I hit the reset on my lady’s belt and handbag wholesale business, because that was a faster moving business than the harness business, I found myself in ’95 bored. Like really bored. Craig Willett: Hey, these orders are great, but I got this big— David Freedman: I got great orders, they’re huge orders. The guys in the shop are building the orders. I’m doing the research, it’s all going along fine. But it got a little boring. Craig Willett: Because you’re not at the workbench making them and fulfilling them. So you are the pioneer in the business trying to figure out what’s next. David Freedman: I’m a product developer. I really don’t like to get in the production line per se because the phone’s going to ring, it’s going to take me away, and I’m going to hold somebody else up. So I do production, I do product development, I do designing, I do things like that. Now, I’m the first guy to hop in if we’re late on a delivery because I know all the skills and trade, obviously, but— Craig Willett: But this is a great lesson for a lot of people in business. It’s so easy to get into the production or the day-to-day of the business that we forget to stay on the frontier of the business. And I think that’s something you’ve done well, so I’m anxious to hear what happened in ’95 when you were bored. David Freedman: This is an interesting story. So my late brother called me who was in the movie business, and he told me, “William Shatner is in town shooting a series.” And the series was called I think, TekWars. So, being the gregarious type of character that I am, I asked him, I said, “Where’s he shooting?” And he gave me the studio phone number. I called up and I got him on the phone and I said, “Mr. Shatner, it’s David Freedman.” He had no idea who I was. And then I said, “I built a set of harness for you last year for your fine harness mare, Eleanor Rigby.” He said, “Oh, yeah.” Craig Willett: So, there’s a connection on the horse level, right? The equestrian world is tight. David Freedman: I tossed it out right away, so he knew—he maybe didn’t remember me or knew exactly who I was, but he had a connection to me through my product because one of the trainers had bought it for him who was a good friend of ours, Melissa Moore. Craig Willett: Oh, wow. David Freedman: And he said, “Well, what can I do for you?” I said, “No, the question is, you’re in Toronto now, what can I do for you? Is there anything that I can do for you?” And he said to me, “I’d really—” It’s about three weeks before Lexington Junior League Horse Show, so it’s late June, and he said, “I’d really like to ride here. Is there a place you could take me riding on an American Saddlebred?” I said, “Sure. Let me get back to you.” And I hung up the phone. I knew nobody that had American Saddlebreds in the whole Greater Toronto Area, five million people. And I found somebody that I did know. Push comes to shove that it was somebody that we had also gone back far with, I just hadn’t seen this family in a lot of years. But anyways, I called him back, picked him up downtown, took him riding, and then on the way home from our afternoon together he said to me, “Can I see your shop?” I said, “Sure. It would be an honor.” Took him to the shop, walked him through, showed him everything. And he said to me, “Where—do you make a saddle?” I said, “No, I don’t make a saddle. I only make harness.” And at that point, that’s all I was really doing, fine harness. Craig Willett: Gotten back to the full core— David Freedman: Full core competency of the company. That’s all I was doing. And he said, “Oh, interesting.” And we left it. Three weeks later I saw him at Lexington Junior League. Now I have an established relationship with him. He came up to me and said hello, and again said he had a great time visiting in Toronto. And then he said, “You don’t make a saddle, do you?” Craig Willett: Again. David Freedman: Again. Craig Willett: Third time, you don’t want to have to say that. David Freedman: I said, “No, I am not going to answer this guy a third time.” I went home and I started thinking and working and developing. And a year and a half later at the UPHA Convention in San Diego in 1996 I launched my first saddle. Craig Willett: Wow. David Freedman: I said, “This opportunity is not going to knock a third time without me.” Craig Willett: And what was that like? I mean, you had to do some research. You didn’t just make any old saddle copy something, did you? David Freedman: Well, it was really difficult, and there were a lot more people in the saddle business in this market at that time. And I knew I could do the quality, and I knew I could figure out what to do from a manufacturing standpoint. I knew that I could figure out how to set it up for line production. I knew all of that, so I had the confidence in the actual— in the business side of how to manage it, but I really didn’t have any clue what I wanted for rider setup. I didn’t understand that this is a type of sporting good, and that the ultimate measurement would deal with performance of the horse and the rider. When you’re talking about horse sport you’re talking about rider performance as an athlete and horse performance as an athlete. Craig Willett: That’s right. And one can’t impede the other. David Freedman: One cannot. Craig Willett: It has to be in sync. David Freedman: And it took a little while, and if you speak to some clients they will say it took a long time. And it may have. I really don’t think I got it right—this is in ’96. I really don’t think I got it really right until 2009. It took a long time. Craig Willett: It wasn’t that far cry from what you did because it’s still leather goods. It’s still the next step through a harness to a saddle. David Freedman: Some of the—you can call it disease of an entrepreneur, next to a product developer along with a six generation old company is not resting on your laurels, try to improve, try to adjust. Even you can use the word augment to build the products better and better and adjust. Craig Willett: So there’s already a huge market for saddles out there, and how do you come as a newcomer to that and get people thinking, “Okay, harness maker, saddle maker.” How did you get your customers to start to understand that you do something else well, and that it’s something they need to consider from the other myriad of choices in the saddle. David Freedman: Honestly, that’s where having an international reputation really helps. Because people just dismissed not having a great quality saddle knowing that you had great quality harness. They just would never sit back and say, “Well, the quality won’t be good. It’s a Freedman.” Craig Willett: Wow. David Freedman: So, they knew the quality would be amazing. It was just a question of how does the actual product operate? Craig Willett: I guess going back to William Shatner’s question, it was almost intuitive. If you make leather harnesses, you’ll make leather saddles. David Freedman: Almost was. Craig Willett: And so, it was a complementary market right away. David Freedman: And it fit. I’ve spent a lot of time until last February just doing things within my core competency. When you think, “What can you do?” Well, it’s easy to say, “Anything leather.” I don’t profess to be a leather expert per se. But I know a lot about leather, I’ve learned a lot about leather over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time in tanneries— Craig Willett: You bought a lot of leather. David Freedman: I’ve sent a lot of leather back that I didn’t like. Craig Willett: Which is key too, making sure you have the right suppliers because your product needs to hold up. David Freedman: That’s right. So, anything that’s leather I always thought, “Oh, I could find a way to do it. If I can’t do it, I can figure out how to do it.” And again, back to my late father, he was a guy that just, figure it out, keep working, keep building prototypes, keep working at it, you’ll get it figured out. Craig Willett: I have another question along that line in marketing and trying to do it. How do you determine how to price your product? Because there’s a lot of time at a bench, and not everyone’s the same? David Freedman: No, that’s a difficult question to answer. First of all, I think like any product you have to decide what the market can bear. Craig Willett: Right, so what the perceived value is. So, David, one thing that’s always a curious question of our viewers and audience is, how do you go about pricing a product that really it’s hard to know how many hours are going to go into making a harness or making a saddle? David Freedman: Well, pricing products is a very difficult thing for anybody in manufacturing, anybody in business, and I think a lot of people leave out a lot of key components, especially around not so much what is your gross margin, and how much money you’re going to make, and what’s going to end up in your pocket or in your business? But more so— Craig Willett: Which is a key component, but there’s something more important. David Freedman: Yeah, how are you going to service this product? You own a business like this, and you know yourself, you see me out in the ring, in the warm up ring when you’re getting ready to go in and I show up. You’re like, “What is he doing here?” Craig Willett: Yeah, making sure the harness is working the way it’s supposed to. David Freedman: I’m just checking to see that everything’s performing the way it should be, and can we make it better, and what can I learn from this to make it better? Maybe that trip didn’t cost me anything. But if it came back for a repair that was a problem, or your trainer had a problem fitting and I need to make an adjustment, then there is a cost to service. Those costs are really hard to bill. I can’t send you a bill for $30 after you’ve spent several thousand. It’s just not my style. So you have to have the margins built in for your time, and for other materials and other services. Whether it’s a service of just coming out for a visit or actually doing work on the product. Craig Willett: Well, and that’s truly what you do. So, it goes beyond just, here’s my price, and my gross margin. I’m going to provide a service that is superior to potentially my competition. And I need to build in enough value in the perception of the owner who’s buying this that I can provide that without feeling like I’m nickel-and-diming them after the sale. David Freedman: Because we’re small in respect to actual product numbers going out—sure, some items we make hundreds of but we don’t make thousands and thousands of anything—I still have to work with the old theory of, “If you don’t make money on one, you’re not going to make money on 20 or 30 or even 100. And if margins are skinny in the beginning, they’re skinny at the end.” Craig Willett: How did you learn that? David Freedman: You learn that the hard way. You learn that the hard way. I did a job for a gentleman outside of Boston. It was a big eight horse hitch years ago. I never forget this, it was in ’96. And he asked me, “How much was the harness? How much is the harness?” And it was a lot of money. It was serious dollars. Craig Willett: Serious Canadian dollars, not US. David Freedman: No, yeah, this may have been US dollars at the time. I think it was in the ’60s, $66,000 or $68,000. Craig Willett: Not to scare everybody away. These don’t cost that much. David Freedman: No, no. It was a huge set of heavy horse harness, and I ran through the money in the shop— Craig Willett: Wow. David Freedman: —mostly in labor. I didn’t underestimate raw materials, but it was the first time that I’d done this type of job, and I ran through it by a lot. Okay? By 18, 20%. Craig Willett: Wow. David Freedman: And I delivered the harness. The gentlemen was very happy. Craig Willett: Of course, probably couldn’t get anybody in the world to make it. David Freedman: And he said to me, “Is everything okay? Did you do okay?” And I said, “I did perfect. And it’s fine.” And he said to me, “Great, thanks.” And I shook his hand and I walked away. Craig Willett: Wow. That’s amazing. David Freedman: Because it’s his—my pricing problem is not his issue. I gave the gentleman a price, I have to stand by the price, and I delivered the job. And funny enough, that gentleman made a phone call to people in St. Louis, Missouri, at Anheuser-Busch, and I ended up with the entire Budweiser contract from that. Craig Willett: Wow. So, that was really the cost of advertising. David Freedman: It was the cost of acquisition, right? Craig Willett: Yeah. David Freedman: Where my margins continued to remain skinny, but we did nice work for 10 years. Craig Willett: Wow, that’s great. What a great story. What a great lesson though. Fortunately, it wasn’t so big that it put you out of business because you had a stable enough business, otherwise, but you have to be careful. David Freedman: You always have to be cognizant of costs, of time of labor. Your OpEx, your operational expenses are not a moving target because you know what they are, and you can calculate them and spend enough time really defining, and measuring ups and downs in those expenses. But when it comes to labor, that’s another story, especially today. Craig Willett: In the crafts—especially in a craft like you have. What I love about what you did, and I think I’ve heard others that have been guests on our show say the same thing. And that is, “I don’t want to take the problems I’ve had fulfilling the product, and providing the service and make it my customer’s problem. I’m not going to tell them what I went through. I’m just going to deliver a superior product, superior service, and let it stand for itself.” And it comes back around. David Freedman: And that’s what they purchased. They didn’t purchase that you had a problem with the leather, you didn’t like it, you cut up a bunch and threw it away. That wasn’t their thing. That’s for you to take up with your own raw material supplier, even though it’s only the cost of materials, not labor, which is still significant, but nothing compared to the labor. They really don’t want to know about those problems. They want a beautiful finished good, finished product, and they want it to perform. Craig Willett: And I think that’s a great key to success. I appreciate that. You’re doing something also that’s unique now. I mean, we live in a different world since the pandemic and also since certain—the Patriot Act and other things that have been passed over the last 10, 15 years. You operate a business in Canada and sell throughout the world, but one of your big markets is coming to horse shows in the United States. So how have you surmounted this crossing the border and you’re bringing lots of goods, you’ve been pretty innovative there. So, I’d like our audience to hear a little bit about how you overcame an obstacle like that. David Freedman: Being small or large, I think is about—and actually making it through hard times, good times, all times in business is really about being nimble, and about being able to recognize opportunities. And taking those opportunities if you can. We saw in the early 2000s that as the business was really growing in the States, an international border, even though free trade was in place, there’s obstacles. It’s difficult. It’s difficult to ship to the end user. There’s duties, or not duties and taxes, but just brokerage services. There’s different costs that are involved with getting an end product to a customer. One of the things was our saddle and our handbag business. We just couldn’t see tacking on another $35 for customs brokerage to our customs broker to get a $300 handbag. It was over 10% of the cost on top of charging freight. We decided that we would open a retail store and warehouse in Kentucky, which we felt was mecca for the horse business, and we started a US Corporation, and get the business rolling in the States. Along with that came operating a business now in two countries let alone in four currencies. But now you have to deal with laws of other countries, and regulations of other countries. Craig Willett: Right. Employment and otherwise. David Freedman: Exactly, which I had to learn a lot about, which really did not align with anything in Canada including healthcare, which is a struggle. Craig Willett: Right. You’d think of being so close in border, and so friendly, that our ways of doing business would be similar, but not. David Freedman: Not at all. And luckily, my wife now, Nicole, had experience in the horse business, was looking for something to do. We came up with this idea together at a show that she was helping with, an Arabian show, and we opened up this little retail and warehouse in Midway, Kentucky, and started to get the business rolling. We were shipping pallets. One every other week, one every three weeks type of thing from Toronto down to midway, Kentucky. She’d unload the pallet— Craig Willett: So, all of a sudden you didn’t have to deal with customs brokerage. David Freedman: One time— Craig Willett: One time. David Freedman: One time brokerage for an entire pallet, so there’d be repairs. There’d be harness. There’d be handbags. There’d be belts. There’d be halters. There’d be all kinds of products on this pallet. It’d be crossing commercially, so it would be brokered in, and then she’d unload the pallet, ship out all the repairs, put some of these finished goods on the shelf, and we had ourselves a little bit of a retail experience going. People would come in. Of course, there’s a lot of American Saddlebred people in that area. So, we got some support right away. And with the notion of building a pick and pack operation that had a facade of a retail on the front. Craig Willett: Wow. That’s pretty innovative, so that you have people running the shop and also picking and packing in a warehouse. David Freedman: Which takes a different type of person as well because you have to have people that are dressed up that look like they’re there for retail, meanwhile you walk out the front door, and they’re in the back putting product in boxes and shipping it out. And then receiving, now was every week, so a lot more product, and that business really grew the last number of years. And it’s been really interesting along with having to apply for US visa. Funny enough, three years ago, Nicole and I got married, she moved to Toronto, and she had to apply for a Canadian work permit visa while she’s waiting for her permanent residency. She’s going to remain an American citizen. Craig Willett: And you had to get a work visa for the United States. David Freedman: And I had to get a work visa, which has to be renewed every few years for United States. Interesting, when you’re not used to the business climate, and somebody approaches you then you’re really skeptical. I remember I was stopped at customs one time, and the gentleman asked me, the customs officer, “What’s your status?” I said, “Status? I don’t know.” Married, single, I don’t know what to tell the guy. He said, “No, no, what’s your immigrant status?” I said, “I’m a visitor. I have a business in the States, and I’m just coming down to visit.” He said, “Well, who’s paying you?” I said, “Well, my Canadian company is paying me.” He says, “How do we know that?” Craig Willett: Oh, wow. David Freedman: Because I’m telling you that. But that’s not an answer for a customs officer. Craig Willett: That’s not what they want to hear. David Freedman: He said, “Well, we have something called the Patriot Act. Our president, Obama at the time, he says he wants to know who’s coming into the States and who’s doing what and where they’re working.” I said, “Okay, great.” So, apply for a visa, no problem. We got that organized, and have been on that visa, I think since 2008 or nine. Craig Willett: But now I think that’s the thing we have to look at. As much as we don’t like regulation, once you understand and comply to a degree rather than fight it, it makes it easy, and it’s not that costly. I don’t imagine your work visa is that expensive to renew compared to the business you do, obviously? David Freedman: No, I think it ends up costing me 15 or 1,800 a year, but at the end of the day—it’s funny you say that because as a Canadian, I always feel like I’m a little more compliant anyways. So, sure, they tell us to do this, we’ll do it. Even though there’s a lot to do and some hoops to jump through and a lot of paperwork to organize, it’s part of those regulations that have to be respected. And I would want my government—now, my governments because I’m doing business in two countries—you’d want them to know what’s going on. Craig Willett: What I think I see in you, David, is someone who really takes and can out of difficult circumstances go back and reflect and get a vision of how to take this challenge or difficulty or not wanting to say no to William Shatner that you don’t make saddles a third time to be innovative, and be able to hit that reset button and move forward with a vision and with a plan, being determined to see how you can make that successful. I think you like the challenge, don’t you? David Freedman: Yeah, I do. And I’m really driven by those challenges, especially if it’s something that’s interesting to me. Most of the time, if it’s interesting to my clients, it’s interesting to me. So that’s sort of what drives my boat, so to speak. I hear it once, I hear it twice, then obviously there’s a need. And if there’s a need, I feel that if I have the know-how, I will go through that door. And then of course, the entrepreneurial disease sets in and you will take it until you can’t take it anymore. Whether it’s there’s costs involved—giving up is a hard thing to do as an entrepreneur, as you know. Craig Willett: It is. But it also takes that because if you do give up that’s admitting failure right away without even trying. And so, there’s a bit of effort there. The other thing that I like that I think that you demonstrate well, and that is the ability to listen to the customer, and find your niche and really carve that finely. To really understand not just, “Oh, I’d like to have a saddle.” You didn’t just go out do any saddle. You did a lot of research. So, you really try to carve into what your niche is and play to your strengths. David Freedman: That’s my father. Craig Willett: Really. David Freedman: Do what you do, do it better than anybody. Do the best of your ability, just try your best, give it all you got. Craig Willett: And people appreciate that. When people know you’ve done your best, and you’re doing all you can, people will appreciate that because you’re putting heart into it. And you said that earlier, this is a part of you. And I think that’s what any good business owner would say about their business, it becomes part of them, almost their child, almost their baby. And it becomes very personal and very real. And therefore, the customer’s reaction to it is very important to you. How much does that motivate you? David Freedman: For me, it’s the whole thing. It’s that emotional experience and tying myself to a product, tying myself to a need, the drive, and more so because it’s really hard to attach a timeline to any of this development. You don’t know, is it going to take you six months, two years? We developed our first piece of apparel, it took two and a half years to develop. I put more time into it than some of our successful products. But the tenacity of wanting it to work and the time and effort and just be, and just— Craig Willett: And want it to be well received by your customer. David Freedman: Exactly. Craig Willett: And it’s another opportunity to expand your reach into the customers you already have. David Freedman: That’s our success, and I’m willing to—I really don’t think about my competitors much in respects to what they’re doing. I just wanted to do what our customers want us to do and have that available. And I keep going down that road, and I think we mentioned in a previous conversation together, I see that as a lot of roads still to travel at 56 years old. I don’t see that I’m coming to the end of my rope or end of my road. Craig Willett: I think that’s a key to success. It’s almost an oxymoron because they don’t really teach it in business school. They always say go out and measure the competition. And I think there’s something to that— David Freedman: You have to know what they’re doing, of course. Craig Willett: But you have to create your own path. And when you create your own path, you become a little agnostic to what your competition is doing because you know what you’re trying to reach to your customers, and you’re going to do it in a different way. David Freedman: And it may not be what your competitors are trying to do at all. Craig Willett: Exactly. David Freedman: Which is fine, also. Craig Willett: Right. So, it’s not copying somebody else that you’re going to get success, it’s pioneering your path because you understand your customers better than anyone else. David Freedman: Another one of my dad’s theories was, “Mind your own business, you got enough to do.” But minding your own business might mean minding the business, per se. I think you have to know what the competition’s doing. You have to know what the offering is, and sometimes that also drives a clear path to how to improve, how to product develop, where the hole in the market is. And a lot of those revelations of those holes come through competitive markets realizing there’s an opening in the sector for a product that has not been refined, redeveloped, may be the same thing we’ve used for 150 years or 50 years. And just it’s time, it’s just time. So, that’s what we do. Craig Willett: So you’re the chief R&D officer too. David Freedman: I’m the head R&D. Some of the R&D is a little more strenuous than other products. Some of it we go down we go, “It’s just not for us.” Craig Willett: Well, I’m anxious to get a tour here, and I know you have customers who’ve already been sneaking in, beating the path to your door this morning, and I appreciate you taking the time. But there’s a question that we always ask on the Biz Sherpa that no one can escape and that is what is your greatest failure, and what did you learn from it? David Freedman: That’s a—the greatest failure is not being able to trust myself through difficult times. Not being able, as you would say, to hit the reset when you need to, and maybe hanging on too long to some different things that we’ve done over the years where you really needed to either hard or soft reset. Craig Willett: But you had a passion for it, and you want to give it enough perseverance to see if it can work. David Freedman: Exactly. Craig Willett: So, what did you learn from that? How have you changed? How have you evolved to help do that more easily? David Freedman: I think that first of all, I think the pressure of taking over a family business and filling shoes of a reputation that you didn’t build is an unconscious moment in your life anyways. When I took over this business I took it over because I worked for my dad for nine years. I was with my dad for nine years, day in day out. So we really knew each other. I knew what he liked. I knew what he didn’t like and how to operate. But filling those shoes at 27 years old you have to be pretty unconscious, or really not all there because honestly in the ’90s, mid to late ’90s I look back, “Oh, my God, what have I done?” Craig Willett: Wow. David Freedman: Because I’ve taken on all of this, and I can not make it work his way. And that was probably one of my biggest lessons of what not to do. It’s just—I’m not my father, and my father wasn’t me, nor my grandfather, nor any other family member. But adjusting those business practices including all the human resources people involved. Whether they’re accountants, lawyers, or shop workers, or people in the office to get them to work your way, and the way that you need them to work with your style, and your acumen is different and not easy. Craig Willett: Right. So, you can’t be your dad, you can’t replicate that. David Freedman: You can’t do it. And of course, you don’t want the same thing out of life. So, there you make some mistakes, and you hang on too long. And mostly because of the uncertainty, mostly. Not because you just can’t see through it. You’re just not certain what to do. You don’t have the experience. Honestly, I didn’t know the left side from the right side of a balance sheet when my father passed away. I didn’t have to do that, my dad took care of that. I was in the back with the guys making harness, learning the trade, learning the business. So you have to learn all of these things. And you have to spend the time learning it and learning it well. Whether you like it or not, still to this day, I find numbers painful. But I sit myself down and study and look at them every day until I like them, until I embrace them. And some of those pieces I wish I knew more about earlier on because they maybe would have carved an easier path to where we are today or maybe not. Craig Willett: But I think it’s through our difficulties that we learn the most, and we become even better at what we do. David Freedman: I had another business mentor along the way. He’s a very bright gentleman who was in the sporting goods business in Canada, and he said to me, “Freedman, life is research, and research is free.” I never f

Todd is a competitive rower who medaled at the US National Championships and is now training to qualify for the 2021 Paralympics. Susan is also a competitive rower, became an Olympic coach in 2004 and also a photographer and painter. Susan is also a competitive rower, became an Olympic coach in 2004 and also a photographer and painter. They currently share most days together in training.  They were also both diagnosed a few years ago with degenerative diseases. Todd is learning to strike the balance between toughness and rest… something that has taken on new meaning post-Parkinson's. And Susan, as his coach, looks to find workarounds to the challenges his body presents while learning to adapt to her own limitations with Multiple Sclerosis. The two seasoned athletes explore how training fits into life with chronic illness, how the meaning of strength has changed for them, and how all of us can adapt and find creative solutions to life’s obstacles.

Alison Owen Bradley won multiple World Cup races, finished 2nd in the famous Holmenkollen ski festival race, competed in two Olympic games and 3 World Championships, and won 8 US National Championships. After competing, Alison went on to coach for 12 years in Sun Valley, Idaho very successfully and helped develop many US National Team skiers. This exceptionally successful ski racer and coach is also known for being a pioneer for women’s cross-country skiing in the United States. Alison won what was at the time was billed as the inaugural women’s Nordic World Cup which was held at Mount Telemark in Wisconsin. Alison also competed with the boys in the 1966 Junior National Championships because at the time, there were no girl’s races. There were the next year. Alison splits her time between Bozeman, MT and Boise, ID where she and her husband have a small farm.I have done interviews with Bill Koch, Jim Galanes, Muffy Ritz, and Jim Fredericks for example all of whom competed at an elite level in the 70s and continued to inspire and influence for a great many years since including today even. This interview is in line with those others. Alison was not “just” a pioneer for women’s ski racing, but is also an exceptional athlete and coach. She has a sharp intellect and her perspective is one that you don’t want to miss. Our community should know Alison’s story and treasure her accomplishments and contributions.We spoke about her vast and unique experiences competing in the early days, winning the first Women's World Cup and finishing 7th overall for the season, Rob Kiesel, her perspective and techniques in coaching, and asked her for her opinion on quite a few key topics that I think people will find informative and interesting. This is a must listen to if you are at all passionate about Nordic ski racing.

Jim Galanes competed as a US Ski Team member from 1974 to 1984. Some of his top finishes include 5th place in Murmansk, Russia in 1984 and 6th place in Reit im Winkl, Germany in 1983 as well as a World Cup Relay victory in 1982. Jim finished 14th in the 30km in World Championships in 1984 in Oslo, Norway. A 3 time Olympian, Jim’s top individual Olympic finish was 17th in the Nordic Combined event in Innsbruck, Austria in 1976. Jim won 3 US National Championship titles between Nordic Combined and Cross Country skiing. After retiring as an athlete, Jim coached for the US Ski Team for 6 years, then for Stratton Mountain School, and then started and coached the highly successful Alaska Pacific University program. Jim then worked for Edgewise stonegrinding and waxing skis, and then managed Frisco Nordic Center. Throughout it all and continuing today Jim provides coaching services. Jim’s excellent skiing career and results are not only his only contribution to US skiing, but also his visionary creation of the APU program lead to some of our country’s best ever results and put the US on the path to long term excellence. Jim currently lives in Frisco, CO with his long time girlfriend Joyce Allgier.We discussed competing in the European Junior Championships, switching to special Cross Country ski racing, some of his more memorable races including winning a World Cup relay and 5th and 6th place individual race finishes, competing during the Cold War in Russia and Yugoslavia, his vision for the APU program which he created, creating a Nordic ski culture and community, training principles including most common mistakes, and being a life long learner. This was a memorable interview that was thankfully long.

Noah Hoffman, aka “the Hoff“ has 144 individual starts in World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic games. He has finished in the top 30 41 times with 3 top 10 finishes. His best performance came in Ruka, Finland where on the second day of a pursuit he skied through the pack for the fastest time of the day and an overall placing of 9th. Noah won the 2012 US National Championship in the 30km Classic Mass Start in Rumford, ME. Noah, a 2 time Olympian retired at the end of the 2018 season. Since then Noah has been attending Brown University where he is a junior. He is also doing anti-doping work for USADA traveling to training camps and competitions to educate elite athletes on their rights and responsibilities under the WADA code. Furthermore, Noah is a member of the Global Athlete startup team which is working to elevate the voice and power of athletes in international sport governance. Taking classes remotely this year, Noah is currently in Medford, Oregon. This is for sure one of the absolute best interviews that I have done. We discussed how Noah did things with having specific coaches for different things, his development process, some of his best races, healing from injury, US Ski Team culture, and his work with Global Athlete. The Global Athlete discussion lead to an in depth and nuanced discussion on doping and the situation and how to fix it. I think any fan of Nordic ski racing would be inspired, informed, and entertained by this conversation. 

President & CEO of DeRegnaucourt Ltd. Becky DeRegnaucourt Veltema shares her story of starting as a single mom and becoming a successful entrepreneur. DeRegnaucourt Ltd. provides custom equestrian apparel for the Saddlebred Morgan, and Arabian Horse breeds. Home Speaker 1: From his first job flipping burgers at McDonald’s and delivering The Washington Post, Craig Willett counts only one and a half years of his adult life working for someone else. Welcome to The Biz Sherpa podcast with your host, Craig Willett. Founder of several multimillion-dollar businesses and trusted advisor to other business owners, he’s giving back to help business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs achieve fulfillment, enhance their lives, and create enduring wealth. The Biz Sherpa Craig Willett: This is Craig Willett, The Biz Sherpa. I’m grateful you’d join me today. I’m here with Becky DeRegnaucourt-Veltema who is the owner of DeRegnaucourt Limited. Becky started the business in 1994. What she does is provide custom riding apparel for the Arabian, Saddlebred, and Morgan equestrian industries. You see, to compete in those industries, you have to wear a certain attire for certain disciplines. And Becky’s become an expert at that. She has 40 years experience in the equine business and she brings great talent to her business. She’s committed to providing custom riding apparel for trainers, amateurs, and youth in the show rings as I described. You’re seeing some of the pictures of what she does. She has a desire to service her clients above and beyond their expectations. She’s truly one of a kind for her industry. I think you’ll enjoy her today as we talk about how she started the business, saw a need, and was able to ramp up to be able to meet that need and, secondly, how to finance it. Then, thirdly, how you market your business. How you really go about exceeding customers’ expectations. I think you’ll enjoy hearing her. Her husband, Bill, joined her in 2004 as her partner and an officer in the company and he brings some expertise as well. I think you’ll enjoy hearing Becky. This is Craig Willett, The Biz Sherpa. I’m grateful you joined me today for our episode. We’re in Tulsa, Oklahoma today at the US National Championship for the Arabian horses. and I have a special guest. I’d like to introduce you to Becky DeRegnaucourt-Veltema who’s the founder and owner of DeRegnaucourt Limited. She’s the clothier to the stars here at the show and many other equestrian events. Welcome, Becky. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Thank you. I appreciate you having me. Craig Willett: I’m glad that you’d be here with us. I just can’t help but sit here and look at the covers of these magazines and think of knowing some of them having been a competitor to them, that they’re your clients. What is it like to see the national magazines with your clothes on? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Well, it’s interesting. It’s fun. We’ve actually gotten to a point where as all the magazines flow in, we just keep the ones that we have a cover or back cover of. The pile is huge. It’s fun. We keep an archive of them. It’s really, really interesting. Craig Willett: That’s got to be rewarding to you. You started this business. Did you ever think you’d be at the level you are today? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: No. It all sort of happened by accident. A lot of this— Craig Willett: Really? Most people have a business plan. They put it together and work really hard. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: There was actually no business plan. It was a supplemental income, really. Yeah, I actually had a background in—I went to school for sales and marketing and went to work for a logistics company. I was in third party logistics with warehousing distribution, transportation. I worked for three different companies for over 18 years. But during that time, I had a daughter, was a single mom, and was trying to supplement someone else who liked horses. I grew up with horses. Craig Willett: You love them, but your daughter loved them. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yes. I grew up—as a small child, my dad loved horses as a kid. He had a backyard horse. When us kids came along, he decided to get us involved in horses. It evolved into horse showing and so on. It’s just been a passion from the get-go. When Stacy was born, I toted her around and taught riding lessons and trained horses. That was my side money to—well, I went to finish school and all kinds of things. Craig Willett: How did the clothing business come out of that? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Well, after a few years of doing the horse training lessons, I had a fairly big group that we were taking to major state and regional horse shows. The riding apparel that we do is not something that is easy to buy off the rack. It’s just not available. There were some things originally years ago that—they were the polyester, so many gray ones, so many brown ones. It was about it. There were a few custom companies, but in the search of trying to find something, I started actually buying fabrics and locally having some things made. It started from just a hand-sewn garment on a local level to researching better suppliers. Craig Willett: If I want to show a horse in a suit, I just can’t go to the store and buy any suit off the shelf. Why wouldn’t that work in the equestrian world? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It’s a specific cut that we do for the riders. The pant is tailored very specific to allow for you to straddle the horse. It is the fit and the flow of the jacket. It’s a longer jacket. It’s just not something that is in the styling of what you’d see in the marketplace. Craig Willett: Okay. How did you develop from the initial concept of buying some fabric and doing it to now you’re at almost every major horse show in the United States and you provide the attire or you sell attire to many of the premier riders? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Well, like I said, it started as something to supplement my business. At the time I was doing a training business—the horse training, riding lessons, and so on—and my students needed to be appareled. There just wasn’t access to a lot out there. I actually started the apparel to take care of their needs. When we went to a horse show— Craig Willett: So it wasn’t really a big profit center or an idea that I’m going to do this. You did it out of need. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It was more of a need. Yeah. It was out of need. We actually would outfit them, then there was a bigger number. I had outfitted my daughter showing for some time, but when it started to be the students and we went to the Youth National Horse Show and I had nine kids showing with 11 horses and we took home quite a few top tens, national championships, and people were saying, “My gosh. Your kids are the best outfitted at the horse show. Where do you get your stuff done?” Craig Willett: Is that why they win? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It certainly helps. It’s not the end-all, but it makes the whole process a little more fun. It’s the whole picture. It’s what you get to hang on your wall. Craig Willett: When do you decide to break with the 18-year career in logistics? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Well, it took a long time actually. While I was still working, I was able to do a lot of the other stuff on the side—nights, weekends. When I think about it, I probably worked around the clock without realizing. At one point, I had an opportunity to go part-time. I was in a sales capacity. I said, “Hey, if I produce the same numbers as what the full-time people do, does it really matter how many days a week I work?” They said, “No. As long as you can produce—” Craig Willett: I love it. Pay me what I’m worth now— Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Pay me what I’m worth. Craig Willett: Not by the number of hours I punched the clock. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Correct. I negotiated to be able to take some time off personally. Those personal weeks off were at a horse show. I still always answered my phone. I was still double-dutying even from a horse show, and did very well at it. I went down from three days to then two days. Ultimately, once I got to the two days a week and clearly my passion and my focus was in doing that, that’s when I just said to them, “I don’t feel it’s fair at that point to continue to do that.” I felt I’d weaned myself away from the salary and went to more of a commission base and then supplying my own vehicle because I used to have a company car and benefits and buying my own benefits. Craig Willett: Wow. That’s a big transition to be a business owner and have to cover all these things. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: I was able to slowly do that as I peeled away from full-time to part-time. Those are big things. When you look at not just your base pay, but when you look at a company vehicle, you look at your health benefits— Craig Willett: Well, you’ve got a big company vehicle now. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yes. Exactly. Having my own laptop, having my own cell phone—all those little bills that somebody else was paying for before, I was able to feel like a little more independent to be able to say, “I can handle all of this on my own.” Now, it’s just that paycheck. Craig Willett: Did that affect how you viewed and how you priced your product then? Instead of just supplying it as a supplemental benefit to your clients. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: To some degree, it was initially. When it initially started out, it was. We probably placed ourselves in an entry-level market. However, I’ll never forget the day, actually. I came home, and I opened up one of the trade magazines. I saw an advertisement for a competitor. They were advertising a price. I remember I said to my husband, Bill—who works with me—I said, “You have to see this.” I said, “We cannot even produce it for that.” Craig Willett: Wow. That’s pretty scary. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: I said, “What are we going to do?” You’re at that point where you’re like, “Where do we go forward from here,” because we were almost double that price with the production we had, because we reached out to do the best. I said, “If we’re just a starter in the market, it’s going to take something for people to know the quality of what they’re getting.” I said, “If they don’t have the opportunity to know that, what are we going to do?” We were at a kind of crossroads of Can we compete in this business? I just took the approach from my previous business life. I had an excellent seminar years ago. They said, “You have to be two things. You can’t be everything to everybody.” The speaker that day said, “If you’re going to be a low-cost provider, then, you need to do a lot of volume and you need to truly keep your suppliers suppressed because there’s no room of margin for you to eat additional costs that you can’t handle.” Craig Willett: Right. You have to have a real tight rein on your supplier. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yeah. For example, the Walmart, Sam’s Club—there is a very small margin in that, but they have to make it up in volume. We knew that we could never be that type of business, and I’ve always had a passion for things that are quality and that do provide service and all those things. That was a little bit my background in logistics as well, was they said, “If you supply something in a service or a quality of a product that isn’t comparable to something else, then, you set your price.” Craig Willett: Right. Then, you have an advantage because there’s no competitor— Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Nobody that can do that or supply exactly that. I said, “We’re going to be the top service provider that is going to be at a dollar—” that it’s not out there just to—you have to know your costs. I was very fortunate that I worked for some very good people that taught me financial reports and taught me how to do cost of business and to know what your cost of goods are and what those supplemental costs are that go on top of that. For example, our mobile store. It’s not free, but it isn’t part of the cost of good. Craig Willett: The cost of each. Yeah. It’s not the cost of each outfit that you produce. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Exactly. When you produce that garment, there’s cloth involved. There’s transportation involved. There’s production involved. That’s your cost of goods there, but ultimately, when we go to a show, we have fees that we pay as a vendor. We have the cost of getting to and from the show. There’s all kinds of—cell phones, employees, computers—all of that stuff. So many people, I think, that can be what causes people to fail, is that you think, “Well, I have this product. It costs me X to make it. So, I’ll sell it and make a little money.” They don’t realize— Craig Willett: Right. They think, “Hey, I’m making $100 on this,” but it cost them 200 dollars to make the 100 dollars. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yes. All of a sudden, they don’t know where another $100 ended up in there. They lose track of those numbers. Craig Willett: Right. Real easy to do. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yes, it is. Craig Willett: Your record keeping—who’s the record keeper? You or Bill? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: I’ve always been very tight. Like I said, starting this business came out of a necessity of need, a need of desire of wanting something. I wanted to do the horses. I had a daughter who wanted to do the horses, and I wanted to supply that for her. I’ve always been very tight with money. I wouldn’t say that. I tend to get what I want. I wouldn’t say I’m frugal. I’m not frugal, but I had a boss that I worked for one time and I had said something about purchasing a home. He said, “You’re very good with your money.” I said, “Oh, I don’t really think so,” because I might say, “Well, we’re going to eat pancakes this week because we want new clothes or something.” It’s a matter of your priorities, but you always have to know that two and two has to make four, and if you’re going to spend five and only take in four, you’re going to be in trouble. That’s just something that has always been there for me. You don’t overspend your means. That’s very important. Craig Willett: How did you make that transition though? You were doing it providing it close to cost. It is not a profit center, but now, I’m looking at, I’m weaning myself away from my stable employment and stable paycheck. Now, I’m going out on my own for good. Now that I’m on my own, what was the big distinguishing factor that you chose to—I know you said you’d be the upper end, and I bet the best service, but how did you communicate that to others? How do people understand and resonate because it’s easy to pick up an ad and say, “Hey, they’re doing that for $1000. I come over here and it’s $1900.” How can that be? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: That’s an interesting question. One of the things that we did is we put a lot of work into the display of our product. Initially, before we had the mobile store concept, we would set it up at an expo and a lot of the established companies had went back and rested on what they did in their reputation. They might have had one coat sitting out, if anything. We put out probably six clothed mannequins. It was the colors, and the combination of fabrics, and the eye for design and whatnot. Craig Willett: I’m assuming you brought that eye for design with— Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yes. I would say that was my contribution, but my husband, Bill, went into business with me, left a business that he had so that we could travel together. He’s my builder background. When it came to setting up a major expo booth, he was a very integral part of that. Our display—we said we have to have something that when people walk by, they look and say, “We need to walk in there.” Like any store that you go through in the mall, does it smell good in there? Does it look nice? Does it look expensive?” You have to have all those attributes that appeal to someone’s senses. Craig Willett: Yeah. I’m a sucker for that. I walk through a store, and if I see it on the mannequin, I go, “That looks really nice.” I’m not necessarily digging through rows and rows of jackets to find one. I saw the one in the window and that’s why I’m there. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It’s got to be something that brings you in. Craig Willett: That brought them in, but then, you have to have a service that’s consistent with your pricing and the image, right? How do you accomplish that? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Well, I had a customer that came in early on. Again, we were trying to jump over this hurdle of being a top service highest quality provider at a high price. In order to do that, you can’t get scared. A few times, there were times where I thought, “Oh, they’re going to walk away. They’re not going to buy.” Craig Willett: It’s too high. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It’s too high. Craig Willett: You can’t apologize either. Not only get scared, but you can’t apologize for your price because you know what your costs are. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Correct because if I couldn’t sell at that price, then, I couldn’t be in the business because you cannot take a loss or you’re going to end up in trouble. I had someone and literally we were in an expo hall. They were comparing literally across the aisle. I’ll never forget, he came back. He said, “Well so-and-so gave me this price or whatever.” I said, “Listen.” I said, “I respect that.” And I said, “I don’t know what it costs for them to run their business. I don’t know their production costs, and quite frankly, that can’t concern me.” Craig Willett: Or even the quality of the material they propose. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Correct. I said, “What I can tell you—” And I said, “And I’m not going to play that game,” because when I go into a store, to some degree, I take my business philosophy from major companies that I patronize. If I go into a clothing store or jewelry store or whatnot, when I go in, if there’s something that I want and it works for me, it fits it, whatever the criteria might be, I’m going to decide based on that price, “Okay. Number one, can I or can I not afford it?” Number two, “If I can afford it, do I think it’s worth that,” because it’s relative value. Craig Willett: Right. It’s your perception of the value. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Correct. If the customer perceives that that’s something that they can afford, it’s a matter of do they want to afford that. Do they want to spend that? I said, “I will not get in a discount bidding war with the guy next door just to get your business.” I have to sell my product because I don’t want to then not give you the service and the quality in order to try to compete. This is what we have. Actually, he came back, and he bought from us. Craig Willett: Really? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It was a very turning time. It brought us around the corner of, yes, we can do this. Ultimately, we delivered, and they were happy and were a customer for a very long time. Craig Willett: Yeah. I think that’s the next thing I want to talk to you about. Really, I think it’s one thing to have a display and it’s to have a nice product, but pricing sometimes leads people to shop and compare. But at some point, you segregate yourself from that. You had this long-term relationship with this client who bought even though he could have maybe bought it cheaper, maybe not the same quality, but maybe bought a similar product. How do you go about getting people to come back time and time again? At some point, you have to go beyond the mannequin sitting there. That’s not the only way to get people in because you don’t do the mannequin in there anymore. What’s the secret to getting people to come back? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Well, I would say three-fold. Back in my background of logistics, anybody can take a skid, a freight and move it from A to B. The pricing might be, let’s just say, it costs you an extra 10 bucks here versus whatnot. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: If you’re comparing dollar to dollar, so let’s say you decide to purchase, the point is if I call, do you know where my freight is? If you send your invoice, do you send it timely? Is the invoice accurate? Are you having to deal with a lot of issues? There’s a lot of process— Craig Willett: Frustration, or questions. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yeah. That’s not the core product. You take your core product. That’s just one element of things. Ultimately, when we started in our clothing business, I applied the same thing in what my experience was in purchasing items for myself, again whether it be clothing or jewelry or hair products or whatever: Does the store make it pleasant for me to be there? When I place my order, do I wait and wait and wait, or I can’t get a hold of somebody. One of the things that was important to me was that the customer be serviced. And I think that came from my sales background, that I was always the one taking care of my clients and servicing my clients so that they had a great experience in the logistics. To me, it’s just a matter of applying that into the clothing business. Craig Willett: Right. As a customer, you don’t want to sit there and call someone and then wait a week? Maybe, they’re busy, but then, it doesn’t matter if they’re busy. You start to think that they don’t care about you. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Correct. Exactly. Craig Willett: You’re prompt in getting back to them, it means you care about them. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It’s a couple of things. When they actually place their order, number one, I think it’s very important—our product is a big investment for someone. I don’t take lightly regardless of what that person’s income ability is, is irrelevant to me. If they come in, those purchasing decisions have to be their choice. One of the things we do not do is I won’t allow a hard pressure sale like, “Oh, you have to buy it today, or you got to make that choice now.” Sometimes, fabrics come and go, and I will caution someone, “Hey, if you make a selection, don’t—” Craig Willett: Limited supply. You may not be able to get it, right. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: But for the most part, I want them to make a good choice and be comfortable with their decision. From that point forward, our staff, for example, when it comes to correspondence like with email, I make it a standard that our staff—when there’s an inquiry about an order or an inquiry about placing a new order that we have to respond within the day. Even if it’s super busy, I expect that there’s an email that goes back to that customer that says, “Hey, I’ll get into this for you tomorrow, but I just wanted to let you know I got your information.” I think that that’s a really important thing, that the customer has to know that you truly care. And I’m blessed to have a phenomenal staff that they’re that kind of people. Craig Willett: I think it took some training there too, right? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It did. I was able to train the processes, but it’s instilled in them. That’s the kind of people that they are. Craig Willett: How do you find them? That’s one of the questions a lot of business owners have. Well, how do I hire my first one and how do I get them to perform at a level as if they were me? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Right. That’s a good question because a lot of times with the customer, it’s me one-on-one with them. That is something that is a big thing for us. Our business is very one-on-one in sales. We don’t change up people. They’re not getting someone different every time they turn around. Craig Willett: Right. But you could almost relate yourself to being a clothing designer. I’ve bought from you, and I’ve had children and my wife buy from you, and I’ve watched you turn reverse fabrics and say, “Look at it this way.” You really have an eye to get people to see things. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yeah. Craig Willett: Because they’re in a class for four to seven minutes being judged for national or worlds championships. It has to look right. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yes, it does. I always say that we have to first sell somebody something that they want and that they need and that our product be the best product, but we have competitors out there that also make a great product. To me, it’s the management of the information. It’s the processes that we have in place that make our business what it is. It’s that service and the fact that that phone call get followed up and that that email be followed up, that our invoicing is accurate. Craig Willett: That’s what brings people back time and time again. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: I would say good basic business practices. Craig Willett: Yes. Competition is always good. How do you feel when you may lose to a competitor, a client or a deal? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Ultimately, it doesn’t bother me. To some degree, I always say if it’s something where we’ve lost it and we know we’ve lost it to price, you could never hold that against somebody. Ultimately, if they went somewhere because they could get it cheaper, then, that’s up to them. Ultimately, I always say that they have to also need and want the service that we provide because if they don’t, if that’s not a value to them, then they’re overpaying. Craig Willett: Right. Then, they won’t be back. Do you ever sit there and say, “Hey, they will be back,” because you know where they’re going. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: We’ve had several do that as well. Yes. Craig Willett: How does that make you feel when they do come back? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It’s good, but ultimately, I never want somebody to go and have a bad experience ever. I wouldn’t want them to go somewhere else thinking that it would be better or cheaper or whatnot and not have a good experience. That’s just not my nature. I want people to find value in what we have. If it isn’t of a value to them, then that’s okay because it’s a great value to the people who do want that. Craig Willett: How do you price that in though? I think that’s one of the questions a lot of businesses either don’t spend a lot of time on that I think they should spend a lot of time on. It’s not always a function of just costs. You talked about it. You have to understand your cost, but you also have to look at the value that it’s providing because it allows you to go above and beyond to meet the expectations. How do you factor that value in when you price? I’m not asking you to give up your formula because I’m hoping a lot of your customers watch this, but still— Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Ultimately, basically, you start with your cost of goods. It’s a pretty basic formula, and I would hope that most places have their own formula because we want good competition. We’ve said that before. If everyone in our industry decided to close up, we couldn’t handle it all. We aren’t for everybody. Like you said, we suit the stars to some degree on that board. Ultimately, our goal is to be accessible to that clientele, not that we don’t want all of them because we treat everybody the same regardless that comes in here. You can schedule an appointment, buy from us. You don’t have to buy the most expensive thing. It just all depends how unique of an item you’re looking for, but when it comes to those extra services, that’s just something that we just won’t sacrifice. It’s important to me because I will never feel badly that someone has left, but I don’t want them to say they weren’t treated fairly or they weren’t given a value that was something that they felt was important. Craig Willett: I can remember one time needing a hat, and you had one I could borrow or buy. I also remember a time just having something cleaned or the trainer dropped it in the back of the trunk of a car and it sat there for a month. I showed up at a show and the pants were all wrinkled, and you bailed me out, right? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yeah. Craig Willett: Just small simple things like that— Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It is. Craig Willett: —I think to me that endeared me to want to come back. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: That’s that number that I think a lot of people have a hard time with, but I watch it very closely. For example, when you start looking at your cost of goods, then you start looking at your fixed cost as far as your administration costs and that type of thing. But then, there’s also that what you put in for margin. Our margin has to be bigger than most because I can take my staff salaries and so on, but it is those little things that you can’t—if somebody is unhappy with something or we’ve made a mistake, needs to be taken care of. You cannot have yourself so tight that you can’t make the decision to say, “Don’t worry about it. We’re going to remake it and take care of this, and we’re going to do it fast. We’re going to make it right.” That costs money. Craig Willett: Think of Nordstrom with shoes. You walk in, you buy a pair of shoes. After a week, they just aren’t right. They’ll take them back. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Right. Exactly. That’s why you go back again because there is a piece of that that’s in that pricing for you, but if that’s in across the board, you can take care of that customer when those things arise. We had a situation last year. The pair of pants were gone. They’re custom pants. They were showing that weekend. I said, “I’ll do what I can.” I contacted the production shop and I said, “Hey, can this be done?” I expected all means to be told no. They said, “I think we can make it happen.” I said, “Well, it’s a good customer. This would be really important.” We did. And between producing it in a day, shipping it Next Day Air. Craig Willett: Yeah. Next Day Air, and that’s not cheap. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: This person was in the ring on Saturday with it, with a pair of pants that was missing on Thursday. What’s probably as important is that when it comes to selecting our suppliers—whether it’s our production, our fabric—that to me is our support group. To know that they have the same business philosophies that we do because if my production shop is telling me, “Go fly a kite,” that’s not a partner that I want to work with. Craig Willett: No. That’s like hiring the right employees, same thing. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Correct. Craig Willett: They’ve got to be a team player. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: They’re an extension of us. The whole thing is from start to finish. Whether— Craig Willett: There has to be integrity all the way down the line. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Correct. Exactly. Craig Willett: Based on your business philosophy. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Right. For example, if we get a new fabric that’s released and we sell it to a customer and the fabric for some reason doesn’t perform. I’m seeing a pulling in a seam or whatnot. And I’m going to look at that and think “I’m not going to keep trying to patch that over.” I need to be able to contact my—number one, if I need to absorb it, then I have to absorb it because I’m not going to expect a customer to be satisfied with that. But for my purposes, I want to be able to go back to my supplier and say, “Hey, this fabric is the problem.” Whether it’s a mill problem or whatnot, or whether there was something in production. Either way, you have to be able to identify the piece in the supply chain where something happened. But the ultimate thing is the customer doesn’t need to worry about that. Craig Willett: Right. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: They just need to be told it will be taken care of. Craig Willett: That’s great. I can think of a hundred experiences where I’ve had where I’ve heard all the reasons why what I thought I was getting isn’t what I got. I’m sitting there going, “I don’t really care. Can’t you just take care of this for me?” I hear all the work that they’re going to have to do, but that’s not what I’m here for. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: That’s not my problem. Craig Willett: Yeah. That’s your problem. I had a business partner one time. He told me something. He said, “I don’t like situations where people make their problem my problem.” As much as I’ve complicated my own life many times, I’ve always come back to subscribe to his philosophy. I need to align myself with people who don’t try to make their problems mine because it complicates my life. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: That’s what I— Craig Willett: That’s a great business philosophy there. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Well, and it’s what I instill in my staff. I said, “The customer doesn’t need to know that you had a bad day or didn’t feel well yesterday, or that you were off grabbing lunch when they called.” No. There’s no excuse, or for me to say, “Hey, UPS dropped the ball.” It happens, but ultimately, it’s our responsibility as a company to deliver to that customer. They may ask, “Well, what happened?” Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: I might say, “Well, this, this and this.” But— Craig Willett: But here’s what I’ve done about it too. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: —they don’t need the excuses. They don’t want to hear it. Craig Willett: No. We hear too many of those. Talk about excuses. We’ve had some difficult times in our economy in the last 15 years. First, the financial crisis back in 2007, 2008. I imagine it impacts the equestrian business as much as it impacts any other business, and that is when people’s incomes or their liquidity freezes up because of stock market crashes, or the pandemic when businesses shut down. Sometimes, you’re faced as a business owner having a business plan for the year—at least some goals and objectives. All of a sudden, there’s no horse shows or the people that are coming don’t feel like they can spend the money they used to. How do you react to that, and what have been some of your secrets to make it through those times? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It’s interesting that you pointed out the 2007, 2008 because that was a big one. I’ll never forget we were in Oklahoma City at a Morgan Grand National when that all happened in October. We were headed from there to here. It’s literally just over how many years ago almost to the date. When we were on our way from Oklahoma City over here, we said, “This is just not going to be a good show.” The stock market was below 10. We were looking at the Dow below 10,000. It was crazy. People were in utter panic. The good thing is we were not a huge business. At the same time, you don’t have quite the overhead that you have. At that time, we had always been inside an expo hall. Sometimes, out of adversity comes good things. We made the decision in 2008—at this horse show we’re sitting here talking at—that I said, “Let’s utilize what really was a fifth-wheel trailer that hauled our stuff that we stayed in,” and we had never used it for that purpose at a big national show because it’s just size wise—I said listen— Craig Willett: But it was storage for you. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yes. Craig Willett: It allows you to transport your displays, your product. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: I said, “We just need to figure that this isn’t going to be great.” Where they had put us in the expo hall was terrible, and so, location, location, location. I said, “Even if we go through all this work, unload this, we’re in a terrible spot, there may be nobody who even shops. Let’s make the least amount of work out of it.” We ended up utilizing the mobile store at the time which was significantly smaller than this one, but I said, “Let’s make the least amount of work for us as far as loading, unloading, and so on.” So we did. At the time, it’s where Bill and I are a very good team because I was laying in bed that night, and I’m thinking, “How are we going to have some kind of exposure if everything’s inside of this trailer?” Craig Willett: That’s a big transition from being in front of everybody or what you thought was in front of everybody. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: With this big expo display. Yeah. I said to Bill because I start to think and things are always on my mind in the night. I woke up that morning and I drew a picture and I said, “I want you to do this on the back of the trailer to create this platform and whatnot. We’re going to have tables back there and the mannequins are going to go out there, whatever.” He looked at me like I was crazy. Craig Willett: And I’m going to do that tomorrow? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yeah. Bill, in his very quiet way, he said, “I’m going to Lowe’s.” He left. He wasn’t very happy with me, but ultimately, he came back. He created this back deck entrance with the mannequin. It was fantastic. We never looked back. We never went back into an expo booth again. It created the concept of our mobile store at every show. We literally go into an expo on two occasions throughout the year only. We do almost 24 horse shows. The two that we do are because of the venue, they are able to push traffic in a very good way for us, but it’s also such a large venue that if we were off by ourselves in the mobile store, it just wouldn’t work. Craig Willett: No one would find you. That’s the Scottsdale Arabian horse show, one of them. I know because I see you there. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yes, exactly. Exactly. Of course, then, this year with the pandemic, it was difficult because for everyone, in every industry shut down. But, yes, we were in a somewhat of a panic though actually my biggest panic was not so much financially, but that we had stuff that people had placed orders on in January, February, that would have been delivering in March, April, and literally production had to be shut down. All of the cut pieces to garments had to be bagged and covered and stored while these shops shut down. The biggest thing was it was eating me up with the idea of I can’t deliver. Craig Willett: Right. You’re not going to be able to deliver. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yes. I thought, “Not that they’ve got anywhere to go, but you have a deposit on something.” I said, “What happens if people say—” Craig Willett: Or they might start thinking, “Hey, she’s not going to be able to—” Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: “—I need my money back. I could possibly never get my product.” We never had that happen, thank goodness. Our clientele was so good and so supportive of us. The thing that we were able to do, again, you try to make lemonade out of lemons. In the meantime, our staff was coming to work each day. We were not an essential business. We had to make ourselves an essential business. We started making all the face masks. Craig Willett: Oh wow. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Our production facilities were making them. Our staff was working on it. We literally created an online system where people could order and pay and everything, right, without going through a person. Craig Willett: And they were hard to find for a while. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Correct. Yes. We were shipping facemasks left and right. Now, clearly, we cannot support our business with— Craig Willett: Facemasks. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: No. Correct. But it was a little bit of supplement. It was a way for us to stay in contact with our customers. It was a way to keep our social media going and an awareness of our company that we’re out there, and we’re doing well and whatnot. Craig Willett: Right. Then, you care what’s going on in the world too. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Correct. Exactly. At some point, if things didn’t change and things didn’t open up—we were looking at a situation of maybe there will be never be another horse show again. Craig Willett: Wow. That’s a scary thought. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: And there was talk that, “Do we go back to just small outdoor county-level shows where we tie the horses to the trailer and show them outside?” I thought if we do that, there’s no need for high-end clothing. Craig Willett: Correct, because it would get ruined in theoutdoor environment. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: No. It’s going to be much more practical. It’s just not something that we can do. And you do, at some point, we thought, “What are we going to do?” Craig Willett: Well, obviously, you’re here so that didn’t happen. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: No. Thank goodness. Yeah. Thank goodness things started to open up. We did. That was the blessing of our mobile store too. We just started going. As soon as people started having shows—Tennessee, the state of Tennessee started to open up, the state of Alabama started to open up. Craig Willett: You could go where— Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: We had some very forward-thinking people in the equestrian industry that started saying, “We need to have horse shows,” and said, “If you don’t feel comfortable coming, if you don’t feel it’s safe, then please don’t. Do what you need to do.” But it was very crucial for the people who needed to that if they did feel safe and did go out that— and you knew the risks involved that we did. It was wonderful. Craig Willett: Right. You didn’t have to be in an indoor place where they couldn’t figure out what to do because they hadn’t figured out the distancing, what would work. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: What was fabulous too again that I was thankful we had our mobile store, we weren’t in an expo hall like it normally was because that was a very difficult setting. For us, we had structured our company all along to do private appointments with people because they’re shopping at a very high-end product. To have that one-on-one time for them, they don’t need everybody strolling in and out in their business and what they’re buying. We had established that type of a way to do business. It really didn’t change a lot for us. It really helps solidify the schedule and appointment. It’s your one-on-one time, max of so many people. We could clean, sanitize. We have a restroom in the back, so hand washing and so on. Really, it was something that just kind of—our business was able to just continue to go on. We were very fortunate that we had the opportunity that we were structured that way. Craig Willett: That’s cool. I’d like to go back to 2007 time again. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Sure. Craig Willett: I just think it’s interesting that you went from one way of doing business that most people did. I think I’ve seen some mobile stores of other types, but was that done at a convenience for you or did you do it for your customer? What’s the most surprising thing that happened from going to the mobile store that you maybe weren’t anticipating, either positive or negative, from that decision? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Right. It was. It was a decision probably made more for us in the sense that I said, “Let’s keep our costs down. We need to figure out how to push traffic.” But if there is no traffic, we do the least amount of work. We were very fortunate. I will say we’re blessed. A lot of people say, “Oh, everything you touch just turns to gold.” I said— Craig Willett: No, but you live a good life and you work hard. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It’s a blessing. Really, it is. When we did that, it really was probably more for us, but we also started to realize that people liked that environment. They liked the privacy of things. We really felt that we could cater to them in that way. At the point that what basically happened is we outgrew that mobile store. We ended up in this. Craig Willett: But there’s a bit of mystique to it too, right? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yes. Craig Willett: You have fierce competitors walking around the same exhibition hall. If they see one of their competitors with you, they’re like, “I wonder what he or she’s looking at,” peek over the shoulder, but if they’re in a private setting, they don’t have to worry about letting the secret out before they wear their next outfit. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Right. I think too for me, I might want to buy something at a Saks Fifth avenue, but it doesn’t mean that I’m never going to shop at Neiman Marcus. I love the loyalty of my customers. I think that that’s wonderful and I value that with them. But certainly, I wouldn’t not want to service or be upset with a customer because they found something that they needed, wanted, whatnot at another supplier. I don’t like the pressure that it puts on the customer where you’re in an area where it causes them to probably not shop with anyone. For us, we want to give them that privacy mostly for the customer. Craig Willett: They have time to make up their mind. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: They should never feel uncomfortable. Exactly. Yeah. Craig Willett: That’s interesting. That’s an interesting philosophy. That’s a surprise through it all that you didn’t realize the customers would feel that. How did you drive the traffic to the mobile because I’m sure people were walking through the expo, “Where is she?” Did your phone start ringing? How did people find you? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It’s interesting because it’s important that— Craig Willett: Because you said location, location, location. Once you move, I know what it is being in real estate. Once you move locations, you’ve got to plan way ahead and tell people where you’re going to be. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: One of the things we do, we do a lot of footwork early with our business. I always say, “I’m not too proud as a business owner that we don’t do the very hard work ourselves,” but we would print flyers. Bill and I were walking around dropping them at every stall and every restaurant handing them out. The wonderful part about that is that sometimes just that time in the morning to say hello to somebody, they just see your face. That’s a really nice thing, which the pandemic thing is making that a little tough. But as far as putting out or running specials, something to get them in the door and something that shows them where you are. We really tried to do some actual on-the-ground marketing. Craig Willett: I like that on-the-ground marketing. My father-in-law shared with me something when I started my CPA firm. He used to work for the IRS and used to do some tax work on the side before he became president of a bank. He told me, he said, “Craig, if you’re going to start your own firm, take Wednesday afternoons and just leave the office, leave the work behind, and just go out and say hi to your clients.” Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yeah. It’s important. Craig Willett: You know what? From that, I can’t think of how many times I picked up business opportunities, investment opportunities, and more business for me, but that wasn’t the intention. It was just to keep that relationship alive. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: I do. I think that that’s probably one of the things, that you have to be honest. Honesty is the most important. Don’t try to slide something past a customer. To me, the lack of respect for their intelligence thinking that you’re going to slide a fabric past them that wasn’t what they ordered, or to think that you didn’t care enough to say hello and give them a smile. If you’re having a bad day, that’s not their problem, you need to be that friendly face that they enjoy seeing. To be honest, it’s something that I feel blessed that it’s easy for me. I truly enjoy being with my customers. Many of them, like you, have become friends. I really value those relationships. We have people who were customers that, they aren’t even in the horse business anymore and I still see them and get to visit with them. They’ve become lifelong friends. Craig Willett: That’s great. I think that’s an underlying thing because everybody wants to do business with people who care. Everybody wants to create a relationship. I think that’s one of the struggles for the pandemic. I’m going to take a wild guess here, maybe, correct me if I’m wrong, but I fed you a few questions ahead of time to think about. One of them’s financing your business, but from what you’ve told me today, I think you—and if I’m wrong, tell me. A lot of people start to grow their business and realize, “I don’t have enough financial resources. I need to take on a partner, or I need to go get a bank loan.” How did you grow? Maybe, I won’t take a wild guess. How did you grow to the level you are today? Did you do it just from plowing in your profits, or did you have to go out and find some other means to get you leaving the corporate world to getting to being solely dependent on this? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: The decision to drop from the full-time down to part-time, we actually sold our house and moved to a very small little, almost starter house. We gutted out the kitchen and did some work ourselves and made this little—actually, what we did is, it was kind of a creative thing. We needed to sell an expensive house. The people who bought it were a couple that, he had a condo, she had a house she had been in for 35 years. We said, “Why don’t we buy your house,” because they needed to sell one to buy ours. I said, “Why don’t we buy yours? You buy ours,” because the net turnaround was a couple hundred thousand dollars. Craig Willett: For you, right? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yes. We needed that out of that overhead. We needed to not have a big house payment. We needed not to have car payments. We had to really, really skinny down our lives. It was a sacrifice, but it was very worth it. I remember back when I first started out just on my own, when you’re 18, you’re out of the house and you’re on your own, I was blessed with parents who were always there for me, but they didn’t financially provide for me. Craig Willett: They didn’t bail you out, right? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Never ever. I don’t think I’ve ever borrowed 10 bucks from my dad. He’d always say, “I’m here whenever you need me, but don’t come asking for money.” I remember early on when I got my first apartment and I figured all my expenses, and I had $25 left over at the end of a month. That’s it, outside of food, rent, your bills. Craig Willett: What’d you do with the 25 bucks? Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: I don’t know. I probably maybe held on to 15 of it and spent the 10. That was my luxury, but that’s always carried over. Making that move to going to the business full-time, I couldn’t have done it trying to still live the same lifestyle I had. You have to know that—because you’re running a risk, and I’m not going to expect the bank or anyone else to eat my risk if I don’t make it— Craig Willett: Right. To pay your personal expenses for you while you’re growing your business. I love that because I’ve just finished a series on starting a business. That’s one of the things, you can go to friends and family or you can figure out what your resources are and try to figure out how you can make it. I did the same thing when I started mine. You just have to just— Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yeah, you do. I was able to take that part-time income and adjust our lifestyle to me having a part-time income versus a full-time income. At the point that I built the business up enough that I was able to be without that. It just took that. As we went forward, I moved a few times. In the time when real estate was good, my design tactics actually were very helpful. I built a few houses and so built houses, had them offered— Craig Willett: To live in? Or just— Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Well, they were to live in, but a horse comes along, and this comes along and that you have to have happen. Actually, one of the houses I built, I got moved in and I was there probably three weeks. The yard wasn’t in. We had no landscaping. There was a front entryway light that was waiting. The fireplace doors hadn’t come yet, and my daughter wanted a horse. I literally propped a “for sale” sign up in front of the house. I asked the price of the horse more than what I paid for the house that was sold in a week. We got a horse. Craig Willett: Wow. That’s amazing. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: We lived in an apartment. It’s funny. Actually, my mother actually asked me. She said, “You did not.” But I asked my, at the time, eight-year-old daughter. I said, “This is the deal. If we’re going to get this horse, then, we have to move from here. We’ll build another house, but we’re going to live in an apartment.” For an eight-year-old in the third grade, maybe that was more important to her, to live in that neighborhood with her friends and whatever lifestyle an eight-year-old has become accustomed to and start over with nothing. I said, “That’s a decision I felt wasn’t a fair one for me to make for her.” She said, “No, mom. I want the horse.” And I said, “Okay.” We were in an apartment for 6 months. Craig Willett: A true equestrian, man. Right. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yeah. Six months in an apartment, built another house. Then, we went. But— Craig Willett: That sacrifice is really important, I think, though because so often we think I’m going to get in, it’s just going to start making money right away. It takes a long time to build up. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: It does. Craig Willett: You have to be able to cinch that belt and be able to live on very little so that you can allow the business to grow. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Well, it was like that with the pandemic too. When everything was closing down and boom, income is stopped. But you’ve got employees to pay, you’ve got payments to make. You have all that. One thing that I felt very fortunate that we had positioned ourselves well, I probably didn’t realize that at the time what a good choice I made. I do in hindsight now. But when the government came out with payroll protection, I’d also been given very good advice at one point. They said, “Do what you do best.” We make clothing. I’m not a lawyer. I’m not an accountant. I’m not a banker. Those are the three things that to me is very important to arm yourself with your own business, make sure that you have a good banker. It was important to me to find a bank that was big enough that they’re not the little mom and pop, but at the same time, I could have a personal relationship with my banker. It was very important a few times. On top of it, I had an excellent CPA. They do it. They take care of our payroll. They do all that. Well, what was great is all I had to do was call them. They had all the reports I needed. And as we’ve been through this as far as the payback of the PPP loans, they keep all the records. They took care of all that for me. The CPA along with the payroll service, they work together in the same building. And basically, I’ve not had to do any of it. I’ve told people it’s a great structure. I had heard terrible stories from people that were waiting in line and didn’t get that PPP stuff, but they were dealing with huge banks that they just were lost in the shuffle. That was so sad. Craig Willett: That’s what I like. There’s a certain regional or community bank level that’s meant for business owners, small business owners. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yeah. If you’re not that big, you’ve got to find—it was kind of like when we were looking for our production supply. I needed a company that our—I think our previous production was not big enough. We were outgrowing them. I needed to move into something bigger, but I didn’t want something that was so big that we would be unimportant. We needed to be a priority. Your supply chain has to mirror the type of business that you have so that you have good resources. Craig Willett: So do your outside consultants have to be the same thing. You don’t need somebody that’s over qualified for you that knows and understands your thing. When did you start this relationship and how did the relationship start with the banker? It certainly wasn’t just all of a sudden that the PPP ran in. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: No. Craig Willett: How did you cultivate that? I’m really curious because I think this is really critical for most businesses to succeed because you never know when you’re going to need them, but, you don’t always want them, but you want to keep the relationship. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: I had started out with a local bank—and a little plug for them—we do business with Fifth Third Bank, but it’s a regional, almost a national company, but they do business. We have a business banker that—actually the branch manager who I dealt with—whether it was buying a home, working with someone in the mortgage department, refinancing, that was something. We refinanced some homes in order to free up funds to be able to— Craig Willett: Make it through the difficult times. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Yeah, or to purchase things that we needed to for the business. When the time came, we had that relationship and an email and again my philosophy with my customers, you answer that day. Well, when you’re sitting there and you’re going, “We’ve got to get this PPP thing.” I needed the accountant, the payroll service, and the banker had to be honest. They were. They were right there for us. At one point, I couldn’t get one of the forms downloaded. She said, “I’m just going to fill it out for you. Just e-sign it when you get it and I’ll take care of it.” Literally, it was done. We were very fortunate. Craig Willett: Cool. You stole the thunder to one of the questions I was going to ask you the answer to. That is, What do you do to set aside money independent of the business so that as you need it for the business, or someday when it comes to retirement, you have an income stream and some assets that aren’t just the business because sometimes businesses like these are fairly unique. You could sell. Maybe, you can’t. It’s hard to replicate. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: Actually, we talked about that. We actually had a business plan. I think it was good and served its purpose, but we’ve turned and went at it a little different direction over the last maybe four or five years. That was the plan. I had a very good financial planner who said, “Listen. At some point, you need to make that business be valuable aside from you personally. It can’t just be you or it’s not worth anything.” We started to, one, establishing our staff and creating a system that could exist and service the customer that our customers could continue to do business with us and feel comfortable without me present. That was important. We did an excellent job of that. We found at some point, it had gone far enough that we got a little overstaffed and a little too much overhead. Then, we had to scale that back. It’s that balance of things. I felt that we were doing some services that they weren’t valuable enough to the customer and were too costly for us. We re-did some things, but I said, “Either I can do that, be bigger, and sell at the end, or we can dial back some expenses and net that.” Basically, over the course of a plan that, hey, if we sell in the end, that’s a bonus, but we will have made what we might have sold it for along the way. It’s a little different way to structure— Craig Willett: Right, and you set that aside so that we have it or we can access it when we need to. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: For example, our mobile store is very unique, the salability, but for what that amount would be, who knows? Our objective is—we’re very close to owning it. It’s really a neat feeling, but when we needed to buy it, our bank was right there. Actually, we switched banks over the purchase of this mobile store. One was just dragging their feet. The business banker was a little aloof about me. No, they didn’t understand it. The guy wasn’t returning my phone calls because they dumped us—we had gotten big enough they dumped us over to business banking, but we weren’t big enough— Craig Willett: Right. Weren’t important enough. Becky Deregnaucourt-Veltema: No. He just dismissed us. I made a call in to our bank that we deal with now. They were on it. Processed our loan in two days for a significant amount of money, but we had very good credit. We’ve always made sure pf that personally because we’ve gotten to a point where we can purchase things through the business with enough credit that we don’t have to personally insure all of them, but that’s a nice feeling to get to that

Finding your strong isn't always easy, but if you're familiar with SWAP Coaches David and Megan Roche, you are probably familiar with their infectious optimism.  David and Megan are both coaches of their company, SWAP- Some Work, All Play that David founded in 2013.   The powerhouse couple coaches some of the top trail runners and obstacle course athletes in the world.  Their coaching speaks for itself with over 17 US National Championships won, athlete appearances on Team USA 14 Times, Spartan World Champions, and more.  "For us, it's all about finding your strong. We want athletes to really embrace the athletic strength-based nature of being an endurance athlete.  What that means in practice is that everyone's strong looks so different. So you can't go on looks, you can't even go necessarily on what you're seeing in the mirror because that is so distorted. And it's not analogous to anything with performance or growth or anything. What we really want is someone to be "Ok, I want to be a boss! I want to be strong!"  And that's how you eat, that's how you train. What we're there for is supporting that with gentle affirmation that you're enough as you are,  you are perfect the way you are and things like that, but then also coming in with science. " -David Roche Megan is the 2016 USATF Trail Runner of the Year at the ultra and sub-ultra distances. She is a five-time national champion, a North American Mountain Running Champion, and a six-time member of Team USA. She graduated from Duke University with a degree in Neuroscience and received her M.D. from Stanford Medical School. At Stanford, she is doing a PhD in epidemiology, focused on population health and genetics for athletes. Megan started coaching with SWAP in 2016 with the premise that she could help athletes learn to love the process of training, embrace their inner ninja, and recover using a Taco Tuesday approach. David is the 2014 USATF Trail Runner of the Year at the sub-ultra distance. He is a two-time national champion and three-time member of Team USA. He graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Environmental Science and received a master's degree and law degree from Duke University. He also is a writer for Trail Runner Magazine.    The two also wrote a book, the Happy Runner.  I had David on the podcast once before going all into their book. David and Megan's book really resonated with me because it's about being a happy athlete.  This year, the couple started the SWAP podcast which happens to be one of my favorites. This episode is packed with energy, fun, and great learning about secrets to happy coupledom, eating lots of food, self-acceptance, how to deal with quitting, death, talent and so much more!   David and Megan's message to you is: YOU ARE SO LOVED AND PERFECT JUST AS YOU ARE. YES, JUST AS YOU ARE RIGHT NOW. AS YOU ARE READING THIS. AND AS YOU GROW AND CHANGE, YOU'LL BE PERFECT TOO. THIS IS ADDIE DOG TALKING. But David and Megan agree with this statement 10000%. YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!!!!   Topics Discussed in the Podcast  secrets to happy relationships body image and eating plenty self-acceptance and building confidence how to deal with quitting how to have more grit thoughts on death how much talent/genetics play a role Listen Now   Resources SWAP Running Website Follow David on Twitter Follow David and ADDIEDOG on Instagram Follow Megan on instagram  Get the book: The Happy Runner Article on the long tail of blood biomarkers

Welcome to episode 174 of the Final Surge Podcast where today we welcome professional runner Christine Thorn to the program. Four years ago Christine was playing basketball on a scholarship in college. Last year she ran 11th in the Steeplechase at the US National Championships. We talk to Christine about the path she took to get here, the coaching she is involved with, and what she hopes for next year on the track.   1:09 How did you get into running? 4:15 You ran with your high school team in Junior High right? 5:00 Did you run in high school? 5:54 Did you run on the side on college or no just basketball? 6:39 What gave you the thought that you could compete at the D2 level after your basketball career? 7:32 In college you sound like you were reluctant to try the steeple? 11:15 How did you feel coming back to run the 1500 finals after? 12:00 Did you consider yourself more of a cross or track runner? 13:03 When did you think you could compete post-collegiate? 14:58 Was it your college coach that convinced you to keep doing this? 15:29 How did you meet up with coach Jeff Boele? 17:16 15th in the country in D2 is good, but that is a long ways away from someone who will run in the Olympic Trials. How was it mentally getting here? 19:10 Since Corona hit have you done any racing? 20:28 If I remember Jeff's training correctly he does a lot on speed development and sprinting? 21:54 What do the wicket workouts look like? 22:57 Are there any cues in your head you use? 24:00 Have you been staying healthy during the shutdown? 24:35 Is there anything on the calendar? 25:18 You are working on Hammer and Axe, how did that happen? 27:00 We absolutely need more women coaches, who have been your influences? 29:27 Who is your target audience? 31:13 Are you involved in the Hammer and Axe Turkey Trot? Resources Coaching Page Instagram Turkey Trot Final Surge Final Surge Instagram Final Surge Twitter Final Surge Facebook Final Surge Website

Torin Koos has represented the US 76 times in World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic competitions. His best individual international result was a 3rd place in Otepaeae, Estonia Classic sprint in 2007. Torin also finished 4th in the Dusseldorf, Germany World Cup team sprint with Andy Newell in 2008. Torin has 34 top 30 individual results in WC and World Championships. He has won the US National Championships 7 times and the Canadian Championships once (not counting sprint relays). Torin retired from full time training and racing after the 2014 season. This 4 time Olympian now lives in Lausanne, Switzerland and is 40 years old. Since 2016, Torin has overseen the media and communications for the International University Sports Federation. We discussed being an exchange student in Norway, some highlight races of his career, experiences from the Tour of China, and what it is like living in Lausanne. This was a fascinating interview with an old friend who gives a great interview.

Kikkan Randall has 262 starts in World Cup, World Championships, and Olympic games. Of these international starts, she has reached the podium in individual races 31 times including 13 victories. Kikkan has won the overall Sprint World Cup 3 times and was 3rd in the overall World Cup in 2013. In the 2018 Olympic Games Kikkan won the gold medal in the team sprint with Jessie Diggins. In addition to her 17 US National Championship titles, this 5 time Olympian won individual silver and bronze medals as well as a Team Sprint gold medal in World Championships. Kikkan is also deservedly well known for the countless hours that she has devoted to Fast and Female in the past. In April 2018 Kikkan was diagnosed with breast cancer.  A long time Alaska resident, Kikkan and her 4 year old son Breck currently live in British Columbia. We speak about Kikkan's childhood, how she got into skiing, her meteoric rise to the top of Nordic skiing in the US, the process that she undertook to reach the top of the world's elite, and dealing with disappointment. 

Kaitlynn Miller is member of the 2018 US Olympic team. She has 33 World Cup starts, 5 US National Championship podiums, and one US National Championships win in the 2016 Classic Sprint. She retired in the spring of 2020 and is now working as the Youth and Introductory Program Direction for NENSA. Kaitlynn is 29. Kaitlynn talks about skiing for Craftsbury as a kid and then again as an elite skier, her job with NENSA, and the importance of not focusing on results but rather on all of the aspects of skiing and ski racing that are so attractive and enjoyable.

Ben Lustgarten has represented the US 34 times in World Cup and World Championship events. He won the 2017 US National Championship in the 30k Classic Mass Start. He has 10 podiums and 4 wins on the Supertour. He retired from full time training and racing in the spring of 2020. Ben talks about the Tour de Ski, race experiences, strength training, and the need to move on after bad races. 

Caitlin has 72 World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic starts. She has 19 podiums at the US Nationals and has won the US National Championships 7 times. Despite seeming to be a pure distance skier, she has two US National sprint titles showing that she is a true all arounder (and in both classic and skate). Caitlin has 12 individual World Cup top 30 results and was 4th in Pyeonchang at the preolympic WC as well as 26th in Pyeonchang at the OWG. Her brother is US XC Ski Olympian Scott Patterson. Caitlin is 30 years old and is clearly in the elite echelon of Nordic skiers in the history of the USA. Caitlin talks about the Green Racing Project and many aspects of her training.

In this episode, I am honored to have Ms. Ingrid Marcum as a guest on Boss Talk. Please enjoy this episode as we discuss Ingrid's career, post career, her dogs, her wellness, and her favorite beers. It was a fun episode! Thanks Ingrid you are amazing! Ingrid began her athletic career as a gymnast at the local YMCA before she was 2 years old! She competed for the YMCA, Illinois Gymnastics Institute, and finally the College of William and Mary - where she earned a BBA in Marketing.Her love of movement and strength began in those early years as a gymnast. She was fortunate to have a coach that included a significant amount of strength work - mostly bodyweight - into their practices. At 8 years old, Ingrid performed 252 push ups and could walk the perimeter of the gym on her hands! This consistent training built a foundation of strength that enabled her to excel in many arenas beyond gymnastics.After her gymnastics career ended (since you're over the hill at 21!), Ingrid found olympic weightlifting. She had become a strength coach, and took a USAW coaching course. Her performance during the hands-on portion of the course encouraged her begin competing in weightlifting.Ingrid qualified for the American Open and the US National Championships within her first couple of meets - just a couple months after starting to train for weightlifting!After medalling at multiple National Championships, she eventually won her first National weightlifting title at the 2009 National Championships in Chicago and won the American Open twice.Highlights of Ingrid's weightlifting career:2004 and 2008 Olympic Trials competitor2009 US National Champion, 75 kilo class2001 and 2007 World Team Trials competitorAmerican Open Champion, 69 kilo class 2007, 75 kilo class 2006National Championship competitor 2001-2009Silver medal 2006, 2007Bronze medal 2008Gold medal in the snatch 2003Personal records: Snatch 93 kilos, Clean & jerk 111 kilosIn 2002, Ingrid was recruited to try out for the US Bobsled team when two of the coaches noticed her lifting during the expo at the NSCA Convention.Her first season, she won the combine and the National Push Championships and went on to have an enjoyable and successful bobsled career - competing for the US throughout many World Cup seasons, including serving as an alternate for the 2010 Olympic Team. Ingrid finally retired from bobsled in 2013 - though she's always looking to try new things!Highlights of Ingrid's bobsled career:Alternate to the 2010 Olympic teamOne of 6 US brakemen considered for the 2006 Olympic teamWorld Championship team memberWorld Cup team memberSet track record in Lake Placid with driver Sara Sprung 2005Named co-athlete of the month at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center, February 2005Set a women's bobsled vertical jump record in 2003 with a jump of 31.9"Support the show (http://cash.app/$thefitboss)

In this episode Frank and John sit down with the winners of the 136 US National Championship. These are some of the finest archers in the world! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thebarebowproject/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebarebowproject/support

034.  Tammie talks with U.S. Olympic track athlete Colleen Quigley about building community and encouraging people to live a healthy lifestyle.    Colleen is a professional runner for Nike's Bowerman Track Club.  She won the Indoor Mile at the US National Championships in 2019.  Tammie and Colleen talk about :how Colleen started the #fastbraidfriday movement#chefcolleen wants people to cook moreColleen's IG videos encouraging people to be more activeyouth runners, especially young girls sportsmanshipwomen supporting each other instead of judging each otherfor links mentioned in this episode, please see:https://showupsociety.com/34

Dr. Bob Sager is a 6th generation cattle producer, who grew up on a ranch near Manhattan, Montana.  Growing up on the ranch Bob developed his passion for beef cattle, especially nutrition, and during high school knew that his home ranch was not big enough for him to come home to the ranch.  Bob studied animal science at Montana State and received his DVM from Colorado State in 1974 and not too long ago got his Ph.D. from Montana State as well.  Bob also spent time in Russia as a Senior Veterinarian supervising over 60 Russian vets take care of over 437,000 beef cattle. Upon completing that Bob now ranches in the White Sulpher Springs area and still practices Vet Medicine.  Bob also enjoys fly fishing and throwing the hammer, which he has competed in 30 US National Championships. I hope you enjoy the Podcast, Thanks for Listening. Check out the Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube     

In this episode of In The Loop, Karly (@cyberswansp) and special guest host Aly from Edges of Glory (@edges_of_glory) discuss all the happenings at both the 2020 Canadian and US National Championships. Check out Edges of Glory on Twitter @edges_of_glory, Instagram @edgesofglory, and on their website edgesofglory.com! Full episode transcript: https://www.inthelopodcast.com/news/2020/2/17/episode-48-transcript Merch now available! https://www.redbubble.com/people/InTheLoPodcast Icon, Header, and Graphics by Gabb (@tegomass) Audio Production by Evie (@doubleflutz) Produced by the In The Loop Team Website: https://www.inthelopodcast.com Ko-fi: http://ko-fi.com/inthelopodcast Contact: https://www.inthelopodcast.com/contact Twitter: https://twitter.com/InTheLoPodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inthelopodcast #InTheLoop #InTheLoPodcast

Do you truly have what it takes to reach your next level of tennis? Today’s special guest, Bob Litwin, shares what he has discovered during his incredible journey from losing every national level match for over three years to winning 25 US National Championships, becoming ranked #1 in the world and many more impressive accomplishments. His insights into the mental game, performance and self development are incredible so don’t miss this episode of the Essential Tennis Podcast!

Mark Sisson is the founder of the popular health blog, Mark’s Daily Apple, godfather to the Primal food and lifestyle movement, and the New York Times Bestselling author of The Keto Reset Diet. Mark is the author of numerous other books as well, including The Primal Blueprint, which was credited with turbocharging the growth of the primal/paleo movement back in 2009. After spending three decades researching and educating folks on why food is the key component to achieving and maintaining optimal wellness, Mark launched Primal Kitchen, a real-food company that creates Primal/paleo, keto, and Whole30-friendly kitchen staples. For more info on Mark, check out Mark's Daily Apple, his Books, or follow him on Instagram. ***This episode was recorded on a particularly raucous day at San Francisco CrossFit, so please excuse all the weights dropping and exuberant convos happening in the background.*** People, Books, and Devil Oils mentioned in the episode: 03:45 Mark’s background as an elite runner04:33 Mark was reading about longevity and fitness at an early age, with work by Adelle Davis and Ken Cooper’s book on aerobics07:25 In Mark’s early running career, conventional wisdom suggested a complex carbohydrate based diet was necessary08:54 Mark takes a break from school to pursue his running career and qualifies for the 1980 Olympics, the year President Carter decided to boycott 09:24 Mark finishes 5th in the US National Championships in 1980, and 4th at the Ironman in Hawaii09:39 While Mark was racing well and looked fit from the outside, he was suffering countless injuries and illnesses from overtraining and11:50 Mark retires 29 years old and dedicates his life to being strong, healthy, and happy with the least amount of pain and suffering12:12 Mark starts writing: Runner’s World Triathlon Training, 1982;12:30 Mark interests turn to gene expression14:54 Mark’s Daily Apple is born16:04 Kelly discovers Mark’s Daily Apple as a first year physio at the same time he discovered Mark Rippetoe, CrossFit, Dan John17:32 The Starrett’s give their cat, King Louie, diabetes. By feeding him cat food.18:28 In the end we are just animals and need to eat real food and avoid man-made frankenfood; Arthur De Vany19:45 Mark explains metabolic flexibility25:54 How does one become metabolically flexible?29:09 PrimalCon31:56 Hunger, appetite, and cravings32:10 Mark doesn’t eat a bite of food that doesn’t taste awesome, he’s the Marie Kondo of eating33:07 Minimum effective dose with respect to eating; Tim Ferriss35:02 The joy from eating is an important part of your day; Chasing the Cheesecake (Factory) dragon37:56 Mark, Ron Rosedale, and Joe Mercola all agree that the less sugar you eat, the longer you’ll live.38:45 When you aren’t eating, that’s when the good stuff happens in your body - repair mechanisms, DNA repair, cellular cleanup40:07 Fasting once in a while gives your body the opportunity to repair, with no real downside41:00 Juliet first learns about the dark side of vegetable oils on Mark’s Daily Apple, and furthers her knowledge with Cate Shanahan’s book, Deep Nutrition41:32 Industrial seed oils (soybean, canola, corn oil) are inflammatory, implicated in cellular damage, and cause premature hardening of arteries, skin (wrinkles)43:56 Mark started Primal Kitchen largely because of a supermarket incident where he realized that his beloved Newman’s Own Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Vinegar dressing contained soybean, canola, and corn oil, and EVOO was fourth or fifth on the ingredient list.44:53 Oils exist on a spectrum i.e. Avocado Oil which is considered one of the better oils, then EVOO, all the way down to the nastier industrial seed oils45:34 Crisco was created to lubricate engine parts until someone had the bright idea to use it in cooking46:18 Kolache46:59 At 66, Mark still has a prodigious “play” attitude47:37 Mark discusses the role of play in his day-to-day life49:00 Sidebar: Mark used to do 20-mile silent runs with a group of guys in the hills above Santa Monica, wearing just Speedos and running shoes. FYI.49:37 Mark tries to have fun when moving (rather than managing pain as part of his training)49:46 Activities of choice are stand up paddling, fat bike, foiling, snowboarding, and ultimate frisbee (that he plays with 20 somethings, some of whom won gold in the last world championships)51:44 The importance of balance as we age55:46 To achieve longevity, find some form of resistance exercise, but try to make it fun57:06 Slack line is great for balance57:37 Mark has a new book, out in December 2019, Keto for Life, which covers his four pillars of longevity - metabolic flexibility, movement & physical activity, mental flexibility, and rest & recovery - and looks at how we can set ourselves up to live a longer, happier, healthier life with the least amount of pain, suffering, sacrifice and discipline.59:00 Laird is 10 years older than Kelly, and Mark is 10 years older than Laird, which sets the bar high and gives Kelly a distinct image of what he’s shooting for in the next few decades60:00 There are basically two things that define quality of life when you get older: memory, actual mobility - both of which are the essential benefits of play62:00 Mark’s socials

I'm really excited about today's guest, David Roche. I feel like he is a kindred spirit, especially after reading his awesome book, the Happy Runner that he co-authored with his wife (who is also an incredible human), Megan Roche.  Author is just one of the hats that David wears.  He started his own coaching company in 2013 called SWAP - Some Work, All Play where he and Megan coach some of the top trail runners and obstacle course athletes in the world.  Their coaching speaks for itself with over 17 US National Championships won, athlete appearances on Team USA 14 Times, Spartan World Champions, and more.   David is also well accomplished as a runner as a two-time national champion, a three-time member of Team USA, and was Sub-Ultra Trail Runner of the Year in 2014.  He also is a writer for Trail Runner Magazine.  If that's not enough, he is also a former lawyer.  David and Megan's book really resonated with me because it's about being a happy athlete. We talked about important topics like sport as a celebration instead of a measuring stick of how good of a person you are, we talked about having a healthy relationship with results, we talked about how to have more self-acceptance, and even contemplating mortality.  I think you'll get a lot out of this podcast feel like you're walking, running, or riding away with your cup and your heart more full.   Topics Discussed in the Podcast  removing pressure with authenticity (as a writer and an athlete) getting away from looking at achievement as a benchmark for success Imposter syndrome how to cultivate more self-acceptance Dissociating with results how to view competition in a healthy way positive affirmations and mantras to help you enjoy the process more viewing the human as a whole when it comes to coaching why training more hours won't necessarily make you faster fun stories about some of the athletes he coaches Listen Now     Resources SWAP Running Website Follow David on Twitter Follow David and ADDIEDOG on Instagram Get the book: The Happy Runner ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Support the Show If you would like to support the growth of my show, I'd love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!         ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Don't Miss an Episode: Subscribe!                                                                   

Nicole & Diarm review all of the action from the World Young Horse Championships at Le Lion d'Angers and also the US National Championships at Fair Hill.

If wrestling had a hometown, Osage, Iowa would be in contention for that honor. The town of about 3500 has produced two Olympic wrestlers and perhaps the first-family of Iowa wrestling. With 6 state titles, 3 Big Ten Championships, 6 All Americans, a national championship, international success, and an Olympian, it is safe a safe bet that the mantle on the Schwab family fireplace has had to be reinforced a few times. Episode 122 brings the youngest Schwab brother, UNI Panther head coach Doug Schwab, to the podcast to tell his stories from on the mat. Mike and Mark Schwab were two very successful wrestlers. Mike was a state champion and Mark was a 4-time state champ, only losing 1 match in high school.  Both Mike and Mark were All Americans at UNI. Little brother Doug followed in their footsteps and added one more state title to the family trophy case before going on to wrestle at the University of Iowa. Doug's career as a Hawkeye included 130 wins, 3 Big Ten titles, a national title and 3 time All American honors. Doug continued his career earning a Pan American Games gold, US National Championship, and a trip to the 2008 Bejing Olympics. Schwab's career is now in its second phase as he is the head wrestling coach for the UNI Panthers. After serving as an assistant at Virginia Tech and the University of Iowa under Tom Brands, Schwab took the reins in Cedar Falls in 2010. Since that time, he has helped rebuild the Panther program, with the help of brother Mark, and restore it to one of the top 15 programs in the country. Schwab and his UNI Panthers are now in the Big 12 Conference and UNI had its first national champion, Drew Foster, since 2000.

"If you look at a beautiful technique, you can see it's congruent. And if you look at a beautiful human being, you can see that they're congruent - what they think, what they say and what they do is all in line." On the Martial Arts Mind podcast, we often find ourselves discussing the synergy between student and teacher - how these two roles intertwine in the classroom, how they power the engine of growth and discovery, and how they're frequently two sides of the same coin. Nowhere is this more true than with our guest this week. Sensei Gabriel Van Rel has been practicing Aikido, Judo and Tae Kwon Do since the age of seven. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, his focus on Shotokan karate took him to the North American Cup and the Gichin Funakoshi World Shotokan Karate Championships, and saw him as the youngest member of five-man team that won the US National Championships. As a full-time instructor with his own dojo, he joins us from London, England to explore his own practice: what it means to train whole-heartedly; how he sees his own path and his place in his students' lives; and the meaning and manifestation of mastery on and off the mat. In the process, we delve into what it means to be a full-time practitioner, how our teachers shape our training and our lives, and what it means to find meaning on the mats. We hope you enjoy our discussion with Sensei Van Rel. For us, it's meaningful, insightful and full of the promise of where serious, sustainable martial arts can lead. === https://dojovanrel.com https://www.brooklynbjj.com http://www.martialartsmind.com

It's the latest episode of the Ministry of Dice and this week is the 2019 US Nationals special! That's right folks - the US National Championship took place at the Origins Games Fair in Columbus, Ohio, and after Chris & Andy catch y'all up with what's been going down in the land of the MoD (Lot's there - check the links below) we kick it all off with a closer look at the news & spoilers from the Friday night Fan Appreciation event from Wizkids. Then it's on to the big day itself. We've got Top 8 meta-chat, live audio from Origins, and a Special Guest who was there on the day. (As well as Andy). How accurate were Rip Thunderstone's predictions in the last episode? What were the curious team choices? Who used the Catwoman card? All this and more in the MoD US Nats special. We warn you - it's a little bit of a longer ep than usual, but they like big portions in North America. Hit play now for Dice Masters podcasting pleasure that you've never had before... Show Notes & Other Stuff If you would like to see the Live Streamed YouTube matches mentioned in this episode then please do head on over to our YouTube channel where the recordings sit in a “Live Stream” playlist, amongst other recorded games and voice over commentaries: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC37-yiK-AsamGVZFzEsEzxA/playlists We'd very much appreciate it if you subscribed to the channel, hit a ‘thumbs up' on each of the vids, and clicked the bell thing to receive notifications when we upload a new vid. If you could then open up another 2 or 3 new accounts and do the ‘Like' and ‘Subscribe' thing all over again that would be tremendous. ;P The survey info can be found here: https://britrollersix.com/2019/06/20/vote-in-the-modpaftops-ministry-of-dices-2nd-anniversary-awards-show/ And the raffle info here: https://britrollersix.com/2019/06/16/two-year-anniversary-fundraising-raffle-support-the-ministry-of-dice/ Legal Bits N' Bobs United Kingdom: God Save the Queen by National Anthems is licensed under a Creative Commons License. It was sourced from a Soundcloud account entitled “National Anthems”. The name of the creator/creators has not been provided on that account. The license can be found here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/legalcode The Dice transition sound effect was sourced from freesound.org. The account it was downloaded from is “dermotte” and is shared under the following license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Our tremendous ‘Rule Britannia' intro is used with permission from Richard Campbell and is a short extract from his “England Rock Anthems” track. We think Richard's work is exceptional. So visit Richard's website here for more of his music: http://www.richardcampbellmusic.co.uk/

Ebo Elder is a retired professional boxer who reached a ranking as high as the #5 lightweight boxer in the world. However, his battles continued outside of the ring. Ebo turned to drug and alcohol abuse after a painful divorce, but turned his life around when he found the Lord. He returned to boxing and fought the #4 fighter in the world in the biggest fight of his life inside the ring. However, the most triumphant moment of his life was pursuing his wife after divorce and remarrying her in a way that no one could have predicted. In this episode: Growing up to become a professional boxer since childhood Boxing grown men as an amateur teenage boxer Boxing the #1 ranked amateur fighter 7 times and losing 7 times Surviving a horrific motorcycle accident Knocking out his opponent in the 1st round of his first professional boxing fight The Greatback – coming back from divorce, depression, drug abuse, and defeat to find a fulfilling purpose in Jesus Experiencing marriage, divorce, and remarriage with his wife Why it is a bad idea to believe that marriage will solve preexisting relationship problems Finding out his wife filed for divorce the night of his US National Championship fight Contemplating suicide and almost going through with it, but turning to God at the last moment Fighting to get his wife back, and fighting in the ring Reentering boxing after a long break to take on the #4 boxer in the world Entering the 12th round of the toughest fight of his career Praying with his opponent in the ring after he knocked him out in the 12th Remarrying his wife in the most unforeseen way possible His daughter was a “rescue mission” to bring him and his wife back together Working through the pain of the past with his wife after their remarriage Ebo Elder is the author of The Great Comeback: Coming Back from Abuse, Depression, Divorce and Defeat to Find Victory, Freedom and an Amazing Life. You can follow him on Instagram @eboelder and you can find out more about him at www.eboelder.com

Adam Ward is an Innovation Coach, Author and Speaker with over 25 years of strategy and product development experience. He began his career as a design engineer at Honda R&D before becoming the Lean Product Development Strategy Leader at GE Healthcare. Now at Simpler, an IBM Health Company, Adam coaches C-Suite healthcare teams worldwide on client delivery redesign with a focus on new product development, services enhancement, and organizational transformation. He is one of the early adopters of innovation techniques in healthcare and has been at the ground level for major projects, including GE’s $8B Diagnostic Imaging Division. He is the creator of GE’s Disruptive Cost Workout methodology, which continues to be their business standard. As an innovation consultant with Simpler, Adam has guided clients like Atrius Health, Northwestern Mutual, Lockheed Martin, and the U.S. Air Force to leverage lean product development to increase the ability to create new products, services and patient-care models. His project at Lockheed Martin won their prestigious Team of the Year Improvement Award and Adam has won the President’s Award from Honda, GE and Simpler for his innovation methods. Adam has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Ohio State University, in addition to attending GE’s Crotonville leadership courses and its Management Development Course. Adam now guest lectures at Ohio State for both graduate and undergraduate programs on innovation, leadership, customer understanding, and change management. An accomplished triathlete, Adam has completed an Ultraman, finished three Ironman, competed twice in the US National Championship and twice in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship. In this discussion we cover 1. Simplifying your life by cutting out unnecessary communication, even if you think it will make you look more professional. 2. Why at the top, all of the problems are the same, just the words are different. 3. The benefits of religion and religious observance in the business world. 4. How religion can better update itself to be relevant and meaningful in the modern age.

In this episode of In The Loop, Karly (@cyberswansp), Niamh (@rivrdance) and Yogeeta (@liliorum) review both Canadian and US National Championships in preparation for Four Continents, which begins later this week. Full transcript available here: https://www.inthelopodcast.com/news/2019/02/06/episode-25-transcript Canadian Nats Men 13:00 Pairs and Dance 20:03 Ladies 25:05 US Nats Pairs 27:58 Men 32:22 Dance 50:05 Ladies 59:37 News mentioned in this episode Petition to rename Halyk Arena after the late Denis Ten https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/kazakhstan-peoples-petition-to-name-halyk-arena-after-denis-ten.html Alexandrovskaya/Windsor (AUS), Ryom/Kim (PRK) and Suzaki/Kihara (JPN) withdraw from 4CC http://www.isuresults.com/events/cat03109042.htm Icon, Header, and Graphics by Gabb (@tegomass) Audio Production by Evie (@doubleflutz) Produced by the In The Loop Team Website: inthelopodcast.com Ko-fi: http://ko-fi.com/inthelopodcast Twitter: https://twitter.com/InTheLoPodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inthelopodcast

Support the show on Patreon OR Buy me a coffee Welcome of the first of the "Your stories told your way" Segment While interacting with people on Instagram, I often get contacted by individuals who have either carved out a place in history for themselves or have a connection to someone who has. So this segment is to give those people a chance to tell those stories for themselves. Unedited and raw, this recording is a conversation I was privileged enough to have with Figure Skating legend Rory Flack. She has a fantastic story and is the first African American to perform a black flip on Ice in a professional setting. Flack began skating at age 5. At age 13, she met the pioneer for African Americans in figure skating, Mabel Fairbanks. Fairbanks inspired Flack to continue skating after wanting to stop at an early age due to racism. Two years later, Debi Thomas, Bobby Beauchamp and Rory Flack skated to three medals at the US National Championships. This was the first time three African Americans competed at the Nationals, and they all earned spots on the international team. In 1986, Flack won the junior bronze medal at the U.S. Championships. She also competed internationally, winning the silver medal at the 1987 Grand Prix International St. Gervais. Her performance at the 1987 U.S. Championships attracted national attention and earned her an appearance with footage on Saturday Night Live. It was the first time a figure skater was on the show. If you have an exciting story or are connected to a fascinating figure from Black History and would like to be featured on the show, you can contact me via: Instagram: @blackhistorybuff777 Email: blackhistorybuff777@gmail.com Telegram: https://t.me/BHB777 You can contact Rory at: Tel: +01 3464207168 m.me/realroryflack http://www.coloroficepro.com If you've enjoyed this or any of the other episodes, you can support the show and gain exclusive extras at: Patreon: www.patreon.com/Blackhistorybuff/posts Or Paypal: paypal.me/blackhistorybuff777 Finally, you can reach me on all socials at the below link: linktr.ee/black_history_buff_777 Thank you for your time and support the encouragement I've received means the world to me. P.s As promised here is the link to Rory's backflip: https://youtu.be/NUrsMasS1dk Become a friend of the show Show Notes: --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/blackhistorybuff/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/blackhistorybuff/support

We have reached our one hundredth show!  We spend the episode talking about the future of Destiny and answering your questions.  And don't forget to join us for our live coverage of the US National Championship! —————————— Support the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation AND The Chance Cube as we prepare to bring live coverage from the US National Championship: http://www.thechancecube.com/nova Visit the NOVA Open for more information about the event: http://www.novaopen.com This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ji2XT8H8nDk Watch the show LIVE on TWITCH every Tuesday night at 9:00pm Eastern: http://www.twitch.tv/thechancecube Join The Chance Cube Discord at: https://discord.gg/aesMN3Y Please take a moment to give us a review on iTunes: http://www.thechancecube.com/review Support our programming at http://www.patreon.com/thechancecube. Get official The Chance Cube game accessories and swag from our vendors: http://www.thechancecube.com/store The Chance Cube is sponsored in part by Armada Games.  Visit their website at http://www.shoparmada.com. —————————— HOSTS: Jason: jason@thechancecube.com Mike: mike@thechancecube.com Kim: kim@thechancecube.com VISIT US: Email: contact@thechancecube.com Website: http://www.thechancecube.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thechancecube YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thechancecube Twitter: http://twitter.com/thechancecube Instagram: http://instagram.com/thechancecube Twitch: http://twitch.tv/thechancecube —————————— The Chance Cube is not affiliated with Fantasy Flight Games, Lucasfilm, or the Walt Disney Company.… Read More The post Episode C: A Chance Cube Milestone appeared first on The Chance Cube.

We are joined this week by Kris Soehnlin, organizer for Star Wars: Destiny at the NOVA Open as we talk about the upcoming US Nationals, alternative play formats, and what we think we will see at those top tables. We also cover the latest news and discuss the answers to this week's question! —————————— Support the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation AND The Chance Cube as we prepare to bring live coverage from the US National Championship: http://www.thechancecube.com/nova Visit the NOVA Open for more information about the event: http://www.novaopen.com This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/K0p3McK-nLU Watch the show LIVE on TWITCH every Tuesday night at 9:00pm Eastern: http://www.twitch.tv/thechancecube Join The Chance Cube Discord at: https://discord.gg/aesMN3Y Please take a moment to give us a review on iTunes: http://www.thechancecube.com/review Support our programming at http://www.patreon.com/thechancecube. Get official The Chance Cube game accessories and swag from our vendors: http://www.thechancecube.com/store The Chance Cube is sponsored in part by Armada Games.  Visit their website at http://www.shoparmada.com. —————————— HOSTS: Matthew: matthew@thechancecube.com Kim: kim@thechancecube.com Jason: jason@thechancecube.com VISIT US: Email: contact@thechancecube.com Website: http://www.thechancecube.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thechancecube YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thechancecube Twitter: http://twitter.com/thechancecube Instagram: http://instagram.com/thechancecube Twitch: http://twitch.tv/thechancecube —————————— The Chance Cube is not affiliated with Fantasy Flight Games, Lucasfilm, or the Walt Disney Company.… Read More The post Episode XCIX: Nova Bound appeared first on The Chance Cube.

Mike brings us an update from his trip to GenCon, and Matthew Scott guest hosts to talk about his win at a local store championship with Kylo/Pryce. We also cover the latest news and discuss the answers to this week's question! —————————— Support the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation AND The Chance Cube as we prepare to bring live coverage from the US National Championship: http://www.thechancecube.com/nova This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/casJLugVnlc Watch the show LIVE on TWITCH every Tuesday night at 9:00pm Eastern: http://www.twitch.tv/thechancecube Join The Chance Cube Discord at: https://discord.gg/aesMN3Y Please take a moment to give us a review on iTunes: http://www.thechancecube.com/review Support our programming at http://www.patreon.com/thechancecube. Get official The Chance Cube game accessories and swag from our vendors: http://www.thechancecube.com/store The Chance Cube is sponsored in part by Armada Games.  Visit their website at http://www.shoparmada.com. —————————— HOSTS: Matthew: matthew@thechancecube.com Kim: kim@thechancecube.com Mike: mike@thechancecube.com VISIT US: Email: contact@thechancecube.com Website: http://www.thechancecube.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thechancecube YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thechancecube Twitter: http://twitter.com/thechancecube Instagram: http://instagram.com/thechancecube Twitch: http://twitch.tv/thechancecube —————————— The Chance Cube is not affiliated with Fantasy Flight Games, Lucasfilm, or the Walt Disney Company.… Read More The post Episode XCVIII: Way of the Con appeared first on The Chance Cube.

Betty Okino is a former American artistic gymnast and Olympic medalist who was born in Uganda to a Ugandan father and a Romanian mother. As a result, she is fluent in Romanian. Growing up, she trained with Márta and Béla Károlyi in Houston. She was part of the 1992 bronze-winning Olympic team, which was also the first ever team medal at the Olympic Games for USA Gymnastics. In addition, Betty won a silver medal with her team in the 1991 World Championships and a bronze medal on the balance beam. Betty also won a gold medal on beam and a silver all-around medal at the 1990 US National Championships. In this episode, Betty looks back on her career and injuries and states that she believes everything happens for a reason. She states that even though her injuries were the biggest obstacles she faced as a gymnast, recovering from them have made her a stronger person. Betty also speaks of what she did after retiring as a gymnast and speaks of her goals in her peak training camps. She describes what makes a good coach and explains the work ethic and humility needed to be a leader. Bella expresses her views on the evolution of USA Gymnastics throughout the years since her involvement from the 1980s and speaks about the beauty of gymnasts coming together through the years has made them stronger. Full show notes: http://ihavecoolfriends.show/10

We take a brief look at the top decks in standard format that have been popularized in the last few weeks of store championships. We also cover the latest news and discuss the answers to this week's question! —————————— Support the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation AND The Chance Cube as we prepare to bring live coverage from the US National Championship: http://www.thechancecube.com/nova This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3f7VZHEHGcE Watch the show LIVE on TWITCH every Tuesday night at 9:00pm Eastern: http://www.twitch.tv/thechancecube Join The Chance Cube Discord at: https://discord.gg/aesMN3Y Please take a moment to give us a review on iTunes: http://www.thechancecube.com/review Support our programming at http://www.patreon.com/thechancecube. Get official The Chance Cube game accessories and swag from our vendors: http://www.thechancecube.com/store The Chance Cube is sponsored in part by Armada Games.  Visit their website at http://www.shoparmada.com. —————————— HOSTS: Jason: jason@thechancecube.com Kim: kim@thechancecube.com Mike: mike@thechancecube.com VISIT US: Email: contact@thechancecube.com Website: http://www.thechancecube.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thechancecube YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thechancecube Twitter: http://twitter.com/thechancecube Instagram: http://instagram.com/thechancecube Twitch: http://twitch.tv/thechancecube —————————— The Chance Cube is not affiliated with Fantasy Flight Games, Lucasfilm, or the Walt Disney Company.… Read More The post Episode XCVII: Way of the Meta appeared first on The Chance Cube.

We are joined by The Chance Cube's Ruben Sanchez to take a look at Mill in Way of the Force. We also cover the latest news and discuss the answers to weeks question! —————————— Support the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation AND The Chance Cube as we prepare to bring live coverage from the US National Championship: http://www.thechancecube.com/nova This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/m8SjYZAaMoo Watch the show LIVE on TWITCH every Tuesday night at 9:00pm Eastern: http://www.twitch.tv/thechancecube Join The Chance Cube Discord at: https://discord.gg/aesMN3Y Please take a moment to give us a review on iTunes: http://www.thechancecube.com/review Support our programming at http://www.patreon.com/thechancecube. Get official The Chance Cube game accessories and swag from our vendors: http://www.thechancecube.com/store The Chance Cube is sponsored in part by Armada Games.  Visit their website at http://www.shoparmada.com. —————————— HOSTS: Jason: jason@thechancecube.com Kim: kim@thechancecube.com Mike: mike@thechancecube.com VISIT US: Email: contact@thechancecube.com Website: http://www.thechancecube.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thechancecube YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thechancecube Twitter: http://twitter.com/thechancecube Instagram: http://instagram.com/thechancecube Twitch: http://twitch.tv/thechancecube —————————— The Chance Cube is not affiliated with Fantasy Flight Games, Lucasfilm, or the Walt Disney Company.… Read More The post Episode XCVI: Way of the Mill appeared first on The Chance Cube.

We are joined by Zach Bunn from Team Covenant to take a look at the plots in Way of the Force, and talk about the early meta in this set. We also cover the latest news and discuss the answers to weeks question! —————————— Support the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation AND The Chance Cube as we prepare to bring live coverage from the US National Championship: http://www.thechancecube.com/nova This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zdaLaoMZI8A Watch the show LIVE on TWITCH every Tuesday night at 9:00pm Eastern: http://www.twitch.tv/thechancecube Join The Chance Cube Discord at: https://discord.gg/aesMN3Y Please take a moment to give us a review on iTunes: http://www.thechancecube.com/review Support our programming at http://www.patreon.com/thechancecube. Get official The Chance Cube game accessories and swag from our vendors: http://www.thechancecube.com/store The Chance Cube is sponsored in part by Armada Games.  Visit their website at http://www.shoparmada.com. —————————— HOSTS: Jason: jason@thechancecube.com Kim: kim@thechancecube.com Mike: mike@thechancecube.com VISIT US: Email: contact@thechancecube.com Website: http://www.thechancecube.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thechancecube YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thechancecube Twitter: http://twitter.com/thechancecube Instagram: http://instagram.com/thechancecube Twitch: http://twitch.tv/thechancecube —————————— The Chance Cube is not affiliated with Fantasy Flight Games, Lucasfilm, or the Walt Disney Company.… Read More The post Episode XCV: Way of the Plot appeared first on The Chance Cube.

We take a look at theming in Way of the Force, and go into some of the cards inspired by Non-Movie sources (i.e. Animation, Comic Books, and Video Games). We also cover the latest news and award this weeks giveaway! —————————— Support the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation AND The Chance Cube as we prepare to bring live coverage from the US National Championship: http://www.thechancecube.com/nova This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rbrAAbloGdY Watch the show LIVE on TWITCH every Tuesday night at 9:00pm Eastern: http://www.twitch.tv/thechancecube Join The Chance Cube Discord at: https://discord.gg/aesMN3Y Please take a moment to give us a review on iTunes: http://www.thechancecube.com/review Support our programming at http://www.patreon.com/thechancecube. Get official The Chance Cube game accessories and swag from our vendors: http://www.thechancecube.com/store The Chance Cube is sponsored in part by Armada Games.  Visit their website at http://www.shoparmada.com. —————————— HOSTS: Jason: jason@thechancecube.com Kim: kim@thechancecube.com Mike: mike@thechancecube.com VISIT US: Email: contact@thechancecube.com Website: http://www.thechancecube.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thechancecube YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thechancecube Twitter: http://twitter.com/thechancecube Instagram: http://instagram.com/thechancecube Twitch: http://twitch.tv/thechancecube —————————— The Chance Cube is not affiliated with Fantasy Flight Games, Lucasfilm, or the Walt Disney Company.… Read More The post Episode XCIV: Way of the Theming appeared first on The Chance Cube.

This week I discuss the top 5 things I'm most excited about at The American Classic. The American Classic is one of two elite meets that athletes can compete in to qualify for US National Championships. There are a lot of new Hopes gymnasts that will be competing. Some of the kids that competed in Hopes last year have now qualified as Jr. Elites so we will be watching how they do. We are also excited to see some Sr. Elites compete that we haven't seen compete in a while. You can check out The Balance Beam Situation for a great preview (https://balancebeamsituation.com/2018/07/05/american-classic-preview/) and more detail on some of the key athletes to watch for. Here's my top 5. 1. So many new elites - mostly talking about Hopes kids here 2. Tom Forster 3. The podium 4. All the athletes - w/bias towards MG Elite, Paramount Elite and GO 5. The Leotards (of course) Good luck ladies! Have fun, stay focused and don't forget to point your toes :) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lifeinaleo/support

We are joined this week by Monk from Monk's Gaming Battlefield to talk about our favorite cards from Legacies and what it brought to the game. We also cover the latest news and award this weeks giveaway! —————————— Support the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation AND The Chance Cube as we prepare to bring live coverage from the US National Championship: http://www.thechancecube.com/nova This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cQeMfY7doTI Watch the show LIVE on TWITCH every Tuesday night at 9:00pm Eastern: http://www.twitch.tv/thechancecube Join The Chance Cube Discord at: https://discord.gg/aesMN3Y Please take a moment to give us a review on iTunes: http://www.thechancecube.com/review Support our programming at http://www.patreon.com/thechancecube. Get official The Chance Cube game accessories and swag from our vendors: http://www.thechancecube.com/store The Chance Cube is sponsored in part by Armada Games.  Visit their website at http://www.shoparmada.com. —————————— HOSTS: Jason: jason@thechancecube.com Mike: mike@thechancecube.com VISIT US: Email: contact@thechancecube.com Website: http://www.thechancecube.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thechancecube YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thechancecube Twitter: http://twitter.com/thechancecube Instagram: http://instagram.com/thechancecube Twitch: http://twitch.tv/thechancecube —————————— The Chance Cube is not affiliated with Fantasy Flight Games, Lucasfilm, or the Walt Disney Company.… Read More The post Episode XCIII: Looking Back on Legacies appeared first on The Chance Cube.

A lengthy interview with Jamie Monroe, vice chair for USAOCR. The organization knows as USAOCR is putting on a national championship event in December in Chula Vista, California. We do go over a good bit of "How we got here" on today's episode, however, here is some additional reading/listening either before or after you listen today for further context. March 2017 - Podcast with Tim Sinnett, the media contact at USAOCR at the time. May 2017 - Article by McCauley Kraker recapping the first ever US National Championships put on by USAOCR in Miami. April 2018 - Article about USOCR and it's parent, WORLD OCR. (formerly known as IOSF). Learn more about this event and register here Todays Podcast is sponsored by: Wetsuit Wearhouse – Save 15% using coupon code ORM15 on all purchases. Show Notes: AOCRA - "Adrians" organization that has nothing to do with USAOCR. (In case you were confused)

We have 21 new spoilers to review that have been released through the Star Wars: Destiny Content Creator community, and we spend a little time talking about ways to spice up your local events. We also cover the latest news and award this weeks giveaway! —————————— Support the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation AND The Chance Cube as we prepare to bring live coverage from the US National Championship: http://www.thechancecube.com/nova This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/23A8a3CIwfo Watch the show LIVE on TWITCH every Tuesday night at 9:00pm Eastern: http://www.twitch.tv/thechancecube Join The Chance Cube Discord at: https://discord.gg/aesMN3Y Please take a moment to give us a review on iTunes: http://www.thechancecube.com/review Support our programming at http://www.patreon.com/thechancecube. Get official The Chance Cube game accessories and swag from our vendors: http://www.thechancecube.com/store The Chance Cube is sponsored in part by Armada Games.  Visit their website at http://www.shoparmada.com. —————————— HOSTS: Jason: jason@thechancecube.com Kim: kim@thechancecube.com Mike: mike@thechancecube.com VISIT US: Email: contact@thechancecube.com Website: http://www.thechancecube.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thechancecube YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thechancecube Twitter: http://twitter.com/thechancecube Instagram: http://instagram.com/thechancecube Twitch: http://twitch.tv/thechancecube —————————— The Chance Cube is not affiliated with Fantasy Flight Games, Lucasfilm, or the Walt Disney Company.… Read More The post Episode XCII: Keeping it Different appeared first on The Chance Cube.

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-383 – Ted Talks 100 miles  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4383.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Hello and welcome to the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-383 First let me apologize for not being consistent with episode production these last 7 months.  I was in a role that was very taxing on my time an energy.  My basic schedule was to roll out of bed at 4:30 or 5:00 AM, grab my stuff, drive to the train station, get on the train, get to the gym, hit my workouts, get cleaned up, work until 7:00 at night, get back on the train to be home after 8:00, eat something and go to bed.  Rinse and repeat.  In all of this I had no real office or place to write or record or interview. This left me with the weekends, which after spending all week in the mix-master of work I kinda needed the time off to recharge enough to get through the next week.  Through all this I kept my training up for the marathon but just about everything else got kicked to the curb.  I had some memorable hard workouts down by the Charles River in the early morning.  I learned a lot about the city.  I really missed the writing and being able to talk to you folks about endurance sports with the quality and fidelity of a measured mind.  Good news for the podcast is that I'm done with that gig and for the near future able to refocus on getting my mind and body straight for the Boston Marathon.  Today I've got an interview I recorded with one of my old friends and running buddies Ted.  We talk about stepping up to a 100-mile distance and what it is going to take.  In section one I penned a soliloquy on running my 20th Boston Marathon and in section two I'll talk about the power of gratitude.  Since we last talked I've been in the dark place with my training.  Lots of hard, hard workouts in lots of bad weather up here in New England.  As of today, we've had 4 major storms in the month of March.  I've run in all of them and moved all the snow they've brought.  I'll give you a funny, or pitiful, depending on your view point, story.  Last week I had a pretty big workout on the calendar for Tuesday.  It was an hour and forty-five-minute fartlek run.  Looking at the weather I could see that it was going to snow all day Tuesday bringing high winds and 2+ feet of snow.  So I sent a note to coach. “Can we move this workout?”  I asked. “You're 5 weeks out from Boston.” He returned.  “This is an important week.”  And I thought maybe I could do it on the treadmill at the office.  But, the Governor declared a state of something and told everyone to stay home and stay out of the city.  So I couldn't get to the treadmill.  I set the alarm early to see if I could get out before the storm got too bad.  When the alarm went off I could see the wet snow being driven sideways at the window and hear the wind gusts.  That wasn't happening.  I worked from the home office all day with one eye out the window to see if the storm might not relent.  The snow kept piling up.  5:00 pm rolled around and I knew it was now or never.  I was going to lose daylight.  I strapped on some flashy lights for visibility and geared up.  I pulled out my trail shoes for traction.  My neighborhood is a cul de sac with a 1 km loop.  I was not venturing out of the cul de sac.  The snow was coming down hard and about 6 inches deep on the road.  I had pretty good traction because it had started as wet snow and there was a couple inches of slush at the bottom that my trail shoes could hook into.  I warmed up for 10 minutes and then timed out a 2-3 minute stretch that was slightly uphill and maybe a 1/3 of the loop.  Each loop I'd accelerate into this stretch and bring my heart rate up, focusing on form and turnover.  By this time the storm was starting move off.  The plows came out and I danced with them on the road.  The neighbors came out with their snow blowers and shovels and tractors.  I startled more than one coming out of the mist wet and churning forward in the mush.  I finished up with over 12 miles, 15 little fartleks and probably 20 laps of the neighborhood – I'm sure much to the amusement of my neighbors.  That was a hard workout.  Then I changed into my snow moving gear and moved snow for another 3 hours. So that's life.  When life gives you blizzards, give back fartleks and have fun doing it.  On with the show. … I'll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don't have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member's only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – 20 years of Boston- Voices of reason – the conversation Ted MacMahon Ted MacMahon is a lifelong endurance athlete, having competed in 50+ marathons (20+ Boston Marathons), 10+ Ironmans, and 10+ ultramarathons. He often says, “Having raced in a bunch of races only means that I've made more mistakes than most and am happy to help others avoid my pitfalls.” In the past year, Ted won his division in the US National Championships in both the trail marathon and 100-mile trail distances. Native to Massachusetts, Ted and his wife Pamela now reside in Flagstaff, AZ. Ted can be reached at . Finding the right “stuff” can be a lengthy and complicated process. Here are Ted's go to products: Fuel and recover: Daily nutrition: Rehydration: Hydration packs and more: Game changing ultra camp: Section two – The scientifically proven power of gratitude –   Outro OK my friends, after much patience and fortitude on your part we have made it to the end of episode 4-383. Congratulations.  You've got a lot of spunk for a skinny little endurance athlete. You know what I'm drinking right now?  Bouillon.  Yup.  I needed something warm on this cold afternoon as I sit at my desk and write love letters to the ether.  Too late for coffee.  To be honest, since my January 30 days of clean eating I can't drink more than one cup of coffee a day.  Rachel detoxed me from the caffeine habit.  I do drink tea but all we have in the house is a choice between super caffeinated morning teas and god-awful sickly sweet fruity teas that my girls drink.  I swear it's like soaking potpourri in cheap perfume.  Bouillon hits the spot.  Lots of nice salt for my sweaty soul.  Less than 10 calories. Maybe a pinch of fat in there.  Very nice broth.  Very sustaining.  Just about 3 weeks out from Boston now.  I'm in a down week.  I don't know what coach has in store for next week.  We have time for one more volume week if he feels I'm up for it.  I've struggled with a lot of leg fatigue this cycle.  He may just put me into a 3-week taper.  We'll see. I'm ready.  I've done the work.  The times I'm running on tired legs would be good enough for a BQ.  With a decent taper, some reasonable weather and a little luck I could bring home a good race this year.  As taxing as this past training cycle has been I've quite enjoyed it.  In the sense that I'm proud of having done it.  I'm grateful every day for the ability to do it.  When I've been running down by the Charles in the morning I get to see all the other athletes.  It's not just me out there in the 10-degree weather with the ice and snow and wind.  There's a pack of us.  Young and old.  This close to Boston or any other spring race I see a fair number of athletes doing tempo work.  It wouldn't be obvious to the casual observer but I see them stealing peeks at their watches and pushing their form.  There are some beautiful athletes out there in the morning.  Lot's of unicorn gear.  I'm happy that they let an old guy like me join in their unicorn games.  It doesn't matter how old you are, how pretty you are or how good you are.  The trail and the morning are both equal opportunity employers.  Get out there and get yours. I'll see you out there.   MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-383 – Ted Talks 100 miles  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4383.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Hello and welcome to the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-383 First let me apologize for not being consistent with episode production these last 7 months.  I was in a role that was very taxing on my time an energy.  My basic schedule was to roll out of bed at 4:30 or 5:00 AM, grab my stuff, drive to the train station, get on the train, get to the gym, hit my workouts, get cleaned up, work until 7:00 at night, get back on the train to be home after 8:00, eat something and go to bed.  Rinse and repeat.  In all of this I had no real office or place to write or record or interview. This left me with the weekends, which after spending all week in the mix-master of work I kinda needed the time off to recharge enough to get through the next week.  Through all this I kept my training up for the marathon but just about everything else got kicked to the curb.  I had some memorable hard workouts down by the Charles River in the early morning.  I learned a lot about the city.  I really missed the writing and being able to talk to you folks about endurance sports with the quality and fidelity of a measured mind.  Good news for the podcast is that I’m done with that gig and for the near future able to refocus on getting my mind and body straight for the Boston Marathon.  Today I’ve got an interview I recorded with one of my old friends and running buddies Ted.  We talk about stepping up to a 100-mile distance and what it is going to take.  In section one I penned a soliloquy on running my 20th Boston Marathon and in section two I’ll talk about the power of gratitude.  Since we last talked I’ve been in the dark place with my training.  Lots of hard, hard workouts in lots of bad weather up here in New England.  As of today, we’ve had 4 major storms in the month of March.  I’ve run in all of them and moved all the snow they’ve brought.  I’ll give you a funny, or pitiful, depending on your view point, story.  Last week I had a pretty big workout on the calendar for Tuesday.  It was an hour and forty-five-minute fartlek run.  Looking at the weather I could see that it was going to snow all day Tuesday bringing high winds and 2+ feet of snow.  So I sent a note to coach. “Can we move this workout?”  I asked. “You’re 5 weeks out from Boston.” He returned.  “This is an important week.”  And I thought maybe I could do it on the treadmill at the office.  But, the Governor declared a state of something and told everyone to stay home and stay out of the city.  So I couldn’t get to the treadmill.  I set the alarm early to see if I could get out before the storm got too bad.  When the alarm went off I could see the wet snow being driven sideways at the window and hear the wind gusts.  That wasn’t happening.  I worked from the home office all day with one eye out the window to see if the storm might not relent.  The snow kept piling up.  5:00 pm rolled around and I knew it was now or never.  I was going to lose daylight.  I strapped on some flashy lights for visibility and geared up.  I pulled out my trail shoes for traction.  My neighborhood is a cul de sac with a 1 km loop.  I was not venturing out of the cul de sac.  The snow was coming down hard and about 6 inches deep on the road.  I had pretty good traction because it had started as wet snow and there was a couple inches of slush at the bottom that my trail shoes could hook into.  I warmed up for 10 minutes and then timed out a 2-3 minute stretch that was slightly uphill and maybe a 1/3 of the loop.  Each loop I’d accelerate into this stretch and bring my heart rate up, focusing on form and turnover.  By this time the storm was starting move off.  The plows came out and I danced with them on the road.  The neighbors came out with their snow blowers and shovels and tractors.  I startled more than one coming out of the mist wet and churning forward in the mush.  I finished up with over 12 miles, 15 little fartleks and probably 20 laps of the neighborhood – I’m sure much to the amusement of my neighbors.  That was a hard workout.  Then I changed into my snow moving gear and moved snow for another 3 hours. So that’s life.  When life gives you blizzards, give back fartleks and have fun doing it.  On with the show. … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – 20 years of Boston- Voices of reason – the conversation Ted MacMahon Ted MacMahon is a lifelong endurance athlete, having competed in 50+ marathons (20+ Boston Marathons), 10+ Ironmans, and 10+ ultramarathons. He often says, “Having raced in a bunch of races only means that I’ve made more mistakes than most and am happy to help others avoid my pitfalls.” In the past year, Ted won his division in the US National Championships in both the trail marathon and 100-mile trail distances. Native to Massachusetts, Ted and his wife Pamela now reside in Flagstaff, AZ. Ted can be reached at . Finding the right “stuff” can be a lengthy and complicated process. Here are Ted’s go to products: Fuel and recover: Daily nutrition: Rehydration: Hydration packs and more: Game changing ultra camp: Section two – The scientifically proven power of gratitude –   Outro OK my friends, after much patience and fortitude on your part we have made it to the end of episode 4-383. Congratulations.  You’ve got a lot of spunk for a skinny little endurance athlete. You know what I’m drinking right now?  Bouillon.  Yup.  I needed something warm on this cold afternoon as I sit at my desk and write love letters to the ether.  Too late for coffee.  To be honest, since my January 30 days of clean eating I can’t drink more than one cup of coffee a day.  Rachel detoxed me from the caffeine habit.  I do drink tea but all we have in the house is a choice between super caffeinated morning teas and god-awful sickly sweet fruity teas that my girls drink.  I swear it’s like soaking potpourri in cheap perfume.  Bouillon hits the spot.  Lots of nice salt for my sweaty soul.  Less than 10 calories. Maybe a pinch of fat in there.  Very nice broth.  Very sustaining.  Just about 3 weeks out from Boston now.  I’m in a down week.  I don’t know what coach has in store for next week.  We have time for one more volume week if he feels I’m up for it.  I’ve struggled with a lot of leg fatigue this cycle.  He may just put me into a 3-week taper.  We’ll see. I’m ready.  I’ve done the work.  The times I’m running on tired legs would be good enough for a BQ.  With a decent taper, some reasonable weather and a little luck I could bring home a good race this year.  As taxing as this past training cycle has been I’ve quite enjoyed it.  In the sense that I’m proud of having done it.  I’m grateful every day for the ability to do it.  When I’ve been running down by the Charles in the morning I get to see all the other athletes.  It’s not just me out there in the 10-degree weather with the ice and snow and wind.  There’s a pack of us.  Young and old.  This close to Boston or any other spring race I see a fair number of athletes doing tempo work.  It wouldn’t be obvious to the casual observer but I see them stealing peeks at their watches and pushing their form.  There are some beautiful athletes out there in the morning.  Lot’s of unicorn gear.  I’m happy that they let an old guy like me join in their unicorn games.  It doesn’t matter how old you are, how pretty you are or how good you are.  The trail and the morning are both equal opportunity employers.  Get out there and get yours. I’ll see you out there.   MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

Carrie interviews Jordan Hasay! They chat about her Boston Marathon race strategy, where she broke the record for the fastest American debut by a woman in 2:23:00. Jordan also reflects on her relationship with her parents, and she gives the inside scoop on being coached by Alberto Salazar. Show notes for this episode can be found at ctollerun.com. Jordan Hasay Jordan Hasay is an American distance runner who runs for the Nike Oregon Project. She grew up in Arroyo Grande, attending Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School. In 2008 she was selected as Girls High School Athlete of the Year at Track & Field News. She was the ninth high school athlete to grace the cover of Track and Field News magazine in March of 2009. After high school, Jordan attended the University of Oregon where she became one of their most decorated female athletes, earning a place in the Ducks history books. After graduation, Jordan joined the Nike Oregon Project to be coached by Alberto Salazar. She placed second at the 2013 US National Championships in the 10,000m. Later, lowering her PR for the event down to 31:46.42, she secured her spot to represent the US at the 2013 World Championships. She won the 2016 USATF 10 Mile Road Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota. In January 2017, Jordan placed 4th in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in 01:08:40, setting an American female course record, and the second fastest half-marathon debut for an American female. She made her marathon debut at the 2017 Boston Marathon, finishing third overall and breaking the American record for the fastest debut marathon in 2:23:00.

This episode's guest is rowing coach Marlene Royle. As a competitor, Marlene has won major titles in sculling and sweep rowing including a US National Championship, a Collegiate National Championship, and a Head of the Charles title. She was awarded the Melissa Hale Spencer Award at the West Side Rowing Club of Buffalo in 1980 and the Beverly Jean Cook Award while on the Boston University Rowing Team in 1982. She also served as Boston University Crew's Varsity Women's Captain in 1985. In 2000, she set two world records on the Concept2 Indoor Rower. She is a registered occupational therapist, in addition to being educated in physiology, massage therapy, and strength training. Royle’s publications include: Tip of the Blade: Notes on Rowing, Skillful Rowing, and Technical Drills for Sculling. Tech Tips is Marlene's column on the Craftsbury Sculling Center website and her column Training appears monthly in the international journal, Rowing News. Marlene was among the first coaches in the United States dedicated to masters rowing. For 20 years she coached at the Craftsbury Sculling Center and was the center’s associate director from 2004-2006. From 2005-2009, Marlene was the head coach at the Florida Rowing Center. Currently she coaches at the Whistler Rowing Club, Florida Rowing Center, and offers camps and lessons by arrangement. Marlene is married to Russian author, Sasha Sokolov. Here is what you will learn in this episode: Marlene's background and education and how this formed her foundation for teaching the rowing stroke. Why she has chosen to focus on the masters demographic Student of occupational therapy, massage therapy, physiology, and strength training The importance of posture in the rowing stroke and why is is the foundation toward transmitting power Hip hinge vs. spinal flexion Using the "diamond frame" | shoulder to oarlock and oar to rigger and much more Show Notes: Royle Row (website) Royle Row (Facebook)

In Brazil, the new president is putting together a very different-looking cabinet to his predecessor - a much more market friendly one. His new finance minister is Henriques Meirelles, former head of the central bank. So what is the likely effect going to be on Brazil's wobbly finances? "Fantastically corrupt". That's how British prime minister David Cameron described Nigeria and Afghanistan earlier in the week. On Thursday he was hosting a global anti-corruption conference in London. Fifty states were represented at the summit, alongside banks, civil society organisations and the International Monetary Fund. Though delegates promised to make tackling corruption a top priority, the meeting led to few firm commitments. Just six countries agreed to publish registers of who really owns companies in their territories, a key goal of anti-corruption campaigners. So - just how much was achieved? St Louis, in Missouri, made international news two years ago because of race riots in the suburb of Ferguson. But it would rather be known for something else. It's become the unlikely capital of chess - in America if not - here's a boast - the world. David Edmonds has just returned from St Louis, which was hosting the US National Championship. Can you copyright a language? Obviously you can't claim the rights to Russian, or Spanish or Swahili, but what about a made-up language? That is an issue that an American court will look at later this year when Paramount Pictures and CBS sue the makers of a Star Trek fan movie. One part of that case is the use of the invented language for the warlike alien race, the Klingons. Klingon is a BIG deal. It was invented in the early 1980s by the linguist Marc Okrand for the Star Trek movies. And Roger Hearing is joined by two guests for the hour on opposite sides of the Pacific - David Kuo of the Motley Fool in Singapore and Ralph Silva of the Silva Network in Toronto.

Steven Nyman checks in following the US National Championships See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

25 years ago Brad Kearns was in the prime of his pro triathlete career. It's 1991, he enters 16 races, 16 races he finishes in the top 3, racks up 9 victories, including the US National Championship. For a couple of months early in the season he was actually ranked #1, and finished the year as the #3 ranked triathlete in the world. Now, it kind of sounds like I'm talking about Brad's glory days. I mean, this was a quarter century ago. And maybe, you're beginning to think, is this a podcast about a guy who used to be great, and we're going to wax nostalgic about the early days of triathlon, and coincidentally, the earliest days of Speedgolf as we know it?     Brad would definitely say his strategy in triathlons relied on his strength in the latter legs of the race. He was better on the bike than in the water, and better on his feet than in the saddle. When you look back on the last 25 years of Brad's life though, a similar pattern begins to emerge. Now 50 years old, Brad is not only just as competitive with his peer group in things like the high jump(5'3”), the 400 meters (under a minute), the 100 meter sprint (13 seconds), but he's continually excelling in all areas of work and life. As a longtime Speedgolfer, Brad recently shot 83 in 51 minutes at the 2014 SGWC, good for 20th place in the professional division, and repeated his 20th place finish in 2015 as well. You see, the astonishing thing about Brad's life is, he's accomplished so much, and yet his glory days are nowhere to be found. Since 2008, Brad has been deeply involved in a comprehensive lifestyle movement known as the Primal Blueprint. He's worked closely with it's creator on several books, most recently as co-author of Primal Endurance. Coincidentally, I gotta mention Brad is also a fellow podcaster, hosting the Primal Blueprint Podcast, and Primal Endurance podcast. I highly recommend them.   I'm not done yet. He is also the Founder and Executive Director of Running School, a non-profit organization promoting cardiovascular fitness for kids. The organization conducts events on campus at partner schools in Northern California and Nevada, tracking students' aerobic conditioning results against national standards and helping kids make healthy lifestyle choices and develop positive attitudes towards competition. And there's more. My goodness, so much more. Do you see what I mean now? The bright light in Brad's life is somewhere up the road, the glory days are part of a story Brad can't tell yet, because although he's lived an inspiring, powerful and vibrant life over the last 50 years, his best is yet to come. BradKearns.com - here WalterKearns.com - here Nick Willis blog post - Simply Running. Endurance Planet Podcast - here Rich Roll Podcast - here   - - - - - - - We hope you enjoyed our conversation with Brad Kearns. Definitely don't let this be the last connection you have with Brad. Check out his publishing company's webpage at primalblueprintpublishing.com. You can follow Brad online at bradkearns.com, on twitter at @bradleykearns, and be sure to check out his podcasts over at Primal Blueprint and Primal Endurance on iTunes. You can support our efforts as well by following us on Facebook /paceofchange and twitter @paceofchangepod. Visit our website paceofchange.com and sign up for our newsletter to stay up to speed on the latest POC podcast news announcements and updates. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and if you're listening on iTunes, you can really help us by subscribing and leaving a review. Every action you take above makes a bigger difference than you can imagine. So thank you for taking the time to do that. How else can we serve you the listener? What other topics would you like to hear about? Who in the world of golf would you like us to interview? Leave your comments on social media and know that we value your feedback.

  Episode 5 USAT Chief Operating Officer Tim Yount talks about: Recent Duathlon National Championships in St. Paul Potential dates for the 2015 Nationals in St Paul Potential locations of future US National Championships & World Championships And we look back at previous National & World Championships and discuss some of the history of the sport in the US. Providing Feedback You can give show feedback, recommend guests, and even volunteer to be on the show from the Duathlon.com Facebook page, located here: https://www.facebook.com/duathloncom          

Episode 3 I interview US age group Elizabeth Sylves about her experience at the 2014 Duathlon World Championships in Spain.  She discusses her preparation for the race, changes she made to prepare for this event, and obstacles that come up when racing the World Championships.  Inexplicably, USAT put out a webinar 2 weeks before the race and told Team USA the race would be flat, but it turned out to be hilly. We also discuss the 7 week transition and training between the World Championships and the US National Championships.

Spanny, Lauren and Scott Bregman are all here to talk about the US National Championships

figure skating podcast interviewJANUARY 2009 A compilation of interviews with various skaters and fans from the 2009 US National Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. 19 minutes, 3 seconds. Thanks to Fiona Mcquarrie for transcribing these interview highlights: Allison Manley, podcast host: I unfortunately was not able to make it to Nationals this year, new baby and all, but you [...]

figure skating podcast interviewJANUARY 2008 A compilation of interviews with various skaters, coaches, and fans from the 2008 US National Championships in St. Paul, MN. Interviews with Del Arbour, Aaron Parchem, Figure Skating Universe (FSU) fans, Tanith Belbin, Brooke Castille, and others. 33 minutes, 33 seconds. Thanks to Fiona Mcquarrie for transcribing these interview highlights: Del Arbour, skating [...]

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2007: This is the premiere episode, featuring an interview with World Champion skater Kurt Browning. So, how did I land this interview for my very first podcast? By opening my big mouth actually. I had some (ahem) strong opinions on a few things Kurt said while doing commentary for the 2007 US National Championships. So I wrote into his website to offer some constructive criticism. I was polite and diplomatic, but I did say my thoughts. Much to my surprise, and through a few random events, he called me out of the blue to discuss my comments! And also much to my surprise, Stars on Ice happened to be coming to Chicago that weekend, so Kurt offered my husband and I free tickets and backstage passes! How incredibly gracious! He really didn't have to do that at all. But I'm glad he did! So my husband snapped a shot of us talking. I have to say, I was very impressed with Kurt on all levels. He could have told me to bug off, but he really wants to improve as a commentator. So he took the time to listen to a fan. What a guy!