Episode 38: Devon Yanko - Leadville Trail 100 Champ - on Recovery and Prevention

The Strength Running Podcast

Jason Fitzgerald

Health & Fitness, 10k, Beginnerrunning, Marathontraining, Fitness, Injuryprevention, Marathon, Halfmarathon, Running, Sports

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 September 2017

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Meet Devon Yanko. On August 19, 2017 she won the Leadville Trail 100 - a race where 9,200 feet altitude is the lowest you'll experience on the course.

She finished in 20:46:29, averaging 12:28 per mile - a half hour ahead of her nearest competitor.

With nearly 16,000 feet of elevation change through Colorado's gnarliest mountain terrain, the course is so difficult that in most years, less than half of the field finishes the race.

Having run in similar places, I can vouch for how strenuous this terrain can be (even for experienced runners). With precious air at a costly premium, the steep grades and uneven footing make traversing these trails a form of slow-motion torture.

Going uphill burns the lungs after just a few steps. Each muscle contraction seems to draw double the amount of oxygen to fuel their movements.

Running downhill isn't much better. The rocky terrain is a nightmare for those with weak ankles.

Try running fast on a technical downhill trail after running for 3+ hours (in the dark, no less). It's terrifying.

To win Leadville is like single-handedly winning the World Series or the Superbowl.

Leadville is one of the top ultramarathons in the world. Winning it is a career-defining moment for trail runners.

But for Devon, it's just one more race on her long list of achievements:

3 time member of the USATF 100k National Team including 2009 Gold Medal winning team in Belgium
2007 RRCA Marathon National Champion
2010 50 mile road National Champion
2012 Olympic Trials marathoner (PR of 2:38:55)
2011 100k National Champion
Set Fastest Known Time on the Grand Canyon R2R2R trail with Krissy Moehl in April 2011
3rd place at the Two Oceans Marathon (56k)
5th in Comrades Marathon (89k, as well as first novice and first American)
Ran the 3rd fastest trail 100 miler ever for a North American running 14:52 at the 2015 Javelina 100

Not to be outdone, she's also the owner of M. H. Bread and Butter bakery in San Anselmo, CA with her husband.

Strength Running readers will also be familiar with Devon - she joined eight other elite athletes in sharing her best injury prevention and recovery advice for The Little Black Book of Prevention & Recovery (it's free - download it now).

You're going to love my conversation with Devon - but not just because she's one of the best long distance runners in the world.

She's also hilarious.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ready, set go.
0:04.7	This is episode 38 with Olympic Trials Marathon Qualifier, multiple national champion, and the
0:10.3	2017 Leadville Trail 100 champion
0:14.0	Ms. Devon Yanko. What's up everyone? Welcome back to the Strength Running Podcast. I'm your host Jason Fitzgerald and it's my job to bring you inspiring runners, coaches, doctors, and other experts to help you run faster, improve and stay committed to this great sport.
0:41.0	And I've got a great show for you today. We have the recent winner of the 2017 Leadville Trail 100,
0:48.9	Devon Yanko. She's just awesome to talk with guys and I think you'll find that out for yourself when you're listening.
0:55.2	She's run more than 30 marathons and 30 altars since 2006,
1:00.6	with most of them being a win or a course record.
1:03.0	And I could go on and on about her accomplishments and national
1:06.5	championships, but instead check out all the details on the
1:09.6	strength running blog. Just go to strength running
1:11.5	dot com slash podcast and you'll see a link for this episode
1:15.1	number 38 with a lot of resources from the show and more info on Devon too.
1:20.3	You might also recognize Devon as one of the contributors to the little black book of prevention and recovery which features other
1:27.7	other pro-runners like Amelia Boone, Max King, Dathan Ritzenhine, Ian Sharman, Joseph Gray, I mean the list goes on.
1:35.2	And each of these elite runners talked about what they think is most important for staying
1:40.6	healthy in the long term. Everything from specific exercises to
1:45.0	mindsets and big picture training ideas. It includes a lot and it has a lot of
1:49.8	unique insights that's
1:55.0	Plural to get your free copy.
1:58.0	Okay, today I'm talking with Devon about her win at Leadville.
2:01.0	Last year in 2016 I was in Leadville two days before the
	...

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