This week's episode is all about hiking! At the beginning of this month, I hiked the Cactus to Clouds trail up to San Jacinto Peak, where I met three hikers in the midst of hiking the entire Pacific Crest Trail. 

I start by sharing my experience with the grueling Cactus to Clouds hike, then dive into the interviews with Stripes, Mr. Snuggles and Dink (their PCT trail names).

I spoke with them all about what motivated them to start this long, arduous journey, and we talk a bit about Cactus to Clouds.

I ask them each what they're most looking forward to, how and what they decided to bring, and the logistics of their trip.

We talk about the terrain for a bit, then end with discussing their next big goals once they complete the PCT.

This week's episode is full of live interviews from the Spartan USNS Beast and Mountain Series Sprint in Big Bear, California! I spoke with athletes all about the crazy hills, the cold dunk wall on Sunday, and everything in between.

On Saturday at the Beast, I spoke with:

-Rea Kolbl

-Mark Batres

-Natalie Miano

-Ryan Kent

-Alyssa Hawley

-Mack Roesch

On Sunday at the Sprint, I spoke with:

-Matt B. Davis of Obstacle Racing Media

-Rea Kolbl

-Amanda Nadeau

-Veejay Jones

-Aaron Newell

-Nicole Mericle

Ultra marathon athlete and former World's Toughest Mudder champion Trevor Cichosz joins me this week to tell me all about his experience at Everest 135, an intense 135-mile ultra marathon where he took third place.

We begin with Trevor telling me all about how he heard of this race, all the race prep required and the training (and lack thereof) that led up to it.

He tells me about the race prep in the days leading up to the race, and walks me through his entire race experience, from the issues to the checkpoints, to the altitude and all that climbing. Trevor shares some wild stories, from hallucinating a village to holding onto donkeys so he wouldn't get kicked off the treacherous mountain trails.

We talk about how it compared to his race across Scotland last year, and Trevor talks about the lessons he learned and what he'll do to prepare next time.

We end by talking more about ultra marathons, what's next on his schedule, and his next crazy adventure.

Want more? Read about Trevor's experience in his own words, on his blog here: http://www.groundpounder.org/2019/05/13/everest-135/