Off The Couch

Eric Walker talks with Jonathan Ellsworth and Brendan Leonard on the Off the Couch Podcast

Eric Walker on Running 5k a Day for 365 Days (Ep.39)

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By some measures, Eric Walker is a pretty normal guy. He lives in Minnesota, he’s not a professional runner, he’s 38 years old, and he’s a husband and a dad. But at some point in 2018, Eric found himself committed to the goal of running 5 kilometers every day for 365 days … and a year later, he’d done it. So Brendan Leonard and Jonathan Ellsworth talked to Eric to find out what motivated him to do this? How he actually pulled it off? What he learned in the process? And whether this something he thinks the rest of us should try?
Nell Rojas goes on Blister's Off The Couch podcast to discuss training for the USA Olympic Marathon Team

Marathoner Nell Rojas on Strength Training, Speed Work, & Low Mileage (Ep.38)

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Nell Rojas is fascinating. And fast. So fast that on February 29th, she's got a shot at making the USA Marathon team, despite the fact that she didn’t race her 1st marathon until 2018. But she then won her 2nd marathon (the very competitive Grandma's Marathon), and now, the Olympic Trials are right around the corner. So we talked to Nell about her unique background; the dynamics of being coached by her dad (Rick Rojas); her uncommon emphasis on strength training, low mileage, speed work, and more.
Liza Howard goes on Blister's Off The Couch Podcast to talk about running, winning the Leadville 100, donuts, and much more.

Liza Howard on Donut Money; Parenting; Age & Expectations; Band of Runners; & More (Ep.37)

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Liza Howard is smart, funny, accomplished, humble, and by her own account … is extremely susceptible to peer pressure. She’s run marathons to impress a guy, still runs marathons for donut money, has won the Leadville 100 (and other big races) multiple times, is a coach, a parent, a NOLS Wilderness instructor, and the director of the terrific non-profit, Band of Runners. Her energy and enthusiasm are infectious, and you are in for a treat.
Gina Lucrezi talks with Brendan Leonard and Maddie Hart on Blister's Off the Couch Podcast about Trail Sisters

Trail Sisters founder, Gina Lucrezi (Ep.35)

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Trail Sisters is a trail running community for women and an online journal that offer lots of great resources — including articles and stories, grants, retreats, directories for female coaches, trail locations, and races that meet the trail sisters standards for gender equity. So we spoke to Gina Lucrezi, the founder of Trail Sisters, about the unusual way in which Gina got into running; her impressive accomplishments as a runner; the remarkable things happening at Trail Sisters; the ways you can get involved with and support Trail Sisters; and more.
Grayson Murphy goes on Blister's Off The Couch podcast to discuss her running career and more.

The Evolution of Grayson Murphy (Ep.34)

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In 2019, Grayson Murphy won the US Mountain Running Championship; the World Mountain Running Championship; and the Xterra Trail Run World Championship. But there were many twists and turns along the way in getting there, and perhaps even more impressive and instructive than her wins is her willingness to experiment, adjust, and explore new ideas and practices, which we discuss in this conversation.
Sanjay Rawal goes on Blister's Off The Couch podcast to discuss running the California International Marathon, the concepts of running dumb; training slow; finding joy through exertion, and much more.

Sanjay Rawal on Running Dumb, Training Slow, & Finding Joy through Exertion (Ep.33)

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We talk to Sanjay Rawal about his rather spectacular performance — and even more spectacular meltdown — near the end of the California International Marathon, and discuss the concepts of running dumb; training slow; finding joy through exertion; whether it is possible to run a great time by not caring about running a great time; and more.
Kylee Van Horn talks with Jonathan Ellsworth about Nutrition on Off the Couch Podcast

Diets & Nutrition with Kylee Van Horn (Ep.32)

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What’s the best way to eat to feel good and perform well? Nutrition and Diet are massive topics, as are all of the related issues surrounding them. So on our latest Off The Couch podcast, we talk with Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Kylee Van Horn, about the various diets out there; whether certain diets are prone to help or hurt training recovery; athletes & eating disorders, and more.
Caleb Efta goes on Blister's Off The Couch podcast to discuss planning and directing races.

How to Design a Great Race (Ep.31)

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New running events seem to be popping up all the time, which raises the question: Are there some specific policies, and practices that should be built into all or most running events? To help us think about this, we talked to Caleb Efta, the race director of the High Lonesome 100, about some of the specific policies and requirements of the event that are designed to mitigate its environmental impacts and increase gender equality.
Brendan Leonard talks on Blister's Off The Couch Podcast about how and why he ran 52 marathons over the course of a single year

Brendan Leonard on Running 52 Marathons in 52 Weeks (Ep.30)

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For 2019, Brendan Leonard (semi-rad.com) set a goal for himself: run 52 marathons in 52 weeks. He told very few people about this goal, and we are proud to report that Brendan accomplished his goal with several weeks to spare. So we talked to Brendan about what prompted him to create this plan; why he decided to tell very few people about it; exactly what the parameters were for these ‘marathons’; how he handled the logistics; what he learned along the way; and more.
Stevie Kremer goes on Blister's Off The Couch podcast to discuss the New York City Marathon and more.

Stevie Kremer on the NYC Marathon & More (Ep.27)

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Stevie Kremer is back on the show, and she came to BLISTER HQ in Mt. Crested Butte to talk about her experience at this year’s New York City Marathon — including all the gory details and the lessons she learned; the things about running she truly loves and truly hates the most; how many children is too many children, and more.

Is Cappuccino Cowboys Ruining Ultrarunning? (Ep.25)

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What is Cappuccino Cowboys, and who is the person behind it? Is he an evil genius hell-bent on ruining ultrarunning? A provocateur shaking up the stodgy state of running media? Or is he just a giant pain in the ass of Jim Walmsley, Eric Senseman, Jared Hazen, Cody Reed, Tommy Rivs and a few other unfortunate souls? We spoke to Mr. Cappuccino himself to find out.
Maggie Guterl goes on Blister's Off The Couch Podcast to discuss being the first woman to win the Big Dog's Backyard Ultra.

Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra Winner, Maggie Guterl (Ep.24)

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Maggie Guterl just became the first woman ever to win Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra, a multi-day race that does not have a fixed-distance finish line. So we talked to Maggie about how this extraordinary race works, and Maggie does a brilliant job of detailing what it was like to overcome the unique physical and mental challenges of Big’s; the significance of being the race’s first female champion; the next insane race she has her sights set on, and more.
winner of the Moab 240, Mike McKnight, goes on Blister's Off The Couch Podcast to discuss his recent win, how he managed to win three 200-mile races in a single year, and more.

Triple Crown of 200s Winner, Mike McKnight (Ep.23)

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Simply put, Mike McKnight is amazing. He won the Bigfoot 200 in August, the Tahoe 200 in September, and he just won the Moab 240. And in covering those ~640 miles of racing, he smashed his own cumulative-time record for the 3 races by … 43 hours. That’s not what you’d expect from a chubby kid who grew up on a dairy farm and didn’t participate in sports til he tried 1 season of highschool football, nor from a person who broke his back in a ski accident 8 years ago and had 2 rods and 9 screws placed in his spine, along with part of his hip bone. So we talk to Mike about all of this and more.
Jonathan Ellsworth interviews runners in the Moab 240 on Blister's Off The Couch podcast

Interviews from Mile 201 of the Moab 240 (Ep.22)

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What’s it like to run two hundred and one miles … and know that you still have another 40 miles to go? And why would you sign up and subject yourself to this? To find out, we went to Moab, Utah, to the Moab 240 Endurance Run to capture the very raw and unfiltered reactions from runners, pacers, friends, medics, and concerned mothers from the Geyser Aid Station at mile 201 of the Moab 24. And we also learned what this race — and this community — is really about.
Cam Smith goes on Blister's Off The Couch Podcast to discuss how he went from living in Illinois to winning races like the Grand Traverse & Grand Traverse Triple Crown.

Cam Smith on Moving through Mountains (Ep.21)

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When Cam Smith graduated high school in Rockford, Illinois in 2014, he had little or no mountain experience. But fast forward a few years, and Cam is now an accomplished trail runner, mountain biker, a member of the U.S. ski mountaineering team, a repeat winner of the Grand Traverse Mountain Run from Crested Butte to Aspen, and a repeat winner of the Grand Traverse Triple Crown. So we talk to Cam about his journey, his goals, his relation to running and skiing and mountain biking, his work as a coach and as a guide at the Adaptive Center here in Crested Butte, and more.
Running coach, Jason Koop, goes on Blister's Off The Couch podcast to discuss his running career, how he got into coaching, his approach to coaching, and more

Jason Koop: Runner, Head Coach at CTS Ultrarunning (Ep.20)

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Jason Koop is a passionate runner, the author of Training Essentials for Ultrarunning, the head coach of CTS Ultrarunning, and someone who is not afraid to speak his mind. So we talked to Jason about his endurance coaching; “nonsensical” training aids & techniques; his recent running of the 330 km Tor de Geants; the current state of the minimalist / maximalist shoe debate; what he thinks the running scene will look like 10 years from now; and a *whole* lot more.
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