At 79, Dr Betty Holston Smith is Fitter Than You Are - 07/29/2020

At 79, Dr. Betty Holston Smith is Fitter Than You
Are AT 79, Dr. Betty Holston Smith has the fitness level
of your average 30-year old and looks at least 20 years younger
than she is! How did the former 200-pound couch potato and
cigarette smoker transition to a vegan 50 years ago when hardly
anyone even knew the word vegan and become a highly fit
ultra-marathon runner? Dr. Betty shares with Coach Claire her
nature’s wisdom philosophy she’s developed and lived by over the
last 50 years, how she eats and trains, and her lack of need for
much sleep or recovery time despite running 60 to 100 miles per
week. Her overall health proves the benefits of strict vegan diets
and highly fit lifestyles; the bottom line is that you do not need
meat and junk food to stay healthy and fit.  Dr. Betty’s top
rankings in the national ultra-running community continues even as
she ages. At ages 76 and 78, she set and later broke official
USA-TF ultra-marathon national age group records for the 48-hour
and 6-day ultra-marathon races. She is in the USA-Track and Field
permanent record books. Currently, at age 79, she continues her
national ranking by the ultra-running community (91.46% age group
ranked and 49.06% overall ranked).  This strict plant eater
has been a top-ranked ultra-marathon runner since she began running
ultra-marathons in 2007. She took to running ultras after she
completed 85 marathons run throughout the USA and on all seven
Continents (a marathon on six including Antarctica), and a half
marathon on the Great Wall of China. Now she trains for and uses
marathons to train for ultras!  She has completed 30 ultras
run in: Boston, San Francisco, Rhode Island, Vermont, Florida,
Maryland, Virginia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. She is the founder
and coach of the “Abandon Your Limits” land and deep-water running
programs. Dr. Betty is currently running virtual races due to the
pandemic and will continue to do so until the pandemic is
controlled. She recently used a fitness age calculator developed by
the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The expected
fitness level for her age of 79.6 is 26 VO2. According to the
calculator, her fitness age is 45 VO2 and she has the fitness level
of an average 30-year old. The free calculator is available at:
https://www.worldfitnesslevel.org/#/ Prepare to be amazed and
inspired by the one and only, Dr Betty Holston Smith!




Questions Dr Betty is asked:

        


2:35 You are a 79 year old plant-based ultra runner and I suspect
that you are healthier and fitter than most people listening to
this show!  Can you talk about how you first started running
and how you came to adopt a plant-based lifestyle?


 


12:12 How do you take your ego away from the finish line in a
race?


 


12:27 You've talked about your life being  structured around
"Nature's Wisdom." What does that mean for you?


 


23:24 You’ve said that you’re just a normal person that does a
whole lot of good things. Well, I don’t know. Four hours of sleep
doesn’t sound too normal. You said that you don’t need any
recovery and you can still run 100 miles a week at almost 80
years old?


 


25:00 Have you ever been injured?


 


32:37 What foods do you eat every day?






Questions I ask everyone:


 


40:39 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you first
started running, what advice would you give yourself?


 


42:06 What is the greatest gift that running has given you?


 


46:06 Where can listeners connect with you?




Quotes by Dr Betty:

 


“I don’t know how many marathons, I’ve lost track, but I do know
at some point I was at 85 marathons, and I have run marathons on
each of the seven continents.”


 


“My running is passion. My running is perseverance. Those two
things are great for all of life, not just running.”


 


“I bring all of my food to all of my races. I also have a log
with the food items across the top, and across the left side
going down, I keep track of when I’m eating what. Once I’m into a
six-day race and it’s day three, I’m not going to remember when I
drank the last water.”


 


Take a Listen on Your Next Run


 


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Mentioned in this podcast: 

 


Vivobarefoot Shoes


Clif 90% Organic Lemon Lime Powder


Lifestyle by Nature book


Danny Dreyer, Chi Running Founder - Runt To The Top Interview


Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community


RunnersConnect Facebook page


claire@runnersconnect.net


 


Follow Dr Betty on:


 


drbettys@aol.com


 


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