Latest / The Steep Stuff Podcast / Taylor Stack | From Steeplechase to US Mountain Running Champs

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Taylor Stack | From Steeplechase to US Mountain Running Champs · The Steep Stuff Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, guys?
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: I am your host, james Lauriello, and today we've got a really fun episode for you guys.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: None other than Mr Taylor Stack, rising sub-ultra phenom, joins us on the pod for a quick conversation.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: What a great episode.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: It was really fun getting to sit down and talk to Taylor.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: If you guys are unfamiliar with that name, get used to it.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: You're going to be hearing a lot of it in the next few years.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Top 15 at this year's Broken Arrow VK.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Top 5 overall at this year's Broken Arrow 23K.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Also, top 5 at the Cirque Series Snowbird, us Mountain Running Champs.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: This kid is on fire and in the process of making a name for himself.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Like I said, what a fun episode, great conversation.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Taylor is so much more than just a runner.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: He's also a master student in Fort Collins, so you could talk a little bit more about some of his studies.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Guys, I hope you enjoy this one Really fun episode.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Like I said, get ready to hear that name Taylor Stack Without further ado.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Steep Stuff Podcast.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: It's time.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: We are live.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: We are live.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Hey guys, I am interrupting this podcast because I've got something really fun and really special to share with everyone.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Um, ultimate direction, one of my running sponsors was kind enough to pass along a promo code to the listeners of the podcast.
• 2:20
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• 2:23
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• 2:34
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• 2:44
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• 2:47
  Speaker 1: This is only for now, which is I'm recording this on August, the first week in August, through September.
• 2:54
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• 2:56
  Speaker 1: They were kind enough to provide it, um, hooking me up as an athlete, so I want to be able to get you guys the hookup for ultimate direction.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, that's going to be code steep stuff pod for 25% off.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: All right, we're, uh, we're live dude.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, what's going on.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Thanks for coming out.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: No problem, yeah, thank you for having me, yeah bro.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: So, uh, you want to introduce yourself.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Tell the, tell the audience about who you are and we'll go from there for sure.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, my taylor stack and um kind of newer to the competitive trail sub ultra scene this year.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: This is the first year I've really like kind of been going for it, trying to, um, yeah, show up on the scene, run some trails, been having a good time with it.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: So so what's your background?
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Did you go to western with like brian whitfield and all them?
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I did actually so I was on the NCAA team so like track and cross country over there at Western and yeah, brian I think was like my same class, so I remember hanging out with him and stuff in the freshman dorms?
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and then Kieran was on the Western team for a year and then joined the like mountain sports trail team.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, where are you from?
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: You're from Salida.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I grew up in Salida.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: So I was actually born in Flagstaff, arizona, and then I moved to Salida when I was like nine years old.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, it's a lot.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: It's beautiful man.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: It's like those, uh, I feel like and maybe you would agree with me on this like just um, I don't know, growing up like at the foot of the swatch and like getting to like just all these mountain sports, like I don't know.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: It's like such a formative process to to make you a mountain athlete in a lot of ways, right.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: For sure.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, it's a big part of who I am.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: I think coming from Salida is an awesome place to grow up, so where are you based?
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: now You're in Fort Collins.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Yep, I'm in Fort Collins.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: I'm doing a master's program out there, so I've been there for like little over two years now.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Nice, yeah, how do you like it?
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: I like it yeah it's good.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: It's definitely.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was in salida and then gunnison and so fort collins is kind of like the biggest city I've ever lived in but, I like it.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Um, some cool trails out by, like horsetooth area and stuff.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: So is that?
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: where you get a lot of your training done.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: I know like I don't know.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: I follow like adrian on um on strava and I see like that's where he does a lot of his for sure yeah, definitely.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: That's kind of yeah where I get most of my vert stuff.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: I run around town a bit, but I've been trying to hit the trails a little harder this summer to get that verd in.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: So and dude, like you've like exploded onto the scene this year like fifth place the us mountain running champs snowbird.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: You had an amazing what.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: You were 13th place at broken arrow vk.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: You're top top five at the 23k.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, were you like like what?
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: What started this?
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Like what do you think?
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Uh, did you just like have like an amazing block last year and like came in with the intention to be able to just like do this or what?
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: What set this forward?
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so yeah, I mean, like I was saying, my background's in kind of tracking, cross country, so I did that for five years over at Western Um and then I always kind of trails, you know growing up in slide and everything, were kind of like my introduction to running before you know getting into track and cross country and everything.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: So I always kind of envisioned myself going back to the trails after I was done with NCAA.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: But, um, yeah, I mean last year I hopped in a couple kind of low key like local races, like Bridge or Ridge Run in Bozeman and then like Imogene Pass Run.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah so you got what second there.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was pretty good.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: It's a super fun race and like I've been going out to that one since I was a little kid because my parents used to do it Okay, my mom's still doing it, actually, but Really, yeah, so.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: So mom and dad run.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, my mom is still really big into it, my dad doesn't so much anymore, but they both have done it.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you know Evan Paul from Salida, buddy of mine.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: He was aware of you because I was like I had to ask him.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: I was like bro, who is Taylor Stack, that was from Salida.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: I was like I have to get this cut on the podcast and he kind of had some back information on I guess it was more so on your family he kind of passed along to me.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: So I thought that was interesting, that it's kind of a family thing for you.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: For sure, yeah, definitely Sweet dude.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: So what do you?
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Got planned for the rest of the year.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so as of right now, yeah, just did Broken Arrow, snowbird, and then I'm going back to Bridge of Ridge and Imogene again.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: So I've got those two kind of coming up next and then I'm going to try to make it out to mammoth uh trail fest in September.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: So that's kind of the next really big one.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: But what are your, uh, what are your goals in the sport Like what do you, what do you want to do?
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: That's a good question.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: I mean I kind of like, um, I wanted to like get into it and see how I stacked up in these really competitive races and like I think I want to keep showing up and trying to like be on the scene, really hit next year hard.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: I think this year has been kind of uh, getting my training up to like a place that I want it to be.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: After college I took like a year and a half or so where I wasn't really training that hard, I was running a little bit, but just kind of like I was doing like field biology work, biology work, um, so just took a little step back from the sport there.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: But uh, this year I've definitely gotten the training bug again and started to get back up and try to get fit again.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: I think you know, like I'm realizing like I've still got it, I'm still young.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: So I want to take advantage of that and keep racing.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: How old are you?
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: I'm 25 oh wow, dude.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you got so much time spoken from a 33 year old, I'm just like oh, dude yeah you got so much time.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: Spoken from a 33-year-old, I'm just like oh, dude, you have a long time to go.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's like one of the cool things about running.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: I show up to these races and see people crushing at an elite level into their 40s.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: I feel like a lot of sports.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: You do the college thing if you're at that level and then that's kind of it.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: There's not really potential to continue on, but like it's reassuring to see a lot of older folks out there Like you can still be elite for another like 10, 15 years from where I'm at.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: So Heck yeah, do you want to talk a little bit about your, not to bounce all over the place, but I do want to go back to kind of your college days Like what distances did you run for track and field and cross country?
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I was like 5k steeplechase in track and then 3k indoors.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: And then cross country was during normal season it's an 8k for men and then championship season 10k.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: So yeah, so cross country is kind of its own thing, but on the track I was a steeplechase 5k kind of specialist.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: I never ran a 10k on the track cause I ran steeple instead.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: So I feel like we have so many steeple or crossovers into into our sport.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: It's like such a big thing for sure.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, like I mean there are definitely some studs on the track who show up and crush it on the trails.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: But I think steepling, especially um, transitions well, just cause like it's there's like more to focus on than just like the rhythm of running and you have to be able to like break your rhythm and still be okay and like jump over the barriers and deal with that.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: So yeah, it seems like steepers tended to transition well to trails, yeah.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: I think it was like Max King was like a, like a championship steeple or like an absolute savage.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: That's interesting, yeah, dude.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: So and like, like I said, I know we talked a little bit about some of your results cause, and I want to do pretty, do a pretty deep dive into the 24, 24 season.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: We can kind of talk about some of these races.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: Um, I'd say the biggest one that I'd like to chat about was just like your experience at Cirque Snowbird.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Like we can kind of talk about the course, like how you enjoyed it, just like the you know I can.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: This is would be, in theory, at your first us mountain running championship.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: So I know it's kind of a very loaded question, but I just want to get into your experience and just go from there.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah for sure, yeah it was.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: It was fun race.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: I went out there with my girlfriend, sydney Peterson, who also crushed by the way, she got six.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: So she had a good race.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I know that name.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, we've been going to the race.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: She went to Broken Arrow as well and so she's also on the come up, which is fun to see.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: But yeah, snowbird is pretty fun.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: I mean it's a short race and so you got to like be able to get in there, like get in position and like make it hurt on the climb and just bomb down.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: And there are a lot of guys out there just throwing down monster efforts on the climb and it was pretty fun.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: It started uh, I don't know, I don't know if they changed the course, but like it seemed a little different.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: It started with like a half a mile kind of like fast downhill at the beginning, which I think might've thrown some people off, but like I felt pretty good on that and like settled into good position.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: And then the uphill started and I was just kind of like feeling flat and got passed by a lot of guys.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: Like people were crushing for sure, um, but it was beautiful up there.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: I mean I got to the top and I think I was in eighth at the top and took a second to look around and just like appreciate where I was at, cause that was the first time I've explored those mountains, um, and then it just goes into some like really aggressive downhill, like some kind of I wasn't expecting it to be so like steep and like off trail right there towards the top.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: I don't know if you've done that race.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: I haven't done that one specifically, but if I'm judging that area versus like, for instance, I just did Brighton, I was telling you and like dude, very aggressive, very gnarly descents that I'm just like not prepared for yeah definitely.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: I I don't think I was like fully prepared for that.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: So it's cool.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: It's cool to see the course and maybe come back with a little bit more knowledge next time yeah and more fitness, hopefully.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: But um, yeah, I had a good downhill.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: I passed a few guys and then ended up in fifth at the end, so I can't complain.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: You know, I think I always go into the races with really ambitious goals and kind of like hope for something that might not be as realistic, but I that pushes you to either.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: Even if it doesn't go perfectly, you still do pretty well.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: I mean absolutely amazing result.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: I mean fifth place, dude, and especially a U S mountain running championship, like that's a big, big deal for your first time too, so I can't wait to see.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: I mean, I know next year is going to be selection for the world's team.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Is that something you might be thinking about, or yeah?
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: definitely.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: I think that that's from here thinking about that or like I don't know.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: This has been a good season to kind of dip the toes in, get an idea of, like what these races feel like, kind of get some experience with that Cause it definitely.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: You know, I have a lot of experience racing on the track and cross country and everything, but it's a different skillset for sure.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: And you got to know how to like pace yourself.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Like you know, on these steep climbs, when you blow up it's like it's different than a blow up on the track, like it's not coming back.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly so um, it's been fun, but yeah, definitely looking to hit next year really hard and try to get my training up.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: And uh, I've definitely had my eyes on that world's team so sweet man.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, let me ask you so for the cirque snowboard course, did you guys?
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: Is part of that course, the tunnel like you go through that really sweet tunnel, yeah pretty cool.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's like you get to the top and then you bomb down this super steep kind of descent part, um, and then you go through the tunnel and then you go into like a fire road descent all the way to the bottom.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: So tunnel was super cool, it was nice because it was nice and cool in there and it was pretty hot I'm sure it was a hot day.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: I hate that these races start at 10 o'clock I know it's kind of crazy, yeah, yeah I'm like more of a 7 am 8 am guy for sure, yeah, I've been trying to do some more heat training this summer now, especially going into these like later summer races.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: So yeah.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: yeah, that's fair, that's Did you get a chance to like preview the course at all beforehand or like run it at all we?
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: drove up there the day before and jogged around a little bit, kind of on the the base trails a bit, but I didn't go all the way up into the high stretches of the course.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: Um, we came out with like one full day before the race so I didn't want to like I that would have been probably too taxing to run the whole thing that close to the race yeah, yeah so it was kind of in the dark for, like, how those top sections were, but um got an idea, went out kind of where it felt out the vibes yeah no, I feel that.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: So that was the reason I asked that question.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: It was like one of the things we were talking about before we started.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Uh, recording was I was just chatting to you with like how fast these races are and how like you cannot just sit, like you have to be prepared to make a move at all times.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: So it's like one of the things like I learned for like the next rate, like I'm gonna do alta in like three weeks, and one of the things that I picked up on was like dude, I'm gonna come out a few days early, like I want to run that course and do exactly where I can exploit moves because, like if you, I don't, I just felt like at a disadvantage, almost, if I was just kind of like sitting there and just like watching the race happen around me.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: So it was like one of those things that yeah, yeah, definitely.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: I think it'd be fun to go back um next year like knowing the course.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: I think that's going to help a lot.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so nice man.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: You also just come back from broken era too, like it was only a month ago.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: Um, how was that experience Like would you?
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: Would you think of broken era?
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: It was super fun.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: I mean that was that was kind of my first like really competitive trail race and so before that, you know, like I didn't quite know, like you know it's like it's it's hard to gauge based off of times and everything you know in the world of track, you know times are are a little more objective and so it's easy to kind of stack yourself up against the competition.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: But going into that, you know, I mean I've done some local races and stuff, um, but you know the competition, the level of competition at broken arrow and those types of everybody's.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: there it's crazy, yeah, yeah.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: And then so I did the VK and just kind of like man, I just got my shit rocked a little bit.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: It was kind of like an eye opener to the level of competition and I was like man, maybe I kind of slept on these like trail guys a little bit.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: You know, dude, they're fast as shit.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, jim Malamsley, I mean you get to race like literally the best in the world, like Jim Malamsley.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: Was there Patrick Kip Um, who daddied everybody?
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: Christian Allen yeah, no, you've raced twice this year he was.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: he's a fucking boss, he's a monster.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Um, yeah, dude, there's like the front, like the.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: The pointy tip of the spear for this sport isn't the same now.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: It's getting so competitive.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's fun, it's cool to see.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: So what'd you think of the VK, the VK man?
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: You know, honestly, I signed up for the double and I kind of went into it with the mindset of like I'm really going to go for it in the VK and I had dreams of top five maybe or something, without really maybe that's kind of naive, not really knowing how I was going to stack up.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: And then I was like, well, I'll do the 23 and just kind of pick up the pieces and do whatever.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: And I hit the VK and it just felt, man, it was tough.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: It starts just like right on this steep ski run basically, and you just go lactic immediately and just stay there the whole time.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: And a lot of people I mean I think I talked to, like Mika Boduan Rosso Sorry if I butchered your last name- we all do yeah.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: And he had done it the year before and he was like you really want to like kind of stay within yourself, stay in control that first 10 minutes, cause that's going to save you a lot of time later in the race.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: And I I think I should have taken that to heart a little bit more, because I went out super hard, like right at kind of in the top 10 from the beginning and it just felt way harder than I wanted it to feel, um.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean held on 13th.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: I can't really complain about that effort.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: I think the I have some development to gain in, like the strategy of uphill running and also, you know, it is kind of a different type of fitness, but I was really happy with how I was able to bring it back in the 23 K a couple of days later I felt amazing.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, talk about that.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: The 23 K a couple of days later I felt amazing.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, talk about that.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was good.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: Um, I was kind of humbled after the VK but I just went out and I felt good and I felt strong and went out pretty much in the top five from the beginning, um, and it was like Patrick, eli and Phil Amon who just shot away from everyone.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: Um, and then I pretty much settled in and forth and stayed there the whole time and it was strung out.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: I was mostly running alone the whole time and just kind of scared Cause I knew you know some of the names that were behind me, like Chris now and Mika, like those guys, yeah, and I was like man, maybe you just messed this up and you're doing the same thing you did in the VK.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: But no, yeah, I was able to hold on and um got, got to the top and just like, really attacked the downhill and then got to the point where I was like, okay, I think I'm cushy enough to where, if I just keep my foot somewhat on the gas pedal, I'm going to be able to stay in fourth year.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: So really happy with how it went.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Were you aware of your positioning the whole time?
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Like, were you getting, cause?
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: I know like there's a lot of people hanging out.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: On course They'll tell you oh, you're, you know, 10 seconds up or something like that.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Did you have an idea of where you were?
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I knew that I was in fourth the whole time.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: And then the gap between me and third, who I think it was Phil Iman.
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, um, that was kind of fluctuating, like people were telling me like 25 seconds and then next person would tell me like 90 seconds, so it was kind of hard to say.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: I think there was a point where I was gaining on him on the downhill but he had such a lead that I wasn't quite able to close it fully.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, yeah, I feel like it's funny because him and Patrick pretty much race every race together and I always feel like, depending on what it is like Phil Amon's, a little more catchable Patrick is impossible to catch.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, yeah, that's what it seemed I was trying to like.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: Instead of focusing on who's behind me, I was like focus on who's in front of you and like focus on trying to catch them.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: So try to like keep that forward energy rather than running scared.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: And dude what a beautiful course, right?
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was pretty awesome.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: The last year.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: So I was up there last year and we did um, I actually went up running the 23k course.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: It was like after everybody went home.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: Um, it was like that monday and back when it was like two loops of the 11k because they had like changed it that year for like high wind, um, so I didn't get a chance to explore like the back half of that course over like kt 22 and like wash now.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: But everybody says it's absolutely gorgeous yeah, it's pretty, it's awesome.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: That's the most that I've explored in that area of the Sierra.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: So yeah it was pretty sweet.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: Dude, what was your, what was your training?
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: Like going into this season, like, what, if?
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: What were you doing in the off season to like get you this fit?
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: So I'll start with.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: Last year, I kind of I signed up for this trail marathon in Salida.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: So this is like, uh, 2023, run through time.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: And so and I think it was kind of like an impulsive decision, like I'm going to sign up and then I like upped my mileage way too fast, had a pretty good race there, um, but then got a little bit injured afterwards.
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: So I think I just got a little too ambitious and so then I took some time off and then, going into this season, I was like I'm just going to do a really smart, slow, gradual build Cause like I want to.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: I know that I can get my fitness up to a level that I want it to be, but I just got to be smart about it.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: And so, yeah, I kind of I I've been running pretty consistently since the fall and kind of like gradually got my mileage up into like the mid seventies for broken air.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: I ran that marathon again this year and it went a little better.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, congrats, by the way.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: Thanks, yeah Um but yeah, kind of just trying to, you know, I mean, I I don't have anyone coaching me or anything and I I mostly train alone.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: I like to run with people occasionally when I can and stuff, but yeah, so, like kind of basing my training off of, uh, like workouts that are inspired by like college workouts that we used to do and whatnot, and like I think at this point I know my body pretty well and I know how to effectively train myself.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: So do you do a lot more work on the trails or on the roads, like where do you?
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: What do you like?
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: We could start from like the off season and kind of get more specific.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: But like I'm just so curious Cause like yeah, yeah, um, during the, during the winter, I was mostly, you know, doing a lot of road running, trail running, as I could.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: It gets snowy, which is hard and everything, but on the front range, you know like, compared to Gunnison, you can definitely get out on the trails a little bit more during the winter, so trying to run as much trails as I can.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: At this point, you know, I like when I first started I was like, oh man, hitting like 5,000 vert a week, that's crazy.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: But then now I'm like looking at you know, now that I'm in this world, it's like, oh, that's not even anything.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: So at this point I'm trying to get my vert up to like 10 to 15,000 per week.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: So yeah, a lot of trail work.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: I've been trying to do like one flat fast workout per week, um, to keep the speed in my legs, you know, and then one like more hilly vert kind of trail workout per week.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: That's been the strategy.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: So that's fair?
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: No, that's definitely.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: I'm just so curious.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: He's like.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: He's like I don't know, I have a lot of peers and you'll notice a lot of peers in the sport that, like, some people do a lot of their stuff on the roads and it's like all flat and all fast stuff and I'm like how does that translate to being like?
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: I mean, I guess I understand how it like translates to uphill fitness, but I'm like how, how are you even able to run on the downhill Because, like, especially a technical downhill if you're just running on flat, non-technical stuff all the time?
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: So that's why I was kind of curious to see what people do.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: for sure, yeah yeah, I don't know.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm kind of just winging it here, I don't really yeah, no, no, I don't really know, but nobody knows, yeah, but yeah, from what I've kind of been thinking lately is like on the downhills you still have to tap into like your body still needs to know what it feels like to run 450 pace, you know, and so that's kind of you know on like flowy downhill trails.
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: That's where where I've been trying to get like one flatter, faster workout in and like kind of stay connected with that speed, because on some of those downhills, like you are running sub fives to to be up there.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: Do you have, especially for broken arrow on those ski roads, dude?
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: I mean, I remember last year watching I think it was watching like Eli and seeing his splits and I think he was dropping sub fives, yeah, the whole time, which is bananas.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: It's crazy, yeah, so fast.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Um, so what did you do then to like for like a VK, for the VK, did you like have any like segmented climbs that you were like check it out and seeing, like okay, if I can run this at like 30 to 40 minutes, like I'll be in good shape for broken arrow, Like, did you have anything like in that area that like you kind of like simulated?
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so there's one in Fort Collins, um, if anyone is like familiar with Fort Collins trails, there's this fire road called towers, um, which it's like three miles or so with like 17, 1800 vert and so it's a pretty solid grade and it's a nice.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: It's not like technical, it's a drivable road and so I've been getting a lot of good workouts on that and that's it's like a fun segment to try and like grab the.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: You know, like see where you stack up on the list on the FKT and everything, and so yeah, that's been like kind of my bread and butter is doing like towers.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: You know I'll do like a tempo up it and then I'll do a few like faster hill reps on one of the steeper sections, um, stuff like that.
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: So yeah, that's kind of that was like my VK simulator but it's like half as steep as the VK.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: I know, when you first got to the like were you like, oh my God, like when you first started, like cause it.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: I mean, I've seen like um, I know like the VK course, and it's like like you say, it's like it's not just a ski hill but there's like plants in the middle of it and it's like grass and it's like not a trail.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it was nuts.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's like you don't even get to like run flat for like a minute before you start.
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: You're just literally on the incline and then you're just kind of hiking.
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: I don't know, maybe poles is the move.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: I saw a lot of people out there with poles, like Jim, yeah, yeah.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: I think you might be right for those types of races, like if you know how to use them correctly.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: I think it can definitely be uh, like because it's interesting, because I think jim had like shorter ones, but I know he's been very vocal about like the more he's been in europe he gets these like gigantic long ski poles that he uses and just like pulls himself up the mountain.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: So I mean, like I don't know, takes a little bit of the burn out of your quads and calves for sure.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I don't know if you've ever I know I have and like I've I mean I don't know, I've raced with them a few times and like just didn't, I don't know.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: I hate the idea of having to like have the poles, put them in my belt, take them out, put them out and I I think lucky makes a great product.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: They make the best poles.
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: But like, um, I don't know, just for like, especially those stark series races and those short races, it's like just fumbling around and putting stuff in and out, like I could I barely have enough attention to like take out a gel and eat it, like much less take out poles back and forth.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: For sure, yeah, yeah, that seems like a lot to manage.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: I've never tried it, but like I've seen some you know seeing like jim do that it's made me curious for a vk 100, I think, for something for like like, for instance, like cirque series snowbird, like I don't like, even though that race has like almost 4k vertical.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: I I almost feel like it's a hindrance on the descent and stuff like that, because yeah either you're either holding them and you're, like you know sword fighting with people, or you're, like you know where, you stick them in your belt and hoping you'll drop one.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: It's, I don't know, it's for it's pain in the ass For sure.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's interesting.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: What does your nutrition look like Like?
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: What do you do for nutrition?
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: Like, like just my general eating habits, or like like just rice and stuff like that yeah.
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: So, um, I mean I don't for the, you know, like broken arrow 23 K.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: I just had a little water bottle like a 12 ounce hydropack soft flask thing.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: I didn't take any like any carbs or salt or anything during that one, I just had water.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: Um.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: I think my rule of thumb is like over two hours is when I kind of benefit from having maybe a gel or something like that.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: I for the run through time marathon which I did in March, I definitely that's long enough to where I like to be taken a little bit.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: So I like to take a couple of gels and have some electrolytes.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: Um, but I don't know, I don't have that totally dialed because in that race that was actually really gnarly effort for me and I was getting crazy calf like seizing towards the end.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I could.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: That could have been a nutrition thing, so maybe I need to dial that in a little bit more.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: But yeah, I don't know.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: That's all kind of new to me too, cause, like coming from a cross country and track background where the races are like shorter than 30 minutes, it's like you're not thinking about nutrition.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: But well, the reason I ask is because, like I don't know, like you said, you don't have a coach.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: You're you're brand new to the sport and you're just kind of figuring it out.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: And every now and then I'll hear someone that's like in your exact position, like drop like a little gem on something that they've picked up, that they've been like trying out, and I'm like, oh, can apply that.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: Um, I'm in the process now of like redoing my like, I guess because I'm over time.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: So like I'm like redoing my entire nutrition strategy now for races and stuff, just because whatever was working ain't working anymore so interesting?
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: yeah, yeah, for sure.
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: I mean, like, what do you do?
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: Like if you were in a 23k style effort, like maybe right around two hours, like what would your nutrition be?
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: so one of the things I just started doing, um, and I'm like in the practice, like in the process now of practicing this is like a caffeinated gel, actually just before the start.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: A lot of people have told me to do that and so far, like I've done that in a few workouts, I don't know I found that to be pretty good, and then I, especially for like a 23k, I'll have something for like usually like that half, like that seven to eight mile split, like a little, maybe a little gel, like an ever second or martin or something like that, and that's really it.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Um, and as far as water goes, I've experimented, like, for instance, like cirque brighton, I just raced.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: I had like a little like a tiny little flask with electrolytes and I just found that the electrolytes just kept making me nauseous.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: Um, interesting yeah.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: So I was like we'll definitely get away from that, like maybe I'm overdoing it and just need to move back to water.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: So there's little things here and there that I'm like still playing around with, and even like breakfast dude, like with these races, like you know, I've talked to people that eat like a ton of calories before, like the morning of, but I don't like feeling heavy before you know.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: You want to feel light and so I don't know I'm I'm in the process of like toying with the whole thing.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: Now see what works for sure.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's interesting.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, these longer races longer relative to what I kind of used to do it's it's more of a factor that you have to consider, so but I've been enjoying bringing a little water bottle and like spraying it on myself and wetting the mouth a little bit, because even in the vk at broken arrow, like it started pretty late and it was hot and I was like a couple miles in like man I would like some water right now, like my mouth is so dry, even though it's such a short race like yeah, it's a dry area
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: yeah um, I raced.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Uh, what was it?
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Iron face.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: Last year I did that iron face race and I didn't bring any nutrition, any water with me and like halfway through the race I felt very similar.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: I was like, oh my god, like anything.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: To just douse myself in water right now would feel amazing yeah, I saw that you did that.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: What?
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: What is that experience like?
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: it seems like a totally unique thing I did it as like a challenge, like something fun to throw on the calendar.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: Um, it's a cool race.
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: I actually was lucky because I had a really stout like field like I had.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Like alex king, who runs for solomon adrian ballinger was there.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Um, there was quite a few like like it was like a nice, like nice group of five or six dudes to duke it out this year.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: I don't think there was as much competition, I don't know.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: I thought it was fun seeing a bunch of dudes try to kill each other on a wall with scrambling and stuff.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: I'm a better runner than I am scrambler and it took that race for me to figure it out.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: And the reason is is because, like I did a few things to practice along the way, like throughout the year, like I'd go, I I trained, like trained a few times on a via ferrata just to see what, like what that was all about, and it's hard to kind of gauge that feeling.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: Um, I found that, like rock climbers did really well and I'm not a rock climber, so makes sense, um, like, for instance, like the, the ascent, fortunately, like it was a fast ascent and fast ascent, so like I can get to the wall quick and I can get off the wall quick.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: But it's like being on the wall, um, you know, you just gotta, I don't know I via.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Friday is different too, because it's not like your free hands to scramble, like you're moving this, like rung around this, like metal thing, right, um, if I was to go back and do it over again, I'll go to broken arrow one of these years.
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: I might go back next year.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: I'm not really sure like what the schedule is going to look like but, I'll do something, probably like the 23k is probably yeah or a vk, something where you're running.
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: Definitely yeah, it's a cool experience to have, though it was neat you know I can't, I can't complain.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: Um, yeah, going back to like.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: I know you think about it too from like an athlete perspective, like it's a lot of resources to go out there and do some of these races.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: You know, um, both from like a sponsor perspective, or even if it's, if you're not sponsored, like having to, you know, cough up a bunch of dough to go out there and you know whether you have a place to stay, or if you, even if you don't, you know, to get plates.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: And I thought back and I was like, for the bang for my buck, I probably should have ran like the 23k, definitely wiser um but it was cool, no complaints nice um yeah, so you told me earlier, you said you before you were, uh, you had mammoth on your list, like that's, that's a fast race, that's a very runnable race.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: Um, it's funny.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: You remind me of Eli in a lot of ways.
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: I don't know why you guys even kind of look alike Um but like and you run alike Um, but no, he um.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: I know his experience last year there was pretty, pretty solid.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: So I don't know, are you excited for that one?
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely.
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: I think from what I can see, that it's the course seems to be pretty suited to my um style, so like long, kind of flowy, fast descent.
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: I think you know I actually was talking to Eli about it at broken air and he recommended that I sign up and everyone was saying that that was kind of the race to go to.
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: So I didn't even really know about it.
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: I feel like I don't know anything about the scene this year and so I'm just a lot of learning and like figuring out like what are the races to be going to?
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: Where are you going to find that kind of competition?
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: But I think as someone I feel like I have pretty solid leg speed, um, you know, coming from like a track background, and I think from what I can tell, that's makes me pretty well suited for that course.
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: So I'm excited for it.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: Have you thought about the pikes ascent at all?
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: I know it's not a golden trail series race, but I just feel like with your fitness you would do amazing there.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's definitely on the bucket list and I w I wanted to do it this year, but I'm going back to Imogene, cause I did it last year, got second.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: I want to come back.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: I'm more fit this year and now the Imogene is just like such a nostalgic race for me, like going.
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: I used to go there when I was a little kid, like I was saying like my parents would do it and stuff, so I wanted, uh, I wish that I think they might be like one week apart, um, but yeah, so I think, this year I'm choosing imogene, but I definitely will do the pikes ascent at some point.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: Thank, you now.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you're thinking about it because, like I said, I think you, especially when it comes back to being a golden trail series race, which hopefully next year it will be um, um, just like that it's, it's going to be bananas again, like we've had some of the most competitive.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: Sorry, my dog's jumping on you.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: We've had some of the most competitive.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: Uh, you know, just feel dissembled on American soil there, which is absolutely bananas.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, last year was pretty crazy.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: Like wildly competitive so dude, has you?
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: have you?
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: So you did broken arrow now and you're going to be doing mammoth.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: My, have you?
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: So you did broken arrow now and you're going to be doing mammoth.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: My guess is that that would put you in contention for the final for the golden trail road certain national series.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: Right that you know this is where, like my lack of knowledge of, like, how everything works, I don't know, I was just curious to see if, like Solomon, had said anything to you.
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: So um, yeah, that I I am not a hundred percent sure I'd have to look into it and stuff.
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: I'm not um sure Like how the points and everything work and like how many races you have to run as part of the series.
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: Um, but more so.
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: I mean, my motivation to go to mammoth is just kind of to like have another race where there's an opportunity to like show up at a really competitive race with a lot of eyes on it and like see what I can do.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: So um, really competitive race with a lot of eyes on it and like see what I can do.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: So, um, that's the best dude.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, race the best now.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: I think you and like as long as mammoth figures out, I think you'll have a great time.
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: As long as they figure out, like their.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: Um, I know last year it was a big thing with people getting lost oh really with the field being marked I don't know apparently it's like the field was like very marked, but still it's such a fast race that it's like easy to get lost and turned around.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: So that was the feedback I got.
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: That's good to know.
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll keep that in mind, study the map for sure.
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: So yeah, because broken arrow, I thought, was like really well marked, like they had flags the entire way and stuff.
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: There was a moment at circ series where like I was in the zone on the downhill like bombing and I almost missed a turn and had to like do a little skid to a stop and like go back up.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: So like yeah, I can picture it, when you're like really going fast downhill, you could miss a turn pretty easily on some of these races.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, definitely.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: Are you better descender or ascender?
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: You know that's a good question.
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: I feel like the last couple of races I've done has made me think that with my current fitness level I'm a better descender relatively.
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: But I also think that you know I I want to, I'm still building my training and like I want to get my fitness up to a new level for sure, which I think will help me on the ascent.
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: And also I think I'm learning a lot about the strategy of ascending and like not going out too hard.
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: You know, I feel like you can save yourself a lot about the strategy of ascending and like not going out too hard.
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: You know, I feel like you can save yourself a lot of time later in a climb by like just holding back, by even like 10 seconds towards the beginning or something like that.
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: So I feel like I have always kind of had a really bold racing strategy where I just like go out hard, go out in position and just try to hold on strategy where I just like go out hard, go out in position and just try to hold on, um, and that's maybe like kind of come back to bite me a bit in some of these races like Cirque series and the VK and stuff.
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: So it's definitely a learning experience.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: No, dude, listen, I've been racing now this is going on three or four years and like I I'd say like the Cirque series races are some of the higher level of like what I've done personally and, um, I was just like I learned that lesson because I'm so used to like going out super hard, holding on and I don't know, maybe one person catches me, but not like five or six catching me you know Right.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: Um, and I learned that lesson.
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: Like at Brighton, like the hard way, like I decided to go out with, like, oh, like I decided to go out with, like, oh, like let's see what patrick and philomon do, and david norris, and like going out very hard and paying for it, like because I don't know the way.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: It seems like a lot of these races start like you were describing.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: Stevenberg is like there's actually almost like a quarter mile to half mile descent before you start ascending and like the race kind of comes back to you or leaves you at that point.
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: Like once you start ascending, and by the time I got like halfway up that first ascent, like on this like extremely steep ski hill, I was like, oh, my god, I went out way too hard yeah whereas I feel like, if you just like hang back a little bit, let the race unfold in front of you like that sets you up prime to be able to make moves later on the race definitely, yeah, yeah, I.
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: I've been finding that like the race is not won in the first 10, 15 minutes of the climb, but it can be lost.
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: Yes, you mess up.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, it's like the strategy is so interesting.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: I love uh, you know, whereas, like, I feel like in these like maybe more like broken era, like in a 23k race, something a little bit longer you can make, you can get away with a few more mistakes or a like one or two Um, but the the short shit it's like, especially in a VK or something like that.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: Um, like I was funny, I had uh anime Flynn on the podcast.
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure if you are familiar with that name.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: She's a phenomenal female athlete and she's almost like a VK specialist me a lot of inside baseball on how to like how to erase a vk, which I've never done before.
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna be going to the rut later on this year to go do the rut vk awesome um, and I'm just like oh I can I really just like have to like keep myself from like going out extremely hard.
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: I feel like that's just that's half the battle right there, definitely, yeah, yeah, like at broken arrow.
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: I was talking to mika, yeah, beforehand, and he, you know, I think he kind of had a similar experience to me the year prior where like maybe went out a little too hard and kind of like uh, paid the price on the VK, and so his insight was like yeah, really stay in control that first little bit and it's going to save you.
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: You're going to make up a lot more time later in the race.
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: And he just executed that perfectly at broken arrow.
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: Like he went out.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: Everyone went out so fast and I was like I need to be like in the top 10 right now.
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: I can't let these guys get away.
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: It's a short race, whatever.
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: Um, but he, he hung back and then he was in like 30th or something at the start and just eight people up the entire way.
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: Like he passed, passed me, I think, like over a mile in and yeah, so I.
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: That was an example of like a perfectly strategized race where patience.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess patience is key.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: No, and dude what, he's a phenomenal athlete.
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: He blew me away too, because I know he's been dealing with like injury for a while.
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: Like he was, he's been like I don't know.
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: At one point in time I think he was doing a hand crank or whatever Like the arm bites get fit Like what the fuck yeah?
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: That's wild.
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: It's crazy, you know, like that he could show up to broken arrow and like hit the double that he hit off of cross training fitness.
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: Like when that guy gets back consistently running, he, I think he's going to be dirty, oh for sure.
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: For sure I can't believe you'd be a Christian like Christian.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: I kind of hold Christian as like the, the, the American standard at this point.
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's like the, the, the future, like the guy.
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: So for sure, yeah, no doubt, yeah, he him at Cirque, untouchable.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: Speaking of, I don't know, my brain.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: As soon as I was thinking of him, I went to a marathon.
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: Is that something you've been wanting to do at all Like?
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: a road marathon Like yes, I think so Um, after doing run through time marathon, which is, you know, it's a trail marathon, so it's a longer effort for sure.
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: Like I finished that and I was like man, I'm excited to get back into these shorter races and not have to hurt for quite that long, but I think it would be fun to get on the roads and maybe like hit a trial standard or something like that yeah, I mean dude, a lot of the guys you race what.
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: 220 to like, 210 like christian was like a 210 marathon or yeah, maybe even lower.
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: So like your peers in that front of the like the race are running something like that.
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: So for sure it's not too long, it's hurting for definitely yeah, I think it would be fun maybe for, like the next olympic cycle, to try and make the trials.
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: I've kind of thought about that, you know, stay fit on the trails and then, um, maybe do a little side quest on the roads and try to run a fast marathon.
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: It'd be a good pr to have.
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, while you've got the fitness bro, you might as well now.
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: You said you were in, you're doing grad school.
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: Now what do you?
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: What do?
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: you study, so I study like um, right, for my master's I'm studying like fisheries conservation biology, so I have a wildlife biology background and my current project for my master's is like conservation genetics of trout in rocky mountain national park, so looking at like how the fires have affected genetic diversity of trout populations, stuff like that.
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: So yeah, it's really fun.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: Oh, my god, what a cool.
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: So my undergraduate degree was in geology yeah much much less interesting.
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: Um, but when I was an undergrad I started off like in like, wanting to do marine biology undergrad in florida and like I fell in love with that.
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: So it's just interesting to me.
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: When you said biology, I was like, oh man, like it's better that I don't know.
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: It's more fun to me to hear someone like actually studying something, um, something so impactful in a lot of ways for sure.
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's super fun it's I.
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: I have had a really great experience in the biology world over the years.
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, western in gunnison they have a really great program and I had a good experience with the faculty over there and got some research experience during undergrad and worked some really cool jobs.
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: So biology is a fun field for sure yeah, that's super rad, dude, I got a fish question for you like do they stock a lot of these lakes in, like the alpine?
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: yes, they do.
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so yeah, I mean, my understanding is that most of these lakes, or a lot of them maybe I wouldn't I I don't know what like percentage, but like they would, in the unaltered state, probably be pretty inaccessible by fish because there's like such steep kind of waterfalls leading up to them.
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: So most of them are stocked.
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's really interesting and that's specific.
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: They stock it just specifically for like fisheries, like for game, to have people out there to recreate.
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: Is that like really the?
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think.
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: So that's a nice recreational opportunity.
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely it's super fun.
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: That's like one of my favorite things to do is to go run or hike up to an alpine lake and catch some fish like fly fish out there dude, I've always wanted to do it, but, like awesome, never done it okay something to think.
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: The reason I I was interested in is because you know, with running, especially fast running, not a lot of very often are you stopping to like smell the roses and like you're not really like taking in a lot of these beautiful vistas and areas like I don't know.
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: One of the things I'd I thought about because, especially I live in the pikes peak region like we've had.
• 44:39
  Speaker 2: We have so many beautiful rivers and streams and stuff in that area just like you know, bringing a bringing a fly rod with me and just sitting down and just like enjoying it, totally yeah yeah, I mean I love doing that bring the fly rod out, like I do it as a run, so like you can bring your vest and like a little fly box and hold your rod in your hand.
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: Super light yeah and you can like get out to super remote spots where the fishing pressure is non-existent, and so you can catch like 50 fish and do it as like a long kind of run trek day.
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: I'll do a little plug here for fly athlons okay it's like this kind of uh, it's a event that they have and they have like a few of them around.
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: So they have one near Gunnison that I did last year on the lake fork, um, but it's like a.
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: It's a running race where you have to catch a fish during the race and then you measure your fish and take a picture, and the size of your fish kind of detracts from your time, and so that's how they score the race.
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: It's so cool and so that's how they score the race.
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so cool, it's pretty awesome, oh my god.
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: So if yeah, anyone who's listening, if that sounds cool, you should totally do it.
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: It's super fun.
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: There's a guy, so I don't know if you ever I know you just kind of get into the sport, but there's a company called iron far and the guy who runs it his name is brian byron brian pal yeah brian pal and he's um.
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: He ran hard rock a lot I think was last the year before with his fishing rod and was just like, just like stopping to see how many fish you could catch, Cause you have 48 hours to do the race, so you're just like popping off these streams and just like fly fishing.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: There's some good fishing country on that course oh, the San Juan on another level.
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, do you so?
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: do you explore a lot out here, like Rocky mountain national park, because I know it's kind of pretty close to yeah, so for my, for my master's, all my field work has been in rocky mountain national park so I've done a lot of like, uh, fisheries stuff, like exploring creeks and going out to remote field sites out there.
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: Um yeah, and I've done longs a couple times stuff like that.
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: So yeah, that's kind of like looking at it from fort collins yeah, um, like the most some of the more accessible, like cool big mountains yeah, it's beautiful.
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: I mean, like I said, this is actually my first time up here, so I was kind of blown away.
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought estes was pretty legit.
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: I mean like twin sisters, like that's a perfect climb.
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: That's like, yeah, half a mile, two miles away, something like that.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: So yeah, it's epic, for sure I didn't realize how big the park was, though, like you know, like in like in Estes, it's kind of like tourist city here it's like tourists everywhere and so like they only go, I guess, to like the little spots that are like in the front of the park.
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: But you started like looking at a map and like holy shit, like this park is huge.
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: Definitely, yeah, and, and you can access it like on foot in some areas too.
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: So, like usually, what I do is I go up the pooter Canyon and then you can kind of like there are trails that lead into the North side of the park from there, um, where you can't drive, and so that's how you beat the crowds for sure.
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: If you're willing to do a longer day on your feet.
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: So yeah, it's absolutely stunning.
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: Definitely We'll come back and explore more.
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: Do you ever you ever go down to like Colorado Springs and play down there at all on the trails?
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: You know I, I I haven't too much.
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean, I used to go down there for track meets and cross-country meets and stuff in high school, but I haven't spent a whole lot of time exploring the mountain country down there.
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: I know it's pretty awesome it's okay.
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: I mean like it's not it's not rocky mountain national park, but like I don't know.
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: I love it because specifically like manitou in that area, because you know it's a relatively like metropolitan area, but other than like the incline.
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: Have you done the incline yet?
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: no, I haven't.
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: That's on the bucket list.
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you gotta do that especially you dude.
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: You probably run like somewhere in like the low 20 range probably, maybe even lower, who knows?
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: Um, yeah, so sorry, the incline and like other than like that in garden of the gods, like it's not very trafficked like so from metropolitan area.
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: It's like perfect for training because you can kind of even in the winter, like you can, get in the high country relatively easy totally.
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's cool.
• 48:24
  Speaker 2: It's dope seems like a good spot.
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, fort collins is pretty good.
• 48:28
  Speaker 2: It's definitely a bit more of a drive to get into like the real high country yeah but yeah, it seems like colorado springs and like boulder have some of the best access on the front range, so it's funny.
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: I went down to Boulder last night for a lot like a law sport of a group run that we did and, um, I had never been there.
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, like I've been there for like interviews and stuff like that, but like uh, had never been on any of their trails and like the access there is amazing.
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: It made sense.
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: I was like all right, I get why everybody moves to boulder, it makes perfect sense?
• 48:59
  Speaker 2: to me, definitely, yeah, yeah, there's like crazy vert just right from your door yeah boulder, which is cool because fort collins, you drive like 15, 20 minutes to get to the trails.
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: It's not too bad, but you can't quite run from your house to get there, yeah, so it's kind of the way it springs is, I mean it's getting better.
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: A lot of it depends on like where you live, um, but it's just nice to be able to have.
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: I think that's like the big thing for me on why I stay like relatively put, is being able to get like a 3 000 foot climb within you know, only having to drive like 10 minutes definitely not bad, yeah, so yeah, man all right, so we're almost like 50 minutes in now, so we'll start transitioning into some of the fun questions.
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: Sounds good, I don't want to.
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: Don't want to keep you here all night.
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: Um, all right, let's get into.
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: I know you're so new to the sports so this is kind of a tough question for you, but so far in your uh and as far as people you've come across like who would you say is is your goat or someone you really admire in the sport, so far sport so far?
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good question.
• 49:55
  Speaker 2: Um, yeah, so maybe, like my personal goat, someone who comes to mind is a Timmy par.
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I know it's a big bar.
• 50:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the dude's a legend.
• 50:07
  Speaker 2: So, like last year, I raced bridge or ridge run and I'm Jean pass, and then I also raised sage burner and Gunnison and so he was there at all three of those and so I got to race him like three times in a row and the dude's like 42 or something.
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: So I showed up to bridge a Ridge and like my fitness was not like where it could have been, but like I was kind of like, okay, you know, like I feel like I should be able to do okay, take some names here.
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: But next thing I know I'm out there and just getting worked by Timmy.
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: Monster 40 something years old.
• 50:38
  Speaker 2: So that was pretty cool.
• 50:39
  Speaker 2: Ran with him for a while and he's like a Gunnison legend too.
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: He went to Western and, like I've known his name for a while so but yeah, so I think he he's like a personal goat, that comes to mind.
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: No, I think that's perfect.
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, super rad.
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: Um, yeah, he's.
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: He's like as far as like legends go, as far as Colorado mountain running, he's, he's an, he's an absolute legend.
• 51:03
  Speaker 2: Sorry, my dog fell asleep.
• 51:05
  Speaker 2: Oh no, it's good.
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what's your, what's your relationship with competition?
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: I know you just said something along the lines of like taking taking some names, taking some scalps.
• 51:19
  Speaker 2: Sounds like pretty competitive or yeah, I definitely am competitive.
• 51:20
  Speaker 2: I think that's kind of I.
• 51:21
  Speaker 2: I love running for for a lot of reasons, but like one of the big drivers for me, like all through high school and college has been that kind of competitive drive.
• 51:28
  Speaker 2: Um, so yeah, it's fun.
• 51:31
  Speaker 2: I mean I took a step back from it after college because it gets intense and you know you train for a while and it feels like you know I want to make sure that I have other things in my life that are fulfilling and everything.
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: But after a little bit I kind of get that itch again, like there's no feeling quite like you know, like really putting yourself out there and like getting the most out of your body to try and compete.
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: So yeah, dude, I love it.
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, uh, on that topic, I know like having you're getting your master's and like going that route, do you, um, something I probably should ask you before, but like, is that your is your goal more to go that professional route and like be a consultant?
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: Or like, what do you want to do with your, your degree?
• 52:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good question.
• 52:10
  Speaker 2: Um, there are different routes that I could go.
• 52:12
  Speaker 2: So I've done some work in like the biology realm with agencies like the forest service or Colorado parks and wildlife kind of government work like that and there's a lot of really cool stuff to be done there, and I've also worked in the environmental consulting realm and so I think it I could picture myself um, depending on what types of jobs become available, I could picture myself going either route, but I definitely do the over the next couple of years.
• 52:39
  Speaker 2: I want to make sure that I have something that I can balance with training and running, cause I think I have kind of a unique opportunity right now to really get after it on the trails.
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: So yeah, no, I definitely agree with you.
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: Is that something you'd like to pursue?
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: Is becoming a professional in our sport?
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: I think so.
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you're close, I mean you're right there.
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: So definitely.
• 52:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean like even just something to like offset the cost of shoes and travel and everything, and, like you know, if I can travel to like cool places around the world, you know why not do it.
• 53:06
  Speaker 2: It seems awesome.
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: I love that dude Not to pivot you back to environmental sciences, but, like that was, my first job was an environmental consultant.
• 53:15
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, with your geology degree.
• 53:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, fucking hated it yeah.
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: I worked in Florida, though I feel like it would be way more interesting in a different state, like something with like we were doing like more contamination assessments and stuff like that.
• 53:27
  Speaker 2: So it was just a different, different thing it seems like depending on what types of clients and projects you have, it can be completely different.
• 53:34
  Speaker 2: So, like I, I worked for consulting and I did like bird surveys for like wind projects, because wind turbines kill birds potentially and so they have to a lot of regulations and surveying they have to do as part of that and it was pretty sweet.
• 53:47
  Speaker 2: I mean just drive out and like bird watch I, I'm a big birder, so like okay, I can do that and get paid.
• 53:53
  Speaker 2: So yeah, it kind of depends on what types of projects.
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: But yeah, there's there's fun work, but there's also some kind of nasty, not as fun work my first um, so one of the projects I did we counted like I loved it because I was on my feet all day and I like I'm I can't sit still, like I can't be in an office drives me crazy.
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: Um, but like one of the projects we did was like shooting trees with a gps, like a gp, like literally like a tree survey.
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: Projects we did was like shooting trees with a GPS, like a G, like literally like a tree survey.
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: That we did for this like little town and like South Miami.
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, actually pretty rad.
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: Like um, just like walking around for miles a day shooting trees with a GPS and like identifying the species and like logging it and then like plotting it in GIS was actually pretty dope, totally yeah.
• 54:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what I love about biology is like you.
• 54:38
  Speaker 2: What I love about biology is like you find yourself in these like random situations where, like I worked a job for the forest service in california where we were out there hiking like raw chicken into the woods and like nailing it to a tree and then setting a camera up to attract like fisher martin bears and other carnivores and stuff.
• 54:52
  Speaker 2: Oh so cool.
• 54:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just like.
• 54:53
  Speaker 2: So you're just off trail in these totally remote, untrodden, like putting raw chicken up on a tree.
• 54:59
  Speaker 2: It's like how did I get here?
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: Like am I getting paid to do this?
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: This is crazy.
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: It's a sweet gig, man.
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: On the topic of bears and carnivores, what is your take.
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you've ever heard of the book Ghost Grizzlies.
• 55:14
  Speaker 2: I don't know if I, so it's up my alley, though.
• 55:16
  Speaker 2: I love bear stuff, so like I'm like a total nerd for this.
• 55:20
  Speaker 2: Um about the last Grizzlies in Colorado that we hunted out in the San Juan.
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: Um, and I know every now and then, like we have like semi credible sightings, semi like more than likely it's a cinnamon phase, black bear people see, but like still people see them.
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: Um, I don't know, like what's your take on that, like in Colorado or in the San Juans or something like that.
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: For sure?
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good question.
• 55:39
  Speaker 2: I feel like I haven't done a deep enough dive into the evidence to like have a strong opinion.
• 55:45
  Speaker 2: I tend to kind of divert to trusting like Colorado parks and wildlife, cause I know they do a lot Like if there were grizzlies I would tend to think that they would know that they were here somehow, um, through some type of surveying.
• 56:00
  Speaker 2: But I mean there's there's big remote areas and like areas of habitat where, like small populations could be out there.
• 56:06
  Speaker 2: So I would have to, I mean I should look into that book I got to send you the book?
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's like.
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: So the two things they talk about are like the South San Juan wilderness and the Wimanuchi, and it's like they just give.
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: I mean, you've been, I'm sure you've been to the San Juans, obviously, and you just realize, like how vast it is.
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: But I don't know, it depends on, like, what area you're in.
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: Like I've been to the Wemanuchi and it is and same with the South San Juans, like it's bananas, like how little people.
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: So to me I'm like always like, oh man it'd be so cool if there was a grizzly running around here.
• 56:40
  Speaker 2: It would be cool, yeah.
• 56:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the kind of thing about Colorado where, like, my brother lives up in Montana and I love Montana and I visit and everything, but I just get sketched out at grizzlies up there.
• 56:51
  Speaker 2: Like it's nice in Colorado to be able to just like as a runner, just like solo bomb, out in the woods without really worrying about being mauled by a grizzly bear.
• 57:00
  Speaker 2: It is really nice, right?
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: yeah no one of the things.
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: So we're planning our um kind of like our summer for next year and I'm starting to put a like already starting to think about my running season, and like it involves two things like mount marathon and um cirque series, alaska.
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: So both are in alaska, so I'm gonna go up there for July next year, and we were just literally just talking about this like on, like oh shit, like we actually have to be careful in the woods, totally.
• 57:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and like running solo, trail running is one of the highest risk activities too, cause you're moving so fast You're oftentimes not talking, so you're not like you're.
• 57:34
  Speaker 2: You're kind of sneaky, quiet, yeah and then you can come up on a bear so quickly that it can initiate an attack dude.
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: I bumped into one I'm not joking like I literally almost ran into it last year um, fortunately around the opposite direction yeah it was a like, a like a very large black bear and I like scared the shit out of me and I actually had earphones in.
• 57:52
  Speaker 2: Probably not smart oh yeah, it's a humbling experience, for sure it's cool, though I love, I love a good bear sighting.
• 57:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're cool and they're fast as shit too yeah, so fast.
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: I think people don't under like.
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: I think people think of bears as like.
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: He's, like you know, wandering, bumbling oh yeah, yeah, not the case.
• 58:11
  Speaker 2: No, no way, it's like a bear will outrun you 100 of the time.
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, um, all right, dude.
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: So I think we got through some of the the more crazy questions.
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: What's your yeah, what's your take on the aliens?
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: The aliens just like aliens in general?
• 58:25
  Speaker 2: yeah, you know especially, I guess a scientist.
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: I always like for sure.
• 58:29
  Speaker 2: So my, my opinion, I think, is that I it seems unlikely that earth has the only life in the universe.
• 58:39
  Speaker 2: I feel like, with how big the universe is, it's a numbers game.
• 58:44
  Speaker 2: There's probably alien life out there.
• 58:47
  Speaker 2: I am skeptical of any existing evidence that people would put forward to suggest that aliens have been on Earth or they've had encounters with aliens.
• 58:58
  Speaker 2: I haven't seen anything to convince me of that.
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: Do you think a lot of those drones is like?
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: Probably us?
• 59:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know that's a good question.
• 59:05
  Speaker 2: Like there's some stuff where it's like I don't have a good explanation for it but my hunch is that it seems more likely that it's some kind of like top secret military technology that, like we don't know about, it could be some other countries doing stuff we don't know about.
• 59:20
  Speaker 2: Seems more likely to me than it than aliens, but you never know government black projects, yeah exactly that stuff happens.
• 59:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, dude, it's definitely oh 100.
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: They're just like I don't know, like I'm, I like the skeptical stuff, I'm skeptical of everything.
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: So I'm always like, oh, this is probably the government, who knows.
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: Uh, all right, one last question what's your take on it, especially now, cause, like you're younger, like you're part, like, as someone that's like 33, I, or like I, my generation is a little bit different than yours.
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: So, like, what is your take on AI and like, what do you think about that, especially now that you're in school and you're going to probably soon be out of school and in the workforce?
• 59:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I mean it's already even with just like chat, gpt being available to everyone on the internet, I think it's already like causing some changes and I think it's going to be a technology that can be useful and you have to use it carefully, obviously.
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 2: Um, in terms of like coding and stuff, it's a total game changer for, like it, it makes someone who is like halfway proficient at coding like way able to do way more things than they would otherwise be able to do yeah in terms of like image and video manipulation.
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 2: That's the one that kind of scares me.
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 2: Like it seems like with deep fakes and everything like that, like isn't that wild?
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're gonna get to a point like here pretty soon where video and photo evidence is like no longer really that reliable, you know, Like so I think it we'll see.
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 2: I humans adapt when these new technologies happen, so I think it'll just transition to a new normal.
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: But it's a positive way to look at it.
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: I appreciate that perspective.
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 2: That's good that perspective that's good.
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm like terrified, I don't know.
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this could be the big one that takes us down.
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: I don't know who the fuck knows dude.
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: Well, bro, on that note, thanks for so much for coming on, I hope this isn't our last conversation definitely want to bring you on.
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: You know, after you know, I'm sure you'll have a lot of big results, so we'll definitely be talking.
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, hell, yeah, bro, yeah, what do you have coming up?
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: I'm doing so, the rest of the cirque series.
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna knock out alta um targi, a basin, and then I'm gonna go to the rut okay sweet and then, like I don't know, I kind of left the back half of my schedule open just to see, like where the body's at.
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: I don't like, I don't know.
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: One of the things I learned in the last few years was like I would set the schedule right and then like I would get tired towards like september and then like not do any of this stuff in the back half of my schedule.
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: Um, so I I think that's a big thing for me is just kind of keep it ambiguous for now.
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: Do those set a goals?
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: Um, the thing I've I've been chasing is like the Cirque series um pro podium.
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: So I've got my work cut out for me.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: I I have to get some good performances in the next few weeks.
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: Um, after that we'll see Sweet, yeah, yeah.
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 2: Well, good luck.
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 2: I'm sure our paths will cross.
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 2: Oh, a hundred percent dude?
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I hope you I.
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to say September.
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: I know it's kind of tough for you Cause you're going to be with mammoth and all that and I'm a gene.
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 2: But Cirque series a basin is go back to imogen, I think this year yeah, it's a great race.
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you're uh super fun.
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 2: What an iconic course, oh yeah, yeah, it's pretty epic so well, dude on that note.
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much appreciate it.
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me, yeah bro, what'd you guys think?
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: I told you that'd be a fun episode.
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: Yo, big shout out to taylor stack man, get used to that name.
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: That kid is going places.
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: Uh, really excited for his future, like, like I said, you heard on the podcast, like, what amazing success just very early on in his career.
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: So, as far as I'm concerned, there's absolutely no telling what this kid is capable of.
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so hop on over to Instagram, guys, give him a follow.
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: If you hop on over to Instagram, toggle on over to stack, underscore Taylor, give him a follow.
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: And, yeah, give him a shout out, shoot him a message, let him let him know what you guys thought about the podcast.
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: You know, hopefully you enjoyed it.
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: I don't think he wants negative feedback.
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so, like I said, give him, give him a shout out and shoot him a message.
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: Let him let him know what you guys thought.
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: Last but not least, hop on over to ultimate directioncom If you guys are looking for any new gear, whether that be in the way of packs, whether that be in the way of apparel, handhelds, things like that.
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: Ultimate direction is one of my personal sponsors as an athlete and they were kind enough to give me a promo code for the podcast, something for you guys, just a little something special for my listeners Um, 25% off.
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: Use the code steep stuff pod.
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: That's S T E P, s, t U F F.
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: Uh, pod, p, o, d, um.
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: And yeah, it's going to be 25% off your car at ultimate directioncom.
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: Uh, yeah, hopefully you guys use that one and get some value out of it.
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: Have a great week, guys.
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: Um, last but not least, one final thing If you enjoyed the podcast, please, please, please, please, please, hop on over to Spotify and Apple.
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: Give us a rating and review.
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: The goal and the intention is to get this out to the world, and I can't do that without your guys's help.
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, let's, let's do this together.
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: Um, yeah, have a great week, thank you.