Off The Couch
184 episodes - English - Latest episode: 10 months ago - ★★★★★ - 85 ratingsOff The Couch is the weekly podcast from BLISTER that's dedicated to the wide, weird, and wonderful world of running.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
How to Design a Great Race
December 24, 2019 18:04 - 1 hour - 100 MBNew races and running events seem to be popping up all the time, which raises the question: Are there some specific characteristics, policies, and practices that should be built into pretty much every running event? To start thinking about this question, we talked to Caleb Efta, the race director of the High Lonesome 100. Caleb started the High Lonesome 100 in 2017, and the race is already a Hard Rock 100 qualifier. Caleb has thought hard about how best to structure races, so I talked with...
Brendan Leonard on Running 52 Marathons in 52 Weeks
December 17, 2019 15:46 - 50 minutes - 70 MBFor 2019, Brendan Leonard (@semirad) 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 in this conversation, Jonathan Ellsworth talks 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 wa...
Brendan Leonard on Running 52 Marathons in 2019
December 17, 2019 15:46 - 50 minutes - 70 MBFor 2019, Brendan Leonard (@semirad) 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 in this conversation, Jonathan Ellsworth talks 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 wa...
Winter Running: How to Do It (and Like It?)
December 10, 2019 16:15 - 43 minutes - 59.4 MBWe talk with Blister reviewers, Maddie Hart and Gordon Gianniny, about how they handle running and training in the cold and on snowy, icy roads and trails. Maddie and Gordon offer their tips and tricks and perspectives on this age-old conundrum of when and whether to run when the days are short and summer is a distant memory. So check it out, see if you agree or disagree with some of their practices and suggestions, and in the show notes to this episode on the site, we’d love to have you sh...
Runner & Chef: Kelly Newlon of RAD (“Real Athlete Diets”)
December 04, 2019 17:15 - 1 hour - 100 MBBy the time she was 5 years old, Kelly Newlon had already identified two of her biggest passions: running and cooking. Those passions led her to running longer and longer races and becoming a classically trained chef. And these days, Kelly and her husband Morgan operate RAD (“Real Athlete Diets”) out of Boulder, Colorado, where they are — quite literally — feeding and fueling the ultrarunning community, including a high number of its elite performers. So in this episode, Maddie Hart and I ...
Stevie Kremer on the NYC Marathon & More
November 28, 2019 00:05 - 46 minutes - 64 MBStevie 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. TOPICS & TIMES: Running in freezing temps (5:15) NYC Marathon: gory details & lessons learned (8:23) Cuba?? (23:40) Books & TV shows (26:00) The switch from teac...
Cappuccino Cowboys Apologizes + Jared Hazen & Eric Senseman
November 19, 2019 15:00 - 19 minutes - 26.6 MBMr. Cappuccino of the @cappuccinocowboys is back on the show to issue an apology for his performance last week. And then Jared Hazen and Eric Senseman join us, so we got to ask them why they continue to associate with Mr. Cappuccino, and more. TOPICS & TIMES: Apologies for last week (1:45) If “The Guys” were Sex & the City characters (2:50) Mr. Cappuccino on Jared & Eric (6:25) Jared & Eric join the call?? (9:38) TNF 50 Recap (14:25) Which @cappuccinocowboys post made you genuinely an...
Is Cappuccino Cowboys Ruining Ultrarunning?
November 12, 2019 16:00 - 50 minutes - 70 MBWhat 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. TOPICS & TIMES: What is @cappuccinocowboys? (1:55) Who are the Cappuccino Cowboys? (11:10) Do you think you deserve to be on th...
Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra Winner, Maggie Guterl
November 05, 2019 16:24 - 54 minutes - 74.8 MBMaggie 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. TOPICS & TIMES: Salad and M&M’s (1:40) ...
Triple Crown of 200s Winner, Mike McKnight
October 29, 2019 14:30 - 1 hour - 101 MBSimply put, Mike McKnight’s story is amazing. This year, he won the Triple Crown of 200’s, which includes 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 three races by … 43 hours. That’s probably not what you’d expect from a chubby kid who grew up on a dairy farm and didn’t participate in sports till he tried one season of highschool football, nor what you’d ex...
Interviews from Mile 201 of the Moab 240
October 22, 2019 23:12 - 57 minutes - 79.1 MBWhat’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 such a thing? To find out, we went to Moab, Utah, to the Moab 240 Endurance Run — a two hundred and forty mile race — to capture the very raw and unfiltered reactions from runners, pacers, friends, medics, and concerned mothers from the Geyser Aid Station located at mile 201 of the Moab 240. And we also learned what this race — and this com...
Cam Smith on Moving through Mountains
October 17, 2019 15:07 - 55 minutes - 76.9 MBWhen Cam Smith graduated high school 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. All of that is extremely impressive, perhaps especially since Cam grew up in Rockford, Illinois, which isn’t exactly an incubator of hi...
Jason Koop: Runner, Head Coach at CTS Ultrarunning
October 08, 2019 21:00 - 1 hour - 96.6 MBJason 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 Maddie Hart & Jonathan Ellsworth talk 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. ...
Kyle Robidoux on Running, Skiing, & Being Legally Blind
October 02, 2019 18:27 - 1 hour - 92.4 MBKyle Robidoux is a passionate runner and skier and beer enthusiast. He has run 25 marathons and ultra marathons, including three 100-mile races, and the Boston Marathon six times. He also happens to be legally blind. Like the vast majority of us, Kyle Robidoux grew up loving sports and the outdoors. But at the age of 11, Kyle was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease, and he was declared legally blind at the age of 19. So Kyle and I talk about his background, his anger about his recedi...
Luke Nelson on Testing Limits
September 26, 2019 23:50 - 1 hour - 91.3 MBLuke Nelson is a professional runner, physician assistant, race director (of the Scout Mountain Ultras in his town of Pocatello, Idaho), climate activist, husband, father of three, and … someone who doesn’t get a lot of sleep. And in this conversation, my co-host Brendan Leonard and I talk to Luke about how he and Brendan first met; his background as a serious snowboarder, climber, and kayaker; how and why he got into running — and did his first marathon; his obsession with testing his lim...
Why We Built a Running-Shoe Brand Guide
September 17, 2019 20:11 - 23 minutes - 32.3 MBFinding the right running shoe can be far more complicated and confusing than it should be. So this week, reviewers Luke Koppa, Jonathan Ellsworth, Maddie Hart, and Gordon Gianniny discuss our new BLISTER Brand Guide to Running Shoes; why we saw a need for it; what we hope it accomplishes for runners everywhere; and the trends and takeaways we’ve seen in the process of building it. TOPICS & TIMES: Gordon Gianniny’s whereabouts & recovery (2:00) Maddie & the Eleven Experience Trail Running...
Jackson Brill: Full-Time Student, Full-Time Runner
September 10, 2019 15:54 - 50 minutes - 68.9 MBSalomon athlete, Jackson Brill, is a 21-year old senior in college at CU Boulder, but given his approach to running, the way he talks about the sport, and his race results, you’d be forgiven for assuming that he was twice as old as he is. So we talked to Jackson about his studies and his work in CU’s Locomotion Lab; being teammates with Kilian Jornet; his experience with the Golden Trail Series; and his strong interest in coaching. TOPICS & TIMES: Golden Trail Series (3:10) Lessons learne...
Zach Bitter on His New 100-Mile World Record
September 03, 2019 15:29 - 1 hour - 117 MBOn Saturday, August 25th, 2019, Zach Bitter set an incredible world record for the fastest time that a human being has run 100 miles — 11 hours, 19 minutes, 13 seconds. And for an encore, Zach kept on running, then set another world record — the 12-hour distance world record. (In 12 hours, Zach ran 104.8 miles.) To call these achievements remarkable is an understatement. So we talked to Zach a few days after his big day about the logistics of the event; training for it; why he considers it...
David Roche on the Philosophy Behind His Coaching
August 27, 2019 18:51 - 1 hour - 88.8 MBDavid Roche is one of the most successful running coaches out there, but he is certainly not the most conventional running coach out there. And while data-driven training play an important role in the “SWAP” coaching program run by David and his wife Megan, there are some foundational and existential principles that underlie their approach to running, coaching, and life. So we explore with David the philosophy and principles that undergird his coaching; how he arrived at them; how he went ...
Runner, Cat Herder, Garbage Man, & Mad Moose Events Director, Justin Ricks
August 20, 2019 14:44 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBThis week’s episode is a bit of a prodigal son story, because our guest today, Justin Ricks, was an accomplished young runner who walked away entirely from the sport early into his college running career — he just dropped running completely. But some years later he found himself drawn back to running, and he gave up a secure corporate job, moved his family into a camper, and started to put on race events. Then, Justin and his family kept putting on more and more race events each year under ...
Ian Sharman on Keeping Running Fun, Racing Fair, & Keys to Consistency
August 13, 2019 16:29 - 1 hour - 97.9 MBIan Sharman likes to keep running fun, and is extremely good at running races in Spiderman, Santa Claus, and Elvis costumes. But Ian is also a fierce and amazingly consistent competitor, and has completed over 200 ultras and marathons. He is the only person to finish in the top 10 at Western States 100 9 times in 9 starts; he is a 4-time Leadville 100 champion (and the only person to break 17 hrs four times at Leadville), and … we could go on about Ian’s records and results. And Ian is equ...
Meghan Hicks, managing editor, iRunFar
August 06, 2019 17:10 - 1 hour - 84.8 MBBrendan Leonard and I recently talked to Meghan Hicks, who is one hell of a trail runner in her own right, in addition to being the managing editor of iRunFar, a website that, among other things, produces some of the best race coverage out there — or as Meghan so eloquently puts it, they cover and capture “everything from the puke fests to the transcendental moments” that make up this sport of trail running. Meghan is also just a real joy to talk to, even if, she made Brendan and me work re...
BLISTER’s Maddie Hart Wins the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Miler
July 24, 2019 20:13 - 31 minutes - 42.8 MBBLISTER reviewer & contributing editor, Maddie Hart, just won the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Mile Run, making her the youngest person — male or female — to ever win the event. So we talked to Maddie about the race; her strategy; how she felt throughout it; what gear she used and how it performed; whether running the demanding 60k Infinite Trails race in Europe was good or bad prep for the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Miler; her pacers; and her achievement. TOPICS & TIMES Recovering Post-Race (2:02) Why ...
Reaching the Top, Burning Out, & What Comes Next
July 19, 2019 00:21 - 47 minutes - 64.6 MBThere’s a common narrative in the running world about people who are struggling in life, then they are saved by running. But what happens when you’ve been an endurance athlete for over twenty years, and you then find yourself in search of some answers? We talk to Duncan Callahan — 2-time winner of the Leadville 100 and a number of other ultras — about his story, things he’d do different, and what he’s still hoping to learn. TOPICS & TIMES: Duncan’s background in endurance sports (3:23) Ul...
Duncan Callahan on Reaching the Top, Burning Out, & What Comes Next
July 19, 2019 00:21 - 47 minutes - 64.6 MBThere’s a common narrative in the running world about people who are struggling in life, then they are saved by running. But what happens when you’ve been an endurance athlete for over twenty years, and you then find yourself in search of some answers? We talk to Duncan Callahan — 2-time winner of the Leadville 100 and a number of other ultras — about his story, things he’d do different, and what he’s still hoping to learn. TOPICS & TIMES: Duncan’s background in endurance sports (3:23) Ul...
Western States 100 Champion, Clare Gallagher
July 10, 2019 20:05 - 54 minutes - 74.9 MBClare Gallagher just won the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Race, and she did so in spectacular fashion. And normally, that is all the introduction we’d need here, since winning Western States is a very big deal. But there happens to be a whole lot more to this particular story. Because right before this race, Clare accepted an invitation from Tommy Caldwell to go on an expedition to the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge to raise awareness of and opposition to plans to give oil and gas c...
Jennifer Pharr Davis on ‘Hiking’ vs ‘Trail Running’ Culture
July 02, 2019 21:07 - 58 minutes - 80.6 MBScott Jurek, one of the greatest trail runners of all time, called his attempt to break Jennifer Pharr Davis’ FKT (Fastest Known Time) for hiking the Appalachian Trail the hardest thing he’d ever done. And yet, hiking and thru-hiking often isn’t given the credit it deserves either as a monumental test of endurance, or as a more accessible / less intimidating activity to get more people outdoors. So we talk to former National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Jennifer Pharr Davis, about the...
Fresh Takes on Trail Running & its Future
June 25, 2019 19:25 - 56 minutes - 77.5 MBWhile participation in trail running and ultra trail races is increasing, it has tended to draw an older crowd. But things are changing. Younger runners are getting into the sport, and they aren’t following all the old conventions. So we discuss the current and future state of trail running and ultra trail running with two young and rising trail runners — Maddie Hart and Gordon Gianniny. We also talk about how they got into trail running and longer-distance racing as teenagers; their take o...
Brendan Runs the Bighorn 100
June 19, 2019 03:21 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBThis past weekend, our Off The Couch co-host, Brendan Leonard, ran the Bighorn Trail 100 Mile Endurance Run. So Jonathan Ellsworth talks with him about why he decided to run it; how he prepared; the highs and lows of the experience; dealing with the race’s signature mud; his advice for anyone thinking of running a 100; and then, the big question: whether or not he plans on running another 100 miler. TOPICS & TIMES: Recovering from the race (2:23) The story behind the Bighorn Trail Run (5...
Stevie Kremer Does Things Different
May 19, 2019 17:11 - 56 minutes - 78.2 MBStevie Kremer is a world-class runner, but her life sure doesn’t include many of the stereotypes that description might conjure up. So we discuss her unusual training routine; sitcoms & life lessons; how she got into trail running and ski mountaineering; and juggling being a runner, mother, and educator. TOPICS & TIMES: Sitcoms and life lessons (2:12) Stevie’s background & early races (4:00) Hangovers & long-distance mountain races (8:00) Running at over 21,000 ft. elevation (18:30) St...
Ultrarunner, Writer, Coach: Sarah Lavender Smith
April 26, 2019 08:54 - 1 hour - 88.2 MBBrendan Leonard and I talk to Sarah Lavender Smith, who ran her first marathon back in 1995, and has gone on to complete eighty marathons and ultramarathons since. Sarah is the author of the excellent book, The Trail Runner's Companion: A Step-by-Step Guide to Trail Running and Racing, from 5Ks to Ultras; she is a columnist for the magazines UltraRunning and Trail Runner, she also keeps an active blog at TheRunnersTrip.com; and she is the co-host of the UltraRunnerPodcast. We talk to Sarah...
Filmmaker, Sanjay Rawal, on the World’s Longest Race
April 04, 2019 21:39 - 1 hour - 91.6 MBIn this episode, Brendan Leonard and I had a remarkable conversation with a remarkable person, and we urge every runner — and non-runner — to listen to it. Filmmaker and runner, Sanjay Rawal (3100: Run and Become; Food Chains; Challenging Impossibility), joined us to talk about how running can be far more than just a fitness routine or a competitive outlet, it can be transformative, and make us better people. An accomplished runner himself, Sanjay shares how burning out on competitive runn...
Brendan Leonard & Jonathan Ellsworth on Their Running Backgrounds & What Makes Someone a “Runner"?
March 08, 2019 17:06 - 43 minutes - 59.6 MBIn our inaugural episode of Off the Couch, Jonathan Ellsworth (founder of BLISTER), and co-host, Brendan Leonard (creator of Semi-Rad.com and producer of How to Run 100 Miles), talk about their running backgrounds; their love / hate relationships with running; and consider Strava as a modern-day spiritual exercise?? TOPICS & TIMES: When do you actually get to call yourself a “runner”? (1:30) Our running backgrounds — the early years (3:15) Brendan’s return to running (7:25) Jonathan’s r...
Introducing: Off The Couch
February 18, 2019 23:04 - 2 minutes - 2.85 MBOff The Couch is a new podcast from BLISTER that will be taking a closer look at the wide, weird, and wonderful world of running. This is a show for people who love to run, but it is also a show for those who maybe only kinda like running — and for those who sometimes really hate running. As for us, we find ourselves falling into all 3 of these categories depending on the day, and we have a hunch that quite a few of you might be able to relate to that, too. So whether you are just starting...