Latest / The Steep Stuff Podcast / #92 - Sophie Wright - 2025 Trail Team Elite Selection

Transcript

#92 - Sophie Wright - 2025 Trail Team Elite Selection · The Steep Stuff Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: What's up, fam?
0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast.
0:02
Speaker 1: I'm your host, james Lauriello.
0:04
Speaker 1: Guys, I'm so excited to bring you an episode today with none other than Miss Sophie Wright.
0:08
Speaker 1: She is a 2025 Trail Team Selection.
0:12
Speaker 1: You probably are familiar with that name.
0:14
Speaker 1: Sophie hails from Palmer, alaska.
0:16
Speaker 1: She's an Alaskan-born mountain runner, which is kind of my favorite style of racing just like hard, technical, steep types of racing.
0:23
Speaker 1: Just like hard, technical, steep types of racing and she fits the bill.
0:29
Speaker 1: 2022 Cirque Series Alyaskid champion, as well as top five in last year's mountain marathon and probably going to win it one of these years.
0:33
Speaker 1: Sophie is a monster Western Washington University alum, where she actually holds the record in the mile.
0:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, just like so, so talented, so fast on the track and so fast on the trails.
0:46
Speaker 1: Uh, really looking forward to where her career is going to take her.
0:48
Speaker 1: Uh, yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed this episode was a fun conversation.
0:51
Speaker 1: Talk a lot about the alaskan mountain running scene, as well as sophie's goals for 2025, where she's going to be lining up at some pretty competitive races.
0:58
Speaker 1: So, without further ado, hope you enjoy it.
1:01
Speaker 1: None other than Sophie Wright, we'll be right back.
1:20
Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, we are live.
2:09
Speaker 1: Listen up, guys.
2:10
Speaker 1: The Steep Stuff Podcast is brought to you by Ultimate Direction USA.
2:13
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3:02
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3:09
Speaker 1: Sophie, right, welcome to the steep stuff podcast.
3:12
Speaker 1: How are you Good?
3:13
Speaker 1: How?
3:14
Speaker 2: are you doing?
3:15
Speaker 1: Good, good, I'm so excited to have a chat like you're uh, you're like my kind of runner, with like the background from Alaskan mountain running and like you know just a lot of like your style of racing that you like to do, so I'm excited to have this conversation.
3:28
Speaker 1: This should be a fun one.
3:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, me too, me too.
3:31
Speaker 1: How's your, uh, how's your day going so far?
3:33
Speaker 2: It's been great.
3:34
Speaker 2: I went on a cool trail run this morning on.
3:36
Speaker 2: It's called the Turnagain Arm Trail, gorgeous trail.
3:38
Speaker 2: It overlooks Turnagain Arm outside of Anchorage Um.
3:42
Speaker 2: Trail conditions are great since Anchorage has gotten like no snow this year, so good trail running lately.
3:47
Speaker 2: That's awesome.
3:48
Speaker 1: Nice, nice.
3:49
Speaker 1: So you just wrapped up school, basically right.
3:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was about like two weeks ago almost.
3:55
Speaker 2: I turned in my last.
3:57
Speaker 2: It was for, like, my seminar, my neuroscience seminar.
4:00
Speaker 2: I just turned my last essay in online and it was very, you know, anticlimactic and I was like, okay, I'm done now Cool.
4:07
Speaker 1: Give me my degree and let me be on my way.
4:10
Speaker 2: Exactly yeah.
4:10
Speaker 2: They, like my university, texted my diploma to me and I was like, oh, that's so weird.
4:15
Speaker 1: That's wild, do you?
4:16
Speaker 1: Guys don't have like a formal graduation and all that stuff?
4:18
Speaker 1: We do, but it's in the spring, so I'll missing it for the one of the trail team camps.
4:27
Speaker 1: Gotcha, gotcha.
4:27
Speaker 2: well you're doing something better, like way more exactly.
4:28
Speaker 1: I skipped I skipped my grad school graduation because it was like during the pandemic, but I think I would have skipped either way.
4:33
Speaker 1: I don't know like yeah it's just like you know, I don't know if you went to your high school.
4:36
Speaker 1: One it's like why am I gonna go to my college?
4:38
Speaker 2: one, fair enough yeah, like you already know what's up, right, right, right.
4:42
Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit about you.
4:43
Speaker 1: I want to get into your background.
4:45
Speaker 1: Maybe give me like the five minute elevator pitch on, like what it was like growing up in alaska and then like what introduced you to running.
4:53
Speaker 1: Like what, what got you onto the running scene I.
4:56
Speaker 2: so I grew up in palmer, and all around palmer you have hatcher pass um on one side, on the other side you have pioneer peak and and then in front of you you have Lazy Mountain and Matt Peak, and so just growing up in the valley, I had so many opportunities just like go outside and play outside, and I grew up in a very active family and so our idea of like a fun Sunday was going on, you know a four-hour hike, which is how I got into it, and the running community in Palmer is like very tight-knit, so I was just kind of basically raised on the trails and I saw older women who I still race with today.
5:28
Speaker 2: I saw them racing and competing and I was just like so inspired and I wanted to do that someday.
5:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was just like when it's in your backyard, it's hard not to.
5:38
Speaker 1: I feel like it's like not just tradition, but like, yeah, it's like the community, like I've heard so I've had Denali on the podcast who was like one of my favorite humans ever, like such a cool person, um, but like the way she just described the Alaskan mountain running scene and just the community is, it's just very unique and very different, unlike anything else probably in the lower 48.
5:57
Speaker 1: Would you, would you agree with that?
5:59
Speaker 2: Absolutely yeah.
5:59
Speaker 2: And like Denali, she, she's one of those women I think of like right off the bat.
6:03
Speaker 2: She's known me since I was like just super little and saw me grow up on the trails.
6:08
Speaker 2: And it's like her and Christy Marvin, like women like you know them, who have made records and won races, and it's like they want nothing but to like support everyone and see everyone succeed, and that's like what makes Alaskan running so special.
6:22
Speaker 2: Plus, it's like not a lot of people are in the scene, I guess, and so it's like you get to really know everyone around you, which is like awesome.
6:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
6:30
Speaker 1: So what was like, what got you into?
6:33
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously there's trail running and then there's track and field.
6:35
Speaker 1: Right, obviously, you had a very I mean you're what the record holder for the mile and at your, at your university.
6:42
Speaker 1: So like, obviously you're an extremely talented track and field runner.
6:44
Speaker 1: What got you more so onto the track and field scene and, um, kind of like, how did that ignite it?
6:52
Speaker 2: was almost like more accessible when it comes to racing and running, cause you know, with the long winters here it's hard to race year round.
7:00
Speaker 2: And I love like I'm very I'm a very competitive person, so I needed that like to race year round.
7:04
Speaker 2: I love like I'm very I'm a very competitive person, so I needed that like to race year round.
7:06
Speaker 2: And I had an amazing coach in high school who really like changed me as a runner and during COVID, I think that was like what my junior year of high school is a very like awesome time to just like sit down and train for track while like having you know my easy days be on the trail, which was a good way to like mix it up for me because I couldn't that.
7:22
Speaker 2: That was the one thing about college.
7:23
Speaker 2: I was almost losing it mentally when I couldn't have time to go out on the trails, but the track was also a good time to compete and feel that speediness while also staying competitive.
7:36
Speaker 1: Nice.
7:37
Speaker 1: What was your college experience like?
7:40
Speaker 1: Some people really love competing at a very high level on the track, but also a lot of More particularly, a lot of people struggle.
7:50
Speaker 1: It's really hard for a lot of folks, whether it's from just being burnt out and overtrained.
7:55
Speaker 1: All these different factors come into play.
7:57
Speaker 1: What was your college experience like for you?
7:59
Speaker 2: It was overall so amazing.
8:01
Speaker 2: I came into a program that was in the in the middle of like a development period and I was with like an amazing group of girls and we were able to basically take the team from one spot to a completely another spot where it's like almost expectation of winning conference, winning regionals, making it to nationals.
8:19
Speaker 2: The coaches were so amazing and of course, you have your ups and downs of like.
8:24
Speaker 2: You hold yourself to a certain expectation of like I want to PR every single meet and so when I wouldn't, I'd be really like hard on myself mentally, which would lead to like to some burnout tendencies.
8:35
Speaker 2: But especially like the location of Bellingham was like amazing, to like keep me engaged of like.
8:40
Speaker 2: Oh, you know, I don't want to do a road run, I'll go up in the Chuckin' Nuts and do like a quick trail run.
8:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I loved college running.
8:47
Speaker 2: It was amazing, I know.
8:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, people have very different experiences and I'm so lucky I went into the program that I did because it was just such an amazing experience.
8:55
Speaker 1: I love to hear that Like.
8:57
Speaker 1: It's like, like, like we said, like I just had I think it was like I just had Bailey Kowalczyk on.
9:00
Speaker 1: We were talking about her D1 experience at Clemson and it sounded horrible.
9:04
Speaker 1: I felt so bad for her just from weight management, all this different crap, and it's like man, it's just such a bummer to hear how some people just have a really difficult time and then it's nice to hear folks say like yeah, I love my experience and it was awesome, so that's exciting to hear.
9:19
Speaker 1: I want to talk about some of the things that you did in college.
9:23
Speaker 1: Like the school record holder for the mile is a huge accolade.
9:27
Speaker 1: Like that's insane.
9:28
Speaker 1: Was that a goal of yours going?
9:30
Speaker 1: Like, how did that?
9:31
Speaker 1: Like come come about and maybe talk about that experience and like what it was like leading up to breaking that and then like after the fact yeah well, so coming into college, I think my you know, because in school you're on a 1600.
9:46
Speaker 2: So you're slightly shorter than a mile and that was like a 513 for me and so in my mind, just breaking five was my goal and I broke it two times.
10:07
Speaker 2: The first one was last year and it was coming off my cross country season.
10:09
Speaker 2: It was the first indoor track meet of the year and so I had no expectations for myself, which, honestly, was the best part, I think.
10:14
Speaker 2: Like when you get to a certain amount of fitness, like your mentality is like way bigger than your actual fitness, and so being relaxed and have no expectations was very key for me.
10:24
Speaker 2: And I really surprised myself.
10:27
Speaker 2: Like I remember crossing the line because it was like a 452 high and I was like what just happened?
10:32
Speaker 2: That's so crazy.
10:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was amazing.
10:36
Speaker 2: And then the same thing happened this year where it's like right after cross country season, the first indoor meet, I broke it again, which it was just super fun and it was like the most relaxed race I've ever had.
10:46
Speaker 2: Like it literally.
10:46
Speaker 2: Like I remember looking at one of my assistant coaches each lap he would give me the split and I was like solo running it and just felt like I was in like the best relaxed workout ever so.
10:56
Speaker 2: Wow, it was awesome congratulations.
10:58
Speaker 1: That is so cool.
10:59
Speaker 1: I did do it twice.
11:00
Speaker 1: That's that's.
11:00
Speaker 1: That's bananas.
11:01
Speaker 1: Are you still so now that you're done, like with collegiate, like track, do you plan to still stay active on the track or you think you'll ever jump in any like track races or like anything like that?
11:11
Speaker 1: Like, what's your plans for that?
11:13
Speaker 2: yeah, I think it'd be fun to mix it up.
11:14
Speaker 2: I mean, andy's wife, carly, she does some road miles and I think that'd be like super fun to join her on some.
11:21
Speaker 2: I'm actually doing a mile race on Saturday, like it's a random, like Anchorage invites different people to come in and I'm like why not?
11:30
Speaker 2: I still have the speed under my belt, so that'd be fun and I think it's fun to mix it up and yeah, racing's just a fun time.
11:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know.
11:38
Speaker 1: I think it's really cool Cause you see, a lot of like like I'd say it's more, more ladies are active on the track side in in the trail world, like you're on a gibson's um.
11:48
Speaker 1: There's just so many folks that like come in, like uh, who's the other girl from?
11:52
Speaker 1: Oh my god, why is her name blanking on me?
11:54
Speaker 1: She's from alaska um, from kenai uh, jesus, sorry about that.
12:00
Speaker 1: Um, yeah, you just see so many like really strong ladies like mixing up on the track and the trails and like at a very high level.
12:06
Speaker 1: Like does that is that inspiring for for you like, is that something like you'd be interested long term?
12:11
Speaker 2: like I don't know, I just think it's kind of cool right yeah, absolutely, because I think like the trails provide a super good like base fitness, and then it just seems fun to continue being like really speedy on the track and seeing, yeah like anna gibson tear it up in both events is just like so amazing and so inspiring.
12:27
Speaker 2: So I hope to do something like that yeah, yeah, anna's a monster man, oh my god yeah, um, let's talk about you.
12:34
Speaker 1: I want to get into.
12:34
Speaker 1: So, like you've had some serious finishes, I mean top five amount marathon, and then you took the dub at the 2022 cirque series aliaska race, which is bananas.
12:44
Speaker 1: So, like, mountain running is not something that's new to you.
12:46
Speaker 1: Like, you're obviously talented at it.
12:48
Speaker 1: Um, do you plan, like now that, like you're gonna have like a more or less a few full season?
12:54
Speaker 1: Like, are you is I guess the is the intention something like soon to be to make like a world's team?
13:00
Speaker 1: Is that like kind of the what you want to do right off the bat?
13:03
Speaker 2: yeah, that's definitely my goal.
13:03
Speaker 2: Um.
13:04
Speaker 2: Want to do right off the bat?
13:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's definitely my goal, Um, and I've right off the bat.
13:06
Speaker 2: You know, finishing up track season, I'm already like spending a ton of time on the trails, and it's not like I'm doing any trails specific workouts yet, but just getting in the time on the trails it's always in the back of my mind of like I wouldn't be like as competitive as I can when I get to sign a piece.
13:21
Speaker 2: So that's definitely the goal.
13:24
Speaker 1: Dude, you're going to be dangerous.
13:25
Speaker 1: I'm excited to follow this race.
13:27
Speaker 1: I'm so excited.
13:28
Speaker 1: I think a lot of girls.
13:29
Speaker 1: Obviously, the women's race is going to be incredible.
13:32
Speaker 1: Both men's and women's is going to be incredibly stacked.
13:35
Speaker 1: But I don't know, for instance, if folks are trying to look up a competition on Ultra Sign Up, some of your stuff isn't on there, which is kind of cool.
13:44
Speaker 1: Nobody knows you're coming in.
13:45
Speaker 1: This is like dark horse to go throw down.
13:47
Speaker 1: Like do you have?
13:48
Speaker 1: Obviously you're a competitive person, you said that and we'll talk about competition in a little bit but like do you have high expectations for yourself?
13:54
Speaker 1: Like what are your thoughts going into this Cause?
13:56
Speaker 1: It's like this isn't your first rodeo.
13:58
Speaker 2: Like like I intentionally don't want to set too like much like verbal expectations for myself, even though in the back of my head, like I do, I expect myself to get top 10.
14:16
Speaker 2: I almost expect myself, like I really want to make that team um.
14:20
Speaker 2: So it's definitely like a big goal of mine and then, if that doesn't happen, like on to the next race.
14:25
Speaker 2: I just really overall this season I want to make like a name for myself, um, because the goal I would love to like get, you know, sponsorship down the road and just keep competing.
14:35
Speaker 2: And yeah, I just want to like just compete as hard as I can this summer and just like train as hard as I can too.
14:42
Speaker 1: Super cool.
14:43
Speaker 1: What's on the schedule besides soon to pay?
14:46
Speaker 2: So that's June 1st and then the week after I'll do the GoPro games in bail.
14:49
Speaker 2: Um, that's June 1st, and then the week after I'll do the GoPro games in Vail.
14:51
Speaker 2: Um, that's just like a trail 10k and then from there Mount Marathon on the 4th um, and then I'll do, I think, the A-Basin Cirque series.
15:02
Speaker 2: Um, I feel like I had one other race.
15:06
Speaker 2: They're all kind of I'm still like working on my race schedule, um, and then I'll do.
15:11
Speaker 2: It's called noia ridge.
15:12
Speaker 2: It's um an end of may race up here, which will be like super fun.
15:15
Speaker 2: I love the spring races up in alaska.
15:17
Speaker 2: So yeah, that's like kind of the gist of it super cool.
15:21
Speaker 1: What inspires you about the cirque aliaska race?
15:23
Speaker 1: I'm just curious.
15:24
Speaker 1: Or not aliaska, I'm sorry, the a basin race just because it's like super high altitude, what's uh?
15:29
Speaker 2: yeah, I'm definitely nervous about that.
15:30
Speaker 2: I am like altitude running still just like kicks my butt every single time.
15:35
Speaker 2: I was in boulder, like four days ago or something, and met up with andy and the trail team and I could definitely feel that, um, but I've been to a basin like a couple times and I just like love the cirque series, events in general, even though I've only done the one up here.
15:50
Speaker 2: But I mean, I saw it on the calendar and I'll be living like based out of Littleton for the summer and so I was like might as well.
15:59
Speaker 1: Sweet, I was going to ask you that, are you so?
16:01
Speaker 1: Is the long-term plan potentially to relocate to Colorado, or you think you'll stay in Alaska, or yeah, the plan in alaska, or yeah, the plan is to relocate there, like this summer?
16:13
Speaker 1: Okay, super cool.
16:13
Speaker 1: Congratulations to you.
16:14
Speaker 1: I mean like it's yeah, boulder is a cool spot, like just the colorado front range, just like I don't know.
16:18
Speaker 1: It just provides so much in, uh, there's so many athletes there and there's just always something to do.
16:24
Speaker 1: You know, it's like just it's crazy.
16:26
Speaker 2: So it is crazy and it's just like, yeah, the opportunities are super cool.
16:30
Speaker 2: And it is just like every time I run in boulder, just like the amount of pros I see on the trail, and it's just like, so casual, it's kind of wild you see, like eli hemming and johnny luna lima just casually jaunting down the road, yeah, yeah, it's kind of weird.
16:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's um, let's talk trail team.
16:47
Speaker 1: Because you're such a good fit for the trail team, like, what a solid pickup.
16:51
Speaker 1: I always give Andy his flowers because, like, he always gets like some of the like, some of the best talent for these teams.
16:57
Speaker 1: What's your expectation?
16:59
Speaker 1: Like, what do you?
17:00
Speaker 1: What has you the most stoked for this upcoming year?
17:04
Speaker 2: I'm just super stoked for almost like the team dynamic.
17:08
Speaker 2: I'm really excited to get to know everyone really well and like follow everyone and support everyone and just for all of us to work together to make you know a world's team or just to achieve all of our goals, because it seems like a lot of us are transitioning out of college athletics and that's going to be cool to do together, um, and figure out like running outside of college on the trails together, and I'm just really excited about like everything andy does for everyone like and the opportunities he has and just like the trails we're gonna run together.
17:37
Speaker 2: It's just gonna all be like super fun and I'm excited to compete and race and the team camps are gonna be awesome.
17:44
Speaker 2: I'm very excited for those.
17:46
Speaker 1: So yeah yeah yeah, he did.
17:48
Speaker 1: I guess they're doing the one in grand lake again this upcoming year, which is pretty dope.
17:52
Speaker 1: Um, yeah, it's just like I don't know.
17:54
Speaker 1: From the photos and from everything I've heard, it just seems like those camps are where, like, the growth really comes in a lot of you know from a lot of people, because I mean like there's just so much you can pick up from and just so much you can learn from different people, especially andy, who's like the.
18:06
Speaker 1: You know he's like the, the wizard of uh of our sport, you know he's like yeah he's been around forever.
18:12
Speaker 1: So, yeah, super cool.
18:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, what?
18:15
Speaker 1: Um?
18:15
Speaker 1: I guess you say like, are what about the?
18:20
Speaker 1: Or how should I say this?
18:21
Speaker 1: What specific uh camp are you stoked for the most?
18:25
Speaker 2: probably the grand lakes one, um, like because I'm still pretty unfamiliar with colorado and I just think the area sounds amazing, um and like the fact that's, you know, the closest one, that's gonna be like super fun beginning of june or something, or like middle of june.
18:42
Speaker 2: It's just gonna be like a really good time and it's like a gorgeous spot.
18:46
Speaker 2: So that's the way super cool, super cool.
18:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's talk.
18:49
Speaker 1: Uh, I want to get like just like mountains in general and mountain like mountain movement, like are you a skier as well?
18:55
Speaker 1: Haven't grown up in Alaska.
18:57
Speaker 2: I snowboard, but I am also a Nordic skier, so no downhill skiing, all of you Nordic skiers.
19:02
Speaker 1: It's funny.
19:02
Speaker 1: Like Ruby Lindquist, same thing, like I feel like it's like a vibe there.
19:07
Speaker 1: Everybody either runs in nordic skis and like some people also tour, but I feel like nordic skiing is such a big thing in alaska.
19:12
Speaker 1: What?
19:12
Speaker 1: Why?
19:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, is it like just culture?
19:15
Speaker 2: yeah, it's like a big high school sport up here and it's like if you grow up cross country running, I feel like all the coaches in high school are like, oh you run, you should learn how to ski.
19:24
Speaker 2: Like you're a strong person, you should try skiing.
19:26
Speaker 2: And it was like one of the best things I've done.
19:28
Speaker 2: I did it for three years in high school.
19:31
Speaker 2: Then I got my fifth concussion during one of the races.
19:35
Speaker 2: I kind of had to slow down and not do that too much.
19:38
Speaker 2: It's a fun way to get around.
19:40
Speaker 2: Now that I'm in Anchorage, there's way more trails here for Nordic skiing.
19:45
Speaker 2: It's just super fun.
19:46
Speaker 2: It's a good way to mix up training when it comes to running.
19:48
Speaker 1: I so it's just like super fun and it's a good way to mix up training when it comes to running.
19:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like you could build a gigantic like aerobic engine from just oh, totally, you could do miles and miles and miles and have like no, like you could solidly get your heart rate in zone two and just chill.
20:00
Speaker 1: It's kind of amazing, right, yeah, I have roller skis.
20:01
Speaker 1: I, I'm like my wife this.
20:09
Speaker 1: Who is this clown?
20:10
Speaker 1: I love it Cause you could get it's like such a good off season training.
20:14
Speaker 1: They're off, uh, just like you know, like side workout.
20:17
Speaker 1: But nobody I don't know why it hasn't caught on.
20:20
Speaker 2: It's like good on the knees.
20:21
Speaker 2: That's true, that's true.
20:23
Speaker 1: So I saw your Instagram um earlier and you put up a story of running in some Arc'teryx shoes.
20:29
Speaker 1: What are you running in?
20:30
Speaker 1: What are you rocking?
20:32
Speaker 2: So I run in the VJs.
20:35
Speaker 2: Are you familiar with that brand?
20:37
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Great shoes Okay.
20:38
Speaker 2: Because I wasn't familiar with them until I got them.
20:41
Speaker 2: I went to a running store in Anchorage and I was like I need good shoes from Mount Marathon actually and I had the Salomon S-Labs the ones that got discontinued, I'm not sure exactly, like you know.
20:51
Speaker 2: They had like the built-in gator and they gave me the VJs and I love the VJs.
20:55
Speaker 2: I don't really like them too much on snow, they're a little like slippery.
20:58
Speaker 2: And so then when I went to Boulder, andy had gone Artarix shoes for the trail team and I just tried them out and they're I love those shoes.
21:06
Speaker 2: They're really good for like so I did bird ridge the other day and so that's like two miles uphill, like 3000 or like 3,400 feet of earth, and so it's just good for just like steep straight to the point climbing, which was nice.
21:19
Speaker 2: And then I also run in like some Solomon gravel shoes, which I love for like rolling trails and stuff.
21:26
Speaker 2: So I have like a big variety, but yeah, yeah, super cool, like a nice quiver of shoes.
21:31
Speaker 1: So what shoe were you rocking?
21:33
Speaker 1: Is it the ld4?
21:34
Speaker 1: That's?
21:34
Speaker 1: The only reason I ask is because there's a lot of like.
21:36
Speaker 1: My best friend runs for the arcteryx team and also a good buddy of mine, uh, adam campbell listens to this, so I'm sure he would get stoked to hear what.
21:42
Speaker 1: What shoes you're rocking?
21:44
Speaker 2: yeah, I'm not yeah, I don't know exactly like which arcteryx one it is I'm so bad at like it's the LD4 probably.
21:50
Speaker 2: Oh, okay, and I love this.
21:51
Speaker 2: And plus, like they have good Gore-Tex and so you know it's like here it's so mucky, it's snowy at the top.
21:58
Speaker 2: You know, my feet didn't get wet.
21:59
Speaker 2: I love them.
22:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, Dude, I feel like you're going to be so prepared for something like Sunopee just because it's like way harder.
22:06
Speaker 1: The terrain you'll be training on is just so much more difficult in a lot of ways, but also like it's that cold Northeast vibe where it's like rainy and just like you gotta be ready for mud and snow and just like the worst, the worst terrain Like would you agree with that?
22:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, when I've heard I've never been to the East coast and so I've heard, like you know, the East Coast cold is like nothing else and I'm like, ok, I feel like I'm prepared, I think it'll be fine and plus, like in Anchorage area, you have like a good amount of trails that are like muddy or like rolling or, just like you know, steep straight up, and so I feel like I have a good variety of trails to train on and be prepared for that.
22:46
Speaker 2: And it's like you know, I I race around marathon where it's you have half the mountain is just like straight scree, so it's like nothing can get honestly like worse than that, like navigational wise, you know so nice.
22:59
Speaker 1: Are you more of an uphill person or down her person?
23:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, downhill, are you okay?
23:04
Speaker 2: yeah, like, and which is like funny, I don't know like denali is a person I want to train with for the downhill, because it's just like I don't know if it's a mental block for me or just like physically I can't get down as fast, as you know certain people, but I definitely just like power, hike it up, like the strength is in, like my lungs and legs, I think.
23:22
Speaker 2: And then the downhills.
23:23
Speaker 2: Sometimes I get like a bit scared and cautious, but I that's something I really want to work on.
23:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's such a crazy race to nail and like, get right, but I feel like I don't know.
23:34
Speaker 1: Fifth place, that's amazing.
23:36
Speaker 1: Like you're going to one of these days you'll probably nail it Like that's so cool.
23:39
Speaker 1: Are you a roots or a cliffs person?
23:42
Speaker 1: Oh, cliffs, cliffs yeah, interesting.
23:54
Speaker 2: But I'd be open to like mix it up, okay, all right.
23:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, the only person I've ever known to take the roots is I think it was ally mac and like had success.
23:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, interesting, which I feel like the cliffs work good if you like get your good position on the road, you know.
24:00
Speaker 1: So you only have like two or three women in front of you on the cliffs yeah, yeah, I feel like for someone like you like it's probably that works out really well, because you could probably get out and away from people with your road speed and your turnover and then just be able to get into the climb.
24:13
Speaker 1: You could find a rhythm.
24:14
Speaker 1: So, yeah, yeah, well, I think I might do a mount marathon like preview this year.
24:19
Speaker 1: So we'll talk.
24:20
Speaker 1: We'll talk more about that oh, awesome, yeah, yeah um, all right, so let's get into some like I try to keep these as like just uh, get to know you kind of episodes for the trail team, so I do want to get into some interesting questions.
24:32
Speaker 1: I'm you kind of already said you're a very competitive person, but like I want to hear it from you, like like on a level of like one to 10, like, how do you view yourself competitively?
24:42
Speaker 2: Probably like nine Well let's hear it.
24:45
Speaker 1: Are you like a person that like can't like lose a board game kind of person or like can't be passed on a hike, like like?
24:50
Speaker 1: Let's hear it.
24:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, like when it comes to board games.
24:53
Speaker 2: I hate losing board games and like I will play dirty to like try to win, or it's like I'm not.
24:59
Speaker 2: I'm not a gracious loser either when it comes to like like me and my fiance I got engaged this summer.
25:04
Speaker 2: We play Rummy all the time and I lose a lot of it and it's just not pretty when I lose.
25:11
Speaker 2: So and it's like.
25:12
Speaker 2: So it's like on and off the trail.
25:13
Speaker 2: I'm just competitive, but I used to be.
25:16
Speaker 2: I had a twin sister and we used to be very competitive, like with our grades and academics in school, which maybe like wasn't the best, but we still kind of are.
25:26
Speaker 1: That's funny, right?
25:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's talk.
25:28
Speaker 1: I want to talk music.
25:30
Speaker 1: Are you?
25:30
Speaker 1: Do you listen to music and like workouts like what's your, what's your pump-up song?
25:35
Speaker 2: oh, um, I definitely.
25:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, currently my pump-up song is lose my breath by desney's child.
25:43
Speaker 2: Um, good song, but I feel like I have a lot of different like pump-up songs, but sometimes, like especially maybe it's just for track races.
25:51
Speaker 2: Since I get so, I get way more nervous for track races than trail.
25:55
Speaker 2: I'll listen to just really calm music.
25:57
Speaker 2: Like Gregory Allen, I squawk like that's my go-to track music.
26:00
Speaker 2: But for trails I'm down to like hide myself up however much I need, but for trail I'm like you need to calm down, you know.
26:11
Speaker 1: Let's talk about nervousness on a start line.
26:12
Speaker 2: So you don't, you don't really get nervous for trail races that's interesting, not too much, because I know like, regardless, I'm gonna have like a lot of fun.
26:18
Speaker 2: Um, I don't know for track, like track races, if I'm not feeling it, I'm not really gonna have a fun time, um, and for trail, it's just like the environment, it's competitive, but at the same time you have.
26:30
Speaker 2: And for trail, it's just like the environment, it's competitive, but at the same time you have people doing it for fun and like the crowd watching.
26:34
Speaker 2: They just want you to have a good time, basically.
26:37
Speaker 2: And then, like you'll see it, if you come to mount marathon this summer, it's just like it feels like you're in the middle of a festival while racing, which is like the best feeling.
26:43
Speaker 2: And then for track, it's just like you don't have that background noise to distract you almost yeah, ooh, that's interesting.
26:51
Speaker 2: Okay.
26:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, Is there any races Cause, like I mean, I feel like Mount Marathon is like such a pinnacle race for so many people, Like it's just something that a lot of people put on their bucket list or something.
27:00
Speaker 1: Is there a bucket list race that you are interested in that you haven't?
27:04
Speaker 1: You know that you were going to want to put on.
27:15
Speaker 2: I'm not sure yet.
27:16
Speaker 2: I yeah, I'd have to think about that, all right, all right.
27:20
Speaker 1: Well, just as like I'm like kind of a recruiter for Pike's peak, so like if you ever want to do that.
27:25
Speaker 2: We're going to come and get you.
27:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, come, come, race bikes.
27:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's in September, right it's in September.
27:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
27:31
Speaker 2: And it's like a half marathon.
27:33
Speaker 1: So there's two.
27:34
Speaker 1: There's two distances.
27:35
Speaker 1: There's the ascent, which is like the go straight up Pike's peak it is a half marathon distance.
27:39
Speaker 1: And then there's the marathon, which is you just turn back down and have to run downhill, whereas, like I, personally think the ascent's a little more fun because you don't have to run downhill, but yeah, it's different.
27:49
Speaker 2: I mean I'll be in town.
27:51
Speaker 2: I feel like it's one of those things.
27:53
Speaker 1: This is like an idea we've been throwing around.
27:55
Speaker 1: Like I wanted to put together like a series and like have Pike's peak mountain I know Matthias from Mount Marathon has been like open to this is like doing like a series of like, not like a golden trail but like a classics where we have, like Mount Washington, pike's peak, mount Marathon and like.
28:11
Speaker 1: So it's, it gives like a series for points that you can kind of accumulate and it would be something kind of fun.
28:16
Speaker 1: So it's you don't have.
28:17
Speaker 1: Like it's an alternative to some of the other race series, which would be fun.
28:20
Speaker 1: So that'd be awesome that would be cool, Do you, uh, coming into the sport?
28:25
Speaker 1: Obviously, you see, you probably consume a lot of media and see a lot of the different races and stuff like that.
28:29
Speaker 1: Is the golden trail series something you're interested in, Like?
28:32
Speaker 1: Is there anything that's like piqued your interest on?
28:34
Speaker 1: Like, where you want to compete against some of the best competition in the in the world?
28:38
Speaker 1: Is that something you want to do?
28:40
Speaker 2: Totally, I feel like golden trail series is something I'm going to do, like next year, if I can like.
28:45
Speaker 2: I definitely want to get go to more international races.
28:48
Speaker 2: Um, just because the competition seems amazing and, yeah, it seems like an amazing opportunity.
28:54
Speaker 1: Super cool.
28:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's some great stuff there and it's just like, like you said, it's like the ability to, if you want to race the best in the sport, that's the you know kind of the place to do it and Europe is dope too.
29:03
Speaker 1: Like Europe is wild, like those people they take it so much different.
29:06
Speaker 1: Like it's almost like you're I guess you're Alaska, right, but it's just like because there like a just a crazier higher level, right, oh yeah, so all right.
29:18
Speaker 1: Well, I think we're winding down now.
29:19
Speaker 1: Sophie, I want to say thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
29:21
Speaker 1: This is a great conversation.
29:22
Speaker 1: Um, yeah, thank you definitely want to wish you the absolute best of luck and uh, yeah, we'll be, we'll be talking again, we'll be talking before pretty soon, api, and uh, yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm really excited for where your career is going to take you and it's it's going to be fun to watch you grow in the sport Super cool.
29:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you so much.
29:39
Speaker 2: You're so good to chat.
29:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, take care, thank you.
29:41
Speaker 1: What'd you guys think?
29:42
Speaker 1: Oh man, what a fun episode.
29:43
Speaker 1: I want to thank Sophie so much for coming on the podcast.
29:46
Speaker 1: Um, although this was a short one, really looking forward to, uh, having her back on to talk about some of races she's going to be doing over the next few months.
30:02
Speaker 1: So excited to have that conversation, especially around Mount Marathon and races like that.
30:04
Speaker 1: Like, oh man, it's that's the best style of mountain racing, in my opinion is races like that.
30:05
Speaker 1: So stoked to have more conversations in the future.
30:07
Speaker 1: Guys, before you get going, hop on Instagram.
30:09
Speaker 1: Give Sophie a follow.
30:11
Speaker 1: You can find her at right Sophie underscore, that's right.
30:14
Speaker 1: Wri GH, g, h, t.
30:16
Speaker 1: Sophie underscore.
30:18
Speaker 1: Give her a follow.
30:19
Speaker 1: Let her know what you guys thought about the episode and wish her some luck on her upcoming season.
30:22
Speaker 1: She's got a lot to do.
30:23
Speaker 1: It's going to be pretty fun.
30:24
Speaker 1: It's going to be some competitive racing and I'm sure she would appreciate some words of kindness from the audience.
30:30
Speaker 1: So, before you get going, wherever you guys listen to this podcast whether it be Apple, spotify, youtube or I don't know what else Give us a five-star rating and review.
30:42
Speaker 1: I'd really appreciate that.
30:43
Speaker 1: We're trying to grow this thing into one of the biggest podcasts on the scene, covering the scene, and the only way I can do that is with the love from you guys and get noticed.
30:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, that would mean a lot.
30:54
Speaker 1: That would be kind of dope.
30:55
Speaker 1: So give us a five-star rating review, give us a rating.
30:58
Speaker 1: Let us know what episode's your favorite, what you like.
31:01
Speaker 1: Maybe share it, share it around, tell your friends, uh, you know.
31:05
Speaker 1: Tell your parents, tell, tell everybody, yeah, um, and then, very last but not least, this episode is brought to you by ultimate direction.
31:11
Speaker 1: Usa can't do this without their support.
31:14
Speaker 1: Uh means the world to me.
31:16
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31:51
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32:01
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32:04
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32:06
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32:09
Speaker 1: All right, have a great rest of your week.
32:10
Speaker 1: I've got more to Thank you.