Mark Batres is fresh off of a win in 12-hour ORM UltraVirus race.
During the episode we talk about:
In race strategy and how to navigate a long effort.
Apply for One-on-one Coaching here
Follow along Reinforced Running
IG Rich - @reinforced_running_rich & Josh @Ja_shua_ried
Twitter @ReinforcedRun
Join our private training group on facebook here.
Get your free Guide to faster running @ reinforcedrunning.com/runfaster
Mark Batres is fresh off of a win in 12-hour ORM UltraVirus race.
During the episode we talk about:
In race strategy and how to navigate a long effort.
Apply for One-on-one Coaching here
Follow along Reinforced Running
IG Rich - @reinforced_running_rich & Josh @Ja_shua_ried
Twitter @ReinforcedRun
Join our private training group on facebook here.
Get your free Guide to faster running @ reinforcedrunning.com/runfaster
[00:00:00] Rich Ryan: [00:00:00] we're back in action today. Martha mattress is also back in action as we welcome him back for his second time, and today, Mark comes on because he did his first ultra marathon during VRM ultra virus race last month, which was a 12 hour race, and it was as many miles as you could do in those 12 hours, a 12 hour AMRAP.
[00:00:20] And Mark smashed. So he came on the show to tell us exactly how he did. So. So during the episode we talk about all of the strategies during the race, pre, during, post, all that we talked about nutrition. And how to keep on eating to help your fueling for the race. We talk about what you can expect as from a recovery standpoint, and he drops a few awesome pro tips that can really help you out, especially if you're planning on doing the same race that's going on at the end of May, 2020 so if you like the show, please hit us with a five star review.
[00:00:55] A five star rating and review helps us out a bunch. Oh and I, and if you guys are missing our good friend Josh Reed, don't worry, he will be back. We will bring a fresh H M C to you on Tuesday. It will be a very special Tuesday. Cool. ,
[00:01:10] Mark , my friend. Hello. What's going on?
[00:01:12] Mark Batres: [00:01:12] What's going on? How's it going?
[00:01:14] Rich Ryan: [00:01:14] Going great, man. Thanks. Welcome back. Second time on the podcast. And real excited. We're super familiar now, right? Yeah. So yesterday you got some art done. What exactly is art?
[00:01:26] Mark Batres: [00:01:26] It's an active release therapy, so they're pretty much breaking up like, um, soft muscle tissue.
[00:01:33] Um, it depends on your. Practitioner and, uh, who, who's administering AOT. But like a lot of guys will like do some grasping first to kind of break up the fascia and then they kind of dig into the muscle and kind of like align the muscle like properly with scar tissue and stuff like that.
[00:01:53] Rich Ryan: [00:01:53] Did he do the Graston on your first?
[00:01:54] Mark Batres: [00:01:54] Yeah. Yeah. Like it will break up the muscle and we'll kind of get that, that fascia like sorted out first and then we get, we go deeper. So you try to go in layers.
[00:02:05] Rich Ryan: [00:02:05] Yeah, that makes sense. I think the last time I got IRT done, this was probably 10 years ago. It was before I even knew of Graston and I mean like Graston I think.
[00:02:14] Traditionally, it's called a gua SHA or something. So it's been around for a long time. I think it was just kind of popularized for the like therapy community in recent years and for what I remember from is just like my chiropractor just sticking his thumb into like my glue and it's like, okay, now move.
[00:02:32] And I'm like, ah, I can't, and it hurt so bad.
[00:02:35] Mark Batres: [00:02:35] Yeah. Yeah.
[00:02:39] Rich Ryan: [00:02:39] And I remember one time I Googled it, I wanted you to explain it cause one time I Googled art and just like pictures of the Mona Lisa came up, I was like, Oh, I just, I Googled art. Not, not what I was looking for. Um, does that, is that like your favorite was I could go to active recovery.
[00:02:56] Mark Batres: [00:02:56] Uh, well, art is kind of like, you know, if the stuff that I usually do kind of like that is not enough.
[00:03:05] So, uh, usually what I do is like, I'm doing a lot of stretching. I'm doing a lot of foam rolling, and when I'm do foam rolling, it's the same positions in the same act, like the same things that we do in art. I do the same things on, on the foam roll, so it's like I'm not just rolling around on the foam roll.
[00:03:24] It's like I stop, I pinpoint my pain, and then I move my muscle or my leg in a way where it actually stretches out the muscle and then I move on to a different area. Yeah. So learning how to do the foam roll correctly. Go to your art therapists for Hearst, see how they actually work on you and then that you use those techniques when you do your foam rolling
[00:03:51] Rich Ryan: [00:03:51] and such a good point.
[00:03:52] Cause it feels like with foam rolling you just like you roll over, you get a spot that sensitive, you're like, ah, you do it for like 10 seconds and then you're just on to the next thing and you're like, all right, let's see where else. But really it should be a stop. And like a really. Focus on that spot because that's where that scar tissue or those adhesions should be.
[00:04:08] So that's where you kind of want to focus to break it up.
[00:04:12] Mark Batres: [00:04:12] Like I had to break up my, uh, my hamstring and breaking up the hamstring is so hard because it is such a big monstrous muscle. It does not want to play sometimes. And it took around like an hour and a half. For that muscle to finally release, and I was like, Oh my God, I was sweating.
[00:04:32] I was like, this is just ridiculous. But the muscle like it like. Because there's so many layers inside your hamstring. It could be so deep where the actual pain is that it just takes time for certain parts of your muscle to finally like release and break down. And then when you get to the pain and then it's like, okay, thank God, like that's forever.
[00:04:56] Rich Ryan: [00:04:56] It's really hard to leverage enough weight to get into your hamstring as well. So if you're like sitting on something. Like, it's really hard to get there. Like I don't know if it's sounds something that pro weight on like your lap. So I've seen people like put kettlebells on their quads and or like alt with like a soft ball underneath.
[00:05:13] And it might be, it might be kind of extreme, but it's, it is kind of a hard place to get to. Whereas like your art practitioners coming from over top, he just kinda like dig in there, right?
[00:05:22] Mark Batres: [00:05:22] Yeah. Yeah. So a little different. Um, yeah cause my age, like he, he tried to do. Uh, most of the stuff, like, he's like, okay, let's work on it.
[00:05:32] And then he's like, yeah, it's your hamstring. And he's like, I'm not going to break my thumb going into that. You're, you're answering. So he ended up like, he got on top of me with his knees and then he used his knees to like break it down. And then for some of it, like he did some of that, and then he's like, okay.
[00:05:53] Uh, like I, I'm getting it, I know where I want to go, but it's like, it's going to take another, I don't know how long, so, you know. Here's a, uh, uh, a therapy ball and he's like, go put it under your hamstring and move around and see, see if we can break it down. Let's
[00:06:11] Rich Ryan: [00:06:11] go sit on it. Yeah,
[00:06:13] Mark Batres: [00:06:13] yeah. We were there. I was there for like an hour and a half, and it was just one spot.
[00:06:17] And I was like, ah. And then finally it released and I was like, Oh, thank God. Like. Yeah, it makes it worth it.
[00:06:24] Rich Ryan: [00:06:24] And that's sometimes like I've done, uh, just regular soft tissue massage, like deep tissue massage on my calf and Achilles area before, and just had the person hammer it, like, hit this spot. Just keep it going, like, just go at it.
[00:06:36] And he did it for like an hour and then I was better, you know? So are you feeling better today? I'm feeling a
[00:06:41] Mark Batres: [00:06:41] lot better. Yeah. I'm feeling solid.
[00:06:43] Rich Ryan: [00:06:43] Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So. That is a great way to do re recovery. And some, I do want to touch on quite a bit today cause I want to pick your brain about the 12 hour ultra virus race, ORM, ultra virus, ultra marathon, I guess this other song, 12 hour.
[00:07:01] Yeah. So I want to dive into that. So recovery is gonna be a big piece of that. But I'm also curious cause that's something that you know that that's a distance. It has to be hard to judge what you're going to do. But Mark and like you're in your instance, do you know what you would. Potentially be able to run it like any distance at like any specific time.
[00:07:18] Like if I was like, well, could you do a mile in right now? Would you have an idea?
[00:07:22] Mark Batres: [00:07:22] Uh, I, yeah, I'd have a ballpark for the mile. All the way up to like the marathon. Yeah. But beyond that, I'm like, uh, like. I wouldn't have known prior to this race. I w I had no idea. Yeah.
[00:07:38] Rich Ryan: [00:07:38] And that's, and you know, you were a very accomplished runner and an awesome OCR athlete as we we've touched on in the past and, you know, sub two 20, you know, top, um, what'd you end up, where did you end up at?
[00:07:51] In Jacksonville? Where like I was fifth, fifth. Oh, nice. Strong. Um, yeah, so top five at the national series race, so obviously high level runner bud. A 12 hour race is a whole different deal. And like, I know you as a really good run, a really good obstacle course race athlete, but I wouldn't necessarily put you in like the ultra bucket and you know, anymore.
[00:08:14] It seems like those two different things aren't that much different. Like the, like the best ultra runners, a really good road runners as well now. But, um, so you kind of put, went out there and gave it a shot. So what made you want to do a 12 hour race?
[00:08:28] Mark Batres: [00:08:28] Well, like, you know. Usually I wouldn't have done it.
[00:08:32] Yeah. Being in season like I'm usually so, so focused on, uh, achieving my goals in, um, OCR, but in this instance for this, you know, pandemic and what's going on, it's kind of, um, the, the event came up and I looked at it and I was like, huh, that looks interesting. And it looked interesting because I had always wanted to do some kind of a ultra, ultra trail race or ultra OCR event.
[00:09:02] Um, ever since, like I did one, uh, or like I was the pit crew, um, at, um. Uh, world's toughest Mudder. So when I went to world's toughest, I was like, wow, this is so much fun. It's exciting, and it's 24 hours. I was like, this is, this is interesting. I like it. I like the whole community. I like what everyone was out there to do.
[00:09:26] Um, testing their limits, seeing how far they can go, pushing their bodies. It was, um. It was almost like poetic in a sense, you know? And, and seeing how far the human body can be pushed. So. It really motivated me to want to do one of these events. But, um, there's never been a time where I was like, okay, now there's, there's a good amount of time.
[00:09:50] I'm not injured. Um, I don't need rest. I can go and do one of these events. So this just happened to like fall into my lap where I was like, okay, I don't have anything on the schedule. We're probably not going to raise till July. I'm like, I really, you know, I, I don't want, like, I've, it's kind of interesting cause it's like when you go do a trail race, you're like, okay, I don't know the course.
[00:10:22] I don't know what's going on. And it's, it's kind of scary to think like, Oh, I could be at mile 55 out on a hundred miles. Point to point trail and you know, now you gotta suffer for whenever the next like drop off point is. So I was like, okay. I thought to myself, ideally, if I were to do one of these, it would be in a loop course, like at world's toughest Mudder, and if I felt something that was going to break down in my body, I can always just step off the course and say like, Hey, I think I'm going to get injured.
[00:10:56] I'm done. And I was like, okay, I have that situation here in this race where I'm doing five mile loops and I have, you know, the advantage of sleeping in my bed and having all this, like, you know, waking up and just doing the event and I don't have to travel. I don't have to do anything for it. I'm like, this is pretty good.
[00:11:17] And you know, uh, ORM was gracious enough to put up some prize money. So I was like, now it's competitive. Now it's a competitive thing and I want to go and push myself. So I'm like, all, all my requirements were lining up and I think like two days before the race, I was like. I'm going to do it. I was like, yeah, I'm going to do it.
[00:11:39] So that's when I signed up for it. So
[00:11:41] Rich Ryan: [00:11:41] no way. I didn't realize that. I didn't realize it was just like, how long did it, were you thinking about it? Was it like days or weeks?
[00:11:48] Mark Batres: [00:11:48] Yeah, no, I was like, right when it came up, I started thinking about it because I was like, Oh man, this is a good thing. Like I was starting to add up all, all these requirements that I was telling myself, like, I need all these.
[00:12:00] I got to check all these boxes before I go and do one of these things and all the boxes were checked and I was like, I can't ignore it. I can't ignore it. Like there's no way. But the re, the reason why I ended up doing it was because. I think the Wednesday of the race, I did a long run, like a midweek long run, and it was 15 miles, and towards the end of the end of the long run, um, you know, it like I kind of go on this trip, like this course that goes like up and down, up and down, up and down, and the last four miles are like REL.
[00:12:34] It's like downhill, but. Usually when I do it, by the time I'm done, my body feels like it's wrecked cause it's like, Oh, I used to get 15 miles and the last four miles were kind of downhill on pavement. And I usually don't feel good. Um, I did it this time and I felt great at the end and I was averaging like five forties on the end, so I was like five forties for the last four miles, and I felt like it was nothing and my body doesn't feel broken.
[00:13:03] So I'm like, I think I'm going to do good this weekend if I go and do this thing. And I'm like, I got to sign up for it. So I signed up on Thursday and then went and did it. Yeah.
[00:13:13] Rich Ryan: [00:13:13] Because there would never be another opportunity to like, cause I know they are doing a second one and that's why I do want to talk to you about it.
[00:13:19] But
[00:13:19] Mark Batres: [00:13:19] yeah.
[00:13:20] Rich Ryan: [00:13:20] But really the everything didn't line up right. And if there's going to be a time to do a race as much as, as far as you can, like that has to be the one, the way you kind of, the checks all the boxes. Um, and so. Reading in were, so you didn't really prep, right? Like there was, there was basically zero prep
[00:13:37] Mark Batres: [00:13:37] your prep.
[00:13:38] Yeah, like, like kind of funny cause like I was doing all my base phase workouts. I was like, okay, I'm in base phase ever since Jacksonville. So ever since Jacksonville I was doing nothing but base phase workouts, which for me is around 80 miles a week. Okay. So I'm doing 80 miles a week all the way up until the race day almost.
[00:13:57] So, um, the only thing I did. Prior to the race was like, just like the day before was six miles, and then the day before that was eight so it was 15 taper. Yeah, 15 eight six and then that was it. And then I raced and I did 85 miles, so that was a big week for me. It was like a hundred and close to 160 miles.
[00:14:18] All the road
[00:14:20] Rich Ryan: [00:14:20] I'm getting. That's the highest week you've ever had.
[00:14:22] Mark Batres: [00:14:22] That is ice. We got a rad. I was
[00:14:24] Rich Ryan: [00:14:24] like, Whoa, that's on that.
[00:14:25] Mark Batres: [00:14:25] Yeah. Yeah. Like basically I was like, you know, I'm going into this race. I didn't think I was prepared for like a hundred miles or something like that because I was like, I, I didn't do like a hundred miles of training a week and like what I would conceive in my mind as proper training for this event, like I didn't do it and coming out of this event, I was like, I guess I did do the right training.
[00:14:53] Like everything worked out fine.
[00:14:56] Rich Ryan: [00:14:56] And that's one thing. As I look into the ultra stuff, more and more, all I've done is the 50 K like an ultra Spartan, you know? And it's, but the more I like read and learn about it is that it doesn't necessarily have to be some ridiculous volume type of training more than what we probably already do.
[00:15:12] Like, yeah. Well, so 15 in the middle of the week, was that going to be the long run for the week? Like had your. Long runs in your base phase, Ben? 15 1617 or how high was your one standing run and your base phase?
[00:15:25] Mark Batres: [00:15:25] Usually I do about 17 yeah. So yeah, haven't, it's about eight. Eight and a quarter out, eight and a quarter back.
[00:15:36] So it's like 16 and a half, almost 17 miles. So I do a little extra when I'm done. So it's about 17 miles. So that's my long run. So I do 17 mile, like mountain long run. And then in the middle of the week, I usually do about a 15 mile. So that was it. Yeah.
[00:15:55] Rich Ryan: [00:15:55] Yeah. So you don't really have it, so you don't really know to have like one big huge run.
[00:15:58] It's like outside of the norm of all the other runs, which is probably the best way to do volume. And are you doing mostly singles and eighties I'm just curious. On my
[00:16:05] Mark Batres: [00:16:05] own. I do singles, singles.
[00:16:07] Rich Ryan: [00:16:07] Yeah. Yeah. You work full time, right?
[00:16:13] Mark Batres: [00:16:13] Yeah.
[00:16:14] Rich Ryan: [00:16:14] Um, so with that, were you worried or what was your main concern going into the race? Um, with, you know, just running, basically training how you would train for. A five K race in Jacksonville, right, right. 10 K race later. Like this is the same volume that you have been doing either way. So what was I like?
[00:16:33] Did you have any concerns?
[00:16:35] Mark Batres: [00:16:35] I had concerns cause I, I didn't think I had the volume for that many miles. I mean, basically I did. The miles I do in a whole week. And one day that kind of freaked me out. I was like, Oh man, I don't, I don't know if I can run that much. Um, and I thought my body was going to break down a lot, a lot quicker, but, um, I told myself I wasn't gonna I wasn't gonna try to, um.
[00:17:03] Hold off and run really slow. I said, I'm going to run like I'm running an easy run, like I'm running my easy day, easy run and see how long I can do that. And if I do that, I think I could be the first one to 50. And if I'm the first one to 50, um, then at that point it's like, okay, now I'm on the downhill.
[00:17:24] It's like I already went halfway. Now it's like, um, I'm just continuing to hit more laps and they're all just bonus. So whatever happens after 50 is whatever happens. But the goal was initially be the first one to 50. And then after that, just keep going. Let's see what happens.
[00:17:44] Rich Ryan: [00:17:44] And is that conventional wisdom in ultra running to go even slower than your easy run?
[00:17:48] Because that's how I would consider it. Like, okay, well either one's comfortable. That should be a pace that's sustainable, pretty much no matter what. If you're doing like five mile loops, it did that give you a sense of security to be like, okay, like if I do a five mile loop at say, could you average what, six 45 six 47 or something?
[00:18:04] For all of them, it's
[00:18:05] Mark Batres: [00:18:05] 47 yeah.
[00:18:06] Rich Ryan: [00:18:06] Yeah. And. And that that to me for you, I know that's easy.
[00:18:10] Mark Batres: [00:18:10] I know that you're chilling.
[00:18:12] Rich Ryan: [00:18:12] Um, and did that give you a sense of security to go out and be like, alright, I can, I know I can hold this pace and I'll do it for five miles and come back and reevaluate as opposed to let me see what it feels like to do eight like right from the jump and just see how long I can sustain or what was your strategy behind that?
[00:18:29] Like how did you determine just I'm going to run? What's comfortable?
[00:18:32] Mark Batres: [00:18:32] Yeah. Like I went out and I tell myself like, treat it like I do today. Like alarm run. Treat it like an easy, long run. Uh, don't get crazy, but don't hold yourself back. Or I didn't want to hold myself back because I was like, if I hold myself back, I want to be running like.
[00:18:46] A different form. I'm not going to be as efficient. And I'm like, if I do that, then I'm going to end up like hurting myself more than helping myself. So I figured if I ran slower than it would just mean, you know, I wasn't getting more miles, so I was like, just go out and run easy, run comfortable. And for me, that was like, I started out like at six 36 40.
[00:19:11] And then that was the first loop. I think I averaged like six 30 something and then I came back the second loop and I wanted to stay around six 30. Um, but then I ended up going like one of the laps I average, like I kept, I kept averaging like six twenties, a lot of labs, and I was like, Oh man, I just feel really good today, so just keep going.
[00:19:33] Just keep doing this. And, and it did feel a lot better to come in. Um, kind of get myself like a little bit like my head space. Correct. You know, and like get some water, uh, take down some nutrition. And then focus, breathe, and then say, okay, go out and do it again. And then boom, just go out and hit five more miles.
[00:19:53] So,
[00:19:55] Rich Ryan: [00:19:55] and I feel it'd be less enjoyable. Right? Like you run so often and you know, as we do for a long runs, like that's, it's nice. It's enjoyable to run at. Six 36 46 20 for these labs, for these miles rather than eight minutes. I, I enjoy it better when I'm running at that pace rather than a slower pace. So if you're gonna do it, you might as well enjoy it and see.
[00:20:15] And did you do like the math beforehand? Really? Like if I run my easy pace, it'll be around six 30 and if I do that pace for the entire time, I should be at this many miles. Or was it, was it as simple as. Let me get to 50 and then just see what happens.
[00:20:33] Mark Batres: [00:20:33] I actually did look at the world record prior to the unit.
[00:20:38] I was like, okay, six 48 average for a hundred miles. I was like. Dude, I don't even run six 48 for any of my runs. Like that seems so slow to me. So I was like, like, yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go for faster than that. So I was running six 30 pace because I was like, well, now I'm ahead. I'm like, this is great. I can take breaks.
[00:20:58] I could relax. I could not have so much pressure on myself. I think when I got to 50. Um, that's when I realized, I was like, Oh man, I think I've taken too many breaks. Um, like my breaks are too long, and I was running like the time, I think I got there like at six hours and a few minutes. It was like six hours in like three minutes or something.
[00:21:22] Um, and when I was leaving or something and I was like, Oh man, that's, that's not that good. Like, I'm like, I would have to get the same effort again. In order for me to break the record for a hundred miles in 12 hours. And I was like, Oh, okay, that's, um, that's going to be a tall task. So I was like, ah, um, I'm out of it, but I'm going to keep going and I'm going to keep my pace and I'm going to keep solid.
[00:21:47] So yeah.
[00:21:48] Rich Ryan: [00:21:48] I didn't know your goal was a hundred miles. Is that, is that what you tell yourself right from the jump? You're like, yeah.
[00:21:53] Mark Batres: [00:21:53] Well, I mean, I was in there and I was like, well, if I'm going to do this, like I'm going to do it right. And I told myself like, I think that world records like 11 hours and 19 minutes for a hundred miles.
[00:22:04] And I was like, wow. You know, if someone can do it, I think I can try and then see what happens. And then when I went out there, I kinda realized like, yeah, like at halfway I took too many breaks. Like my breaks are way too long. Like, you know, being my first time it was like, I didn't know like. I should have.
[00:22:24] I shouldn't have broke so many times at the start. Um, and took so long. My, like the breaks were way too long. Um, and looking at the data after, I was like, Oh man, I didn't need to spend like five minutes there or 15. I, my 50 mile break was like. Almost a half an hour, and I was like, what was I doing for her?
[00:22:44] I have did another lap in that. So yeah, it's like simple mistakes like that. Um, reassessing, like kind of looking at the data after I was like, okay, I definitely messed up and, um, I didn't have to spend that much time in the pit. Like just kind of. Recovering. It's like I could have, I could have went out there and kind of hammered, but yeah, it was looking at, you know, a hundred miles as being possible in the 12 hours.
[00:23:09] Um, I definitely thought that it was doable and I didn't, I wasn't intimidated by the time. So it's like, if you're not in, if you're looking at something and you're like, Oh, that's doable. It's like, it's not, it's not a big deal. Then you have a different mindset as you know, someone who's like, okay, I'm not even gonna.
[00:23:27] Think about that because it's not even my in my wheelhouse, but for me, I was like, Oh, I think that's well within my wheelhouse, so I'm going to go for it. And
[00:23:36] Rich Ryan: [00:23:36] that seems like an intuitive approach to be like, okay, my easy, what's fast to me is not six 45 so that's not fast to me. So why wouldn't you try it?
[00:23:46] And you don't know because you've never gone to that that point. But at no time is six 48 for you ever fast. Like, there's not like, there's no world where that's fast for you. Right? So it's like, right. So I think that's a good takeaway for people who are thinking about this next one's like, okay, what's a pace that is not fast and is something that you can run comfortably and just just see to see where it, where it can take you.
[00:24:08] So you mentioned the, the breaks, right? And I know I want to get into like the logistics of this race in particular, but going like, looking back now, I'm sure it's easy to be like, Oh. Why did I take 30 minutes there but can, do you remember what your mindset was during that time that if you were to do it again, that you could combat that?
[00:24:31] Because a lot of times, you know, you look at like something you did in a race or you reflect and you're like, Oh shit, I should've, I should've went there. But when you're in that moment. It's a little bit different. Right. So like, do you remember like what it was like in the moment?
[00:24:44] Mark Batres: [00:24:44] Yeah, like the first couple of breaks, I think I was more annoyed than more than anything because I had, I had to check in, so I had to take pictures of my watch and I had to go, can I have
[00:24:55] Rich Ryan: [00:24:55] that now?
[00:24:55] Like how, how, how did that work? Because it is a virtual race. You're running your course. How. What was the process of this?
[00:25:03] Mark Batres: [00:25:03] So pretty much, yeah, you start your watch, you'd go out and your five mile loop, you'd come back. Um, right when you come back, you take pictures of your five miles segment. And I know some people were going a little bit further than five miles.
[00:25:20] And um, you know, I, I didn't under like the first loop I did, I measured it and it was like five point like, Oh. Oh six or Oh seven or something, and I was like, Oh, that was stupid that I stopped my watch when I did the whole loop. I should have just stopped it when I hit five. It's like, why would I, I'm, I'm not getting credit for this extra distance, so just stop my watch at five and then take my break.
[00:25:52] So that's what I did after the first loop, because I was like, I, this is way, this is longer than five. So in actuality, I didn't do 85. I did a little bit closer to like 85.8 or something like that. In total mileage. Yeah. But, um, so after you come in, you stop your watch, uh, you take a picture of your watch, then you send it in.
[00:26:17] To, uh, you, you email it to or M, and then you check in on the zoom live feed. So when you check in on the zoom, you just show your face and you say, Hey guys, how's it going? I'm here and I'm going to go out for my next loop. And then, then you start your watch again, and you can take whatever breaks you want or whatever, and then tell them that you're going to go out for your next loop or whatever.
[00:26:41] Yeah. So the thing is, the first time I came in, I felt it was a little bit annoying because I was like, I gotta stop. I gotta take a picture. I got to check in with everybody, and then I got to tell them like, okay, I'm going to go for my next loop and then take off. I think they changed it now where it's like, you don't have to check in so much on the live feed.
[00:27:02] Um, as much, but I'm not sure. I haven't read the, the new update to the rules.
[00:27:07] Rich Ryan: [00:27:07] Yeah. And I can imagine that, that they just wanted that just so they could make it more media friendly. More mattresses now for his 50th mile. Uh, we just saw him. He looks good, but like, yeah.
[00:27:19] Mark Batres: [00:27:19] I think, yeah. Once they started figuring out who was doing well, they wanted us to check in on the live feed, like, Hey, just just wave to us and see what's going on.
[00:27:28] And I would wave and it'd be like, Hey, how's it going? And they'd be like, Oh, Hey, you're going out a little fast. Do you think that's too, you know, do you think you're going out a little fast? And I'm like, I'm fine. I got it. Yeah, I think I'm out 30 I did do that. I was like, I got it. And I just. Put my hand down like, I got this.
[00:27:46] Don't worry.
[00:27:50] Rich Ryan: [00:27:50] So was there anything that you picked up? So why was it important to stop and start the watch? Did you need to stop the watch at all? Or was it, or did it count each?
[00:28:01] Mark Batres: [00:28:01] Yeah, it, they only counted the five miles segments. So it's like I couldn't just keep going, so like I had to do. And it had to be a running time.
[00:28:11] So it's like there was one lap I was running and then I got stopped by, um, by cars that were going past the intersection. And I, luckily at a 17 labs, it would only happen once. And I had to wait and I almost stopped my watch and I was like, Whoa, don't touch it. Like I can't touch it. I just gotta wait. And then once the cars passed, then I took off.
[00:28:32] And then. Um, that mile was like a little bit slower than my previous miles because I had to wait like an additional 15 seconds. Yeah.
[00:28:39] Rich Ryan: [00:28:39] Yeah. Just out of habit, cause I'm always, uh, would stop my watch no matter what. If
[00:28:42] Mark Batres: [00:28:42] I'm stuck,
[00:28:44] Rich Ryan: [00:28:44] I'll
[00:28:46] Mark Batres: [00:28:46] just kind of run around and I was like, okay, okay. Is it clear, clear boom?
[00:28:49] And then I took off. So yeah.
[00:28:51] Rich Ryan: [00:28:51] Is there anything you would do different if, if you were to do it this time to make logistically easier? Or is there not much wiggle room to really like gain that type of system?
[00:29:02] Mark Batres: [00:29:02] Um, not really. I mean, it's just, uh, it is what it is. It's kind of like everything's set up for the event.
[00:29:11] Um, and, and that's the best way for them to actually make sure that people are doing the labs that they should be doing. So I think w I thought it came out pretty good. Um, like the whole logistics of it, like you kind of have to understand it's not a world record attempt. Uh, you're not just doing one big.
[00:29:31] Over over, over, over, uh, loops. So yeah, you kind of have to play by the rules that they, they set up. And, um, you know, I honestly, it's, it's a really good, well thought out event that, um, you know, brought people together at a time when. We're all apart. So I thought they did a great job.
[00:29:51] Rich Ryan: [00:29:51] Do chats to them and just forgetting that much buzz around it and getting that many participants and for throwing out money, like collecting money for you.
[00:29:58] And it was you and Mark IDET, right? You guys were who ended up third? I don't even, I'm not even sure.
[00:30:06] Mark Batres: [00:30:06] I'm not sure Logan was up there, but I'm not sure if he got fourth he might've got third. I'm not sure. Yeah.
[00:30:13] Rich Ryan: [00:30:13] You and Mark were well out in front of
[00:30:15] Mark Batres: [00:30:15] you
[00:30:17] Rich Ryan: [00:30:17] and like you're a competitive dude, right? Like you've been doing this for forever.
[00:30:22] And competition is definitely a part of all of this. The running and fitness, and with something like this where there, there were competitors, but there wasn't competition in person was. How did that change your mindset when it came to pushing yourself, or was it different than a regular race in that way, or were you able to kind of tap into the same thing?
[00:30:45] Mark Batres: [00:30:45] Um, it was, it was, it was like that a little bit because like I was, I was kinda running with Logan. Uh, broadband for a while, like we were like, yeah, like he would go, he would, he would be like, all right, I'm going out for my next lap. And I was like, Oh man, I got to leave pretty soon. Or else I'm not going to be able, he's gonna cause I had a one lap.
[00:31:07] Lead on him and I was like, Oh man, he's going to take off again. So then I was like, okay, I gotta hurry up here so I could go take off, and then I'd go like take off. I'd come back and then I would get back before him and I'd be like, alright, cool. I passed them. That's great. And then I'd get, I'd be getting my nutrition, drinking some pickle juice and doing my thing.
[00:31:29] And then all of a sudden he's like, all right, I'm going to go back out again. And I'm like, Oh damn. Like so he helped push me like, like, cause cause we kept like meeting up at the same times and I was like, Oh man, I got to keep, keep this up or else I'm going to, I'm not going to be. I'm like, I'm going to drop off.
[00:31:47] You know? And I think some person said like on one of the loops, like, Oh yeah, he's like an eighth place, like Logan's in eighth place. And I'm like, if he's an eighth, like there's guys right up on me. Like I gotta make these quicker. And then that's when I started clipping down my times it towards the end, it was starting to get a little bit, I had a.
[00:32:07] Let's segment where I started hitting like seven flats the whole time and I was like, okay, now I'm getting faster as we're going along. And then that's when other people started getting slower and I was like, okay, this is, this is good. I think I can maintain my lead if I keep doing this.
[00:32:21] Rich Ryan: [00:32:21] Did you find that type of competition engaging and cause it sounds like, I'm sure as you're out there running, you're thinking of it, you're thinking of Logan, you're thinking of him coming back.
[00:32:29] Like, I want to beat him back. I'm going to stay at this pace. Was there any time. That you were, that it did, that you drifted out of competition or was it pretty present there the whole time?
[00:32:40] Mark Batres: [00:32:40] It was pretty present the whole time in terms of competition and in terms of, um, like just wanting to see my limits.
[00:32:48] Like I wanted to see how long I can hold on. Um, and like I said, I was using this as a, um, kind of like a, like a barometer of like what I was capable of. Like, can I, can I do. Oh, an ultra marathon. Can I do one of these ultra races? Would I be able to do a 100 mile race? And you know, I was like, well, if I'm going to get that information, I got to get pretty dang close to a hundred miles or else I'm not going to get that information.
[00:33:15] So, you know, finishing up 85 I still had like. A good amount of time left on the clock. It was like 20, I think like 20 something minutes, like 2026 27 minutes to go. And I was like, Oh man, like I could do another lap. And I'd come in like five minutes out. And I was like, ah, that sucks. Like, kinda like, I know, like, uh, maybe it's not.
[00:33:40] 12 hours, but 12 hours in like 10 minutes, I would have definitely had a 90 miles. And I was like, Oh. And then, and then like thinking about my breaks, I was like, I could have gotten 95 total. I was like, if I really would have did this, I could have got a hundred so it's like, there's a lot of things that went into the analysis after I did the event as to like, Oh man, I made a lot of mistakes and I could've did a lot better.
[00:34:07] And. That would have been cool. So I was like, Oh yeah. But definitely the competition. It drove me, the event drove me and basically wanting to know what my limits were. That's, that was the biggest one of the biggest drivers. Yeah.
[00:34:22] Rich Ryan: [00:34:22] And I think at the end of the day, a lot of, a lot of us, a lot of people, you know, we're in, we're in it for the competition, but really it is to find out what we can do.
[00:34:31] On our own, right, like, and how we stack up against other people. Yes. But we need to push ourselves to a place to get to where those people are to, to find that. So this must've been an awesome opportunity when it is just by herself to really have to remind yourself. It's like, all right, screw it. I'm in this for me.
[00:34:47] And what was that analysis like when you went back and, and. You, you, you mentioned the brakes, right? That seems to be one of the main things that you would have done differently. How would you have gone about doing that differently? Like how those break times down? Aside from like the logistics,
[00:35:07] Mark Batres: [00:35:07] uh, aside from the logistics, um, there's a lot of stuff that I could have done, uh, and kind of assessed prior to.
[00:35:16] Well, like, it's kinda like, it's hard to know before you do it, you know? It's like, I've never done one of these, so I had no clue as to what I was going to crave, what I was gonna eat, what nutrition I was going to like. And what, um, what I was going to do in those breaks. So like, there were some breaks. I didn't even, I, luckily I brought like, like several pairs of shoes, you know, and I was like, I switched out shoes, um, towards the end quite often.
[00:35:44] Like every, probably like every 10 miles. I was switching out shoes and it's like, Oh man, I didn't even think that that was going to be a big deal. But. Like it's such, it's such a huge advantage when you're going and all of a sudden it's like, okay, I've gone 10 miles in these shoes. You switch shoes and it's like, you feels like you got like a new pair of legs.
[00:36:03] It's like, it's like, Oh man, the shoes hitting me differently. It's not exactly hidden this spot or that spot. It's like it's acting. In a different way, but I'm feeling great with the shoe arm. So it's like that. That was, that was interesting. So it's like, I wouldn't not have thought that that was going to be such a big factor.
[00:36:22] And, you know, changing out socks, changing out shoes, that was huge. That was a huge deal. Made my feet feel fresh and, um, you know, that was, that was awesome. So like understanding that, that aspect, which, which is like, how fast can I change out my shoes? Should I be using like a, like a shoe mechanism, like a lace mechanism as opposed to just standard.
[00:36:45] Lacey's because when you get to 70, 75, 80 miles, uh, it kinda gets tough to tie your shoes. Like I was going down and I was like, Aw man, like I got salt in my eyes. Like I can barely see. And I'm like, okay. Yeah, I can get this shoe on like, Oh man, what the hell is going on with me? I've been tying my shoes is, I was like, in first grade, I can't get this thing on.
[00:37:07] So yeah, it's like a lot of stuff like that, which is like, you know, I guess it's no brainer for a lot of these ultra guys, but for me, it's like, this is all brand new territory. So I had no idea what I was doing out there and just wasting time doing that stuff. And like I said, the nutrition, um. Having just the certain items that I like because if you have the certain items that you like, you could just pick it out and you're ready to go.
[00:37:34] But if you have to, like I put almost every option in the freaking grocery store available to me cause I didn't know what I was going to like. And after doing it I was like, Oh wow. I pretty much stuck to what I stuck to. I really didn't deviate. Too drastically from what I liked. And then, you know, that would've saved me a lot of time not having to look at so many items, but to just say like, Oh, okay, where's my this?
[00:38:01] Where you know, where's my pickles? Where's my pickle juice? Where's, where's my chips? Whereas my, you know, like, bam, I'm knocking out all my stuff right. In front of me, um, as opposed to having all these options that I didn't even utilize.
[00:38:16] Rich Ryan: [00:38:16] Just like you're like at a buffet, like, I'm not sure.
[00:38:19] Mark Batres: [00:38:19] Maybe. Yeah, exactly.
[00:38:20] And then you're like, uh, you know, it's like going to a buffet and you're like, Oh man, where's the chicken wings go second ago? And it's like, you're looking around and you're like. Where did you get those together? That's exactly what I was doing. And I was like, okay, like I nailed it. Like, like I had to, like, I had to weed out what my nutrition table looked like because I was like, this is just getting in the way now.
[00:38:43] I'm not going to touch that. I'm not going to touch that. Like, just stick to what I want. And that's it. Yeah.
[00:38:48] Rich Ryan: [00:38:48] And that's such an interesting perspective on the nutrition, because the way I'm thinking is like nuts and bolts, right? It's like, okay, this many carbs, you know, sometimes protein, but like there's.
[00:38:59] Fatigue involved and decisions take energy, you know, and that's decision fatigue. That's a real thing. And when you're more fatigued, it's going to be harder. So I'd imagine that you just, you probably took even more time than you thought. Like if you look back and you had a video of yourself probably staring at this
[00:39:14] Mark Batres: [00:39:14] table, I'd probably like, dude.
[00:39:16] Rich Ryan: [00:39:16] Pick something
[00:39:20] Mark Batres: [00:39:20] like it's just looking at things, you know? I was like, is the pickle the hell is wrong with you?
[00:39:29] Rich Ryan: [00:39:29] Yeah. That's really interesting and I want to kind of, I do want to get into a little bit of those nuts and bolts of nutrition, but I wanted to circle back a little bit on, on the footwear because. And, and to me that kind of sounds a lot like nutrition.
[00:39:41] Like you have cravings with food and we're, we're, we're used to that. But footwear experiences, you can also kind of crave that as well. Like what is you feels like and be like, Oh, when I get back, I want to put on put on these. And I know for where it's subjective, I don't think there is a blanket thing for, I don't think there's a best shoe.
[00:39:56] But like what were you wearing and what were you kind of switching out between and what did you, how did you decide what you wanted to wear and how often were you switching.
[00:40:05] Mark Batres: [00:40:05] I was switching quite often. I think I started out with the VJ max, and then I switched over to the, uh, the Hoka, uh, sense. Um, and, and, and now it's pretty much it.
[00:40:19] Um, or w what are they called? Sorry, torn my bed. I was like, doesn't sound right. Yeah, no, it's like a, it's like a thin, um, it's a relatively thin trail shoe, but it has a lot more cushion than the max. So I was like, I'm gonna use this, um, just to, you know, break it up. But like, towards the end, I was like, I was just switching out the torrents because I was like, dude, I can't, like the torrents were, they were, they were giving me enough cushion.
[00:40:50] Um, because I was running on a lot of roads. Um, and I was like, yeah, like, you know, I mostly have trail shoes, but like on the roads, the Torrens kind of like, they have more cushion to allow me to like absorb a little bit more. So those are hitting my feet really good. And I had two pairs of those and I was just going back and forth on those.
[00:41:07] Yeah.
[00:41:08] Rich Ryan: [00:41:08] Yeah. And it's, it's better to, to explore them to. It's kind of sit there and suffer through one. So would you bring more issues if you had to do it again or would you really have a dialed in as to,
[00:41:18] Mark Batres: [00:41:18] okay, I would probably be in three. Yeah, I would bring three. And if, if I was like, yeah, like three would be really good and I would probably experiment a little bit more with, um, even thicker cushion soles.
[00:41:31] So kind of figuring out like what she works for me. Um, and you know, maybe even. Like it could be because of the road I picked. I would pick a road shoe that was thick as opposed to having so much, you know, so much lugs on. On road. It's like, yeah, I'm using trail shoes on the road. It's not really that efficient.
[00:41:52] So,
[00:41:53] Rich Ryan: [00:41:53] so over the course of that long like that, that's going to
[00:41:56] Mark Batres: [00:41:56] add and make the big difference. Yeah. And I'm like, yeah, I didn't have the right footwear for this. Um, I didn't plan on doing it so.
[00:42:05] Rich Ryan: [00:42:05] And, uh, yeah, I would imagine, uh, just remember, uh, you mentioned Mark our dad who got second. He said he did that.
[00:42:11] He did the JFK 50 miler, you know, whenever that is. November I think. And he said he was wearing his speed goats. And then there's a port, there's a part that is just straight like gravel trail. And he said all the experience ultra runners put on those 4% and then. They were gone, and like a shoe like that for an event that's so long would be awesome because it has that crazy energy return and it's stacks so thick.
[00:42:34] I don't think you'd get a ton of miles out of them, but I think something like that would be clutch for your feet. Yeah. And you did, you did mostly road. Was that, was that the plan too? Was there no other option you, you went to and from your house, right? Like,
[00:42:47] Mark Batres: [00:42:47] yeah, I actually went to my brother in law's house.
[00:42:50] Um, he has a nice little, like a community that's like, um, it's kinda like a, um, it's, it's located in Chino Hills, uh, by one of the Spartan races out here in Southern California. And yeah, their little community just has like a little trail. That kind of goes through the whole entire thing, and I'm like, Oh, okay.
[00:43:10] I know that that's completely flat, and it's about like. Two miles where the trail system, like it's better than nothing. Like out here where I live, I'm like, it's all, it's either hard or it's soft. So it's either one or the other and if it's soft, you're pretty much climate. So I was like, eh, I probably go out there.
[00:43:30] And then when I checked it out, I did did the first loop and I was like, yeah, I can do this for all day. This is fine. Yeah.
[00:43:38] Rich Ryan: [00:43:38] And you would stick it out. Like if in an ideal world would you want it to be like. Like pack dirt or like, what would you prefer, you think?
[00:43:47] Mark Batres: [00:43:47] I think like, yeah, like, um, like dirt, like Pachter would be perfect and you know, two and a half out, two and a half back or some kind of loop.
[00:43:57] Like that would be. That would be awesome. Yeah.
[00:44:01] Rich Ryan: [00:44:01] Um, I don't know if you saw, but there's been a bunch of like weird ultra stuff going on with that one dude, Zach bitter, who might have the hundred mile record. He just ran a hundred miles on a treadmill.
[00:44:10] Mark Batres: [00:44:10] Did you see that? No. No. I didn't see that
[00:44:13] Rich Ryan: [00:44:13] last weekend.
[00:44:13] Did it on a treadmill, and I think he was, I think he was just under 12 hours on a treadmill. Which is wacky, but, um, there's another guy who did some kind of ultra stunt. He was a key, a keto guy to one of these keto runners. He did 18 he did an 18 hour, a hundred mile, a hundred mile run, and didn't eat at all.
[00:44:33] Mark Batres: [00:44:33] Like he just
[00:44:34] Rich Ryan: [00:44:34] calories. But in your case, I'm guessing you did have calories, so like when you went into the race, you have an idea of. What you wanted to eat and when or I know the what you wanted to eat. We kind of covered that a little bit and it was, and it was just based on how you're feeling, what you were craving, but did you have an amount where you going off of a certain quantity and when you were going to eat that, or was it every loop, I'm coming in a meat, I'm taking something in, or how did you go about the nutrition of this thing?
[00:45:01] Mark Batres: [00:45:01] Yeah. Like I, I kinda thought about it. Um, like the first thing I started out with in the morning, early in the morning, I had a double shot of espresso. Um, nice, nice, nice cappuccino. Yeah. That's just for my soul. And then I had a, I had a bowl of oatmeal with almond butter and a banana. And banana was mostly for like, uh, potassium, electrolytes, stuff like that.
[00:45:27] Um, so started out with that. Um, when it got closer to race time, um, that's when I started drinking my AA shock energy, drink shots, say shock. So I had a little bit of that, and then I was ready to go. I was like, okay, this is, I showed up a little late. To me, my brother-in-law's, and then I was like, Oh, man, like we're gonna get started in like five minutes.
[00:45:54] So I didn't warm up or anything because obviously I figured I'd warm up in the run. And so the first mile was just me warming up. Um, so first, you know, first loop came in feeling pretty good. Uh. Got more drinks of the AA shock. Um, got a little bit of electrolytes. I didn't get too crazy with the electrolytes at the start because it was raining where I was living or where I did it.
[00:46:21] So did the second loop, came in. It felt pretty good. I was like, okay, just stick to, um, uh, I had a goo on the second loop at mile eight. So I was taking him at every eight miles. I was going to take a goo.
[00:46:36] Rich Ryan: [00:46:36] I told him you were carrying,
[00:46:38] Mark Batres: [00:46:38] yeah, I was carrying, I was carrying that. Yeah. And I was like, okay, eight miles hit the goo.
[00:46:43] And then so eight miles came, bam, knocked down. The goo came in. And I think because I was having the, um, the gurus. Um, and the ones I was using was the honey stingers. Um, so I was doing the honey stingers and I had it at eight miles, and I think every time I came in, I never wanted anything sweet because I kept taking the gurus out there on the, out there in the road.
[00:47:07] So I was like, I did not want to have, like, I thought I was gonna eat a lot of junk food and I really didn't. I stuck to, um, I stuck to my electrolyte fluid. I stuck to my, um, uh, pickle juice, which is actually going down. Cause like before, like I'm not one to like just hammer down some pickles.
[00:47:29] Rich Ryan: [00:47:29] So
[00:47:30] Mark Batres: [00:47:30] for some reason, like I was, I was running and that tasted, that sounded good to me.
[00:47:36] I was like, Oh, that sounds good. So I just had a little bit, eat a pickle, and then I'd go, go for another loop. Um, and then, uh, I think. Like right at mile 40 right at 40 that's when I had my first protein shake, so I did a protein shake at 40 and then I did another one at 60 and then 80 so
[00:47:59] Rich Ryan: [00:47:59] just like a way isolate or was it, was it a carbohydrate protein mix or.
[00:48:05] Mark Batres: [00:48:05] I think it was a protein. It was tailwind protein. Yeah, I think it was for sure. Yeah. I think it was like a post is supposed to be post run and obviously I'm still running. So I was like, I did it. I did that one and it worked out great cause it was easy on my stomach. Um, and it allowed me to keep going.
[00:48:26] So I did the tailwind. Uh, yeah, like, uh, I think, yeah, it was 40. 60 80 I think I did at those points. Um, and then, uh, let me see. Yeah. By the time I was done with. I think it was like 20 miles. I had finished a shock like that was done. I was like, okay. And I didn't have any ounce of caffeine after that. I was like, okay, I'm done.
[00:48:53] Yeah. Um, I, at mile 30 is when I started drinking beer and yeah, that, that, that was just like my, uh, my father-in-law was just like, Hey, you know, you're doing great. You want one of these? And I was like, uh. Yeah, sure. Give me one of those. Uh, it was a Sierra Nevada, uh, torpedo.
[00:49:17] Rich Ryan: [00:49:17] Nicest. So like a real, like a real beer.
[00:49:20] Mark Batres: [00:49:20] That was a real beer. Yeah, it's like a, I think it's like seven and a half, 8% beer. Yeah. I don't, I don't drink light beer. I'm a junior, so
[00:49:29] Rich Ryan: [00:49:29] sitting at a sports game, no light beer,
[00:49:32] Mark Batres: [00:49:32] no like beer. So yeah, I started drinking that and I. I think I, in the whole course of the whole entire run, I had five beers by the time I was done.
[00:49:46] Rich Ryan: [00:49:46] Oh my God. It's hilarious.
[00:49:48] Mark Batres: [00:49:48] And it was just, it was just going down so smooth. I was just like, I wanted that. Like. That bitter, that hoppy flavor. And I was just like, Oh yeah, it's just hitting the spot. So, and I think the, the, the bubbles were actually my calming my stomach down, so it allowed me to take more goose
[00:50:05] Rich Ryan: [00:50:05] and get, you can imagine, because like you said, like more like literally you're eating honey, which is just like straight up sugar and balanced that like you're getting honey salt and like you're not getting any of that bitter.
[00:50:16] And like torpedo is a bitter ass beer. So you're just trying to like. Even at the pallet, which I think again is a good takeaway. You might not have to drink beer, but like at a point you're gonna get sick of something and I don't want to bring it back and kind of balance that your pallet out essentially.
[00:50:33] I always thought that. I always thought it was silly when people would drink beer. I'm like, why would you even do that? But like I could imagine it makes you feel better. Like could you feel the booze?
[00:50:41] Mark Batres: [00:50:41] No. Not, not, not at one point did I think to myself that I had a buzz or any type of, uh, inebriation at all.
[00:50:49] I was like, I was just running and I was like, huh? Like I, I did the whole event and I was like, man, I drank so much. And I was like, those spirits had like, it didn't feel like anything. A week later I bought a six factor torpedo cause I was like, Oh yeah, like I had that. Yeah, that's fine. It didn't do anything.
[00:51:09] It's, I could drink this all day. I had two of them and I was like, Holy hell. Like
[00:51:17] we're staying here for awhile. Hope you didn't plan on going anywhere. Cause this, we're going to be planning for awhile
[00:51:25] Rich Ryan: [00:51:25] and really like, you know, if you're taking, you know, eating some pickles and you're having a honey stinger, you're probably having like 120 calories every 50 minutes every hour or something like that.
[00:51:35] But one of those torpedoes. They're probably 200 5,300 calories for one of those beers. So it was a substantial amount of calories for you to kind of run through. It's an alcohol is an energy source. I don't know if it's ideal, but there's some carbs in there as well. So, um, so it works. It works out to get the calories in.
[00:51:52] Um, cool. So what would you do different on the, on the sides from less options? Would you just narrow things down and just be like, okay, I know I want this, this, and this, and just have, and maybe have that balance of flavors just so you have one of everything that, you know, when you get sick.
[00:52:07] Mark Batres: [00:52:07] Like if I were to help someone out and they were like, okay, what, what, what do I need to do with my nutrition table?
[00:52:13] Like, how do I set it up? I would definitely, um. I would break it up into stuff that is like bitter stuff that is um, like carbohydrate rich and then stuff that is sweet. And if you break it up and kind of have sections, then you're going to be able to look at your items very quickly. Because when you come in, you're going to be like.
[00:52:35] I want something bitter. And then when you go to the bitter side, you can already have your options there and say like, okay, this is exactly where I'm looking. And then if you come in and you're thinking, Oh man, I kind of want like, I want crackers or potato chips or something like, or like potato. Um, cause I had, um, Natalie had made, um, uh, like mashed potatoes and she put that in the middle.
[00:52:57] And I had a couple of bites of that, but I, I wasn't like a big. Like a big winner. So, but it was a carbohydrate source and that was, you know, I would set up a carb section, you know, and it's like, okay, I got that, I got potato chips and I have, you know, some crackers or, and like, you know, pretzels or something like that, whatever, whatever you like.
[00:53:17] And then another section for sweet stuff like candy, um, just like different items that you're going to go off of with that. Um, yeah. So that, that would kind of separate. Wait, what I would eat during nutrition, and it makes it easier for you to just come in and just say like, okay, there it is right there.
[00:53:36] Like you don't have to think about it like the, the least amount of thinking you can do the better because you don't want to have to be searching for something while doing this race. Like you just want it nice and easy and make it simple as possible.
[00:53:51] Rich Ryan: [00:53:51] Yeah, that's a very practical piece of advice. Just like I said, just so you're not staring at the table.
[00:53:55] Like you were like, ah, what do I want to eat here? Um, and you know, you hear, you hear that, like, I think it's a cliche in the ultra running community. It's like it turns into an eating contest. Right. And never having. To have run this far at all and never having to have had to fuel yourself for this long.
[00:54:15] Were there worries that your stomach might not be able to take it or that you know, you might have some GI issues or that you know, your, your body might reject food? Or were you pretty confident based on the amount of training that you've done in the past and the amount of long runs that you've done and, and your, your experience with feeling that you kind of knew your stomach was solid?
[00:54:33] Um, was there any thoughts about that?
[00:54:35] Mark Batres: [00:54:35] Yeah, I've done some runs where it was like a four hour long run. Um, I got up to 30, 36 miles or something like that. And I was like, okay. Like I felt okay, but I did take a lot of gurus and I was like, yeah, my stomach wasn't feeling good at the end of that run. I remember that.
[00:54:53] And I was like, I don't know how I'm gonna feel during this 85 mile run. Um, but I think because I, I balanced it out with something that was. Very bitter and something sweet and bitter. It just, every time I took a goo, I was excited to take it. Every time I drank the beer, I was excited to drink it and it was like, I was like, I'm going to keep doing this pattern until the wheels fall off, and they never did.
[00:55:22] And I was like, my legs felt good the whole way, and I felt pretty strong the whole way. And I was like, wow. I'm pretty shocked. I thought, I thought I would have a lot of issues, but I really didn't. I was able to eat. Uh, pretty well. At mile 50. I had, um, couple of noodle soup, so just kind of just, just had, um, just had a bowl of soup.
[00:55:43] Um, I talked to him, market it, and he was like, yeah, I have his, his soup is made with that. Like those little stars, uh, pasta, you know, I was like, Oh, that would have been smart. Cause like, then you just drink it. Yeah. He was like, yeah, I hammered mine down in a second and I was like, Oh man. It took me like
[00:56:04] I'm sitting down, I'm like, where's the pepper meal? So yeah, I took way too long to eat my soup, and then, yeah, that was my big break. Like my big. Almost like 27 minute break. And I was like, Oh my goodness, this is just way too long here. Like I got gotta get going. And yeah, I think that food was like bouncing around a little bit.
[00:56:25] But yeah,
[00:56:26] Rich Ryan: [00:56:26] so I like that you took more of an intuitive approach because there is a lot of literature out there and a lot of times people want to follow exact like regiment regimented things, and that's where they can kind of get in over their head or kind of start taking the wrong thing that they don't need.
[00:56:39] So I think that that's a good approach to just. Eat how you feel, more or less. Like your body will tell you, tell you what you need and what you want. If you listen to those signals, like you should be in a good spot. Cause I mean, you ate and drank a shitload and you kept running, so you must've done something right with that.
[00:56:55] Um, and then so you mentioned, you know, you felt pretty, pretty solid the whole way w was there a point. That you were ready for it to really suck. And was there a, was there any point in the race where there was a battle to kind of push through that suck, or was it just kind of like, stay here, keep cruising, trust your trust, your fitness, trust where you're at?
[00:57:17] What was that kind of process like?
[00:57:18] Mark Batres: [00:57:18] Yeah, like I got to mile 50 and after that, my, after that loop, I came in at 55 and I was like, Oh man, like, like I feel like I'm hitting a wall and I was telling Natalie, I was like, you know it, it just doesn't feel like I can keep, I can sustain this pace very much longer.
[00:57:37] I think I averaged like seven, seven twelves on that one. And I was like, I don't think I can sustain this pace. And then she tells me, she's like, just slow down. Just slow down to whatever is comfortable. And I was like, Oh, okay. Like don't try to keep that six 26 30 pace. Like I'm slowing down, just slow down.
[00:57:58] And I was like, okay, that sounds, you know, fair. And then I go out the first mile and it was a seven 12 and I was like, Oh, that was, that was easy. If I come to, I wasn't trying to get that six 30 anymore and now I was like. Easing up to seven twelves and eventually my body started feeling better because it wasn't like reaching anymore.
[00:58:21] It was like, Oh, well within itself. So I think like. The takeaway was always keep your effort well within yourself. It's always got to feel like an easy run. The minute it starts to feel a little bit difficult, that's when you're going to break down quicker and you got to back off because I ended up, you know, like I said, I picked it up in the, towards the end because I was like, Oh, I'm feeling good.
[00:58:44] I'm feeling fine. Um. I'm not breaking down like I thought I was for a second, but I'm, I'm okay. So then when I got to 85 I was like, yeah, I can throw down seven flats. Like it's not a big deal. I feel good.
[00:58:57] Rich Ryan: [00:58:57] Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. So it's not like necessarily going into the pain cave and like fighting it. It's like you said, just
[00:59:04] Mark Batres: [00:59:04] just back off.
[00:59:06] Rich Ryan: [00:59:06] Just go. So it's like great advice by Natalie. It's like, okay, that feels fast. Go slower. You have a bunch of miles left.
[00:59:11] Mark Batres: [00:59:11] Oh. That makes sense. Yeah, that's what I said. I was like, Oh man. I was trying to go after it, and I was like, she's like, just don't, just, just relax. Just how you felt at mile 15 that's how it should feel for the whole race.
[00:59:27] Yeah. And I was like, Oh, okay. I have to go easier then. And I'm like pretty much ignore the watch. And then once I came in, I'd be like, Oh, wow, that was a lot easier than like seven flat. Ooh. This is good. Like I'm going faster. Like I just need to relax.
[00:59:41] Rich Ryan: [00:59:41] So kind of boil down to just that intuitive feeling that you have and just being, okay, this is what I know is easy.
[00:59:46] Yes. And that, that I think is going to be real important for people to remember. So with that, was it easier than you thought it was going to be, or do you, was it harder at any points or, or,
[00:59:56] Mark Batres: [00:59:56] uh, yeah, it was way easy. Like, I thought it was going to be hard. I thought like running this long was going to be a difficult thing, you know, was like, it was like not hard at all.
[01:00:06] I was shocked. I was like, every time I like, you know, watch a ultra like documentary or looking at these guys like these athletes and I'm like, Oh man, like I like the training that this or that. And I'm like, I ended up breaking it down and I'm like, it's actually not that hard. It's like, it's pretty easy as long as you just keep your effort.
[01:00:26] Like lo, just stay relaxed. If you try to race it and you try to get crazy, you blow up. But if you keep it easy and you keep it relaxed, you can do it for a very long time. So
[01:00:41] Rich Ryan: [01:00:41] I have to actually have attrition, like just a matter of just not going over the top.
[01:00:45] Mark Batres: [01:00:45] Yeah. And I was like, Oh, I just got to stay relaxed and in control.
[01:00:49] And. You know, it's not that bad. I, it was, I, I was shocked at how, how easy it felt because I felt like running a fast marathon was way harder than doing this. Cause like you're going at top end speed pretty much. For 26 miles and then by the time you get to like 90 minutes, you're like, Oh my God, this is death.
[01:01:12] Um, cause your glycogens down, you're just, you feel like garbage and you're still having to keep a very, very high pace. Um, to me that was way harder. And it breaks the body down and it's so much more detrimental, um, to long longevity and, and everything else. But doing this ultra stuff on like, you know what, it's not that hard on the body.
[01:01:38] It's actually, I think it's better than marathoning and you just keep a nice. Comfortable pace and don't let your body break down. And if you do that, then you pretty much roll out with a good effort. So, I don't know. I thought I thought it, I thought it was going to be a lot. Um, I thought I was going to go into those moments, like when I did marathoning.
[01:02:00] Like, I'm like, I'm going to, I'm going to break at some point, and it's just going to be like a freaking, like, you know, going back
[01:02:08] Rich Ryan: [01:02:08] three hours of awful. Yeah.
[01:02:09] Mark Batres: [01:02:09] Yeah. And I was like, that never happened. And I was like, wow. I mean, obviously this is my first one, so I could, I could always be different every single time you do it.
[01:02:19] Right. Um, for the most part, um, I don't know. Maybe I, maybe I swung and I swung it out of the park just to, it's just the first time out and now it's just like, Hey. It's actually, you know, uh, it's not that bad. It actually felt pretty, pretty comfortable. Yeah.
[01:02:36] Rich Ryan: [01:02:36] What was recovery like? What was it like for the next week?
[01:02:40] Mark Batres: [01:02:40] A recovery was okay to begin with, and then I noticed, um, like I had, like, my legs weren't doing something like, like I, I. Like my hamstring was getting nodded up and that was causing like other issues. And then I ended up like developing a little bit of it. Um, it band issues. But um, yeah. And that's, that's why I went to my art therapist cause I was like, we're handling this, uh, this injury right now.
[01:03:12] But, um, yeah, I mean, when I came back, it was actually pretty quick. It was, it was pretty good. Everything was going good in training, and, uh, I was picking up my mileage. Everything was rolling out pretty, pretty smooth. Um, uh, and then all of a sudden I kind of developed this like, you know, little it band thing.
[01:03:31] So, um. I, I think it had, it did have something to do with the race.
[01:03:38] Rich Ryan: [01:03:38] Yeah. Yeah,
[01:03:41] Mark Batres: [01:03:41] yeah. I would say, um, yeah, I definitely like, like. It was on the outside of, um, like kinda like where my fastest letter Alice is on my leg and I, it just shut down. Um, she probably just took a beating and then, um, yeah, so pretty much, um, yeah, I've been working back to get to, um, good fitness.
[01:04:03] I was, I was, I was thinking like, ah, maybe I'll do another one of these ultra vires things, uh, if, if, if I'm, if I'm fit and everything's good, but. Everything is not good, everything's not fit. So I'm just like, Oh, it's not a big deal.
[01:04:16] Rich Ryan: [01:04:16] Yeah. And that's like, it sounds like typical like overuse type injuries and that makes sense.
[01:04:21] You know, that's the most you've ever done in one shot. Were you expecting to take, did you take like a week off? Like where you're like, after this I'm going to not run for three or four days or what? Did you have a plan of it or you just gonna be like, I'm gonna see how I feel cause there's no rush to get back or anything
[01:04:36] Mark Batres: [01:04:36] like I, I went pretty easy.
[01:04:38] Uh, I took two days off. Um, I just kinda didn't do anything. And then I did some biking, and then I came back to some easy runs. Um, and then the next week, uh, I think I. Yeah, I just try to pick up mileage back to where I was and I think that was a mistake. I think I should have built up a little bit slower and then, um, kind of like re get it, get back into my whole like buildup phase.
[01:05:06] And then. Get into the base phase, but I tried to get back to where I was already, and that was a mistake. It was like I didn't need to, like, there was no point in me going out and saying like, Oh yeah, you know, in two weeks I want to hit a 17 mile long run again. It's like. For what there was, I couldn't even get to the trail I want to get to because it's closed now.
[01:05:25] So it's like, I don't know what the hell. I was like, why? I was so eager to get back into it, but like I, I was, and I was like, I need to calm down. So right now I'm just like, ah, I'm just taking it really easy. I'm running with my son mostly, and just. Nice.
[01:05:41] Rich Ryan: [01:05:41] I mean, well that's the thing, cause you weren't planning on doing this.
[01:05:44] So it wasn't like a bill buildup and then a downtime and then a rebuild. It was like, I'm going to do this. And just like on a whim and then I had this other plan and then like to shift the plan, I know I would have a hard time to plan as well. So I would have, I would have been the same spot as you were for sure.
[01:06:01] So what does this, uh, what does this mean for the future man? Are you gonna are you an ultra guy now?
[01:06:05] Mark Batres: [01:06:05] I guess I am. Yeah. Um, I'm gonna, I'm gonna definitely, uh, do some ultras. Um, I'm going to definitely get into it. I thought it was a lot of fun. I like just having my family there and like, like having the support and everything like along the race.
[01:06:19] Um, I think that's going to be fun in ultra running and, um, like I like my, my wife always says she, she misses that when. When I did marathons, like she like chased me around and stuff. So it's, I think we'll have a lot of fun, uh, in the ultra, uh, races and just kind of picking, picking out races that I want to do.
[01:06:39] Um, I think like. I think a hundred a hundred kilometers is probably like my better event. So I'll just go out there and be competitive in a hundred a hundred kilometers this stuff first, and then try to move up to the a hundred mile distance later on.
[01:06:56] Rich Ryan: [01:06:56] So we're not even talking about. Spartan or anything, and just like straight up ultra and like a lot of these are on trails and everything.
[01:07:03] Right. Is that, is that change anything for you or are you still excited to kind of go up and down and, uh,
[01:07:09] Mark Batres: [01:07:09] yeah, I mean, honestly, I think I, um, uh, I, I kind of circumvented the trail scene, uh, for a long time because I went from. Marathon running straight into Spartan racing, and it's kind of like a, it's like an offshoot.
[01:07:24] It's like, in theory, it's like most runners would say like, okay, I did marathoning and then now I'm going to go do trail racing. And then after chill, like that's it. That's pretty much it. Like you just do trail racing. Um, and I went from. Marathoning straight into Spartan racing. Um, so it's, it's a little different in the sense that, like I, I've gotten a lot of experience actually with like bushwhacking and like off trail running and extreme conditions without, are like no person in their right mind that's a runner would run in these situations.
[01:08:02] And I think that's actually conditioned me for being a good trail runner. Because I do trails now and I'm like, Oh man, these are all manicured and Oh well I'm not going to see this in a race. Like I get annoyed because I'm like, ah, I like, it's not rugged enough. Like, yeah. And then it's like, it's funny cause like most people would say like, Oh, you gotta do this trail because it's like, it's super rugged.
[01:08:25] And I go out there and I'm like, this is like nothing. Cause I'm used to running in like sticks and
[01:08:30] Rich Ryan: [01:08:30] not a trail. It's like
[01:08:31] Mark Batres: [01:08:31] not a trail. Yeah. Like that kind of stuff is like, it kinda like, I think like my mind is like conditioned now where it's like if it's not off off trail, like in the sticks, like through bushes and stuff, it's like, it's so easy.
[01:08:48] It's like, it's not even that hard. So, yeah.
[01:08:51] Rich Ryan: [01:08:51] So I mean, you could do something like the, like Killington for the 24 or like a world's toughest and those things like line those up or are you thinking about that?
[01:09:02] Mark Batres: [01:09:02] I'm thinking about that. Um, not, not so much. Probably this year, maybe next year. Um, this year I have like.
[01:09:10] I have certain goals that I want to meet in OCR and I'm trying to, trying to get after those prior to like getting crazy with like, um, ultra Spartan stuff, uh, or, or ultra like OCR stuff. Um, right now I'm like, you know, like, I think I would rather like do like a a hundred mile trail race and competitively do one of those and try to win one of those and then, and be.
[01:09:37] A very good and competitive Spartan racer, um, as opposed to just going into, um, like long distance OCR races. Um, yeah. It's kinda like, I don't know, I'm just like, I don't know why I have this, why I'm
[01:09:56] Rich Ryan: [01:09:56] thinking
[01:09:58] Mark Batres: [01:09:58] it's kind of weird, but like, yeah, it just feels like, I'm like, I don't know, like, like I, I. Like, I see like the ultra stuff in Spartan, and I don't know where that's going yet.
[01:10:14] And I'm like, I don't know if that's, um, uh, like something that I want to do yet. I know it's something I'll do eventually, but, um, right now is like. Yeah, I guess in like where I'm at in terms of like what I can do in the, in that like 85 mile race, it's like, Oh wow. I think I could be very competitive in these a hundred mile races and if I'm competitive in these hundred mile races right now, um, I better get on it.
[01:10:43] Right? I got to, I always say like, you got strike when the iron is hot. It's like you get it, it's good right now. It's like, you know, right now, if I can do this, then let's do it. Let's get competitive. Um. The ultra stuff, like for Spartan. I'm like, I dunno. Sometimes I look at it and I'm like, do I really want to do that?
[01:11:05] Like I do a beast and I feel like I got torn up and I don't know if I want to do an ultra in that one, that kind of
[01:11:13] Rich Ryan: [01:11:13] like to do Killington at for 24 hours. It's like it would turn, it doesn't turn into something totally different. I know what you mean. Like it explains like, Oh, well it's just what you do, but longer.
[01:11:24] It's like, yeah, but like it's not the same as like an ultra, it's not the same as like a 100 mile race or a hundred K. It is. It is different for whatever reason.
[01:11:32] Mark Batres: [01:11:32] Yeah. Like I, I feel like if I really, if I were to do an ultra like a hundred miler, I can come back two weeks later and get back into training and get back into it and, and be fine.
[01:11:44] I feel like if I did an ultra like OCR race, like my body would be. Pretty much like hurt for a while where I'd be like, yeah, I need a month off or whatever. Cause like I think people, the people in Spartan racing don't understand how much Spartan racing actually breaks their body down because they've never done like regular road races.
[01:12:06] And that's a, that's a weird thing to say, but it's like they're there. There's a lot of guys that are like elite and fast Spartan racers that have rare. They've really done other. Other events and other, um, uh, like, you know, just road racing or, or just running by itself. Yeah, you can run a five K 10 K and you're fine.
[01:12:30] The next day you can do a long run. It's like, it's like not a big deal. It's like, yeah, you go do a hard run, you do a hard race. Like I peered in the 10 K came back the next day and did like a 16 mile long run and you can race the next weekend. It's like, it's not that bad. It's like your body. Is meant to do that and, and it's, it's easily repairable when you do a Spartan race.
[01:12:52] It's like, no, you need time off. You need to relax because you've worked so many systems in your body, upper body, lower body, everything is sore and to come back and, and, and like. I really don't like the three day like race. Like when it's like back to back to back, it's like, Oh my God, like your body is broken after that.
[01:13:14] And it's like, I see a lot of age group people do it, and I'm like, you guys, if it hurts me, it's hurting you. It's hurting everybody. So, um, just understanding that it's like, I, I as a coach, I always try to advocate that my athletes don't do like. Three races in one weekend. I'm like, just a few. She was fine.
[01:13:38] Um, three is borderline. Like self breaking, like you're going to break yourself down for no reason. It's like, you don't need to do that. Um, yeah. So I'm like, like, that's why I'm like, I think, I think it would take a lot out of me to do a Spartan race and, or, or any type of OCR race anyways for 24 hours or whatever.
[01:13:59] Um, and in that sense, I'm like, I don't know. I, maybe I'll look into it later on, but not right now.
[01:14:06] Rich Ryan: [01:14:06] And if it's not exciting, then why do it? Like, you can just tell like, you're like, eh. Fuck that.
[01:14:11] Mark Batres: [01:14:11] Yeah, it's, it's funny too because it's like, yeah, there's a lot of, um, there's a lot of good stuff that comes out of like winning a a hundred mile race.
[01:14:21] Um, you know, winning an ultra Spartan is like winning a beast. It's like the same, same prize money, kind of same thing. It's like, Oh, there's no, like. There's no extra thing added to it. It's just, it's just the same, same type of like, you know, payout structure, extra recovery. Yeah. It's just like you just broke your body down for.
[01:14:44] Nothing. Basically, it's like there's nothing added to it, like there's no incentive to do it, so I'm like, as a pro, I'm like, Oh, I don't know. I'm looking at that and I'm like, I can do a beast and you know, I get the same prize money as an ultra athlete. That's kind of weird. It doesn't compute to me. It's like I can do a sprint.
[01:15:04] And do get the same amount of money as an ultra athlete. It's like, okay, like, why would I do an ultra? So it's like, that's kind of how I'm thinking. And then looking at, um, like the 24 hour race, it's like, you know, there's, there's like the price breakdown structures, like $5,000 if you win, or something like that.
[01:15:28] And I'm like, Oh man, that's a lot of work for. Just like five grand cause you could be out for, you can, your chances of injury are very high. Especially, especially,
[01:15:40] Rich Ryan: [01:15:40] yeah, you might get hurt.
[01:15:44] Mark Batres: [01:15:44] Yeah. It's like, like I would say like through the terrain that Killington has like. You know, the, the odds of a twisted ankle or something like that are very high per lap.
[01:15:56] And then like looking at that and you're like, okay, your chances of injury just went up like 70 80% and it's like. You know for $5,000 as a payout. And it's like, yeah, that's like, I'd rather do something else cause it doesn't seem like it doesn't, the juice is not worth the squeeze. You're just going to, you're, you're grinding down Paul pier man.
[01:16:22] It's like there's not really an incentive to go do something like that as opposed to like. You know, doing a prestigious trail race where you can come back two weeks later starting training back up. It's not that bad.
[01:16:33] Rich Ryan: [01:16:33] You have to really want to do it and not for the competition. Be like, I want to do that.
[01:16:38] Cause it's cool. And like if other, if there's not that, they're like, there's no reason to
[01:16:43] Mark Batres: [01:16:43] do it. And the competition is, is Akans and Kilian. And that's really the only two guys that are doing it. It's like everyone else in, in Aaron Newell, it's like those three, those are the three guys that are in the ultra stuff, like for the OCR.
[01:16:55] And I'm like, you know, it's kind of like, Oh, it's just us three or it'd be us for going out there and hammer it. And it's like, all right, like, that's okay, but like, you know. Um, I do like the level of competition that the series brings, right? Like, Oh man, you screw up, you do something wrong. You went from second to 10th, and it's like, Oh wow.
[01:17:16] Big, big, big punishment because the competition is so high and it's like, it's so competitive and it's like we're all in it and it's like, Oh man, it feels like a dog fight every time. It's like, it's exciting. I ain't even talking about it. I'm like, I can't wait to get back into series. Like that's going to be fun.
[01:17:31] But yeah, like the ultra stuff, it's like, okay, there's going to be four guys that are really competitive. And then after that, it's just going to be a huge dropoff where we don't see another person till like freaking, you know, you know, way many laps later. And it's like, we have 15, you know, 15 mile lead, and it's just us four going at it.
[01:17:50] And it's like, we're kind of battling back and forth. I'm like, ah, I don't know if that's going to be, uh, as exciting as, you know, as a. The national series. I don't know.
[01:18:01] Rich Ryan: [01:18:01] Yeah, and the kid doesn't fall at a good time this year. I think it would be like the weekend before Tahoe,
[01:18:06] Mark Batres: [01:18:06] I think. Yeah. Yeah, and Tahoe is going to be exciting as hell.
[01:18:09] I'm excited. Like I'm excited to do Tahoe saw. I was going to be fun. It's always going to be like, you know, that's been the spot for a while and everyone wants to prove themselves there. And R I have something to prove from last year, so I'm like, dude, no, I'm way more focused on Tahoe. So that's like where it comes in and I'm like, that doesn't interest me.
[01:18:27] Yeah.
[01:18:28] Rich Ryan: [01:18:28] That's the, that's the, the race that I'm looking at. I'm like, if there's going to be race, it's going to happen. Like that's the one. But being in California might. Throw a wrench in it. You guys are just like going to be the most cautious. You're going to be the most careful. You're gonna be the last ones to open up.
[01:18:44] I feel
[01:18:44] Mark Batres: [01:18:44] like. Yeah, like I, I've kind of said it like, um, I kind of feel like Spartans using, um, Jacksonville is kind of, um, proving ground. Uh, for what, what other events can do. Um, just so they can be like a more of a proof of concept. Um, for other States, they can show people like, Oh, Hey, this is how we managed our event.
[01:19:08] Like, look at, look at, this is what we did. Like, this is how we handled it. And then. When other States are able to see it, they might be more inclined to allow an event knowing that Spartan's going to manage it in that way as opposed to other stuff, which is like a concert or something like that where they're like, Oh no, you guys have no controls whatsoever, is lawlessness.
[01:19:30] So kind of seeing that they're going to be like, Oh wow, Spartan's doing a good job to help prevent the spread, and they're actually doing a good job at actually managing this stuff. It looks like a good thing. And then. They'll start to open the doors at other States kind of, and hopefully that's, that's, that's the, the thought.
[01:19:47] Anyways, hopefully
[01:19:49] Rich Ryan: [01:19:49] I wonder if they would change the venues. I wonder if they're like, okay, North American championship is back at West Virginia because it doesn't look like California is going to allow events with more than like. 150 people or something like, so moving things around. Um, cause that's my only hang up with Tahoe.
[01:20:06] I feel like there's enough time for events to be run there, but I just don't know about your state. I just, I don't know if they're going to be like,
[01:20:12] Mark Batres: [01:20:12] yeah, I mean specifically to, I know Tahoe has been really, really like. Not, not enjoying visitors right now. Yeah. So it's been pretty tough on people just to, you know, go in general.
[01:20:27] Um, and they, they were really, um, upset that a lot of people were going there even during the winter. Yeah. Like during the snow. Um. During a lot of snowfall. And I'm like, Oh wow. Like I would expect them to be excited for, you know, the revenue that comes in during that time. Cause like they kind of, you know, they need it during, uh, during winter.
[01:20:50] And that's our big, that's our big season. But, um. Yeah. They were just like, no, we don't want anybody here from like
[01:20:57] Rich Ryan: [01:20:57] from LA,
[01:20:58] Mark Batres: [01:20:58] San Francisco to come in and be at their vacation home. If you don't live here, stay out. And it's like, Oh, like I don't know how they're going to be come September. I hope better for them.
[01:21:10] Yeah. I mean, hopefully by then, I honestly, it's, it has to do with, um. How everything's structured. It's like, you know, they need, they need a lot of tourists, tourism, money coming in, in order to, um, you know, just make enough money. So it's like, they're depending a lot on it. So it's, I know who they look at it and say, Hey, you know what, Spartan, that's a good, it's a good group of people there.
[01:21:35] They, uh, they got money, like, bring 'em in, man. We need it. So we're
[01:21:41] Rich Ryan: [01:21:41] hoping we're open by that point because by that point they would, and it's gonna be a matter of if they're still just extra cautious for. You know, the public health aspect of things, but hopefully we'll have that cleared up. Hopefully it's gonna be good and we're up and down that mountain and it will be,
[01:21:57] Mark Batres: [01:21:57] that's what I'm hoping for.
[01:21:58] Yeah.
[01:21:59] Rich Ryan: [01:21:59] Um, all right, man. Well, that was awesome. Like, I'm real excited. It's so much good information. I think people are going to get a lot of good stuff out of this. So where can people find you on socials and the coaching website and everything?
[01:22:10] Mark Batres: [01:22:10] Yeah. Uh, social media is at MGB racing. And my coaching website is M G B dash racing.
[01:22:22] And that's pretty much it.
[01:22:23] Rich Ryan: [01:22:23] Yeah. Sweet dude. And I guess we'll see, uh, I dunno. When's the next national series supposed to be?
[01:22:31] Mark Batres: [01:22:31] Uh, supposed to be in Utah, Utah, July 18th in Utah. Yeah.
[01:22:36] Rich Ryan: [01:22:36] So the whole thing, I hope for that one. Right. They haven't canceled it yet.
[01:22:38] Mark Batres: [01:22:38] They haven't canceled it in Utah was pretty, uh, pretty open to the idea, so hopefully it works out.
[01:22:44] Yeah. Would you go to it? I would go, yeah. It's, uh, the thing is like. I don't know how the United States is going to have handle the international travel. Um, I don't know how, how bad that situation is or what that would look like in terms of like, um, traveling for races, uh, for, for flights and stuff like that.
[01:23:11] Um, hopefully there's some kind of, you know. We're, we're kind of back to normal a little bit in that, in that timeframe. But, um, right now it's like, if it were to happen like this weekend, it'd be like, Oh, it'd be. Almost impossible because it was like, how do we get people there? I'm like, what are the logistics?
[01:23:31] Just to put on an event like that and get the athletes to the event. Um, but hopefully by July, things are a little bit more open. We have more international travel. Um. And specifically like Canada, we have a lot of re racers from Canada that came down. So, um, yeah, we need to have that. The, those basically lines of transportation open for people to fly from.
[01:23:58] East coast, Canada, all over the world just to get to the races. Um, I think that's, uh, it's probably the biggest issue right now, uh, affecting the races, if anything.
[01:24:09] Rich Ryan: [01:24:09] Well, we're hoping fingers crossed on that and so maybe we'll see out there. Maybe we'll see the next one, but we'll see someplace. So I appreciate it.
[01:24:17] Sharing all information. It was awesome, man. So I'm signing off, so we'll see you guys next.
[01:24:22] Mark Batres: [01:24:22] Alright. Yeah.