We Are Superman

As many of you are planning your 2026 race schedule, you might be considering traveling out of town. Of course, that’s very different than waking up in your own bed, throwing your gear and some nutrition into the back of your car, stopping at a coffee shop along the way for some caffeine, and making a leisurely drive to a local race when few others are on the road. For answers about what and how to pack when the race is in another state, how to deal with not being able to bring big bottles of your favorite liquids on a plane, and more, I thought I’d turn to travel warrior Karen Smidt. Karen was featured in episode #186 four years ago as she was navigating her way toward an impressive goal of completing a 50-miler in all 50 states while in her 50s. She is now only six states short as she approaches her 60th birthday later this year. She not only finishes these races, but she is often a top placer in her age group or even overall in them. As Karen’s husband and crew chief Dan says, the only thing that she likes more than running is talking about it, so we have a fun time as she breaks down the gear she takes (hint: less), how she packs it, and how she achieves her need to drink pickle juice during races. Plus, we share many stories we’ve had at ultra races in far-flung locales. Definitely listen closely so you have smooth sailing at your next travel race, until you kick a rock and do a Superman on the trail!Karen SmidtCairn Runner This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

Jerzy Gregorek and his wife Aniela survived a perilous journey living behind the Iron Curtain in Poland while it was subservient to brutal Soviet Union domination. He describes the darkness of living there in the 1970s and 80s, and how it led to him becoming an alcoholic at age 15. He had a mentor who pretty much dragged him into weightlifting at the time of the rise of Solidarity, the movement that led to the fall of the repressive Communist regime and to the free Poland that exists today despite constant threats from Putin’s Russia. Escaping that destructive, alcoholic path shaped his understanding of resilience and personal responsibility. He rebuilt his life — becoming a political exile in the USA, then a four-time world champion weightlifter, and later a mentor, poet, and a student earning his PhD in Humanistic Psychology. His core philosophy — “Hard Choices, Easy Life; Easy Choices, Hard Life” — comes from lived experience and years of guiding people through transformation. Jerzy founded the weightlifting program at UCLA, and Aniela herself is a five-time world weightlifting champion with six world records.What sets Jerzy apart is his ability to integrate physical training, creative expression, and psychological insight into a holistic approach to health and resilience. He emphasizes that emotional intelligence is a crucial element in overcoming life’s adversities, and that it can be practiced, cultivated, and mastered. His three books, titled “The Happy Body: Mastering Food, Exercise, and Rest Choices,” are designed to help people embrace this path of strength, wisdom, and balance. The poetry book “The Happy Body: Food For Your Soul” helps with emotional eating. “The Happy Body Virtues: Daily Practices for the Modern Stoic” helps with emotional eating and self-regulation, while “I Got This: The Art of Getting Grit” helps with integrating the stories that contribute to building the skill of living a good life. Listen closely to the wise lessons Jerzy shares here and strongly consider getting deeper into The Happy Body to learn to apply the “Hard Choices, Easy Life; Easy Choices, Hard Life” philosophy to your own life. This might be one New Year’s resolution for change that I can heartily endorse.Jerzy [email protected] Happy Body book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N21PL3DFacebook The Happy BodyYouTube @thehappybodyLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerzy-gregorek-ab87475/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

You can’t beat the trail running community for positivity, and during so many of my races I have randomly met the most interesting and often inspiring people, many of whom have become lifelong friends. During the descending miles of this year’s Leadville Heavy Half, I started chatting with a fellow runner and before long discovering Scott Tish’s inspiring story that included his experiences as an air ambulance helicopter pilot and as a five-time cancer survivor. Scott’s battles led him to some dark places, but he emerged on the other side with a reinvigorated view on life and gratitude for the mere opportunity to go out and run every day, much less complete races as challenging as the Heavy Half. He attributes a lot of his rebound to his wife, Pam, who gave him the tough love needed to move forward with his life and find again how running is some of the best medicine anyone can take. Scott’s journey in the Army also gave him the very rare privilege of being a guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. Combine that with being a survivor of very rare forms of cancer and being an ultrarunner, Scott’s one-of-a-kind story will certainly inspire you.Scott TishFacebook @stish162linkedin.com/in/scott-tish-tus162TikTok @millieandtesspapatombguard.org This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

I really didn’t have to write much of an intro because I could simply copy the fascinating story in Dave Munson’s bio. It resonates with me because it reminds me about how David Clark found so much more happiness, not by making and spending huge amounts of money from his mattress and furniture businesses, but by serving others. I also love how Dave Munson manufactures products that are unique and insanely durable, which has become so rare these days. The story begins in 1999, in a dusty leather shop in Morelia, Mexico, young American Dave Munson slid a hand-drawn sketch across the counter and said, “No breakable parts. I want my grandkids to fight over it when I’m dead.” What a great slogan! That moment sparked the beginning of Saddleback Leather Co. That bag turned heads everywhere it went, and before long, Dave was selling bags on eBay, eventually bringing in family members to help meet demand. With grit, grace, and a business coach, he evolved into the CEO of one of the most recognized leather brands in the world. Today, Saddleback Leather is known for crafting over-engineered full-grain leather goods with a 100-year warranty — built to outlive the owner and become heirlooms.Dave’s wife, Suzette, is his true partner in both business and life. Together they raise their two kids and sponsor many more in Rwanda. Suzette also leads Love 41, a sister company to Saddleback that donates 100% of its profits to helping vulnerable communities in Rwanda, Mexico, and Fort Worth, Texas. They also operate the Saddleback Leather Factory, where all of their products are made, and you’ll learn here why leather goods make so much more sense for the environment than those made from artificial fibers. Headquartered near Fort Worth — where the Munsons live in safari tents — the company is celebrating more than 20 years in business. For Dave, it was never about getting rich. It’s always been about using business as a force for good — to shift the trajectory of poverty-stricken families and create a global ripple effect of hope, one bag at a time. As Dave puts it: “We make the longest lasting, most over-engineered leather bags in the world — and we love people while we do it.” I think it’s a really cool mission statement. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

Most people don’t imagine octogenarians throwing shotputs, discuses, and the hammer at track meets. I have officiated enough track meets that I have seen bunches of them doing so. One is Terry Ten Eyck of Golden CO, who back in 1963 set the state shotput mark of 59’-10¾”, breaking the previous record by four feet, while throwing for Wheat Ridge H.S. He went on to briefly compete in track and football at the University of Colorado and then served for 7½ years in the Navy, including in Vietnam. After about a 50-year hiatus, Terry returned to the track and field world, competing in masters meets and winning medals, most recently winning the world indoor championship in the shotput for the 80–84-year-old age group. His favorite event is the hammer which involves spinning around and throwing an 8.8-pound (4 kg.) ball attached to a four-foot wire. He also does the seldom-seen weight throw, which requires throwing an even heavier weight with a shorter wire, ideally suited to indoor competitions. Terry and I talk a lot about field events through the ages, share some great track stories and valuable wisdom, and hopefully you’ll be inspired hearing what it’s like to train and compete at the master’s level when most his age are in their rocking chairs. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

Brian Watson was in New York City in 2018 and noticed hundreds of thousands of people crowding the streets and asked what was going on. A friend told him it was the NYC Marathon, a foreign concept to a guy living in a 300-pound body. He calmly told those around him that he would run it the next year. While that might sound daffy to some, those that knew Brian knew to take him at his word. Before you knew it, Brian had dropped a third of his weight, had finished New York, and was moving up to ultramarathons. Beginning in 2021, he completed in successive years the Arkansas Traveler 100, the Leadville Trail 100, and the Javelina Jundred. Then he jumped up to 200s and up, and discovered he actually placed better as the race got longer, finishing the Moab 240 and the Arizona Monster 300 in the top half of the fields. When I met Brian in Leadville, he was only a few days removed from having completed Badwater 135, the so-called World’s Toughest Ultramarathon in Death Valley, in 45:04:16. Transforming into an ultramarathoner is only part of his story. He owns a chain of pizza restaurants in Texas and Oklahoma and is partner in a real estate company, among his business ventures. Through all of this, he has gained amazing insights, many of which he shares in this chat. You will learn a ton about ultramarathoning and some iconic races in this episode, but also about so many of the lessons one learns doing these races that strongly apply to anyone’s daily life, including overcoming the hurdles we all face, and about the mental battles that derail our success. Brian has a matter-of-fact, no-nonsense approach to racing, like pushing through mid-race stress fractures and weather issues, but that through good planning and determination when things go south, reaching the finish line becomes a foregone conclusion, as it is with anything else he puts his mind to.Brian WatsonStrava Brian Watson This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

In previous episodes, we’ve chatted with some young runners who have taken on ultramarathons like the Leadville Trail 100, something that was unheard of in the ancient days when I began in the sport. While it’s become less rare to see this, it’s now been taken up a notch. Meet the Chisholm family of Salem, NH. Brothers Ben, Brody, Elliott, and Asher all play hockey, with the three eldest at one time playing on the same line together on their high school team. Led by their parents, the boys started off climbing in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, eventually summitting all of its 48 4000-foot peaks, which is no joke in difficulty. This evolved to the family next through-hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, then the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail, each of which are thousands of miles long and take months to complete, and definitely at times challenged the limits of family togetherness. While later hiking the Arizona Trail, they learned about this thing called ultramarathoning and on a whim entered the Elden Crest 38-miler, in which second-oldest son Brody led the family to the finish line in fifth-place overall. So the next logical step of course was to return to Arizona to run the 2024 Cocodona 250. Of course. Since races like this include large swaths of hiking, the family leaned heavily on their strong through-hiking skills, a theory that bore fruit. Brody, 17 at the time, boldly had his sights on setting a course record despite having had no prior ultra experience longer than 38 miles, but has 4:30 mile speed on the track, so he could add that running ability to the mix. He learned a lot of ultramarathoning lessons, especially regarding fueling, but still astoundingly finished 12th in 75:42:42, a pace of 18:11 per mile for more than 250 miles. Meanwhile, 18-year-old brother Ben finished 34th in 87:01:50 despite battling lack of sleep and hallucinations, and mom Jennie finished as well in 103:58:03 while overcoming tibial stress fractures. Round two for the family was this year as 16-year-old Elliott attempted to usurp Brody’s record as the youngest-ever Cocodona finisher, but a sickness felled his chance, and Brody also DNF’d. However, Jennie chopped more than 14 hours off of her previous time and placed as the 7th female finisher. So Elliott took on a new challenge the day before we recorded this and ran the Back Cove Backyard Ultra in Portland, ME, where he impressively ran 121 miles, running another 4.16-mile loop at the start of every hour for 29 hours, the third-most in the last-man-standing event. With Jennie and the three oldest boys of this super nice family all crammed onto a couch together for this really fun chat, we cover how they logistically pull all of this off with schoolwork and teen life in general, as well as dealing with those who have this idea that teenage boys shouldn’t take on epic challenges like they have. I think anyone who has doubts will walk away with other ideas after listening to them.The familyInstagram @thefieldtrip_5Jennie ChisholmInstagram @_jenniechisholmBen ChisholmInstagram @benchisholm_7Brody ChisholmInstagram @brody.chisholmElliott ChisholmInstagram @elliott.chisholm This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

At a high school track meet I was working as an official this spring, a young man came up to me and commented about my ever-present Yankees cap and mentioned that his uncle had once played for the Bronx Bombers. I figured it would be some nobody, but it turned out to be Hall of Famer and Yankees legend Goose Gossage. As Avi Rahmani of Ralston Valley H.S. in Arvada, Colo., and I got to know each other, I learned about his amazing story of contracting a rare form of cancer, leading to having a kidney removed, and eight agonizing months of chemotherapy and isolation in the hospital. He came out of that ordeal healthy and with a new attitude toward life and a renewed enthusiasm for running. Any recovery has its share of road bumps, and Avi’s took a different turn. He developed the same uncommon vocal cord dysfunction that you heard about in our episode a few weeks ago with high school runners Benji Anderson and Peak Performance teammate Bobby Kieswetter, who got him directed to their doctor at Denver’s National Jewish hospital. This brave young man discusses the challenges that he and his family stood up to during his serious illness, and Avi’s life is definitely on the upswing now as he prepares for his senior year. You’ll come away with a renewed sense of optimism when you hear this exceptionally nice guy’s upbeat attitude and about how he looks forward to being a leader on his high school cross country team and having a long, healthy life that will make a difference in the world.Avi RahmaniInstagram and Threads @avi.rahmani This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

Tyler Andrews is a good friend with whom I’ve done trips with to Peru, Ecuador, and most recently, the Atacama Desert of Chile where we climbed up to almost 20,000 feet. Ty was a self-described high school nerd musician who went on to be an average D3 cross country runner. After battling depression, Ty dedicated himself to becoming a pro mountain runner, which has seen him set numerous FKTs on some of the most iconic tall peaks in the world, including Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, and Cotopaxi. One recent FKT in the Himalayas has been commemorated in the very cool short film “9 Hours on Manaslu” that you can watch on YouTube and is definitely worth 27 minutes of your time. To show his breadth, Ty also holds the record for the Leadville Marathon and has run in the U.S. Olympic marathon trials. He is a La Sportiva-sponsored athlete and is founder of the Chaski Endurance Collective, which coaches ultramarathoners. Which all leads us to this riveting WASP appearance, on which we chat about his recent attempts to set the FKT for running up Mt. Everest, both with and without supplemental oxygen. How incredible does that sound? I won’t ruin the story for you, but Ty will talk about the what, when, how, and why for this audacious project and all of the logistics and challenges involved. For some really great content that gets very granular about how Ty did this, I highly recommend you go listen to his 21-part podcast series called Ty’s Training: Talking with my Dad. It’s fascinating hearing some of the innovative methods Ty used to train for this quest that pushed him harder than he’s ever been challenged before. I’m sure you’ll love this story.Tyler Andrews:Facebook Tyler Andres AndrewsInstagram and Twitter: @tylercandrewsChaski Endurance Collective:www.chaski.run/linktreeInstagram: @chaski.endurance This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

One of the most badass racers I know is Kat Edwards Anderson. She has been on the WASP twice before, most recently on episode #327 in January, chatting about her runs at the Sedona Canyons 125 and the Moab 240. I first met her in Chile in March, 2024, where she impressively conquered many new challenges for her in the high Atacama Desert. She built on these experiences by overcoming blisters on her feet, menstrual cycle irregularities, heat, and mental hurdles to get on the podium at Moab. In this episode, Kat shares some great insights on her run in May at the Cocodona 250, where she finished as the 6th female. Kat took many of the lessons from Moab, along with input from her coach, Tyler Andrews, to dial in the minutiae that is required to have success at such a grueling race. Kat shares much about the custom-designed gear she used to suit her needs, and the many very sound practices that she employed for Cocodona. Naturally, there were uncontrollables like the weather, and once again, her cycle. Most notably, she generously shares her mental battles through the race, and how her crew and her faith both came through for her to get to a finish line that at times seemed improbable. This is a great chat inside the mind of a tough, focused endurance beast of a runner. Next up for Kat is some “speedwork” as she comes out here to Colorado to slay the Leadville Trail 100.Kat Edwardskatedwardspt.comInstagram @kat.elizabeth_For coaching inquiries: www.chaski.run This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

This is a classic WASP comeback story in a different kind of direction. Alex Neist is a former college and pro quarterback who seemingly had it all post-football – a thriving business career and great family – and then had it all fall apart because of his snoring. It’s true, snoring. Alex found an unlikely answer with mouth taping, which he had to find on his own because he realized our healthcare system didn’t espouse it because there isn’t nearly the profit with it available to providers as, say, recommending meds or a CPAP machine. This kicked in his entrepreneurial spirit. Alex’s philosophy toward starting a business is to identify a problem you’re having and then provide a solution that others can also use to solve that issue. That led him to found Hostage Tape. He will explain to you why the provocative name. Alex says the change in one’s sleep quality, and indeed in the quality of their life, is almost immediate when someone starts mouth taping. He also explains here why there is no reason to be concerned about not being able to breathe while using the product, and about a lot of other unexpected benefits that have made improvements in users’ oral health, workouts, and yes, relationships. Hostage Tape now has hundreds of thousands of customers, some as well-known as Joe Rogan, and Alex’s goal is to help one million people sleep better using Hostage Tape’s products, which include nasal strips that have become all the rage these days for athletes, include many in the track world. Before you dismiss this as woo-woo stuff, definitely give this episode with Alex a listen – it will awaken you – or just the opposite of that – to a very simple, possibly life-changing, solution. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

Colorado has always been known as a distance running hotbed, and some amazing runners have come out of our high school ranks. This episode’s guests are no exception – with an added twist. Bobby Kiesewetter, from Golden View Academy, a Class 2A school in Golden understandably was very concerned when his airway would shut down while he was running, making it impossible to breathe. Perplexed doctors suspected asthma and prescribed inhalers, but to no avail. Bobby happened to see a social media post from another local runner, Benji Anderson, who had experienced the same thing and had been diagnosed with Exercise-Induced Laryngeal Obstruction, also commonly called vocal cord dysfunction. Benji connected Bobby with the doctor right here in Denver who had treated him at National Jewish Hospital, which specializes in lung and breathing research. Through extensive treatment and exercises, both young men have learned to control their breathing issue and achieved great results in their high school careers. Bobby swept the Colorado Class 2A 800, 1600, and 3200 meter titles, each by wide margins, including setting a state meet record in the 1600 of 4:17.84. He will continue his running career at Division 2 Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Benji, who ran for Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, has a long list of accolades, including winning the 2024 Class 5A cross country title, is a two-time champion of the prestigious Liberty Bell Invitational, both times running the 5K course in a blazing 14:48, and has been top five in the state multiple times in the 800, 1600, and 3200. His best times include an 8:46.15 in the 3200 at Arcadia, and a 4:08.03 1600 at the New Balance indoors in Boston. He has a couple of big upcoming races before he heads off to Notre Dame this fall. Among these is the Festival of Miles this week in which a star-studded high school field will be going after sub-4:00 times. This is a great chat with a couple of very nice young men who have overcome some concerning challenges, have learned about the considerable power of the running community, and who will have many more successes in the future.Benji AndersonInstagram @benji.andersonnBobby KiesewetterInstagram @bobby_kiess This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

This is the type of adventure story you don’t get to hear about very often. You very likely know something about Alaska’s Iditarod Trail dog-sledding race, a grueling, multiday wilderness endurance test from Anchorage to Nome. Did you know that there is also a race where humans bike, ski, and run on the course? Leadville’s own Mitch Dulleck trained for months in the high Rockies and then attended a camp in Alaska to prepare to run the Iditarod Trail Invitational 150-mile race. There was no designated route as he pulled a sled with all of his gear, the only rule being that he had to pass through several checkpoints. The entrants truly have to be self-sufficient in that sometimes-harsh environment. For instance, the race organizers don’t promise any rescue should some misfortune befall racers. Competitors need to problem-solve for themselves while enduring possible issues with weather, terrain, injuries, wildlife, and more. Few of us will ever get to breathe the air in such beautiful and serene wilderness, much less race there, so I don’t have to tell you that Mitch will be describing a very unique outdoor endurance experience that will have you fascinated as much as it did me, including discussing his training, food, equipment, and seeing the aurora borealis, all of which has stoked Mitch’s fire to go back and try the Iditarod Trail’s even more challenging 350-mile race.Mitch DulleckFacebook Mitch DulleckInstagram @1mtnrnr1 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

Listing 285-pound defensive lineman or being the fifth-ranked high schooler in the nation in the discus on your resume aren’t typical prerequisites for running across America. But former big guy Mason Wright, who at 17 years old could bench press 450 pounds and squat 685 pounds will be doing exactly that, and not that “short” way, either. He won’t just run from one coast to the other, but from corner to corner, Seattle to Miami. But first this April he will run across Utah from north to south in eight days, averaging about 55 miles a day. He will be doing all of this to raise funds for the Single Parent Project, after having witnessed his mom’s struggles following Mason’s dad’s imprisonment and then the sudden death of her second husband. The family’s struggles also led Mason to some very dark, even suicidal, places. With the very strong support of his wife and her family, they introduced Mason to Spartan racing, which then led him to shed triple-digits weight and eventually enter his first trail ultramarathons and a top-20 finish in the Spartan World Championship just two years later. Along the way, he has developed a large following among those who know him as the Buff Runner. He inspires them to join the Buff Runner Army and take the small steps to challenge themselves every day. His fitness journey has guided him to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the health and nutrition field, and to open a nutrition practice and a rehab gym facility. His fundraising goal for his run across Utah is $15K, and he hopes to raise a total of $100K with his Project 3434 run across America, the 3434 miles he will cover to support the Single Parent Project, which assists families that don’t have resources get back on their feet, whether they need help with rent, groceries, transportation, schooling, getting kids into activities, etc. The links to contribute are below, which are also on his web site, buffrunner.com, where you can also find information about joining him in any of his events leading up to the run across America. Buckle up to listen to this fun journey.Mason WrightBuffrunner.comInstagram, YouTube, and TikTok @buffrunner This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

I first met Max Madorsky when the kids on my cross country team at Littleton H.S. invited me to join them at an all-you-can-eat sushi joint in the southern suburbs of Denver. They had invited along this guy who had this amazing capacity to shovel in food. This restaurant couldn’t have been too pleased seeing Max down eight plates of sushi all by himself. I happen to have a remarkable ability to consume large amounts of pizza, so right away I knew Max was my guy to win a challenge from a local parlor in which if two people would win $100 if they could eat a 28”, two-topping pie in an hour. Max and I crushed this prize in only 45 minutes. Because 28” is not just double 14” (think pi-r-squared), that’s something like 14 pounds of pizza. And then Max weaseled a couple of those oversized chocolate-chip cookies out of them, and later went out and ate a handful of doughnuts! What I didn’t know at the time is that Max was relatively svelte at the time, having weighed close to 300 pounds a few years prior as an eighth-grader! Max got bullied for his size and resorted to using drugs to mask his feelings. Some great mentors introduced Max to martial arts like jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and kickboxing. It was scary for a young Max when one of these mentors got deployed to Iraq, so this soldier promised Max he would return home alive if Max would turn around his life. With that kind of motivation, Max did indeed. He eventually became a professional mixed-martial arts fighter, and has lived in Thailand and Mexico both perfecting his craft and teaching others. During a time in Thailand in which he was injured, Max even opened up a bagel shop/marijuana dispensary! Now Max is additionally pursuing a standup comedy career. It’s a great comeback story from someone who got bullied when he was as young as 8 for his weight. With these and other twists and turns, I’m sure you’ll enjoy hearing Max’s compelling story.Max MadorskyInstagram @maxmadorsky @muaythaijew @toebra This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

It’s always great to jumpstart a new year talking again with Dan Herman of Dan Herman Performance. We are past the so-called quit day after which many people’s resolutions have gone down the drain, so Dan and I talk about both setting goals as well as how to keep them going. The great thing about Dan is he how he can present ideas in relatable ways that are not just pulled out of a textbook, and puts them into actionable steps that you can easily work in your everyday life. For those who haven’t heard him on previous WASP episodes, Dan once weighed 375 pounds, then bought his first running shoes and lost one-third of his weight. He embraced movement and strength and began sharing his knowledge with others. He eventually quit his job to train others full-time and now he is fully committed to helping people transform into the strongest and most authentic versions of themselves. You might want to be ready to take some notes because his commonsense approaches born from overcoming his own struggles I think make listening to him as enlightening as anyone you will hear.Start writing today. Use the button below to create a Substack of your own This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com

As I mentioned in my American Heroes Run episode, there were numerous impressive performances and I’m going to bring you chats with some of these while I’m traveling. First is Lisa Kabat, who not only improved her distance in the 9 hour & 11 minute race from 48 miles in 2023 to 62 miles this year, but also smashed the race record… the men’s record, too. Given the unusual time length, perhaps that’s a world record? Lisa lives near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, but she prefers to run loops around her neighborhood, to the tune of 25 miles every day. Yes, that’s right. Thus, the loop format of the American Heroes Run suits her very well. What was cool was that Lisa generally had a big smile as she completed every lap. This might distract you from gawking at her unusual running form. She runs on her toes with a short, machine-like stride, with arms wildly swinging. I coached high school basketball for many years, and my first instinct would be to fix bad shooting form. But if the player was making his shots, you just shrugged and let it go. The same thing applies to Lisa – it seems to work for her. It’s funny but just last week some people I was with talked about this woman with the funky form who they would see over and over and over running past their house near where Lisa lives. I’ve got a strong hunch I know who they were talking about! Lisa’s next goal is Tunnel Hill, which, while it’s out-and-back, is relatively flat. As she says, with her style it’s likely she should stay off of rocky trails. But in our fun chat, you’ll be impressed hearing how she fits huge miles into her schedule, and her enthusiasm for cranking out repetitive miles.Lisa KabatFacebook Lisa KabatBill [email protected] Bill StahlInstagram and Threads @stahlor and @coachstahlYouTube We Are Superman Podcast This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com