Episode 43: Going deep with Peter Defty

We brought back Peter Defty from Vespa to hear more about his personal journey, and it is awesome! From biplanes to hunting and from running 100 miles in under 25 hours to the fat burning diet, Peter is a wealth of experience and information. Enjoy!

One bad motherfucker. Peter Defty in Guatemala, way before being cool was cool.

If you're not much of a listener, here are the notes:

"I was scared, I wanted to finish. I'd failed so much at life...that was a seminal point in my life, finishing Western States and not being a quitter. I knew I had something and could bring it to the fore."

-2001 heard about Paleo from Colorado & Loren Cordain

-grew up hunting and on a farm butchering their own animals

-trail running lead to ultra

-2006, training run for Western States introduced to Vespa

-2006 Western States in 23:34 (the hot year, 115 degrees on the trail!)

-2009 Leadville Trail 100, 24:26

-growing up without confidence (hard to believe given what he did next)

-1985 got on a motorcycle (Honda HR500), pointed it south, didn't speak Spanish and rode all the way to Panama

-mid 1980s built a Steerman biplane from pieces in Guatemala, was the first person to fly it, got a test pilot status as a student pilot

-"flying next to the beach with the waves crashing next to ya in Guatemala and really live the dream"

-"Test flying and installing differential GPS guidance systems for spray pilots in Guatemala"

-commonalities amongst top performers: commitment to mission, curiosity

Peter has some surprising observations in this interview, and it's well worth listening to the whole thing to pick up a few nuggets of wisdom.

Peter Defty about to get radical while taking off in his Steerman biplane.

Nik Hawks

Author

Nik Hawks helps run the show at Paleo Treats. Fascinated by humans in all their strange glory, Nik is harnessed in and pulling hard in pursuit of excellence with the rest of the PT Crew. Enjoy!

Too much reading...
How about dessert?

Take me to the store