Trail Runner Nation

This is our second annual holiday game show edition!  We pinned the European Union against the East Coast of the USA.This year Andy Jones-Wilkins and Warren Pole rejoin with team mates Donna Ní Cuarta and Ashley Walsh.   The Nation goes rogue and kicks it game show style.  We adapt the 1970's game show, "100,000 Pyramid" to create a trail running version.    Listen to last year's game show

Dr. Mihály Csikszentmihályi describes flow as being "completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one...Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost". Wow!  How do we bottle that and release it on race day? AJW's article on Flow "The Pleasure of Flow" Podcast with Phil Maffetone, "How can Rhythm Improve Your Efficiency?" Dr. Mihály Csikszentmihályi's book, "Flow: The Psychology of Happiness: The classic Work of How to Achieve Happiness" AJW's mother's best selling book, "A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman" If you want to read ahead, here is the basis of an upcoming podcast on Vulnerability.  

Eric Byrnes retired from major league baseball with a batting average of .259, 109 home runs, 396 RBIs, and an OBP or .320.  Now what does he do?  One thing that is taking up some of his time is trail and ultra running.  Eric explains how his experience in MLB has helped him in becoming a passionate trail runner. Diamond to the Rough video Learn more about the Pat Tillman Foundation

"The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire".  Malcolm Gladwell's best-selling book published in 2000, "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference"  can translate in to our sport.  Andy Jones-Wilkins and Zach Bitter join The Nation to discuss what some of these little things are and some of the people that have been influential in making trail and ultra running more popular.

Pam Reed recently broke her leg.  Our East Coast Executive Producer and Headmaster, Andy Jones-Wilkins, joins The Nation to discuss what it takes to make a comeback from injury, in a race, from professional setbacks, personal relationships, etc. Pam's previous podcast: "Visualization and Leaping Out of Your Comfort Zone with Pam Reed" Pam Reed's book, "The Extra Mile" Check out the TRN Store for great holiday gifts for you or your runner.

Gary Dudney is a prolific writer and can be seen in "Ultra Running Magazine", "Trail Runner", "Runner's World", "Running Times", and others.  He has run over 200 ultras and 50 Hundreds.  He joins The Nation to explain what he has learned over the years, especially how to find joy in the journey of running. The Tao of Running Website The Book: "The Tao of Running: Your Journey to Mindful and Passionate Running"  

Gary Robbins has won the HURT 100-mile trail race 3 times and many other races.  He is also a coach and race director.  Gary joins The Nation to talk about his experience at Barkley Marathons "scraping" his "10 essentials for safe backcountry adventures, trail running style" pacing and fueling "fade-rate" Check out Gary's coaching site Gary's Coast Mountain Trail Series  The Squamish 50 The Red Bull 400 m at Whistler photo credit Brian McCurdy  

Sally McRae is busy.  She called, we agreed to hit record and now we have the first ever TRN "Phone-Cast" with Sally.  Photo Credit: Billy Yang 

Dr. Joe Uhan is a physical therapist, Board­-Certified Orthopedic Specialist, coach.....oh, and he can run!  Joe can be seen and read regularly on IRunFar and UltraRunning Magazine.  He joins The Nation to talk about running efficiency and bio-mechanics.   Running efficiently is very simple, but NOT EASY.  Here are some links to what we discussed: Joe's Ultrarunning Magazine's November article, "Central Governor and Stride" Joe's IRunFar article, "The Western States Killing Machine, Part Two: The Marble in the Groove" 100 -ups video with Joe Additional 100-up video Shaggy from Scooby Doo running model How to learn more from Dr. Joe Uhan Performance - get a running gait analysis! Joe's blog

Dr. Phil Maffetone has changed the way most of us eat, train, run and live our lives.  He joins The Nation to talk about the social stress of the "No Pain, No Gain" philosophy, hydration, getting enough vitamin D, using fish oils, and much more. Here are some links to things we discussed: "Social Stress of 'N0-Pain No-Gain'" article HR threshold test The MAF Test Dr. Maffetone's Books Phil's Music