Dying To Ask

"Head first" isn't a choice for Kendall Wesenberg. It's a job requirement. The skeleton slider has also turned it into her life mantra. And her grit to push through life and it's challenges is becoming legendary. The 2018 Olympian is working toward qualifying for her second Olympic Team. But she's already put in a gold medal worthy effort just trying to qualify for the 2026 Winter Games. Kendall grew up in Modesto, California, playing a variety of sports. She graduated from CU-Boulder and in 2010 watched the sport of skeleton for the first time during the Vancouver Olympics. She thought, "I wonder if I could do that?" She attended a sliding athletes combine and discovered she had an irrational need for speed and the innate talent to get good at one of the most niche Olympic sport. Skeleton athletes slide head first on their stomachs down the same icy track the bobsleds go down. Athletes use their shoulder sand knees to steer. Kendall explains, "There are anywhere from 12 to 20-something curves that you try and cover in about a minute, usually less." She's gone as fast at 86 miles per hour on a track. And, she competed in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. But she failed to make the 2022 Olympic Team. It turns out she had an undiagnosed spinal injury that had gone untreated for three years. It explained the immense pain she'd experienced training and competing. "The things that hold your spine in place snapped off of my back. And when it didn't get diagnosed, my vertebrae just slid out of my spinal column. So it was like fully pinching my nerves. I couldn't feel my legs," says Kendall. Her surgeon recommended a spinal fusion, a surgery with a very long recovery. Kendall jokes, "The playbook's pretty thin on a return to sport post spine fusion." But her doctor didn't close the door on a return to the sport she loved. Kendall spent three months in a back brace, seven months barely walking and couldn't start serious physical therapy until 10 months post surgery. 600 days later she returned to the ice describing her return to a track as "awesome." A year later, she's earned a spot on the U.S. World Cup Skeleton Team and she's actively trying to qualify for that second Olympic Team. On this Dying to Ask: The Road to Milan- Cortina: Advice for anyone trying to heal from a major injury How Kendall stays positive despite spending years healing her body Kendall's wife did some sliding...into her DMs. How being married has added balance to her athletic life  

Whoever said quitters never win never met Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu. Liu quit figure skating after the 2022 Winter Olympics. At age 16, she was burned out and wanted to be a normal teenager.  "I was done a year before I quit. I knew I wanted to be done way before I actually announced my retirement," Liu said. For two years, Liu embraced life as a teenager, making up for lost time she'd spent on the ice. She got a driver's license, drove her four siblings to school, stayed up late and hung out with friends. She traveled for fun instead of competitions and even hiked in the Himalayas. She enrolled at UCLA and even took up skiing, a sport she'd never had time to try as an elite figure skater. She loved the feel of the cold air on her face when she was skiing. It reminded her of skating and two years after retiring, Alysa went to a local rink with a friend. Alysa started skating for fun, and it wasn't long before she got the itch to skate more seriously. She called a former coach, Phillip DiGuglielmo, and asked him what he thought about her coming out of retirement. At first, he wasn't a fan. "I said, 'Please don't. I really did.'  I said, 'Please don't. Respect your legacy,'" DiGuglielmo said. "We had a Zoom call for two hours. The story is I had a lot of glasses of wine over those two hours. And she talked me into a comeback." The two started training together, and seven months later, Liu won a world title in a sport she left as a child but returned to as an adult. On this Dying to Ask, The Road to Milan-Cortina: The power of taking a break Re-thinking how we look at the role age plays in sports like figure skating A frank look at what young teen athletes give up to be the best in their sport and the impact that can have long-term on mental health And why Alysa's coach thinks she could pull off a two-year gap in training and emerge stronger than ever   Other places to listen CLICK HERE to listen on iTunesCLICK HERE to listen on StitcherCLICK HERE to listen on Spotify See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel      

Bryce Bennett has a new title, and it's his favorite one yet: dad. The two-time Olympic skier is going for his third Olympic Team. Bryce is 33 and has spent nearly half his life on the U.S. Ski Team. Bryce and his wife, Kelley, welcomed their first child, a daughter, this spring. "You have this thing that is totally dependent on you," Bennett said. "You're in total love with it. And you will do anything to give it as many opportunities as you can." One of those opportunities will be a front row seat to her dad trying to make his third Olympic Team after 14 years of competing with the U.S. Ski Team around the world. "Kelley is going to come over, and we're going to rent an apartment and spend a lot of time in Europe this winter. The little baby is going to come over, and we're just going to live life and figure it out," Bennett said. Bryce grew up in Tahoe City, CA, and skied at Palisades Tahoe as a kid. He was a teenager when he made the U.S. Ski Team. In the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, he finished 17th (Super G-Men) and 19th (Downhill - Men). In the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, he finished 16th (Downhill - Men) and 17th (Super Combined - Men). His goal for 2026?  "My ideal year this year would be have an insane season, which is doable. Win the Olympics, take your trophies, and put them deep in the basement. And then go on and live your life," Bennett said. Bryce is known for a few things off the snow. One, he has a lot of hobbies, including fishing. You'll see as many "big ole fish" pictures on his Instagram feed as you do ski runs. The second is his incredible sense of humor. And that's why I picked Bryce to lead off our launch of Dying to Ask: The Road to Milan-Cortina. Get ready to laugh out loud as Bryce describes what it's like to be a pro skier when you're 6 feet 7 inches tall. Find out why being a parent as a winter Olympic athlete is like being a unicorn on the U.S. Olympic Team. And get some perspective on why being in tunnel vision with a goal is pointless. On this Dying to Ask: The Road to Milan-Cortina: How rare it is to be a parent on the U.S. Olympic Team The edge Olympians say parenthood gives them How Bryce stays motivated after spending nearly half his life on the U.S. Ski Team The value of having hobbies outside your day job     Other places to listen CLICK HERE to listen on iTunesCLICK HERE to listen on StitcherCLICK HERE to listen on Spotify See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel  

Stressed out? Try drinking a glass of water. Dehydration can mimic the symptoms of anxiety. Being properly hydrated is good for your energy, fitness and skin. It's just as important for your stress levels. A recent article in Women's Health broke down a study on the effects of being under-hydrated on anxiety and future health. Abigail Cuffey is the executive editor of Women's Health. "The researchers ultimately found that those who were drinking lower levels of fluids, lower levels of water — they had a bigger reaction to stress, and they put them through various stress tests. And those who were less hydrated had a bigger reaction, had a more powerful reaction to stress," Cuffey said. We've always known proper hydration is key for good energy, fitness and skin. Now we know it can impact mood. Think of your water bottle as another tool, like meditation, to control stress. "Now, is it going to magically take away all of your problems? I wish it could remove all the stress. But it really can help, and these really simple, easy things that we do also just make us feel like we're in control," Cuffey said. On this Dying to Ask: The link between being properly hydrated and stress levels Why dehydration mimics anxiety A simple way to know if you're drinking enough water How dehydration impacts your future health How much water should we drink daily?

Audiobooks are booming in popularity and they are a fun way to boost mental health. A calm voice can actually lower your stress hormones just like meditation does. Publishers Weekly reports the audiobook industry grew 13% in revenue last year, marking more than a decade of double-digit growth. Americans are listening more than ever while while commuting, working out, or just winding down at night. Lonely? An audiobook can be surprisingly comforting. There's something about having a voice in your ear, telling you a story, that is intimate. That sense of connection is can really impact your mood. Need to improve focus? Stop scrolling and start listening. Give your busy brain a break. On this Dying to Ask: 5 ways listening to audiobooks is good for your mental health 5 places to get audiobooks, including one that is 100% free