Tales of Toughness Sonja Wieck

Known by the world as “The Greatest Adventure Racer”, Nathan showed the world his prodigious leadership skills—by winning six world championship out of fifteen world championship events across the globe. Adventure racing enraptured his youthful heart after attending the Outdoor Adventure Program. Nathan’s favorite part of racing is to refine every mistake his team encountered; transforming them into better decision-making outputs that would aid his team into winning the entire race. Currently, Nathan dedicates his time building a harmonious and willful family—the thing he inherited from his mother.
 
In this episode, you will hear about:
Nathan’s mischievous history How Nathan found his calling Why being a parent is not the “end” of your adventure Learning from mistakes in racing Dealing with pressure and uncertainties Nathan’s “Winner’s Philosophy”  
[03:01] Nathan originated from a family who were adventurer at heart in terms of camping, fishing and diving but not in extreme sports like mountain climbing and hiking. He enjoyed being one with the environment and its exploratory nature.
[05:01] Growing up free-willed and mischievous, Nathan felt the unhealthy directions he was heading into. Even though he felt the excitement, he knew there was no future waiting for him by going to that path.
[06:28] How Nathan found his calling: He got the opportunity by attending the Outdoor Adventure Program. It was a pilot program for twelve boys where it involves challenges that frightened the participants but Nathan found interest from it. He fell in-love with the outdoor sports and the adventure of being in the wilderness.
[08:46] Nathan’s brother is exceptional at multiple sports like soccer, rugby, cricket but he discovered outdoor sports and the might of his endurance. He found the thing that was for him and he went off.
[11:01] Nathan and Jodie, who is an outdoor educator, decided to have a family. They wanted to build their family through their strengths as a couple and outdoor athletes, offer their children with meaningful experiences and teaching them with lessons they have learned in life.
[12:46] Many people predicted that by being a young parent, it is the end of your sporting career. But Nathan and Jodie defied expectations and prove the people who doubted them wrong.
[16:30] Nathan’s children are all involved in high school adventure racing where his eldest daughter and son belong to the senior team while his younger daughter is in the junior team.
[18:52] Adventure racing was not a thing until Jodie started an adventure club with the goal to compete in the nationals. In just five years, the school won championships from nothing.
[20:30] Nathan deliberately took a step back because he did not want to put pressure to his children by being too involved in the school’s activities. However, he coaches the teams by making a training program for them or if they wish to seek advice from him.
[22:43] In 1999, the Southern Traverse in New Zealand was Nathan’s first adventure.
[26:00] Learn small things from the race in terms of the checkpoints, route choices, trails and being critical with the chosen equipment. Through this, you can make better decisions on your next race.
[32:37] Even when Nathan’s had kids, he still attended adventure racing since he was essentially employed by Seagate as an adventure racer. However, he felt the need to take a break due to the difficulty of balancing family matters and his pressing heart condition.
[38:23] The pressure comes from the team’s standard. If you know what it feels like to underperform as a team and get beaten up by better teams, then you are good to go.
[44:04] To navigate the uncertainties during an adventure race, you need to accept what happened as soon as possible. Have the solution-based thinking and focus on what things will be helpful to navigate that moment. Stay calm, be rational and identify the mistakes committed and

CJ believes it takes hard work and strong mental toughness to achieve any goal. He grew up playing various sports and developed a strong passion for mentoring and coaching youth athletes. CJ also works with individual athletes to help them achieve their full potential through mental and self-discipline.
In this episode, you will hear about:
How CJ turned his hobbies into daily work Impact of coaching Coaches’ Journey Fear of Overcoming Limits Connection of Body, Mind, & Soul [02:10] CJ wasn’t sure what to do for the rest of his life or what group of individuals he would serve -- until he noticed his own interests while playing sports and exercising. CJ decided to explore Kinesiology and Sport Science and landed internship at a facility called Gymnazo.
[04:01] Working with individuals in an open environment, where there were no machines, CJ found a way to connect with individuals who are struggling to figure out how their body moves. He realized that working out is like a chore, and it's just something that he must do to stay healthy. Through different communication styles, CJ learned the deeper purpose of working out. 
[07:30] Coaches meet different people with their own story, their own goals, ambitions, and even setbacks. CJ wanted to share authentic positive energy, which sometimes leads people to ask questions like, "why are you so happy all the time?". Coaches believe that when they show up for work, they are there to serve and are happy to help and guide others when someone is lost, or they're on their path, and we want to affirm it."
[11:10] Being in a gym with coaches is like building chemistry for CJ. He believes that there is no one coach by themselves; they've got to work together. And as a team, they help to be a cutting edge of innovation and training. For CJ, it's not just about our physical training. It's a mental challenge and a spiritual challenge.
[14:12] Every piece of equipment has its certification. CJ thinks that coaches end up getting stuck on how it needs to be done appropriately. CJ felt the limitation of working out, which will lead to burnout. Somehow, what changed his perception of how to program and how to see movement was that there are infinite ways to move people's bodies.
[23:21] CJ's job is to help define what it means for someone to be healthy, fit, and more active, get to the more profound questions that drive someone's personality and their reality to shift in the way that they have always wanted to. CJ believes that's it is still accessible, but we have to be able to do the work and put in the effort to apply those things in practice. CJ wanted people to come back and give their best effort for him to do so as well.
[25:33] CJ believes that to change someone's mindset starts with self-talk.
[26:53] Accepting people's answers to what it means for them to be healthy and not questioning their beliefs.
[29:02] Find your own goal or purpose for doing your training. It helps people to recognize the improvements and changes that happen over time.
[36:21] Learning the proper way to breathing is beneficial to people. When it feels uncomfortable, people tend to react and stop doing it. But that's when people start to break free. As soon as they begin to have that basal foundation layer that's good for training, they begin to explore and turning it into a habit for better endurance and to be in tune.
[42:56] Core values are essential for discovering what we value and what we believe in, connecting people that have the same wavelength as theirs.
CONNECT WITH CJ!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-kobliska-8275538b/ JOIN MY ADVENTURES!
 
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If you would like to support the podcast – this space that I'm creating and these conversations that I'm having – please join my inner circle at https://www.patreon.com/GoSonja. Patreon is my online membership community that enables you to support my creative work as well as get access to more amazing resour

Today, I have Dan Staudigel who will be talking about “Bend Racing.” Coming up in December, they'll be climbing 30,000 feet, close to a level of Mount Everest.
Known on the team as "The Mule," Dan is a particularly skilled bushwacker, navigator, and analyst. He was drawn to adventure racing after being a student in Jason's high school class. His favorite part of racing is the power of having a team with a common sense of purpose; and therefore, being able to move with a speed that each teammate could never maintain individually. When not racing, Dan can be found creating digital spaces solutions as a software architect.
In this episode, you will hear about:
How Dan discovered the sport world The need to get engaged with a community Health awareness in sporting Philosophy of suffering and stress Journey towards body acceptance  
[03:15] How Dan started the adventure racing sport: Jason was his teacher in high school (Dan was taking a climbing fitness class). He overheard Jason mention adventure racing, which was padding and running. They trained and then raced.
[05:25] The team was originally Team Yoga Slackers, then became Team Gear Junkie, and now, Bend Racing.
[07:15] Dan is a new Dad. His kid is just over 2 years old with one more on the way. He lives in Bend, about 100 yards from Jason. It began with an offer to watch Jason's parent's house. They have a modern racing, kid raising compound in their neighborhood.
[09:45] One season, they ran three expedition races in two months: it was an expedition race every 4 weeks. Dan's wife Chelsea got a gallstone 30-60 minutes into the race. Every time they came back from a race, they had the "post-race blues." Around that time, a book came out about tribes and how important it was to mental health. The depression was due to being separate from the tribe.
[13:45] Culture is so individual, and it's a lie. It's a relief to set aside that personal piece and ask the group how to help.
[16:15] Dan participated in World's Biggest Race: Eco Challenge Fiji.
[19:30] People talked about Dan's team "pushing really hard" but they could have continued at that pace indefinitely (fighting 7K tailwind) if it was colder. He didn't supplement enough salt. During eight hours of paddling, he drank six liters of water, ate 300 calories per hour, but only consumed a gram of salt. He sweat out his electrolytes.
[21:30] For every liter of water you drink, you should consume 10 grams of salt, to help your muscles work. When you drink water, your body wants to move it from your gut into your body water system, but if it doesn't have enough electrolytes, it pulls the needed electrolytes from your body water and into your gut. It steals from the preserve.
[23:45] The final stages of hyponatremia are: seizures, coma, death. In hindsight: carry salt pills. Dan prefers to drink water and supplement salt, because the 1% solution tastes awful to him. They dropped out of one race because of Jason's hip.
[26:00] The team had a 24 hour headstart, but then it took 36 hours to traverse the distance the other teams took 8-12 hours. They ended in 7th-8th place because they did not want to inch-worm up a mountain and across a glacier.
[29:30] The adventure racing mindset is: you push as hard as you can, and if they cut you off, they cut you off. Don't take yourself off the course, let the course take you off.
[34:50] Dan explains his philosophy about suffering and trade-offs. Walking through 100K of thornfield jungles of Patagonia is good practice to "being where you want to be. Life will be hard no matter what. Choose HOW you want to suffer.
[38:00] It's highly adaptive to think you are not enough, because how else will you progress towards the next "carrot" that's just ahead? In some cases, this can be demoralizing. If you don't choose your suffering, your mind will make up something else to suffer about.
[40:00] Avoid suffering by cutting out doomscrolling and Netflix binging. Most humans in Ame

Heather Gustafson of Team Regulators in World’s Toughest Race joins the episode today. They are a team of four athletes and a support person from Redding and all of them were newbies in the Eco Challenge. Her team has survived 12 grueling days and completed some of the toughest challenges in the world. Team Regulators had proven that trusting each other’s capabilities, enjoying the journey, and valuing friendship are important to stay motivated amidst the toughest challenges! Be inspired by this empowering and inspiring woman as she shares how she managed to come through the struggles to overcome her eating disorder and becoming an athlete.
 
In this episode, you will hear:
How Heather’s team got together and be selected to race the Eco Challenge 1:10 Overwhelming thoughts starting of the race – the difficulty of courses, training, and being away from family 4:15 Taking back into Heather’s life and how she came through the hard times to become an athlete 8:20 How exercise has help Heather overcome her eating disorder 17:00 The “chaos” prior to the race 20:10 The adrenaline-filled experience starting off the race 24:55 The fun filled but challenging mission to learn how to ride a mountain bike 29:00 The journey to the finish line 47:00 Started the race as friends and ended as family 50:50 Heather’s words to her old self with eating disorder 54:40  
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Join my inner circle!
If you would like to support the podcast – this space that I'm creating and these conversations that I'm having – please join my inner circle at https://www.patreon.com/GoSonja. Patreon is my online membership community that enables you to support my creative work as well as get access to more amazing resources! 
 
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EPISODE CREDITS:
If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.
He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.
Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com

For this episode, we’re going to talk about adventures, roles, and behind the scenes of an Eco-Challenge. Our guest is Kevin Hodder which is a race director, will give us more information on how he got into that role and how they manage all of the things for the Eco-Challenge.
 
 
In this episode, you will hear about:
 
How Kevin got his way into an adventurous lifestyle and job How did Kevin get into Eco-Challenge? Why has Kevin gone through this avenue? His Role Philosophy of course creation How to get into Adventure race management  
[0:50] Kevin says that it started with their parents. His dad was a field geologist and started inviting Kevin to come along. And so they have adventures together, principally for his father’s work but also part of Kevin growing up.
 
[2:44] At the time where there was a registration for the Eco challenge in their town, Kevin is working as a Mountain Guide. The race organization was looking for a mountain guide that would both work on the race and guide the camera crews into more adventurous parts. Kevin got a 3-week job working as a guide.
 
[3:42] Then he got a call asking if he could work race management, accepted it, and instantly grab the opportunity. He worked for 11 years, in 5 different countries and 4 different productions.
 
[5:52] Kevin said that he always liked events and competitions. He likes working on things that are project-based and be involved in something that is exciting.
 
[8:49] They went and walked and paddled and grind, climbed the entire racecourse in Fiji. For Kevin, that’s one of the things that he takes a lot of pride in. That he personally travel every inch of that course in the same capacity, carrying the same load as the athletes.
 
[12:38] Kevin takes on getting the permit for both filming and for racing. And Everyone had to give their consent to allow them to go through, and other things like the coast guard, ministry of transportation. It’s a long process that takes 9-10 months.
 
[16:57] As a participant in events and races and sports, what Kevin look for in a race director is somebody that is as enthusiastic about their race as the most enthusiastic participant.
‘My job is trying to give you success and power you information, motivation, to have an amazing race experience” said Kevin.
 
[19:00] During the course design phase, Kevin constantly think of the questions like, Is this reasonable? Is this too much? Is this too easy or should we at this stage get them off their feet because they have been trudging for 70 kilometers by this point? So that’s the process.
 
[23:15] That’s eco-challenge. You can’t have this plan. Both on how you’re going to manage the race or how you can raise the race.
 
[28:23]  And that was a real challenge both to educate the crew and educate all of the teams that yes, you are going to Fiji, a beautiful tropical island, but the risk of hypothermia is going to be high.
 
[34:13] You look at your experience, you have this amazing 6-month journey. During that 6 month journey, you learned all these things, skills, increase your health and your endurance through your physical training, you learn a lot about yourself.
 
[37:32]  One advice that Kevin give young people a lot is that you’ve got to have this third thing in your life. That third passion.
 
[44:33] The outdoors doesn’t generally present a gender specificity. Our culture and our mindset and how we’re raised in communities can kind of dictate gender specificity.
 
[47:08] One great way to do it, the path that Kevin follow is to become a certified guide. That’s a way that gives potential employers the assurance that you have a certain amount of skills. That certification should get you the interview and that you should get yourself the job.
Start by volunteering at races in your local community or your local country.
Kevin also said that they’re always looking for volunteers. So show yourself

Out of a whopping 66 teams who competed in the Eco Challenge, particularly notable was Team Onyx with Team Captain Clifton Lyles, whose goal is to put together a barrier breaking team for the show. Clifton Lyles two decades of adventure racing began when he watched Eco Challenge on TV in 1999. Throughout his career, he noticed an evident lack of diversity in the sport. With the opportunity to appear and participate on Eco Challenge, Clifton decided to inspire potential future athletes by forming a team of people of color. Team Onyx is made up entirely of Black members, a first in the history of Eco Challenge and the global racing scene in general. 
Join us and tune in to this latest episode as Team Onyx’s Team Captain – Clifton Lyles recalls their journey in the World’s Toughest Race: Eco Challenge, and how they have accomplished its goal of opening doors and inspire a more diverse contestants, and athletes in general to participate in future races!
IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL HEAR:
Clifton Lyles’ family background and what he does outside adventure racing
The journey through Adventure Racing
Clifton Lyles’ racing experiences with different teams over the years
How Team Onyx was formed
Team Onyx as a community of people of color who are passionate in adventure racing
Breaking the barriers of entry to adventure racing
Team Onyx’s training leading up to the race and the challenges they encountered during the Eco Challenge
The “wild” first few days of Team Onyx on the Eco Challenge race
Recalling the crash that team captain Clifton Lyles suffered on the gravel road
The responsibility of being the team captain and the only navigator of the team (which was not shown on the show)
Clifton Lyles’ daughter – Mikayla Lyles – who acted as the team’s support person
Clifton Lyles is leading the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force – what is the task force all about and what are their goals
The story of Clifton Lyles “tattoo”
CONNECT WITH CLIFF! Instagram: @cliftonlyles and @onyxadventureracing
Website: http://team-onyx.com/
 
 
EPISODE CREDITS:
If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment.
He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world.
Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com