Red Dirt Revelations: Scott & Kurt Share Their 100-Mile Louisiana Adventure

If you haven't had a moment to do so yet , please consider heading over to your favorite podcast app , maybe even the one you're listening on right now . Hit , follow , rate the show and , if you're on Apple , maybe even leave a short review too . My name is Richard Gleave . I've been running ultras since 2017 .

I have taken on and finished numerous distances , all the way up through 220 miles , and I am unashamedly a member of the back of the pack . Just like you are here in the studio with me today , I am honored to welcome Kurt Lacroix and Scott Weidenbacher . Now , kurt and Scott are no strangers to ultra running .

A quick glance at their ultra sign-up history shows Kurt finishing Children of the Cane 100 miler , in addition to a few other races , and Scott has previously completed the Wildcat Ultras 100 miler , prior to both of them taking on the race which they're here to talk with us about today , which is the Red Dirt Ultra 100-mile race over in Louisiana , which they

completed this past February . We're hopefully going to learn a little bit about the race itself . We're going to hear the story of how the guys' race went a few weeks back and , lastly , discover why you may or may not want to consider adding this event to your 2025 calendar . So stick with us . We're going to be right back after this .

Like I'll get up in the morning , go run 30 miles and then I'm like , oh crud , I got to cut the grass , you know , and I got to do this , got to wash the cars .

So just going out there and trying to get totally exhausted in a day I think has definitely helped in that recovery phase to where I was able to step back in and start , you know , loading on miles right away Fantastic .

If I can chuck it over to to you guys , like give us an overview of the race itself for anybody listening that might not be familiar with that particular event is it a ? Is it a point to point ? Is it time loop ? Whereabouts does this race take place ? Kind of paint the picture , if you will , of of what . What is the red dirt ultra 100 ?

Scott's a little further , but we didn't know a whole lot about it . Scott knew more about it than I did , cause he had talked to some people who had done it . So I'll kind of I'll , I'll kick it over to Scott and he can kind of tell you what he had heard about the race first .

It was really , you know , runner-friendly with aid stations and help all along the course . So that's kind of how I had that one on the calendar , kind of looking at it . When we decided we wanted to do that race , we really started kind of diving in and looking at the schematics of it . It was a 16-mile loop , okay .

But as far as the setup and what I had heard about the race , people were spot on , the aid stations were very well maintained . The course could have been marked , I think , a little bit better and , kurt , you can probably speak to that as well A little bit better probably could have been marked , especially for nighttime .

But all in all , we drew some pretty good weather . Although it was cold , it was pretty good weather . We didn't have to worry about the sun beating down or too hot . Aid stations were full . They had hot food , they had cold food , they had electrolytes Everything you would really look for at a race as a runner . They had at that location .

I mean I've heard about it , I know people who have done it , but I've never asked in detail because it wasn't in my consideration , I think when Scott started talking about it . What got me interested in it is all of the training block leading up to the race would be in fair weather for us here . I mean Scott's in Pensacola , florida , hot .

I'm in South Louisiana , hot . So putting in a lot of miles during the summer it just takes a big toll on you , it wears you out , whereas when you start training in South Louisiana and Pensacola in October , november , december , it's relatively mild and you can put in a bunch of chunks of miles and recover quicker and can do it .

So that kind of piqued my interest because I'm like , okay , I can put in a lot of chunks of miles . I mean I can go out and run , I could take a month straight and I could take every weekend and I could go . Hey , I can run 26 on Saturday and I can go run 10 on Sunday .

It was that kind of deal because it wasn't that hot and it was easier to recover for the training . I had no idea how hilly and how much terrain and ups and downs this course had until until so , until we , when we got out there , we we had some ideas of what kind of pacing we were going to try to attempt and everything .

And we we had a seasoned veteran who had actually , I think , in his I don't know if he did it once or twice , but he came in third . So relatively , relatively relatively fast guy , and Scott and I kind of were like oh yeah , we're going to , you know , we're going to 15 minute pace and everything . And he just goes .

Okay , man , you guys , just , you know , stay to the , you know , keep your nose down and keep at it . He knew and he didn't tell us .

Because I , you know it's tough to go through . I think it took 31 hours . If I read the , if I read the correct , correct , I mean , it's tough to stay together actively for 31 hours with another person , through all the ebbs and flows of a race into and out of aid stations and so on . So , was that the plan ?

Did you intend to stick together the whole way from the outset and , if so , how did you make that happen ?

For we probably did it for a couple of years before we moved . So , pace wise , we would train at the same pace . You know we had a different pace if we're training for a marathon or for an ultra . So so we would train at the same pace and we kind of kept the same pace training . We kept the same training schedule .

So even when I moved to Pensacola , if I look at Kurt's run and Kurt looks at my run , we're within , you know , 15 seconds each mile of where each other's are . That's kind of how we're training together . Know 15 seconds each mile of where each other's are , that's kind of how we're training together .

Our goal when we started was you know , we're going to stick together , we're going to keep each other motivated . You know you got peaks and valleys , as you know . So one person is peaking , the other person might be in a little lull or kind of down themselves . So it's kind of , like you said , the ebbs and flow of the racing .

We kind of keep each other going , keep each other going , keep each other motivated . You know , just kind of when I needed Kurt's there to pull me , and when Kurt needs it , I'm there to pull him . So our strategy was to start out and to finish and cross that line together . Yep .

He had done some runs and he had done this actual same race , but in a shorter distance , so he had seen the course before he had seen the course before that . I that I did , but on that one that was kind of like my soul .

That was my solo mission and I think I you asked about our bio and stuff like that and I kicked it back to a lot of my running stuff . And what keeps me going forward is it's something my dad and I used to do together and that's how we bonded . But fast forward .

Scott had not done 100 yet and he had a local race in his backyard called Wildcat Ultras and same deal . He had run the course several times . He knew what it was all about . I had no idea what it was about . All I told him is that I'm either going to come pace you or I'm going to come run it .

Well , I got into a point there where I was having a great training session through the summer , richard , and it was just a great time . I was feeling good , I had race aspirations , I had goals , I was going to go out there and I was going to knock this race out in 24 hours . Well , lo and behold , I got humbled really quickly . I only made it .

You know , the running ultras will do it to you real quick . So I got humbled and I did not make . I didn't make it . I only made it through 50 miles . But Scott had another . We had another friend out there and they and those two got through that race . I actually came back out the next morning , even after I left the course .

I came back out the next morning and did a few loops with Scott and he and let him finish on his own with his wife . But I think when I saw that camaraderie between Scott and the other guy his name is Jeremy I think at that point , that's when I made my decision that I guess I need to do these with somebody and not try to act like that .

I am some guy who's going to go out there and beat a time . I think every race for me going forward , my attitude is I'm there for one thing and that's to start , and it's to finish and beat the time , beat the cutoff time . So that's what I rate and from now on that's what I'm going to race against .

And so when scott and I started talking about red dirt , I mean I was bitter still . You know , I I just come off a race that I dnf'd and I was , I was bitter and I needed , I needed to win . I think at one point . I think at one point in time I think scott and I were on the second loop and I told him .

I said this is it for me , dude , for me , dude . I said if I don't finish this , I said nothing else matters at this point . That's one cool thing about Ultra 2 that I like , richard , when you're out there , nothing else matters except for that .

And I think at that point in time , knowing that I had somebody there who was going to see the thing through with me the whole way , it just gives you that extra boost of confidence and it just cleared the way . We had some struggles along the way and we'll get into it .

But I think having that other person there it's different than a pacer , right , a pacer's cool and you're going to pick a pacer up and they're going to give you a little shot in the arm and everything . But knowing that , hey , sometimes pacers don't show up , right , I've had the guy , I'll be there , and he didn't show up .

And then I'm like , oh gosh , now you're pulling people from , who wants to come run ? Knowing that I had a built in person that wasn't going to leave . And there was a lot of times there when he was dragging me along , and I was glad to have it , but it was never a doubt that we weren't going to finish together .

That's kind of how this whole thing started . And we do have another one coming up . I'm going to get my redemption at that Wildcat race in August . So that's where we are right now .

You know , I feel like , especially when you've had somebody with you for the whole race , like , like you guys are running together right from the outset , where a pacer can step in , can step out , they're kind of a little more , I mean , granted , they're there to get you to the finish , that's part of their job , but you know , they're a little bit more detached

from it maybe .

Kurt and I have already spent 12 hours together , 13 hours together , and we're so invested at that point that if our pacer doesn't show up or something happens and they get sick and can't come , we're still there and we're halfway through .

I just thought it was really interesting how fast everything else drops away and you get totally focused on this one goal that you're trying to do and the three big ones eat , drink . And the race I was doing was a 200 miler . So , for me sleep , and that's there as well , to some degree in in in a hundred miler , but but yeah , really , eat .

Uh , eat and drink are the two big ones , whichever , whatever you're doing anyway , but yeah , I agree , I think it's really interesting how fast the rest of the world falls apart when that's your sole focus . I mean , you get 30 miles in , 40 miles in and everything else is gone Very cool .

So we talked about reflecting and I think I do think it's important to reflect back on the race . So I definitely wanted to ask you because we're starting to get into that side of the conversation too so what went well for you guys during the race ? What were some things that you thought afterwards , looking back ? Yeah , we actually did pretty good there .

Once you get that dose of reality in the arm of really what the trail is , I think we stayed pretty well on our plan and you know our plan originally was , like I said , three loops . I think our original plan what was it , scott ? Eight hours , nine hours , ten hours .

Yep , eight , nine , ten , okay , and I think we ended up going nine , ten , was it , scott ? Eight hours , nine hours , 10 hours , yep , eight , nine , 10 . I think we ended up going nine , 10 , 11 , right , I'm not mathing out real quick , but it was there about something like that .

So I think what we did well , richard , is once we saw what we were up against , we adjusted and we nailed it and we stayed on it . Yep .

I think both of us did a really great job at taking in calories and staying hydrated . You know , and I think the , I think the calories . You know , when I saw kurt eat something , I would try and eat something . I'm sure it was same thing for him and we stayed on the calories and , uh , you know we didn't get flustered .

Like I said , there were some parts where we would come up to , you know , a little creek or a little dip in the in the ground , and we're like I don't remember this from last time it looks steeper . You know what do we do ?

You know , ups are one thing , downs are another , and downs when you get fatigued , downs when you get fatigued , they're so hard to control , especially when they're steep , and I'm just sitting here going , either I'm gonna twist an ankle , I'm gonna bust my butt and I'm like don't step in a rut , you know , especially when you're going down , because hey , look ,

you can't , you can't see , you can't really tell from our pictures right here , our builds . But I weigh a little more than Scott does , just by a bit .

What were some of the challenges that you guys faced during the race , and were there any surprises that you hadn't anticipated beforehand , even with the advance notice you'd had from jeremy , was it ?

I think for me I fell more times and I don't ever try to think I'm not going to fall , especially on courses that have a lot of roots and especially when at night I just , you know , your gait changes and you don't pick your feet up as much . And yeah , I catch a root here and there and I try to keep my balance .

But I think I fell a few more times than I did and I had one bad fall too in one of the creek beds . That really hurt and that was the only lagging injury I had . Once that healed , I think I had a . I didn't go ever get an x-ray on my femur , but if it was fractured it might've been .

I had a really , really deep bruise down to my femur that really hurt , but good thing that didn't happen until what Scott was that mile like 89-ish or something like that .

I had a spare battery . It died the first loop . It was 100 charged , died on the the first time . I turned it on an hour after it got dark . I had a spare battery . Couldn't find it the whole time it was in my pack .

Someone or venmo them money if they had a headlamp I could have , and and at one of the aid stations , one of the guys when you know , one of the young guys working it had a little bitty like a little square flashlight , so he's like man , just take it so .

So it was better than nothing , but it didn't give off like a light , like a headlamp does , it was just . It was just a light , just a little bitty lamp richard's like a lantern .

I was like scott , just stay right to my side , we'll just use it , we'll just go like this and right , yeah , yeah , yeah .

Yeah , uh , averted other gear , other other things that went . I know for me that that was a a shoe changing course for me . You , you got wet every you got . You got your feet and saw stuff wet every loop .

So every time we had the main aid station I mean you know how it is , richard , changing socks and shoes , especially when it's 22 degrees out there you're already cold and wet . You're cold and wet and it was . It's just tough .

We did get , I mean , we get help , but man , my toes are so jacked up and if I move them one way , they'll , they'll cramp up and everything . And I think just the fact that having to change the shoes so my feet didn't get so destroyed was the main thing I still have . I just popped up . I sent scott a picture the other day .

I just popped off my last toenail the other day .

It was cold , it was 22 at night and the wind was blowing . And you know , when you left 33 mile loop , when you left for that loop , if you didn't have it with you you weren't getting it for eight hours or nine hours yeah , that's a challenge , yeah I've had a few races like that here in texas .

So I did not have that problem at all this race and this was the first cold race , richard , that I did implement heated gloves , so that was extra gear that I had to carry and extra batteries .

But wow , that was a difference maker in my hands , for sure , and one of the things that does for me is that keeps all the blood circulating properly in the body and once the blood circulating , keeps the heart rate right . I did not have any issues with that . So that was the first time I used those things all the way through .

So , yeah , I used them for a full 16 hour cycle . Is is what I got . I got out of two sets of batteries okay , two , is that two independent sets ?

I need to get some of these things , I'm tired of messing around with this and I , richard , I bought those things and scott came in town four weeks before the race and we were going to do a . You know , I don't know what , scott , 40 miles or what . I think we did 40 , 40 miles or whatever it was . Train and run . It was perfect .

That's when I use the gloves the first time and I'm like I may be on something here , maybe on something .

Earlier on , you guys talked about course markings too , and how those might have been improved , shall we say potentially , especially at night . What's the story behind that ?

There were a little contractor flags and we thought I felt like they could have had more more flags out , but definitely some type of reflective or reflection on the on the flags they were just little plain orange flags and they were just regular so yeah , and they were tucked so far down that there were so many leaves on the course it was really hard to see

from flag to flag where to go . I think what got them , richard is .

Now when you're in the forest you don't get it right , but there's sections that we're getting it and I think some of those sections their flags might have gotten spun Some of them did have and at nighttime is where it's important , right , because you've got your light and you're just looking for blazing . You're looking for , you know , for the reflective back .

There was a section or so that there was a key place where I personally , if I was marking a course and I used to mark courses I would have said I'd have put a double reflective flag right there to make sure nobody missed that key turn . Scott and I did miss it and I think it didn't cost us too much time it probably five minutes . We doubled back .

It was along a riverbank and when we got to the riverbank I was like whoa , this don't look familiar . I don't remember this at all .

Who knows , stuff happens . But I will say this Scott can get lost in a circle .

Yep , yeah , not that that would have helped the outcome or go any faster or anything like that , but as far as comfort , I changed my shoes each loop . You know , I changed the socks each loop . The pants were the only thing my legs were really cold . I think that's probably the only thing I would have changed .

I was like , okay , Next thing I see is Jeremy flying across the side over here and he hops out like a bunny bunny rabbit on the other side of the trail and I'm like where did you go ?

He goes , I told you guys to go left and I'm like , huh , so yeah , Besides that , it's funny when you don't know a trail and you do it for the first time , you don't know what you don't know .

So I think if I were to do that course again , I would probably would have said , hey , I would have wished we'd had more time to look for ways to get around some of these nuisance water crossings , Just because I know how important it is to keep your feet dry . Then you know , you know the deal .

The longer you keep those feet dry , the further down the road you get before you have issues with blisters and what have you yeah , sometimes it's unavoidable .

So my training block I started later than I wanted to and mileage wise was nowhere near where I was for the wildcat ultra , which was this previous september . But with that being said , I finished the race and I thought I did pretty well look and and richard .

I saw Scott not training , and even Jeremy and I would talk back and forth and he goes , well , he goes , you're going to , he's talking to me , he's like you're going to do fine , he goes , you have . You have more than put in the time , the mileage , he goes . It's going to be a tough race , but you're going to get through it , don't worry . Scott .

On the other hand , I'm not so sure . So doubt laid into my mind that my partner might struggle and I need him right , I know that , I know it . So , wow , to my surprise , and I'll let him tell you he , at the middle of the let's see , we finished the first loop , starting the second loop , so started on the second loop .

Right towards the end , right in the middle of that second loop , you pick up our pacer starting the third loop . When they started that loop . I couldn't keep up . I couldn't keep up with Scott . He found magic in a pair of copper knee sleeves and he took off and I couldn't keep up with him .

And let me tell you , for a while there I felt like dude , just go , you found something , just go . I'm going to finish . Dude , just go . You , you found something , just go , I'm gonna finish . But that was .

I think that's the true testament back and forth here , how we have already made the commitment when we do these things let's stay together , because we know it's not always going to be everybody's on the same page . At some point one will struggle , one won't .

There's lots of times when you know one is ahead of the other and you might just be like , yeah , you know what , you just go , I'm not feeling great , Just just go on like yeah , you know what ? you just go . I'm not feeling great , just just go on .

So I think it's really cool that you guys made a commitment to stay together and started and finished together , which I , which I think is really cool , and we got a second gear tip there the copper knee braces thrown in . So we've got two gear tips coming out of this right here , right , right , right .

Well , I let myself down and I knew I did . And even going into that race the weekend , I had no doubt in my head that I was going to finish that race . Even with the lack of training , there was something , there was something on the inside that that was lit . Or , you know , some people will say the demons in your head , or whatever you want to call it .

I wasn't leaving without finishing that race . And even though my training for that , for that particular race , was subpar in my head , I knew I was going to finish . That particular race was subpar in my head , I knew I was going to finish .

And the answer is always roughly the same , is that it's mostly mental . You can have a really good shot with almost no training , correct ? You could do a 50k with no training if that's what you want to do .

But I think that's the proof right there , scott , is that you know , okay , it's good to have training , but the mental side of things is really what's going to get you through and get you over the finish line ultimately . Because I think nobody's really able to train specifically for mile 65 , mile 70 of 100 mile race .

You just don't know what's going to happen when you hit that point . So , yeah , I think that's really fascinating that , despite a less than ideal build-up , shall we say , that you were able to get through and beat the cutoff , and 31 hours is pretty good . Whichever way you look at it .

Now you've mentioned Jeremy a few times . I'm sure he'll be glad for that . I think you had a crew , right ? Was Jeremy a part of the crew ? So if you did have a crew , how did the crew come about and what was their role in you guys actually getting to finish oh wow , so this is all Scott's story .

So him and his girlfriend Kelly , both were at the tent and I'm telling you , every time we finished a loop we were texting them a couple of miles out hey , we'll be there in two miles , three miles , whatever it was . They would have hot dogs ready for us , pancakes , bacon , hamburgers , anything we needed . They were there .

They were taking our shoes off , rubbing lotion or icy hot on our calves , our calves , fixing blisters , putting socks on us . They were there for everything we needed . We couldn't have asked for a better crew on the course . The pacing part I kind of feel like it was all over the place . Jeremy is a ball of energy .

He has he has two gears , he has a stop and a go , 400 and he was was . He was at 400% that day , which was great because he kept us going and he kept us motivated . But you're also , you know , you're also exhausted .

You're in your own head , you're struggling a bit and Jeremy is like whizzing by you and screaming stuff out , and sometimes it's overwhelming For me . Anyway , I don't know about anybody else For me it gets overwhelming for a little bit and then on the I guess it was the last loop kelly actually hurt herself . She actually twisted her ankle .

She was pacing this as well . So our pacer , jeremy , stayed back with kelly intended to her until they got her , you know , taken care of into the aid station . So we were a good what would you say , 10 miles , seven miles ahead of our pacer for a bit About five miles yeah . Yeah .

Oh yeah , I think they can anticipate what you may not be able to brain and comprehend what you may need and that was big from them too . Yep , being out on the course and having somebody put the time and say , hey , this is , this is where we are , this is where you need to be . That's always helpful . You know , richard , you've done these things enough .

You lose your mental acuity and you just get to the point where I just got to go and where it helped the most and , believe it or not , it was kind of weird . Where they helped the most is when I fell . They weren't with us at all At that point .

That's when Scott and I were ahead of us , and so it was a comedy show if you'd have been out there Because , like I said , we went through the dynamics here of our differences 210 , dead weight in a riverbed , 140 pounds I'm going to pick you up . So we know we're killing time right and we know the aid had had cutoffs , richard . So it wasn't just you .

You do have to hit certain stations at a certain time to continue on . So we got to a point we're sitting there and then Jeremy showed back up . And when he showed back up I was like I think we're about to be in time trouble . And sure enough , jeremy was . Jeremy helped me out out of the , out of the riverbed , and that's when things got real serious .

On time , they were , I think , at that point , even though all of the stuff leading up to that that was the part there where they got us back Well , me , scott was along for the ride at that point for the show , for the comedy show Got us back on track . You know , hey , kurt , you don't have time to stop at this aid station .

I'm going to grab some stuff for you . Hopefully I get what you need , but you don't have time to stop . We've got to keep running . You actually have to run now . Figure out how to run . That was good to have them . Now , how did that happen ? I was hoping he was going to go into the whole story on Jeremy and how they met and how that all went down .

Scott and I signed up . I don't know , this was probably two years ago , I think it was in 2022 . Scott came in town . It was that same race that I did the 100 at . We were just I've done every distance out there , but I hadn't done the 50K , so I had a goal time out there six hours or less and I hit my goal time .

But Scott met Jeremy at that race and Jeremy was doing the hundred miler out there . And so I think , scott , how far did you run with Jeremy ?

He's never met him before , except for a three-hour race on a on a trail .

Yeah , that's always been one of the amazing things about racing trail racing , ultra racing it's such a tight-knit community and I've said I've said like you can spend a couple of hours with somebody on a trail and get to know them in a way that you would never get to know them if you were just going to meet them out in a park or somewhere else .

Like people's walls come down really quickly when , when , with all the really close bonds with people you may only spend a few hours with and I know I have the same experience with people I meet but I think that's really interesting , a really fun part of trail running .

Jeremy happened to go to the same high school I did . He grew up in the same town I did , so there was a little bit of a connection there that kind of built some trust . You know , we kind of knew the same roots or grew up in the same roots .

So yeah , three hours being vulnerable on the course , you really get to know somebody and I've built a few friendships on the course like that .

But yeah , it gets like . I was my last race , I think the day three of the 200 race I was doing I was just crying was my last race , I think the day three of the 200 race I was doing . I was just crying for no reason whatsoever , and it's not just anything anyone said to me , I would just be bawling for some reason and I had no control over it .

But just yeah , the emotional side of things is something people don't really talk about too much , but it's there on every one of these races and it'll get you . But I do think you're right there on every one of these races and it'll get you . But I do think you're right .

That has a part to play in everybody being very open and genuine , because you get the real person there on the trail right . There's no hiding anything when you're 60 , 70 miles into a race and freezing cold and your feet are wet . There's no hiding anything when you're at that point .

So we talked about recovery a little bit out of the gate at the beginning of the episode here and I hope you don't mind , but I'm right there too as 50 plus runners , I was curious how you guys approach recovery after a big old event like this 100 miles . What do you do afterwards ? Is it active recovery ? Kurt , you want to start what ?

I think probably didn't do anything , richard , for probably a week after this race , and I mean , at some point sometimes it's just a struggle get out of bed and walk to the shower , et cetera . But you know , once you get that lactic acid flushed out and you start to feel a little bit rickety , as you are , that's when I get propped up .

And when I mean propped up , if I'm going to go out and try to go do something . Part of that recovery is to be smart and maybe now , going forward , I'm going to start wearing the knee braces deeper into a race just because it protects the form of the joint .

But yeah , I think I was in knee sleeves , knee braces , ankle sleeves , braces , whatever you want to call them compression things , probably for the first four weeks while I was doing any kind of running , just just to be on the safe side . I did continuously do . I've got one of those thumper , uh Thera thumper things , and I was always .

I was making sure I was uh hitting , you know , hitting the hot spots daily and and and stretching as much as I can . I'm not very flexible at all , but just trying to do some stretching and then just body position strengthening , meaning squat positions , anything that builds those muscles back up . The hip flexors I do incorporate .

I used to play a lot of golf , so I'll get my long stick , my long weighted sticks , out and I do hip exercises to keep the hip flexors flexible . I think that's a big part , especially as we get older . Got to be fluid down there , especially when you're running terrain that's rough to you know , to make sure you can bob and weave .

So I try to just keep everything fluid , but I'm careful and smart . Like I said , the knee braces just came off , probably two weeks ago I think that's good stuff .

I also have a pair of those compression boots , the ones that zip up , and it's like a kind of a blood pressure cuff all up and down your leg . It kind of does . A huge believer in those . I do those usually once a day right after the race . I try to do it twice a day .

I think getting that blood flowing in there helps to get some of that lactic acid out . But , like Kurt said , just trying to move and as hard as it is and as sore as you are , just trying to keep the blood flowing through the legs , and that's any kind of movement , walking down the block , the treadmill .

After this , this red dirt , I did have some knee pain , so I was out a little bit longer than I wanted to . Once I was able to get back on the treadmill , I still had a little bit of knee pain , just kind of walk through that . And , and you know , colonel vouched for it .

I texted him and Jeremy , april or I guess the the end of March and I said it doesn't matter how bad it hurts , april 1st I'm on the road and it's been two weeks and the knee pain is actually gone now . So I don't know if getting on the road , getting active again , has worked all that lactic acid out , but it actually feels good now .

Yeah , it's really different and I have to be really mindful of what I'm doing before , during and after a race , because it's very different . It's a very different Pay attention .

Maybe I'll do a specific episode on 50 plus runners and strategies and techniques for for staying flexible , yep and kind of build up and post races , because that might be interesting too , some of those sumo squats underserved . Yeah , I tell you , man , if I could do a bunch of those right , that opens those hip flexors up really good , though , that's for sure .

I yeah , I thought so like I have to hold on to something , it's all right with cheating cheating's fine yes , it is a little cheating . Uh , I have to say

so . The , the listener base for choose to endure , is predominantly back of the pack folks , or the tail end of the of the ultra world .

Now do you guys have any advice for those folks , especially in sort of preparing for and tackling ultra distances in general , or specifically for stepping up to like 100 , like you guys just did , if they are sort of on the fence about wanting to give it a try ?

And and what I feel like , what we do , there's no magic to it . I'm not fast , kurt . You know kurt's not fast . Jeremy is fast . We're not not fast . We'll walk a little bit , we'll run a little bit . We'll walk a little bit , we'll run a little bit . But we have it down to a science , to where we know when the timer clicks , it's time to run .

When the timer clicks again , we're going to walk for a bit . Anybody can do that . Start small . So start with a 5K , finish the 5K and stay at that distance for a few months and you know , then you get the urge , you get motivated . You're like man , that 5k felt great . Let me sign up for a 10k . Just keep , you know , keep the momentum going .

Don't tell yourself you can't do it , because you know , trust me , if I can do it , anybody can do it . But just stick with it . You know a hundred miles is far . You don't have to start with a hundred miles method Walk two minutes and run five minutes .

There's all kinds of increments you can do and they're all going to get you to the same finish line Cut , how about you ?

So these folks who run half marathons and stuff like that , they always tell me , oh , I couldn't do any of that stuff and I said , well , you just haven't found a strong enough why that you want to do it . That's always been my thing .

I started doing triathlons and marathons and all that and I did a full Ironman and when I got into doing this , I made attempts and those attempts were fails right , and I don't look at a fail as just a oh my gosh , you failed , you're so bad , don't do it again . We learn from every failure . I think I learn a lot of stuff every time I do fail .

So one of the things I tell people is go out and fail , go out . And oh , kurt , I can't run 12 , 13 miles . Go out and go , try to run 15 and fail trying to do it . You'll get better from it . If you want to do something like this , then there is more than enough people that will rally around you and help you .

Case in point this last race , scott and I caught up with this guy His name is Rylan and Rylan is a veteran and he was injured in battle . Guy jumped out of a helicopter , lost his lead rope and fell down about eight feet flat on his back . I think . He told us he had like 12 bad discs or something like that .

But this guy was out there doing the 50K and you know we tell him a little bit about ourselves and that we do . He was , he was out there doing the 50 K and uh , you know we tell them a little bit about , about , uh , ourselves , and that we do these things together this , that and the other . And uh , he was just he .

He was , he was enamored by it and we . He reached out and about doing Wildcat and said , hey , look , this race Wildcat . It's a two and a half mile loop , you know , and you do it 40 times . Okay , everything is right there for you . You're not going to be far from people ever . You're going to have people with you the whole way .

I'm like heck , I'm doing it , scott's doing it . You were going to be out there . He signed up for it .

The guy's why is beyond measure Just going through his Facebook stuff , his life , that he's going through . The dude's got some whys so I know if he can overcome that physical piece of it . The dude's mentally strong , so for him it's a little different .

So he was just like looking for somebody to say can you , can you carry me along or pull me along on the physical ? I've already got the mental that person's there . The other one that's hard to get around is the guy who thinks they have the physical but they didn't have all the why . That was me last year . That was me last year .

You know , when people , when I talk to people and I'm like , yeah , I'm doing 100 mile or 50 mile or 200iler , I think in their head they equate that with kind of like a half-marathon pace , and that I'm out there doing this half-marathon pace for 100 miles and I go , I could never do that . And I'm like well , me , neither .

I don't know that I would go back and do it . Maybe the 50k I would encourage someone to go do . But 100 mile on that course for a back of the packer is kind of tough , that's that's my thought so yeah , no fair .

It was hands on the knees for some of it , going uphill , and then it was for me you can bleep this out my oh shits on the way down the hills when my quads are killing me every step down . Now would I go back out there just to do a 50K ? Probably so , knowing that the end is coming sooner , knowing you only got to go through it once .

It's gorgeous up there , richard . One of the things I love about Ultra is and Jeremy went and did a race this weekend , I can't remember the name of it Chief LaDigia or something like that in northern Alabama , and one of the things about it is , I said , just go and enjoy the silence .

Sometimes it's just about enjoying the silence and the nature and where you are and how gorgeous it is . That place was beautiful and I can't tell you how many times I said to myself I wish I wasn't out here killing myself for a hundred miles . I wish I was just out here camping .

It is gorgeous out here , so I've gotten to experience things out there that I would have never experienced otherwise . So beautiful place for sure . I mean you know you're talking 50 , 80 , a hundred foot pines everywhere , you know , thick as thieves , and it's just a beautiful place . Single track trails . It's a good venue .

It's in the middle of nowhere Louisiana , so you don't have any cell phone service out there , but that's kind of good sometimes too , though .

Now , another thing we do each episode is to encourage guests to choose a song to add to the free Spotify Choose to Endure playlist . Typically , it's something family friendly , if I can get the words out , that would motivate you , kind of keep you moving while you're out on the trail there .

Now , if you would , what did you guys choose to add and why does it resonate with you ? And I'll start with Scott what was your choice ?

If you haven't heard it really good song , put it on your playlist yeah , for sure , we're gonna add it .

Now , that's just when you ask for a song . There were so many that I listened to . I kind of do different things with music . I equate the music I listen to to the movies I watch .

So I have a lot of music scores on my playlist from movies and so if you ever want to hear some very dramatic scores dark tower has some most dramatic just it's those things where you can you there's no , there's no words to the music . So it allows you in your brain just to go wherever you want to go and have that music hype you up .

How does it help when you've seen the scenes in the movie that equate to that music , and it's those battle scenes . And when you see those things , then it just feels like I'm out there and nothing's going to stop me . It's like it's just me and the trail and it's the next step .

Well , I appreciate you , uh , picking some songs and we will definitely get those added to the playlist so that folks out there can enjoy those tunes as much as you both do . Kurt scott , thank you so much again for joining us today . I I really hope their red dirt louisiana adventure might have encouraged you listeners to get over to the UltraSignUp website .

Maybe consider signing up for either the 50K or the 50 mile , now that there is no 100 mile left out there in Backwoods , louisiana , I'm sure they do some good food . Knowing Louisiana as we do , we have a lot of family over in South Louisiana , so I'm sure they put on a good spread at the aid stations as well .

While you're out there on the internet checking out Red Dirt and maybe even Wildcat Ultras , which is where the guys are headed to together .

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getting those interactions . So until then , run long , run strong and keep choosing to endure .