HPE Experience: Josh Blashill & The Texas Ultra Series

Summary

In this episode of the Infinite Endurance Podcast, host Philip J. Sebastiani interviews Josh Blashill, a High Plains Elite running team member. They discuss Josh's journey into ultra running, his experiences in the Texas Ultra Series, and the lessons learned throughout each race. Their conversation covers all races of the series, the North Texas Ultra, West Texas Ultra, East Texas Ultra, South Texas Ultra, and the Big Texas Ultra. They highlight the challenges and triumphs Josh faced during each event, the course profile of each race, and the distances offered at each race. The episode concludes with Josh sharing his 2025 racing plans and the importance of mental resilience in endurance sports.

Takeaways

• You can do a lot more than you think you can do.
• "Forcing your body to mind" is crucial in ultra running.
• Chunking long distances into smaller goals helps manage mental fatigue.
• Mental resilience is key to overcoming obstacles in ultra running.
• Community and camaraderie among runners enhance the experience.
• Setting a positive example for children through endurance sports is rewarding.

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Texas Ultra Series Information

Transcript

Philip J. Sebastiani (00:00.788)
Welcome to the Infinite Endurance Podcast. I'm your host, Philip J. Sebastiani, and today I have Josh Blashill on with me. How are doing, Josh?

Josh (00:09.526)
I'm doing great, thanks for having me.

Philip J. Sebastiani (00:12.418)
Yeah. So Josh is one of the High Plains Elite members. And once a month we are going to have an HPE experience episode. And I asked Josh to come on for the month of January to kick off the year and talk about what he did last year, which was the Texas ultra series, which is by Texas Outlaw Running. So that's what our conversation is going to center around. But before we get to all of that, we start our episodes with the athlete profile.

Are you ready, Josh?

Josh (00:42.69)
Yes, sir.

Philip J. Sebastiani (00:44.578)
All right, the first question. Do you have a favorite type of cross training?

Josh (00:51.172)
So I have a few. I like biking, like the elliptical, and I love basketball.

Philip J. Sebastiani (00:58.296)
I was hoping you mention basketball because you play basketball like every week.

Josh (01:03.492)
I probably shouldn't, but yes I do.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:06.372)
Yes, I am not good at basketball. Vertically challenged, you would say, being only 5'4". But you're built a lot taller than I am, so how tall are you?

Josh (01:18.281)
six to ish. I'm six three and basketball shoes because that's important.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:23.14)
Yeah, you add up every single bit for that, right? It's a real fun game. The next question of the athlete profile, what's the craziest thing you've ever seen on the trail?

Josh (01:25.889)
That's right.

Josh (01:37.827)
don't know if I've really seen too many crazy things while Running on the trail. I know in Colorado, I was backpacking, we were going up a mountain and we found an old lean to that was probably some old hermit hideout up on a mountain. got lost, we missed a trail turn off and was up on a mountain in the middle of the mountain range. And yeah, that thing was probably 50 years old and had obviously been inhabited.

Philip J. Sebastiani (02:09.538)
Wow, that's...

Josh (02:09.834)
And that was very unexpected.

Philip J. Sebastiani (02:13.956)
Yeah, I guess maybe it was one of those when you get off the trail, it's a good thing you came to something you probably wouldn't have found if you didn't. If you

Josh (02:21.186)
yeah, we've tried to find it since and yeah, we have no idea where it was.

Philip J. Sebastiani (02:26.628)
Dang it. I'll you can find it again one day cuz do you have a picture by chance?

Josh (02:31.264)
I don't. This was this was a number of years ago and this was before I actually carried a cell phone that had a good camera on it so I didn't even think about it.

Philip J. Sebastiani (02:41.933)
yeah, the back in the day when the cameras weren't even really good on cell phones, but now you have crystal clear images. It's just wild.

Josh (02:50.994)
Mm-hmm. But yeah, we have a general VINCITY. We might go back and look for it, but...

Philip J. Sebastiani (02:56.43)
Where in Colorado is that again?

Josh (02:58.219)
This was outside of Westcliff, near where you guys ran this year with Chris.

Philip J. Sebastiani (03:00.97)
Okay, I've been there

Philip J. Sebastiani (03:05.994)
Yeah, the, I can't remember the name of the race. Sangre de Cristo. think that's what it was. Yeah. Cause that's

Josh (03:11.603)
I can't pronounce it. Yeah, it's a Sangre de Cristo. Yeah, about 20 minutes north of the trailhead for that one is where we started ours.

So it's in that mountain range.

Philip J. Sebastiani (03:20.652)
Wow. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Beautiful, beautiful place. All right. The next question. Are there any specific recovery tools or routines that you use?

Josh (03:31.165)
I cry a lot. Does that count?

Philip J. Sebastiani (03:34.412)
I can you're sometimes just gotta let it out.

Josh (03:36.292)
I definitely do that. I've got a massage gun that I use, different stretches, and my wife is really good about helping me stretch out and massage in the really, really sore spots.

Philip J. Sebastiani (03:48.876)
Yes. Yes. I have enlisted my wife as well, to help, like hamstring stretches. It's really helpful.

Josh (03:56.596)
hamstrings and my feet are usually the worst. So that's where that's usually where I take the bulk of my recovery is getting my feet back in shape.

Philip J. Sebastiani (04:06.552)
Yeah, do you like it blisters a lot or?

Josh (04:09.095)
Usually it's just soreness.

Philip J. Sebastiani (04:11.412)
Yeah, from being on the feet. Yeah, and you did a lot this year in the Texas Ultra Series and real excited to get into that here. We have two questions left. Speaking of feet, what's your favorite pair of shoes? This could be, since you're basketball player, it's could be basketball or Running.

Josh (04:12.787)
Mm-hmm.

Josh (04:30.152)
I'm cheap, so my bachelor shoes are horrible. For Running, I like the Altras is what I run in. And right now, the provision six is what I think is feeling the best on my feet right now.

Philip J. Sebastiani (04:37.773)
Yes.

Philip J. Sebastiani (04:44.056)
Okay. Is that a pretty plush shoe or like a.

Josh (04:46.341)
It is. Yeah, I'm putting a little bit more padding in my shoes right now.

Philip J. Sebastiani (04:54.188)
Yeah, provision six. If I ever try altra we'll see. I'll have to put that on the list. Still haven't tried any.

Josh (05:00.765)
I'm breaking them in, I'm kind of, have a foot injury that it's kind of helping with. So normally I don't think I would like them, but right now they're working really well for me.

Philip J. Sebastiani (05:09.548)
Yeah, do you want to share what's kind of going on with your foot?

Josh (05:12.89)
Yeah, I've got a genetic issue, so my feet are just kind of weird to begin with. But because of that and all the Running this year, I've got a Morton Aroma on the bottom of my foot that I've had for over six months now.

Philip J. Sebastiani (05:25.986)
Wow. And I think that's just wild to think, cause you basically did a bulk of the ultra series working through this, this injury.

Josh (05:34.462)
Yeah, had three three of them were dealing with this. Only two of them were ultra. One of them was just a little 5 K, but. Yeah, I've I put some miles on some pretty sore foot, so I'm trying to recover and heal from it right now.

Philip J. Sebastiani (05:38.574)
Yes.

Philip J. Sebastiani (05:48.556)
Yeah, we wish you the best in healing because it's not fun to not be able to do the thing. One of the things you love the most. All right. All right. Here's the last one of the athlete profile. If you could run with any athlete dead or alive, who would it be and why?

Josh (05:54.887)
For sure.

Josh (06:05.084)
If could run for, with any athlete, would be John Stockton, retired point guard of the Utah Jazz.

Philip J. Sebastiani (06:12.064)
I will say I'm a Stockton fan too. My wife loves Stockton. Like when I first met her, she was all into jazz and I had no idea about the basketball team, but I learned about Stockton. yeah.

Josh (06:26.105)
He is my idol. if I could and he's also a phenomenal not just basketball player, but phenomenal athlete. It would not surprise me if I found out that he runs ultra marathons just because.

Philip J. Sebastiani (06:37.4)
Just to say he Yeah, it's like those fun celebrity things you see like, are you faster than your celebrities marathon time or whatever? We have to see what, have to see.

Josh (06:46.414)
I'm not. Guarantee he's faster than me. I did get to see him play live. I did get to see him play at the end of his career. So I got to see him and the mailman play one game.

Philip J. Sebastiani (06:51.236)
Hello again.

Philip J. Sebastiani (06:59.011)
that's special. Yeah, he must have been... Must been, yeah, that was a years ago then. Yeah, I guess he's...

Josh (07:00.664)
For sure.

Josh (07:05.882)
Yeah, that was back in 02, I think. I was in Oregon visiting family with my dad and his uncle took us to a trailblazer and jazz game and I got to see them play.

Philip J. Sebastiani (07:10.305)
Wow.

Philip J. Sebastiani (07:17.348)
Yes, that's good. Yeah. I've been, um, I used to live in Oregon. So yeah, I've been, been by, uh, or the trail blazers play. I've never been to a game, but yeah, I know you're talking about beautiful right by the river over there. All right. Well, that completes the athlete profile. And I think now we really just want to get into who you are, your background and Running and move. We've talked to that. You've really like basketball, but.

Josh (07:28.036)
Mm-hmm. yep.

Philip J. Sebastiani (07:45.432)
That's still a far stone's throw from ultra Running. So just introduce yourself, share how you got started in ultra Running.

Josh (07:55.866)
Yeah, about oh, it's been six, five or six years ago, I started Running again when I was a kid. I loved to run. So I loved about basketball was just a constant Running. But knee problems hindered me starting in middle school. So I stopped Running track in middle school because it just hurt my knees too much. And then in 17, I had a knee operation. And after a couple of years of recovery, I started Running again. And for the first time in since I was a kid, it didn't hurt to run.

So I decided to train for the marathon because that was always on my bucket list was to do a marathon. And at the time, my mom was training and Running and she was trail Running and she did a marathon and inspired me to, you know, to kind of keep pushing for that. But in doing that, my other knee got worse. And so I had a second knee operation. And while recovering from that, I discovered David Goggins and.

heard and that's where I first heard of ultra marathons was through his book. And while I'm not a I never want to meet David Goggins, he's a little intense for me. I decided instead of doing a marathon, I'm just gonna heal up and just do an ultra marathon. So I did a 50k back in 2021 was my first 50k. Amen. That was Palo duro.

Philip J. Sebastiani (09:14.052)
Yeah, which one was it?

Yes, that is the place.

Josh (09:19.098)
I was gonna run the 25K and went, let's just go big. So I went, my longest race was a 5K and then I jumped up to 50K.

Philip J. Sebastiani (09:27.684)
Wow. That's quite the leap. never knew that. I guess I've never, never known that that was like the, origin story with it all. And yeah, David Goggins, you know, really I think responsible for this ultra endurance boom that, that we've experienced and partially responsible for the past 10 years. And, uh, really, yeah, that's such a, such a leap. that's where about the same time then in getting into the sport, uh, 19-20 around there.

Josh (09:47.012)
Mm-hmm.

Philip J. Sebastiani (09:57.41)
Yeah, because that might have been around the time I first met you then in 21.

Josh (10:01.43)
I think so. Yeah, because I think that was your first year doing the 50 miler, I think was the same year that I did. Yeah. And so I think I think you either I think you had reached out right before that race or right after that race, we connected for the first time via social media. Yeah, I think it's that race and real and I was laying on the living room floor at home and my wife made a comment of something like you're going to do more of these, aren't you? And I was like, Yep, I'm hooked. This is not the end.

Philip J. Sebastiani (10:03.022)
I don't

Yeah, it was.

Philip J. Sebastiani (10:17.25)
Yikes.

Philip J. Sebastiani (10:30.974)
I saw this funny meme the other day where it's like, you know, guys in their 30s, it's like either fitness or barbecuing. Sometimes I think about how barbecuing would be a little more tasty than the 50th gel of the race.

Josh (10:46.006)
You know, we would eat a lot better if we were barbecuing.

Philip J. Sebastiani (10:50.52)
Yes, we would. I know even if we just talk about the High Plains Elite crew, know Aaron is the only one I know of that's like barbecues and smokes, briskets and stuff regularly. I don't know. Do you do any of that?

Josh (11:02.742)
I don't, I'd rather just make a sandwich and be done. I'm too lazy when it comes to cooking.

Philip J. Sebastiani (11:06.552)
Yep, sandwich.

Exactly, just the inconvenient necessity of eating, whatever quick fuel. yeah, we, first 50K and then I guess it was two years later you decided to do the Ultra Series, right?

Josh (11:12.512)
Thank you.

Josh (11:25.718)
Yeah, a couple years late. Yeah, because I heard about the Ultra Series, I guess at the end of 23 is where I was looking at my 24. My goals were 24 and saw the series and decide I was going to do that over the next two years. I got a little ambitious and did it all in one.

Philip J. Sebastiani (11:42.24)
Yes. So that's perfect segue into what's kind of define the ultra series for some of the folks and kind of how we'll format. This is we'll talk about each race. there are five races in the Texas ultra series, and we'll go through each one, where it is, what you can do at it. And then we'll hear a little bit about how Josh did that specific race. So the Texas ultra series, like I said, five races.

throughout the state of Texas. So there are regional races and then there is a championship race that's in Austin. So the regional races are the North Texas, the West Texas, East Texas, South Texas, and then the big Texas in the capital. So I actually reached out to Briston who is the owner of Texas Outlaw Running and I got a quote for him about why he wanted to start this series.

Josh (12:19.414)
Thank

Josh (12:36.918)
Thank

Philip J. Sebastiani (12:38.148)
And this is direct quote from Briston. So, I wanted people to experience the different parts of Texas with it being such a big state. Anything from the jungle like Piney Woods, all the way to the dry arid plateaus and canyons of the West. The series was designed to allow people to experience all of the vastness of Texas in one year while accomplishing Running goals. That was my inspiration for the series.

Josh (12:54.142)
Okay.

Philip J. Sebastiani (13:04.814)
for others to take on an adventure and explore the vastness of Texas. Also, the medals that make up the state of Texas are just straight up cool. So, you do all these five races, you put all the medals together, magnet, and you get the great Lone Star state. All in one thing to display, which is behind Josh right now actually, in the background. It looks really cool.

Josh (13:12.98)
Thank

Josh (13:32.242)
I'll move it over so people can see it.

Philip J. Sebastiani (13:34.52)
Yeah. Yeah. So, with that, know, you said you wanted this to be your big, 24 goal and, and you did it. So kind of let's, let's start at the top. the, North Texas ultra happens now it happens in, February and Jacksboro, Texas at Fort Richardson state park. And each one of these regional races has a variety of distances from five K.

to 50 miles, sometimes 100K, sometimes tops out 50K. But this one in particular has a 5K, 10K, 25K, 50K, 52 miler and 100K. So which distance did you do at this one?

Josh (14:17.522)
I did the 50k on North Texas.

Philip J. Sebastiani (14:21.196)
Yes, so February in North Texas, that day, what was the weather like?

Josh (14:26.832)
It was cold and windy. I don't remember what the I think it was in the High 30s, low 40s without the windchill and with the windchill it was probably a little below freezing maybe it was below freezing when we started by the end of the day. It was probably pretty close to freezing with the windchill.

Philip J. Sebastiani (14:42.372)
Yeah, this year I was actually there as well, I can speak to coming from West Texas, you know, it wasn't that windy to us, but to a lot of other people, yeah, pretty windy.

Josh (14:45.617)
Amen.

Josh (14:52.538)
Okay. For us, it was a typical day. was, and there were, there were parts that were kind of sheltered from the big parts of the wind, but there was a good stretch where you were Running back right into a strong cold headwind.

Philip J. Sebastiani (15:06.754)
Yes, the direction you went out, eventually you got to turn around. So this course is an out and back. When you turn around, you, if the wind was with you and now it's against you. do you want to talk about kind of the course a little bit and kind of describe it for listeners?

Josh (15:21.938)
Yeah, was a relatively, I mean, it wasn't too technical. wasn't technical at all, in my opinion. And it was I think it had probably between a thousand and fifteen hundred feet of elevation over the entire 50 K. So it was relatively flat. And there was a couple of miles where you're Running right next to the lakes, you know, the views were really, really good the whole time. You get to see the lake almost the entire or a good, good chunk of it.

and

Philip J. Sebastiani (15:51.692)
Yeah. Have you ever done an out and back style race before this?

Josh (15:56.788)
That was my first one doing that.

Philip J. Sebastiani (16:00.152)
How did that play into how you raced or how you ran?

Josh (16:06.292)
So I'm a pretty boring guy in my brain. I don't really need a lot of stuff happening. So the fact that it was just straight, you know, out and right back, it allowed me just to kind of zone out, not have to worry about making turns or be worried about where I'm supposed to go. And so in that sense, it made it a lot easier not having to worry about that.

Philip J. Sebastiani (16:25.57)
So no way getting lost on this course, right? Something really goes wrong if you get lost.

Josh (16:30.797)
And maybe if you're doing the 100k and you're really, really tired. I don't want to say I mean, if you get lost, hey, there's probably something going on. But I felt very comfortable Running it. I didn't didn't feel worried about any of it during the first out and back.

Philip J. Sebastiani (16:47.096)
Yeah. And I appreciate how nice I would just come out and say that the easiest course of the series is the first one. Get your yourself, get yourself into the, into what's to come. So how did that, the race end up for you? was that maybe your second 50 K ever? or have you done more before?

Josh (16:53.762)
I think so,

Josh (16:58.092)
Mm-hmm.

Josh (17:04.462)
That was my third I've done Capra I did Capra Canyon as well before this one. So I had done a couple 50 K's and a 50 miler before doing this. But yeah, it was I PR my 50k by always well over an hour. So I think it was like 5:28. It was just under five and a half hours. So I was very pleased with how I ended up and it was actually my the only 50k I've ever done that I did not walk any of it I ran the entire thing.

Philip J. Sebastiani (17:08.582)
that's right.

Philip J. Sebastiani (17:35.16)
Yes, that is a big sense of accomplishment when you can do every step of the race. So even if someone isn't doing the ultra series, this is a great race to PR. I think at any distance, like the weather, if the wind's a little less, the weather is great. And you're not overheating and at risk for any of that. And the trail is very runnable, very soft, fine gravel and open wide. can crank on it, go fast.

Josh (17:44.641)
Most definitely.

Josh (17:59.019)
Mm-hmm first. yeah, I would I really want to do it again. See if I can do better

Philip J. Sebastiani (18:05.666)
Yes, and what would you say your biggest takeaway was from the first race?

Josh (18:10.325)
So I also kind of had the I had a mindset at you know, it was probably 18, 19 miles in that I started having the doubts of, I don't want to do this. I'm getting tired. And I just started stuffing food down and was like, you know what? Just start eating, just start eating more. And it was like my nutrition finally clicked where I was able to kind of push past some of the pain and fatigue and get some food in and then kind of get that boost and realized.

I guess my nutrition plan finally started working for me.

Philip J. Sebastiani (18:44.452)
Yes, that's a big aha moment I think for all ultra runners when you finally get that piece figured out. What are some of the things you eat? Tuck in.

Josh (18:53.196)
I'm a I really like the fig bars. Big bars work really well for me. I don't I don't do gels too much. I like real food. And so the honey stingers have you know, I like those. And those are the I think those are the two things I ate on that run. Because I just ate those and drink.

Philip J. Sebastiani (19:13.358)
So was there.

Was there a point where maybe you took a lot in to kind of catch yourself back up? or was that like the mile 19, 18, 19 that you were talking about?

Josh (19:26.101)
Yeah, I was around that eight in between that 18, 19 mile range where I realizing I was I didn't realize was low on calories until I was like, you know what, just eat something. And I ate a fig bar, was a couple hundred calories. within a few minutes, my day completely turned around.

Philip J. Sebastiani (19:43.14)
I love to hear that, you cause some of these races are so much is unknown that you sometimes have to take that leap of faith and just like, let's try it. If it doesn't work, try something else. Right. So we got through North Texas. That's in February, no races in March for the series. So we fast forward to April. about two full months later.

Josh (19:51.031)
Mm-hmm.

Philip J. Sebastiani (20:10.932)
And this is the West Texas ultra in Fritch Texas. So for us pretty close to home. And we really had a big showing. I remember from the team there and that was great. This is at Lake Meredith, a national recreation area. That's the complete title of it happens first week of April. And the difficult thing about that is.

Josh (20:11.372)
Thank

Josh (20:28.172)
and

Philip J. Sebastiani (20:38.82)
The weather up here that time of the year is unpredictable in that it could be blazing hot or it could still be a cool day. This In 2024, it was the blazing hot version of Panhandle weather. Um, and I think that factor had so much to do with how the day went for a lot of the people racing. Uh, this race also is a, um, had some

different distances that had a 10K, 25K, 50K and topped out at 50 mile. So what distance did you do at the West Texas ultra?

Josh (21:13.933)
I added the 50k on this one too.

Philip J. Sebastiani (21:17.348)
All right, so is this the closest you ever put 50Ks together, two months?

Josh (21:22.093)
Yes, yeah.

Philip J. Sebastiani (21:24.236)
Yeah, because guess, mean, the whole series in general, the time periods, it's pretty compressed.

Josh (21:29.975)
Yeah, think the closest I've ever done was like six months before this year. So I was in new territory doing this.

Philip J. Sebastiani (21:38.564)
So what adjustments did you make after the first race, you know, knowing West Texas was coming, knowing what the profile, which is basically completely opposite from North Texas, like West Texas, there's a lot of ups and downs in it and kind of talk about the course for a little bit for us.

Josh (21:55.622)
yeah.

So one thing I forgot to mention in North Texas, a couple of weeks before I sprained my ankle playing basketball, which is going to be a story you hear more than once on whatever I talk about today. So I went into North Texas a little injured and then for West Texas, I had recovered from that. so I actually, probably the six weeks before, I pushed really hard and did a lot of trail work in the canyon, did a lot more, you know, I did the CCC trail.

more than I really wanted to and rock garden trying to get elevation and working on technical stuff because I knew Lake Meredith was going to do that. So that was kind of my prep for that. I went really hard.

Philip J. Sebastiani (22:41.82)
And so the actual course of West Texas, I'll let you describe it for listeners here. I don't know what South Texas looks like, but in my opinion, I West Texas is the toughest. You can be the voice here.

Josh (22:58.344)
I think overall I for the ones I did West Texas was the toughest in terms of elevation technicality. I had some other stuff that happened during that race that made it tough too. for sure that the tech there was there was good runnable parts at West Texas, but there was a whole bunch of just if you weren't going up, you were going down. There really wasn't a lot of just flat until you were back on the road for what that last half mile or something.

Philip J. Sebastiani (23:25.892)
Yeah, and just really great views of the lake. so you're going up and down, you're snaking up and down these mesas basically all day. If it's hot, that means you're baking along the mesas all day. And yeah, three, three trees is, we have to add that to the, to the website. I'll have to let Bristan know.

Josh (23:39.637)
I think there was three trees in the entire course.

Josh (23:48.027)
There's three trees and two of them are at the start.

Philip J. Sebastiani (23:52.132)
There we go. I remember this so vividly when you finished. You had a thermometer on your vest. And what was it reading by the end? Do you remember?

Josh (24:00.765)
Yeah

Josh (24:04.522)
It was in it was in the 90s. It didn't didn't hit 100 but it was definitely in the 90s.

Philip J. Sebastiani (24:07.35)
Yeah, for April.

And no one is heat acclimated in the beginning of April yet.

Josh (24:16.872)
Yeah, no, I ran with one guy who was from Los Alamos and he ended up, he was doing the 50 mile. He had to drop and he's like, yeah, last week I was Running in 20 degree weather and came to Amarillo and he got hit pretty hard with the heat.

Philip J. Sebastiani (24:35.232)
Yeah. And just the, that does not bode well with that drastic of a swing, you know, 70 degree, seven degrees plus from what your body's used to. and so the race itself, like the aid stations about four or five miles apart, which, you know, that can be quite a haul when you're later in the race. And did you change anything up?

Josh (24:43.752)
Don't run.

Josh (24:59.802)
Mm-hmm.

Philip J. Sebastiani (25:04.642)
from how you, knowing that, like did you carry things differently in your vest or carry more or less when the heat came? How'd you cool yourself off to? Like share some of that.

Josh (25:16.814)
So my plan, because I did not this race completely fell apart for me. My plan was to use the aid stations and I was carrying bandanas that I could put ice in and I've sewed up bandanas. I've got a little pouch I can put on my neck and I carried arm sleeves so I could pack my arm sleeves with ice because I knew it was going to get hot. Seeing the weather beforehand. But I got about six miles in and my IT band went out on me.

Philip J. Sebastiani (25:39.118)
in the web.

Josh (25:44.824)
And so my Running stopped by about mile nine, I didn't run anymore. Until like the last little half mile, just, you know, got a run to the finish. But so then at that point, it became, you know, my my goal was to run it in six hours and I finished in just over 10. And so my everything had to change because of how long I was going to be out there.

Philip J. Sebastiani (26:09.982)
So you just, I'm saying you just flip the switch that, you know, I'm not gonna stop. This is just, the cards I was dealt today and you basically hiked in the last 20 miles or so.

Josh (26:22.992)
Yeah, I hiked in the last marathon pretty much. Because it was I think the turnaround point was somewhere in the

I'm trying to remember. It's like nine. think the entire 50 K was actually a 50 K plus. was close to it was a little over 34 miles. So I guess about eight and a half miles in at the turnaround point, I made up my mind that I was going to hike back to the start, finish and call it a day because I couldn't I couldn't bend my knee without a lot of pain. And then I got to an aid station about mile 12. And they had apparently some people had been coming to station saying there was a guy having a hard time because I was on my hands and knees climbing some of the some of the hills.

Philip J. Sebastiani (26:38.744)
Mm-hmm.

Josh (27:01.507)
because I couldn't get my left knee. I couldn't pick my left foot up to go uphill. So I was on my hands and knees crawling up. And they had a there was a big yeah.

Philip J. Sebastiani (27:09.516)
Yeah, because there's a big climb that it's it's the good the grade is really steep. I mean,

Josh (27:15.94)
really steep and it was rocky and some spot or not rocky it was had a it was really really sandy and dirt. So it was loose dirt and some loose rock. And at that point, yeah, I was on my hands and knees. And I got passed for probably, you know, 30 or 40 people in that mile stretch. And so they they talked to the aid station, they had volunteer paramedics there and they were they were waiting for me. And so whenever I came in, they they pulled me aside and they said, Hey, we'll give you a ride back to the start finish and

I got very offended and was probably a little rude to them and said, I'm not quitting. What are you talking about? Leave me alone. I'm going and grab my stuff. And at that point said, we're not quitting. We're not going to walk back to the finish. We're going to do the rest of the race. We paid for it. We trained for it. And I DNF last year, previous year in a big race, and I vowed I wasn't going to, if I'm going to DNF, it's going to be because I'm too hurt to move.

Philip J. Sebastiani (28:12.388)
There you go, so you found a way and you got there and that just speaks to the resilience and like powerful mind that you have. And I remember after hearing, you this story when you finished, I was like, man, Blash hill is tough because most people, nine out of 10 people probably would have stopped. Let's be honest here. So that is awesome.

Josh (28:33.267)
I wanted to I honestly I probably should have, you know, for my for my own physical health. But I also had another race plan the next month that I hadn't paid for yet. I said, well, if I'm this beat up, I'm not going to do that race. I might as well finish this one and at least say I did it.

Philip J. Sebastiani (28:50.872)
Yeah. And now you don't have a gaping hole in your Texas medal right now and having to wait all the way through April. It feels good. It paid off. That's a, that is a great story. so I guess really just touching on, touch about the course briefly one last time before we move on is that this year or last year, it was different than the originally planned course. there were like

Josh (28:55.519)
it feels good. Yes, it does.

Philip J. Sebastiani (29:18.348)
a good number of out and backs with some loops to spread the group out. But, the course itself is supposed to be like two big out and backs in the north direction and a south direction, but we had to stay on the north side of the trail system. this last year. for those listeners thinking about doing the West Texas ultra one, you should, because it's beautiful and there's, it really does look like Mars. Like it is, it is out of this world. You will not regret.

Josh (29:21.431)
Mm-hmm.

Josh (29:43.926)
Yeah

Philip J. Sebastiani (29:48.58)
driving 7, 8, 12, 13 hours to West Texas to run this race. secondly, if you just want a real physical challenge, I do believe that this race gives you that and then some, even if things are going great.

Josh (30:05.932)
Yeah, the 50k is over. yeah, I mean, yeah, even if I didn't have a bad day, it still would have been a tough. I think the elevation was just over 4000 feet for the 50k. I think it's six or seven thousand for the 50 miler, if I remember right. Whoever designed it, a little sadist, but.

Philip J. Sebastiani (30:20.492)
Yeah, I gotta get bris-

Yeah. have to let person know. on the website it says 4,500 feet for 50 mile. that's not right. Yeah. I got, I like, also ran this race last year and I got over 7,000 on my watch. So I'm thinking, I mean, how can you not like it's there are long, long graded climbs. So, but, beautiful worth it. Exactly. Great challenge. So

Josh (30:30.882)
No, it's not.

Josh (30:46.762)
It's good challenge.

Philip J. Sebastiani (30:51.854)
We'll move on to the third race of the series. You know, almost basically almost halfway home here in the East Texas ultra. So we went from the North, which I don't understand Texas geography, but North is like DFW area to the West Texas Panhandle, not El Paso, Panhandle now all the way to the piney woods of the East Texas ultra in Pittsburgh, Texas at Lake Bob Sandlin state park. this race happens in May. So.

you had to come back six weeks, if you were to do Ultra Series, it's about six weeks after the West Texas Ultra. And this race has a 7K, 14K, 28K, 50K. So I'm assuming you did the 50K?

Josh (31:37.462)
I did the 50k on this one too, yep.

Philip J. Sebastiani (31:40.196)
There you go. That's three 50 Ks within the span of three months. Yeah. That is awesome. So have you ever been to west, or sorry, excuse me, East Texas before.

Josh (31:45.954)
Three months,

Josh (31:53.12)
Yeah, it's been a while, but yeah, I've been I've been East Texas a number of times. Usually Dallas is about as far east as I go. And it's about an hour east of Dallas.

Philip J. Sebastiani (32:04.384)
Okay. And this surface of this race is dirt, single track throughout this entirety. And there's another lake that you can run by to on this one.

Josh (32:06.919)
Yeah.

Josh (32:16.116)
Yep, you run by the lake a couple times. It's I think the the seven k is just one loop. So if you're doing the 50k, it was seven loops.

Philip J. Sebastiani (32:27.086)
So How did the elevation compare to what you've done already? say North Texas was pretty pancakey and then West Texas was a lot of up and down. How does East Texas fit into that?

Josh (32:38.792)
Right in the middle. It was right in between the two of them.

Philip J. Sebastiani (32:40.58)
Right in the middle, the sweet spot.

Josh (32:46.142)
So it was I think it was it was somewhere between maybe 2500 feet of elevation, I think. Definitely a lot of runnable parts to it. There was there was no really big climbs that I remember. There was like, know, there's a couple of steep climbs, but they were very, very short. So. Very good course to run on.

Philip J. Sebastiani (33:10.212)
Yeah, so we're getting into May here, we're getting into warmer temps. And unlike West Texas, there are 3,000 trees at East Texas or more. So how did that factor? Like, did you feel the humidity? Was that in play during the day or?

Josh (33:30.993)
Definitely felt the humidity. It was, I think it was at 90 % when we started and it was probably 70 to 80 % by the end of the race. And so I'm not used to humidity. I don't train in humidity. I've never really ran in humidity. But with most of the course being shaded, I didn't really have any problems with it. I think the end of the race, it was 90 degrees.

So I'm used to the heat, the humidity I was able to deal with pretty well, I think.

Philip J. Sebastiani (34:02.721)
How did the the strategy So by this time IT was okay and things were fine or lingering?

Josh (34:08.732)
I took the month in between I went really, really light and did lot of stretching and recovery. And so I was just hoping that I really didn't do a lot of big runs in between those two races. So I was kind of just taking a gamble and hoping that my knee held up pretty well. And it wasn't perfect, but it wasn't too bad.

Philip J. Sebastiani (34:31.466)
But Were you able to run more of this one?

Josh (34:34.25)
Yes, I definitely was able to run more. Just for fun on the first, I think it was mile three, I rolled my ankle because that's what I do. So the knee, maybe the knee was hurting more than I knew because my ankle was hurting more but

Philip J. Sebastiani (34:51.47)
So Are there like roots that people need to be aware of out there or how did, how did you roll this ankle three miles in?

Josh (34:56.633)
I rolled it because I was you know enjoying the day looking around and just stepped wrong. I I roll my ankle stepping on a crack in the sidewalk so it doesn't take much. There's definitely more tree roots at the East Texas Ultra but it wasn't anything I don't think it was that bad. But it's more than we're used to here in Amarillo.

Philip J. Sebastiani (35:18.434)
Okay. Yeah. So physically it sounds like you were getting better. How about mentally knowing that, you I guess 25 K into the Texas, East Texas ultra you're halfway done with the series in a way.

Josh (35:19.579)
But yeah, it's not too bad.

Josh (35:35.611)
Mm hmm. Well, I think the the mental battle was won at West Texas. I realize it can't get much worse than that. And then coming through the East Texas, it was it was just a fun day. I really enjoyed it. My wife made the trip with me, so we kind of had just a little getaway for a couple of days. And since it was a loop course, she decided to take a chair and sit at the start line and enjoy the afternoon, talk to other runners.

she was helping other wives who were this was their first time crew and their husbands and so she was given advice and they were laughing you know kind of laughing about how ridiculous their husbands are sometimes. So it was fun for her more fun for her and again every four and a half miles I was crossing through seeing her so that was always a perk.

Philip J. Sebastiani (36:08.376)
Thanks.

Philip J. Sebastiani (36:17.454)
Yeah.

Philip J. Sebastiani (36:25.74)
Yeah, that's great to see when our spouses can be involved in the things that we like to do. I think it makes it really special for everyone. And yeah, my wife isn't so social, at races. She likes to keep to herself.

Josh (36:46.587)
My wife's a little bit of a social butterfly. She likes talking to people and at the races she knows that, you know, I'm focused on it. So once I'm kind of through, it's kind of, she's up to her own. She ended up taking a hike during one of my loops and got to go down to the lake and walk around the trails a little bit. she, we want to take the kids and just go visit that lake and that state park just as a family, not attached to the race, just for the fun. Cause it was a really, really pretty lake and a lot of really nice areas over there.

Philip J. Sebastiani (37:09.816)
you

Philip J. Sebastiani (37:18.124)
Yeah, so I never realized this by, yeah, these three races in the series all next to lakes. Pretty cool.

Fun fact, if you're a lake fan. So would you say that was maybe the standout moment, the bond with your wife or was there something else? that happened during the race?

Josh (37:38.235)
For that race, yeah, the fun that we had together was that this race I was actually competing trying to get a spot in the Big Texas Championship. So you have to place top seven. So I was gunning for a top seven finish. I think after like the first two loops, I was somewhere in the 13 to 15. And this race actually was my first race that I actually started competing and was able to be in a good mental headspace as well as nutrition and movement that I was able to start.

picking off runners. I missed the bid. took eight. I missed seventh by about, it was less than 10 minutes. But I was very happy with how well I was able to recover from rolling my ankle and kind of a slow first two loops and then be able to stay consistent and then be able to catch a lot of people.

Philip J. Sebastiani (38:27.478)
Yes, I'm glad you mentioned that because I forgot to mentioned that. So at all of these regional races, not only can you do the Texas ultra series to get the whole state medal, but if you finish in the top seven in the furthest distance that is being run at each region, regional race, you get a ticket to the Big Tex ultra championship, which is a 100 K in Austin. And we'll talk about that when we get there. but really.

nice spin on making this a championship and adding that into it, that component, I think. Yeah, it allows folks in each region if they want to participate in the championship and to go against the rest of the state, wants to compete in it.

Josh (39:04.771)
yeah, add some fun to it.

Josh (39:20.153)
And I think it definitely adds to a competitive level. I know the guy that I was chasing for seventh place, there was a short little out and back that he was coming back that I was going out on. And we both looked at each other and we both knew like I was doing the math. I was pretty sure I was an eighth. And when we made eye contact, it was like it's game on. He knew he knew I was coming for him. And so we talked afterwards first and I can't remember his name. We talked afterwards for a few minutes and

We both knew what we were both trying to do.

Philip J. Sebastiani (39:52.588)
I can pull up his name for you. Let's see. That was Blake. Was it Blake? Wilkins?

Josh (39:59.917)
Like, yeah.

Philip J. Sebastiani (40:02.776)
Mr. Blake, shout out to Mr. Blake. You guys pulled the best out of each other that day. That's awesome.

Josh (40:10.381)
Really did, yeah, he was going hard.

Philip J. Sebastiani (40:16.79)
Yeah. And that brings us to the South Texas Ultra. You mentioned it a little earlier on the show that you didn't do an ultra distance at this one, but let me introduce the South Texas Ultra first. getting a little ahead. So this one, we go down South to Leakey, Texas to the H.W. Lewis Ranch. This one happens in October. So you got the whole summer off. You get the whole summer to recover.

And you don't have to run a super hot, hot, regional race for the Texas ultra series. This happens usually first week of October, beginning of October here, they have a 5k, 17 K 35 K 50 K. And the 50 K is the then ticket into the championship. And for those folks, it is the last chance to get a ticket into the championship.

So talk about the distance that you chose to ran here and really the reason why.

Josh (41:15.575)
So this one was the this was the weekend before I was doing a 50 mile race in Palo Duro Canyon. So this was the Saturday before that one. So I just did the 5 K. Just because I was going to I wanted to complete the series in one year and I knew that I want the 50 mile was my "A" race. So I wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize my ability to run that race. So I just did the five K. So I drove about seven and a half hours one way to run.

a 5k.

Philip J. Sebastiani (41:47.982)
That is commitment to the medal. That's what I would say. You don't want that blank space in there. You want...

Josh (41:54.615)
didn't want the blank space. wanted them all. And it was it was October but it was I think 96 the day before. And I only ran the five case we didn't get you know it was it wasn't hot whenever I finished my race but it I think it was up in the 90s for those who were Running all day.

Philip J. Sebastiani (41:58.206)
Yes.

Philip J. Sebastiani (42:15.396)
Yeah. And, and At least the picture I have in my head of South Texas is just rocks and rocky trail. Was that what you saw for those 3.1 miles?

Josh (42:25.995)
Yeah, well, so for the 5k you follow so it's on it's on some I think it's a wealthy families ranch. I don't remember which ranch that is. But we followed out like just kind of a gravel ATV road almost it was a small gravel road that we followed for probably a mile. And then we went off trail, we went off the road and there really wasn't a trail they just is kind of like cross country. They had a kind of like a mode spot and had flags kind of veering through.

And since I had gotten there the night before and I camped out, I went out and I ran slash I jogged walked the course the night before. Because I knew it wasn't a trail, I was wanting to make sure I didn't because I was going to be Running Running a faster pace. I was going to try to compete for the first overall for the five case. I wanted to see where everything was at to make sure I didn't hurt myself or didn't get surprised by anything. And so there was really wasn't too rocky, but it was just

Again, it was like cross country. Random holes, random stuff just in the way.

Philip J. Sebastiani (43:26.46)
wow.

Philip J. Sebastiani (43:31.298)
Yeah, a little different than from the other races in the series, for sure.

Josh (43:38.604)
That's just for the five K for the act for the for the longer distances. I think they were actually following a trail. Because the 5 K was his own. We ran the same loop for about a nap for about a mile. And then after that, we split off the 5 K split. And then the other guys take a right and go up a pretty big. There's a pretty big climb from what I heard. On the on the longer one.

Philip J. Sebastiani (44:00.514)
Yeah, on the website it says rugged rocky with some dirt and grass atv trails and elevation lots of ups and downs climbing with one big climb 750 feet per 10 miles

Josh (44:21.067)
From those around me, that's what I heard. I heard there was a good, a really fun climb in there.

Philip J. Sebastiani (44:27.416)
Yeah, the picture is even on the website. looks like it's a really exposed climb in the top has a get a nice view and then you may turn around and head back down. so yeah. So did you stick around it a little bit and kind of see some of the races going on or.

Josh (44:35.582)
Okay.

Josh (44:44.759)
I stuck around for a little bit because I because I'm me I sprayed my ankle about mile two. And in fact I I I sprained it hard I was Running there was a there was a 10 maybe 11 year old might have been 12. There was a young kid in front of me that was sad. I we were Running sub 7 probably around seven minute pace. And so I was following him knowing that there's a little bit of a hill coming up and I'm 6 2 and he

might not even been five foot. So I'm like, I'll just follow him until I get to the hill and then I'll take off. And the sun, we turned around a tree and the sun came over the hill and I put my head down to put my sunglasses on and I stopped looking at my feet and I stepped in something and I wrote Spring Manacle and I went down hard. I crashed, tumbled a kid who was behind me. He stopped and was checking on me, if I was okay.

Philip J. Sebastiani (45:33.583)
Josh (45:40.736)
And so then it was, yeah, so that was. I had to. Tighten my shoe up and kind of get it out to finish. I think I still finish seventh or eighth, I don't remember. I was able to put some weight on it before it got really bad, but by the time I got to the finish, I was talking to a few people. I stayed for a few minutes and my ankle swelled up really bad, so. I was there just talking, just trying to hope that my ankle would stop hurting.

Philip J. Sebastiani (46:06.566)
Yeah, especially with the 50 miler the next week, right? How that would play into things.

Josh (46:12.213)
Yep. That was as soon as I sprang my ankle and hit the ground. I was beating myself up going, just cost yourself your the race you've been training for for two years. It was it was a pretty it was not a good time to be around me. I was pretty negative and in a bad mood.

Philip J. Sebastiani (46:30.68)
Yeah. And, but you were able, you did great at Palo Duro. Right. Finished. we, we all were there. waited for you. And still the ankle, the ankle was there the whole time. Wasn't it?

Josh (46:36.649)
I was able to do that race the next week. was...

Yeah.

I'm still recovering from that ankle sprain. It's still not 100%.

Philip J. Sebastiani (46:51.46)
Oh no, that's not good. Is it at least a different foot from the foot problem? Or is it the same? It's the same. Oh no.

Josh (46:52.353)
So.

Josh (46:59.575)
No. Yeah, so the foot problem in the ankle. Yeah, Palo Duro my right, my right foot was just trash from about the first step to the end. But if they're getting better, the ankles feeling a lot better, it's still a little weak and then the foot it's it's on the mend.

Philip J. Sebastiani (47:11.49)
Ow.

Philip J. Sebastiani (47:18.274)
The testament to the power of the mind. If you want to get it done, you can get it done.

Josh (47:25.181)
Most definitely.

Philip J. Sebastiani (47:27.276)
Yes. So you get through Palo Duro and that puts you about a month out from the Big Texas ultra. All right. Let me, let me introduce the Big Texas ultra really quick. It is the final race of the Texas ultra series happens in Georgetown, Texas. So sorry, Austin, Georgetown. They're the same to me. it happens in the middle of November, right before Thanksgiving and

Josh (47:35.689)
Mm-hmm.

Philip J. Sebastiani (47:56.248)
It is a course that, in my opinion, is a little bit of everything that the Texas Ultra Series has to offer. So it is very unique in that sense where you see technical rock, see flat, fast trail that you can just grind on and punchy short hills and...

Josh (48:08.853)
Okay.

Philip J. Sebastiani (48:22.016)
All kinds of great stuff. at this race, they have a 15 K, 50 K and a 100 K. and on top of that, they have the 100 K championship, which are for those folks who were able to get a ticket at a regional. So what distance did you do at this race?

Josh (48:37.077)
So I did the 50k at this one too.

Philip J. Sebastiani (48:40.534)
All right. So every race you did in the series started with a 5 at least, right? Positive positivity there. Right? So we're going through dirt single track, rocky trails, Jeep roads and paved trails. So like I said, a lot of everything. This follows the good Water loop and other paved city trails. And what's really nice about this loop is that it is a 50 K loop. So you only had to go around once and you were, I know it was all good after that.

Josh (48:44.693)
Yep.

Philip J. Sebastiani (49:09.668)
About 2300 feet of gain, that's not what you got.

Josh (49:12.306)
Yeah, I was pretty close to that.

Philip J. Sebastiani (49:14.976)
Yes, and it starts in Russell Park Trailhead in Georgetown in the Goodwater Loop. So going into it, what was your mindset? You know, this is the final race of the series. Are you pumped? You ready to go?

Josh (49:30.324)
I was yes, I was I was ready to go except I was still dealing with a foot problem. I was very concerned about my foot. With because at the time I didn't know what was wrong and I was really concerned at a stress fracture. And because of the goals that I had said, I said, well, I'll go see the doctor the day after this race. no matter what happens, I'm going to get through it. So I didn't know how well my foot would hold up.

but I also had my entire family. had my three kids and my wife came down for the trip and my kids haven't seen their dad quit. And so I was like, okay, it's not gonna happen. We're not gonna quit. And usually halfway through the race, I kind of get a little down. My wife sees kind of, I'm getting negative. I'm starting to not have as much fun. And I set a goal that every eight station, my kids were gonna see me screaming and yelling and hooting, hollering and smiling and having a good time.

And so that was my goal going into it was just to have fun and let my kids see their daddy go do something hard.

Philip J. Sebastiani (50:35.83)
Yes, I am sure that's become a core memory for them because I know that's part of my own thoughts too. And like, where are my kids to races, you know, we're setting an example, we're setting a standard for them and, and you want to show them that, you know, if you say you're to do something, you do it. If you're going to set a goal and you work hard, you can accomplish it.

Josh (50:59.716)
And things can be hard and you can still have fun. And you can be miserable and still be having fun.

Philip J. Sebastiani (51:03.96)
Yes.

Philip J. Sebastiani (51:08.568)
Yep. Yep. Those are all great, great things, you know, to emulate for our children. So then crossing the finish line, did it feel, it felt great? You just flop to the ground. You're like, it's done finally.

Josh (51:22.136)
yeah, was a finish line. It was actually a bit of drama involved. So my my wife had between the last aid station, which I think was probably six miles from the last aid station to the end. She decided to go into town to get a bucket of ice for me at the finish line. And in doing so, the. She her she lost service, lost where she was at. Her phone was having problems and I called her saying I might I'm kind of get near the end.

And she wasn't there. So. There was a little bit of drama there. She was able to make it back in time with the kids and I told her, just call me when you when you get there. If you're not here, I'm not going to, you know, I'll just stay around the corner before I come around so the kids can see me finish. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait. Thankfully, they got back in time. I wasn't moving very fast. The second half, I wasn't moving fast. It was a lot more technical and. The way my foot was, I just couldn't I couldn't run too much.

Philip J. Sebastiani (51:51.565)
and she wasn't there.

Philip J. Sebastiani (52:07.598)
Did you have to wait long?

Josh (52:20.085)
So was a lot of I was Running for, you know, I think a tenth of a mile than I was hiking a tenth of a mile. And I did that for the last probably six, seven miles.

Philip J. Sebastiani (52:30.252)
Yeah, would you say it's the courses like booked end with some technical technical sections.

Josh (52:37.778)
Yeah, this this for me, the second half was the first half. There was some technical stuff, but it wasn't too it wasn't anything too bad. Our problem was it didn't fall. So the leaves are down. So the leaves are covering up the rocks and the tree roots. And there was a lot to do. So was wet and slippery. And then the second half, there's how many miles of just like Swiss cheese rock rock with just holes cut out of it. So it's sharp, jagged and on a beat up foot that was

Pretty, that was miserable, that was just misery.

Philip J. Sebastiani (53:11.83)
Yeah, the sharp rocks, you know, no matter even how much stack height you have on your shoe, you're going to feel it if you're stepping on one, stepping over. That's no fun.

Josh (53:20.838)
and my trail shoes don't have a big stack, so I was feeling everything.

Philip J. Sebastiani (53:25.938)
man.

Josh (53:26.556)
It's just a testament to those guys like Ryan and Billy who are able to run that, are able to move through that so smoothly and well, that's it's amazing how fast some of those guys are because I mean, it was hard. That was some really technical stuff.

Philip J. Sebastiani (53:40.612)
Yes, the championship race also last year had had its own dose of drama in it. We'll just say, I believe Texas Outlaw did an episode on it. So you can go and listen to that if you want to hear more in depth. But as we, as we move forward here and really, think now I want to hear about your, lessons you learned throughout this series. mean,

Josh (53:48.136)
Mm-hmm.

Philip J. Sebastiani (54:09.508)
You did it in a year. Is the timeframe two years? Is that correct? Technically.

Josh (54:13.524)
Yeah, you have 24 and 25 to do all five of them.

Philip J. Sebastiani (54:18.212)
Yes, but you decided I'm doing it in one year. So if you think of the Texas Ultra Series as a whole, I think I already know the answer to this question, but what is the most important lesson that you learned?

Josh (54:37.796)
I think the most important thing I learned is you can do a lot more than you think you can do. There was a lot of new things I did this year, so I've in the previous, I guess, three years of Running, I had done three ultras with a fourth that I DNF, so I had tried four of them. And this year I ran five, one of them not being in the series, but. Found out that your body can handle a lot if you if you train it right and you take care of it.

And then when you hit those low points, you know that that mental game is one of things I love about ultra Running is fighting the mental battles and You can beat them you can win and there's a lot to be gained from I think my mom says forcing your body to mind

Philip J. Sebastiani (55:26.72)
I like that, forcing your body to mind. What specific strategies do you use to get through those mental battles?

Josh (55:35.87)
Well, one of the things is, is I don't shut up. My brain is always going. And so every. I take that back, four of the races I did this year in the Ultra Series I did without music or headphones. It was just me and me, myself and I. And then Big Texas, I listened to some music, I needed something just to take my mind off the pain, but. I had a lot of it was just mental talking to myself and

You know, I used to be very negative and down on myself and didn't think I was good at anything. And I do the opposite now. There's a lot of self-talk and self-positivity and looking at the small victories. When you're at mile 10, you got 20 more miles to go or something. Hey, let's we're at 10 miles. Let's get to mile 11. We'll worry about mile 12 later.

Philip J. Sebastiani (56:30.338)
Yes, I agree chunking or breaking things into small denominations helps get through dark times.

Josh (56:40.871)
big time and then just you know setting little goals what little goal can you set at the West Texas I had to do that because I was hiking for so long. It was just a goal of we're going to hike it under 20 minute miles and the goal was every mile we do it under 20 minutes. And that's all I focused on it when I hit the next mile I take a swig of water and okay next mile let's do under 20 minutes and I was able to do 26 27 miles or something and every single one of those was under 20 minutes.

and you just break it up.

Philip J. Sebastiani (57:13.154)
That's tough. But that terrain, still hiking 20 minute miles, that's moving.

Josh (57:21.819)
It wasn't pretty.

Philip J. Sebastiani (57:22.051)
Wow.

Philip J. Sebastiani (57:26.018)
Wow, that is great. Then let's move on to what, I mean, of course it sounds like you would recommend this to other people, right?

Josh (57:37.654)
definitely. Yeah. If I the races for 2025, they kind of coincide with some other things I have to do so I won't be able to do all the races this year. But I would totally if I didn't already have previous things planned, I would totally do this series again.

Philip J. Sebastiani (57:54.948)
Yeah, and I'm glad you mentioned that too. It was really quick. I want to mention a little more about the series as a whole, and then I want to hear about what you're going to do in 2025. But they have a series pass for those listening, for those interested in doing what Josh did last year over the span of one year or two years. You can save 20 % on the 2025 Texas Ultra Series if you register for the series pass.

The pass includes all five races. So you get to go experience the vastness of Texas and you can choose your distance. And depending on the distance you choose is the name of the pass. then hence the discount you would get altogether. And anyone who finishes all five races receives a special wooden case.

Josh (58:28.594)
Thank

Okay.

Philip J. Sebastiani (58:49.518)
for all of the finisher metals that fit together to make the shape of Texas. Did you get one of those? Okay.

Josh (58:53.586)
Yep, they were handing them out there at the finish line.

Philip J. Sebastiani (58:58.52)
Yes, so here are the tech, here are the passes and this is also on the Texas Outlaw Running website, but they have the little tex pass. If you want to do the like the 10 Ks, the 15 Ks, the mid tex pass for the 25 Ks up to 35 Ks, the ultra tex, which is a 50 K at every single event and the big tex pass, which is doing every single qualifier.

race so the 52 mile 50 mile 100 K's 50 K I'm at South Texas and then the roundup tex pass is this scaffolding of getting you ready for your first ultra so it's a 10 K at North Texas a 25 K at West Texas 28 K at East Texas 35 K at South Texas and then finishing the series with the 50 K at the Big Texas Ultra so just another example of these innovative

Josh (59:36.218)
Thank

Josh (59:43.288)
Okay.

Philip J. Sebastiani (59:55.8)
things that that Briston and the folks at Texas Outlaw Running are thinking of to to bring more people into the sport. Because when you did it, was that there when you did it? I don't know if that was. The passes.

Josh (01:00:06.576)
I think it was but I didn't sign up that way because I know I'm prone to injuries and my body's taking a lot of beatings so didn't want to pay for it and then know end up blowing my knee out and be oh you're done Running forever so I didn't want to risk losing the money so I paid him for him individually.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:00:26.244)
And speaking of money, the series passes are available until February 5th. After that, you have to pay individually. So lock yours in. And as always, the Texas Outlaw races are cup free. So bring your own reasonable cups. I'm just reading off their website. But now let's hear about your 2025. know, big goal accomplished in 24. 25, we've just started. you know, a weekend. What's going on this year?

Josh (01:00:56.524)
So right now, the month of January is I'm still recovering from my foot injury. I've got a couple more weeks before I'm going to start putting mileage on again. So like last week, I ran, I think, 18 miles over the week, and I've been building it for the last month. So hopefully by the end of January, I'm back up to Running my normal training load. I'm wanting to do if I keep hearing rumors, haven't heard the official, but if Paladur does their spring race, I want to do whatever the longest. Time frame is.

which last I've heard it's looking like maybe a nine hour.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:01:32.827)
we hear different things. When did you hear that?

Josh (01:01:36.138)
About a week ago.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:01:38.511)
Oh, my news is very outdated then because I last heard about it in October. So is it like a 3,6,9? Is that what they're doing or what?

Josh (01:01:44.802)
That's what Kirsten was talking about. There's nothing official, but that's what they're discussing.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:01:52.74)
That's good. think they would get a good amount of people out if it was a three, six, nine, because originally I heard about a six, 12, 24. And I think if you did that, it would have to be a relay format, but three, six, nine, I think a lot more folks in our area can wrap their heads around for sure.

Josh (01:02:10.424)
which I think that's probably what they're thinking.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:02:13.078)
Yeah. And definitely, shout out to that race and really hope it, it happens. It's supposed to be end of March. Is that right?

Josh (01:02:21.612)
Yeah, I was hearing sprint the weekend of spring break is what I had been hearing,

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:02:25.452)
Okay. Spring break the poker run loop. So it's a four mile loop in Palo Duro Canyon. And you have a water stop halfway through. really, and just good views of the Canyon too. There you're, you're basically by on the Canyon floor for most of it. So you get to see everything looking up. But yeah, that's awesome. Nine hours. Do it.

Josh (01:02:46.791)
I'm hoping to do that one. And then of course, I'm doing Palo Duro 50 mile or this year. I set a goal this year my injury slowed me down, but the goal is sub 10 hours this year at Palo Duro 50.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:03:00.714)
Awesome. Nothing yet for in between, just whatever training races you want to throw in.

Josh (01:03:05.961)
Yeah, I'm not really sure I'm thinking of Chupacabra because I know it's close by. And I've gone to that place. I've gone to Copper Break so many times growing up doing father son camp out with church and fishing and love that area. So I'd like to do that one maybe and maybe doing the one that Chris ran last year doing the song of Christo

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:03:28.502)
I have heard he has signed up for it, so we can all go together. It's beautiful. I'll go out there again. But yeah, also...

Josh (01:03:34.699)
I want to do a mountain race this year if possible.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:03:39.5)
Also, yeah, Chupacabra is another Texas Outlaw Running race. happens beginning of May. So yeah, it's good right in the middle there. And then the mountain race and kind of end of fall, middle of fall really before Palo Duro. Backland. Yes. man. We cannot forget about The Backland man. Mason might have gotten us into some deep stuff there, but.

Josh (01:03:53.417)
and then finish the year at Backland. I'm joining the team to go to Backland this year.

Josh (01:04:08.608)
I think he did.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:04:08.622)
We'll just leave it at that. We'll leave it at that. And we got all year to get, get the house in order, get everyone there all trained up, but, Backland, the last person standing by Texas Outlaw Running, Texas Outlaw Running and High Plains Elite do have a really good working relationship. we, we love to go to all our races and anyone who hasn't done one yet, please check them out. You will not be disappointed.

I know lot of ultrarunners like coffee, I'm not a coffee drinker, I don't think you are Josh. But they now serve coffee at their races if you're into that. fun little fact.

Josh (01:04:40.022)
Mm-mm.

Josh (01:04:47.594)
And they have great volunteers at their races. They had my opinion. West Texas had the best volunteers, best aid stations, in my opinion. I don't remember who it was, but they brought bacon at West Texas. And that was awesome. They also had bacon at the Big Texas at the I think it was the Midpoint Aid Station, whatever it was called. They had bacon. I ate more than my fair share. But yeah, Big Texas and West Texas had the had the best.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:05:12.254)
yes.

Josh (01:05:15.454)
aid stations and volunteers, but the rest of them were still great volunteers, great aid stations.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:05:19.852)
Yeah, I believe it was a local church for West Texas. It might've been the like a Fritch or maybe somewhere from Dumas, a local like church came out to help. and ran. Yeah.

Josh (01:05:28.565)
Yeah, I know that that turnaround point they had a big group. And then think East Texas had a school. I think they had a High schooler with their guys. had a bunch of teenagers at that one. And they were great, great volunteers.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:05:33.198)
Yep.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:05:48.332)
All right, Josh, before we kind of send you on your way, just want to thank you again for coming on and where can people find you?

Josh (01:05:57.354)
You can find me on Strava. I don't have a big social media presence. I'm on Facebook and Strava is about all I'm on.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:06:05.272)
Is this Josh Blashill or Joshua Blashill What is it under?

Josh (01:06:08.618)
It should be under Josh. sure it's Josh.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:06:11.52)
I wasn't sure if you went by Joshua at all. Exactly. man. But yeah, thanks again for coming on. Any last shout outs, last words before we wrap it up?

Josh (01:06:14.406)
only when I'm in trouble or if it's in a professional setting.

Josh (01:06:30.306)
last word shout out to my wife, Denika. She's the one who lets me do all this. She puts up with me be gone a lot and allowing me to train and be away early mornings or late in the evening or afternoon just whenever I can get trainings in. She takes care of the kids and then, you know, she comes to races, she supports, she crews. She's the real champ in all of this. I'm grateful to her for supporting me in this and also the HPE guys, High Plains Elite.

Training with you guys and. Best guys around and gals. I'm included hand in that. You guys push me and make me want to be better, so great team to be a part of.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:07:12.681)
Yes, we are so looking forward to when you can return to the trails I know you struggle getting back from your injury But we're real excited because you are the king of the lighthouse trail. No one could take that away from you I feel feel your presence when I'm Running on it because I just can't believe the amount of repeats you just do on it For those of us who don't know it is

Josh (01:07:24.742)
you

Josh (01:07:32.2)
I've been hiking since I was a kid. Love that. That's my favorite trail.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:07:37.124)
Yeah, that is probably the most iconic trail in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. And the payoff is going up to the lighthouse and seeing that formation. But I wanted to just thank you again, Josh, for giving me a portion of your evening and joining us. And remember, if you liked this episode, which I hope you do, if you made it this far, please subscribe, leave a review, all those fun things. helps us bring better content and.

Josh (01:07:46.332)
Mm-hmm.

Philip J. Sebastiani (01:08:06.062)
helps us bring on more guests like Josh to hear his wonderful endurance story. So thanks, Josh.

Josh (01:08:13.426)
Thanks for having me.