Rena Schwartz - Pre Sunapee Scramble (U.S. Mountain Running Championship) Interview

One muddy ski slope can turn a championship race into a traction test, and Mount Sunapee is exactly that kind of day. We sit down with rising mountain runner Rena Schwartz for a quick, honest pre-race check-in before the US Mountain Running Championships, where the stakes include confidence, experience, and a real shot at Team USA.

Rena talks about how wild it feels to be back a year later, especially since last year was basically her first true trail race. We get into what’s changed since then: more consistent running, working with coach David Roach, and learning how to approach a stacked field without pretending you have every answer. She shares why she’s treating Sunapee as a chance to practice racing itself, the emotions, the decisions, and the moments where you choose to push or stay controlled.

We also go deep on the details that decide outcomes on the East Coast: mud, slick grass, water, and the shoe choice that can make you brave or cautious on the descents. Rena breaks down her move from Salomon roots to the La Sportiva Prodigio Pro and what she still doesn’t know about that setup when conditions get sloppy. We round out with her summer plans, including Broken Arrow (VK and 23K), the reality of managing knee pain after a 50K, and her exciting news about joining the Green Racing Project.

If you’re into mountain running, trail racing strategy, and the behind-the-scenes choices athletes make before a big start line, you’ll get a lot out of this one. Subscribe, share it with a training partner, and leave a review with your best tip for racing in the mud.

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Transcript

Welcome And Cedus Insoles Spot

SPEAKER_00 0:05

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Rena Returns For Sunapee Preview

SPEAKER_00 0:54

foot company. Rena Schwartz, welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Good. Yeah, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Yeah, excited to chat all things Sunopee. Uh, I feel like I say this to everybody, but it is kind of wild that uh already a year has gone by and we're we're right in the season opener now for the US Mountain Running Championships. How uh how are you feeling going into the week?

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Yeah, I guess it's it's kind of wild. I was thinking about it just before this. This was my first, kind of my first trail race ever last year. I had done Loon Mountain in like 2019 or something like that. But um yeah, a lot has changed since this race last year. I've just been running more working with a coach now, and um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Wow, that's crazy. Who are you working with as a coach?

SPEAKER_01 1:42

I'm working with David Roach, yeah. Oh, cool, cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Yeah, David's David's the man. Gotta love David.

unknown 1:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Uh very cool. Um, all right, let's roll right into it then. I mean, this is a weird question because you've only run the race once, but I feel like knowledge of this course is so important and having ideas of where to make moves, where to maybe let off the gas a little bit and conserve energy, all of these different things. Would you kind of consider yourself a veteran of this race, especially with how good you did on your first crack?

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Wow. Um, definitely no. I wouldn't consider myself a veteran of this race. I know that there are like a lot of people I'm gonna be lining up with on Sunday who I have a lot of respect for and who have done it many, many times. Um yeah, so I won't quite say I'm a veteran. I do think that I feel pretty comfortable on kind of trails similar to this, like kind of where you're just like running up and down like ski resort um mountains that like are sometimes quite muddy or kind of like those east coast type trails, um, running through tall grass with ticks. I have experienced that. Um so not a veteran, but like the terrain I I like grew up in that. So I I feel

Course Familiarity And East Coast Terrain

SPEAKER_01 3:00

familiar with that.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Very cool. I know you spent some time. I was peeping your Strava before this. I know you spent some time in Boulder as well before. Do you feel like that training, just like being at altitude, gives you a little boost before kind of coming back to the East Coast and kind of transitioning your training?

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Yeah, maybe. Um, yeah, I guess like scientifically, perhaps it does. I I did Gorge Waterfalls um 50k. That was actually the longest race I've done back in April, and have been kind of struggling with some knee pain and sickness and different things after that. So I'm not really sure if my build-up to this in Boulder, like if I was really doing enough to really get a lot of that um altitude stuff, but yeah, maybe. Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Uh think thinking back to last year, I mean, it's uh it's kind of crazy. Like you, I mean, not kind of crazy, you had an amazing performance, like fantastic uh on your first crack at this. Obviously, you're an amazing climber. Um, and and that was very evident as well in in performances like Mount Washington and other races that you did throughout the season. Like when you're starting to think about who you're standing on the start line with and who you'll be racing against versus last year. Will this year you just be running your own race? Do you have a particular set of athletes you want to key off of? Like how how I'm just coming on the idea of like how you want to race this race more or less.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Yeah. I think going into this, I'm really looking at this as like an opportunity to practice racing. I haven't done that that much trail racing yet. Um and there will be a lot of fast people there on Sunday, and so I think I'm really looking to kind of just like get in on the action, practice kind of like the emotions around racing, um, and see a bit kind of like where that where that goes from there. Um yeah, I mean it's always fun to be running with people um and racing around people. Um so yeah, I I'm looking forward to that. And a lot of these, I think I've raised some of the woman, but I I don't I don't think I have everyone who's well I definitely have haven't everyone who's gonna be lining up. So it'll be kind of just interesting to see how it shakes out, who's there. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Very cool. Um I would say probability. I don't know how you feel about this, but uh at knowing your performances and the things that you've done in the past and how you're performed last year, I'd say probability, and if if people were betting, not that they are, uh you've got a great shot to make the team. Uh what would that mean to you if you if you made the team like this for Team USA?

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Yeah, I mean, I think I'm just really grateful to be stepping up to kind of like this opportunity, like this start line. Like it's it's pretty cool that I get to do this. Um, a lot of people don't. Um and so I think I'm really just trying to sit with the gratefulness of of that, um, and that I'm able to kind of fit it in and have the resources to do that to line up for this race. And so it's hard to kind of think ahead to like, oh, what would it mean if I qualified for something else or was like racing on kind of a bit of a different scene or like a little higher level, perhaps. Um, but it would be quite exciting, yeah. I yeah, I would be really excited to kind of race internationally a bit, like dip my toes into that water, um and see what that's like.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Yeah, I think it would be an amazing opportunity, especially for you know, someone very young on the scene like you, who's just who's you know, already had a lot of success and starting to figure it out. And yeah, I think it would be great for your you know your running career. So it'd be very cool.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Yeah. Um shoes. What are you rocking shoes wise shoe wise

Race Mindset And Team USA Stakes

SPEAKER_00 6:50

for uh for race day? Especially if it's gonna be like rainy and muddy.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

Yeah. Um well I I grew up kind of like always wearing like Solomon trail shoes. Um and I forget what I used last last year. I was in like some type of Solomon shoe. I don't like it definitely wasn't really considered a a race shoe. Maybe it was like sense ride, something or other. Um but I've started using La Sportiva prodigio pro shoes. Maybe like last fall was when I got my first pair, and I really like those. I feel like they're good for running on like flats too, as well as kind of like more mountainous stuff. So I think I'll probably wear, well, that's my only pair of trail shoes right now. So I'll be wearing those. Um yeah, I'll be wearing those. And I'm excited to see how they do in kind of like muddier terrain. I haven't really figured that out yet, or potentially like running through water. Um, because I think I've only really run with them, or I have only run with them in Boulder. So we'll see how they do.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Yeah, that's actually a really good question. I was thinking the same thing, because I do have an East Coast race this year. I love more my prodigio pros. Great shoe. Uh but I wonder I didn't really like them last year at Killington. I slipped a lot. So I was like, huh. Maybe, maybe I go with something different. It's hard to say. I don't know. I feel like the um, I'm a super big shoe nerd, so I'm like, maybe I'll get like a pair resold and do like super deep lugs or like some crazy rubber on there. You never know.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Yeah, they definitely feel like a lot less um close to the ground than the Solomon ones. And I know I was very comfortable in the Solomon ones on this terrain. Um, but I really I and I really liked the Lost Portiva ones in like Moab and kind of on like more like scree little like looser rocks, but I really don't know how they'll do in like this muddy ski slope. So maybe I'll be like slipping, sliding down the mountain. If you see me doing that, maybe they aren't doing too well. We'll see.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

As long as you don't lose a shoe. David Norris like lost a shoe in the mud and somehow got it back and still won the race, which was mind-blowing to me. Yeah. Um yeah, so it's gonna be it's gonna be very interesting to see you know what happens in the conditions. I just out of pure curiosity for someone like you, because I don't know, you've had like you're a very good climber. Obviously, you point to a race like Mount Washington where you had a lot of success. Like road climbs seem to situate you very well. Like, where do you feel most comfortable at on a course like this? Is it more on like the first loop where it has a lot more road climbing, or on the second loop where there's a bit more like techiness to it?

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Um, I think usually kind of like the climbing parts. Maybe I'm feeling a little bit more confident in those. Um I think especially with kind of like some more recent like knee stuff, I'm a little bit more worried about the like intense pounding like uh downhills, but I do really enjoy kind of like I feel like there's a lot of like agility involved in those downhills, and I think that's super fun. And it I think it's kind of fun to be a little bit uncomfortable in that way when you're kind of like going down and like will I fall? Will I not? Um so maybe I enjoy that, but I think I feel more comfortable on the uphills.

unknown 10:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Where are you what are you gonna be racing this summer? What do you have uh plans to

Shoes Mud And Favorite Course Sections

SPEAKER_00 10:07

do?

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Um unfortunately I'm only allowed to miss two classes this summer. So I'll be doing Broken Arrow. Um and uh I I'm not quite sure what else, but I'll be doing the VK and 23K there, and then possibly if I can make it to like some races happening in the in New England, I would go to those if it's like on a weekend or something, maybe.

unknown 10:36

Cool.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

Yeah, I feel like I don't know. I um I sat down last summer and I was looking at it and I was just kind of blown away by just the short trail scene in the northeast. Like there is a good amount of like weekend short trail races where you could like really make a a semi-decent schedule and not have to travel crazy far, which is is good. That's awesome, actually.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

Yeah, it's great. And I love going to those local races. It's kind of unfortunate that I that there's such a good scene here in New England this year for that. And I decided to go to Broken Arrow. Like, what am I doing in California? I should be here for this year, but some other time I'll have to do those.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

I think you'll do great at Broken Arrow. Are you are you excited for a race like that? I mean, it's it's like really big. There's a lot of people that go to. Yeah, it's it's crazy how many uh it's like the Super Bowl of our sport now, like uh in the US wise.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

Yeah, yeah, I'm really excited for it. Um yeah, it's pretty cool that I get to go go that I'm gonna go travel there. And um yeah, traveling to races is also a bit uh more new for me in the running world, aside from just like doing the ones close by. Um so that's kind of something I've been thinking about. But um yeah, I'm excited for it to just kind of like line up with all these great runners, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Yeah, super cool. Not too I actually do have a coaching question for you. Um I've been asking every athlete this just because it just purely interests me on like what their coaches like had them kind of do in preparation for a race like this. Did you guys like get more into some of those workouts where you'll hit a climb, clear your lactate within like a couple minutes, and then hit another hard climb and like more workouts like that? Or like what kind of like workouts were you doing for something like this?

SPEAKER_01 12:16

Yeah, it I mean, it was really on and off after Gorge, um, just because of knee stuff and sickness. Um so I wasn't working out for like five weeks there. Um, and then I did uh more recently I've been doing some um harder climbs just to remember what it's like to have like a bit of a sustained hard climb. Um, and hopefully, I mean, like my body's done a

Summer Races Training And Green Racing Project

SPEAKER_01 12:45

lot for me before. It has like years and years of of training in it. So I'm kind of just trying to trust that and kind of like trust the muscle memory and work that I've put in. Um, but no, like there hasn't really, I don't really think there's been like a key one key like secret um workout that I've done.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

The secret stuff, yeah. I've always David Rose is like a you know kind of a math scientist, so I always ask. And same with Jeff uh or uh um sorry, Jack Kenzel. Uh so a lot of these coaches like always have their athletes doing all kinds of crazy stuff. So it's always fun to ask and see what everybody's up to.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Yeah, I don't think I've done anything too crazy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

Too wild. Fair enough. Um all right, cool. I feel like we captured everything. I told you we keep this one pretty short. Just a quick little pre-race, how you're feeling, excitement level, all the good stuff. And uh I'll be there commentating. Well, not they're there commentating, but I will be commentating. Um oh, one last question. What color kit are you gonna be wearing so we can identify you uh from afar on the live stream?

SPEAKER_01 13:46

Yeah, I don't actually have a kit, so I'll I'll go through my closet, see which shirt looks lucky, um, and and put that on. I I did um though, this is exciting news. I joined the Green Racing Project run team, which just feels really fitting. I grew up skiing with them, um, and I like their kind of like blend of striving for excellence, um, and then also understanding around how we impact the community and environment around us. Um, but I don't have uh that's very new, so I don't have a jersey from them yet. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Well, a couple things on that. First of all, congratulations. That's amazing. Lots of crazy good athletes have uh kind of come through there and and uh been on that team. And then yeah, their their kits are actually very cool, the Patagonia kits. Yeah, their mission is even better. So super cool. All right, well, read out. I'm wishing you the best of luck on race day. Hope you have an amazing day out there. I cannot wait to call your race. And uh yeah, I can't wait to talk to you uh post-race when we do the post-race interviews and uh best of luck out there and safe travels out to the race.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Thank you. I'll see you out there.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Yeah, thank you.