#091: Alyssa Godesky on Self-Doubt, Comparison & the Vermont Long Trail

Alyssa Godesky is most well-known these days for being a professional triathlete and the co-host of the popular Ironwomen podcast.

What isn’t well known is that she was an ultra marathon runner and trail runner, long before she moved into the world of triathlons.

In 2018, Alyssa returned to her trail running roots and set out on a mission to break the Fastest Known Time (or FKT) on the Vermont Long Trail in the United States, a 273mi / 440km trail which traverses the State of Vermont from north to south.

Now if you saw the film ‘Finding Traction’ on Netflix last year, you know more about the Vermont Long Trail than you might think...

That film follows legendary trail runner, Nikki Kimball, on her attempt to break the (men’s) record on the Vermont Long Trail.

#spoileralert Nikki misses the men’s record but smashes the women’s record.

It turns out that watching ‘Finding Traction’ lit the spark in Alyssa to wonder if she could do it.

Fast forward a few years and in 2018 (#spoileralert), Alyssa set a new women’s record of 5 days, 2 hours & 37min, taking over 5 hours off Nikki’s record!

In this conversation we discuss:

- the self-doubt and fear of failure that nearly stopped the project before she’d even started,

- the strategies she used to avoid slipping into comparison with Nikki (who is, on paper, by far the more talented and experienced runner),

- the sleep deprivation she experienced (after having only 17 hours of sleep in 5 days), and

- the (surprising) impact the run (and the stress from it) had on her body, hormonally.

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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