My first coach said to me also, he said, you don't have to make it happen.

You let it happen.

And it's all based on the training that you've done.

And I do it.

Just relax and you're like, okay, I'm going to do what I do.

And I've done the training.

And if everyone takes off and leaves me in the dust, that's fine.

See ya. Thank you. Welcome to the trailhead of trail runner nation. We go on virtual trail runs every single week. You're invited. We love to have new friends on the trail. We are sitting down with interesting guests that are gonna help us become better, faster, more enjoyable runners. And maybe that translates into being better human beings. And keep it tight, we're in a conga line here and leading the way is Megan Cantfield talking about five things that every new runner should know to be successful at this sport. Last week I went out of run and the skies opened up and poured on my run. I wasn't prepared. That's exactly why the John G Reign runner pack jacket 2.0 is now standard gear in both of our cars. When the weather flips, the jacket saves the day. And it's not just another shell. We're talking serious protection. A 2.5 layer laminate shell with PVC free water repellency. Fully taped seams and a 20K, 20K waterproof plus breathable rating. It means you're gonna be bone dry, but still breathable. And it's built for runners, lightweight, ripstop fabric, 360 degree venting, and a streamlined

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That's 40% off just using the code TR-AIL. Welcome to another edition of Trail Runner Nation. My name is Don Freeman. And I'm Scott War and today we're joined by Megan Canfield, better known in the ultra running world as the queen. And for good reason, she's earned more top 10 finishes at Western States than any other woman in history, 11. She's represented Team USA on the world stage, been competitively running at the highest levels for decades, and inspired generations of runners with her longevity, her grit, and her generosity. She recently wrote an article in Ultra Running magazine called Adventure of Life that immediately drew Don and I into this article. We've been saying for years that on this podcast that running might just make us better human beings and her article represents this philosophy to a T. We're thrilled to have royalty on the podcast today and Megan, first of all, the first question, I've known you've been called the Queen for decades, right? Yeah. I'm sure you didn't give yourself that name. How did you get the name, the Queen? Well, it's a funny story. Um, not too surprising. I got it from Craig Hornley. But the director of Western states, Lord ball, Lord ball. It's royalty for the longest time. I thought it was because I actually started beating him in races. But then it turns out no. And because yeah, we were talking about him on my day and And it had to do with, we used to do Tuesday track workouts together. We had quite a group. And this was when he still lived in Oregon. And we'd meet at a track in Eugene. And I was generally the only woman in the group. And I was the only one who had a coach at the time who would give me workouts. And so we'd all show up. and like I'd say what the workout was and they'd all do it with me, which was fantastic. And one day we were

doing, I don't know, 800 repeats or something. And there were two of the guys were in front of me. One was on my right, one was on my left and I had two guys behind me and we just did this loop. And we are the 800 and we finished it and Craig's like Craig says it's like she's the fucking queen or something

Where came from It's amazing how that is stuck and and become ubiquitous with with Megan can't field yeah, yeah, and I do like to say that Because everyone every now and then we get other queens and I would say right now the queen is Courtney and for a very good reason. But I feel like she has a title and I have a nickname. So, her name, hers is a title. Well, the one thing that drew me into this article at the very beginning, I think you started with just the perfect opening because it sucked me in with both legs and arms was

one of the common things that you hear when people

drop out of a race is oh

It wasn't my day and

How that kind of bothers you tell us a little bit about why that bothers you and why you decided to write this article around that theme. Yeah, I think the article came about because Amy Clark, the editor, she gives the writers a theme for the particular issue coming out and this was going to be about different adventures and I'm like, oh yeah, well I could write about going around Mount Hood or Mount St. Helena. I was like, that just seems so, I don't know, not uncommon or just, I don't know. I wasn't really speak to me to do something like that. And I don't know, it just came to me about that life is an adventure. And all these other things are maybe experiences that add to your adventure. And then for some reason I thought of how, yeah, in a race, we all hear it.

They drop out because it wasn't their day. And that's in that moment. And more often than not,

two days later, they're just regretting that they quit. And so I wanted to sort of try to have people look at it a little differently when they're feeling that in the moment. So that's kind of what that was for. I think that was a great approach because we've all been there. We've all been at that spot where we're thinking, how am I, if I could snap my fingers right now and be back in my car and on my way home, I would do it. But this is not working, snapping my fingers is not helping. Right. So I think we've all been there and that's what makes that article so good is we can relate to it. Yeah. Yeah, I think part of the, part of ultra running, the big part of ultra running is suffering. And the camaraderie we get out of suffering with others is I think one of the great equalizers of our sport and what it makes part of the community so great. And when you've suffered and suffered together and you cross the finish line, I don't know, it's just the greatest feeling ever. And I remember years and years ago I was running the San Francisco marathon and kind of from the start I was like, oh gosh, I'm so tired. I just feel terrible. Why? Why? Why am I doing this? And I just kept doing that for mile, mile after mile. And with about six go, I realized you know that when you cross the finish line,

you're gonna forget all of this

...