From March 28th to August 28th of this year, OCR competitor Ben Mitchell hiked the entire length of the Pacific Crest Trail, so I brought him on the show to talk all about his journey.

Ben starts by introducing himself and how he got into OCRs, then tells me when and why he decided to hike the entire PCT. We talk about how long it took him to prepare, what it involved, and what he carried on him every day (and the lessons he learned about what not to carry).

He tells me about his worst day he had out on the trail, and we talk about trail logistics. Ben also shares what food and nutrition he relied on throughout the months he was hiking, and tells me more about his itinerary and breaks, also known as "zero days".

Ben also shares his favorite parts of the trail, and walks me through the different states and sections of the trail and their defining characteristics.

Lastly, he tells me about how it felt to finish the trail, and talks about the lessons he learned and the biggest takeaways from the entire trip.

OCR athlete Deanna Brasz joins me on the podcast this week to talk all about Toughest Mudder, endurance racing and mental strength!

Deanna starts by sharing her background and how she got into OCR, and tells me why she primarily sticks to Tough Mudder.

We then talk about the recent Toughest Mudder West where she finished in fifth place for the women, and the unexpected challenges of that race. She also tells me how this Toughest Mudder compares to the many other that she has run before.

Deanna then tells me about why she tends to lean towards endurance races, and the mental attitude behind it. We go over details like her pit strategy and nutrition, and she shares what it's like dealing with exercise-induced asthma during these races.

We also discuss mental strength, and Deanna tells me about her World's Toughest Mudder experience last year. She shares what she's been focusing on with training, and what specific techniques she's been using to improve her upper body strength.

Live from the Tough Mudder weekend in Sonoma, this week's episode is full of interviews from athletes at the Tougher Mudder wave, the Toughest Mudder West race, and race director Eli Hutchison. 

I spoke with Lauren Taksa and Nick O'Sullivan on Saturday all about their respective wins at the Tougher Mudder race, and they give us some insight into the course and the competition.

Then I spoke with Trevor Cichosz, Rea Kolbl, Allison Tai, and Kris Mendoza after the Toughest Mudder race (shortly after I had finished my own) all about the competition, how the daytime Toughest Mudder compared to the races at night, what they thought of the course, and more.

Lastly, I spoke with Eli Hutchison from TMHQ all about Toughest and about the many changes Tough Mudder is making to their 2019 season.

This week's episode is full of live interviews from the Spartan World Championships at Lake Tahoe last weekend! We talk all about the championship race, the team race, and what's ahead with championship season.

I spoke with:

-Ian Hosek

-Robert Killian, John Yatsko and Mark Batres

-Guest interview by Margaret Schlacter with Alyssa Hawley, Kristin Saad and Nicole Mericle

-Ashley Heller, Emilee Smith and Kaci Monroe

-Ryan Kent, Veejay Jones and Mike Ferguson

-Yancy Culp

-Alyssa Hawley

-Nicole Mericle

-Kristin Saad