Michael McKnight & the Across The Years 24 Hour ft. Sarah McKnight

In the season 1 finale of the PRP, Adam connects with professional ultra-runner, eccentric omnivore, father of two and budding philanthropist Michael McKnight who has been preparing for the Across The Years 24 Hour on December 30th, 2021. Michael dives in and gets vulnerable from the jump as he shares some of the difficulty he encounters when trying to explain to others the entire scope of what his athletic pursuits entail. What's different about the race Michael is aiming to conquer? He will be attempting to run the entire thing while ingesting absolutely 0 calories along the way. Michael explains both the genesis of his curiosity about his diet and shares why his past relationship with food fuels his current diet fire; while also touching on the story of how a dear friend of his, Jeff Browning, introduced him to the keto game at the inception of their relationship.

Sarah McKnight, avid cycler, crew chief extraordinaire and Michael's wife joins the show as guest host and offers some wonderfully raw insight into the world of supporting Mike through his extreme endeavors. Although she is thrilled that the keto lifestyle he has adopted has clearly enhanced his performance and overall wellness, there have definitely been some major learning curves along the way while supporting his diet while raising a family with two young children. Did Michael decide to start a strict keto diet on the exact same day his first child was born?! The three take a deep dive into some of the day-to-day difficulties involved when it comes to fasting windows and not eating carbs and admit that the nutrition piece of Michael's athletic package is likely the most difficult and inconvenient to manage.

Michael shares some tremendous insight into the origins of the plan for this race and explains how it evolved from a low key solo endeavor to a big experiment with several contributors, analysts and scientists. He shares in depth detail into his teams plan to gather and analyze data from his body before, during and after the race. Mike is the first to raise his hand admit that the current keto data out there isn't super favorable and there is still loads of scientific unknowns about whether or not this kind of approach is good for the body. With so many people following his journey and supporting him, he feels that it is his responsibility do what he can to collect information about his techniques and share it with the world. Before wrapping, Michael shares some keen insight on how to approach Strava to serve your own purposes. What truth did Michael discover on an innocent day in Zion, UT?! What is Mike's powerful advice for those struggling with running? Why is Michael peeing in a cup multiple times during this race?! How many needles are involved in this whole shindig?! What personal FKT project does Michael currently have planned for October 2022?! All that, and so much more in this upbeat and unique episode of the PRP.

Recorded December 23rd @ 3:00 PM MST