#51: Sarah Cooper -- Grit & Ultracycling, Winning the Race Across America

Welcome to the world of ultra-cycling and the insanity that is the Race Across America. Get ready for a conversation with one of the toughest athletes in the country! Sarah Cooper is about a month removed from winning the Race Across America, an event in which she rode her bike 3,070 miles in 11 days, 18 hours, and 56 minutes. An event requiring extreme grit, incredible endurance, and stubborn forward progress. It is also an event that breeds stories of adventure and shows that to accomplish a goal, you sometimes have to just step up and kick adversity in the teeth! In this episode Sarah shares how to maintain a successful mindset in the midst of hardships like extreme sleep deprival, severe weather, neck injuries, and insanely long distance. We also discuss her training schedule and how she discovered this crazy sport. As a bonus, Sarah shares stories from previous Trans-iowa, "a self-navigated, self-supported, 300-plus mile gravel road event" which is also known as one of the toughest rides in the U.S. Sarah is also a mother of four, showing all of us that having kids is absolutely no excuse not to chase after your own incredibly difficult goals. Plus, her kids probably think she's cooler than Wonder Woman at this point! She also lives and trains around Des Moines, Iowa, proving once again that Iowa can produce some pretty badass athletes. Hope you guys enjoy the episode! I would encourage you to check out other great stories from the RAAM and to read all about Sarah in her excellent features in the Des Moines Register. (Cover Photo by Des Moines Register) More from Sarah and Race Across America: Pre-race article: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/columnists/kyle-munson/2017/06/07/dont-call-her-wonder-woman-wheels-shes-just-metalhead-iowa-bicyclist-grit/372807001/ Post-race article: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/columnists/kyle-munson/2017/06/25/bicyclist-sarah-cooper-conquers-race-across-america/425530001/ Race Across America: http://www.raceacrossamerica.org Trans Iowa: http://transiowa.blogspot.com More Like a Bigfoot: Subscribe and Review on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/like-a-bigfoot/id1160773293?mt=2 Soundcloud Archives: https://soundcloud.com/chris-ward-126531464 Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/likeabigfoot/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/likeabigfoot/