The Break Down, A ZenduranceNow Podcast

Sean’s Grindstone 100 mile Report, Winter Surfing, & Race Specificity

Sean and Meghan chat about Sean's recent Grindstone 100 mile race and training specificity. Sean gives a solid recap of a great race including race logistics and mishaps. Meghan delves into her new love of winter surfing and why her training isn’t geared towards any specific goal. And as always Sean and Meghan disagree on the meaning of the word "suffering."
Outtake song: "Two 6's Upside Down," Dropkick Murphys

Keep on Swinging with Sarah Keddell & her incredible adventures in Africa, Pakistan, & Nepal

Meghan and Sean sit down with the infamous Sarah Keddell. Sarah regales them with her tales of life on the trails and worldly adventures. Sarah explains to us her unconventional journey to and through endurance athletics from Army Medic to Massage Therapist. Sarah's most recent adventures include Kilimanjaro and to K2 base camp in Nepal. Sarah describes how these adventures materialized, her training, and where she plans to go to next. She shares with us some words of wisdom on how to properly plan and enjoy experiences as they unfold. If you are interested in seeing Sarah as a stretching or massage client or just to listen to her wild stories you can find her at … https://www.capecodwellnessworks.com/ And you know how we feel about Johnny Cash....

Johnny Cash is a GOD

Meg and Sean just chat it up again. They talk for a little bit about getting the kids back to school and last year of the summer trips. Turns out Sean isn’t the biggest fan of camping. Meg got to spend some time without kids in the White Mountains in New Hampshire and worked a bit on her hiking. Sean had a big weekend in the Vermont in the Green Mountains with family before heading to New Hampshire to hit the Pemi Loop with a buddy. He recaps his Pemi loop run and how that all shook out. Sean makes a pitch to Vibram to make him an ambassador and sponsor this podcast. They digresses in bike crashes, mountain biking as an older athlete, and what it means to be older and when risks are too great. Finally we get around to the big questions of the day. Is Killian the greatest of all time and did he cement his legacy as such this year? And do female runners last longer than male runners at the top level? We delve into the common topics of life balance and healthy relationships with fitness. Staying fit as we get older. As a closing note just saying if you don’t like Johnny Cash F- you.

Catching Up! Meghan and Sean missed each other!

Meghan and Sean have a catch up conversation. It’s been a little bit since Sean and Meg were able to converse. They dive right into old school phone sex and sex worker discussion. Seems pretty normal. Will Meghan run a marathon, will she be able to qualify for Boston? We talk a little about her recovery from her surgery and progressing towards goals going forward. We discuss the importance of building and the consistency required to progress towards healthy goals. About respecting the process of recovery and understanding where she is “right now” vice where she was prior to this recovery. Continuing the catch up we discuss meeting “running celebrities” and how Meghan ran into Joan Benoit Samuelson while on vacation in Maine. Eventually we come around to Dean Karnazes suspicious coyote attack story. Sean talks about his training and what happened on his Fastpack of the New England Trail Mass Section. He discusses how sometimes pulling the plug is the right decision in the context of training and with guidance from his coach. Silly talk about seal and dolphins, t-shirts vs sleeveless, handhelds, practicing with poles. Sean talks about changing jobs to a full time dayshift job and leaving shift work. An finally kids don’t forget reading is fundamental!

Having a Coach, What is it like? Sara Simmons tells us

Meghan and Sean get together and chat with Sara Simmons a long time ZenduranceNow athlete. Sara is coached by Sean and explains how that came about. She also delves into how her perceptions of her abilities has changed while being coached by ZenduranceNow coaches. She explains her past experiences and injury history and how our initial focus was getting her to be able to perform healthy. Sara explains the benefits of coaching as she has experienced them. As a bonus Sara and Meghan reminisce about how their friendship blossomed under the stresses of crewing for Sean during the VT100.

Special Guest Dr. Joshua White

Meghan and Sean sit down and check in with friend and runner Joshua White. Josh is a ultra runner living in Vermont where he resides as a Chief Medical Officer in a local hospital. Josh discusses with us his practices for homesteading and how he utilizes his land, animals, and provides for his family through hunting, farming, and foraging. Josh explains how and why he chose this lifestyle and how it impacts his family and their daily lives. Discussions as usual breakdown into the bizarre and nonsensical. As the chief medical officer in a hospital we discuss with Josh the Covid pandemic and look for his thoughts and insights from the rural medical point of view. How Covid changed the demographics of hospitals staffing and the complications that have arisen from that. We further discuss vaccinations and boosters as we move into the endemic phase and where he see’s life going from this point.family and their daily lives. Discussions as usual breakdown into the bizarre and nonsensical. As the chief medical officer in a hospital we discuss with Josh the Covid pandemic and look for his thoughts and insights from the rural medical point of view. How Covid changed the demographics of hospitals staffing and the complications that have arisen from that. We further discuss vaccinations and boosters as we move into the endemic phase and where he see’s life going from this point.

Mental Health and Endurance Sports

Sean and Meghan talk mental health and fitness. This includes: the connection between mind and body and the stigma that exists around mental health and how this is changing as education becomes more prevalent. The importance of empathy and compassion while dealing with mental health is stressed. Meghan and Sean discuss some of their personal experiences dealing with those with mental health problems. They also discuss the impact of COVID on mental health and how exercise can help alleviate many of the issues that arise from mental health problems and ways to incorporate exercise into our daily lives to improve emotional well being. While exercise can generally be healthy there is certainly issues that exist with disordered exercise. Learning to be comfortable in one’s own skin and not to be defined by a single aspect of one’s activity. Fellowship and community are helpful with combating issues associated with depression and other mental health disorders. Feeling not alone. Get outside and talk to someone if you are struggling, it may be what saves your life.

Weird Stories: Seen, Heard, and Experienced While Running Way Too Much

When you spend a lot of time outside weird things are bound to occur- right? At least this is what Sean and Meghan are telling themselves. Please join us for our listener submitted stories. We laugh a lot and there's a lot of head shaking. Here's a list of the stories that were told:
 
John Lennon
Death Race Hallucinations
Sean’s Virgil Crest
Matt’s poop story
Rick Vomit at Infinitus
Fernando Chases a girl
Chest bumps gone aray
Sean goes out too fast again (Bart Yasso sightings)
Meg gets struck by lightning
Sprinklers can be dangerous (sewage)
Whips and mattresses
Cold weather streaker
Watermelons and paranoia
Carrying logs 
Pooping in snowbanks
Troll toll
Zebras in VT
Scooby- Doo glow sticks
Weird stuff happens in FL
 
Outtake Song: "Alabama" - Cross Canadian Ragweed
 

The Gang is All Here! Coach Sam Farnsworth is in the house!

The whole gang is together for the first time on the podcast! Welcome to Sam Farnsworth the third ZenduranceNow coach. Sam joins us to talk about how he came into the endurance world and how we all came together as a team at ZenduranceNow. Sam explains his metamorphosis through several careers to where he is now. He explains what makes his massage therapy practice different form other therapist. The discussions then digress towards the importance of recovery, proper mobility and strength practice, experiences with raw emotions and gratitude in endurance events, willingness to continue and sharing space and miles as a coping mechanism in ultras, and touch on wether we are predisposed and different to be the way we are or it’s something that is learned through experience. Sam brings us round to his current training for Vermont 100 and the charity work he does raising money for Vermont Adaptive and what Vermont Adaptive provides for those in need. Sam chose this weeks out song Jerry by John Melancamp. 
If you’d like to make an appointment with Sam for massage therapy he can be found here: https://samfarnsworthlmt.com
If you’d like to learn more about Vermont Adaptive and possibly donate towards Sam’s goal that can be done here: https://www.pledgereg.com/4085/samfarnsworth
And here is a link to Sam’s YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UCsq0ieyMM3MjI3j3LyMhplw

Getting Old Schooled with Marshall Collins

Marshall Collins (aka Meghan's Dad) the OG of Running
 
Meghan and Sean sit down with Meghan’s father Marshall Collins on his birthday and talk running from his perspective. He shares with us humbling stories and humor, beating Amby Burfoot only to realize Amby was at a distinct disadvantage, trying to beat legendary Patti Catalano, and unfortunately sharing the same track as Olympic medal winner Rick Wohlhuter. We dive into his thoughts on the Boston Marathon, Meghan as a Cross Country racer, and kids at and in races. He shares with us his thoughts on the sport today and trail and ultra running vs. road and marathon running. He leaves us with a beautiful memory of his favorite run. *Note: Marshall had COVID during the recording of this episode so please excuse the coughs and occasionally connection difficulties