Jess and BJ sit down for this episode with Harita Davies, who completed her fourth 3100-mile Self-Transcendence foot race in New York after 51 days, 16 hours, 42 minutes, and 11 seconds. The race started on August 30th and finished on October 20th - can you imagine running that many days straight?

Founded in 1997 by Sri Chinmoy, the self-transcendence event is the world's longest-certified race, although the course itself may surprise you.   

Sri Chinmoy was an Indian spiritual leader who moved to New York City in 1964 to teach meditation and spirituality. He lived a life dedicated to serving humanity, and he was also an athlete who valued athletics as an essential piece of a balanced spiritual life. He created the Sri Chinmoy marathon team, which has grown into athletes and racing events all over the world.

This episode was recorded at the Sri Chinmoy Center in San Diego after Jess, BJ, and Harita shared a beautiful lunch at Jyoti-Bihanga, the oldest vegetarian restaurant in San Diego and a part of the center. If you are ever in the area, make sure to put Jyoti-Bihanga on your list of dining musts.

Your listenership is greatly appreciated; thank you for tuning in.

In this episode:

- Recovering from running 3100 miles
- What is Self-Transcendence?
- Finding peace within ourselves in order to contribute to peace
- Who is Sri Chinmoy?
- Inner running and outer running
- Having no expectation to finish allows her to finish
- Meditation practice
- 5 parts of the family
- Looking happy but feeling terrible
- 3100-mile lessons
- How many pairs of sneakers for 3100 miles?
- 3100-miles of foot care
- 52 days of fuel
- Why a mango a day?
- Integration of East and West

Harita Davies, Athlete And Meditator On Her 52 Day 3100-Mile Race

Hello, SPIRITUAL WARRIOR! I love connecting with you! Follow me on social media, and check out my website for more information on how meditation can reduce your stress, help you make more conscious choices and improve your relationships. I have 300+ free guided meditations, educational and inspirational blog posts, my calendar of upcoming events, and much more at davidji.com. Don't hesitate to send me an email if you have questions or need guidance. Peace - davidji

AND BEFORE YOU GO, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM & YOUTUBE

Transform FEAR into TRUST Guided Meditation

Imagine yourself on mile 5 of an Ironman marathon and you feel great. You are on goal pace.

"It's all coming together, this is THE race I've been waiting for".

Then you look at your heart rate and it's 10 beats higher than what it should be and all of a sudden you don't feel as good and you slow down and your dreams are left to fade away for another day.

Sadly, this is common series of events for athletes who rely too heavily, because they have never trained any other way, on that external piece of equipment called the watch. Data is good, heck yes, but detaching from data to get to know thyself proves far more valuable when it comes down to pivotal moments in training and racing.

By practicing letting go of the watch in training we create space to develop a skillful awareness of our bodies and minds that lifts the limits that numbers can impose. Again data is good, it helps us get a sense of where we are in our pace and exertion levels but it's not the end all and be all of training. Envision going out for a workout and knowing, without question, your heart rate within a beat, pace within seconds and sustained wattage based on your breath and perceived exertion through heightened body awareness. How might that benefit you in a race when your bike computer fails or your watch battery dies?

BJ was introduced to this first hand from our guest today and has relied on it many times when his bike computer has failed and his watch battery has died. In fact, BJ's regular practice is to race without a watch and his times continue to get faster and faster.

Lucho came into our lives a decade ago on a plane ride home from Ironman Arizona. He struck up a conversation with BJ and from that moment on he was a changed athlete. Lucho soon became BJ's coach and has remained his mentor for many years.

Lucho is an accomplished athlete, he was a very active kid. He ran in high school which led to a scholarship to college which led to a unique twist which led to travels which led to a hurricane which led to his introduction to triathlon. In 2000 Lucho was the top amateur at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, HI and 16th overall. It was after this incredible accomplishment that he turned pro. He's a multi-time course record breaker in the sport of triathlon and ultra running. He utilizes his athletic experiences, especially the crummy ones, to self-reflect and learn so that he can rise back up to the next challenge as a better-equipped athlete and human. He is constantly reinventing himself and most recently he's been hitting the track to see what kind of speed he is capable of at this point in his life.

Lucho is so transparent, he's really an open book and I love that about him. We've known him for ten years and even though this is the second time I've met him in person I feel like I've been right by his side through times of joy and otherwise as we've followed his journey through his blog and by listening to him on his Endurance Planet podcast.

This conversation is most definitely one to listen to a few times, there is so much gold in here for athletes from the traditional training standpoint but also in the development of self-awareness and mental strength.

Thank you so much for your support, we couldn't do it with you all. We have a goal of 100 reviews on Apple Podcast by the end of August so if you enjoy today's show please go and leave a few sentences in support of the YTP.

Sit back, unplug and get ready to really plug into an awesome conversation with an accomplished athlete, coach, podcaster, dad, husband, and cake artist.

Podcast 66: Tim "Lucho" Waggoner from All American to Two Packs a Day to Ironman to Leadman

YogiTriathlete and its co-founders, Jess and BJ, are waking up and shaking up the world of endurance sports. Their approach is anything but mainstream and they are known to go deep. Buckle up because jumping on this train has the power to change your life forever.

Harita Davies, Athlete And Meditator On Her 52 Day 3100-Mile Race

YogiTriathlete Podcast

Related tracks