Wanna Help Me FKT? – Details, episodes & analysis

Yup. I admit to being a "fangirl". In this episode, I fangirled over watching Western States and then fangirl even harder over Steve and Jade's recent attempt to do their own FKT on the Bruce Trail. :D

Steve and Jade are 2 outdoor enthusiasts and adventure seekers who did their own "Fear Know Trail" (FKT) run on the Bruce from June 11 to June 23, running from Niagara to Tobermory in 12 days and 13 hours. I joined them for part of their run when they ran through Owen Sound (check out my previous episode from June) and you can jump to about 26 minutes in to hear our chat about their experience. I gush about my fascination with their decision to go Northbound, ask how the idea for this adventure came to be and how they made it all work, while also sharing some of my own anxieties and musings about tackling the Bruce. If you start from the top of this (long, yes, very long) episode, you'll hear me check in with myself about training set backs and how I haven't been believing in what I say.

I have, however, always believed that you when meet certain people and encounter certain stories, it all happens for a reason. We all have the power to make choices to seek out what we need. And whether I knew it or not, I Needed to see Steve and Jade's Fear Know Trail run in June and I'm so glad I did! I can't stress enough how following along with, meeting, and chatting with Steve and Jade has inspired me to believe in myself and mindfully developing my own approach to the Big Dance with the Bruce, no matter what it may look like. Thank you, Steve and Jade. *HUGS*

Connect with Steve and Jade's Fear Know Trail story as it continues:

https://www.instagram.com/fearknowtrail

https://www.fearknowtrail.com/

Their recent podcast interview with Shawn Sobon on Trail Tales ARP that digs into more details about their adventure:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/06pb1XklWL8t0EQXT8jDEZ?si=xVSZpzmFS-uiQLl225T5kQ&dl_branch=1&nd=1

Video version of that podcast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fZTLJv101Q&t=11s

About Eat Local Grey Bruce:

http://eatlocalgreybruce.ca/

Give to Donate to Eat Local Grey Bruce's Zero Waste Project:

https://ca.gofundme.com/f/eat-local-grey-bruce-zero-waste-support

Where to find Billy Yang's interview with Katie Asmuth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0XTNoSTF0U

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4qJCt6kK2pVtDsfnJsA6CN?si=_8AwiX4ORueX_YtaiuSITQ&dl_branch=1&nd=1

Scott and Jenny Jurek's book, North:

http://www.scottjurek.com/north

It's been 2 months since I last recorded and yes, I am still alive. More on the aliveness later. :) 

I went out to meet Steve Kenny who is currently running a supported FKT Northbound attempt on the Bruce Trail today!! The morning adventure prompted me to sit my butt down to remember this moment with a podcast episode. I was so excited to meet him and his crew which consisted of his wife Jade and his sister, whom I forgot the name of but shares my love for Endurance Tap (Jenny? Sorry!). Also very happy to be able to dust off my cowbell, run with him as a sign of support for his ambitious goal, and check out more of the Bruce! I said he was on Day 8 in my recording, but he was actually on Day 9, and looking steady and strong!!

Please see below for relevant links such as the live tracker and how to donate and find out more info to support Eat Local Grey Bruce, a non-profit co-operative and online farmer's market, that Steve Kenny is running to raise funds for!

You can track Steve Kenny live below: 

https://share.garmin.com/stevekenny

More about Fear Know Trail: 

https://www.instagram.com/fearknowtrail

About Eat Local Grey Bruce: 

http://eatlocalgreybruce.ca/

Give to Donate to Eat Local Grey Bruce's Zero Waste Project: 

https://ca.gofundme.com/f/eat-local-grey-bruce-zero-waste-support

Clay Williams is a 60 year old ultra runner who started running "to get in shape" when he was in his mid forties. He's the creator of the Canal Pursuit for Mental Health, a 785 km run along the Rideau and Trent Severn Canals and owns two FKTs related to that run, and co-founder of the Monarch Ultra Relay run, a 4326 km run from Peterborough Ontario to Macheros Mexico following the migration path of Monarch butterflies. He's an avid mental health advocate, Stars Wars fan and Harley rider. 

We chat about: 

-Canal Pursuit, more info here: 

https://www.facebook.com/canalpursuit/  

https://mdsc.akaraisin.com/ui/DefeatDepression2021/g/25557 

-How we can cope with Imposter Syndrome 

-Monarch Ultra, more info here: http://www.themonarchultra.com/ 

-Check out the FKT site here: https://fastestknowntime.com/ 

-Learn more about the Bruce Trail here: https://brucetrail.org/ 

Other things mentioned:  The idea I mentioned about how to sleep for over 100mile efforts was heard on the recent Billy Yang Podcast (EP063) here with Sally McRae and Jason Koop: https://billyyangpodcast.libsyn.com/sally-mcrae-jason-koop-live-byp-063 

Stephanie Hurtado is a trail and ultrarunner who wears many hats. She's a mom, a wife, an ER nurse, host of the Running Divine podcast, all around adventure seeker, and proponent of the pandemic pivot. I have her to thank for many things, one of which is meeting Bruce! 

It's only my second time recording in April, so I review what's been up since late March and the changes to my training so far in April. I'm feeling better since my last episode and guess who's doing long runs now?! :D

Check out Stephanie's Running Divine Podcast, where she shares many inspiring adventure stories!

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/running-divine-podcast/id1417290907

Took a break from recording last week, and now I am feeling more energized in my training! You'll hear me putting my "athlete in training" cap on and learning English! Haha! Here is part 2 of my conversation with Lisa Sweetman where we discuss more parts of our personal running journeys and she leaves me with some food for thought (hearty, but not as "yummy" as her Earth+City food, I'm sure...) about diversity in trail running...

After doing some (admittedly not super in-depth, but eye opening) research, I found these resources about how certain people/groups are working to improve diversity in the trail running community. Check them out!

we_are_trail:

https://www.instagram.com/we_are_trail/

An interview with Dora Atim, Founder of Ultra Black Running:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ6oLcRogNE

An article about Joe Gray and how he's working to improve diversity through "Project Inspire Diversity", his grassroots program aimed at seeding inspiration and motivation among young minority distance runners in Colorado:

https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a29020178/joe-gray-diversity-in-running/

An article about trail races (namely in the US) making changes to improve gender equality:

https://trailrunnermag.com/races/trail-races-continue-making-strides-toward-gender-equality.html

As article about OUTrun, and its cofounders Addie Bracy and Corey Conner, wanting to create space for LGBTQ+ individuals in running:

https://trailrunner.com/trail-news/elite-trail-runners-and-lgbtq-couple-launch-outrun/

https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a34400215/addie-bracy-ambassador/

Lisa Sweetman is a trail running enthusiast, who loves to chase big goals and engage with the local community. She is an endurance athlete, a mother to soon-to-be two children, a spouse to her wife Ashley, an elementary school teacher, and a small business owner. Woah, that’s a mouthful! In addition, Lisa is an avid ambassador of the 5Peaks Trail Running Series and the journal editor at Runners of the Six. Lisa has tackled races and runs everywhere from a 5km stroller race to a 100km recent effort. She loves to read fiction, write poetry, and eat donuts!

You can hear me share my feelings about (finally) venturing onto the S-T-Rava land and getting sad with my current pain-in-the-butt (pun intended!) situation. Skip ahead to 14:57 if you don't want to get drunk from my w(h)ine. :P  Oh I have so much to learn from Lisa's resilience... and this is only Part 1 of our conversation!

Lisa's conversation on The Longest Stride podcast, where she shares the detailed journey to her 100K last year:

https://thelongeststride.com/episodes/23-lisa-sweetman/

How to find Lisa's food company, Earth+City:

https://earth-city.myshopify.com/

https://www.instagram.com/earthandcity/

https://www.facebook.com/earthandcity/

Other things mentioned:

5 Peaks Trail Running Series (Ontario):

http://www.5peaks.com/ontario

Seaton Soaker:

http://www.seatonsoaker.com/

The Ginger Runner on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSxqXJj9btSS3nrmBg8GXdQ

I gush about winter running in shorts (again) and we continue with Part 2 of my conversation with my friend Laurie Hunt! We talk big talk around believing in ourselves, feeling fear, and feeding our curiosity.

Learn more about Laurie and her "More in Me" movement here:

https://www.lauriehunt.com/

Laurie was a one time chubby smoking party girl who found running and in the intervening 30 years has run 19 marathons, completed 2 half ironman 70.3 races and a 55km mountain race in Nepal along with hundreds of other races. Laurie attributes much of her success in her work and in life to all the lessons she’s learned along the many miles of road, instilling the belief that anything is possible. She likes to quote her early marathon coach Michael Brennan who always said, "it’s who you become on the journey to your accomplishments that matters".

I love Laurie. :) She's one of my closest running friends, my mentor, and someone who inspires me to dream big and believe in staying curious! This conversation with Laurie was sooo fun that I've split it into 2 episodes! In this first part, we chat about how we met, how running has changed us, our experience together when Laurie crewed me on my "Big Dance" last fall, and Laurie starts to help me look at how I tend to fret.

Find out more about Laurie here:

https://www.lauriehunt.com/