FKT Podcast

Welcome to the brand new iteration of the FKT Podcast, hosted by the one and only Heather “Anish” Anderson! As a record-setter on the Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail, and Triple Crown of Thru-Hiking, Heather brings a trove of insight to share with you about what goes into pushing ourselves to the limit. And she harnesses her gift as an author and speaker to guide us on a journey into the heart and soul of this sport. In this episode, get to know the human behind the records and books. Heather also talks with Regional Editor Alex Bond to go over Outside’s new ownership of fastestknowntime.com. They answer your most pressing questions about how the website works and what this change in ownership means for the present and future of all things FKT. Plus, enjoy the pod's new beats created by FKT-holder and musician Kyle Richardson!Follow Heather on Instagram at @_wordsfromthewild_, Alex at @alexjaybond, and Kyle at @kylerichardson. FKT season is heating up. Follow along with the action over at fastestknowntime.com.

BIG NEWS: We have sold Fastest Known Time to Outside Inc, the publisher of iconic magazines such as Trail Runner, Climbing, Backpacker and of course Outside. Buzz, Peter and Jeff are very happy with what we created, and are very grateful to all of you that have cared and supported our work so that it is now an integral part of the sport of running, utilized by a worldwide community. Most importantly, the community itself will be very happy to know that Outside is bringing a massive amount of knowledge, passion, and resources to greatly improve the services and features of this website, in a way we could not do. This is great news! In next week’s podcast you will hear directly from folks on the Outside team who care deeply about our community. As trail runners, backpackers, and multi-sport athletes themselves, they’re passionate about maintaining (even improving!) our governing and record-keeping processes while applying their backend expertise to make our web-based experiences and features even better. Stay tuned. So this week's podcast is a special wrap-up. It’s our longest ever, but we had fun stories to tell and many great people wanted to share their thoughts directly with you. Enjoy! Peter and Buzz Why did this all get going anyway? "Outside is a perfect fit. I feel quite complete." Peter and Jeff (co-founders) Stories from starting the website (and Jeff refusing to divulge his Marathon PR) “The new website went live March 27, 2018, so this is just about 4 years." Allison Mercer (Community Partnerships) An important tip on how to get a job in the outdoor industry: "In business, life, or FKTs, you just stay persistent, and it pays off! Helping people has been a great experience." Hillary Allen (co-host) Our sometimes Co-Host lights it up with her stories and laughter: “Creativity is such a big part of this. And the FKTOY Award is my favorite time of the year!" Jared Campbell The only 3-time finisher of Barkley shares thoughtful perspectives: “You gave this framework/creation to world, and it kept us all a little more sane." Anton Krupicka Our only 3-time podcast Guest tells what FKTs mean to him: “The one word that comes to my mind is ‘Inspiration.’" Buzz (solo) Final thoughts (very brief; thank goodness): “I was never lonely when hosting this podcast. I always felt like I was with a group of good friends." THANK YOU EVERYONE!!

YOU asked and the experts answered! Re-listen to this episode from a little over a year ago where Andrew Skurka and Mary Cochenour answer listeners' gear questions on a very wide variety of applications.

How many times have you heard bad training advice? Right; there's a lot of it. Here's a quick list, plus some (hopefully) good advice as well. More is Better. Maybe not - without rest and recovery, the stress of training just makes you tired instead of creating an adaptive response. Just Run. Most other sports emphasises technique, while some runners just run a lot - cardiovascular training is imperative, but poor form can lead to injuries and is inefficient. Strength Doesn't Matter. Especially for women and older athletes, and when on technical trails, it does. Strength training can help prevent injuries and prepare you up for increased training load, and aging athletes lose endurance slowly but lose strength significantly. Train Hard All Year. The best runners in the world go easy in the off-season. You should definitely keep moving, but recharge yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally. Paleo Diet Helps Endurance Performance. While eliminating processed foods is helpful for everyone, ancient humans certainly ate plenty of whole grains and beans. And each individual should do what works best for them. However, glycogen is our main energy source no matter what we eat, especially as exercise intensity increases, so taking in food that is easily converted to glycogen makes sense. "The fat burned during exercise is endogenous." - Hillary (Meaning it's already in your body from various food sources, as ingestion of fat can take hours to become available as energy). To Acclimate to Altitude, arrive at the race a couple days in advance. This may be the worst thing you can do. Most people feel fine the first day at altitude, poorly shortly after, and adjust in 3-4 days, and to actually increase your hematocrit level takes much longer. "It takes 19 days to make a red blood cell." - Dr. Tom Hornbein (told to Buzz personally). So your optimal arrival times are 3 hours, or 3 days, or 3 weeks in advance. There's more! Listen up.

Anton was our very first podcast, 3 1/2 years ago!  He was very articulate even back then:  "Sometimes being successful means getting back to the car. Alive." He was also Episode 127 last year: "I don't identify with any one sport - it's about the pure experience" He's still crushing some huge, creative routes; last summer he cycled to the 6 highest peaks in 6 different mountain ranges, ran up them, then got back on the bike.  Alone, Unsupported. ""Sagebrush & Summits" was the focal point of my summer - it took most of July - and ultimately it set me up to race Leadville again in August." Indeed, after cycling 2,300 miles over 21 days, he finished 3rd in the Leadville Trail 100.   Besides prodigious endurance, Anton also remains a very thoughtful student of the sport, and an extremely articulate spokesperson - don't miss his thoughts: "When I set an objective for myself, I'm really trying to create an experience that's going to be meaningful to me, and put me in a situation that will force me into a headspace and orientation to surroundings I don't get in everyday life. Even having a partner will be a different experience." The 6 summits, from the blog post for La Sportiva: Kings Peak in the Uinta Range (Utah’s high point, 13,528’); Grand Teton – the Teton Range’s high point, 13,775’); Granite Peak in the Beartooth Range (Montana’s high point, 12,807’);  Cloud Peak – the highest mountain in Wyoming’s Bighorn Range, 13,166’;  Gannett Peak in the Wind River Range, Wyoming’s high point, 13,804’; Longs Peak (14,255’) in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, the dominant peak of the northern Front Range.

"People think the natural progression is from running to scrambling to climbing, but it's better to start climbing with a rope for safety. You gradually learn the skills, learn what you can do, then when you start scrambling you have the experience to do it safely" "The Grand Traverse was mostly 3rd and 4th class with some technical sections." What? The North Ridge is one of the 50 Classic Climbs of North America. You can tell Nick's background is climbing - very under-stated! Youtube video of a Traverse in the Tantalus Range : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8hROWRHUO8

Tyler twice ran in the Olympic Marathon Trials, and now runs up the biggest mountains in South America. From a 2:15 marathon to climbing Aconcagua (22,841') in 3:32. "A big reason I went to Aconcagua is because that is where the best guys go." No kidding: the legendary Bruno Brnod still has the fastest round trip from basecamp, Kilian Jornet had and FKT before Karl Egloff (#1 FKTOY in 2019 on Denali) broke it, and now Tyler has the Ascent FKT from both Base Camp and the Trailhead (13,838' of vert). We discuss gear and tactics on the 'Big A'. Being one of the Seven Summits it is very popular, and large guiding company's set up lux operations at base camp. Clients then spend a week shuttling loads to camps up the mountain, in standard expedition style. Is this a required tactic, or does it just exhaust would-be climbers? "You are digging yourself into a hole the entire expedition." Tyler is very experienced, with 27 FKTs, climbing many of the big Andean summits. His thoughts on safety are a must-listen: "We see the stuff that goes well, but don't hear anything of what didn't. Out of those 27 FKTs, I've probably turned around or failed a hundred times. No, more than that." "There is a really fine line between being extremely tired and it being really hard, and needing to push through it, and the situation becoming unsafe, and needing to turn back." Tyler is also a professional coach who founded a coaching collective (read his list of coaches). (Correction: In the podcast Buzz said Alex Huber had a previous fast time on Aconcagua, but he had him confused with the Argentine guide Willie Benegas).

Nika Meyers FKT: Colorado Trail (CO) Time: 9d 14h 19m 00s Notes: 22 hours faster than a FKT set last year; Self-supported within 4 hours of Supported time Athlete Comments: "If you have a dream, go for it, because there will never be a perfect time. Be proud that you're going to take the risk." John Kelly FKT: Pennine Way (UK) Time: 2d 10h 04m 53s Notes: First to go sub 60 hours on the UK's most competitive and famous long trail. Athlete Comments: "These trails have a huge history. And the level of support has been incredible; I love the community here. This is a team effort."

#3 Female: Anna Troup FKT: Pennine Way (UK) Time: 3d 00h 46m 37s Notes: The premier long trail in the UK is also very competitive; 8 hrs quicker than her own FKT set 2 weeks earlier Athlete Comments: "It was typical English weather, which means it rained most of the time.” "The classic style in the UK is full Support, partially because we've been doing this a long time, before GPS and watches and so forth, so people were just there to watch and verify you. And to share in the joy." #3 Male: Timothy Olson FKT: Pacific Crest Trail (CA, OR, WA) Time: 51d 16h 55m 00s Notes: Very consistent pace (51.3 mpd) on a very long trail (2,653 mi) while navigating numerous Fire Closures; 16 hrs faster than Karel Sabbe 2016 Athlete Comments: (None at this time) Previous Podcast: https://fastestknowntime.com/podcast/137-timothy-olson #2 Female: Mikaela Osler FKT: Long Trail (VT) Time: 6d 11h 33m 00s Notes: Unsupported fast time on a gnarly Premier Route; 7min faster than Nika Meyers 2020 Athlete Comments: "If I had went Self-supported I could slept at my own house next to the trail! I underestimated the food so I was hungry the whole time. This Trail is so hard; there are no switchbacks." Previous Podcast: https://fastestknowntime.com/podcast/118-fktoy-2020-p1 #2 Male: Karel Sabbe FKT: Via Alpina, Red Trail (Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, Monaco) Time: 30d 08h 40m 00s Notes: Traversed the entire Alps through 8 countries, starting and finishing on the sea; 14 days faster than Self-supported from 2019 Athlete Comments: "My plan was 87km/day, the same at the AT, but the Via Alpina has 20-25% more vertical gain. Originally I desperately wanted to hike the PCT, but didn't have enough time off work to do it slowly - that's how I got started with fast thru-hiking." Previous Podcast (our 2nd ever!): https://fastestknowntime.com/podcast/episode-2-karel-sabbe

#5 Female: Addie Bracy and Corey Conner FKT: Grand Canyon R2R2R (AZ) Time: 08h 06m 41s Notes:  Unsupported quick double crossing of the Grand Canyon; a Premier Route. Athlete Comments: "Corey) "This was the longest run of my life by 3 hours! I was so scared my teeth were chattering. I may have over-compensated, because I ate and drank so much at the beginning I had to relieve myself 5 times in the first hour.  But that meant I felt strong on the brutal climb out at the finish." #5 Male: Pawel Szafruga FKT: Colorado Fourteeners (CO) Time: 43d 6h 49m 34s Notes: He not only climbed all 58 summits over 14,000' high in Colorado (Premier Route), but hiked between them all with no support. Athlete Comments: "I sprained an ankle so had to take a half day off. Unfortunately that was in Aspen, where the hotels were the most expensive. My budget was like a Little League team.  Fortunately, gas station food can be pretty good." Previous Podcast: https://fastestknowntime.com/podcast/157-pawel-szafruga #4 Female: Brooke Thomas FKT: Te Araroa (New Zealand) Time: 57d 12h 16m 0s Notes: This route traverses the entire country North to South, coast to coast!  Includes 150km of kayaking. Athlete Comments: "Logistics were by far the hardest part. My parents supported me, but 2/3 of the time I was by myself, and once I had 8 straight days out with no Support.  I didn't mash myself, and enjoyed every day, even though some were really hard, and I didn't know how to kayak. All your lows become your highs." #4 Male: Joe McConaughy FKT: Arizona Trail (AZ) Time: 14d, 3h, 21m, 0s Notes: Supported; encountered deep snow, quit, re-started. 2d 19h faster than previous. Athlete Comments:  "This is an epic 800 mile trail; the most bang for the buck of anything I've done.  You think Arizona you think desert, but there's a ton of vert, and I almost got snowed out. Seek out the adventures that matter to you." Previous Podcast:  https://fastestknowntime.com/podcast/129-arizona-trail-race; https://fastestknowntime.com/podcast/92-joe-mcconaughy; https://fastestknowntime.com/podcast/119-fktoy-2020-p2