E195: Getting REALLY serious about REALLY dumb things... but with good people... like Randi Strauss

Thanks for listening friends, and boy... do we have a fun storytime for y'all today.My new friend Randi had been trying to get into Cocodona for years.Then, one January morning, a friend sent her a screenshot of something called Burrito League.Fifteen minutes later she had her shoes on.Several months, a pile of new friendships (like me!) and a ridiculously questionable number of repeated Strava segments later…Randi found herself standing at the start of the Bigfoot 200 wondering what, exactly, she had gotten herself into.Spoiler: she finished. 😂Like shortly before we recorded this episode. She'd just driven back to Arizona from the Bigfoot finish line!Today's episode is a wonderfully unpolished tour through 200-mile running, community, finding your own limits, Burrito League absurdity, Ménière’s disease, free grassroots races like the PhoeftyK, accidental entrepreneurship, tie-dye chemistry, Ritz crackers for fuel, and the surprisingly motivational properties of an aid-station beer.PBR, naturally.Randi shares with us why she finally stopped waiting to get into Cocodona and chose a different 200-miler, what kept her moving when her brain repeatedly suggested that she could simply stop, and how adapting to the body she actually has changed what she believes is possible.We also talk about the community that grew out of Burrito League, her first experiences with Destination Trail races (Arizona Monster 300, Bigfoot 200), the free Phoenix “Fifty K,” and the tie-dye side hustle that recetly started showing up all over the trail-running world.Oh—and roughly a mile and half before completing her first 200-miler?Randi stopped at a bar for a beer and a tequila shot. Bought for her by someone who recognized her from Day 1 of the adventure race.Then Randi sprinted to the finish.As one does. Because after 198.x miles... there's still a LITTLE gas left in the tank.Underneath all the ridiculousness of this episode is one pretty wonderful idea:There’s something special about getting really serious about really dumb things with good people.Find her tie-dye creations on Instagram at @r.an.di.art