Balancing Training and Holiday Cheer: Denise, Addie, and the Importance of Cross-Training In this episode of 'Becoming Ultra,' Denise and Addie discuss their recent training updates and balancing commitments during the holiday season.

They cover the importance of maintaining a variety of workouts, incorporating cross-training, and staying motivated. Denise shares her insights on the benefit of hiking versus running and how cross-training like mountain biking can complement her running routine.

They also delve into the pros and cons of different types of running shoes and the importance of finding the right fit according to personal needs. The conversation wraps up with holiday wishes and the importance of maintaining a positive mindset during the festive period.

00:00 Introduction and Catching Up

01:03 Holiday Cheer and Traditions

02:32 Gift Giving and Personal Touches

03:57 Running and Training Updates

09:55 Mountain Biking Adventures

13:02 Balancing Training and Life

23:09 Shoe Talk and Race Preparation

29:27 Conclusion and Holiday Wishes

The Becoming Ultra High Desert Trail Retreat!

The Powderhorn Mt. Ultra and Vertical challenge!

Carrie brings some great questions about her training to the call today including: How to decide when running is too much when you aren't 100% well? Pre and post training Dexa scans. Is gait analysis worth it? How much of the training should be walking verse running?

Coach Ian Sharman gives some great insight as she navigates training for her first ultra.

About the hosts:

Ian Sharman

Ian has been racing around the world in all formats of event since 2005 and coaching since 2010, having run over 250 marathons and ultras on five continents (marathon PR 2:21 at age 43, half marathon PR 1:03 at age 44). He's won over 50 marathon+ races with at least one win every year for 19 (and counting) consecutive years. He also holds the fastest time in a trail 100-mile race by a Brit (12h44m), the record for the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning (69h49m), has won the USATF 100-mile trail championship twice and is a four-time Leadville Trail 100 Champion. Ultra Running Magazine has voted him as high as 2nd in its annual Ultra Runner of the Year rankings and 4th in Ultra Runner of the Decade.

Scott Jones, M.S.

Scott started Becoming Ultra to bridge the gap between athletes doing amazing things and the rest of us. There are so many runners that have experienced the joy of training for big things and getting them done and he wanted to bring that to the masses.

The mission is to bring entertaining content and education to the world of running and to continue to coach runners with big goals as he has for the last 20 years! You can listen to him on the Becoming Ultra podcast as a host and coach, find him interviewing other types of athletes and adventurers on Athlete On Fire, or putting on retreats and training camps all over the world.

He has his M.S. in exercise science and has coached athletes from most major professional sports teams, Olympians, 1000’s of young athletes, and hundreds of endurance athletes in his 20+ year career as a coach.

Scott had a chance to sit down with Ben Tracy who is running across the country to highlight the importance on online safety for our youth. Some of the stories from the kids he gets to meet are pretty wild and it's a cause we can get behind with young kids being so vulnerable to the evils online.

Ben Tracyis a leading keynote speaker on digital citizenship, online safety, and responsiblesocial media use. Drawing from personal experience, Ben shares his compelling story aboutthe impact of teenage social media usage at schools and organizations nationwide.Ben is currently running across America to advocate for youth online safety. He is running amarathon each day for 120 consecutive days while speaking at schools and organizationsalong the way. His mission is simple: Keep Kids Safe.As the founder of Safe Social Network, Ben provides essential online safety resources forstudents, parents, and educators. He speaks to more than 100,000 people each year andvolunteers his time to help families report online predators and internet crimes to lawenforcement. Additionally, he awards scholarships annually to high school seniors whoactively promote positive social media usage, mental health awareness, and anti-bullying.