Becoming A Spartan with Joe Chura, Heather Chura, Bruce Etzcorn and Jon Rieckmann

IN THIS EPISODE… Joe sits down with his wife Heather Chura, and two of his friends, Jon Rieckmann (first-place finisher in his age division & eighth overall), and Bruce Etzcorn. These are a couple of the people from his crew that competed in the Spartan Ultra and Spartan Beast challenges in Lake Tahoe. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this event, the Spartan Ultra merges the sport of obstacle course racing along with 50K courses and 60 obstacles to create a truly unique and brutal challenge. This is a serious ultra-distance athletic challenge. This incredible group of athletes shares their highs and lows. They also talk about what they had to do physically and mentally to compete at this level. AND they aren't done challenging themselves yet. They talk about what's next for themselves in the race/run/challenge world.

🔍 Breakdown with the Spartan Crew:
Chapter 1 (0:00) - Intro
Joe introduces his wife and friends and sets up the episode

Chapter 2 (3:10) How we got started
Heather explains how she got Joe to sign up for the Spartan Ultra, and the magic behind having a goal to work towards.

Chapter 3 (7:25) - Spartan race tourist
Bruce shares his physical struggles with trying to finish the spartan ultra. He wasn’t able to finish and he explains what happened

Chapter 4 (20:20) - Heather’s mental toolbox
It was her second time doing the sandbag challenge on a steep incline, but Heather was able to get to a meditative state and focus on the struggles of others to get perspective.

Chapter 5 (24:16) - Training for the ultra
Preparation is so crucial for an experience like this. The obstacles, the altitude, the heat, and the inclines are something you need to train for in order to have a successful outcome.

Chapter 6 (26:47) - Jon wins his age group
Winning his age group was not easy. Jon talks about his highs and lows from the race.

Chapter 7 (33:02) - Joe’s racing hurdles
What the start of the race was like for Joe, and an injury he sustained during the course. He was able to use his mental toolbox to cross the finish line.

Chapter 8 (45:08) - Whats next
The group shares their biggest takeaways, what’s next for each of them, and the importance of setting your next goal to keep your momentum going.

Chapter 9 (52:00) - Half dome experience
Rising nearly 5,000 feet above Yosemite Valley and 8,800 feet above sea level, Half Dome is a Yosemite icon and a great challenge to many hikers, and Heather shares her adventure.

Material Referenced in this interview:
→https://race.spartan.com/en/race/ultra
→https://race.spartan.com/en/race/beast
→Spartan: Exit Strategy - Cal Fussman
→https://www.spartan.com/pages/fit-app

📞 Connect with Jon, Heather, Bruce and Joe
→https://www.instagram.com/jrieckmann2/
→https://www.facebook.com/hchura
→https://www.instagram.com/bruceetzcorn/
→https://www.instagram.com/jchura/

👊 To learn more about Not Almost There by visiting this link 
→ Not Almost There http://notalmostthere.com/​

Connect with Joe on social here:
→Instagram https://www.instagram.com/notalmostthere/
→Facebook https://www.facebook.com/notalmostthere/​
→Twitter http://twitter.com/joechura