JESSE: This is a curiosity from kind of the professional side for me. I was actually out on a run, I met my friend Pat the other day, there's a trail near my house. And my friend Pat did not grow up really running, but he does ultras now. And so at my company, we do skincare products for athletes. He was do you have any anti-chafing stuff? He's like I need some really bad. I kind of think about any of that, this is not really a product question for you. But just any of those products seems like they're going to come off after amount of time. Like how do you deal with not being completely chased at the end of a race? STEPH: Oh, I use, this is actually great. I use Squirrel’s Nut Butter, which is a product that is out of Flagstaff and developed by an ultra runner. It's amazing. It's like mostly like coconut butter, but it works like a charm. So, one, I want gear that fits me really well. I've got my own signature pack that fits female body so it doesn't rub weird. But then I use that, Squirrel’s Nut Butter, and it is amazing.I get maybe a little chasing, but not really. So, you need to try it. JESSE: So, is it made for anti-chafing or is it a food? It sounds like a food. STEPH: Yeah, I know. It's a product made for chafing. Yeah, check it out, Squirrel’s Nut Butter. They have like different like little-- they almost look like deodorant sticks to just like apply. They have like little tins you can carry with you when you're running. But it works so well. JESSE: Okay. So, I guess it's just one of those-- I haven't gotten into try and develop that kind of product just because it's super competitive and I'm not really sure how you differentiate it. But I hadn't heard about that. You know, everybody uses Body Glide, but I think it's only so good. STEPH: Yeah, I used to use Body Glide, I'm a convert, so. JESSE: Yeah, so I'll have to check it out to see what they're doing. STEPH: Yeah, Chris Thornley is the guy. JESSE: Okay. Chris...to take all my notes here. So, I kinda want to jump back for you. I saw, so growing up, you did softball, and then somehow reluctantly found yourself in cross country. So, how did you make the transition? Are you glad you made the transition considering how things turned out? STEPH: Well, I always was good at running and I just didn't really like it because all my friends and the popular girls did team sports and I kind of wanted to do that. So, it was my junior year in high school and I had done cross country skiing for the first time that winter. And I was really successful and starting to think about college and running, I was good at it. And so it was like a really hard thing for me to give up softball, but like when I did, I was oh, this is the right decision. So, my senior year in high school, I actually didn't play softball, I ran track for a year. That was the only time I'd ever run track. And then I got a scholarship to ski, cross country ski in college. And skiing is similar to running like we spend a lot of time on the trails and it was just kind of a natural progression from there. But yeah, it took a while to give up the softball. JESSE: Do you use that as cross-training now? ?? 3:47> your Achilles, could you go out in ski, assuming there's snow, could you go out and ski...? STEPH: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, I ski all winter, totally. Yeah, I cross country ski and alpine ski and - country ski so yeah. JESSE: Okay. Do you use that as part of your-- Say, you're getting ready for UTMB or whatever, in your 12-month plan, do you say okay, we're going to cross-train and ski over the winter as part of training or do you do give it up? STEPH: Yeah, definitely. And to me I don't think of it as like cross-training, it's one of the things I do. Running takes up the majority of like if I were to split it up. But to me like biking and skiing, I don't see that as like cross-training. I see that as outdoor activities I enjoy and during that time of year running - is not fun. There's snow, there's ice and I don't really want to just like go run in that every day. So, skiing is much more appealing. And I mean I'll alpine ski. This year I alpine skied a bunch, which a lot of people might not classify as exercise, but it's fun. And I think training or activity should be fun. So, I definitely I like to dabble in a lot of things. JESSE: Yeah, well, that kind of theme about fun, that's what it seem to get across. I talk to a lot of people and I'm like why do we do this? It's so dumb, really especially for people that do ultras, it’s like-- Looking at it objectively, what's the point of going out and running like 100 miles or like and I think the theme that keeps coming back to is I have fun doing it. I enjoy it for whatever reason. There's some kind of enjoyment or bliss to be found. STEPH: Yeah, I enjoy pushing my body. And in 100 mile race, I mean, the thing that's really cool is you become vulnerable at some point like you're stripped down to just, you’re - and then like you're faced with, yeah, kind of sounds really, really morbid. But just like trying to finish is a tough thing to do. And I haven't found that feeling in any other sport I've done. I'm sure it's there, but I just love that when you just get to the point where it's like very simple like you're just trying to move forward. Nothing else matters. And I love that challenge. I wouldn't say it's like blissful all the time. Most of the time racing is not blissful...that feeling of accomplishment and my best races, I guess the races I'm most proud of have not been my best races. I finished Western States one year, it was awful. I had to lay down for like two hours early on, and I thought there was no way I can finish, but I made it happen. And I'm super proud of that race despite not conditioning that well. It was pretty cool. JESSE: Have you ever gotten to the point where like--
Smart Athlete Podcast Ep. 19 - Stephanie Howe Violett - Manage Your Ego - Part 3 of 3
This is a curiosity from kind of the professional side for me. I was actually out on a run, I met my friend Pat the other day, there's a trail near my house. And my friend Pat did not grow up really running, but he does ultras now. And so at my company, we do skincare products for athletes.
