Interview with Catra and Tri-life in the Bayou City

I am extremely pleased to bring to you an amazing interview with a truly exotic individual: Ultra running's wild child Catra Corbet. We recorded a casual and insightful chat over the phone from Texas to California, and then she came to Texas to run the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler and I joined her for part of the run and recorded some more. This is an interview in the style that only Zentri can bring you; peeling back the layers and really getting to know a person in their own element.

I also tacked on a half hour of me trying to train in Houston, TX while going to a software seminar for a week. I talk about the traffic, training in Endless Pools at Trivantage, how to be a better family man, and the results from my first official half marathon using lab-tested excercise zones.

The whole show is sandwiched with "Bang Bang" by the Peach Stealing Monkeys. I picked this song in honor of the revolvers tattooed on Catra's belly. You can listen to the show here and follow along the show notes for more juicy deets.

• Intro "Bang Bang" by The Peach Stealing Monkeys.


• Catra Corbett is heading to Texas in the morning to do her 51st 100 miler at the same location she did her first!


• We talk about possible weather in Texas for her race.


• Catra typically runs 80 to 100 miles per week!


• She's running with Krissy Weiss from Dirty Girl Gaitors.

• Catra talks about how she went from getting busted for selling speed in 1996 and hanging out in Goth clubs to starting to work out and eventually running ultras. Wild!


• She signed up for her first marathon without knowing how far it was.


• We talk about Catra's theory on tattoos.


• We talk abut my theory on "shotgun effect" tattoos.


• Do tattoos give you magic powers? Mostly.

• Catra tells us about her Master Cleanse diet.


• She elaborates on some of her upcoming events, one being the Pacific Crest Trail through the Sierras.


• Catra tempts me by offering for me to run with her on one of her 20 mile loops at night during the Rocky Raccoon 100.


• She will be trying to attempting a new record on the Pacific Crest Trail - 80 days.


• I tell her about Martin Strehl swimming the Amazon. Catra thinks he's crazy!


• Chris G. and I drive to the Rocky Raccoon and talk about fixed gear bikes.


• Hanging out at the Rocky Raccoon with Chris M., talking to runners while waiting to meet Catra.

• I run three miles through the woods with Catra and Krissy, talking about running, being a vegetarian ultra runner, and life in general.

• This is Catra's 50th 100 miler!


• Krissy tells me about how she makes Dirty Girl Gaiters.


• I tell Chris M. and G. about what it was like running with a celebrity.


• I'm in a traffic jam on the freeway in Houston, trying to get home.

• I visit my Great Aunt at a fire station.


• Triathletes are selfish! Go spend some time with others!


• I swim in an Endless Pool at Trivantage.


• Results from my first half marathon!

Be the Crow

Buenos dias, mis amigos! I've been waiting a long time to put out a show like this one: A nice bike ride upon the new BMC while playing a ton of voicemails and then handing over the reigns to Drew so that our Virtual Host from the West Coast can take us along with him on his Oregon commute. I almost get run off the road, the Triborg5000 introduces a new segment, and there's so much more, you'll have to listen in and follow the shownotes below!  (CLICK HERE TO LISTEN)

• Out on studio 2B - THE BMC, BABY!


• Got spooked by crazy drivers and my new bike.


• I'm out on a 2 hour wattage ride, but went for 3.


• Listening to Intransitduo.


• A little saddle sore since I haven't been riding enough lately.


• Call the Gizmo line (512-CRY-DELI) for the "Found in the Road" segment that Jetpack will be using. I found a bottle of chocolate milk and a 2x4.


• I screwed up my workout schedule. Mike Ricci set me straight.


• Shoutbox on Triscoop.com is the collective consiousness of the triathlon community.


• I almost had mental breakdown over trying to workouts in during this crappy weather.


• Had a breakthrough run - 9 miles at a 10 minute mile pace with HR of 137 and pushing the baby jogger the whole time. w00t!


• Zipp wheels seem to make riding into the wind as easy as riding with it.


• My first experience on riding on a trainer at home.


• New show segment! Tri-Tips with the Triborg5000! Call the Gizmo Line and ask your question.


• Triborg5000 calls out Jetpack in a delusional fit.


• I'm on Corporate Radio talking about Geocaching amongst other things.! Not much better than podcasting.


• We got Netflix instead of Blockbuster and love it! My current fav is Scanners.


• How to get people to evacuate a shower.


• Voicemails!


• Dan from Davis, CA. talking about his 28 mile training runs.


• I become delusional and think I'm one with a crow.


• Robert from Chicago calls in about IceIceBaby.


• Martin Strehl and Tour of California updates.


• Wolfmother's "Collosal" is a great running song.


• My evil twin Jason calls in about Trivantage.


• Triboomer congratulates Emily on her half Marathon.


• Richard returns Fembot's call about the Puma H Streets.


• I go over the statistics from my ride on the Powertap.


• Measuring wattage is like knowing how much weight you're lifting at the gym.


• Drew finishes out the show riding in the snow in Oregon.


• Drew uses Night Rider light, a Craft jacket, and blinky lights on the bar ends.


• How to bike to work.

Tri-Fidelity

We throw down some mad Tri Science as the director of Trivantage holds a conference call and tell us what our testing results mean.

That's right, Alex from Trivantage pulls in myself, Trigreyhound, and Prof. Erich to tell us where we rock, where we suck, and how to improve. It's a must listen for all of you interested in the real science behind endurance fitness. Not only that, but I detail some of the science that went into the making the phone call happen and I play music from our good friend MC Plus +, a bona-fide Computer Science Gangsta Rapper from Purdue University.

Below is the show notes and links to my testing results so you can follow along.

• I intro the show after finishing a 40 minute trail run with the fam.


• I average out Saturday's workouts to equal 56% of an Ironman (SCIENCE!)


• We all drop in on the conference call and Alex tells us how to train better based on the results.


• Show outtro is End Of File by MC Plus +.

Overall stats.

Cycling results.

Running results.

Alex's results just to embarrass us.
Black, Alexander - Aerobic Cycling Test - 2006-12-20.pdf

Austin Half Marathon Review

We cover the 3M half marathon the way only Zentri can, BY DOING IT! My beautiful triathlete wife Emily takes on the beast in near freezing temps as Kai and I wait for her at the halway point and the finish line. We also meet up with two other listeners and talk shop and then I interview some Kenyans who say their 65 minute run time is "slow". As always, check out the show notes below for details and you can also listen to the show HERE.

Show Notes -

• I'm waiting at the halfway point and comment on seeing a former coworker the night before and the simplicity of running.


• Emily is running with another female friend.

• She is using my Suunto T-6. Here's the graph of her run - with HR. Click on it to be taken to a bigger image.


• Emily calls the Gizmo 512-CRY-DELI hotline from the start.


• I talk to Triscooper Fembot while waiting for Emily at the halfway point.


• Emily stops by and she checks her blood sugar and gets juice out of the car.


• Kai and I hit Genuine Joe's for coffee and breakfast burritos.


• Triscooper Armadillo and I wait for Emily at the finish line.


• I interview some Kenyans back at the hotel.


• Emily recaps the race while sitting atop her bike on the trainer.


• I play "Beautiful Life" by the Peach Stealing Monkeys.

What fueled Endurance Radio?

Endurance Radio (Also known as Enduranceplanet.com) announced recently that it has been sold to other holders, namely Kevin Patrick and USA Triathlon. As a listener to the program, a podcaster, and as a former guest, I find the sale to be quite interesting.

If you listen closely, you'll notice that old episodes of Endurance Radio were sponsored by Gatorade. I believe Gatorade wasn't too sweet on the early numbers and didn't re-up the sponsorship. Tim, the former owner, hit up the big boys too soon. A while later, big hosters like Libsyn, GoDaddy, and Podshow join the party and people like Tim and I can produce unlimited downloadable shows for nearly nothing. With bandwidth costs next to zero, who really needs big sponsors now? Gatorade was also very short sighted and bailed too soon. They've missed out on being a head badge on a pretty swell product. But Gatorade is just a company, full of executives without the ability or will to adapt quickly, while people like us are true believers and foresaw that podcasting would be huge.

I'm uninformed of Tim's initial intentions, but he built a community and communities are what's selling hot right now. Flickr, Myspace, Youtube, even Triscoop are all communities on fire with activity. I noticed on his website that it was extremely corporate looking, even though it was really just one guy. That look makes it more appealing for takeover from corporations and I would guess that he was doing that on purpose. The fact that Tim has a bunch of other podcasts and that they are financial makes it safe to assume that he had a lot of bait out there waiting for one to be successful enough to be bought out and he has a strong interest in making money.

Of course, I have no idea what his original interest in why he started Endurance Radio. I did hear him say several times that he had never done a triathlon and you almost never hear him say that he actually was doing anything himself. He did a really good job of making that not obvious. He could be riding his bike 500 miles a week and I wouldn't know.

Was it originally created for him to sell it? I don't know. What do you think?