Just Keep Running with Evan Blakeney

The Epoxy Contractor Who Runs 300-Mile Races — Jason Geroux

• Evan Blakeney • Season 1 • Episode 7

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0:00 | 58:09

Jason Geroux — known online as The Maine Viking — has run dozens of ultramarathons including 19 100-milers, and this spring he ran 300 miles solo through the Arizona desert using his own house as an aid station. In this episode, recorded in person in Orono, Maine, Jason walks through how a torturous 2-mile honeymoon run turned into a decade of daily training, why 100 miles became his favorite distance, what actually goes through your head at mile 200 of a race with no crew, and how he fits all of it around running his own flooring business.

This isn’t coaching advice — Jason isn’t a certified coach and neither is Evan. It’s one runner’s actual experience, shared so you can take what’s useful and leave the rest.

In this episode:

•      How a scared-to-run-alone honeymoon jog turned into 10 years of daily training

•      Why Jason picked 100 miles as his favorite distance over 50s or 200s

•      The first 100-mile attempt he didn’t finish — and what changed the second time

•      Planning and training for the Arizona Monster 300 (300 miles, no support crew)

•      What happens mentally once you’re past your previous longest distance

•      Running an epoxy flooring business on 4 AM training and zero days off

Find Jason: Instagram @themaineviking | Facebook: Jason Geroux

All links, socials, and past episodes: linktr.ee/evanblakeney

Until next time, Just Keep Running.

Until Next Time: Just Keep Running

SPEAKER_04

Alright, everybody, welcome to Just Keep Running. Today we have an in-person guest for the first time, Jason, aka the main Viking on Instagram. And he was kind enough to come up here at five in the morning to do this interview with us. And we're actually working in Orno, Maine, so we're in a hotel right now. So anyway, thank you for coming. I really appreciate it. And um how do you how do you pronounce your last name? Jiro. Juro, okay. Silent X. Okay, I was pretty close. I thought it was Garou, so I wasn't I wasn't too far off.

SPEAKER_00

Jiro, Giroux.

SPEAKER_04

Alright.

SPEAKER_00

Those are acceptable.

SPEAKER_04

Nice. I wasn't too far off. So Jason Giroud and the main Viking on Instagram. Yep. So that's actually one of the things I wanted to start off with. What what made you choose that handle on Instagram? Where does the main viking come from?

SPEAKER_00

So I've had this like fascination with Viking culture. And then after I got married at age 30, I told my wife I was gonna grow my hair, and I don't think she believed me. And I haven't cut it since, other than some trim, but it's pretty long. And then I got in shape and someone said, Oh, you look like the guy on Viking, so I just ran with it, and I'm like, sweet. So I've traveled to some some uh Nordic countries and or some Viking lands in Newfoundland and Iceland and just deepened my fascination with them. So it fits.

SPEAKER_04

That's cool. Yeah. That's cool. Our ancestors were Vikings, and then they actually came to England because they were hired as mercenaries by Edward the Conqueror to help take over England. So there's actually a town in England named Blakeney now. Oh because they were like awarded that for helping him take over.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I I figure I'm kind of like a nomad too with traveling. So my wife and I we travel a lot, so it it fits. She's Mrs. Viking, so cool.

SPEAKER_04

Cool. Um so where'd you grow up? Did you grow up around this area or oh so we're close to my hometown.

SPEAKER_00

I grew up in Old Town. Okay. So this is this is a stomping grounds for me, so it was very convenient to be in Orno. But yeah, grew up in Old Town, been there my whole life, and I live in Orington now, but um just stayed close to home. You know, family business I've been in for over 20 years, and so my customer base is here, and my wife went to school here, and I kept her in this town or this area, and that's it, man.

SPEAKER_04

We've just did you did you find her through school or did you run into each other for a while?

SPEAKER_00

We're we're six-age difference. Um she's younger than me, and uh I was painting at a at a business, and she was working there during college, and it's a fairy tale story.

SPEAKER_04

There you go. Yeah, saw her across the room, and she was like, Is this guy covered in shape trying to stare at me?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and we've been together for 15 years.

SPEAKER_04

So nice, cool. So uh so growing up, were you into sports much?

SPEAKER_00

I was a baseball player. Okay, baseball player only.

SPEAKER_04

That's what so you're my second interview, and I don't know if you listened to the the interview I did with uh Joe Mello, but he was a baseball player too.

SPEAKER_00

That's it. Yeah, I played all through my childhood, all through school, high school, and and I skateboarded. That was those were my two things. Nice, cool. No running. No running at all.

SPEAKER_04

No, running stupid. It's so funny. What do you tell people you run? It's either like, why would you run? Like, isn't that torture?

SPEAKER_00

No, yeah, no track. I've never done cross country.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, okay. Cool. So when did you when did you start getting into running? What was your reason for getting into running?

SPEAKER_00

So I I've always been kind of a gym enthusiast, never never super consistent, but I always had a fascination. And I would go, I'd have, you know, you'd you'd you'd go through these ebbs and flows in your 20s because you'd have a new friend that might do it, or you maybe you want to impress a girl, and you're like, I want to get in shape. And so you'd you try to find something that worked for you, but just never really was a consistent thing. I I I I liked the gym, but it just it didn't didn't fit. I wanted to do other things and didn't want to wake up super, super early, just early enough to go to work. Right. And uh so I had met my wife, and I was again in a gym routine at that point, and she was a fitness enthusiast here at U Maine and uh in a runner, and uh we were together for probably like three or four years, and she was again avid runner, half marathons. She did her first marathon at Sugarloaf, and I was always there as a supporter. I was a finish line photographer, I went to every event, and like, oh, this is awesome atmosphere, this is really cool. Not for me, no, no interest. And then uh we got married, and on our honeymoon, we were in Eastern Europe, so I was in I think Romania or Bulgaria, Serbia, one of those countries at the time, because we went and did this like little tour. Yep, and she goes, Will you go running with me? She goes, It's I'm scared because you know we did the hotel gyms. Yeah, she's like, I don't know anything, we're in a weird place because you chose this. I wanted to go to Transylvania, that was the goal. So we we ended up in Transylvania. Nice, nice, and uh she's like, I I just you know, we're in a weird spot. Will you run with me? And I did for the first time, and I think it was two miles, and I didn't know when it was gonna be over. It was torturous. It was cool because we were out there early, there was no tourist. We saw all these statues with nobody around. I'm like, I I I dig it, but this sucks. This is really hard. We ran through a park and got chased by dogs, and like I was trying to pet them, but my wife was like, Don't touch them, they'll bite you. Right. Or, you know, disease. I was struggling, it was two miles, and I've always been in decent shape, but I thought running was ridiculous. So fast forward a few months, she's like, I think we should train you for a 10k. And it just blew my mind. I'm like, six miles, no way, and uh, but yeah, yeah, I had like six months to do it, and so I I just started with my gym routine, right? Because this I was already going to the gym now early in the morning.

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_00

So I was like 4 a.m. go to the YMCA. Um my day starts at 7, and I usually have to commute about an hour typically. Yeah, you know, give myself an hour. I like to leave my house by six, yeah. Or the gym by six. So I always up early, so I'm like, all right, well, I'll try this running thing. And I remember just trying to like get a mile that didn't have to stop. And uh I and it just kind of grew. And then, you know, I just kept my wife would go a walk and I would run ahead of her, and then I'd come back at her, and then I'd finish walking with her. And it just baby steps.

SPEAKER_04

So, what time period was like how long ago was this when you when you first started?

SPEAKER_00

I've been running consistently for 10 years. Okay.

SPEAKER_04

And consistently that was 10K training. Was that the beginning of that?

SPEAKER_00

Yep. I got married in 2015, and so it was about that year where I really got a gym regiment down that this is what I do every day. I do something every single day, and I haven't let up. Um, there's a rest day or a vacation day that comes up, but I my routine is I wake up at this time, I go to bed at this time every single day. And now I've I've kind of changed, I I'm more running focused, strength training is still super important. So, yeah, ten years of of consistency of of running in my life.

SPEAKER_04

Nice.

SPEAKER_00

And yeah, that 10k was what what broke the door open.

SPEAKER_04

That was that was the one that finally so at what point in that training? So so obviously, so you're was it your honeymoon? Honeymoon is where I ran the first miles. So those two miles sucked. And then your wife tells you to train for a 10K. Somewhere in that period, I'm assuming you started enjoying it a little bit. So, like, what was what was the thing that kind of flipped that switch from like this is torture and I hate it, to I think I want to do this every day?

SPEAKER_00

I think I just have some weird like fascination with struggle. I love struggle and I like things that are hard. I like a job site that's that's maybe chaotic and I can kind of tame it. I'm really good working under pressure. So it kind of like coincided with each other. And uh I was like, you know, I don't I don't remember when it like the flip switch and I'm like, this is easy.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

But I do just like I get back and you feel so satisfied. Even if I might have gone bad out on the road, when you get home, you're like, I did that. It doesn't matter how far it was, right? Yeah, like you can't overcame, you completed the goal, and you're back. So like that 10K discipline, and we did two like in a row, not you know, within a couple of months or something. So we did one in the spring, and then the one I was training for was actually in Ireland. Okay, we we travel and we like to incorporate some type of activity or a hiking adventure or something, it doesn't have to be a race. So the 10K in Ireland was the was the ultimate goal. We did a warm-up 10K, I think, in Augusta. I gotcha. And I just like that my wife and I we did it side by side, holding hands, crossing the finish line, and it just felt like wow, we can do this together. And um I might have got a little bit like my ego might have taken off in that first couple of years because it was all about I'm gonna be fast. I'm gonna be fast. And I kind of like stole the spotlight from my wife, and I felt real bad looking back because she was always the runner, and then all of a sudden I just kind of emerged and I was like trying to I wasn't intentionally trying to steal the attention, it just organically happened and and I had to overcome that like humble down a little bit, and and everything is great. But there was like a time where I'm like I want to do everything, and I didn't really consider her feelings, so it was kind of like a slip-up, but it's good for marriage, right? Helps you get stronger, overcome.

SPEAKER_04

That's I did the same thing, not with running, actually cycling. My wife got into cycling, and I just wanted to do something together, yeah. That was that was my thing. Like, I want like I don't care what it is, I just want to do things together. So then I bought a bike, and I'm like, I go, I go deep on something for like three to six months when I get into it. I'm like researching stuff and everything. So then I got like really into it for a little while, and then she was like, You kind of stole my thing, like this is like my thing, and now you're like telling me what to do, and like telling me, like, oh, you should really be doing this, and you need to get this, and we need to buy this for your bike, and all this stuff. And I was like, I mean to steal it from you. I was just trying to get into it to do it with you, but and yeah, so yeah, that was a humbling experience. It's kind of that was that was pretty early in our marriage as well, so it's uh that's kind of fun. Maybe it's just a guy thing.

SPEAKER_00

It could be just a guy thing, and and it's really I I just was like, wow, I didn't know I can do this, and now all of a sudden I've really excelled. And I guess for like a regular 30-year-old, no experienced runner, I was finishing in my age groups consistently, and my and my wife finishes her age groups too, but like you know, our times might have been you know five to ten minutes apart, but I'm like, I'm a guy, I'm supposed to be faster. Right, and it's just kind of like maybe the wrong things to say, but I don't know. It it's all good. But but yeah, I got the bite and I was like, hey, I want to do a half marathon from there. Yeah. And so she's like, Alright, I'll train with you. And uh we did the main half.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_00

And we did it together, and it was like the goal is to get under two hours. That was kind of that's kind of like everybody's like, I want to get it under a two-hour half. And I didn't know any of this stuff. I'm like, I'll just go with you. We'll just you pace me. I had a a watch that didn't connect to a phone, it it was a garmin, like a simple garment. I might not even had it at that point. Um, but I just was like, yeah, I'll just I'll do what you do. And I remember going for that nine miles, was like the peak, and I'm like, nah, and it just kind of blew my mind. I'm like, wow, I did it. I did nine miles, and it just keeps progressing.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So you so you skip the 5k? Yeah, skip 5k.

SPEAKER_00

I've done 5K's, you know, amongst all that, but it was never the main priority.

SPEAKER_04

I actually skipped the 5k too. I did a 10k first. And uh and then I did a half marathon this spring. And I actually want to do the main marathon in October. So that's kind of my my progression that I'm trying to stick to as long as I don't get hurt or anything. But um, so did you did you go from there? Did you go full marathon or um no?

SPEAKER_00

We actually we did a bunch of halves for a while. That became our thing. We would uh make weekend getaways, we went all over New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut. We go do halves. And I remember how much setup and we really enjoyed it. And sometimes we do them together or not, you know. It was like, I'm gonna race this one. Yeah, she's gonna race this one, we're gonna do this one together, and you know we have to go into it focused because your competition side might take over, and you're like, oh, I want to pass this person, we're doing it together. And um, but no, we made weekend getaways, it was awesome. So like I just remember all this big setup to go away for a two-hour run.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

And you know, it was like a whole weekend involved, and we have to board our dogs. We don't have kids, so we just board our dogs, take the weekend off, get hotels, take a road trip. So we did that for a while, I would say at least two years. And then that's what led up to hey, let's do a marathon.

SPEAKER_05

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

And then it was like, well, I don't want to do just any marathon. Why don't we go to Iceland and do a marathon? So my first marathon was 2018 in Reykjavik.

SPEAKER_04

Is that the one that they run at night?

SPEAKER_00

Nope.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00

No, it's end of I think it's in August. It's an August marathon. Okay. It's weather weather's like ideal. It's like 50 and sunny.

SPEAKER_04

There's one, I can't remember what I thought it was.

SPEAKER_00

It might be somewhere else. They might have a different one.

SPEAKER_04

But uh, there's one that's like the the marathon of the midnight sun, and it's like in the middle of the summer when the sun never goes down.

SPEAKER_00

It's like that would be right about now.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah. So I was thinking maybe it was that one. I want to do that one sometime.

SPEAKER_00

But that would be cool.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, it sounds cool.

SPEAKER_00

Running at night's my favorite.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Running in the dark.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know that I have a preference.

SPEAKER_04

I don't really think about whether it's a little bit more. That's why I get up early. I'm just like, yeah, whatever. Go for a run. Yeah. Whenever I can. We have kids, we have two kids, so it's like whenever I can, I do it. And then sometimes like I end up running on the treadmill. I hate running on treadmills. Yeah, it's really boring, but like we've got uh we've got a treadmill in our basement, and then we have like this little I have a little gym set up down there and stuff, and we put uh one section of carpet in in the corner and put like a little it's like a little castle thing with a slide that they can play on and some coloring toys and stuff, and like so it's it's a way that like I can spend time with them. And like they show me stuff and they're talking to me while I'm running. So I run on the treadmill more than I would like to, just so that like my kids don't freak out that I'm leaving because like I I travel for work, so they're like sure when I'm home, they don't want me leaving the house. But yeah, that's uh that's yeah, I never really thought about light or dark. I just kind of run.

SPEAKER_00

Dark's the best. Yeah, yeah. No one's watching.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. So what what made the jump where you were like actually I should ask this first. When did you first hear about ultras and start so that thinking about possibly doing that?

SPEAKER_00

About another two years because I ran that marathon and I said, I am never gonna run that far again. Because it wasn't that it was hard during the moment, there was some you know, times during the struggle, but I think I ran a really solid good time. I ran like a 332. So I had a great hit rate. I kind of want to be around a 330 because I was running around an eight-minute pace at that point, like consistently. Halves, I halves I was doing pretty fast, halves I could run like a seven-minute pace. So for the full, I figured eight, you know, give myself a little cushion. And I ran three thirty-two, and then but the recovery was hell. That next day I couldn't walk. And I'm like, never again, never no, it's too far. And so we stuck to halves, and uh that was still our thing for a bit, and then the end of 2019 does a race in New Gloucester, Maine, it's called Last Man Standing, and we had heard about it the year before, but I think maybe it was sold out, or we just didn't plan for it, and I was like, No, I don't want to go that far. But it was like, Oh, you only have to run 4.2 miles, and you have an hour to do it. I'm like, Well, that's easy. And so we both signed up and we had like a lunch box with like a couple drinks and a couple snacks and maybe some folding chairs. I think we brought a tent because we're like, well, you know, maybe we'll just camp out because you could camp in the field. Right. And just see what happens. But literally, we had no food, and it's not a uh supplied event, it's bring your own. Yeah. So we got there and you know, it was a you know, crowd, and we ran all the laps together until my wife stopped, and but it was enjoyable. I'm like, this is this is sweet. Like, I'm not gassing myself out and I'm not tired. And I ended up running fifty miles, and I had no intentions of of anything, I had no expectations. And my wife goes, When are you gonna be done? I'm like, I I don't have no more food, like I have to be done, I guess. And I just I just went and I just signed out. I wasn't I was like, I guess I'm done. That's it. I did fifty miles. And the next day I was walking pretty normal and uh we actually so that so that was in September, and I was like, I think this is our thing. And uh we went to Mount Everest to base camp and we did a big trek and we walked like I think it was like 80 miles round trip to base camp. I'm like, I think we can just keep this endurance thing going because we had seen a race going on in Nepal while we were there. I'm like, maybe one day we can be that cool. Nice. And uh we have since done a race in Nepal. So we did a hundred last year there.

SPEAKER_04

That's cool. And you've been to some some pretty crazy places now.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we try to pick the obscure.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. What's you're the what's the coolest place you've been to?

SPEAKER_00

Definitely Nepal. Yeah. Picturesque. I've done some cool things in other countries. I've been to Ecuador, I went on a running pilot adventure, so it was a new to market with some friends that want to start a uh backcountry um running hiking adventure program. And so we got invited on a pilot. We ran in Ecuador from the Andes to the Amazon. Oh wow. Um we ran how far was that? It was state, it was like different days. You run into different ecosystems. So I'm like in the jungle one day, I'm on someone's coffee farm or chocolate farm one day, I'm up in the mountains, like uh I forget the name of it now, but it's those big volcanoes in Ecuador. And so you run in just different zones. I'm in the city, and so and yeah, I'm not with other tourists, I'm with other people that are like-minded. Yeah, that's beautiful. I would recommend that to anybody. And that's uh yeah, Eco Endurance, that's the name of the company, and they were just they're such great people. And um, and then they they work with a local um Latrocha, and uh they're just Juan, he runs that down on the Ecuador side of things, and he's just a fantastic athlete. Like, I think we're similar in age, we're about a year apart, I'm 41, and he's like a phenomenal athlete, and I like I love following his adventures because he does similar things, he travels all over the world and does these crazy adventures. Yeah, that's cool. But but Nepal, the the this the background is just fantasy everywhere you go, it's just white cap mountains that are just towering. Yeah, and we ran a hundred miles in Mustang last year that brought us all the way to the border of Tibet.

SPEAKER_05

Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_04

I went to Tibet once.

SPEAKER_00

Have you?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

How was that?

SPEAKER_04

It was cool. It was just for a day or it was two days. We were there one day, stayed in a hotel.

SPEAKER_00

For vacation?

SPEAKER_04

I did uh it was a college trip and went to China. Yeah, and we went like went like started off in like northeast, it kind of like went all the way down like basic basically the eastern side, and then we flew over to Tibet. And we got into it, it was just like the foothills. I don't know if you've ever been to like the bighorn area of uh Montana.

SPEAKER_00

No.

SPEAKER_04

It's kind of similar to that, like big mountains, but they're like round, rolling, okay, grass-covered mountains. They're not like real rugged, jagged peaks.

SPEAKER_00

And supposedly those are kind of like the foothills to the when when we were in Mustang, people were calling it like it looks like Bryce Canyon. And I've never been there, so I'm like, I don't know. They're like, aren't you from America? I'm like, yeah, but it's not like my neighbor. I just I just walk around. America's huge. It's huge. Everyone's like, oh, you want it? These people I've met in other countries like, hey, do you want to meet for coffee? We're flying to Colorado. I'm like, that's not that close. But uh we've done we summoned a Kilimanjaro. That was a big adventure. Nice. That was that was pretty fun.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, I've always kind of wanted to go to Africa. It's super fun.

SPEAKER_00

It's super fun. Yeah, this this the guides and the crazy animals I can kill you too.

SPEAKER_04

Hippos scare me to death.

SPEAKER_00

We saw some, we did we did uh a safari while we were there, but um the first adventure was Kilimanjaro, and then we stayed another week and like, well we're here, we might as well stay longer and do other things. So yeah, we saw hippos, lots of them.

SPEAKER_04

Nice. Um all right, so you're so you're kind of like just exploring longer runs.

SPEAKER_00

So that was 2019. So 2019, we did that 50 miler, and um to be honest with you, like I've done so many they're all kind of mushed in my head, so I would give

SPEAKER_03

Right.

SPEAKER_00

I've done 1900 milers or more and then the monster 300. But I hundreds seem to be like where I settled the best. Like if you don't count last man standings, I've never DNF'd except for one, and that was at Riverlands. Okay. I've done it twice, I've accomplished it twice. I DNF'd it once. And I just feel like hundreds was my thing, and I knew what was off that day. I wasn't eating, so my nutrition was off, and I got medically tapped, which I refused to tap myself. I was like, medics were like, you can't go on. And my wife's like, you better listen to them. Like, yes. Right. Um, hundreds were my thing. Like, I've done 50K's, um, 50 milers, but I really enjoy hundred milers.

SPEAKER_04

So, what is it about that distance that really kind of like clicks with you?

SPEAKER_00

It's enough time to feel all the emotions because I want to quit at some point every time. Usually in the 40s, I question why I'm there. What am I doing again? This is awful. But you settle in, it goes away. Right. But I know it's gonna go away now that I've done it so many times.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

And I just it's enough time where I get to have that overnight run. I really enjoy the overnight because you're fighting fatigue. Um I f you you just like it feels so cool when you can run until the sun comes up. Yeah. And typically I start my runs at 3, 4 a.m. all year long. I don't train in particular for any event. I just do my thing. And I'm just conditioned to to go do I might, you know, do a long run randomly, like in the 20s, right? I'll do a couple back-to-back 20s, see how my recovery is, I know I'm ready for a hundred. Okay. So I just I just really enjoy uh figuring out what what goes wrong, you know. If if you're sore, go slower, you know, try your sticks, problem solve. It's all about problem solving.

SPEAKER_04

So um how how was it like the first time you went for a hundred logistically? Because like at some I'm pretty far away from doing a hundred at this point, but I want to at some point. And that's kind of one of the things that I'm like, you know, how do you how do you like actually lay it all out and make sure you're not gonna like run out of something you need.

SPEAKER_00

So with my success at last man, you know, my success at 50 miles, I'm like, this is where I want to do it. So I went back the next year. I don't know if I trained extra, maybe I did. My mileage is really consistent. But I was like, I'm gonna run a hundred. And I didn't. So I got there like just full of it, right? Like, but there's a part of you that it's like you're defeated, and so you're like, how do I take myself out without quitting? I'm gonna run as fast as I can to get tired. And that's what I did. I I got to the point where I'm like, I don't really want to be here anymore. You kind of get this anxiety, like, I just want it to be over, like, I'm missing something, I I need to go home. Like, your brain is just doing all these things. And I remember I got to like the 100k mark, and that's like a milestone, right? There, you recognize you've got like a hundred mile merit, a hundred K like like a little badge. Yeah, and I was like, that's good, I'm good, it's good enough. It's not the goal, but I'm like, it's good enough. I don't care, I'm not here to win. I just wanted to run a hundred miles, and it's not gonna happen because I'm still 40 miles away. And so, you know, I I take my little ticket and I tap out and I'm like and you know, just some time goes by and I should have just went again. I wasn't, you know, I'm not I'm not ready for it to be done. So I'm like, next year. And I didn't look at any other races. We we did, and we're now my wife and I are both on to the 50Ks. We were in um White Lakes, like six six hour in Viking costumes. You know, we make it fun, we're like, let's do a 50k, let's try to do it in six hours, which we did, and um still running all these other events together. Kind of slowed down on the halves because we were like, well, if we're gonna pay the same kind of money for a half, let's make it an all-day event. Right. So we'll go do these 12 hours, or I'd do a 50, she'd do a 50 mile, she'd do a 50k, just so we could make it a longer session. And then it came to year three at last man, and I ran a hundred, and that was the goal. I went through all the emotions, and then um I was like, no, it's why you're not while you're here, you gotta keep pushing. Some of my friends came, showed up. My friend Terry and uh my friend Brad were there, my wife were there, and they're like, No, you gotta keep going, you know, because you kind of have that like I can't do it, but you can. And so that I can kind of can see what I'm eating, what I'm drinking. It's a four-mile loop. Like, I know I can get my feet.

SPEAKER_04

Right, so you're coming back to the station every time.

SPEAKER_00

I ran that hundred miles and I came in and I crashed out on the ground, and they're like, no, this isn't a hundred-mile race, you gotta go. You got seven minutes, you gotta go. And I'm like, no, I'm here for a hundred. They're like, no, you're not. This is not that. You're like, you did it, you gotta go. Let the course take you out. And then uh, I don't know if you know who Gordon Collins is, but Gordon Gordon's like a pretty known runner in the state, and he's pretty accomplished. And I remember he was there and I never met him. He's like, Come on, gotta get you up, can't lay down. And you know, so I got this like support team of strangers. I never met some of these people that are there, and my friends are there, but this stranger's like, Come on, no, no, no. That's the the support in the Ultra community is the absolute best. Yeah, got me to the start line. I went out and I called my mom and cried. I'm like, Mom, I ran a hundred miles. I timed out and I walked back. But I started that that next lap, but that's and so I called my wife, I'm like, come get me, I'm walking back. So, you know, that's why I was there. Yeah. And then ever since, man, I just I love that hundred. And then I did, you know, a 100-mile race, you know, the Riverlands, which was a true 100, not a last man or not an hour format. And and I did it well. And uh, you know, I think I finished in like a top five, and I just I ended up f seeing that I could race hundreds, and then I've done the mid-state and New Hampshire, uh Massachusetts a couple of times. Okay. And that was my first kind of point-to-point hundred, which I enjoy the most because it's not loops, you have a destination. Right. And so to to to plan your food is tricky, but I just kind of do a calorie breakdown, and I'm like, that should be enough, and just figure it out.

SPEAKER_04

So do you um like obviously there you know where like how far apart the aid stations and stuff are. Do you usually like have like give the race organizers like this is for aid station one, this is raid station two, and they take stuff to the aid stations or like have a big thing?

SPEAKER_00

So some races, so the loop format stuff, you know, you have your gear that's at a home base. So you're like, okay, I'm gonna get I'm gonna get to my stuff however many times. Or they have a drop bag, and you're like, okay, you'll have like mid-state has a drop bag. I put whatever I want in it and it follows you. And it will say it will be at aid station 5, 8 station 11, and then aid station 14. And then the race is like, so if you want to have shoes that follow you, because I do a lot of these without any support because I feel like I'm doing this to myself. I'm not gonna make you come with me and suffer also and be bored because I know it's boring. I I know I like I I I enjoy watching other people, but it's boring for you. You gotta take a whole weekend off to come watch me, and you're gonna see me twice. I'm not gonna want to do that. You're gonna sit in an aid station for four hours, see me for two seconds. Goodbye. Yeah, you know, so my wife will will will will support me when she can, but I get it. I'm like, it's boring, don't come. Yeah, it's fine. I know you support me, you don't need to be there. It's okay. I'm doing this to myself, I choose to be there. So um give your drop bag, and I and I just kind of gear it that way. I I rely on myself. If you're there, awesome, it's gonna help me. But if you're not there, I'm not gonna be upset at you. Yeah, tell me you can't, it's fine. I'm not offended. It's boring. I get it. Yeah. So that's good self-awareness. I try to do this for myself. I don't like you know, I I I I had my mom and my sister at one last year. My wife and I ran a hundred miles individually in New Hampshire, and my mom wanted to be part of it, my sister wanted to be part of it, so they were able to hang out at our base base camp and get food, and then they could see the atmosphere. Because they probably picture an Olympic event, they don't picture people dressed up in costumes and screwing around, right? People of all walks of life, all fitness levels, and they're like, wow, everybody's just kind of like melting together. Yeah, yeah, and and that's the thing with ultras. It's like I'm not judging anybody, everybody's out there struggling together, and right. I don't care if you're there for a hundred or five, you're doing what you can do, and that's the best. That's awesome. I love that spirit.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Yeah, that's cool. I'm doing uh well, we're planning. My buddy from California got into ultras, and he kind of inspired me to be more serious about running, and we're gonna do the Jigger Johnson uh 20 miler in New Hampshire this August.

SPEAKER_00

It's gonna be brutal. So that's I've got a friend that's doing a train and run this weekend there. Yeah. She's doing the 25-mile train and run, and um she said it's gonna be a tough one. Yeah, but it's not really Jiggers like sounds like appealing in a way, but I don't think it's my thing.

SPEAKER_04

But it's like two days for the hundred, I think, right? Like they break it up.

SPEAKER_00

It's a big, it's an out and back.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But the 20 miles is gonna be a good one. Yeah, it's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_04

So that's kind of like what I'm I'm like, man, I gotta get ready for it. Like he's flying out here for a week, we're gonna hang out and and stuff, and uh our kids will get to meet for the first time, and then we'll do that. So he was like, you want to do the 50? And I'm like, let's let's just stick with the 20. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, mountain running's so different. Yeah, it's completely different.

SPEAKER_04

I'm like, I've never I've never done it before, so I'm like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

The miles click off real slow. Yeah. When you're doing like 30 minute miles, you're like, huh.

SPEAKER_04

Right? And so there's one stretch. I think you gain like I was looking at the the the map. I think you gain like I could be totally wrong, but I think it's like 3,000-ish feet in like five or six miles or something like that.

SPEAKER_00

Probably more. I would guess it's more.

SPEAKER_04

For one section, I'm like, that's gonna suck. That's gonna be rough. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah, my wife and I we just ran um, what's it called? The it's either the Acadia Traverse to the East Crossing or something like that. Oh yeah, you did you did that this weekend, right? Yeah, we did it on Saturday. So wife and I, we went, we did almost 7,000 feet of climbing in 17 miles. Yeah. And we started on by Thunder Hole in Acadia, and we crossed the island and did 13 mountains. Nice. It was super fun. That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, I saw the pictures you were posting, I was like, yeah, that's a pretty cool thing.

SPEAKER_00

That was so cool. And and it was not a race, it was just something that we wanted to do. Yeah. We've talked about it for a couple of years. Let's make it happen. Yeah. Because we don't have any races this summer. We're just kind of doing our own thing, just hanging out.

SPEAKER_04

Nice. Well, you did the was it Pineland Farms? Yeah, we did Pineland. Yeah. Yep. Yeah, we did that relay together. You guys crushed it, we got 142 miles. Yeah, you're I what were you like 30 miles ahead of second place or something like that? Yeah. You you guys crushed it. I saw the standings, I was like, dang.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we we were alternating, we were doing two laps and two laps because it just worked out better for a break for on each end.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, whoever wasn't running.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and uh we both did uh what was it 10 laps each or something? I don't remember now, but it was like 70 miles apiece, and then I had time to squeeze in one more um lap because we had time. I'm like, I'm just gonna go just drive that nail in the coffin even further.

SPEAKER_04

So yeah, that was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00

It was fun, and we did it together. So we know we're both doing ultras that you know we've done multiple hundreds. We've done one side by side. Or I guess I paced her the whole time because I wanted to see my wife struggle. I wanted to see her overcome, and she did. It was like one of the proudest moments. Nice. It was awesome.

SPEAKER_04

So you mentioned she's done a bunch too, right? She's done two hundreds. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

She's done lots of ultras, two one hundreds.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And uh, and we've got one for the sp in the fall.

SPEAKER_04

Nice. Um, so tell me about thinking about and planning for the uh the Arizona Monster 300. Like what uh what made you want to do it?

SPEAKER_00

So we were in Nepal last year, and I had Wi-Fi in this mountain lodge, and I saw it happening. I'm like, oh, this is cool. What is it? And then kind of got my interest. And so that was going on the same time we were in Nepal. And I was just like told my wife, I'm like, maybe next year I'll do this. And I have only ever done hundreds, I've done 115, 117 a couple of times in last man format. And uh I was like, well no, 300. I'll skip the 200s. I never I was never never been on my radar. I've I know what they are, of course. But I was like, so I signed up for Moab in in November, but the lottery that was a lottery. Yep. But I was like, I kind of want to do this Arizona race. I'm gonna run a hundred solo miles for my birthday, just see where I'm at mentally. So I took a Friday off, I ran a hundred miles in like 16 and a half hours, and I was like, I'm ready for the next step. So I asked my wife, I'm like, hey, for Christmas and like the rest of the holidays, sign me up for this. And she did. I was like, oh no, oh no. So that's kind of why I wanted to do it because I can run a hundred miles just from my house. Yeah. And I use my house as an aid station, and I just ran 10 mile laps. And uh I was like mentally, physically, it's been no time is for right now. Yeah. So trained all winter, did my normal, but I kind of added like I I carried my pack a lot just so I could kind of feel weight because I knew I was gonna be running real slow in the desert.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And uh, but yeah, mileage was like 35 to 50 mile weeks. I never really went over 200 unless it was like a race week. But that's like my mileage currently. I run about 35 miles a week. Um, seven is my base, like my minimal. Like when I leave my house, I have a seven mile loop. Okay, and that's that's kind of like my minimum. And ten is my normal, and then weekends I'll do like you know, 15s, 20s.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Nice. Yeah, so I found you on Instagram shortly before you posted uh you posted a reel that you were fully sponsored for the Arizona Monster 300, and then you were like, by my wife. And I was like, oh nice. I was like, that's a good wife. That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, she paid for it. Um, and I flew myself there and I went by myself again. I was like, there's no reason she needs to come to the desert. Right. Sit in a rental car and only see me probably five times. It was only a couple of accesses for crew. I'm like, you're not gonna run with me. I'm gonna show up and want to sleep. Yeah, hell, if you had to take a week to just sit in the desert, you're not gonna be in a good mood. I don't want to see that. Yeah. So thankfully I was able to call her. Like whenever I was near a town, I had a cell reception. Yeah. And so I call and check in twice a day, usually morning, when I knew she was she gets up at 3 30 and works out and runs too. Yep. But then we go to bed at 7 30 every every night. So call her before when she gets up, call her at bed, just kind of give her my progress. Yeah, but that was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. So what uh mentally what was that like, especially when you got past the hundred miles that you're used to, and then you had like 200 miles to go.

SPEAKER_00

Mentally, it was easy, believe it or not. Like I'm like, I have a destination, I have to get to my rent a car, my plane ticket's not for a week away. What else am I gonna do? If I time out on course was the only thing I was concerned with because I was going so much slower than I'm used to. But I was talking to all these veteran runners out there that are that's their world. They're they're they're the 200 people. They're like, Oh, you're fine. I'm like, Are you sure? They're like, Yeah, just stay with us. We do this all the time. You're fine. Don't run here, it's hot. I'm like, but it's flat. They're like, it's hot, you won't make it. Gotcha. Trust us. Okay, these all they all finished top. I'm like, wow, they were right. So I took advice from everybody, and I wasn't in there to race, I wasn't in there to prove anything because I have nothing to prove. I know what I can do, I just want to finish. And so that has completely changed my mindset as to like doing events. Like, I just want to do stuff and enjoy people's company because when I race, they're a blur, I don't remember anything. They're usually a bad time because I'm struggling to try to compete. But when I ran this, I met people from all over the world. I got to enjoy it. I remember so much about this race. As as sleepy as I was, I never wanted to quit. But like I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the scenery. I took my phone out, taking pictures, playing with snakes, mountain lions. Like, I didn't hallucinate. I wasn't like I wasn't in a sleep-deprived like hell. I was in pain. My feet were tore up, my shin splints, I something going on in my tendons, they really got messed up. So I knew I was gonna make it, but I didn't know if I'd make the time at one point, and then once I got through the aid stations, I was starting to bank time. So even though at the end I'm I'm doing math, I'm like, well, I could walk for two days and I'm fine, you know. I only got like 30 miles to go.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

But I was at a at a hobble because my legs just stopped working. I couldn't pivot my feet, and my my feet were so full, just missing skin at that point. So I never I didn't want to quit. I I mean, what am I gonna do? Sit at they're like, if you quit, we're gonna probably make you volunteer at an aid station until someone can bring you somewhere.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, it sounds better to keep working. Just keep moving, keep walking than uh sitting at an aid station.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I loved every bit about it. Um I would do it again in a heartbeat. I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I'm I'm not gonna do it. Um next year I didn't apply for it. I don't don't need to chase bigger and better things. I know where I'm at. Um I want to do more solo adventures, just not maybe not in a race atmosphere, just kind of create roots and just execute them. Um I did get into Moab. I got off I I in the lottery, I got on the wait list and I got accepted, but I declined it, not out of fear, just don't need to do it. I will, I want to, but two in a year, I mean it's like three weeks off of work. Yeah. So, and as being a subcontractor, no one's paying me.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

So it's like turn a client's down, I guess take three weeks off again for my wife, and she's like, what about our vacation time? You know, she and she didn't say don't do it. She's like, you should do it. But I'm like, the heart's not in it. Yeah. I did what I wanted. I've had my race this year, and I want to just stew on that the great feelings I still have. Yeah. So I don't want to try to like put another one in there. That of that of that magnitude.

SPEAKER_04

Right, right. So what was it like? Um, because obviously, like you're running in the snow like a couple weeks before going to Arizona. What was what was the heat like? What was it like trying to go from Maine to the desert?

SPEAKER_00

Going from blizzard to the 100 degrees. Yeah. I mean, they both struggle. I'm like, it's gonna suck either way. So I'm like, I just I'm going slow at both, right? I'm freezing to death. It sucks, but I get through it. So I'm hot. I'll just drink more water. I had I mean I get I go in my hot tub, you know, that's my heat training. Yeah. But I don't I didn't work out in a sauna. I didn't do anything particular, I didn't wear any special hot masks or bodysuits. I just did me.

SPEAKER_05

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

And I just slowed it down. It was fine. I I I don't enjoy the heat, not running in it. Right. That's fine. I'm not a I'm not a heavy sweater, like I don't sweat a lot, so I have that advantage, and so I retain fluids well.

SPEAKER_04

I think I would have died. I'm not I'm not I'm not built for heat.

SPEAKER_00

Forty, forty-two people dropped in that first like 22 miles.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, there were some big names that did. Big names dropped quit and I ran with them.

SPEAKER_00

I ran with the big names, and uh they were just struggling out there, and when I pulled up and I I pulled up to that first aid station, I ran out of water too, just like everybody else, all three miles out. And uh I saw Eli and Andy, you know, big names that were sitting at the aid station. I'm like, what and that's that's kind of when I got nervous. I'm like, these guys live in the sun. Right. And I'm like, I just came from a snowstorm and I was like, am I gonna make it? That was my only like question of doubt because I'm like, these guys, they run like hundred mile weeks, more than that sometimes. Yeah, and they're struggling, and I feel fine. I'm like, yeah, I'll have a lemonade, I'll eat this food. And then I sat there and I was like, I'm looking at them, they're all like most of them, not just those two, but everybody else was just like passed out. I was like, what am I doing? And then I just started again, and I ran with I ran with Eli for a little bit, and he's like, I feel like shit. I'm like, yes, you look like shit. And uh and we chatted for a couple of miles, and he's like, Alright, I gotta go. And he took off, but I think that's where he made his mistake. I don't know him. I'm not I'm not critic criticizing anybody. Yeah, but all these people that were racing super hard and dehydrated, it probably was their downfall, not just him. Yeah, but and that's what they told me at day one. They're like, don't run here. They're like, you won't win your race, you're gonna lose your race here. And they're right. Yeah, don't run that hot part. And so I just during the day I would power hike at night, try to take my nap, if it timed up right with the aid station, take an hour nap. Run the night, and then I could run like a pretty decent pace at times, you know. When it wasn't a mountain, I could still run a 10-minute pace.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

And so, and then I would get to the mountains and I'd walk all day, and it was fine because I was on an adventure, not a race, really. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

So yeah, kind of I loved it. It's kind of funny the people trying kind of ruin their own race by trying to race it. Whereas you kind of yeah, I mean and everybody has their goals, right?

SPEAKER_00

Everybody wants to race and do their thing. Right.

SPEAKER_04

And uh that's not I know some of the I like Eli, I know, because I've I follow Andy on Instagram. I don't know if I actually follow Eli or not, but I see a bunch of people. Yeah, they're awesome.

SPEAKER_00

They're like super, they're super positive people. Uh they were they were great people. I just I felt bad for them because I know that they they they he was really blood pushing and training for that.

SPEAKER_04

Like he really wanted to do what's right.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and so I was scared when I see these big guys like dropping, I'm like, oh Jason, what are you doing? You're an idiot from Maine. So it's fine. I'm a I'm a I'm an epoxy contractor, you know? I'm I'm not a a paid athlete. I I I train in the morning before I go to work. Right. That's it. It doesn't happen now, it doesn't happen during the day.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. So that's uh so it seems like if I'm if I'm understanding everything right, it seems like you've kind of reached the peak almost in racing for yourself, not you know, for what you're chasing, and now it's more about just adventure and I love adventure.

SPEAKER_00

Like I I still will compete, I'll find a race that I'll want to probably do well at. But it's not important to me. Not not anymore. Yeah. I just I've won some races, I know what it's like, and I know what it's like to just kind of have fun and chill. Like I meet cool people, I get to talk. When I'm racing, I don't talk to anybody. Right. I'm laser focused, like I see my friends out there, I'm like, hey bye, and I feel like a jerk. Yeah. So I have I there's some I'm gonna compete at last man this September. I've taken two years off at, and I think I'm at a better mental place. As long as I can hold up physically, I think I'm gonna be I think I'm gonna be tough. I think I'm gonna hold out a long time.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So this is long and I I've asked my friend to be a uh a crew member, which I normally don't ask ever. If they're there, I'm like, hey, stop by, say hi. But I asked him if he can make it, great. If he can't, it's okay, I get it. My wife's gonna crew me because she knows that there's gonna be a time where I'm gonna need help, and she thinks she thinks I can do well at it, so yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Do you ever go back down in distance? Do you ever do any halves or like road marathons or anything anymore?

SPEAKER_00

Just for training runs.

SPEAKER_04

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

I would, but just just training runs.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. They seem it's like so different to me.

SPEAKER_00

I can run a marathon for free.

SPEAKER_04

Right.

SPEAKER_00

So I can run, I can pick anywhere I want to go and do one, right? So I would. I would sign up. But I don't want to sign up to just do it as a training run. Like I feel like if I'm gonna show up to a marathon, it's not because everybody else is gonna be struggling. It's not a trail atmosphere. Right. Trail atmosphere, everyone's like goofy and silly. Marathon atmosphere, everyone has a focus.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, it's a it's more serious. A little bit. Yeah. So how do you um you mentioned that you're an epoxy flooring contractor and you own that business, right? And then your dad, I think you said, owns a painting company and you help him out from time to time.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I worked for him for my whole life, and then I kind of just kind of branched off our company, and then I own this flooring division.

SPEAKER_04

Okay, cool. Um so how big of a company is is it mostly like you doing everything? Do you have employees?

SPEAKER_00

No, there's uh so there's three of us that install epoxy, and then my dad's crew is probably six, seven.

SPEAKER_04

Okay. So what's it like trying to fit in the training and the and the racing and everything that you're trying to do while keeping a company going?

SPEAKER_00

So I've had to um really enforce being non-negotiable with my workouts because growing up, I would go to work at five, I'd go to work at six, I'd work I'd miss I'd I wouldn't take any time for myself. I'd work weekends driven by overtime and making extra money. Going at five help, you know, make sure I can get ahead of this guy. So, but for ten years I'm like, I go to the gym at four o'clock or four thirty. I run at between three and four, depending on the distance, because I usually leave my house by six-ish to get to my job site by seven. So non-negotiable, I gotta do this every day. This is my time. My free time is right now, it's why I'm here right now. So I couldn't link up with you in the afternoon. Yeah. Go to bed so early. Yeah. So morning is my time. Um I just I go to the gym four uh three days a week, and I work out uh run four days a week. Okay. And we have a home gym at home, which my wife is my wife uses it. My wife does the same thing. She runs four days a week, lifts three days a week. And so we have the same routine, same bedtime routine, and uh it's non-negotiable. We go on vacation, we choose a hotel with a gym. If we can't, it's fine. We can still go run. We do something, stay active in some form.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. So four days, do you ever change up that four days of running and three days of lifting? Like if you've got a if you've got like a long race coming up or anything like that, do you try to build more miles? I know you mentioned you typically stick with like 35 miles a week.

SPEAKER_00

I stick with I don't have peak weeks, like I don't follow any, I've never had a coach. I just it's all intuition. Like, I'm like two weeks out, I might run a 15 and a 20, or a 20 and a 20. Or a 25 and a 10, like back to back. I just want to see how I feel the next day. And if if my feet feel fine, if they shake out, I'm fine. But that's it. I run Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturday, Sunday. And the rest are gym days.

SPEAKER_04

Nice.

SPEAKER_00

And that's just it just works. I don't want to change anything, it works.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Well, obviously it's working pretty well.

SPEAKER_00

So that's just my thing, and and it I can't tell you to do that because it might not work for you.

SPEAKER_04

It's actually kind of what I'm doing right now, actually. I was running like seven days a week, and I started to feel a little bit too much on my legs. So I started lifting three days a week and running four days a week. You've gotta have the strength. I think that was that's kind of the issue. My my tendons, my Achilles tendons are bothering me, and I hyperextended my left knee in college playing a stupid pickup game of two-hand touch football. Yeah. I hyperextended my knee with playing with my friends, and that it's it's been okay getting back into running and and trying to build mileage up, but like when I was running seven days a week, I got up to 30 miles one week, and my knee, like on Sunday, my knee was really sore. And I was like, I think I need to strengthen everything around it, and and put some more strength days in and and try to build up the foundation a little bit.

SPEAKER_00

It's so important. And then if I'm not running, if I'm recovering from a race, nice to go to the gym. It's fine.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, and then I threw in two upper body days, so it's like, alright, I got two days a week or my legs just get a break. And I think I definitely needed that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, my leg days at the gym are are super minor. Like I do body wat body weight squats on a hack squat machine. I might put a plate on it like as my max, but I don't need to lift anything more than I weigh. Right. So everything I do, it's never it's never more than my body weight. I don't squat, I do use uh just that hack machine, and then I use a leg extension and uh stretch TRX bands, and then I do, you know, dumbbells and upper body and core.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. So you uh you've mentioned a few times when we were trying to set this up that you gotta travel, you were in Jackman that one weekend. Um how does driving affect your training?

SPEAKER_00

I run earlier.

SPEAKER_04

Because like for me, we we travel a lot, we travel all over New England, and um like not last week, the week before, I had to drive down to Connecticut and back the same day. So it was like eight hours of driving.

SPEAKER_00

That's a lot.

SPEAKER_04

That I would rather run like a half marathon or something, honestly, than like sit in the truck for eight hours. It kills me. It's boring. It's like, oh man.

SPEAKER_00

No, I don't travel that much. It's really they're not that far. Like it's Jackman was a kind of an outlier. Yeah, but mostly it's within an hour.

SPEAKER_04

Nice, yeah. So that's that's something that really sucks with my schedule and my work is like I just hate all the all the driving. It gets especially like because I'm usually towing a machine. Like that time I was I was going down to Connecticut to get an excavator and bring it back up. And uh, so like you can not usually use cruise control, especially down in like southern New Ham New England where it's like so much traffic, and like my right calf and ankle will get so stiff and sore from just being in the same position for six or eight hours.

SPEAKER_00

I have to drive far, but I have to have some equipment service, so I'm gonna drive in New Hampshire.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Alright. Um I think that's pretty much everything I had to cover, but I've got some I've got some rapid fire questions for the end here. Oh boy. Alright. One piece of advice for someone who is signing up for their first ultra. Maybe they're scared or nervous. Like, what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_00

Uh just stay positive. Try to talk to people, pass his time, and um just don't give up on yourself because you will have those ebb and flows. So just just keep going.

SPEAKER_04

You'll be alright. Similar button related, do you look forward to the to the ebbs when you're when you're a little bit mentally down? Like, is that something that you enjoy about the ultras trying to like I know some people call it the pain cave or whatever, but even just mentally being in that like dark place and pushing through, is that something you look forward to?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I get sad when it's over. I'm like like feeling like crap, but I'm like, oh man, there's only like nine miles left, man. Like, I hated it, but I loved it. You know, I just but yeah, I look forward to the.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Maybe we're all masochists in some way. It's problem solving. Uh what's the biggest myth about ultra runners that you think is just wrong?

SPEAKER_00

Well, that's a tough one. Biggest myth. Um we're not all dirtbags. Okay. We're we're all we're we're all uh I don't know. It's kind of a tough one. We're we're all uh we're all come from different places. But we're not all egotistical. But myth got me on that one.

SPEAKER_04

See, I would have assumed the the myth you busted for me was like I assumed everybody running ultras was doing like hundreds of hundred mile weeks. There you go.

SPEAKER_00

That's a great one. No, absolutely not. I'm far from it. Like I see my friends that are doing these like 300 and something or they're running 70 mile weeks. I'm like, I'm not me. It doesn't work for me. It's fine.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Yeah, if that was like I said yesterday when we were texting, I was like, that's actually kind of encouraging because I felt like I needed to get to like 80 miles before I could consider.

SPEAKER_00

No, I ran, I don't think I broke a 200-mile month and ran the monster.

SPEAKER_04

Nice. Yeah, that's encouraging.

SPEAKER_00

If you want to compete and do your best, then maybe you have to. Right. But it doesn't work for me.

SPEAKER_04

Be a sponsored athlete or something, maybe that's a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00

Maybe that's if it was my job, maybe I would run 20 miles a day, but I have time.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah. Time is time is up there. So when you're waking up uh super early, you have coffee before you get going? Yep. Do you eat breakfast before you run on training weeks?

SPEAKER_00

Oatmeal, two tablespoons of sugar for maple syrup, and about 18 chocolate chips. Okay. Every day.

SPEAKER_04

That's your that's your go-to.

SPEAKER_00

Every day. Even on race days, we have to get oatmeal cups. My wife does it too. So well, she doesn't do the oatmeal in the morning like me, but race day, always oatmeal.

SPEAKER_04

Okay. Very much a creature of habit, I assume. 100%. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Same lunch every day. Boring.

SPEAKER_04

Worst thing you've ever eaten mid-race.

SPEAKER_00

Worst thing I've ever eaten. Probably something off my dirty hands. Probably have a sandwich with who knows what I've touched. Right. With lube and body parts. That's gotta be. Anything that you've touched with dirty hands is the worst thing I've eaten. And and sometimes um a quesadilla is a lie. They'll say, oh, this quesadillas. No, it's a tortilla over craft cheese, and that's a that's a big letdown.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, that's sad.

SPEAKER_00

That is not a great thing I want to put in my mouth because craft singles is gross, and it's not a quesadilla.

SPEAKER_04

No, I mean it's not even cheese. I think it's more plastic than cheese, but yeah, that would that would make me so mad. Because I love quesadillas. Yeah, quesadillas is not. Oh man, yeah, that would make me mad. Alright, finish this sentence. If I'm not running, I'm working. Me too. I figure I kind of figured I knew the answer to that one, but yeah, me too. Alright, so uh, where can people find you? Obviously the main viking on Instagram.

SPEAKER_00

And that's it. Or you can find me on Jason Giroud on Facebook. Okay. And sometimes I link posts, I kind of keep it separated, but my family likes to see it. Facebook's more like family stuff. Yeah. And customers, they it's kind of my my my hobbies have actually landed me jobs. Because they're like, Do you really run a hundred miles or three hundred miles? I'm like, yeah. They're like, you're probably gonna work harder than everybody else. You've got the job.

SPEAKER_04

So little do they know you're more exhausted than everybody.

SPEAKER_00

No, they know I won't quit. They know I have a mind that won't quit. Yeah, for sure. But yeah, main viking. The main viking. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

So cool, man.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, man. It's been a pleasure. Yeah. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_04

Thanks again.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_04

I appreciate you giving up some of your limited free time for that. It's okay.

SPEAKER_00

We still got time to go for a run.

SPEAKER_04

All right. I gotta we actually have to leave this hotel today, so I gotta pack my stuff up. We do a lot, we do a mile. There's it's like a 1.3 mile loop around the campus. We can do that if you want. Let's do it. All right, let's go do that. All right. Thank you.

SPEAKER_07

Got it.