Fastest Known Podcast

Hillary is a podcast host (this one and two others), North Face athlete, gravel bike racer, scientist, and now a book author - this is a good conversation!

"I don't recommend falling off a 150' cliff, but everyone has a place where they can grow."

Co-Host Hillary Allen discusses bike-packing with two of the best, as they explain the style of these races, which is informative to hikers and runners.

The ethos for all bike-packing races is Self-Supported.

"Generally the consensus is you are carrying your own food and water, you are not caching; the point is you can buy or obtain anything along the route as long as it is available to everyone else.  Trail Magic is OK, but you can't ask for it or plan for it."

The FKT scene in New England has always been very competitive - rather than inventing obscure new route they go faster on the existing lines.  The Presidential Traverse is the marquee route - new fastest times often are better than the previous by less than 2 minutes!

"People now will train specifically for a route, then do a full taper; the FKT is their race, not an extra thing they do on the side."

So why did Ben try the Presi in winter conditions?

Ryan Ignatz is an expert on electrolyte replacement and hydration, and can perform a Sweat Test to determine the exact amount of Sodium YOU lose when exercising.  Everyone is very different so this is important!  He tested me - what was the result??

"You lose 1,453mg of Sodium per liter of sweat.  You are a very salty sweater."

I rarely supplement my fluid intake with electrolytes. Does that mean I've been doing it wrong for 50 years?  Probably yes!  Aack!

The current wisdom is "Drink to thirst".  Is that good advice?

There are a million newsletters out there, and Semi-rad.com is the only one I subscribe to. Why? Because Brendan illustrates (literally) how runners actually feel and think - and laugh!

"Pizza is a better invention than the Internet."

Co-host Hillary Allen asks,

"You set an FKT just two days ago - what FKT did you crush this weekend?"

Tyler quickly answers,

"It crushed me!  I've been wanting to do the Lost Coast Trail for years, and finally did it."

Joe McConaughy and Coree Woltering independently decided to try for an FKT on the Arizona Trail.  Our Social Media Coordinator Allison Mercer heard about this, contacted them, with the result being Joe and Coree decided to start at the same place at the same time ... and see who makes it from the Mexican border to Utah first!  

"I think we'll have different FKT strategies ... I'm not sure how much he is going to divulge, and not sure how much I'll divulge ..."

"Super fast" describes Brittany - she ran a 2:33 at the Olympic Trials Marathon for 13th place - but she had never set foot on a trail. Since then she won the Pikes Peak Marathon and last month set the Course Record at Moab Red Hot.

"I had this stigma about trail runners in my head, like they all were burly with beards.  And there were wild animals out there."

"But then Covid hit, so no races. And someone said, 'Why not try an FKT'?  I had never heard of an FKT."

One of best known ultrarunners ever definitely is still going big and going long ... he now does it across four different sports.  Running, climbing, skiing, and cycling - but NO hiking! (listen in).

"I never thought or said, 'I'm not a runner anymore'; the space just opened up to do these other sports I'd always been interested in."

Once known as the "Apostle of Minimalism", Tony might now be considered one of the most thoughtful, experienced, and insightful participants and commentators on endurance sports.

Roman Dial has done things you never imagined.  Do you aspire to do a 100 mile trail race?  He's never done one - instead he invented races that make 100's look like a 10k in Central Park.

"Three of us decided to see how far one could go completely Unsupported. I ended up hiking 625 miles across Alaska in 25 days. All food and gear with me start to finish. My pack weighed 59 lbs; 45 of which was food."

Most of Roman's trips were "OKTs" - "Only Known Times".  But in this very podcast, he coined the term "LKTs".  What's an LKT??