As athletes, we all know if we exercise, we'll feel better and get stronger. When you start adding in focus and structure, I like to say that you are no longer just exercising: you are training. As a Professional Athlete myself, I've been through pretty much every scenario of trying different things in my training, I've been chronically overtrained, I've played with doing minimal training, and I'm always looking for the latest research and methods for improvement. Today's guests are two people I...
Mar 08, 2018•1 hr 14 min
Today, I had the opportunity to talk to Josh LaJaunie. I first heard him on the Rich Roll Podcast about a year ago and was blown away by his story. I literally had to stop by bike while listening because his story was so overwhelming and his authenticity and passion were contagious. His story is a powerful one of transformation. It's about how taking one brush stroke after another can create a beautiful masterpiece. The Josh LaJaunie you see now is an enthusiastic ultrarunner who has been on the...
Feb 25, 2018•1 hr 23 min
Last year, I went to the Bicycle Leadership conference and discovered that Bicycling Magazine appointed a new Editor-in-Chief, a female Editor-in-Chief, Leah Flickinger. I was excited to see that one of cycling's biggest publications had a female at the top of their leadership. I did more research into who was working at the magazine and noticed something exciting - over half the team was comprised of females. In the bike world, empowering women to ride and to work in the industry is a common to...
Feb 22, 2018•58 min
Aaron Stuber and Jackson Long are the plant-based duo behind Thought for Food Podcast and TV. Their mission is to educate and inspire people to live healthy, compassionate, and adventurous lives through plant-based nutrition. I personally enjoy their show and use it as one of my guides for staying up to date on the latest evidence-based nutritional science. They are both high level athletes and always have interesting insight about how to be a plant-based athlete. They are both interesting indiv...
Feb 14, 2018•1 hr 7 min
Dr. Kris Keim is a well-known sports psychologist and work's with some of cycling's top athletes. She has her doctorate in clinical psychology and her master’s in sports psychology AND she was actually my very first podcast guest. The link is in the show notes if you want to go back and listen to it ! She is incredibly passionate about helping others. She said, "During my competitive cycling career I started to understand how the mind and body worked in a way that could help and/or hinder one's ...
Feb 08, 2018•1 hr 9 min
You'd never guess that Lauren Gregg wasn't a cyclist growing up. She identified as an artistic musician type. It wasn't until she decided to grab her dad's dusty bike out of the garage and start mountain biking on a whim that she turned into an athlete. The simple yet life-changing decision to start mountain biking has enabled Lauren to carve her own path. Starting as an XC racer, she moved up through the ranks and eventually found a love for Enduro. Enduro is an interesting sport. You ride a bi...
Jan 31, 2018•1 hr 4 min
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn is a pioneer in medicine. He currently directs the cardiovascular prevention and reversal program at The Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute and has saved thousands of lives. As a surgeon, he was operating on patients with breast cancer. Disillusioned by treating the disease and never addressing the cause, he decided to do his own research. From his bio : "In 1995 he published his bench mark long-term nutritional research arresting and reversing coronary artery disease in ...
Jan 25, 2018•52 min
Today’s guest is no stranger to the cycling world. He has finished 5th two times at the tour de France, won stages in races like the Giro D’Italia and the Vuelta Espana. His name is Tejay Van Garderen and he currently rides for BMC Racing. This guy is in on top of the world stage of professional road cyclists. The thing I really enjoyed about Tejay is that he was really down to earth and easy to talk to in our conversation. My husband Matt co-hosted this episode together and we both thought that...
Jan 19, 2018•57 min
Yesterday, I had moments of self-doubt and feelings of wanting to give up. Here is a breakfast table conversation with my husband Matt. We talked about what I was feeling, how to navigate self-doubt, and how to accept these feelings. -------------- The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.
Jan 13, 2018•19 min
Just because you don't eat meat or dairy doesn't mean that you're healthy. Chef AJ can relate. She said, "For 26 years, I was the quintessential fat vegan. It wasn't until I had a health scare.... that I realized I had to do something." She is a self-proclaimed recovering food addict and a classically trained chef, author, and speaker. As an unhealthy vegan for most of her life, she jokes that "skittles was a fruit" and "cakes and candies" were a food group. When she discovered she had pre-cance...
Jan 10, 2018•1 hr 3 min
Rebecca Rusch is one of the most prolific adventure athletes out there. From first ascents as a rock climber (El Capitan in Yosemite) to kayaking in the Grand Canyon to taking her bike up Mount Kiliminjaro, nothing stops the Queen of Pain. Rebecca was one of the top Adventure Racers before becoming a pro mountain biker and is the 7x World Champion in several sports. Rebecca's depth goes far beyond her athletic endeavors. She's a speaker, author of her book Rusch to Glory, a filmmaker with her mo...
Dec 28, 2017•55 min
Julieanna Hever is a well-known plant-based dietician, author of 2 books, and has her own TV Show! She is also a columnist for VegNews Magazines and has been featured on The Dr. Oz Show , The Steve Harvey Show , Reluctantly Healthy , The Marie Osmond Show , The Jane Velez-Mitchell Show , and E! News , co-stars on The Chef and The Dietitian , on numerous radio shows, and lectures extensively around the world. Topics Discussed in the Podcast How our metabolism works (oxidative priority) Omega 3s v...
Dec 21, 2017•58 min
Caroline Gleich is a magnet for adventure. She is one of the ski mountaineering world's most prolific skiers. She has been on the cover of many skiing magazines, premiered in Warren Miller films, and skied some of the most challenging lines around the world. Most notable and recent was that she was the 4th person ever and first woman to ski all 90 lines in the Chuting Gallery in the Wasatch Range. Caroline will be the first to say, "Ski Mountaineering is really dangerous." She is also an environ...
Dec 13, 2017•49 min
Do you ever have thoughts and feelings that you don't want? What does mental toughness mean? Do you ever worry about what people think about you or wish that you were more confident? These are all questions that 3x X-Terra World Champion Lesley Patterson and Simon Marshall, PhD have addressed in their book, " Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down ." It was great to talk with both of them. Lesley is a badass- 3x World Champ and Coach. Her insight and depth of knowledge is incredible. Simon is a forme...
Dec 05, 2017•1 hr 5 min
Brasil Ride is a 7 day mountain bike stage race in Bahia, Brazil. This was my 3rd Brasil Ride and I raced it the Mixed Category with Gordon Wadsworth. My husband, Matt Ewonus took the helm and hosted this episode. This podcast episode is how it all went down! Boiling sun, technical terrain, heat stroke, 4-6 hour days in the saddle, losing and regaining the leaders jersey, how to be successful as a team, strategies for winning and so much more! If you missed the episode where we talked about our ...
Nov 30, 2017•1 hr 3 min
Would you spray paint your bike? Emily Kachorek does. Maybe you've seen a blur of color, stoke, and little orange creamsicles fly by you on the road or in a Cyclocross Race. This month, I've been focusing on entrepreneurs, and I was intrigued by Emily because she thinks outside the box. Not only is she creative and learned how to run a successful business, but she has her Master's in Biology and was a Professional Road Racer on the US National team. Tired of road racing scene, she put away the b...
Nov 23, 2017•1 hr 2 min
Rage, Rapture, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Greed...what does this have to do with running a business, philanthropy, and backcountry skiing? It all ties under Lodi's premier winery; Michael David Winery. David Phillips is a co-owner of the winery with his brother Michael and their family has been farming the fertile soil in Lodi, California for 5 generations- since 1865 to be exact. However, they weren't always growing grapes and making wine. "My parents put up a card table on the side of the road and...
Nov 14, 2017•50 min
What do British born rock stars, the hosiery capital of the world, cycling, and dyslexics have in common? One man: Shane Cooper. After traveling with his band and playing music/bass professionally, Shane got really into cycling and consequently, socks. “It kind of started by mistake” Shane said when I asked him how he started one of the most successful sock companies in the world. Shane was racing his bike and needed to make some extra money to support his cycling habit. He took the things he kn...
Nov 08, 2017•51 min
When an NBA Hall of Famer and Olympic Gold Medalist says "Mountain biking is my new basketball," you know he means business. Reggie Miller, the Knick Killer, is also killing it on the trails. If you've been watching the Legend's Instagram , you've noticed that the majority of his photos are of him on a mountain bike, sporting familiar gold and navy blue Pacers colors with BOOM BABY splayed across the chest. When he's not announcing for TNT, starring on movie sets, or playing with his adorable ch...
Oct 31, 2017•1 hr 9 min
You know those couples that seem to always be happy? Those people who always seem to be having cool adventures? Gordon Wadsworth and Emily Hairfield are those people. This show is about secrets of being a biking couple, singlespeeding, and some adventure stories. Matt Ewonus (Sonya's husband) co-hosts this episode with Sonya. In this show: life lessons from riding a tandem bike background on Gordon's racing Racing 100 miles on a singlespeed WHY ride a singlespped fun stories about racing The Pio...
Oct 25, 2017•59 min
This week’s episode is a speech I gave about my journey as a plant-based athlete at the San Francisco Veg Fest (called the World Veg Fest). It was my first time to a VegFest and first time speaking outside the bike world about my diet. I wanted to share it with you on my podcast. There will be a video available soon of the speech as well so you’ll be able to see the accompanying slides. I’ll update this post with the video after I receive it. Topics covered in my talk : My background pertaining ...
Oct 10, 2017•46 min
Kate Courtney found her love for cycling with tandem bike rides with her father in middle school and enjoying blueberry pancakes after the ride. "It was really just a vehicle for pancakes," she laughed. This was the beginning of 10x National Champion Kate Courtney's career on a bike. Who knew that the little girl pedalling behind her dad in the woods of Mount Tam would become one of the top female cyclists in the world? She started her racing career at the age of 14 in the NICA NorCal League, ra...
Oct 04, 2017•58 min
"Once you start acknowledging, and looking at, and being honest with yourself the role that the ego plays in the sport, and it's a big deal in mountain biking... once that starts to be addressed, then some smarter decisions can be made." -Ryan Leech Ryan Leech is one of the world's best Trials Mountain Bikers and has even performed with Cirque du Soleil. But what is trials? Trials is a discipline of mountain biking where you have to navigate an obstacle course at very slow speeds without putting...
Sep 26, 2017•56 min
"The person inside your head that you're with 24/7 is yourself. So you have to be your own supportive friend. I tell people you have a choice. you can be an inner ally or an inner enemy. It's that simple. The voice in your head can either be kind, supportive, encouraging, nurturing 24/7 or cutting you down telling you you're a loser, you're no good, you're not good enough." - Dr. Kristin Neff The voice inside our head is possibly one of the most powerful influences on our lives. Most people are ...
Sep 19, 2017•47 min
Some people are wonderfully infectious with their smile and enthusiasm. Caroline Burckle is one of those people. Not only is she a positive force that transcends the 2 dimensional boundaries of social media, but she mentors athletes who are rising stars through her RISE LIFE business. Caroline is a veteran in what goes on behind the scenes of human performance. She knows about pressure, accomplishments, and hard work. She has personal experience with overtraining. Caroline is a Bronze Medalist S...
Sep 12, 2017•1 hr 12 min
Goal setting is tricky. It's most common around January 1 when people are setting their New Year's Resolution. In fact, 92% of people who set them for the new year fail! Here's a post I wrote about goal-setting. We are told that we need to have a 5 year plan, find our purpose, and set challenging goals but it's rare that you read about the actual process behind goal setting. I've done a lot of my own research and found Brian P. Moran's book, the 12 Week Year. As athletes, we have all heard of us...
Sep 06, 2017•50 min
When it comes to food and all the different views on what is healthy, how do you know what to believe? Overwhelmed with confusion and decision fatigue, most people simply just give up and I can see why! With so many different opposing views on what you should eat and what it means to be healthy, it’s often hard to know where to turn, who to trust, or what to do when it comes to our diet. I’ve personally felt frustrated with an overflow of conflicting information and rebuttles. The key is learnin...
Aug 30, 2017•32 min
Sonya Looney and Amy Beth McDougall won the La Leyenda Del Dorado - a 7 day ultra-endurance mountain bike stage race. Amy is from South Africa and they met when Sonya raced the Joberg2C Stage Race in South Africa last year as competitors. This episode is about their experience as a team, how to race as a team, how to do a stage race, and all about their experience in Colombia. The La Leyenda Del Dorado is a premiere and one of the hardest stage races in South America. It takes place in Caldas, C...
Aug 22, 2017•56 min
Matt Ruscigno knows a thing or two about extreme ultra-endurance sports and thriving on a plant-based diet. He has been a vegan for the last 20 years after being influenced at a teenager through punk music. His passion for his diet led him to his career path: a world-renowned vegan dietician with a Master's in Public Health from Loma Linda, California. Interestingly enough, Loma Linda is one of the 5 blue zones in the world. Blue zones are five geographic areas where people statistically live th...
Aug 15, 2017•1 hr 5 min
“Stress is global. It’s really important to not just switch tasks but to try to build some space into your day, into your life where you can really just check out from all of those stimuli... the lowest hanging fruit is sleep. Sleep is so important [for mind, body, and emotional capacity].” -Brad Stulberg libsyn Have you ever felt overwhelmed like every part of your day was spiraling out of control and you weren’t enjoying your life at all? I admit that I have, and so have this week’s podcast gu...
Aug 09, 2017•1 hr 9 min
