Big thank you to the podcast supporters! John Wayne Cancer Foundation - Run the GRIT Series https://johnwayne.org/ Tanri Outdoors - All Natural Sun Protection for Runners (use “ULTRA10” for 10% off) https://tanri.com/ XoSkin (use “T4U20” for 15% off) https://www.xoskin.us/ Thank you Patreon supporters! https://www.patreon.com/trainingforultra

Guest: Alicia Jenkins

 

Episode Title: Moab 240 Recaps from Alicia Jenkins (3rd Female) and Lucja Leonard (5th Female)

Bio: Alicia Jenkins is an ultrarunner, backpacker, physical therapist assistant, and running coach based in Washington state. When she was 19 years old, Alicia began running when she and her father trained for a half marathon. Although it was not until December of 2015, when Alicia decided to get sober, she took her running and health seriously. Her personal goal was to run the Boston Marathon and the requisite training to which she credits her sobriety. Running helped her focus her energy and become more and more in tune with her body and learn how to optimize it. Since then, she has never felt better or happier, which has allowed her to put in quite a few miles and inspire many fellow runners. She has run the Bigfoot 200, Canadian Death Race 125k, Black Canyon 100k, Orcas Island 50 mile, and the Chuckanut 50k. Alicia’s 2020 Bigfoot 200 race is most notable for the simple fact that Bigfoot 200 was canceled that year due to COVID-19, but Alicia refused to let that stop her. After all, this had been her goal for over two years. She ended up doing the entire race without any professional aid stations, trail markings, sleep stations, or other luxuries found at many official ultras. The experience was life-changing as a competitive person by nature. Running a “race” by herself for a time that would be considered unofficial was incredibly difficult and required her to change her mindset. For Alicia, Bigfoot 200 will never be a race but an experience. It taught her that although competition is essential, it cannot be your driving force. It was quite the experience and involved everything from chasing snowmen to counting bugs, culminating in a personalized finish line and jogging around the track with her dog. Alicia inspires many with her story. David Goggins and Sabrina Stanely most inspire her. Most recently, Alicia ran her longest ever ultramarathon, the 2021 Moab 240 - spoiler she kicked butt and placed third in the women’s field!

Quotes from podcast episode:

Episode Quotes:

“I told my pacers just bring everything, bring everything that you could potentially think you might need to bring, bring it all, and just be prepared for a suffer-fest.” - 6:06 Alicia Jenkins

 “It all takes time, so I think sometimes it’s not laziness, but it’s also like this sort of panic of “oh my god I’m wasting more and more time” sort of switching in and out, but that can save you more time in the long run of course.” - 24:20 Lucja Leonard 

 “Make sure you pull your big girl pants up and just crack on!” - 28:01 Lucja Leonard

“I tried not to think about how much further I had to go. Yeah, every time I would think about that, I would go, “nope, don’t think about that just focus on the next checkpoint the next aid station that’s all you’re going to think about: that next section”” - 28:43 Alicia Jenkins

 “She actually said she contemplated quitting her job so she could come pace me. That’s how mad she was!” - 30:19 Alicia Jenkins

 “The mental strength it takes far exceeds the physical strength, and people are always so focused on the distance, but they don’t realize when you’re out there alone, you’re the only one that’s going to push.” - 33:40 Rob Steger

 “It’s just amazing how you can lay down on the side of the road in the dirt and just put your head down, and within a second, you’re like, out cold, just totally out cold… It’s just phenomenal how much it resets your body; you feel great. A fifteen-minute nap is perfect. It really does reset the body.” - 38:13 Lucja Leonard

 “If you wake up, Lucja, I will trip you with my pole!” - 40:46 Rob Steger

 “It was really beautiful, but geez, that was tough.” - 50:04 Lucja Leonard

“I told myself this is why we sign up for these things because they are hard, and I told myself, “I am very proud of you, Alicia, for getting through that you didn’t really have a choice, but you did it,” so it was good. It was a lot of emotions.” - 55:20 Alicia Jenkins

 “It is that moment, those moments, let's make it plural, of suffering that you want to get to in a strange way like we don’t do them because they’re fun and you’re dancing around to “Stayin Alive” all the time, but there are those moments as well, but it is really overcoming those down moments where like you said, “I’m really proud of you Alicia.” I'm proud of myself as well, and you look at yourself, and you’re like you just ran 240 miles through rocks and rain and sleet and just all these conditions and through the night, and who would have thought that were so powerful to be able to do that. It's getting to those moments and overcoming them that really is the reason why we do these things. Just getting to that point, it's exciting.” 57:28 Lucja Leonard 

 

“Yeah, being able to get third get a podium spot was amazing, but really, it's also cool just finishing the thing. Anybody that finishes it deserves all the accolades. It is not an easy feat, that’s for sure.” - 1:13:57 Alicia Jenkins

“I just downed that Tylenol, and I was like right, we need to get this sh*t done because I cannot stand on my feet for much longer like this pain is killing me.” - 1:15:40 Lucja Leonard

 Half an hour after finishing, we were sat in Woody’s having a beer and already talking about what’s the next adventure. Everyone had such a great time crewing and pacing, and we were like we gotta do this again!”” 1:24:43 Lucja Leonard

Episode Timeline:

4:15 Preparing for Moab 240 weather

9:05 Running in the rain

20:20 Mile 71 picking up your pacers and seeing crew again

22:40 Avoiding chafing and overheating in long races

32:15 Racing with a pacer and crew versus being out there by yourself

36:55 Logistics and benefits of trail naps

47:40 The first climb and reaching the halfway point

58:30 165 miles into the race - turtle hats, mystery rashes, and macaroons

1:02:20 200 miles into the race - sleeping with soup, avoiding rocks and snakes, Rob’s rumored gummy bear barrel

1:07:20 Leaving Horse Creek - banking some free miles and smelling the finish line

1:09:40 The race becomes a race

1:10:13 Alicia’s ankle pain

1:14:30 Final miles

1:19:00 Finish line

1:26:00 Hallucinations

Social Media:

Instagram: 🌸 ⓐⓛⓘⓒⓘⓐ 🌸 (@leasha24) • Instagram photos and videos LinkedIn: Alicia Jenkins - Running Coach - Team RunRun | LinkedIn Website: Alicia Jenkins - Bellingham Running Coach – Team RunRun

Sponsors: N/A

 

Guest: Lucja Leonard

 

Bio: Lucja Leonard is an ultrarunner and coach and, well, she is such an adventurer, it is a little hard to say where she is based, so let’s just say you can find her anywhere there’s a crazy endurance challenge! Although Lucja only got into running a little over ten years ago, as a way to lose some weight, she has done everything from 10ks, multi day stage races, to 100 milers and most recently she ran her first 200 miler! Lucja lived the majority of her life in the U.K., but since she got into endurance events, she has also raced all over the world and the U.S. so, she provides a unique perspective on the differences and similarities of the world’s ultrarunning communities and endurance events. Some of Lucja’s most notable races include: UTMB, Kalahari Extreme Marathon, Marathon des Sables, Mohican 100, and the HURT100. Lucja’s favorite ultras, though, are the ones with the smaller, more low-key start lines where you truly get to know and bond with your fellow racers. She believes it is the suffering and problem solving that ultrarunning requires, which both bonds and empowers people during these grueling events. Running all over the world has expanded Lucja’s worldview and she believes every experience in life, the good and the bad, is a part of training. Lucja is the first to say that time is irrelevant in ultrarunning purely because it is such a small part of such an intense experience and any challenge only adds to the adventure. It is this great mindset and wealth of experience that most recently got Lucja to the finish line of the Bigfoot 200, her first 200 miler. This was also the first race of her 2021 Triple Crown attempt which has now been altered due to the wildfires in Tahoe. Lucja has not let this get her down though and she continues to inspire runners all over the world to persevere and power on through life, training, and racing.  

Lucja’s last appearance on T4U: 

The Training For Ultra Podcast: The Lost Interview w/ Lucja Leonard (libsyn.com)

Quotes from podcast episode: Coming Soon!

 Episode Timeline: Coming Soon!

 Social Media:

Instagram:Lucja Leonard (@runningdutchie) • Instagram photos and videos  Twitter: Lucja Leonard (@Runningdutchie) / Twitter Website: Running Dutchie – Running, personal fitness, health & wellness – I can help you achieve your goals Facebook: Lucja Leonard (@Runningdutchie) / Twitter

Sponsors:  N/A

 

Big thank you to the podcast supporters! John Wayne Cancer Foundation - Run the GRIT Series https://johnwayne.org/ Tanri Outdoors - All Natural Sun Protection for Runners (use “ULTRA10” for 10% off) https://tanri.com/ XoSkin (use “T4U20” for 15% off) https://www.xoskin.us/ Thank you Patreon supporters! https://www.patreon.com/trainingforultra