Like A Bigfoot

How do you transform from a self-described "indoor kid" to a person who spends entire weekends hiking through the beautiful outdoors of the Pacific Northwest? What lessons would you learn by stepping into the fresh air to wander in nature? Why are weekend adventures in the natural world so important for your success during the weekdays? This week our podcast proudly welcomes Shaida Hossein. Shaida has spent the last 4 years exploring the wilderness surrounding Seattle, Washington. Originally from the Midwest, these travels have helped her form a newfound love for hiking adventures and open her eyes to whole new aspects of herself. Last January she decided to step up to the "52 Hike Challenge", a global movement to inspire people to complete one hike every single week of the year. So at least once a week you would find Shaida outside exploring the beautiful waterfalls, mountains, and beaches surrounding Seattle. In fact, by the end of the year, she had piled up miles on 73 different trails! On this ep

The mountain conquerer has returned!! A few months removed from finishing his 14ers Project where he summited the 100 tallest mountains in the contiguous United States, Calvin Johannsen returns to the podcast for an overdue celebration of this lofty accomplishment. In this episode we crack open some beers, open some presents, and have a great time as Calvin shares more adventures from the road, including one so intense that it actually gave me a nightmare...as embarrassing as that is to admit as a grown man. Enjoy the conversation as he recounts the highs and lows of solo travel, waxes poetically about how awesome it is to sleep in the back of a Prius, explains how he dealt with the post-adventure slump, and, of course, reveals about the trials and tribulations of climbing some of the most rugged mountains in the U.S. over 100 straight days. Calvin is the master of the "Calspiration", straightforward advice intended to push you towards being the best possible human possible, so I'm releasing this episode

"Keep On Keeping On" Straightforward life advice but also extremely powerful. Nothing can stop you if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other and barreling forward towards your goals. This week we proudly bring you the story of the non-profit organization Keep on Keeping whose intent is to "assist those living with physical disabilities and educating and empowering others to make a difference in their communities." To demonstrate the power of this mantra, Keep On Keeping On's president, and all around awesome guy, Tim Wambach decided he would spend 40 days running 1,000 miles from Orlando, Florida to Chicago, Illinois...twice. Throughout these two attempts it is fair to say that Tim faced major adversity. Fatigue, blisters, rain, humidity, extreme heat (running in a Florida August and September will do that), blisters, decision fatigue, and did we mention...blisters??? And how he overcame these obstacles is nothing short of inspiring! Along with the 40 day endurance challenge, in this epi

"The Endless Winter". A year spent climbing mountains all over the world. In 1969 when asked if he would like to engage in this adventure, my uncle Joel Bown said "something really profound like 'sure, why not?'" Two years of planning later, armed with a tent, a future paradigm-shifting mountaineer Arlene Blum and an "around-the-world" plane ticket, he was off to climb the world. This meant climbing in places like Ethiopia, Uganda, Afghanistan, Iran, and camping out in the wilderness on the other side of the world in order to face some of the tallest mountains on the planet. This is some real life-altering adventures here folks. Really anything else I write can't possibly do justice to this story. And quite frankly, I'm so excited to share this episode that I do not want to spoil ANYTHING! My Uncle Joel has always been a funny, engaging storyteller, but somehow I had never heard this story; the excursion that set him off towards lifelong adventure in the wilderness. Eventually, there will be more ep

Last week we discussed futbol, this week we discuss football. More specifically, one man's love of the sport, how it has changed his life, and why he's passionate enough to choose college football coaching as a career. Our podcast covers a wide variety of topics this week, including how football shapes personality, creates powerful mindsets through adversity, teaches players to handle failure and ultimately encourages people towards becoming the best version of themselves. Along with many experiences from our high school playing AND coaching days. Shane Dowty went from goofy young middle schooler dreaming of playing for his high school team to college football coach who has worked under some of the biggest names in the sport. How'd he do it? What did he overcome along the way? How does he stay positive in the ultra competitive world of college football coaching? What was it like to be low man on the totem pole? How has his experiences with the sport shaped the way he views football? In this episode

7,000 miles. 8 countries. 4 friends. 1 dream. Document the importance of soccer through the lens of a variety of Latin America. This is American Futbol. A documentary film that was a journey of a lifetime for my friend, and all around great guy, Petar Madjarac. These filmmakers took a pause on life to chase a dream, an idea they had thought up years ago. With an extreme passion for soccer and a yearning for adventure, they left behind perfectly good jobs to travel from southern California through many Latin American countries on a quest to Brazil and the 2014 World Cup. Along the way they captured the spirit of each country through the eyes of soccer. In this episode Petar shares stories and insights from the journey, guidance for all of us pursuing a goal, his thoughts on the soccer culture in the United States, the nitty gritty day to day details in filming a travel documentary, and how following a whim can lead to unexpected opportunities. Petar is the kind of person who I look up to; the kind who

Imagine running 200 miles (....hold on, let me say that again, TWO HUNDRED MILES) gaining and losing 35,117 feet of elevation as you circumnavigate one of the most beautiful environments in North America, Lake Tahoe. Now imagine doing that in 90 hours with a total of 5 hours of sleep. Can you picture the crazy hallucinations, foot pain, and severe exhaustion you would be experiencing? How about traveling every painful step alongside your significant other?? How on earth would you endure? Our guest this week is Melissa Ramba Sinclair and this is the fascinating story of how she and her husband Jon survived the Tahoe 200 ultra marathon last September. For people who think 100 miles is not enough, the Tahoe 200 became the first of a new brand of ultra-races- the 200s. The type of event awaiting a small group of badasses brave enough to step up to its challenge. Seemingly a experiment of iron will to see if humans can overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Completing a 200 appears to be a way to

What kind of mental toughness and physicality does it take to break a Guinness World Record? How about choosing one of the most dreaded exercises out there? What drives someone to set a seemingly unfeasible goal and then actually demolish it?? I met Cameron Dorn while climbing the Black Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina in the midst of what was advertised as "the world's hardest 50k". To give you an idea how steep this was, the first 5k took about an hour twenty minutes. During the brutally challenging ascent I started chatting with a group of guys to pass the time; Scott, Dane and Cameron. They were all super awesome in their own rights but one especially was an endless supply of energy and positivity. Cameron instantly became the most memorable person I have met during an ultra race. He was happy to let me tag along with him and his buddies as we trudged along the 24,000 feet of elevation gain, entertaining us with endless hilarious stories and motivation along the way. What kind of mental t

What in the world would is it like to run 100 miles?? What about running for 24 hours nonstop? How about running these crazy events and WINNING? Today's guest is Hammer Nutrition athlete and all around ultramarathon badass, Natalie Larson. In 2015 she went on a spree of 100 milers, knocking off the distance NINE TIMES through various 100 milers and 24 hour endurance events. She accomplished this feat all across the United States, from California all the way to Vermont, bonding with so many runners in the ultra community. The more she competed the more her body adapted to the miles. She became more athletic and faster with each event, began going out fast and finishing STRONG, and ended up winning quite a few (including a race where she placed first OVERALL beating both the men and women). Outside of her own racing, she has checked off quite a few "ultra bucket list items": finished the rim to rim to rim through the Grand Canyon, been a pacer at Western States and a crew member at Badwater. In thi

This week's episode was absolutely fascinating to me. When I heard that my buddy Brandon Swett went to a 10 day silent meditation retreat, my first response was "He did WHAT??" Brandon had never come across to me as the kind of person who would participate in something so outside the box. Over the past two years he has completely challenged his old mindset and is studying meditation on his way to a greater self awareness. The retreat played a huge role in his life. Many people have dabbled into meditation, me included, but very few have experienced the intensity of a 10 day silent retreat. And damn did it sound intense! I was curious to hear all about the intensity of Brandon's adventure, the physical, emotional, and mental journey completely eliminating distractions for 10 days took him on, and the life lessons he has welcomed into his life. I'm so happy Brandon was willing to open up, share and really get raw about the ups and downs he has experienced. This one goes deep. In fact, this is probably

How to become Superhuman, the importance of pursuing new ideas, the mindset of a hard-worker, and, of course, surviving a multi-day Go Ruck challenge (the HCL) while profusely bleeding from your leg. AND SO MUCH MORE!! Ryan Esdohr, co-owner of Superhuman Lab , is a deep thinking student of fitness who is constantly exploring ways to broaden the way we think of performance. Through his company he explores mobility, recovery, and self care in order to discover how athletes can elevate what they are capable of. I met Ryan three years ago when he owned "Iowa Powered Yoga" in Urbandale. After attending one class, based off of my wife's recommendation, I quickly realized that I had found my favorite yoga teacher. He was personable, well informed, funny and led a KILLER workout. Over the past three years, I have frequently practiced his yoga lessons from youtube. In fact, I would say that he's one of the main reasons I have become a proponent for doing brief yoga sessions every single day. As Iowa Powered

Nepal Treks, Ultramarathons, running miles and miles in the Sahara Desert, Iceland stage races, all on this week's episode! Hope that got your attention... Do you remember meeting your first adventurer? The first person who expanded your mind making you understand that the world is HUGE and filled with endless possibilities for adventure? For me that person was my cousin Susan Nowell. When I was in elementary school I vividly remember listening as she shared her experience trekking in Nepal. Her pictures were so exciting and bizarre to me; they showed a brand new world of ginormous mountains and an exotic culture. Of course I had seen places like this on TV, but I would have never guessed that someone I actually KNEW was basically, in my eyes, a real life Indiana Jones! Through the years following, Susan has introduced me to the concept of ultra running, ran hundreds of miles through the Sahara Desert, became an honorary Italian for awhile, written for Trail Running Magazine, became a proponent for

Have you ever day-dreamed about quitting your job, selling your stuff, minimizing your life and hitting the road in the pursuit of adventure? To most of us this will forever remain a day-dream, existing in the back of our minds with the rest of the "somedays". To Annie and Luke Perkins this has become their reality. Having set out on the road, they have embraced a nomadic lifestyle adventuring around our beautiful country in their pop-up camper lovingly named "MuleHawk". On this episode we discuss how to overcome the fear of "taking the leap" towards a dream, the day to day routines of camper life, the importance of embracing a wanderlust mindset, and how they maintain a loving relationship while packed in such tight quarters. To me, Annie and Luke's story is a reminder that the time to pursue your dreams is NOW...right now. Not tomorrow...not "when the time is right", but right now. Whatever your dream may be. There will never be the "perfect time",so ignore the age old adage of "when I have____ t

This week's episode is a great one if you are the person who has thinks to yourself “running a half marathon looks super cool, but I’ll never be a runner... so there’s no point of even signing up.” Matt Rackers is fresh off of finishing his very first half marathon and, while he may currently be limping around like a John Wayne, he’s feeling pretty dang good! Bucket list item=complete! In this episode we discuss the guts it takes to take the first step in any goal, running without the classic “runner’s body” (he's almost 6'6"), learning how to pace yourself, the importance of setting goals, inspiration vs. jealousy, and letting go of your ego as both your wife AND your mom effortlessly run by you during the race. Matt is my youngest cousin and has always been one of my best friends. Although he may not be a stupendous runner (yet), he’s a tremendous athlete having played college football and is one of the only people I know who can do a full pistol squat. He spends his days managing his own business, ta

Adventure up Buffalo Mountain in the early morning after the first snow. Overcoming adversity leads to an important reminder.

Aron Johnston is a husband, a father, and an artist. After high school he fell into a construction job. It was the safe choice- comfy, secure, and gave him a steady paycheck. But it wasn't his passion; it wasn't what he saw himself doing the rest of his life. So he stepped off that path. Left the safety of his job of 15 years and began to pursue his passion- art. Oh yeah...did I mention he had two young boys and a wife (who was also jumping off her career path to pursue her dream)? Did I also mention they had to leave their family and friends in Oregon to the unknown land of Iowa? In this episode he shares his thoughts on taking the leap, pursuing his dreams, the challenges faced by him and his family, how he overcomes self doubt, the importance of a mentor, and much more! Aron is seriously one of the best fathers I know and I have had the privilege of spending a couple vacations with his wonderful family....my wife and I with notepad in hand trying to figure out "how can we raise awesome kids like th

Calvin Johannsen is in the middle of an epic quest to summit the 100 tallest mountains in the continental United States in....100 DAYS. It is called the "14ers Project." No doubt about it, he is on an ADVENTURE. One most people don't have the strength to endure. He has faced adversity, self doubt, gained incredible physical strength, solidified his adventure mindset, demonstrated super human endurance as he has pushed himself beyond what he thought was possible. Follow his progress from mild-mannered dude to kickass mountain goat at calvin.johannsen on Instagram or at www.14ersproject.com. The man is the most inspirational person I know! Keep pushing forward.

For the last 9 months Brady Manriquez has been on a quest to become a healthier, more athletic version of himself. Using a focus on SUSTAINABILITY he has been able to drop 60 pounds, find a passion for running, and benefit from new found self confidence. Listen in for advice about how taking it day by day and celebrating the little victories can help you in the pursuit of your own goals!