Dabbling In Paddleism Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Today I’m speaking with David Miller, an up-and-coming ultramarathon endurance paddler from North Carolina. We’ll talk about many of his already impressive accomplishments ranging from winning the Suwannee River 230 in 2023, claiming a world record in a dragon boat as a team effort during the 2023 MR340, and most recently his second place finish in the 2024 Alabama 650. One of the things I enjoyed hearing from him the most was how he came off of an impressively successful paddling year in 2023 to overcoming obstacles and challenges he faced during the 2024 paddling season as well as the Alabama 650 to ultimately finish second overall in that event. Additionally, we cover how he started out paddling. This dude literally built his own kayak as his first entry into the sport, which is pretty impressive and I hope leads to another discussion with David just to talk about building boats. We also cover some of the lessons he learned from other races, such as the Everglades Challenge in addition to learnings from his amazing support crew for the AL650, his sister Kim and friend Moogie, which led to his impressive performance in the 650 mile race. And finally we’ll cover one of his bucket list adventure paddling goals on the Finger Lakes in New York that I think will also be related to an exciting announcement coming from me on a later podcast edition.

In this episode, Chris Thomas chats with Lindsey Tilton, a dominant force in the ultramarathon paddling world out of Jupiter, Florida who just became the first female to complete the Alabama 650 on a stand-up paddle board. We hit so much on this episode, including a mutual interest in gardening and linking that to recovery tactics, which Lindsey seems to excel at. We also cover training strategies, tracking sleep scores, heart rate variability guided training, the benefits of an alcohol-free lifestyle, sleep deprivation during ultra races, and strategies around caffeine intake. We take a deep dive into research-based training and her effort via Aloha Athletics to inspire others and bring evidence-based training modalities from other sports to paddle athletes. We also cover many of the details of her experience in the AL650, ranging from portages to her personal hydration strategy. Other races mentioned in this pod include the Crossing for CF, the Yukon 1000, MR340, Seventy48, Suwanee 230, Chattajack, and the Everglades Challenge. And there’s a shoutout to Craig Sawyer as well, the creator of the Yukon 1000 documentary, Push Past Impossible, who offered some key advice to Lindsey prior to the 650 as a result of his learning from competing in the race up North. There’s so much more to this episode and inspirational advice from Lindsey, but I’ll let you hear it all from her instead… Relevant Links: Aloha Athletics - https://aloha-athletics.com/ Endless Aloha Challenge - https://aloha-athletics.com/endless-aloha-challenge#endlessaloha The Great Alabama 650 - https://www.alabamascenicrivertrail.com/great-alabama-650/ Last Paddler Standing - https://lastpaddlerstanding.com/

You’re entering a world of pain… In this episode, I chat with a mastermind in human suffering and adventure, Greg Wingo out of Alabama. As the race director of The Great Alabama 650 and Last Paddler Standing, Greg is no amateur when it comes to putting on races and adventures that and I quote… “gets as many people into enjoyable uncomfortable situations as possible.” We touch on so much in this episode, ranging from the Alabama 650, it’s growing popularity of the race amongst endurance racers, fans, and the local Alabama community. We discuss the positive impact the 650 has had on the Alabama Scenic River Trail and it’s growing reputation now competing with the likes of the Boundary Waters, for example. Other discussions include the new media side of Roam projects, the potential for and current barriers for a future AL650 documentary, Greg’s thoughts on how to grow the ultramarathon paddling sport, the off the beaten path hiking tours he puts on, a charitable running shoe donation program he created, Camp 650, Last Paddler Standing, as well as hints of 2 exciting new races and tour announcements likely coming soon including a brand new original racing concept, and cap it off with Greg’s adventure book recommendations. There’s so much more to this chat with him, but I’ll let you hear it from Greg Wingo himself in this 3rd episode of the Dabbling In Paddleism Podcast… https://roamprojects.com/home.html https://lastpaddlerstanding.com/ https://www.alabamascenicrivertrail.com/great-alabama-650/

Today, Chris Thomas sits down with veteran paddler, Mirko Prüfer, out of Germany who got his paddle racing start on a dragonboat racing team. In this episode you’ll hear about how Mirko dove head first into the ultramarathon paddling world after a vacation trip to the Yukon where he was inspired by Yukon River Quest racers. Talk about being in the right place at the right time as this chance encounter inspired his ultramarathon racing career both in boat and on foot. I loved this conversation mostly because it gave me a chance to meet a fellow paddler that I’ve admired from afar but also because of Mirko’s many heartwarming stories of the paddling community. We talk about stories of generosity in a fellow paddler that drove two days to crew for him in the AL650 only for him to return the favor the following year and crew for her. The resounding theme of this podcast is that the paddling community comes through for fellow paddlers in need. There’s so much more to this chat with him, including his stories about paddling more than 1700 total miles in 4 separate races in 2024, but I’ll let you hear it from Mirko Prüfer himself in this 4th episode of the Dabbling In Paddleism Podcast… Mirko's book recommendation: Upside Down in the Yukon River, by Steve Cannon Mirko would also like to send a shoutout to a couple folks that in his words "helped me so much this year!" -John McCoy's Some Beach Outfitters out of Missouri: www.somebeachoutfitters.com -Lite Venture Pure Paddling, an outfitter out of Germany: www.liteventure.de

Chris Thomas sits down with veteran ultramarathon paddle racer, Trey Reaves, out of Florence, Alabama who just became the first ever overall back-to-back winner of the Alabama 650 as a solo racer. Trey’s performance in the ultra paddling racing world has been a real tour de force over the last several years with no signs of slowing down. We start off with his entry into the ultra racing world and even though he DNF’d in his first Alabama 650 he describes how the paddling community came out of the woodwork to encourage and inspire him to keep coming back for more. We cover so much in this episode from the advice to new paddlers entering the sport, the mental aspect of training and racing, early career learnings that have led to his success, his views on the future growth of the sport, and future paddling goals. There’s so much to this episode with one of the top ultra paddle racers in the world, but I’ll let you hear it all from Trey himself in this 5th episode of the Dabbling In Paddleism Podcast… -Trey's IG: @treyreaves -Trey's Facebook: www.facebook.com/share/15jaXyUWhh/?mibextid=wwXlfr -Stellar Kayaks: https://stellarkayaksusa.com/

In this episode, Chris Thomas sits down with veteran paddlers Jeff Matthews and John Wellens who are definitely not novices when it comes to voluntary human suffering with paddles in hand. As recent top 5 finishers of the Yukon 1000 in the kayak class as Team Epic, we take a deep dive into their race. I specifically wanted to chat with these guys first of all, because my brother and I paddled with them early in the 2024 Yukon 1000 and realized they were just awesome dudes. Secondly, they both dealt with a great deal of adversity in their race and they rose to the occasion without a hitch. And lastly, they both helped to support an amazing cause in Team River Runner, which is an organization that helps veterans with a focus on supporting positive mental health. We cover so much in this episode, from early race setbacks, bears in camp, videography tactics while racing, the Yukon 1000 documentary Push Past Impossible, opportunities for improvement in future races, what it means to be a good teammate in an ultra paddle race, to their fundraising efforts supporting a great cause. There’s so much more to this chat with Jeff and John, but I’ll let you hear it from Team Epic themselves in this 6th episode of the Dabbling In Paddleism Podcast… Check out this video that Jeff and John created about their Yukon 1000 race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYMKThvR8jQ Jones Fitness https://jonesfitnessandperformance.com/ TRR https://www.teamriverrunner.org/ South Carolina TRR (Team Epic’s Chapter) https://www.teamriverrunner.org/chapters/south-carolina-columbia/ Team Epic's book recommendations: -Touching the Void by Joe Simpson -Endurance by Alfred Lansing -No Barriers – Erik Weihenmayer -Mississippi Solo – Eddy L. Harris

In this episode, Chris Thomas sits down with veteran ultramarathon crew member Alicia Reaves as well as her daughter Ruthie Reaves, high school soccer player and newcomer to ultramarathon crewing. As the crew team that helped their husband and father, Trey Reaves, to first ever back-to-back overall victory in solo fashion in the Alabama 650, we go through what it means to be a first class crew for this event. We cover so much in this episode from nutrition support, wound care, old school navigation, the Alabama heat, sleep deprivation, strategizing around the challenge of an incoming hurricane, random photo shoots along the way, and how a race like this really brings people together. There’s so much more to this chat with Alicia and Ruthie, but I’ll let you hear it from the crew themselves in this 7th episode of the Dabbling In Paddleism Podcast… Book recommendations: -Ruthie: Where the Crawdads Sing -Alicia: Where the Red Fern Grows If you have any questions you'd like me to address on air, ask future guests, or even suggestions for future guests, please send those to me at dabblinginpaddleism@gmail.com or via instagram @dabbling_in_paddleism (https://www.instagram.com/dabbling_in_paddleism?igsh=dDE4aXc3bmd3aXZp&utm_source=qr).

In this episode, Chris Thomas sits down with Matt Jones out of Charleston, SC… a stand up paddle board racer, rock climber, and coach in both the climbing and paddling disciplines. Matt has an extensive background in which he’s coached athletes from all ages beginning with children and amateur adults all the way up to the professional level helping folks achieve national championships. I specifically invited him on the show because of one of his recent efforts coaching my guests, Jeff and John, from Episode 6 for the 2024 Yukon 1000. We cover so much in this episode from why any paddle athlete needs a coach, beginning with newcomers to the sport all the way to veteran champion paddlers, the essentials of injury prevention and recovery, minimal effective dose from a training perspective, how to prepare the body to be ready for a massive uptick in volume when an ultramarathon race comes around, and high versus low intensity training. There’s so much more to this chat with Matt, but I’ll let you hear it all from him in this 8th episode of the Dabbling In Paddleism Podcast… Matt's Coaching Website: https://jonesfitnessandperformance.com/

In this episode, Chris Thomas sits down with Craig Sawyer, a veteran ultramarathon paddler and true renaissance man. As the filmmaker of the Yukon 1000 documentary and 2023 Yukon 1000 winner in the stand up paddle board class our main focus in this episode is around lessons learned from the longest paddle race in the world and how he’s adjusting his approach to training for his upcoming solo attempt in the 2025 Yukon River Quest. We cover so much in this episode including the importance of being a good team in the 1000, post-race blues, data points to guide training, gear and boat adjustments relative to the 1000 and the YRQ, mental prep and visualization, a hilarious post-shower interaction with a trucker by the Dalton Highway Bridge, preparation and dealing with sleep deprivation, hallucinations, and an alcohol-free lifestyle. There’s so much more to this chat with Craig, but I’ll let you hear it from Craig Sawyer himself in this 9th episode of the Dabbling In Paddleism Podcast… Craig’s book/documentary recommendations: Survival of the fittest - Dr. Mike Stroud The world’s fittest book - Ross Edglley Ross Edgley's documentary on the world’s longest non-stop swim on the Yukon River How to find Craig: -Instagram: @craigsawyer77 @thesupcoach -Professional website: https://www.abovesixsix.co.uk/ -Amazon Prime link to Craig’s documentary of the 2023 Yukon 1000 race Push Past Impossible https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0DS5PY3JH/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

So for this episode we're going to do something a little different. First of all, my previous episodes have been released every 2 weeks, but here I'm releasing the next 2 episodes in a little quicker fashion as I partner with Dr. Alison Kole, a triple boarded pulmonary, critical care, and sleep physician that hosts the podcast Sleep is My Waking Passion. Secondly, this podcast is going to be distributed in 2 separate installments, so stay tuned for the next episode as well to hear all of her advice on how to train for and mitigate the effects of sleep deprivation. We cover so much in this episode related to sleep and ultramarathon events and do our best to keep it evidence-based, but I'll let you hear it from Dr. Alison Kole herself on this 10th episode of the Dabbling in Paddleism Podcast... "Welcome to Season 6 of Sleep Is My Waking Passion! In this episode, I sit down with Chris Thomas, pharmacist by day and ultra-marathon paddler by passion. Chris shares his incredible experiences tackling extreme endurance paddle races like the Yukon 1000 and Alabama 650, where sleep deprivation, physical exhaustion, and mental resilience are all part of the challenge. Together, we explore: Part 1: The unique demands of ultra-marathon paddle racing, from navigating 1,000-mile waterways to managing sleep in remote environments. The science behind sleep deprivation, its effects on cognition and performance, and strategies for recovery and in part 2: Tools and techniques like caffeine naps, sleep banking, breathing exercises, and even cutting-edge devices like Modia Sleep to optimize rest during intense races. Chris opens up about his own sleep challenges during races, including moments of déjà vu and pushing through exhaustion with creative solutions. We also discuss how nutrition, teamwork, and preparation play a pivotal role in maximizing performance while staying safe. Whether you're an athlete seeking tips for endurance sports or simply curious about the limits of human resilience, this episode offers a fascinating deep dive into the intersection of sleep science and extreme athleticism. 🔗 Join me for an inspiring conversation with Chris as we paddle through the uncharted waters of sleep deprivation and recovery!" Dr. Alison Kole's links: My media press kit is in the link below: https://www.askthesleepmd.com/presskit My podcast aims to help all of us learn to navigate self-advocacy and prioritize healthy sleep. Links: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@asktheSleepMD Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sleep-is-my-waking-passion/id1684976379 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3kSqlAoEC7tFmFj0Pms0hw?si=7f9eb2af07ac4549 Connect: Website: www.askthesleepmd.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/askthesleepmd Facebook: www.facebook.com/askthesleepmd LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alison-kole-md-mph-fccp-faasm-b6a26715 Link to episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2173002/episodes/16901696.mp3?download=true