Tales of Toughness
22 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago -What if you could hang out with adventurous endurance athletes who've participated in the World's Toughest Race and also dealt with tough stuff in their own lives; ask them about how they got back up when they were down on their knees; their challenges, successes, and failures; their worldviews and habits; then take an insight or two to inspire your own growth?
That’s what we do each week on Tales of Toughness. Hosted by goSonja (Sonja Wieck) –– mom, 18X Ironman, World's Toughest Race Eco-Challenge Fiji airing on @amazonprime 8/14/20 –– every episode is an in-depth look at how to overcome limiting beliefs, develop a deeper awareness into why you compete, and understand what makes high-performers tick. The goal is to help develop more confidence and toughness both mentally and physically.
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Episodes
021: Nathan Fa'avae - The Unconventional Wisdom of Winning
February 05, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 65.3 MBKnown by the world as “The Greatest Adventure Racer”, Nathan showed the world his prodigious leadership skills—by winning six world championship out of fifteen world championship events across the globe. Adventure racing enraptured his youthful heart after attending the Outdoor Adventure Program. Nathan’s favorite part of racing is to refine every mistake his team encountered; transforming them into better decision-making outputs that would aid his team into winning the entire race. Currentl...
020: CJ Kobliska - Breathing, Spiraling, and Coherence... oh my!
January 29, 2021 09:00 - 51 minutes - 47.6 MBCJ believes it takes hard work and strong mental toughness to achieve any goal. He grew up playing various sports and developed a strong passion for mentoring and coaching youth athletes. CJ also works with individual athletes to help them achieve their full potential through mental and self-discipline. In this episode, you will hear about: How CJ turned his hobbies into daily work Impact of coaching Coaches’ Journey Fear of Overcoming Limits Connection of Body, Mind, & Soul [02:...
019: Dan Staudigel - Choose Your Suffering
January 22, 2021 09:00 - 59 minutes - 55.2 MBToday, I have Dan Staudigel who will be talking about “Bend Racing.” Coming up in December, they'll be climbing 30,000 feet, close to a level of Mount Everest. Known on the team as "The Mule," Dan is a particularly skilled bushwacker, navigator, and analyst. He was drawn to adventure racing after being a student in Jason's high school class. His favorite part of racing is the power of having a team with a common sense of purpose; and therefore, being able to move with a speed that each tea...
018: Heather Gustafson - From Friends to Family
January 15, 2021 09:00 - 1 hour - 55.5 MBHeather Gustafson of Team Regulators in World’s Toughest Race joins the episode today. They are a team of four athletes and a support person from Redding and all of them were newbies in the Eco Challenge. Her team has survived 12 grueling days and completed some of the toughest challenges in the world. Team Regulators had proven that trusting each other’s capabilities, enjoying the journey, and valuing friendship are important to stay motivated amidst the toughest challenges! Be inspired by ...
017: Kevin Hodder - Life is not a Spectator Sport
December 24, 2020 09:00 - 57 minutes - 53.1 MBFor this episode, we’re going to talk about adventures, roles, and behind the scenes of an Eco-Challenge. Our guest is Kevin Hodder which is a race director, will give us more information on how he got into that role and how they manage all of the things for the Eco-Challenge. In this episode, you will hear about: How Kevin got his way into an adventurous lifestyle and job How did Kevin get into Eco-Challenge? Why has Kevin gone through this avenue? His Role Philosophy...
016: Clifton Lyles - Crashing our way to Inclusion
December 03, 2020 09:00 - 50 minutes - 46.9 MBOut of a whopping 66 teams who competed in the Eco Challenge, particularly notable was Team Onyx with Team Captain Clifton Lyles, whose goal is to put together a barrier breaking team for the show. Clifton Lyles two decades of adventure racing began when he watched Eco Challenge on TV in 1999. Throughout his career, he noticed an evident lack of diversity in the sport. With the opportunity to appear and participate on Eco Challenge, Clifton decided to inspire potential future athletes by for...
015: Dr. Anne Lord Bailey - Competence and Confidence
November 26, 2020 09:00 - 43 minutes - 40.5 MBDr. Anne Lord Bailey participated quite possibly in the biggest physical and mental challenge of her life. She is a member of Team Unbroken in the World’s Toughest Race and is also a pharmacist provider for the VA and works in Healthcare Innovation. After Bailey graduated from Columbia International University in 2006, she later continued her education, which allowed her to meet a veteran named Gretchen Evans, a retired Command Sergeant Officer who has a hearing disability due to a bombing e...
014: Travis Macy - How to Endure
November 20, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 59.9 MBIn this episode, we have Travis Macy, the team captain of Team Endure in the World’s Toughest Race. Travis is the son of the esteemed adventure racing personality, Mark Macy, who also joined the race on the same team. Just like his father, Travis is also an accomplished Adventure Racer. In this podcast, Travis talks about their journey as father-son tandem, and the mindset shift he has made coming into Eco Challenge. In this episode, you will hear: The achievement loop amongst athlete...
013: Joshua Forester - Journey to a Yes Life
November 12, 2020 09:00 - 58 minutes - 54.3 MBToday, I have Joshua Forester, Team Captain of Team US Military in the World’s Toughest Race. With roots in Atlanta, Georgia, Joshua is a Contracted Research Scientist for the Department of Defense. He’s an outdoor enthusiast with an extensive background in distance running, yoga, backpacking, mountain biking, paddling, rock climbing, and mountaineering. Joshua once overcame depression with exercise and then began saying yes to challenges he feared most. After executing a self-gu...
012: Rebecca Man - EcoChallenge at 18
November 05, 2020 09:00 - 57 minutes - 52.8 MBToday, I have Becca of Team True North in the World’s Toughest Race. Becca is one of the strongest, brightest women I know and is here to tell tales of both triumph and near defeat from Eco-Challenge. She is an impressive young woman, having finished the race when she was just 18 years old! As a lover of cycling and university student studying astrophysics, with a father who’s a navigation expert, Becca was made for greatness. Though, greatness doesn’t come easily. Buckle up for a few...
011: Kevin Donoghue - Diving in Behind the Scenes
October 29, 2020 08:00 - 45 minutes - 42.4 MBIf you’re familiar with the Spartan world, you’d certainly recognize Kevin as the Spartan Pro, who's been on the podium in his age group last year in 30 separate Spartan events. Kevin is also the voice of Spartan on ESPN. Stepping out of his comfort zone last year at the World's Toughest Race, Kevin took a job in production behind the cameras. For him, it was an experience of a lifetime that brought out more weaknesses than he would ever have thought – but out of that mentally, emotion...
010: Sylvia Greer - Sister, Socks, and Swollen Knees
October 22, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 56.1 MBToday, I am overjoyed to bring you the amazing Sylvia Greer who raced on Team Sundance Kids in the World's Toughest Race EcoChallenge: Fiji. Not Sylvia nor anyone on Team Sundance Kids had ever competed in an adventure race prior to Fiji. She’s an ultra runner and does very long-distance trail runs (think about 100 and 200-mile races) – but she has never experienced a race of this magnitude! What started with a text message saying yes to the EcoChallenge turned out to be this lifetime op...
009: Mindy Zemrak - Mamabear to the Eco Racers
October 15, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 58.5 MBMindy Zemrak is the competitive relations director for World's Toughest Race Eco-Challenge: Fiji. In other words, she’s the master communicator. Her team oversaw everything related to all of the competitors for the race – from newsletters to patches to moving gearboxes, and to our panic attacks – you name it! She is also the Emmy-nominated, supervising casting producer for the ABC series Shark Tank. Her resume includes Beyond the Tank, America's Greatest Makers, American Idol, Top Chef, I...
008: Jeff Bates - Love and Loss in Fiji
October 08, 2020 08:00 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBToday, I have Jeff Bates, the team captain for Team Nika on the World's Toughest Race. Jeff takes us on this beautiful journey from love to loss. He shows us how it should look like when things go right, and also when things go horribly wrong. He is a true testament to owning your experiences – and, well, just making lemonade out of lemons! Jeff is the director of operations at a hospital where he oversees about 200 people. And one of the most interesting things he said on the show wa...
007: Heather Bond - Competition and Compassion
October 01, 2020 08:00 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBToday’s guest was the biggest positive light for me during my breakdown moment when I was really struggling to go on with the race. She gave me a soul-level pep talk that I'll never forget in my life! Heather Bond is the founder of Bond Fitness & Adventures and author of her memoir, Athena Rising. Heather is a Certified Personal Trainer, an international adventure guide, motivational speaker, and former firefighter and stuntwoman. Heather is an experienced adventure racer who has been t...
006: Jason Magness - Leading Races and Lessons Learned
September 24, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 72.7 MBJason is the team captain for Team Bend Racing, who just happens to be one of our top American adventure racing teams. Jason is a father and a modern-day Renaissance athlete. He excels in a ton of different sports from ultra-endurance racing, circus partner acrobatics, and yoga, to highlining, rock climbing, and whitewater paddling. He even does some swing dancing and bowling with over 50 expedition races under his belt. His team, Bend Racing, was really looking to make their mark on E...
005: Dr. Josephine McNary - Navigating Mental Health Issues
September 17, 2020 08:00 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBSeptember is Suicide Awareness Month. As someone who's experienced suicidal ideation and mental health challenges through the years, I feel this is the best time to have some bold conversations around complex mental health issues. You see, a few brave souls reached out to me after watching my story of struggle on the World's Toughest Race. And those raw conversations with them have put me in a place where I feel the need to understand these topics beyond my own experiences. Today, I’m ...
004: Chris Ellison - Telling the Tough Stories
September 10, 2020 08:00 - 49 minutes - 45.6 MBToughness comes in so many forms. In this episode, Chris Ellison gives us a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the World's Toughest Race: Eco Challenge – not as a racer, but as one of the 13 embedded camera operators of the show. Chris managed to complete much of the course with us. He was committed to telling our team’s story. And it was his commitment to the purpose that ultimately got him through the hardships of the course. Today, Chris reminds us that you don't have to have it all figur...
003: My Story
September 03, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 67.6 MBSo you might wonder what the heck is this mom of a teenage daughter doing in Ironman and The World’s Toughest Challenge? Nope! I’m not a superhero. Really, I’m just a mom who’s passionate about building on my skills and experiences. And joining these amazing marathons, triathlons, and adventure races are what lights up my fire! So today, I want you guys to get to know me better (shit and all – like literally!) Meet my best friend, Prianka Nandy, who will interview me today. I wanted...
002: Jeff & Hunter Leininger - A Special Bond Made Stronger
August 27, 2020 08:00 - 57 minutes - 53 MBBeing able to do something that you love with the people you love is such an amazing privilege. And for Jeff & Hunter Leininger, adventure racing is something that has made their father-and-son bond even more special and stronger. Hunter is the world's youngest adventure racer. While Jeff has now completed over 100 expedition and adventure races alongside Hunter and close friends. This dynamic duo has been doing adventure races together since Hunter was six years old. At 18 years old, Hun...
001: Courtney Home - Lighting up the World's Toughest Racecourse
August 18, 2020 10:38 - 55 minutes - 51.7 MBI'm stoked to have Courtney Home on the show today. She’s one of my fellow racers on the World's Toughest Race, and we dive into her journey as well as some of the untold stories she had on the race. Courtney is one of the most spirited, high-vibe people I’ve ever met in my entire life. When we were out there racing, I saw how she was so independent and positive. She actually provided a lot of light and energy to everybody else around her because she has protected and fostered so much l...
Welcome to Tales of Toughness
August 04, 2020 14:36 - 3 minutes - 3.89 MBWhat if you could hang out with adventurous endurance athletes who've participated in the World's Toughest Race and also dealt with tough stuff in their own lives; ask them about how they got back up when they were down on their knees; their challenges, successes, and failures; their worldviews and habits; then take an insight or two to inspire your own growth? That’s what we do each week on Tales of Toughness. Hosted by goSonja (Sonja Wieck) –– mom, 18X Ironman, World's Toughest Race Eco-...