Run Your Race Podcast
When I first listened to David Goggins' book in 2019, I was hooked. If he could run 100 miles without training, I thought I could do it with training! It unlocked something in me, leading to my journey into ultramarathons. Since then, I've completed multiple 100- and 200-mile races, something I once thought impossible. This podcast aims to give you that same mindset shift. Each week, we interview elite endurance athletes to inspire you to believe more is possible and push yourself to the next level.
Run Your Race Podcast
#014 - Paul Johnson: Running Across America (59 Miles Per Day)
Paul Johnson shares his inspiring journey running across America to advocate for mental health. He talks about his preparation, challenges faced throughout the TransCon, and how running transformed his life.
• Introduction of Paul Johnson and his background
• Details about the TransCon and its significance
• Training and logistical preparations discussed
• Daily life and challenges during the TransCon run
• Insights on mental health advocacy and personal transformation
• Reflection on the experience and future plans
Connect with Paul
- Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pauijohnson/
- Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@pauijohnson
- Transcon Documentary - Coming soon
Okay, what is up everyone? Welcome back to the Run your Race podcast. I'm your host, kier Schau, and today we have Paul Johnson on the show. Paul is an ultra runner and, I believe, still active duty naval officer who uses running to advocate for mental health. I think it was about 8 to 12 months ago, ran across the United States in 52 days, averaging 59 miles per day and raising over $500,000 for veterans. Paul has also tackled other 100-mile races and he even ran 100 miles in Antarctica, breaking a record, facing extreme temperatures, as you can imagine, in Antarctica. His journey really showcases the power of endurance, power of resilience and what is possible when you commit to a goal and take the action accordingly. So, paul, welcome on the show. Man, it's an honor to have you on, yeah thanks, Pierce, and thank you for those kind words, yeah, man.
Speaker 1:Well, let's start off where it started for you with running. Tell me, was there an individual that inspired you to get into running? What was that moment like? Or time when you actually decided, hey, I'm going to get some shoes, lace up and go for some miles and really start this out?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, when I was younger I did sports. I played soccer a whole bunch. My parents forced me to do track and I absolutely hated it Every second. I couldn't wait. They said eighth grade you can stop running track. And I was so excited and then really didn't do anything. I got to college and I got into triathlon for a little bit. I did all the distances from your sprint to your full and then left college in the Navy.
Speaker 2:Active duty was overseas for three years. Living didn't really do much. Running really started because one of my good friends he was a Marine officer who lived out there as well and he wanted to run the Marine Corps Marathon and he wanted to be able to qualify for Boston, which at the time I know it's changed now, but at the time it was a sub-three-hour marathon. So with like four, five months' notice we started training together. Didn't live in the same area, so he's training up north, I'm training down south of california and, yeah, showed up to the marine corps marathon. Both achieved the goal, that's, sub three hour to qualify, and at that point it's kind of like I'm a bit hooked to it and that's really where it all took off that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Was that in 2022 that?
Speaker 2:was yeah, 2022 wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:That's very impressive. By the way, first marathon you've run, a sub three. That's that's incredible, um. But let me ask you this, because I you mentioned briefly that you had started to get into um triathlon and then you kind of fell off, was it? You fell off because of um, you went overseas or what ended up happening there?
Speaker 2:um, so I did triathlon for two or three years, like my first one was a sprint. The next year I did an olympic and a half and then my final year of it, I did the full. Okay, am I? So? My senior year of college I did the full like two days before the start of the semester in the fall was with the triathlon club.
Speaker 2:The whole time um did some races for, you know, fun, not trying to compete at the collegiate level and then really just stopped because, like, like I said, with the navy going overseas, I was stationed in rhoda, spain. We have a, you know, some agreements and status of forces agreements with the spanish over there, so we share their base with them and or ships that are stationed out there full time and as such, you're just, you're very busy. You know we're out at sea half the year and then the other half we're spending over 12 hours a day on the ship working. So it's just very busy and time consuming and don't really have time. I sold my bike before I went out there, so it's just kind of like, all right, I'm done with the triathlon thing, yeah, and then sort of kind of picked up weightlifting a little bit and fill in those free times in the morning before work. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:The reason I bring that up and ask that question specifically is because I think sometimes people have this viewpoint of fitness and what it should look like or needs to look like, or what someone posts on Instagram that their fitness journey has been like. But things happen, your interests change. Sometimes you want to do triathlon, you do a couple of races and then your life changes. You get busy, so you start lifting more because it makes more sense, and I think that's just encouraging that it doesn't have to look one way. It's not like you've been a runner for 10 years before you decided to do this TransCon. I think it actually makes it more inspiring to show people what's possible. But tell me, where did the idea of a TransCon and for those listening, paul, ran across America, it's called the TransCon and so, yeah, where did that idea come about in your mind? It?
Speaker 2:came from college with the triathlon club because our staff advisor, I mean he's in his 60s now and he's doing triathlons, he's competing Ironmans every year, doing really well, but he's been to the running community all over the country and the current world record holder, pete Koslunik, who set the record back in 2017, I think A lot of time when people do the TransCon, they're running right through central Pennsylvania State College, penn State University, where I was at school, and so you're within five miles of the campus as you're running by on the main road there, and so I had never heard of it before the advisor had mentioned that it was happening and a couple of them went out to run with Pete and I was just like I don't know man, like whatever, he's just running. And I remember thinking like, oh, he's doing a 930 pace, like he's doing a 930 pace, like he's not that fast, whatever. You know I understand now that that was absolutely flying for that time and how long he'd been running across the country. I was like, yeah, whatever, not a big deal, and I kind of thought about it over my time in Spain. I'm like, yeah, that'd be a cool thing to do someday, but I cannot run even 30 miles a day. That's a little ridiculous, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then I got back stateside in 21. And there was another individual who did the transcon, helo Sabide, who became the first black man to run a transcon. So I was following along with that. Really big finish, awesome there. They did a great job. They like three YouTube episodes on it, kind of showing the progress. Um, cause Pete didn't really have that, he didn't really have that media presence with it, but then being able to see how his presence with it, um, it showed you a lot more. And I was like dang, that's really cool, I definitely want to do that and I think he was doing something like 40, 42 miles a day and in my brain, brain, I'm like there's no way I can do that and then one of my friends she's like, hey, let's do a trail run in the desert.
Speaker 2:Uh, you know, do a 50k. I absolutely died out there, did zero training, didn't realize you have to bring your own nutrition and water. I was like, oh, there's eight stations, not like a normal marathon, um. But got through that and I'm like, oh, I can run a 50k, okay. And then just got into the marine Corps Marathon, started training for that and then, before I knew it, I was like, all right, let's see what we can do. Transcom will be cool once I move and we did it, wow.
Speaker 1:And from the time that you were like Transcom would be cool, like towards the end, and you're like, actually, like man, I'm going to do it.
Speaker 2:To the do it to the time that you started. What was the time difference From the time I made the decision to do? It was one year, so I did it in March of 24. March of 23 is when I said, okay, I'm going to do this, but I really didn't start doing any of the logistics until September of 23. Doing any of the logistics until September of 23. So it's what six months or so out roughly is when I started to do it and I wish I had started that a lot sooner. But yeah, I started on the six month mark of, like, doing a lot of the planning and getting ready with the training.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you, you don't know what. You don't know. Um, what, uh, what did that physically? I want to talk about, like physically what it looked like, and then also like the preparation of what it actually took. So, physically, what did your training look like? Ramping up, going into the Transcon, so you make that decision, you know, march of 2023, how many miles per week are you running? You think average then, and then what did that process look like? So, 23,.
Speaker 2:I had just moved to Newport, rhode Island, to my third duty station, so I got there January 2nd I think, and that's when I decided to start doing a run streak.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And like that first week I ran 60 miles. The week after that I did like 102, 103. And then I just ran 100 mile weeks for the next two months or so and I would say my average is probably around that 100 mile mark, a little more, a little less, all the way until the summer. And then the summer it was down a little bit, leading into my UTMB race that year, and then after UTMB started kind of picking up a bit again and then come end of November, beginning of December is when I said, all right, it's time to start picking up the miles. And so from December 1st to February 28th, basically we did at least 130 miles a week and my biggest week was like 204. So ramping all the way up 170 weeks and then, uh, two weeks at like 200 and then back down again. That's crazy.
Speaker 1:And did you make that plan up yourself or did you have someone um putting it together for you?
Speaker 2:Um, I have a coach that I use. He's actually the, uh, navy marathon team coach, so we kind of have that connection and they look like you know he he coaches marathon and triathlon, right, he's not an ultra coach. So he's like we're just we're kind of figuring it out together and we're like well, just you know, low and slow get the body used to the miles.
Speaker 2:So just like yeah, let's do two weeks at 130, two weeks 150, kind of ramp it up and step back down and he's kind of deciding how to break it up over the days.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's incredible. I mean, there's no training plan on how do you run a transcon. I mean everybody puts one out there. Yeah, maybe Pete needs to put something together for everyone, but no, that's, I mean 100 miles a week. You just kind of say it nonchalant, but that's a big week. I mean you're running probably. For what, what is that? 13 to 15 plus hours maybe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean you're doing 100 miles. I think I'd average around like a 10-minute pace, A hundred miles, I think.
Speaker 2:I'd average around like a 10 minute pace. So six, 10, yeah, 15, 15 to 20 miles, 15 to 20 hours a week, just in running, yeah, and what does your schedule look like at this time with the Navy? Are you like, on a certain amount of days off a certain amount of days, or are you working Monday through Friday? How does that work? It's Monday through Friday, so I'm not attached to a ship. I'm actually at a schoolhouse teaching for the Navy. Right now we have a bunch of junior officers that are coming through and the curriculum that we're doing is kind of like a re-baseline of them after they've left their first ship and they've gone to their second ship with some information and, honestly, the best situation I could have had to do this training because I'm very fortunate to get a lot of downtime in what we call shore duty versus a sea duty when I'm on the ship, like on the ship, I could not have done the training that I did, working Monday through Friday.
Speaker 2:We start at 8 am and usually we don't go any later than 3 or 4 pm and if you're not teaching that day in the afternoon, you're fortunate enough that you could go home at noon that day. But that was really it. Every couple weeks I'd have to have a duty day. I'd be there on the weekend just sitting at the desk watching the door. Otherwise, very fortunate to have that shore duty and a lot of that more downtime compared to the ship, and that's what really enabled me to get all those hours in. Yeah for sure.
Speaker 1:I mean 20 hours, let alone like putting that time in, but then also the wear that it puts on your body, with just you being tired and exhausted. I mean I'd imagine you're not. You know, super energized after running 100, 120 miles a week. You know, super energized after running 100, 120 miles a week, you're just ready to rest and get your feet up and go hit it for the next day, get ready for the next day.
Speaker 1:That's incredible, so wow. So you start running 100 mile a week, then you get up to 120, 130, 150, get up to 200 miles in a week, which is absolutely insane. And then so you're. You're preparing your body physically. I'd imagine you're preparing a lot of fueling, like you're getting used to um having different things while you're running, because obviously to run that far, you got to fuel your body.
Speaker 1:I've seen your your big videos on eating pizza all the time before your runs the morning runs with the pizza or intermission, and then you start, you know, six months out, preparing logistically Now for this Transcon. You're running across America. Like what went into actually planning that? Like, did you get a lot of advice from Hella or Pete on this, or did you have to figure it out all on your own? Like, what are some of the things that you actually have to organize for?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I reached. I reached out to Pete and, like I said, that triathlon club advisor from college, he actually knew Pete a little bit and was able to help connect to me. So I had reached out to Pete. We're shooting some emails back and forth like, hey, this is what I'm going to do, Try and get some feedback. He was able to give a little bit. But he's like, yeah, man, it's at that point five over five years ago. He's like I don't remember too much, but he would share a little bit and that was kind of helpful.
Speaker 2:But you know, the biggest things are got to have a crew because you can do it by yourself. There's a guy by the name of Dead Scout on social media. He's run the Transcon four times now with a motorcycle helmet on. He's done it all by himself, no support. So you can do it, but you just can't get the speed and distance that you need because you need people to do every little thing for you. You need them to cook for you, clean for you, everything you like, everything. Um. So getting the crew and being able to get that commitment from people where they're like, yep, I'm willing to spend two months on the road and drop everything I'm doing. Um, you gotta have vehicles, right, so usually you want to, but you know rv and then maybe a smaller van or minivan or something like that. Um, and then it's the cost. Like, it is not cheap to do the Transcon. Depending how you do it, you can definitely do it for cheaper, but it's still. There's a lot of value in it.
Speaker 2:You know, I think overall my total cost to do the Transcon was somewhere around $150,000 or $170,000. And, granted, a lot of that was media costs. A significant portion of that was media costs, because that's how we push the fundraising. Without that media, I'm not going to be able to fundraise. So if I did it without media you're still looking at about anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 is what it's going to cost to do the TransCon, just at a minimum, being able to start pushing for sponsors and I wish I'd started on earlier.
Speaker 2:You know, lesson learned I headed that six-month mark because they all have their budgets and what they're willing to allocate and everything along those lines. But getting sponsors whether it's just an in-kind product, getting shoes so I don't have to spend, you know, $5,000 on shoes that's money saved, able to get, uh, cash funding is a big help. You know, one of our main partners, gore wear, just being able to have all the outer wear and clothing that I need for the weather like that has now saved me another five thousand dollars. So that cost can really vary depending on you can go really cheap or you can go, you know cheap is relative.
Speaker 1:you can go down by that 50k mark or you can bring all the way up to that that hundred plus or even beyond, depending on your media team with it, something like a transcon, where you're literally especially trying to push the pace. You need someone doing everything for you, because all you're doing basically throughout the day, I'm sure, is running and eating, going to the bathroom and then you maybe sleep, I mean did that pretty much look like your day. You're just doing that every day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean we were doing, we had adjusted some things, but basically most of it we were doing 15 hours a day, from the time we start 15 hours until we end the day with the running and realistically we probably should have been doing 16 to 18 hours a day of movement to really go for that record. And during that time you don't have the runner, doesn't have the ability to do anything like, let alone think right. You're just so exhausted. You don't have any brain power Like your only job is when you're talking about going for a record which we didn't achieve it, that's fine, but if you're talking about speed and covering distance, you don't have any brain power to do anything. You have to rely completely on your crew. They got to be entirely self-sufficient. Giving you your route each day grocery shopping, cooking your food, filling water, gas, emptying sewage, every little thing. Whatever they can do to reduce that load on you is very crucial.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure. What would you say? I'm sure a lot of people have asked you this question, but was the most challenging part of the TransCon.
Speaker 2:I would say there's like two scenarios. The first one would be probably days three and four. Day two I made some questionable fashion choices with my crop top fashionable fashion choices with my crop top, um, you know, that did not help with the sun exposure. But then, day two, we got out of nowhere, just caught in this nasty sandstorm, um, where you, you couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of you. The sands just rip in like 50 miles an hour. Um, and that definitely I, my throat was so messed up Like I couldn't swallow any food, I couldn't get fluids, I couldn't get electrolytes, and then, because I had so much skin exposed, the sun beaten down, like I was into heat exhaustion, getting close to going into heat stroke. So that was very tough. And that's when we're like okay, we're not going to push with how we're situation at right now, we're not going to push the record pace, we are going to keep running this thing. So that was a very tough two days getting through three and four.
Speaker 2:And then the other time I would say is a general time range where every morning, when we start before the sunrise, like an hour before sunrise was the toughest part every single day, because you wake up. You're tight, you're tired, you're sore, you're cold, it's dark out and you're just so tight you don't have time to stretch and warm up. It's wake up within 30 minutes. You're cold, it's dark out and you're just so tight you don't have time to stretch and warm up. Wake up Within 30 minutes. You're at the start, already eating, and you got to get out of the van and start walking and start making forward progress. Like you don't have time to warm up, your warm up is those first couple miles of walking, at least in my case, and walking at a 20-minute pace, in the dark, in the cold, falling asleep while you're walking, cause it's first thing in the morning, there's no sunlight. That was the hardest part, cause every that first hour every day, I'm just like we are never going to make it to New York.
Speaker 1:It's just no way right.
Speaker 2:It's just that depressing darkness and like trying to think so big ahead and like it just like, wow, we're so far, but like what I had to do was just keep telling myself okay, sunrise, sunrise, just make it to sunrise. Because as soon as that sun started popping up I was fine. The rest of the day it's all good. So that first hour before the sun came up was the hardest part every single day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's challenging. So how you got through that was basically chunking it down and saying if I can just get to the sunrise, I know I'll be fine. Is that where you're thinking in the moment?
Speaker 2:Exactly Because I know I've only got to make it an hour, hour, hour and a half, depending on when we start. So I'm like trying to think like, okay, I got to survive another month before New York. Versus an hour, like I can do an hour, I can count to an hour. Yeah, because like you're literally walking and falling asleep because you're so tired and it's dark and everything, and it's like one hour, I can do one hour, and so that chunking down is definitely that smaller goal is what was able to get me through that.
Speaker 1:That's huge and I think even anyone listening you may not be running a transcon or an ultramarathon or whatever, but chunking things down makes all the difference. I learned there's this name to it. They teach, I believe, the Navy SEALs. One of my friends who's a SEAL told me it's called segmentation Taking a big thing, breaking up into smaller segments.
Speaker 1:I've found when I will break up ultram marathons into hey, I just need to get to the next aid station. It's so much more empowering than oh man, I need to make it 50 miles, 100 miles, 200 miles, because if you're thinking about how far you have to go like you you just said, if I think, oh, I'm here, I can't make it another 30 days to New York, like that's going to be awful. But once you say, break it into a manageable chunk of hey, I can go at least an hour and push through. Then your energy is boosted and then you can get through the rest of the day. So I think that's so powerful and I've seen that work in my training and running as well. Here's maybe a different question is what was the most fun part of the Transcon? Was there anything that was specifically enjoyable or were you just like suffering the entire time?
Speaker 2:I mean, you're suffering the entire time. You know what you're signing yourself up for, but the most enjoyable part was Rob, my crew chief.
Speaker 2:Anything I could do to just make his day worse was just so much fun for me because he was. I never got to see him. Right, he's riding in the RV separately taking care of logistics, you know, and his job is to be the stern father figure, right being the boss is very lonely at the top and his only job is to get me LA to New York as fast as we can and to just be as mean as he has to to make that happen um of course we, you know we're such good friends right now, right, but in the moment it's like always butting heads and so to me, like that little bit of the game of he's like you need to get out of the van faster and I'm like I'm moving, he's like it's hot in here.
Speaker 2:I'm like, well, now it is because I warmed up, like I turned the heat on um, or locking him outside the van while I'm eating lunch, or throwing snowballs at him in the car, like any little thing I could do to just kind of like poke it, rob um those were some of the most fun parts that's great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you gotta do something to do something to light, ease the mood and take the edge off. That's funny, that's awesome. Um, what were you consuming on a daily basis? Cause you're running about 60 miles a day. I don't even know how many calories. That is probably 15,000 calories or so.
Speaker 2:I was doing about 10 to 12 000 a day okay, okay so like.
Speaker 1:What did that consist of?
Speaker 2:yeah it's. You're not eating a lot of gels or liquids. It's a lot of solid food. Just that's what you need and that's the only way to get it down for the most part. Um, so, like the day would usually start, they would, the crew would cook pancakes with four Oreos in them. They called them calorie bombs, so they just hand me while I'm running and walking in the morning, they're handing me ripped up pancakes with Oreos and I'm eating those all morning.
Speaker 2:Then we would usually shift to donuts. So you go to the store, grocery store, and you get those bags like mini powdered donuts or mini chocolate donuts. I would eat three bags of those through the first half of the day and then a combination of like fruit roll-ups, gushers. They would do Oreos with dipped in peanut butter, with a big glob of peanut butter on them. That was most of the morning. And then lunch was usually a big bowl of like mac and cheese with steak cut up in it or a massive burrito that robbed just tons of avocado and oil on it just to get calories in, because you don't. The only thing that matters is that you're getting enough calories, like people are like oh, you need to eat healthier not for this.
Speaker 2:eating healthy is making sure you have enough calories in your body. And then the afternoon would be, you know, know, cheeseburgers, french fries, milkshakes, pizza, whatever. I would see a McDonald's. I'm like I need a cheeseburger. Right now You're rocking that McDouble while you're running down the road is a pretty funny sight. And then, yeah, evening again, we're kind of pushing fruit roll-ups, gushers, getting those quick sugars in, and then evening afterwards, it all depends. Sometimes it was some pasta, sometimes it was some more steak and mac and cheese, probably a pint of ice cream for dinner, for dessert as well, just getting all those calories in in whatever form.
Speaker 1:we can I got you? Did you ever have any like stomach issues, like because of all these, like donuts and Oreos and all of that, or was?
Speaker 2:your stomach. I mean, I think that's part of the like. I have a very good stomach for running and a lot of that came from kind of the preparation for where you had alluded to it earlier. I'll go for I'll have a 40 mile run for the day. On the weekend I'll do 20 miles and I'll stop back at home and I'll, in 15 minutes I'll slam down three slices of pizza and half a liter of Coke and then I'll go back out and keep running.
Speaker 2:So it just takes a little bit of practice to get used to eating those solid foods and your stomach handling it. But once you get used to it you can't even tell, it just feels normal.
Speaker 1:That's interesting. Well, continuing on, I know the original goal, I think, was 75 miles a day to break the record and you averaged about 59, which is still insane. What do you feel like you would do differently next time to hit the record? What changes would you make?
Speaker 2:Changes would be.
Speaker 2:I don't run well in the heat. I run phenomenal in the cold. You give me any, you give me super cold weather, I'm great. My body's a heat machine so I definitely need to acclimate myself better with the heat, especially getting through those desert areas in the beginning. So the heat acclimation, better part of the heat acclimation, is better sun coverage in those beginning stages as well, and that goes along with, you know, the desert Dumb move. Right, I should have covered up better Felt really good about the nutrition, the crew. At the beginning.
Speaker 2:We definitely had to make some crew changes beginning. We had definitely had to make some crew changes um, and a lot of that was because we had to make quick additions at the very um beginning a couple weeks out, um, and basically, like rob, my crew chief I didn't know him until two weeks before the transcon and somebody was able to connect us and he's like yeah, sure, I'm down, I'm game. You know he's a navy veteran. He's like sure, I'll help someone out from the navy, um, and so you know that's a Navy veteran. He's like sure, I'll help someone out from the Navy. And so that's a great example of short notice.
Speaker 2:Great crew member. There's another guy, mike Wainwright, who was on the crew. We had to get another crew member because some people were leaving and Mike met Rob like a month prior. They ran into each other somewhere and mike's like sure I got nothing going on for three weeks. I'll come out and crew. So day eight he flew out, slept in the airport overnight on the floor, picked him up and he's on the. He's on the road with us on day eight and just hops right in and started going.
Speaker 2:So I would figure that crew out situation a lot earlier um and make sure, like I, would take the same team we have now, because we know how to operate, we know how to work together and we know everyone's personalities work well together, because that's one of the issues is like the team. If you don't have a team that's highly functioning and gets along, if they're not getting along, you've got to make that tough decision, which we did. It was removing some people, and it's nothing against that individual, it's just. It just doesn't fit with the team or being able to get that dialed in earlier.
Speaker 2:That's something that I would have changed, and I also would have changed how long we were spending out on the road. Like I told you, we were doing 15 hours a day. We should have been doing 16 to 18, even if that means I'm walking for two hours at the very end. That's six to eight more miles adding on, which very quickly adds up and gets you into that record range. So those are some of the things that like the heat acclimation, the time on feet and understanding all that and that team dynamic. Those are probably the main three I'd make and we'd be very well off.
Speaker 1:For sure. Is there anything you would change when it comes to your training beforehand, besides heat?
Speaker 2:acclimation. No, I I was actually very happy with the training going in. I was getting a lot of flack from it, from all the internet people. Um, they're like you're not training enough, you're not doing this, you're not doing that. The only people who can really say that are people who have done the transcon. You know, pete hella, um, you know, the list goes on and on right, right, ron Pope, all these guys and or. I felt very good with the mileage because we're trying to balance getting the body acclimated to being on feet. But then also you don't want to go into the transcon being at a 50% ability because you're so worn down it's like you know pushing that 200. Then we started tapering down because you're never going to be able to recover yourself through the day of the Transcon. You're basically going to be at a level and you're slowly dropping throughout the months and your goal is you don't want to bottom out beforehand because you're not going to be able to get back up.
Speaker 2:So we came in at a low level and bottomed out right away. That wasn't good either. That wasn't good either. So I felt good with the six months training because I had done so much, you know, block building in the very beginning for the rest of the year. But yeah, I felt very good with that. Probably just the heat acclimation, like running in a sauna, a treadmill in front of heat lamps, something like that.
Speaker 1:No, that's good. That's very insightful. Let me ask you this during the transcon, was there anything that came to you completely unexpected, like unexpected trouble that you didn't foresee happened? I mean, I'm sure there was things that came yeah, yeah I mean, give me some a story or two from that.
Speaker 2:You're like oh my gosh I mean, day two was a mess. Um, we had to do two reroutes. That day one was through a reservation that they wouldn't let us run through, so we had to reroute that put us through, um, that sandy area. We got caught in that sandstorm. That sandstorm also forced us to go down to palm springs and our road that we were going to cut across was closed because of the sandstorm. So we had to go 12 miles into palm spring, turn around and come back.
Speaker 2:Um, that sandstorm broke the van like. The door just flew open and completely, like almost off the hinge of the van. You know, our generator blew up. We had no electricity for 70 of the run. Um, my mom also accidentally put gas in the water tank rather than the gas tank of the RV, so we had no potable water, right, we're just buying water bottles at the gas stations. Rob tried to park the RV on a shoulder and the state of Indiana did not do a good job when they redid that road shoulder and it was like all powdered concrete covered up by a small layer of dirt. So the RV just sunk right in and bottomed out. We had to get a massive semi-tow truck to pull it out. Um, you know wheels balding, mechanical issues like every single day was something new and it's just you got to adapt to it and you know that's really the job of the crew chief yeah, what was there.
Speaker 1:So you give credit to the crew chief for handling that, because you probably couldn't have done much, if anything, about it.
Speaker 2:No, I mean runner. You're pretty helpless. Like I said, you're completely relying on the crew and that's why having a good crew chief with experience to do something like this is one of the most important things. Most important things because you know I run up and I see the RV parked in the shoulder at a 45 degree angle on the road, sunk in the mud, and the crew following me in the van. They already knew they're already out of the car. The camera's filming me and my reaction to it. But Rob's already on the phone with the insurance and the tow truck, and you know I walk up to him. We take a second.
Speaker 2:You know, seeing the documentary that we release, it's like I can't do anything right. And I can't worry about it because my only job is to run. Rob's job is to solve the problems. So I'm going to keep running and I just have to trust he'll figure it out. One way or another he's going to get that thing moving. You know I'm not going to get my security deposit back on the RV, that's for sure, but you know I got to keep running. Let the team figure out how to get around that little hurdle.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah totally For you, because, I mean, obviously your mindset has to play a big part in this and you actually being successful. What do you feel like helped you have the mindset to be able to finish something like this? Do you think it's elements of who you are as a person? Going through time in the Navy, any specific circumstances you have been through before, the training building, the resilience leading up to it, or what helped you build the mindset that you needed to take on this challenge?
Speaker 2:I think it's a number of things. I think you know it's a bit of me as a person, right, I think that's you got to take on this challenge. I think it's a number of things. I think it's a bit of me as a person. I think you've got to start somewhere and I think that's where it starts at.
Speaker 2:I'm a very stubborn individual, I know that, and so taking on something like this, it's like somebody tells me I can't do it. Well, I'm going to do it, I'm going to figure it out, just because you said I couldn't. So I think there's a bit of that and the resiliency of you know you start doing it like in a training cycle. December leading into it, I had bilateral shin splints on both my legs while I'm doing 130 mile weeks and it was the most excruciating thing Get up at three in the morning to go run in 20 degree weather for 20 miles in the dark, when I can't even put any weight on my legs and like being able, like I don't, I don't have the option to take a rest day, like I have to keep going, and so I think situations like that not saying you should run through injuries, but situations like that where it's like facing those challenges and just having to suck it up and move on with it.
Speaker 2:Um you know, I think that builds part of it. Um, definitely a lot of experience like that with the Navy of, you know, overcoming these obstacles for long periods of times and the mental fortitude with all of that. And I think the other part, specifically on the run itself at the TransCon, was a lot of times I would pull people like, oh, discipline over motivation. I'm like there's a place for motivation, because when I'm thinking about that run and how terrible it is and I just want to stop, like I would think about the amount of people that were coming out to support us, like they just come out of nowhere and to come run or they're following online. They can't. You know, a teacher tells us that their whole class checks in every morning to see where we're at at the beginning and end of the day with the run. And to me it's like you know we've got all this support from people and I'm like I can't, if I stop, people are going to be so upset and like let down, right, and so that was one of the factors for me.
Speaker 2:And then, um, again, you know we'll share in the doc as well about some of the experiences with individuals where it's like there's this one girl um, her name I can't remember her name right now she's like seven years old, you know. She lost her mom to suicide for mental health issues and her stepmom brought her out on the run and we were talking a bit about it and she's like, you know, the girl, just all she knows is that her mom is away because she's sick right now. Right, she doesn't know the full story, she can't comprehend it yet. Um, but that woman being able to tell this girl now her stepmom being like he's running because of your mom, like he's running to show that it's okay that she's sick?
Speaker 2:you know, from what this girl is like. Oh, I get it. Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Um so, having those interactions, it's like I gotta finish this thing. I can't not finish, and I think that was a big push as well to help get through the whole event was those types of interactions.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure. I found that we'll go a lot farther for other people sometimes than we will ourselves. Like you, absolutely. I cannot stop because I don't want to let these people down, and it's giving them hope, it's giving them strength, which is such a powerful force in human nature. Um, what made you want to to do this for mental health, like, do you have a specific story of a battle with with it? Or what really motivated you in that realm?
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, I mean it's. You talk about a story like it's what I've experienced, what I still experience, what I've seen with a lot of my friends in the military and other aspects of life. You know, like, personally, you know anxiety, major depressive disorder, you know a number of other things, right, that you know basically stemmed from my time in Spain, and drinking is a massive thing in the Navy, it's part of the culture, whether that's a good or bad thing, and just definitely to excessive limits, where you know we go out and I'll, you know, put down 13, 14 drinks in three hours, no problem. And I even think about it, right, when you're talking about these very extreme levels and at the, I'm like, oh yeah, like that's what we all do, it's pretty normal. And then you talk to somebody else and they're like how are you still alive? I think it's like, oh, I just thought that was normal, you don't.
Speaker 2:you don't understand the, the scale of it um and so when I was back in san diego and I started doing the running, I was like, all right, I can't really go out and do this 15 mile training run at seven in the morning after getting home at 2 pm or getting home at 2 am the night before from drinking Like the hangover, just doesn't work.
Speaker 2:And so slowly that drinking kind of got replaced with the running and so that sort of became the new coping mechanism was the physical activity and the dopamine and serotonin and everything else that's going to come from the running. So the drinking comes down, the running picks up and then move to Rhode Island. And that was very tough for me now being not having my support system of all my friends in the Navy anymore New ones, but it's not the same community and still have massive bouts with depression, a bit of self-harm with cutting and things like that, and so there's like those highs and lows and you know what I can always rely on is the running will always help me feel better and kind of take those feelings away and it's a productive activity.
Speaker 2:Right. Solving that issue with drinking and the alcohol, it works, but it's not going to end well, Whereas the running is. It impacts nobody else. It's only making me better and it's helping me to deal with how I'm feeling at the time, and that's really kind of where the big push for me came from.
Speaker 1:A hundred percent, that's really powerful. Thanks for being vulnerable and sharing that and that's super inspiring to like encourage people away from those things and to pick up healthier habits. Because, yeah, just like running or lifting, like it's it's really hard in my mind to be depressed. When you're running, like, you get that boost in dopamine, you feel amazing, you're proud of yourself and the work that you've done, and then you can see it as you're consistent with your times, or just you know your ability to run further distances. It really shows you oh, wow, it's actually paying off and so I think that's really cool.
Speaker 1:You used the running to promote mental health and actually my first ultra marathon I did 52 miles around USC's campus in California, where I was going at the time to raise money for mental health, because I found that it was something I struggled with growing up and you know you can do those things and temporarily feel better, but it's not going to feel better long term. And I've found too with running it's like running helps. But then for me there's been the highs and lows of like you finish a race, you finish the triple crown, and then is there going to be a low, or do you find your strength in something else? And so that's part of how my faith has been so big for me is it's just like I know I always have God on my back and that's why I find my identity and it's not my running which has been really powerful for me Coming off the TransCon.
Speaker 1:I kind of want to round it out with asking you a little bit about the TransCon, like after it and then what's next, and then I want to tell everyone where they can find you and also the doc that I believe is coming out real shortly. I thought you guys just had your showing, which seemed really cool, but, yeah, so what was that like coming off the TransCon? I mean, it must have been a relief, but also very difficult because of it's such a high, I bet finishing in New York. So what was that like for you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, we on the crew kind of liken it to being like on a military deployment where it's like nothing, the outside world doesn't exist. This is your schedule every day and you're doing it. Crew kind of liking it to being like on a military deployment where it's like nothing, the outside world doesn't exist. This is your schedule every day and you're doing it, and then you get to the end all of a sudden it's done, that routine's over and you're like. You're like I thank god it's done. But then you're also like what do I do now? And so there very much is like that low period, um, kind of like what am I supposed to do now, type of thing. But you know, you quickly schedule another race and then you keep running. At least that's what I did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I got you. So what's next for you? Do you have anything on the books?
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, I've got two races scheduled this year. Right now I've got a six-day race around a quarter mile track that I'm going to be doing in April. So, yeah, just on a track going in circles for six days, see how far we can go. And then I think I haven't nailed down the timeline yet, but I think sometime September I'm going to hop on a treadmill and try to see if I can get the seven-day record for furthest distance traveled on a treadmill. So that'll be painful, it's going to suck, but you know. But I think it'll be fun for at least a little bit. I'll have some other stuff coming up. I'm going to accrue some friends on some races this year as well, starting my transition out of the Navy here very shortly, so looking forward to it all. That's awesome man.
Speaker 1:Well, congratulations on all your achievements. It's really inspiring.
Speaker 2:Where can people find you and find the Transcon documentary building that out and then the documentary um? I guess officially I can't say I can't advertise a streaming service, so it's actually approved. But we're going to be bringing it to um some online streaming services so that people are able to pretty much access that from uh, wherever that will be coming out. Should be coming out march 1st, so the one year anniversary of the transcom. We should have the doc out uh and available for view for everybody. Oh man that's amazing.
Speaker 1:So go follow him on YouTube, instagram and look out for that documentary March 1st. Thanks so much for coming on, paul. Yeah, thanks for having me, man. I appreciate it, see ya.