Keegan and Company

Cam Bostock spent his teens inside. He was homeschooled, played video games all day and had social anxiety that followed him into his twenties. At about 19 he decided to change it: he got rid of the computer, started saying yes to invitations, and made himself walk up to strangers, which he says was the most terrifying thing he had ever done. A mate took him on three nights on the Bibbulmun Track and he was hooked. In 2020 COVID took his job and his apartment in Tokyo, so he went all in on filming hikes and didn't make any money for three years. Last year he set the unsupported record on the 1000 kilometre Bibbulmun. A bit over a week before we spoke he went back for the self-supported one, and at midnight on day one, 95 kilometres in, he stacked it five times on Mount Hallowell in the rain. He walked ten kilometres the next morning, then called it.

In this episode Cam and I discuss that morning, the phone call to his wife Karis before he decided, and why a bloke who a couple of years ago would have dogged it out pulled the pin instead. We talk about why he started a podcast when he reckoned he was no good at holding a conversation. Then Dan and Emma, the two hikers he met on day one of the Pacific Crest Trail and walked 139 days with, and what suffering alongside strangers does to a friendship. I get his advice for anyone who has never slept outside,What his wife, Karis says to him on the phone when an attempt is falling apart, and what he leans on when he's out there alone.
Free your team from time-consuming procurement tasks. Discover smart business buying, where unmatched selection meets AI-driven tools to simplify complex processes so you can focus on what matters most. Learn more at amazon.com.au/keegan
For more just like this:
#176 Jacqui Bell: Youngest Person to Run an Ultra on Every Continent: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
The mate who introduced Cam and me.
#131 Geoff Wilson: A Life of Adventure: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
Geoff telling the Antarctica storm story himself, which I don't do justice in this episode.
#169 The Psychology of Green & Blue Spaces w/ Dr Megan Lee | Why Nature Changes Your Brain: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
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Four days after our baby was born, I ran my version of the Sydney Marathon. It took me over four hours. Three weeks later I lined up in Berlin to run a sub 3:30. The only difference was how much I cared about the outcome.
In this episode I get into why the effort we're willing to give changes from one race to the next. Jack Brehm and motivational intensity theory. Three weeks away from my family. Oliver Foran on doing it for something bigger than himself. Fear, and proving it to yourself. The shallow end and the deep end of the pool. What happened at 33 kilometres. A mate's line about wanting and paying. And a mountain you might not need to climb to the top of.
Part one, The Wall Is In Your Head, and part two, Lowering the Effort, are both out now.
This podcast is supported by Denza. Thanks to DENZA Gold Coast for getting behind the show.
Start with parts one and two:
Why do we Quit? (Part 1) #209 Psychological Impacts on Physical Performance: The Wall Is In Your Head: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
Why do we Quit? (Part 2) #213 Psychological Impacts on Physical Performance: Lowering the Effort: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
For more just like this:
#189 Oliver Foran: Mount Everest World Record (Sea Level to Summit), Losing his Mum 16 & Finding His Why: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
#165 The Psychology of Finding your Why?: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
#160 Andy Buchanan: Finding Purpose In Running: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
Listen and subscribe: Spotify Apple Podcasts YouTube
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Letty Mortensen was a late bloomer. He turned pro by sending Rusty photo after photo for free until they put him on the team. Then he had a big injury three years running: his shoulder, a fractured tibia, and a hamstring torn off the bone. He was just getting back in the water when a board hit him in the temple and gave him a concussion, in the lead up to a boat trip through a military zone between Russia and Japan. He went anyway and had the adventure of a lifetime!

In this episode Letty and I discuss that trip to the Kuril Islands, a 1200 kilometre chain of volcanic islands that Russia and Japan still fight over, the two locals who started surfing because of Travis Rice, and what it’s like trusting your life to a captain who had never run a surf charter. We talk about the day his hamstring came off the bone, the first thing that went through his head, and how you show a sponsor your value when you can’t surf. Then the concussion: the hour and a half he kept surfing after it, what happened at the butcher’s, the headaches that came back every time he trained, and everyone having an opinion on what he should do. We compare it with my own concussions from footy, and get into the fear of getting hurt again, why he has given up some of his airs, and going all in with no plan B.
Free your team from time-consuming procurement tasks. Discover smart business buying, where unmatched selection meets AI-driven tools to simplify complex processes so you can focus on what matters most. Learn more at amazon.com.au/keegan
Listen and subscribe: Spotify Apple Podcasts YouTube
Follow for more: Podcast Instagram Keegan's Instagram TikTok
If you enjoyed this you will also enjoy these
#124 Mark Mathews: Recreate the Fear · Apple · YouTube Letty names Mark twice in this episode, both times as the person who made him think differently about being scared of big waves.
#168 World Champion Surfer Molly Picklum: How I Stopped Letting Fear Make My Decisions · Apple · YouTube The same question from the other end of the sport: what happens when you stop letting fear pick for you.
#76 India Robinson: World Surf League, Burnout & Concussions · Apple · YouTube For the concussion stretch in the back half: another surfer on how little the sport knows about heads.
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Most of us already have something we reach for when a session gets hard. Music, a mate beside us, the odd swear word. I wanted to know which of them hold up in the research, and why. This is part two of a three part series on why we quit.
In this episode I get into how to make the same effort feel lighter, and why none of it is a shortcut. The study that sorted songs by beats per minute. Music against podcasts in sprint intervals. Smiling through pain, and someone in a sausage outfit. What my footy coaches used to say to me every pre-season, and whether that voice is baggage or something real. A 2020 study on anger and fear before a run. Swearing and a bucket of ice water. And an Oxford rowing crew who did the same session together and alone.
Part one, The Wall Is In Your Head, is out now. Part three, next week, is Raising the Willingness.
The studies I mention: Terry et al. (2020), Effects of music in exercise and sport: a meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin Patania et al. (2020), The Psychophysiological Effects of Different Tempo Music on Endurance Versus High-Intensity Performances. Frontiers in Psychology Stork, Karageorghis & Martin Ginis (2019), Let's Go: Psychological, psychophysical, and physiological effects of music during sprint interval exercise. Psychology of Sport and Exercise Blanchfield et al. (2014), Talking yourself out of exhaustion: the effects of self-talk on endurance performance. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise Giles et al. (2020), When Anger Motivates: Approach States Selectively Influence Running Performance. Frontiers in Psychology Stephens, Atkins & Kingston (2009), Swearing as a response to pain. NeuroReport Stephens, Spierer & Katehis (2018), Effect of swearing on strength and power performance. Psychology of Sport and Exercise Cohen et al. (2010), Rowers' high: behavioural synchrony is correlated with elevated pain thresholds. Biology Letters
This podcast is supported by Denza. Thanks to DENZA Gold Coast for getting behind the show.
Start with part one:
Why do we Quit? (Part 1) #209 Psychological Impacts on Physical Performance: The Wall Is In Your Head: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
For more just like this:
The Psychology of Smiling Through Pain | Episode 181: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
#160 Andy Buchanan: Finding Purpose In Running: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube Listening to your shoes hit the ground in a pack comes from Andy.
#172 Rob Dalto: Losing Dad, 38 Marathons & Building the Bronx Burners: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube The Bronx Burners is the run club Rob co-founded in New York.
Listen and subscribe: Spotify Apple Podcasts YouTube
Follow for more: Podcast Instagram Keegan's Instagram TikTok
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jake Taylor grew up in Sydney before moving to England on his own at 17 to play soccer. Now he's a content creator known for his signature running shot, bringing high-quality filmmaking to running content.

A year ago he ran his first marathon, in Berlin. We recorded the day before this year's race, and I'm grateful he gave up some of that day to sit down with me.

In this episode Jake and I discuss why he walked away from professional soccer at 24. What losing his wife Alex's dad did to his priorities. The stranger who ran past him in Copenhagen to say he was running because of Jake's video. How social media has made a sub-three marathon look normal, when it's far from it. The months of 300 views before anyone watched. And why he believes his best creative ideas come on a run.
This episode touches on grief and mental health. If anything it brings up for you, Lifeline is 13 11 14.
For more just like this:
#144 Bailey O'Brien: Building The Life You Want: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube The episode Jake says got him following the show.
#199 Eddie Hearn: What It Takes to Be Great, "You Will Never Outwork Me": Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube Eddie on obsession and family, the conversation I bring up with Jake.
#201 The Psychology of Obsession: A Healthy Dose, and When It Crosses the Line: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube The solo I mention recording just before Eddie came in.
Listen and subscribe: Spotify Apple Podcasts YouTube
Follow for more: Podcast Instagram Keegan's Instagram TikTok
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.