Like a Bigfoot

This week is a very special episode where we spend some time catching up with three previous guests in what we are dubbing the first edition of "BIGFOOT SIGHTINGS" (genius name by Lindsey Ward). CALVIN JOHANNSEN -- EXPLAINING THE JOIN 100 CLUB Up first is the one of the most inspiring people I know, Calvin Johannsen. Since we last spoke at the end of his 14er Project (where he climbed over 100 mou...

Welcome to the world of ultra-cycling and the insanity that is the Race Across America. Get ready for a conversation with one of the toughest athletes in the country! Sarah Cooper is about a month removed from winning the Race Across America, an event in which she rode her bike 3,070 miles in 11 days, 18 hours, and 56 minutes. An event requiring extreme grit, incredible endurance, and stubborn for...

I'm honored to have a platform to share this week's story. It's all about one of the most beautiful places in the world, the lakes, rivers and wilderness of Grassy Narrows in Ontario, Canada. Grassy Narrows sits on the English River about 40 miles north of Kenora, the nearest town. It's an isolated, wild, gorgeous place full of tranquil watersheds and Canadian wildlife. When I imagine the northern...

This week we are continuing the tale of Shane Dowty's quest to coach in the world of college football. Over the course of starting this podcast my unofficial theme song has become "It's a Long Way to the Top, If You Wanna Rock n' Roll". The idea to accept that anything worth wanting in life is not instantaneous, instead taking patient consistent hard work to achieve. Shane's journey fascinates me...

A few months ago I watched a TED Talk from today's guest, Caroline Paul. It was called "To Raise Brave Girls, Encourage Adventure" and, as a father of two daughters, to say it connected with me is not a strong enough sentiment. Her talk was not just something I watched thinking "huh...that was interesting", rather it made me fully self assess what I was doing as a parent, how we are unintentionall...

This week we welcome ultra endurance athlete and writer Ryan Chukuske to the podcast! Ryan is in the middle of training for one of the premier endurance events in the country, the ultimate challenge, the Bigfoot 200. Since starting this podcast I've been utterly fascinated with each conversation I've had about these insane ultra runs (see the episodes with Melissa Sinclair and race director Candic...

Taking the leap to chase a massive goal, uprooting your life and heading out into the wilderness, and running through the most beautiful places in the United States. This week's episode has it all! About a year ago, Bill Sycalik quit his comfy job in New York City and hit the road, starting his quest to run a marathon in every National Park in the country. Flash forward to now and he's through num...

This week we are honored to welcome Susan Nowell back to the show! Susan is an accomplished endurance athlete, a lifelong runner and adventurer, and a physical therapist in Northern California. She is also my cousin and is someone whose fearlessness and discipline I've looked up to since I was a kid. She is a wonderful resource for all of us athletes who are concerned about injury prevention and p...

A few weeks ago cousins Andy and John Anderson became the first Iowans to summit Everest from the North Side. I was honored to chat with them only a few days removed from the top of the world. On this week's show they share their journey, the experience of summit day, their purpose and preparation. How did they train for such an endeavor in the (relatively) flat state of Iowa? How is the North Sid...

This week we send out a huge welcome back to our friend Adam Casey. In this episode Adam continues his story and explains the next period of his life as a U.S. Marine officer which leads into the absolute brutal day that unexpectedly knocked him onto a whole different path. We also discuss why he reads the "Tao of Pooh" once every 6 months. The book explains the essentials of Taoism using examples...

Every single person, at least once in their life, should climb a mountain. As we quickly approach mountain climbing season out here in Colorado, my inner mountain geek is beginning to get antsy. To appease my own restlessness, I decided to put together a podcast that essentially could be the "intro to climbing a mountain." Specifically a 14er, the biggest mountains in Colorado (though the info cou...

"All profound things are preceded and attended by Silence." - Herman Melville This week on the podcast we are honored to bring you wilderness survival expert Alan Kay. Alan was the season one winner of Alone on the History Channel, which is probably the best (aka least reality showish) demonstration of wilderness survival on TV. Ten people were dropped off in separate locations on northern Vancouv...

This week is all about long distance mountain biking as we chat with Scott Morris. Scott and his girlfriend Eszter Horanyi live nomadically on public lands and spend their days working remotely and exploring beautiful areas on their mountain bikes. Growing up in Utah he fell in love with mountain biking. As his rides got longer and longer and he overcame the "limits of daylight", he began "bikepac...

This week we are chatting with Jason Sudduth about rediscovering health, having adventures, and creating positive routines. Recently he's lost 40 pounds in two months, started doing yoga, began running, and recently went on his first backpacking trip to the Linville Gorge in North Carolina. I had Jason on specifically to nerd out about the Linville Gorge, one of the most remote wild places in the...

This week we are honored to welcome endurance athlete, entrepreneur, and creator and star of the awesome endurance racing TV show Boundless, Simon Donato. Recently he wrote a book called The Boundless Life: 13 Lessons Learned the Hard Way. If you are like me and obsessed with endurance sports, wilderness exploration, and solid life advice, then definitely check it out! I finished it over the weeke...

This week's Like a Bigfoot episode is, fittingly enough, with the creator of the Bigfoot 200 mile endurance, Candice Burt. In fact, she organizes, manages, and directs THREE 200 mile races: Bigfoot, Tahoe, and Moab (really 234 miles...but at that point what's 34 more!) Candice is a really thoughtful, funny, and happy person....for someone who jokingly received the moniker of "most masochistic race...

This week I was fortunate enough to chat with Eric Schranz, the host of the absolutely wonderful Ultrarunner Podcast! Years ago I binged a bunch of his episodes and then decided to sign up for my first 50k. So yeah...it's his fault that I'm an ultrarunner! In fact, if you are curious about looking into the sport of ultrarunning, I would highly suggest that you check out the URP as it is a great re...

"I want an indelible bond with my daughter. I want her to remember this trip for the rest of her life. I want her to remember me after I am gone. I want Awe. I want to feel alive. I want Aidan to be filled with life and wonder."- James Campbell, Braving It Very excited to bring you this week's episode with author, adventurer, and family man James Campbell. Author of "The Color of War", "The Ghost...

I'm stoked to share this week's episode! An academic, a scholar, a....a.....a super smart dude. Professor Jake Reed!! Jake is one of my oldest friends and has recently become a Professor of Strength & Conditioning and Physiology of Exercise at the University of Northern Iowa. He's also a Sports Scientist working with the U.S.A. Women's Rugby team and a sport performance consultant for Renaissance...

This week the Like a Bigfoot Podcast proudly brings you Will Seeber's story of his 14ersQuest- where he attempted to summit as many of the Colorado 14ers as possible in brutal winter conditions. As a self confessed 14ers nerd, I followed Will's story this winter and am beyond stoked to have been able to chat with him about the experience. There's just something about climbing mountains that is mag...

This week Brady Manriquez and Travis Steffen discuss their experiences in the Monument Valley Ultras. Brady finished off his very first half marathon, 13.1 beautiful miles running through the desert. A culmination of a year long discovery of running. He recaps his strategy to deal with the pre-race jitters, how he handled running in the sand, and the importance of embracing happiness and rolling w...

This past weekend I competed in the Monument Valley 50 miler. The best way to describe the experience was "Life in a Day". I experienced the whole spectrum of emotions throughout nine hours of sand dunes, mesas, hogans, and even found moments of desert isolation. I hollered with joy running down Mitchell Mesa, I had my breath taken away by the beauty of the valley in the Arches Loop, and I welcome...

Ridiculously excited this week as we welcome Adam Casey to the podcast! A month ago in Nederland, Colorado I spent a few hours running with Adam. We were cruising along, chatting and instantly I knew I wanted him to share his story on the podcast. Because, quite frankly, Adam's lived a life. His journey to where he is now, a computer programming major at University of Colorado, has been unconventi...

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

There's so much I could write about as I attempt to describe Jason Schlarb in a few short paragraphs. He's a professional runner, Altra sponsored athlete, world traveler, family man, and an all around good dude. He's ran (and won) an insane amount of trail races all around the world, he's explored mountains, beaches, jungles, and deserts, and was the first American to finish UTMB in 2014 (the Supe...