Off The Couch

Off The Couch

BLISTER

A program about the wide, weird, and wonderful world of running on the BLISTER Podcast Network.

59 minutes 46 seconds

26.2 TO LIFE: Running, Prison Reform, & Personal Transformation

Does running have the power to transform the prison system? According to the data, it might, and it definitely has the power to ignite personal transformation, as you will see in the remarkable new documentary, 26.2 TO LIFE.
Our guest today is Christine Yoo, the director and producer of 26.2 TO LIFE, which tells the story of incarcerated men at San Quentin State Prison who are members of the 1000 Mile Club, the prison’s long distance running club. They train all year for the San Quentin Marathon — a 105 lap, 26.2 mile race that takes place in the San Quentin yard.
The film was shot over the course of three years with unprecedented access to the prison, and for the reasons we discuss in this conversation, I urge everyone to see this film.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Background: Russian Spies & Korean Rom Coms (2:38)
The Cinematic Nature of Running (11:30)
Filming at San Quentin Prison (14:02)
Prison Life (23:38)
Prisons as Businesses (29:06)
Running & Prison Reform (32:34)
Other Prison Running Clubs (45:40)
Where To Watch (53:10)
Music of The Film (55:39)
RELATED LINKS:
sanquentinmarathon.com
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CRAFTED
Bikes & Big Ideas
GEAR:30
Blister Podcast

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19 September 2023, 9:23 pm
46 minutes 13 seconds

Jason Hardrath & The Rocky Mountain Grand Slam

The Rocky Mountain Grand Slam: it involves summiting 122 peaks and 318,000 feet of elevation gain (the equivalent of summiting Everest 11 times from sea level). And Vuori & Athletic Brewing athlete, Jason Hardrath, recently set a new FKT by completing it in under 40 days. So I caught up with Jason to break down his most recent accomplishment, and to discuss the blurring of the lines between running, scrambling, and soloing.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Rocky Mountain Grand Slam (2:02)
Planning (7:03)
Calculating Risks (10:57)
Blending Disciplines (23:19)
Crux's of The RMGS (27:58)
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Off The Couch #110: What Makes Jason Hardrath Tick
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CRAFTED
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GEAR:30
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Happy Hour

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22 August 2023, 3:49 pm
1 hour 15 minutes

Michele Graglia on the Tahoe 200, Walking Away from Racing, & Next Steps

Recently at the Tahoe 200, Michele Graglia found himself in first place with an hour lead. Then he decided to stop running. So why did the former winner of the Moab 240 and Badwater 135 stop? And why, shortly thereafter, did he announce that he would be walking away from racing? Blister founder, Jonathan Ellsworth, explores these questions and more with Michele.
TOPICS & TIMES:
What happened at Tahoe? (6:04)
Pushing vs Pulling (13:24)
Authenticity & Joy (29:16)
Mindset Going Into Tahoe 200 (35:17)
Reaction from Sponsors (41:56)
What’s Next? (55:45)
Other Updates & Upheavals (59:59)
RELATED LINKS:
Become a BLISTER+ Member
Off the Couch #102: Michele on Success & Struggle
Off The Couch #87: Michele on Going ‘Ultra’ (Pt 1)
Off The Couch #88: Michele on Going ‘Ultra’ (Pt 2)
Michele Graglia’s book, Ultra

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15 August 2023, 3:28 pm
55 minutes 51 seconds

Western States Weekend Recap; Courtney Dauwalter’s Course Record Clinic; & Golden Hour Greatness
The 50th running of the Western States 100 took place over the weekend and delivered on all of the excitement and drama we’ve come to expect from US ultrarunning’s biggest stage. Snowy conditions in the high country weren’t enough to stymy blistering times, including a new women’s course record that’s already being hailed as the greatest single run in our sport’s history. To recap the race, Matt Mitchell is joined by Matt Seidel, who also spent the day bouncing around the course from sunup to sundown. They talk about Matt Mitchell’s experience crewing and pacing Leah Yingling to a 9th-place finish; what it was like to be in the middle of the elite women’s field; trying to wrap their minds around Courtney Dauwalter’s performance; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- The Matts Do Western States (2:09)
- Pacing Leah Yingling to F9 (3:14)
- Why This Race Rules (6:33)
- Course Conditions (9:27)
- Forest Hill, the Place to Be (13:05)
- Tom Evans’ Race Tactics (20:36)
- Anthony Costales, Hell Yea! (23:46)
- Courtney Dauwalter’s Course Record (25:41)
- How Coverage of the Race Has Evolved (30:53)
- Matt’s Golden Ticket Ambitions (40:44)
- How He Wound Up in a Banana Costume (46:48)
- Highlights & Shoutouts (49:13)
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27 June 2023, 4:33 pm
34 minutes 51 seconds

Paddy O’Leary on Winning the 112th Dipsea; Trail Running Film Recs; & the Broken Arrow Skyrace
First run in 1905, the Dipsea is the oldest trail race in the US. Its course takes runners from Mill Valley, CA to Stinson Beach, 7.4 miles separated by 700 stairs, shortcuts, thickets of poison oak, technical singletrack, and stretches of trail with nicknames like “Suicide,” “Cardiac,” and “Insult.” The race’s unique handicap format gives certain runners head starts based on age, gender, and prior performances, meaning that logging the fastest time on the course doesn’t always ensure a victory.
Unless you’re Paddy O’Leary this year. The North Face athlete took home both trophies at the 112th Dipsea a little over a week ago, so Matt Mitchell sat down with him to talk about the race’s storied history; some of the eccentricities that make it so singular; and the various films that have been inspired by it. We also breakdown the Broken Arrow Skryace, which wrapped up its weekend of races on Sunday, and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Broken Arrow Recap (2:07)
- Fun Storylines Coming Out of the Weekend (8:53)
- Eleanor Scholz’s Lupine Shadow Lamp Trophies (11:53)
- The Dipsea (14:14)
- Shortcuts, Handicaps, & Film Recs (20:52)
- Western States Pacing Duties (31:19)
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20 June 2023, 4:05 pm
57 minutes 20 seconds

Olivia Amber on Endless Summers; Her Huemul Circuit FKT; & Fastpacking 101
The North Face athlete Olivia Amber is just about to roll into her second summer of 2023. Earlier this year, she set out on a 3-month road trip through South America, running and climbing (and occasionally fly fishing) from Santiago, Chile all the way down to Tierra del Fuego, an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the continent. Now that she’s been back home for a bit, we sat down to talk about her southern hemisphere summer, including the FKT she set on the 40-mile Huemul Circuit outside of El Chalten, Argentina, her overall win at the Ultra Fiord 30k, and a whole lot more. Then, we launch into a back-and-forth discussion about fastpacking best practices and gear tips just in time for summer in the States.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Road Tripping Through Chile (1:48)
- Trail Running in South America (4:50)
- Chilean Fjords (8:24)
- Olivia’s Huemul Circuit FKT (12:35)
- Fastpacking 101 (21:24)
- Why & When to Use Poles (27:11)
- Fastpacking Pack Recommendations (32:45)
- Calorie Corner (37:10)
- Navigation Tips & Tricks (46:53)
- Choosing Adventure Partners (51:29)
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13 June 2023, 4:52 pm
32 minutes 3 seconds

Leah Yingling on Lululemon’s FURTHER Initiative, Their New Women-Specific Road-to-Trail Shoe, & Her Western States 100 Expectations
Leah Yingling returns to the show to discuss her partnership with Lululemon and their FURTHER initiative, a first-of-its-kind ultramarathon specifically for women; the brand’s efforts to close the sex and gender data gap in sports medicine that historically underrepresents female athletes; Lululemon’s new women-specific road-to-trail shoe, the Blissfeel Trail; how she’s preparing for this year’s snowy Western States 100; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Leah’s Lululemon Partnership & the Blissfeel Trail (1:41)
- Attending the Launch Event in Vancouver (6:51)
- Her Biomedical Engineer Background (9:12)
- What is the FURTHER Initiative? (12:00)
- 6-Day Ultramarathon & World Record Attempts (16:41)
- Western States 100 Prep (18:28)
- Bring On the Snow! (21:52)
- Summer Racing Storylines (24:55)
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6 June 2023, 2:46 pm
47 minutes 18 seconds

Mike McKnight on His Record-Setting Cocodona 250 Comeback & Discovering His Potential
Even in a 250-mile race, falling 10 hours behind the leaders is an almost insurmountable gap. Almost. After some electrolyte issues threatened to derail Salomon athlete Mike McKnight’s third attempt at the Cocodona 250 this year, he found himself confronted with a choice: pull the plug and take a DNF just 70 miles in, or put his head down and try and work his way back up the field. What ensued is already being hailed as one of the greatest comebacks in ultrarunning history. So, Matt Mitchell asked Mike to take him through how he rescued his race, took the win, and set a new Cocodona 250 course record in the process.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Cocodona 250, Round 3 (2:00)
- Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation (6:05)
- Electrolyte Mishaps (7:34)
- Blueprint for 200 Mile Races (11:30)
- Mike’s Mental Preparation (25:13)
- Race Recovery & Nutrition (28:43)
- Raw Milk (35:49)
- The Rise of 200+ Mile Events (40:07)
- Gear Corner (44:20)
- Western States & What's Next? (45:15)
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30 May 2023, 2:26 pm
1 hour 1 minute

Andrea Sansone and Andrew Hamilton on Tackling Colorado’s Most Coveted FKTs
It’s probably fitting that Andrea Sansone and Andrew Hamilton met at the summit of a Colorado 14er, one of the 58 such peaks in the state that have gone on to help forge their relationship. Though neither considers themselves trail runners, the duo routinely puts up times on popular alpine routes that outpace those of the pros. Andrew has held the supported FKT for climbing all of Colorado’s 14ers since 2015, and last year, Andrea set the supported FKT on Nolan’s 14, becoming the first woman to complete the roughly 100-mile route in less than 2 days.
As the high country continues to thaw, Matt Mitchell sat down with Andrea and Andrew to talk about their summer goals; the partnership they’ve formed by doing hard stuff in the mountains together; lapping the Manitou Incline for 24 hours straight; and much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Forming an Endurance Power Couple (2:17)
- Andrew’s Adventure Racing Background (5:41)
- Their FKT Progression (7:37)
- Why They Don’t Consider Themselves Runners (11:09)
- Dissecting Andrea’s Nolan’s 14 FKT (14:18)
- Winter Training for Mountain Season (44:52)
- Tips for Faster Hiking (54:20)
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23 May 2023, 4:33 pm
54 minutes 34 seconds

Sarah Ostaszewski on Winning Round 3 at the Cocodona 250
Sarah Ostaszewski has run the Cocodona 250 all three years of its existence, each go-around shrinking the amount of time it’s taken for her to get from where the race starts just outside of Phoenix, Arizona, to where it ends 250 miles north in the town of Flagstaff. Sarah’s latest attempt on the grueling point-to-point course was her fastest yet; she finished in just over three days, good for 1st place and 4th overall.
The daunting prospect of returning to something the scale of Cocodona 250, a race that includes 40,000 ft. of cumulative elevation change, vast temperature swings, and a 125-hour cutoff that leaves little room for sleep, all but guarantees that the number of repeat finishers stays quite small. So, Matt Mitchell talked to Sarah about why she keeps coming back for more; why multi-day events are so alluring; what makes the changing landscapes of the Mountain West so intoxicating; her ice cream intake; and a whole lot more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Recovery After Running 250 Miles (2:21)
- Moving to US Trail Towns (5:42)
- Sarah’s Ultra Entry Point (7:54)
- Favorite Trails in the PNW (9:52)
- Discovering the Cocodona 250 (11:34)
- Time On Feet (14:32)
- Arizona’s Changing Landscapes (17:17)
- Crew Tough Love (22:55)
- Cocodona 250’s Rapid Growth (23:44)
- Why She Keeps Coming Back (28:25)
- Sarah’s Sleep Strategy (34:58)
- Thoughts on Nutrition (41:24)
- The Allure of Multi-Day Races (45:38)
- Preparing for the Ouray 100 (52:21)
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- BLISTER+
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16 May 2023, 2:48 pm
53 minutes

Sarah Keyes on Living & Training in the Adirondacks, US Long Distance Team Dreams, & Pastry (Mis)adventures
For the most part, competitive trail running in the US is perceived to bias heavily toward the West Coast, with many of its marquee races and popular training hubs lying left of the Mississippi. This imbalance has stoked a gentle sense of rivalry in trail runners who call the East Coast home, an underdog mentality that many — including this week’s guest, New York native and athlete for The North Face, Sarah Keyes — have turned into fuel.
Sarah recently punched her ticket to Innsbruck, Austria to represent the US as part of their Long Distance team at this year’s World Mountain Championships, a spot she earned with a podium finish at the Lake Sonoma 50 in Northern California. We talk about what it’s like living and training in the Adirondacks year-round; East Coast vs. West Coast trail running scenes; the upcoming World Mountain Running Championships in Innsbruck, Austria; the latest hits (and misses) in her kitchen; and much more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Sarah’s Background & the Adirondacks (1:53)
- East Coast vs. West Coast Trail Scenes (14:14)
- Race Directing and Weed Whacking (19:48)
- ITRA (27:05)
- Making the US Long Distance Team (35:07)
- Joining The North Face (38:25)
- Pastry Making (41:50)
- International Racing (44:11)
RELATED LINKS:
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- BLISTER+
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9 May 2023, 3:00 pm
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