Made for the mountains and trails, collection two with creative director Ryan Willms focuses on meaningful movement in the outdoors. Custom-dyed active tops and performance layers, functional headwear, and a trail-bound runner provide a modular system to embrace the elements.
A journey into triathlon can't be separated from bicycles. When I got my first road bike I was hooked, and knew there would be more to follow, with an eye on eventually getting a triathlon-specific bike. This video offers a glimpse into the process of trading in my first bike, my S-Works Tarmac SL3 for a Specialized Shiv Expert with The Pro’s Closet, and getting it to my first Olympic race in Los Angeles.
Last month I visited Move Lab in Los Angeles for back to back days; doing a Precision Run Analysis and VO2 Max Test. The experiences were both exciting and challenging, with self-doubts coming up around my ability and even how my ACL would stand up to running full out. I got a lot more out of the experience than I anticipated and you can watch the two video episodes below on each of the sessions.
Our series Creatives In Nature is back with Santa Barbara-based photographer and director, Emily Maye. With a focus on nature-centered sport, Emily’s work communicates an intimate and powerful story in each image. Having worked with Rapha, Specialized, Nike, Tracksmith, Garmin and having contributed to Outside, Men’s Health, ESPN and Victory Journal to name but a few, Emily shares a selection of her work with us, her inspiration, essential gear and the power of a pencil.
Meditation has been used by for thousands of years, with ties all around the world, to different cultures, countries and forms of spirituality. Our modern society and emphasis on technology has evolved at incredible pace, yet we as human beings have not changed very much. By using these ancient methods we are able to tap into connection with our truer self, our deeper nature and the ability to be one with all. In collaboration with Sunspel, we explore how five different LA-based creatives use meditation in their lives.
On episode 68 I speak with Maurizio Diaz, co-founder of Aire Libre, an inspiring company that explores the world through running. We dive into the beginning of Aire Libre, how it's evolved and the family that's been created around the world and some of the stories of growth that can happen on these experiences. Mau shares his journey into running, how it helped him grow personally while learning and exploring cities around the world. We also get into a powerful story from Mau's youth that proved powerful for this growth and independence as a you man.
On the latest episode I speak with Rio Lakeshore, LA-based runner, writer, artist, father and man. It's hard to encapsulate Rio in a sentence so I suggest listening to the episode, but we dive into his growing up in Los Angeles, how moving to the Mojave Desert changed his life, perspective and began his relationship with running. We explore what mindful running really is and how it can be artful like music and dance, and what can be invited through this ancient movement practice. Rio speaks on learning from injury, transitioning from the road to the trails and his vision for running in community and helping more underprivileged youth get out of the city and into the trails.
The latest collection from Reigning Champ by Ryan Willms, Run and Become, Find Your Bliss. The range is made for the mountains and trails, with focuses on meaningful movement in the outdoors. Custom-dyed active tops and performance layers, functional headwear, and a trail-bound runner provide a modular system to embrace the elements, featuring lessons and teachings from Sri Chinmoy and Joseph Campbell.
On episode 66 of the podcast I have Sanjay Rawal back on, disciple of Sri Chinmoy, runner and film maker. We dive into Sri's concept of 'Run and Become' which coincides with my new Reigning Champ collection using the same name, and how running can be an invitation for personal growth and self-transcendence and an unlimited amount of joy and lessons to learn. Sanjay also shares a recent DNP experience at a marathon PR attempt and what he's been learning from this potent race turned lesson, and how it's tested his internal world. Finally we speak about his latest film, Gather, "intimate portrait of the growing movement amongst Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide." It's a beautiful and inspiring film, like Sanjay's other work and it was a joy to speak to him again and feel the light and energy he brings to the world.
On the first episode of the new year, I jump back into the performance side of things with sports scientist, reacher and PhD, Joshua Rowe. I was connected with Josh through Maurten who has been supporting my triathlon journey with their gels and drink mixes and when I wanted to get some guidance on fueling plans and to learn more about their Hydrogel technology, they linked me up with Josh. We dive into his experience with running and fueling, diving into his own performance research studies on fueling, gut training and thresholds and why the hydrogel technology works so well to minimize GI distress while oxidizing really efficiently. Carbs have been the enemy for me the last few years, but as I get into proper endurance training, they're becoming my friend and I got to ask Josh a ton of questions that have bolstered this relationship with his guidance as an expert in the field.
On the final episode of my solo series and of the year, I wrap up by sharing an overview of my own inner journey over these past years since 2017 and the different people, modalities, and teachers I've worked with. Reflecting back on all of the time, energy, resources I've put into this healing, development and growth has been interesting with a big recent shift and realization that I'm only just starting to tap into my right brain and heart. So how did I get here? I speak about my latest DMT ceremony and the work of Michael Singer, IFS by Richard Schartz, inner child work and the challenges with expression and truly expressing myself. It's been a scary journey as well as rich, beautiful and fruitful and the deeper I go the more unknown and scary things can be but I feel so fortunate to have landed on this path and discovered all of these deep experiences and teachers that have helped me along the way.
