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Coaching Mind's Podcast: Perform at your best!
Coaching Mind's Podcast: Perform at your best!
#109 - Matt Comer's Rim to Rim To Rim turns into a 100K in the Grand Canyon
Have you ever faced a challenge so daunting it transformed you? This week, we're joined by the extraordinary Matt Comer, who shares the raw and real experiences from his rim-to-rim-to-rim run of the Grand Canyon that actually ended up being a 100k run through the Grand Canyon. It's a tale of grit and resilience that digs deep into the mental fortitude required to endure such an arduous 47-mile trek.
While the Grand Canyon's vistas are undeniably breathtaking, the trails themselves offer a psychological rollercoaster from sunrise to starlit sky. Matt recounts the unique challenges and joys of hiking the South Kaibob and Bright Angel trails by day and by night, and how these experiences shape our understanding of not just the physical but also the emotional demands of such endeavors. Our shared journey emphasizes the sense of community found amongst those who traverse these paths and the simple, yet satisfying pleasures that await at the journey's end.
Lastly, we unveil the transformative power of visualization, extending beyond the realm of athletics into life's myriad challenges.
If you want more information about the MTP Academy, an initiative I'm passionate about, aimed at equipping coaches and athletes with the mental training tools necessary to excel, be sure to check out mtp.academy
**Be sure to seek the appropriate medical/professional advice & training before undertaking any crazy epic adventures of your own!
Are you an ATHLETE looking to take your training to the next level? Check out our website to learn more about 1-on-1 training opportunities:
mentaltrainingplan.com/athletes
Are you a COACH looking for an affordable year-round mental performance training program? Check out the MTP Academy available through our website:
mentaltrainingplan.com/academy
Hey, you welcome to the coaching minds podcast, a free resource for mental training plan. We help teams and individuals perform at their best through online and in person training. We talk all the time about making a plan and putting it to work, because just hoping you'll be able to perform at your best in big moments isn't a strategy. It's not what high performing athletes do. If you're looking for tools to help you perform at your best on the field or in the boardroom, you've come to the right place. Zeke, welcome back, my friend.
Isaac McGaughey:Hey, it's good to be back in the saddle, benny. It's good to talk over just the mental stuff. We got a great guest today. Get back at it and just continue to learn, not just about how to apply it to sports, but just life and the daily grind and those types of things today.
Ben Carnes:And we'll be. Future episode we'll be a chat with Zeke about the what like seven marathons that you've run now since the last time we talked.
Isaac McGaughey:Oh no, just two one major failure and one that was a little bit of a success. So yeah, we've got some good stuff to share on that coming up.
Ben Carnes:And then super excited about today's guest. If you guys have not listened to episode number 61 with Matt Comer talking about his rim to rim to rim run that he did back in shoot, what was that Comer like right in the middle of COVID afterwards, just after okay, just after COVID. It's a absolutely fantastic episode. You should absolutely go check that out, matt Comer. Thank you so much for joining us today my friend, Thanks for having me back.
Matt Comer:I'm glad to kind of rehash those things and talk about some of the lessons lessons learned and how it's kind of applied to life and just in general. Yeah, I do know went back and did it again, so we'll dive into that and see where it takes us. I love it.
Isaac McGaughey:You could, just for those that haven't listened, to tell them what real fast is rim to rim to rim. What does that mean?
Matt Comer:Yeah, so yeah, Grand Canyon, obviously you would start on a rim and then you go all the way down the river up the other side and then all the way back. So you're going from, obviously, one rim to the river, to the other rim and back in. I mean you can camp and do it, but we did it in one continuous, one continuous day, if you will, without stopping. So it's about 47 miles kind of path we took and people get, I mean, the fastest of the, I think the fastest known time.
Matt Comer:The FKT is like under five hours by some professional but, you see everybody doing it from 10 to 20 hours, depending on picture taking and pace and goals and just kind of what you're trying to do.
Ben Carnes:So I remember, after we, after we recorded episode number 61, there was actually someone, there was a woman from Westfield who passed away doing this, and you know that that, like that, makes that, makes me kind of pause for a second. Like you know, are we, are we really promoting that people go out and do this? You know, obviously I shouldn't go out and try this tomorrow, but I mean, this is, this is a, this is a whole nother level beyond just, you know, like an Olympic distance triathlon, a 50 mile run, a. You know, fill in the blank, where it's difficult, it's hard, but if you fail there's a golf cart waiting right there.
Matt Comer:Right, this is. A lot of things make this difficult, obviously being the Grand Canyon and some people who've never been there, you know, they know it's a you know seven wonders of the world and whatnot, but it is. The environment is treacherous, the heat, the elevation. I mean you're literally going a mile down and then to the Colorado River and then a mile back up. We went in April and we probably experienced all four seasons. We left in the snow, you know. Then you kind of get some mild temps, you get to the other side and there's snow packs still on the ground On the way back you reach 100 degrees floor of the canyon and that's still with 10 miles to climb straight back up, a mile to get yourself out. But you're exactly right, the only. There's no way out besides the helicopter ride, if they can get to you, depending on where you go.
Matt Comer:So we actually, the second time we went back, we saw a helicopter evacuating someone from what's called Phantom Ranch. I actually saw a picture a couple of weeks ago about a Medevac landing on the trail on, obviously, a portion of the rim where you could land. But there's no, you know, carrying you out per se, depending on where you are, it's, you got to get yourself out once you're there. We ran into that a little bit the first time, you know, with the buddy getting sick. We took our time a little bit more. The second time, no one really got sick. Little more patient, actually being more patient on the front end, we went a farther distance in a shorter amount of time with a little break in the middle. So it was good.
Matt Comer:But it's treacherous. The terrain, the climate, the environment itself is not for the faint of heart. But it can be done. With the right training, right preparation, right mindset and kind of that mindset of you're going to get it done. It's really the only option. So if you have that mindset, then you just take it one step at a time. Literally it's doable, but not for everybody.
Isaac McGaughey:And I think, like you're saying, ben, we're not encouraging people to just go do it right now, but it is.
Isaac McGaughey:You got to do things that scare you and you got to do things. That's how we grow and that's what we've talked a lot about on this podcast of what's something you know. If it's not scaring you, is it really making you better? And then what's your training going to look like? If it's not scaring you, if you know you're going to be able to do it without a problem, you're not going to be able to put so much into it. And just the mental, the mental growth that can come from knowing how hard this is going to be, knowing what you have to do, that's what the challenge is. I think we're not saying everybody needs to go do a rim to rim to rim it might be a challenge for somebody to listen to this to go do a 5k or you know who knows what it could be Right, go get that other degree that you want to go get. And so that's kind of the challenge of knowing, hey, this is scary, but you got to go do it and it's going to make you a better person.
Matt Comer:We kind of just jumped into it and it was always a goal of mine to do it, and then kind of told two buddies about it and they bought plane tickets the next day. So they're like we're doing it, like that's your goal, we're doing it. So you kind of need, you know, you need those like-minded people to do that kind of epic stuff. But it took us, you know, if you listened, the last time it took us a year and a half of training only because of COVID. But I think we needed every bit of that the first time. But then the second time you know what the training entails. You know what the environment is going to be like, you're more prepared. So we are able to do a more traditional training. But you still have to put in the miles. You know we started training probably a month and a half earlier than last time. So we trained from basically Thanksgiving all the way up to April instead of New Year's to April. So that helped. But just knowing it and having done it before gives you that confidence to do it. I was never, never fearful. But we didn't just go back to do it again, we went back. So I mentioned the traditional render in Mirim is 47 miles. So my goal the second time was 100K, which would be 62 miles.
Matt Comer:We ran some issues with weather, not when we were there, but if you followed the canyon, anything in the canyon and I guess it would have been 2023,.
Matt Comer:Yeah, last April they had record snowfall so the actual North Rim was closed so we could not do rim to rim to rim traditionally. So we basically started late afternoon and did basically a lap down to the Colorado backup and then we left again down to the Colorado as far as we could, to the North Rim till it was closed and came back in a little offshoot trails here and there to get 62 miles. So it was tough, definitely a different terrain because there's two different trails. So we went down what's called South Kaibob and it was a knee breaker by the time we got to Colorado River. Eight miles in knees were swollen, hyper, extended. It's steep. And then we climbed back up and what seemed like dusty conditions I mean it was breathing in complete dust, had a buddy kind of had some sinus issues, so it was a little more treacherous, but the temps were great, the weather was great and overall it was a good experience.
Ben Carnes:So I know, in episode 61, talked a lot about trusting the process, about the routines that you went through, you know, the night before, making sure all your gear was packed, trusting the preparation, trusting the planning, the game plan, like we talk about all the time. You know in any sport. Talk to us a little bit specifically. You know, as you're preparing this time, maybe some of the challenges getting ready for this 100K through the Grand Canyon and then also, you know, maybe some of the things that you did learn from grow, from improve, that were better the second time.
Matt Comer:Yeah, the biggest thing was that increased distance was the hardest thing to kind of wrap your head around and how we're going to nutritionally, you know, fuel our bodies for that. So that was a challenge, you know, was it more food, more liquid, more electrolytes, where that was, and what those ratios were? So that took a little more planning. And then the trail itself was unknown, because last time we went down Bright Angel, across up the North Rim, then back and back up Bright Angel. This time going down South Kaibob was a little different. We ran it was called the Rim Trail over and then just straight drop into the canyon. So that was.
Matt Comer:That was an unexpected challenge on the legs. So you know, once we got through that and kind of knew that but that was unexpected. So but I also knew the whole thing was unexpected last time. So I knew it would be difficult but kind of like we've alluded to it's already been done. You know I had the confidence of being at the Grand Canyon. We did the South Kaibob Trail in the daylight, which was helpful. So yeah, just overcame a lot of that and got the job done.
Isaac McGaughey:So I know the first time you did so, those last, the last parts of the trip, I know you had a buddy that was struggling and you guys were all just feeding off each other to try to get him to finish, to get you all to finish of being like the darkest times during those moments. Where did you have those moments in this trip? Was it at the end or kind of throughout?
Matt Comer:Yeah, I can honestly say I don't know. We didn't have those times this time, and I do. I really think it was solely based on the fact of one, everybody was healthy and, two, the time we did everything we finished in the daylight, so that was very helpful. We did climb Bright Angel for the first time in the darkness, but again, I had already done that. It was actually when I found out it's easier to climb a mile straight up the Grand Canyon in the dark because you cannot see the obstacle in front.
Isaac McGaughey:You can't see it.
Matt Comer:So there's a mental challenge in that. So it there were some dark times when we finished because we did, we finished the Run or the hike basically from the hours of like 10 to 3 in the afternoon. But what made that difficult is you felt you could feel like you're walking forever, but you see everything and you look up and there's no way out of the canyon, so it's just head down for another hour. You look up, there's no way out of the canyon, where when you're going in the dark it's just one foot in front of the other for Four or five hours and then you're out. What made it difficult last time is you just did not know when that was going to end. There's nobody else on the trail. You know we had a buddy that was that was sick and feeling it, but this time it seemed never ending. But there's people out there. People were encouraging you the whole time.
Matt Comer:Obviously the daylight helped, is a little warmer, but the scale of that wall to climb was had to be the most challenging part. Mentally is like that. You can never see the end, until you got to maybe a familiar tunnel that you knew was towards the top of the rim on the south side, but just doing it in the daylight. I told people it's almost better to finish in the darkness, now that I've done it both ways, because you you just got to keep going. But when you can see kind of that obstacle in front of you One, it's more challenging to. It's also more satisfying when you do get to the top one, there's people there, they know what you've just done, but you also literally saw, you can see what you just accomplished as opposed to in the dark. So that was pretty neat. That was one of the. That was one of the biggest differences between the last time finishing in the dark, we're finishing in the daylight. I'd rather do it in the dark anytime.
Ben Carnes:I know the last time around, you guys said that the end was almost anti climactic, that you know the journey Was. What was the best part? You know the, the finish even, I think you said even being disappointing. You know, not maybe living up to Expectations that you had talked to us. Talked to us this time around. What was that like?
Matt Comer:It was different. It was different one. I think just having people on the rim, you know, people to help take your picture, you know, put your arms around the buddies that you finished with All that was much more satisfying. Plus, I had I did have that in mind when I finished and I was intentional with my approach to enjoy it and savor it more because, like last time was so cold, no one was there. You know, we were at, we were pegged out. We just wanted to get back to the room and be done.
Matt Comer:And we were and that's kind of how it ended. But now we actually we knew we had all day, we knew we had a good meal plan. Just the whole thing was intentional about actually enjoying at this time and savoring that finish.
Ben Carnes:Isaac, I'm excited to next episode to talk with you about the. The enjoyment that you had finishing up, that you know the marathon in Chicago was, was a little bit different for you. I'm glad to hear that, matt, that it was, that it was more enjoyable this time. One of the other things that that stood out to me the last time around was Visualizing success. Did you feel like it? Were you able to do the same type of visualization? Where was it a little bit different this time around? Switching up the trail, what was that? What was that like?
Matt Comer:the process was the same, visualized it from the day we decided to do it. One had to plan a route and then we had to change the route because we knew we we were losing Probably lost about 15 miles, so we had to come up with something new. So that's where we came up with the other trail and just doing Doing a loop and then doing it again was mentally taxing. But once we had that route, it was the same process even just, you know, I watched YouTube's of the South Kaibab trail, looked at a lot of pictures of landmarks on the South Kaibab trail. So I knew when I got there you know I've already seen it, whether it was in my head, whether I imagined it or I Saw it on YouTube or I saw a physical picture that mental process of already been there. You know I've been there mentally already. So that was huge. I allowed you to keep going, I'll add you to hit your landmarks on time and then keep going.
Matt Comer:So the process was entirely the same. But you had to start over because everything was different. You know, the start was different, the downhill was different, the uphill, although was both in the dark, was at different times of the run. So I was much fresh, much more fresh, climbing bright angel the second time we went. Then, obviously, when we finished the first time, and then, like I kind of mentioned before, when we climbed it out To finish the second time, that was in the daylight, lots of people, lots of entertainment. You know things to keep your mind off, off the suck, if you will. So different, different environment, different run, same process. So I learned a lot through that process that it works. Just that visualization.
Isaac McGaughey:Well, you're, and like we've talked before on here, your brain can't separate those two things of what you're physically doing and what you're what your visuals visualizing. And so, like you're saying, just to look at those spots on the trail or watch those YouTube videos of people with the body camera on Going through it all, and you see yourself doing it, that mentally you're just getting there and how, how can you apply that into what you're doing, whether that's you know you've got a tough conversation coming up with somebody and Talking through that in your mind. How do you think it's gonna go, preparing yourself for it? Why do we watch constant amounts of film in your sport? So you're visualizing yourself having that success. Or on the on the opposite side, where People are just always seeing themselves be bad, well then you're probably gonna go out and perform in that way. But I love hearing like what you said of you know I'd already visualized it and then we were able to go just execute it.
Matt Comer:Yeah, it's, it's. It's huge knowing, like, when you get to a spot, like ooh-ha point, like I have been there so many times, so many times but I've actually physically been there once, but I can picture it in my head to this this day and it's fun too like when you get there, you can enjoy, like this is the spot. This is a spot I've seen myself Hundreds of times, you know, over the last six months. So it's true. And then you know, having done it now, like where are I talking about going back in 2025?
Matt Comer:Hopefully, I don't know what the challenge will be. Could just be taking new people, you know, and taking them on that journey, which you know is a challenge in itself. So just looking forward to that. But you know, I'll tell them the same thing, I, I'll send them the same videos, tell them to do the same thing. But just go through the race, you know, go through the interview, go through the game. You know all the things that could possibly happen. You know we went through and talked about like if we run out of water, if we run out of food, if we have any type of issues, kind of what the plan was. So we like it's, you're really at the point. We've just been through it before, whether on film, in our minds, on paper, verbally, it's, it's, it's key, because then it's just easier when you do it.
Ben Carnes:How does this make you a better coach? I mean thinking, you know, thinking about all the stuff that you've put yourself through, you've put your body through, you've put your mind through. How does this make you better at coaching high schoolers?
Matt Comer:Not that I felt bad coaching kids and asking them to do things, but it's easier to ask them to do hard things. When you've done hard things, you know I can. I can truly say I'm not asking you to do anything I haven't done or asking you do anything I wouldn't do. I know what it takes to do hard things. Also, no one, it sucks and I'm real with them. I like this part of training sucks.
Matt Comer:You know I've been, I've done a 50k For fun, like for training, like I had to go out and do 50 kilometers down in southern Indiana so I could be ready For the Grand Canyon. You know we have to go through two days. We have to go to team camp. You know we're doing this in July when it's hot, and it sucks because come August, first Friday in August, we want to be ready to play football.
Matt Comer:So it's easier now to ask kids and demand of kids to work hard, because that's what it takes. It's easier to tell them to. You know we're gonna do visualization today. You know, before you actually do it and apply it to a Big event, to a challenging activity, you know a lot of people are like Visualization, like okay, let's just sit down and do this. But when you've done it, you know you can tell the kids that you know I can I tell them about the Grand Canyon and that we did it. So I think it just adds that real life aspect that the kids, you know, think you're just You're reading something off a book and like, hey, let's try this this week. So it's much easier to man more, you know, when you've done more.
Isaac McGaughey:I think I mean kids just want to be. You want to connect?
Isaac McGaughey:with it right and and that's such an opportunity to go through something and then, like you're saying, and it gives you then, like that, much more confidence. I feel like as a coach, from what I'm hearing you say is like you've gone through all this stuff so you know it works and Is there. Do you have like an idea of an example that comes to mind of where you were like working with a kid, with the visualization and or, you know, pushing through something, and then you saw that maybe a month later in a game on a Friday night where where he he didn't want to do this drill, but then he kept working through it. Maybe it showed up on a stunt or something that night.
Matt Comer:Oh, for sure, for sure. You know I had to give all the Westfield football secrets away but I coached at the end. And we have certain techniques we use and we go through them daily. We watch film on them daily. But that moment it works in a game to perfection, that next day in film is just eye-opening for everybody in the room. It kind of gives credence to the young guys that maybe haven't perfected it yet that this is what it should look like.
Matt Comer:You know we started this drill, this technique, in January and we redid it in April and we redid it again in June and then August and then it wins you a game in October. You know that's huge. You know the kids' eyes light up. You can tell then when they do it in a game and it works. I mean they come off the field with a smile Like they know that. I know we've just witnessed the same thing. You know we've witnessed months of preparation for that moment. It's a whole. It's a whole another level of joy when you see the kids take what you've taught them and just apply it relentlessly with faith, and then to see it pay off on a Friday night. It's no better feeling. It's hard to describe.
Isaac McGaughey:And that's like you've been saying of the journey, right, I mean just constantly go and constantly grind it and that window for that success is really small. I mean you trained for months and months and months. For what? 16 hour trail.
Isaac McGaughey:Roughly, let's say so you trained for a year and longer, watching all these videos for a small 16 hour window of that actual thing. But in the journey is where all that growth is and where you, like you're saying, like they realize, oh, we did all of this for that moment and it was worth it. It was worth doing all that, like you're saying, it was worth getting to the top and people there to take your picture and to hug your buddies. All that time, like you said, you gotta embrace the suck. Right, it's going to suck, but you just have to get to that point and it's going to be so worth it Because they can't take that away from you.
Matt Comer:But you got to put the work in to do it, Like to play high school football. That can never be taken away from them. But you're not going to play during the season if you don't commit and be disciplined to the team. And, like I said, January, March, April, June, and it's the same way 500 miles of training, relentless box step ups, weighted box step ups, squats, workouts, hours of those. Like you said, I came not only hours of training, but for a 16 hour event. 20 hour event. That's over, comes and goes. But if we would have failed it would be a different story. But now that it's done, I can probably tell people. Or people ask about crossing the Grand Canyon or the kids kind of mockling a joke about it.
Matt Comer:He's ran the Grand Canyon. You can't talk back to him. But so they know it's fun, but they know I've done it and that can never be taken away. But you're right, it takes hours and hours and miles and miles then to wrap it up into one small event really.
Isaac McGaughey:Sure, so you've got you're talking with your journey and you've got two daughters that are high schoolers. How has that? Is there any way that this whole thing has related to or made you a better dad, parent, father, husband, just anything in your family life, Really?
Matt Comer:it's just in supporting their processes. You know the oldest daughter dances, the youngest ones in volleyball. They have relentless time that they put into their craft and being able to support that unconditionally whether it's car rides or the money it takes, any aspect. But I know what it takes to be successful, can't cheat that process. So it'd be easy to also let them skip a day. It'd be easy to say no, we're not doing that extra training, we're not gonna do this or we're not gonna do that. But I understand you know to be great at whatever you're trying to accomplish, it takes what it takes. That's a little cliche but it's true. You know it takes the extra time. It takes the extra class If you feel insufficient in a skill.
Matt Comer:Maybe Claire takes an extra ballet class. Carson needs help on defense. Maybe she takes a private to work on her defense. My legs weren't strong enough. I did extra box step ups. You know it's gonna take what it takes once you realize those deficiencies and there's no, there's no cheating it. You're not gonna get better at something by not doing it. So that support is just. I don't even think twice about it. You know like it takes. Yeah, you're going to dance four days a week, you know non-tournament weekends. You're going to volleyball five days this week because that's what it takes.
Isaac McGaughey:I think it's awesome, just like we're comparing like dance to hiking and running the Grand Canyon and volleyball and those who don't know. Matt's daughters are elite in what they do and it's because of that stuff and that mindset and, like you said, the process is the process. You can't get around. It Doesn't matter if it's dance, doesn't matter if it's hiking and climbing the Grand Canyon or if it's, and you know you want to be high up in your corporation to get to where you want to go. You've got to do the work.
Matt Comer:Yeah, and you'd have to ask them, but it's probably not far stretched that you know. They see. You know you want to model the behavior you want to see in your kids. I don't really talk about the hard work, but they know I go to the gym every day. They know when I choose a hard adventure, that it may be extra weekend hours, it may be gone on a Sunday for a 20 mile run they just know that's how it's always been. So they see what it takes to do hard things and if they, they don't blink at an extra practice. So they don't blink at when they have a dance weekend where they have it three days in a row for eight hours a day, cause they see if you want to, you know be at the top or you enjoy doing something, it's that's what it is.
Ben Carnes:We were talking before we started recording about just the dealing with some of the adversity you know in football, the whole like confidence and refocus aspect you know of. I put in all this time. I've put in all this work. We have this game plan. I know it. I've trusted it. We've been, you know we've been doing this since August. We've been doing this since January. I've been doing this for the last four years, whatever that looks like. Talk to us a little bit about on this journey, just some of the ways that maybe there were some things that popped up that could have caused you to doubt, could have caused you to lose a little bit of that confidence. And you know how do you, what do you do with that?
Matt Comer:I think the training was harder this time around had injuries. Actually I have a torn labor in my hip, I have an issue with my foot, just a bunch of stuff and the hip started in the middle of training for this last Grand Canyon, so that made it more difficult.
Ben Carnes:I remember the 50k I was trying to know if it was a Grand Canyon. There were two different experiences, as fast training terrible. You need different people. You train 32 miles. Life takes you 30 miles.
Matt Comer:I remember getting a mile 18, I had to walk for three miles. I'm like I can't even make it 20, and in a month I'm going to go do the Grand Canyon. Where before did the 50k felt great, but even though the last training run was a bomb, I had already been to the Grand Canyon I trusted what I've done before. It was a bad day. It was one bad day. There wasn't bad training, you know. So I kept all that in perspective.
Matt Comer:I've done a 50k before, went to the Grand Canyon, did this 50k, just totally busted, could barely walk at mile 20, and still 12 to go, but knew it had to get done. So it took forever but I got it done. Kind of down on myself. But again I tell myself that the process has been the process. I've completed it. This was again. You can't make one bad day sabotage the whole process. It was just could have been nutrition, could have been sleep, could have been the monsoon.
Matt Comer:We started in the morning whatever, I don't know what it was, but it was terrible, but still was able to go to the Grand Canyon and obviously accomplished the 100k almost in probably quicker time than we did the 47 miles. So that was the biggest thing that no two trainings, even for the same event, are going to be the same, just like in high school sports. You may have a great off season before your sophomore year, but your training. Something happens, you get injured, life happens. But doesn't mean the outcome can't be the same, it just means you gotta take a different path to get there.
Isaac McGaughey:Well, matt, you've done these two things, and I know you said you're looking to maybe go back there in 2025, is there anything like? Is there something like way out there? I know there's. You know the 100 mile races is there like an ultimate? Someday I want to do this.
Matt Comer:I think it would be 100 miler. That's kind of the next step. You know because you got it, doesn't matter where you start. When I played college football in high school and college football never ran a mile. I almost remember the day I ran my first like straight mile without stopping. I was 22 years old. But then I ran a 5k and then after that what's next? Well, probably a 10k, then a half marathon, ran the mini here 10, 12 times and then after that, well, it's a marathon and I ran one of those. Then the next distance is the 50k and then a 50 miler and then 100k.
Matt Comer:So just naturally the next progression would be the 100 mile race, which is I have not wrapped my head around that mentally to be able to do it. I just know at the last of this 100k just how bad your body breaks down at the 100k mark and it's just kind of wrapped my head around that pain, what it might take or what the training might look like. So that's kind of the ultimate goal. But right now my mindset is kind of either keep doing hard things, but maybe going back to the canyon, that's kind of been my happy place. Don't want to say it's my, it's not, definitely not a fallback plan, because it's never going to be easy, but it's just. It's tough and it's enjoyable.
Matt Comer:I've done it before and I want to do it again, but there's other runs out there that I'm looking at. There's what's called the Zion Traverse, which is a 50 mile, just straight shot across Zion National Park, which is similar in the fact that like a lot of different seasons, a lot of different elevations, but again, that's a straight shot. So it takes a little planning, but just looking at different places to go. So now, right now, really focusing on the experiences rather than a set number. Someday, like 100 miles would be the key. Wherever that might be, however, you can make them more challenging. Sometimes I always tell myself I've been close, just leaving one day down the Monon and then just up and down, that's you know, and just going see how far I could go, kind of like forest gum style. But you know, right now my whole goal is just experiences.
Ben Carnes:Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give that 22 year old that's just starting to? You know you're on the back end of your playing career, you're just getting into your coaching career. What advice would you have for yourself?
Matt Comer:Start earlier, find those challenges earlier, just so you can keep improving. Like I said, I wasted completely wrong word but I spent 12 straight years doing the mini marathon, you know, just like on repeat. It was fun, enjoyed it. That was kind of the challenge. Each year, you know, we'd coach football. That would end.
Matt Comer:I would train for the mini marathon, take the summers off. It was doable, it was. I wouldn't say it was easy. I was always PRing, not always, but I was trying to PR and just increase that half marathon time. But looking but I was just naive, maybe even to the world like never even crossed my mind to go run the Grand Canyon. I couldn't imagine if I did it when I was 24 or even 30. You know, but I waited until I was 40 to do it the first time.
Matt Comer:But I would just start earlier, find things that challenge you and do it earlier and when you do one up that challenge, Just go for it when you can. You know there's a lot of things you can do, but I can tell now, like I do not recover like I used to, it's easier to get hurt and that injury just nag where I feel. If I would have done it when I was bulletproof in my 20s and 30s. I would just take that next, not yearly, like let's do something epic. And now, as kids get older and life gets going, it's harder to get away. It's not necessarily harder, but you want to be there at your kids events, you know. So you got to pick certain weekends, Like it's really limited when you can do certain things. So biggest advice would just be start earlier.
Ben Carnes:Well, matt, thanks so much for joining us today. As always, pleasure to just catch up to hear about some of the lessons that you've learned. Thanks so much for just coming on and for sharing your story.
Matt Comer:Always appreciate it, man, I appreciate it. I forgot how fun this was, so I'll keep you up to date on the next adventure and what that entails.
Ben Carnes:If you're a coach and you're listening to this podcast, you already know that training the mental side of the game is important. If you want some help, we've made the MTP Academy super simple. You print off the worksheet, you play the video, we deliver the content to your athletes and then equip you as coaches on the backend to support them, to hold them accountable. If you want more information, you can check out mtpacademy. The link is also in the show notes.
Ben Carnes:We've made year round mental performance training super simple. It's not an online course. You don't just send your athletes to do this on your own. It's a curriculum that's going to guide you through delivering training to your athletes. It's completely customizable. If you have questions about how it could fit your team, about fitting it to your off season schedule, questions about how do I implement this within the season, questions about what if my athletes still need additional help, I would love to have that conversation with you. Shoot me an email. If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to reach out and until next time, make your plan and put it to work.