The 1,000-Mile Ruck: Pain, Purpose, and Project Grit

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What's the longest ruck you've ever done? 10

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miles, 20, 50, maybe 100? Well, my guest today,

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Terrence Ogden, the founder of Official Project

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Grit, completed a 1 ,000 -mile ruck across the

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state of Texas. That's averaging 25 miles a day

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for 40 days straight. But this isn't just a story

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about distance. This is a story about Terrence's

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transformation. But before we even get to the

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miles, let me tell you where he started. Terrence's

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story doesn't begin on the trail. It begins at

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rock bottom. We're talking addiction, homelessness,

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jail time, the kind of things that most people

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don't escape, and the kind of things that most

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people are too ashamed to talk about. Terrence

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talks about them openly, though, because he knows

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that's exactly where his power comes from. Fast

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forward 20 years and this man isn't just sober,

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he's leading a movement. He founded Official

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Project Grit, a Texas -based community that uses

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rucking as a vehicle for discipline, redemption,

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and transformation. I actually featured Terrence

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back in episode 16 when he was just about halfway

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through his journey. Now he's on the other side

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of it and today you're going to hear what it

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takes to prepare your body and mind for something

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this big. Terrence also teaches us... What breaks

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down along the way, physically, mentally, emotionally,

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and how community, purpose, and sheer grit can

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carry you further than you ever thought possible.

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You're listening to the Rucker's Edge podcast,

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a show all about rucking that is designed to

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help you improve your rucking routine, lose weight,

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and ultimately gain your strength and energy

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back. Each episode dives into the science, stories,

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and strategies behind rucking. You'll learn from

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top ruckers, coaches, health experts, and performance

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specialists who break down what it takes to train

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smarter, recover faster, and stay ready for the

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next challenge. So whether you're new to rucking

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or an experienced rucker that's already logged

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hundreds of miles, or in Terrence's case, a thousand

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miles, this is the show for you. I'm your host,

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Spencer. Thanks for listening in. Before we get

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going today, I want to take a quick second to

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ask for a favor. If this show has helped you

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in any way, it would be amazing if you could

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drop a quick review on whatever app you're using

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to listen to the podcast right now. It helps

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me bring new episodes every week, and more importantly,

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more people looking to improve their fitness.

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We'll be able to discover the podcast so you

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can help someone else start or improve their

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rucking. Thanks so much. Terrence, thanks so

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much for joining me today. I really appreciate

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you coming on. I've shared your 1 ,000 -mile

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ruck previously on an episode. I think it was

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episode 16, and I'm very honored to have you

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here today. Thanks for taking the time to have

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a chat with me. Hey, thank you for the opportunity,

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man. I'm stoked to be here. I'd like to start

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out with the idea for the 1 ,000 -mile ruck.

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Was there a single moment or a specific place

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or conversation that kind of spurred the idea

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for you to go on this 1 ,000 -mile journey? The

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1 ,000 -mile or what spurred that whole idea

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was, seven years ago, I started a ruck. It's

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always on or around Texas Independence Day, and

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it's the Immortal 32 ruck, which is a 75 -mile

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nonstop ruck from Gonzales, Texas, to the Alamo,

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honoring the Immortal 32. which were 32 individuals

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that answered the call to Travis's reinforcements

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letter. And they intercepted the letter, took

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it to their leader, George Kimball, and asked

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him what we should do. And he said, there's no

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question. We go to the Alamo, gather as many

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men as you can. They gathered 32 and they knew

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that it was highly likely that they weren't going

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to come home and they went anyways. When I started

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that ruck, it was like, I felt like that was

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a big piece of history that just kind of got

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forgotten about. And I wanted to like really

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tell their story. And after doing it for seven

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years, at that point, it was six years rather,

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November of 24, I was, I like to push myself

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and I like to find new hearts. And November of

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24, I was sitting around. thinking about you

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know i was getting ready to start talking about

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the immortal 32 for the next year which is in

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march and i was like man i kind of need a new

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hard what is something that i i'm 50 50 if i

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could pull off and i happened to be messing around

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on the internet and uh ran across some stuff

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about people going across the state of texas

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and so i Did a little search, has anybody ever

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rucked across Texas? And to the best of my research,

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I found that nobody had. And I was like, that'd

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be awesome. I don't know if I could pull that

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off. And most people that do it, it's 850 miles

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from Louisiana to El Paso. And I was like, man,

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that's epic. What would make that a little more

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epic? That was like a thousand miles. It'd be

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really cool. And at that point, I knew I knew

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I could do, you know, 75 miles. I knew I could

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do 100 miles. I knew I could lead a group of

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people along those same routes. And I just knew

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that I had I had to come up with something to

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push it to see what I could do and started developing

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the route. And I started. 17 miles south of Port

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Arthur at the Sabine Pass, where Louisiana, Texas,

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and the Gulf meet. And traveled across the state,

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one foot in front of the other, with 40 pounds

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strapped to my back. So that was Port Arthur,

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I think? Is that what you said, Port Arthur,

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Texas? Yeah, just south of Port Arthur. When

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I read that you were going to be starting there,

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the thought came across my mind, I wonder if

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he's going to run into any gators. And I think,

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like, day one, you posted something on Instagram

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of a gator on the side of the road. I was like,

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yep. He's definitely in the elements right now.

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Yeah, right from the get -go. I drank a big coffee

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when we started, and I was walking, and there

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was some tall grass, and I had to take a leak.

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And I was like, eh, maybe I should take a leak

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right there. And I BS you not, dude. All of a

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sudden, there was this low growl. It was a gator.

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And I was like, oh, OK, maybe not yet. Not yet.

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I'll go a few steps further down. Speaking of

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starting in Port Arthur, I mentioned this previously

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on episode 16, but the symbolism of your route

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starting from essentially Texas' lowest point

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and going across the state, gradually ascending

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up to Mount Cristo Rey. Did you think about that

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prior to starting your route? Because you've

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talked about your journey through addiction and

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living a hard or rough life previously and trying

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to... you know, prove that you're working through

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changes through this thousand mile rock. Did

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you plan that? Or is that just a coincidental,

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I guess? So when I thought about it, you know,

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I was like going from the bottom of Texas and,

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and then I was like, I think it was more divine

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inspiration, you know? I mean, it was like, I

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thought it'd really be a cool way to, to tell

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my story. In the route, you know, I mean, going

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from the bottom and, you know, I mean, no offense

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to Port Arthur in that area, but it's dirty down

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there. It's flat. It's not real hospitable, you

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know. And it reminds me of where I started on

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this journey that I've been taking in life. And

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going from that to the highest point of Texas,

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you know, it kind of represented being elevated.

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And then coming off of Guadalupe Peak and heading

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due west to El Paso to the top of Mount Cristo

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Rey, it was very significant because it was going

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from the bottom, being lifted up, and then giving

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it all to something bigger than myself. So it

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kind of just like fell in my lap that way, just

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one little idea after another, and it fits so

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perfect. Since you mentioned a little bit of

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your backstory, do you mind talking about that

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a little bit? I don't want to put a timeline

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on it, but when you look back at that version

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of your previous self going through addiction

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and those hardships, what do you think that person

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or that version of yourself needed to get out

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of that? So at that time in my life, you know,

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I spent a lot of years just lone wolfing it,

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you know. At that point in my life, it was like

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the pain had to become greater than the fear

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of accepting help. And the hardest thing for

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me to do was to ask another person to help me

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out. You know, the way I was brought up. in texas

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my grandfather pretty much raised me and you

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know that john wayne mentality you know be a

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man be tough get get shit done you know and which

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is all great great stuff and i'm not knocking

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that by any means because it made me the man

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i am today but that's only good to a certain

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point and there's a point where We need each

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other. Like it or not, we are tribe -like. And

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I know for men, it gets real uncomfortable with

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some of that stuff, talking to another man about

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things that aren't comfortable to talk about.

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And I spent a lot of years like that. And once

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again, you know, I feel like it was not to beat

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this horse, but it was a divine thing that the

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right person showed up at the right time. It

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was a perfect stew of things. I was in a bad

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place. scared. And this person showed up. And

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the thing that really stuck out to me is he stuck

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his hand out and asked me to come back. And at

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that point in my life, not a lot of people wanted

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me around. I was a completely different person

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than I am today. My life has 180. And having

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someone just say, hey, man, you're all right,

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dude, come back and keep hanging out. And we

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started to develop a bond and a friendship and

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he mentored me and helped, he essentially pulled

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me out of the gutter and showed me another way

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to live. And I think that that was a, I don't

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think, I know that was one of the hugest things

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that changed my life because had that situation

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not happened, I would have very easily just become

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another statistic, you know? So extremely grateful

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for that. Who is this person? How did you come

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to know them? So this guy was Kenny Baker, and

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I had just got out of detox, and they sent me

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to a 30 -day inpatient rehab. And I lasted about

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two weeks there, and I was like, the hell with

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this, and I took off. And all I had to my name

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was a backpack and a bunch of bad habits. And

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I left there, started hitchhiking into town,

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didn't know where I was going to go. I was going

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down the road. This girl pulls over. She's got

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a cooler full of beer and she was looking to

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score. So I was like, oh, this is perfect. You

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know, in my mind at that time, I was going to

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rip her off for some money and get what I wanted

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out of the thing and move on. And we were driving.

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It was hot and the windows were down. And I remember

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I was like, I felt like I was at a fork road.

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It was a classic, you know, angel and devil on

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the shoulder. One saying, if you do this, you're

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going to end up being screwed again. The other

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one's like, nah, do it, do it, do it. And something

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happened. I just grabbed my bag. We're sitting

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at a stoplight. I grabbed my bag and jumped out

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of the car and started walking. And I didn't

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know where to go. And there was a AA meeting

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right there. And I felt like that'd be a safe

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place for me to figure out what to do. Went in

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there and this guy showed up and he's covered

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in prison tattoos. He had try me tattooed across

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the front of his neck. First, I thought he was

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some clown, some joker. And he shared some really

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deep stuff. And he came up to me and shook my

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name, asked who I was and asked me to come back.

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And that changed everything. And that was Kenny

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Baker. Kenny Baker was a Marine. He got strung

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out on heroin, robbed some banks, did some time.

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got out and while he was in there, changed his

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life. And I knew that that guy was just as screwed

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up, if not more than I was. And I could see something

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was working in his life. So it was like, if I

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knew if I hung with him, maybe I could get what

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he got and changed everything. Wow. Thanks for

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sharing that, Terrence. Kenny sounds like a really

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outstanding person. You mentioned he's a Marine.

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I'm seeing there's a commonality between all

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the Marines that I come across. They don't leave

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anybody behind. They're going to take care of

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everyone they come across. It's really phenomenal.

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I'm really happy that you came across him. I'm

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really happy that he stuck out and invited you

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back. That's really, really cool. I'm glad you

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listened to the right side of your shoulder,

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too. For sure. So you mentioned you were doing

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some hitchhiking. Was that the very beginning

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of your rucking experience? I guess technically,

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yeah. It's kind of ironic that when I left that

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rehab, all I had was a backpack. And here I am

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today, and I just trekked across the whole state

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of Texas with nothing but a backpack. So it's

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kind of ironic, but yeah, it's pretty fitting.

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When did you start rucking, actually intentionally

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throwing weight on your back? So I found rucking

00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:38.029
probably in 2013. And I was doing a bunch of

00:13:38.029 --> 00:13:41.090
ultra marathons and running a lot. And I would

00:13:41.090 --> 00:13:43.870
do, I found rucking and I started using it to

00:13:43.870 --> 00:13:48.429
supplement like my off days. And I developed

00:13:48.429 --> 00:13:53.169
a knee issue and I never liked to run. That's

00:13:53.169 --> 00:13:56.870
a whole nother story. But I fell in love with

00:13:56.870 --> 00:14:00.350
rucking. I found it to be. a good way for me

00:14:00.350 --> 00:14:04.169
to like get the cardio, get a little bit of weight

00:14:04.169 --> 00:14:08.029
training at the same time. And I also found it

00:14:08.029 --> 00:14:10.309
to be extremely helpful because I'm real big

00:14:10.309 --> 00:14:12.570
on ditching the headphones when I get out there

00:14:12.570 --> 00:14:16.110
on the trails because number one, situational

00:14:16.110 --> 00:14:20.769
awareness. Number two is like in that time when

00:14:20.769 --> 00:14:24.590
it's just me and my thoughts, I work out most

00:14:24.590 --> 00:14:28.460
of my problems. And on the other side of that

00:14:28.460 --> 00:14:30.679
coin is I also come up with some of the most

00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:33.899
creative stuff. When you're able to just drown

00:14:33.899 --> 00:14:36.480
out all the BS noise that's going on between

00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:39.559
yours and just be. it's amazing what happens,

00:14:39.659 --> 00:14:41.700
you know? And I think in this world that we live

00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:44.480
in today, we're so connected that we're extremely

00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:48.159
disconnected. And I think getting back out and,

00:14:48.179 --> 00:14:51.019
and going and being in nature and doing something

00:14:51.019 --> 00:14:53.940
that's hard really brings out the best in us,

00:14:53.980 --> 00:14:56.000
you know? And I also found rucking to be a great

00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:58.899
equalizer. Like if me and you wanted to go for

00:14:58.899 --> 00:15:01.320
a run and you're doing six minute miles and I'm

00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:02.919
doing 10 minute miles, we ain't gonna be able

00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:06.820
to work out together. Work out. I'm gonna feel

00:15:06.820 --> 00:15:10.460
like I got. smoked you know and we're rucking

00:15:10.460 --> 00:15:12.879
i call it the equalizer you know either person

00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:15.340
could strap on more or less weight and and have

00:15:15.340 --> 00:15:17.700
conversations you know you're not having to make

00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:19.759
eye contact so a lot of times it's easier for

00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:22.460
men to speak to each other when they're just

00:15:22.460 --> 00:15:25.240
going and focusing on putting one foot in front

00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:27.700
of the other so yeah that's how i found rucking

00:15:27.700 --> 00:15:30.700
and i and i found it to be a great thing and

00:15:30.700 --> 00:15:32.970
it's helped me out tremendously in life Yeah,

00:15:33.029 --> 00:15:36.110
that's great. I'm also an advocate for taking

00:15:36.110 --> 00:15:39.429
the headphones out during a rec. It's just something

00:15:39.429 --> 00:15:42.250
about the repetitive nature, being out in nature,

00:15:42.309 --> 00:15:44.909
being outside, that clears your mind so you can

00:15:44.909 --> 00:15:47.070
focus on any problem that you need to solve.

00:15:47.250 --> 00:15:49.590
Yeah, it's phenomenal. First time that I experienced

00:15:49.590 --> 00:15:51.570
that, I was hooked. I was like, yeah, I need

00:15:51.570 --> 00:15:55.330
to keep doing this. All right, so let's go back

00:15:55.330 --> 00:15:56.830
to the 1 ,000 -mile rec. Let's talk about your

00:15:56.830 --> 00:16:01.649
preparation. What did your training look like?

00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:06.259
I'm guessing you set a goal like this. There

00:16:06.259 --> 00:16:08.899
are months leading up to it that you're probably

00:16:08.899 --> 00:16:11.200
training for it. What did that look like? Did

00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:15.179
you build some sort of structure into your training

00:16:15.179 --> 00:16:18.179
or did you do some sort of like traditional training?

00:16:18.259 --> 00:16:21.000
Was it rucking, running combination? If you don't

00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:22.179
mind just talking about that for a little bit.

00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:26.559
Sure. So a long time ago, I kind of adopted the

00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:30.539
mentality of. not getting ready just staying

00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:34.559
ready so i pretty much the way i live my life

00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:36.259
is like you could call me up tomorrow and say

00:16:36.259 --> 00:16:38.379
hey we're gonna go do this thing and i'm probably

00:16:38.379 --> 00:16:42.600
90 close to being able to go do that so i've

00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:46.220
developed that mentality but a thousand miles

00:16:46.220 --> 00:16:49.340
is a little bit different you know because there's

00:16:49.340 --> 00:16:53.259
a lot that goes into there's days where it's

00:16:53.259 --> 00:16:55.960
like you don't want to get up and move you know

00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:59.000
i mean i averaged a little over 26 miles a day

00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:02.659
for 40 days and a lot of those nights i was only

00:17:02.659 --> 00:17:06.259
getting like four hours of sleep and training

00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:09.960
for it you know i i have all different a bunch

00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:13.059
of different techniques like one of the things

00:17:13.059 --> 00:17:17.279
i do is i'll go out and do a four to ten mile

00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:21.019
ruck in the evening come home set the alarm for

00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:23.839
four hours and four hours get up and go another

00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:27.299
do another four or five miles and what that does

00:17:27.299 --> 00:17:30.660
is that gets you with uh all right get off your

00:17:30.660 --> 00:17:33.519
ass and let's get after it that also teaches

00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:37.640
you how to move when you're tired and not wanting

00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:41.299
to do it you know and i would do a lot of hill

00:17:41.299 --> 00:17:44.099
repeats we have a nice little hill out here that

00:17:44.099 --> 00:17:47.900
is about 250 feet of elevation gain over about

00:17:47.900 --> 00:17:52.279
200 yards so a lot of hill repeats and putting

00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:54.759
in miles you know and i would i was probably

00:17:54.759 --> 00:17:58.640
averaging probably 60 miles a week towards the

00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:03.980
end but that being not really because when i

00:18:03.980 --> 00:18:06.220
started this deal it was just i was gonna go

00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:09.359
do it and then i was approached like you need

00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:11.880
to document this thing and then the next thing

00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:14.490
i know we're shooting a documentary on it And

00:18:14.490 --> 00:18:18.569
that changed like a lot of the time thing. And

00:18:18.569 --> 00:18:21.990
towards the latter part of it, I started getting

00:18:21.990 --> 00:18:24.569
some overuse issues of the training process.

00:18:25.009 --> 00:18:28.549
And so I dialed back my training quite a bit

00:18:28.549 --> 00:18:32.470
by the last two months. And A, I didn't have

00:18:32.470 --> 00:18:35.710
a whole lot of time. And B, I didn't want to

00:18:35.710 --> 00:18:40.650
go into the thing with an injury. So I was in

00:18:40.650 --> 00:18:44.309
good shape, but I hadn't. I had to kind of bail

00:18:44.309 --> 00:18:47.930
on my training plan to a certain degree. That

00:18:47.930 --> 00:18:50.410
being said, I was still going to the gym. I was

00:18:50.410 --> 00:18:54.509
still doing all my community rucks that I put

00:18:54.509 --> 00:19:00.529
on and that stuff. There was tons of logistics

00:19:00.529 --> 00:19:03.509
stuff to figure out. You know, with a thousand

00:19:03.509 --> 00:19:08.250
miles across so many diverse terrains, a lot

00:19:08.250 --> 00:19:10.710
of people don't realize Texas is not flat, number

00:19:10.710 --> 00:19:14.789
one. Texas is not all the same. There's pretty

00:19:14.789 --> 00:19:17.730
much six different regions of Texas that you

00:19:17.730 --> 00:19:21.390
have to deal with. So it was a lot of logistics

00:19:21.390 --> 00:19:25.150
that went into it. There was a lot of places

00:19:25.150 --> 00:19:29.009
where I wasn't able to do resupplies. So I made

00:19:29.009 --> 00:19:34.089
a bunch of food caches and then decided where

00:19:34.089 --> 00:19:36.569
I was going to place those food caches. And then

00:19:36.569 --> 00:19:38.849
before I went and did the ruck, I went and placed

00:19:38.849 --> 00:19:41.329
them all and buried them all. Throughout the

00:19:41.329 --> 00:19:45.170
route, each food cache had a gallon of water

00:19:45.170 --> 00:19:49.430
and three freeze -dried meals. And it was clutched.

00:19:51.930 --> 00:19:54.710
for those to be there so you know it's like when

00:19:54.710 --> 00:20:00.789
when when i place a food cache i mark it i mark

00:20:00.789 --> 00:20:03.670
the ground with some spray paint and i always

00:20:03.670 --> 00:20:09.269
found a sign that is specific you can't just

00:20:09.269 --> 00:20:12.049
say see a stop ahead sign and put it next to

00:20:12.049 --> 00:20:13.650
that because there's 50 million stop ahead so

00:20:13.650 --> 00:20:16.109
i would find like mile markers or road signs

00:20:17.180 --> 00:20:21.680
And I would photograph, mark it in GPS, also

00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:25.579
have it in my phone. Then I'd also had a written

00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:29.519
paper with everything. So if I lose my phone,

00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:33.259
if I lose my GPS, you know, I still can find

00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:34.940
my food cache. Because they were, especially

00:20:34.940 --> 00:20:37.599
out in the desert, they were essential for survival

00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:40.660
to pull this thing off. So always have backups

00:20:40.660 --> 00:20:45.119
for your backups. Yeah. All of that. Did you

00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:48.940
ever? Did you find all of your food caches? Yes,

00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:52.160
I did, actually. They were all there. And I actually,

00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:57.240
by accident, bypassed one of them. You had to

00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:00.779
go back. Well, that's a whole story in itself.

00:21:02.420 --> 00:21:06.079
That was in between Guadalupe Peak and El Paso.

00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:10.400
And we can talk more about this later. But when

00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:16.000
you're out there by yourself. You, like I alluded

00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:17.880
to earlier, we're tribe -like, like it or not,

00:21:17.980 --> 00:21:21.579
that you start to like miss conversations. You

00:21:21.579 --> 00:21:25.420
start to miss face -to -face contact and all

00:21:25.420 --> 00:21:28.839
of that. And I was out there and I ran into a

00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:32.440
road crew working and I'm a blue collar guy.

00:21:32.579 --> 00:21:34.940
They're blue collar guys. So went and started

00:21:34.940 --> 00:21:36.819
talking to them. And, you know, we had this great

00:21:36.819 --> 00:21:39.970
conversation. It lasted about 30 minutes. And

00:21:39.970 --> 00:21:42.869
I walked off and I kept going. And then I realized,

00:21:43.049 --> 00:21:45.470
oh, my God, there was a food cache like right

00:21:45.470 --> 00:21:47.849
there that I needed to get. And I was already

00:21:47.849 --> 00:21:51.589
four miles past it in a world of pain. So I had

00:21:51.589 --> 00:21:53.529
to make a decision. Do I turn around and go back

00:21:53.529 --> 00:21:56.529
and get it? And that's going to be eight miles

00:21:56.529 --> 00:21:58.849
to get right back to the point that I'm standing

00:21:58.849 --> 00:22:03.130
right now. Or do I go for it? And I had like

00:22:03.130 --> 00:22:05.529
a quart of water and I'm in the desert and I

00:22:05.529 --> 00:22:09.579
went for it. Some pretty remarkable stuff happened

00:22:09.579 --> 00:22:14.200
after that, but it's another story. Yeah, I want

00:22:14.200 --> 00:22:16.839
to get into that in a little bit. I do have a

00:22:16.839 --> 00:22:18.680
few other questions about your prep work because

00:22:18.680 --> 00:22:23.400
you mentioned that you had some overuse issues.

00:22:23.539 --> 00:22:25.519
I'm guessing you kind of felt something in your

00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:27.519
knee or your ankles, maybe some tendonitis or

00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:31.680
something. What did you do with your feet in

00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:34.920
your prep work to get them ready for this? Anything

00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:37.670
in particular? time spent on them like you mentioned

00:22:37.670 --> 00:22:41.309
yeah i mean i i have a sock system i use when

00:22:41.309 --> 00:22:44.809
i do long rocks and i have some preventative

00:22:44.809 --> 00:22:47.589
stuff i use i also have some products that i

00:22:47.589 --> 00:22:53.269
use and you know i mean you're when you're on

00:22:53.269 --> 00:22:55.990
your feet For that long and that many days, there's

00:22:55.990 --> 00:22:58.190
going to be problems. You want to mitigate it

00:22:58.190 --> 00:23:00.589
the best you can, but there's definitely going

00:23:00.589 --> 00:23:03.490
to be some problems. And they all showed up.

00:23:03.490 --> 00:23:06.369
I'm not really one to blister, but I definitely

00:23:06.369 --> 00:23:09.789
got a lot of blisters out there. I definitely

00:23:09.789 --> 00:23:13.769
got some overuse issues. I think my left ankle

00:23:13.769 --> 00:23:17.710
kind of seized up on me at about mile 600. So

00:23:17.710 --> 00:23:21.430
I spent a lot of time heel striking after that.

00:23:22.910 --> 00:23:27.769
You know, it really boiled down to the discipline,

00:23:28.029 --> 00:23:30.150
you know, I mean, because there wasn't a day

00:23:30.150 --> 00:23:32.089
that I woke up that I was motivated to go do

00:23:32.089 --> 00:23:35.430
it. And it wasn't, oh, this is what I want to

00:23:35.430 --> 00:23:37.630
do today or this is what I think I'm going to

00:23:37.630 --> 00:23:39.470
do. And I was like, no, this is what we're doing.

00:23:39.589 --> 00:23:44.089
Get up, get after it and get out there. But the

00:23:44.089 --> 00:23:46.049
feet thing, that was that was a real thing. You

00:23:46.049 --> 00:23:49.329
know, my sock system was pretty good and it did.

00:23:49.789 --> 00:23:52.069
Everything that I expected it to, I knew blisters

00:23:52.069 --> 00:23:56.349
would arise. I knew there would be overuse issues.

00:23:56.490 --> 00:23:59.829
And it's just kind of like what my grandfather

00:23:59.829 --> 00:24:03.670
taught me. Be tough, man up, and keep moving.

00:24:03.970 --> 00:24:07.589
Get through it. Yeah. Is there anything that

00:24:07.589 --> 00:24:12.990
you thought you were ready for, but maybe was

00:24:12.990 --> 00:24:16.230
exposed during your ruck? Was there a gap in

00:24:16.230 --> 00:24:20.180
your preparation? Absolutely. So a long time

00:24:20.180 --> 00:24:23.660
ago, a man taught me most people fill their bags

00:24:23.660 --> 00:24:26.819
full of insecurities. And that's a metaphor that

00:24:26.819 --> 00:24:29.059
can be used for a lot of stuff. And it's true.

00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:32.960
And when I started the Ruck, you know, I thought

00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:35.819
I had it pretty dialed in. And I started running

00:24:35.819 --> 00:24:39.779
into issues right from the get go. And I wasn't

00:24:39.779 --> 00:24:42.920
prepared for it to be as hot as it was. October,

00:24:42.920 --> 00:24:45.430
I thought it'd start cooling down. It was still

00:24:45.430 --> 00:24:48.289
in 100 degrees. And East Texas is humid. You're

00:24:48.289 --> 00:24:51.069
in Louisiana, so you know about humidity. And

00:24:51.069 --> 00:24:55.089
it just sucks it out of you. So I kept running

00:24:55.089 --> 00:24:58.750
into issues with running out of water. And that's

00:24:58.750 --> 00:25:00.450
a scary thing when you're out there sweating

00:25:00.450 --> 00:25:03.029
the way you are and you keep running out of water.

00:25:03.109 --> 00:25:06.529
So I learned real quick that some of the gear,

00:25:06.710 --> 00:25:11.400
I started having to strip luxuries. And I had

00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:13.259
to look at everything from a different angle.

00:25:13.319 --> 00:25:16.759
Is this thing multipurposeful? Is this just some

00:25:16.759 --> 00:25:19.859
luxury that I want to have to escape or something

00:25:19.859 --> 00:25:23.000
like that? Or is this just some comfort that

00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:25.940
I'm trying to hold on to? So I had to start stripping

00:25:25.940 --> 00:25:29.200
everything down and looking at it from a logistic

00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:34.440
and practical angle. I had to ditch a lot of

00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:36.880
stuff that I was hoping to have, like a stove.

00:25:38.299 --> 00:25:41.019
Ditched my jet boil, ditched my tarp, ditched

00:25:41.019 --> 00:25:44.079
my rain gear. Pretty much had it broke down to

00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:47.680
just one set of clothes. I had a shirt, a pair

00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:51.660
of pants, five pairs of socks, and some lawn

00:25:51.660 --> 00:25:55.799
johns, some wool lawn johns for West Texas where

00:25:55.799 --> 00:25:57.779
it dropped down into the 30s. And that was pretty

00:25:57.779 --> 00:25:59.980
much all the gear I had for the whole thing.

00:26:01.849 --> 00:26:04.089
Yeah. So there was a lot, I mean, pretty much

00:26:04.089 --> 00:26:09.009
every section of Texas gave me a whole new beast

00:26:09.009 --> 00:26:10.970
to deal with. I was looking forward to getting

00:26:10.970 --> 00:26:13.009
to a certain spot. Then I'd get to that spot

00:26:13.009 --> 00:26:15.029
and it's like, okay, you're not dealing with

00:26:15.029 --> 00:26:16.849
that, but now you're dealing with this. And it

00:26:16.849 --> 00:26:18.769
pretty much went that way all the way through

00:26:18.769 --> 00:26:21.690
the whole thing. What kind of pack did you, did

00:26:21.690 --> 00:26:23.450
you bring along with you? Was it Everly stock?

00:26:23.710 --> 00:26:27.039
Was that what it was? No. Uh, so go rock sponsored

00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:31.279
me on this deal and it's a prototype for a hiking

00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:34.960
bag that they got. And so I had the honor and

00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:37.960
the privilege to be the first one to test that

00:26:37.960 --> 00:26:41.859
out. And, uh, the name's not confirmed yet, but

00:26:41.859 --> 00:26:43.279
there's, they're still trying to hammer that

00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:46.319
out, but it was a great bag. I don't think I

00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:48.740
could have done it in like a regular go ruck

00:26:48.740 --> 00:26:55.099
sack, you know, but. that bag was, was clutch

00:26:55.099 --> 00:26:58.019
to get it all done and, uh, worked out great.

00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:01.460
It fit proper. The weight was just distributed

00:27:01.460 --> 00:27:05.539
very well. So that one, uh, that, that was a

00:27:05.539 --> 00:27:07.940
game changer for sure. That's great. Uh, I'm

00:27:07.940 --> 00:27:10.380
so curious in the prototype. If you can talk

00:27:10.380 --> 00:27:12.339
about, I don't know if you signed an NDA or anything

00:27:12.339 --> 00:27:16.599
like that, but is there a way to slide in, uh,

00:27:16.740 --> 00:27:18.859
weights like in all their other, like the Rucker?

00:27:19.420 --> 00:27:22.400
no there's not there is a there is a a sleeve

00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:25.920
in the back for your water bladder but this one

00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:29.859
is more designed towards hikers and people that

00:27:29.859 --> 00:27:33.140
want to get into the back country so essentially

00:27:33.140 --> 00:27:35.259
your gear would be your weight for that matter

00:27:35.259 --> 00:27:37.940
uh the rucker they just came out with the well

00:27:37.940 --> 00:27:40.000
i don't know if it's out yet but the rucker 5

00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.920
.0 should be coming out soon or the rucker 4

00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:46.640
.0 those are great and if you want if you want

00:27:46.640 --> 00:28:02.849
the actual pocket for the weights More with Terrence

00:28:02.849 --> 00:28:05.049
in just a moment, including the surprising impact

00:28:05.049 --> 00:28:07.329
the community rucks had on Terrence's psyche.

00:28:07.910 --> 00:28:09.829
But I want to take a quick break to say thanks

00:28:09.829 --> 00:28:12.190
for listening to the podcast. Please text this

00:28:12.190 --> 00:28:14.250
episode with a fellow rucker that might find

00:28:14.250 --> 00:28:16.029
it interesting or a friend that could benefit

00:28:16.029 --> 00:28:18.269
from rucking. Sharing this episode would help

00:28:18.269 --> 00:28:20.289
the show grow and help more people improve their

00:28:20.289 --> 00:28:26.240
health and lives. Okay, back to it. So you just

00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:28.440
mentioned Go Ruck. And one of the things I wanted

00:28:28.440 --> 00:28:30.599
to ask you about is, man, you spent so much time

00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:35.180
solo, but you did strategically host community

00:28:35.180 --> 00:28:37.640
rucks along the way. I believe some of them were

00:28:37.640 --> 00:28:40.259
Go Ruck sponsors. Some of them were with local

00:28:40.259 --> 00:28:44.299
ruck clubs. What was it like going from solo

00:28:44.299 --> 00:28:47.339
miles to suddenly being surrounded by a community?

00:28:48.619 --> 00:28:51.119
So, yeah, we did six community events along the

00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:57.630
way. And those were. they were like a bittersweet

00:28:57.630 --> 00:29:01.869
thing and uh i didn't want this thousand mile

00:29:01.869 --> 00:29:05.049
rut just to be about some idiot you know walking

00:29:05.049 --> 00:29:06.910
across texas i wanted to try to bring community

00:29:06.910 --> 00:29:09.809
into it because community is what really saved

00:29:09.809 --> 00:29:12.430
my life you know and having other people so i

00:29:12.430 --> 00:29:14.869
thought that was a big part of it and i think

00:29:14.869 --> 00:29:16.769
it'd be a really cool thing for people to come

00:29:16.769 --> 00:29:23.140
and join me along the way That being said, it

00:29:23.140 --> 00:29:27.579
changed the dynamic of the ruck because now I

00:29:27.579 --> 00:29:30.839
have to be somewhere and I have to be presentable.

00:29:30.859 --> 00:29:35.660
I have to be able to converse and deal with that.

00:29:36.059 --> 00:29:41.039
And so it was a burden, but an honor to be able

00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:47.319
to do. And it was also, and there was, there

00:29:47.319 --> 00:29:49.680
was. quite a few people that did come and do

00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:52.660
like a day or two with me friends of mine throughout

00:29:52.660 --> 00:29:55.500
the whole thing but all of those times was it

00:29:55.500 --> 00:29:58.079
was tough you know i mean i spent some time locked

00:29:58.079 --> 00:30:01.279
up and that was the the closest thing i could

00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:04.680
relate that to is like when you have visitation

00:30:04.680 --> 00:30:07.039
coming up you know it's coming and you're kind

00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:09.180
of excited about it you get to see your people

00:30:10.039 --> 00:30:14.480
And it comes and it's short lived. It lasts for

00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:17.859
just a small window. And then you go right back

00:30:17.859 --> 00:30:21.759
into the hell that you just walked out of. And

00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:26.240
so I would have these extreme highs of having

00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:28.839
that one on one with people and having people

00:30:28.839 --> 00:30:32.200
around me. And then I'd go straight back into.

00:30:33.420 --> 00:30:36.940
The being alone by myself with your thoughts.

00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:39.720
And so those were like these real emotional highs

00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:44.500
followed quickly by an emotional low. So that

00:30:44.500 --> 00:30:46.500
was that was definitely a challenge. And I knew

00:30:46.500 --> 00:30:49.240
they were coming. And, you know, once again,

00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:52.059
just write it out. This too shall pass. And,

00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:56.619
you know, and but all in all, those times spent

00:30:56.619 --> 00:30:59.220
with other people was huge for me out there.

00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:03.180
Big. I could imagine. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I

00:31:03.180 --> 00:31:05.400
think I sent you a message before you started

00:31:05.400 --> 00:31:07.700
wishing you well. You gave me a heads up that

00:31:07.700 --> 00:31:10.200
there was going to be a community event in Houston.

00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:12.299
I really wanted to attend that, but I couldn't.

00:31:12.299 --> 00:31:15.400
But I was thinking if I was spending so much

00:31:15.400 --> 00:31:18.460
time solo and I came across a big group or a

00:31:18.460 --> 00:31:21.839
big community, it would be like a 180 in terms

00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:27.160
of, oh, I'm energized again. I'm motivated to

00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:29.740
keep going, but I didn't think about it. When

00:31:29.740 --> 00:31:33.299
you leave that group, you're back in at, okay,

00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:37.079
embrace the suck again sort of situation. You

00:31:37.079 --> 00:31:39.160
mentioned that you had some friends come out

00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:42.200
and join you. I think I saw Daniel Carlton. I

00:31:42.200 --> 00:31:45.880
guess he goes by Three Quarter Cowboy. He joined

00:31:45.880 --> 00:31:48.380
you for, I think it was like a day or two days

00:31:48.380 --> 00:31:51.279
or something like that. That was really, really

00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:54.180
cool to see. It was towards the end, I think,

00:31:54.220 --> 00:31:56.619
of the ruck, if I remember correctly. Yeah, it

00:31:56.619 --> 00:31:57.819
was about three quarters of the way through.

00:31:57.920 --> 00:31:59.819
It was out in the middle of the desert. Yeah,

00:31:59.880 --> 00:32:02.339
which has to be probably the hardest part because

00:32:02.339 --> 00:32:04.359
you're at the end and there's nothing around

00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:07.039
you and you're in solitude. So, yeah, any any

00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:08.700
other person that joined you, I could imagine

00:32:08.700 --> 00:32:11.779
would be would be just tremendously helpful.

00:32:13.279 --> 00:32:15.039
Speaking of other people you came across, you

00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:18.500
also came across Matthew Johnson, the runner

00:32:18.500 --> 00:32:20.660
that ran across the state of Texas. Was that

00:32:20.660 --> 00:32:23.440
planned? No, that was not planned at all. And

00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:27.220
it was just it was kind of. funny how it worked

00:32:27.220 --> 00:32:30.059
out because they had to do a route change due

00:32:30.059 --> 00:32:32.779
to mud or something like that and my wife called

00:32:32.779 --> 00:32:35.099
me and she was like hey it looks like matt johnson's

00:32:35.099 --> 00:32:37.019
gonna be going through fredersburg at the same

00:32:37.019 --> 00:32:40.880
time as you and so we we coordinated it after

00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:45.799
that i was like hey this this is too ironic that

00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:48.660
somebody rucking across the state of texas east

00:32:48.660 --> 00:32:53.000
to west and somebody running from North to South

00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:55.980
Texas, that their paths are right here next to

00:32:55.980 --> 00:32:58.359
each other, that this has to be a handshake moment.

00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:02.039
And it worked out. We met up at 6 a .m. in the

00:33:02.039 --> 00:33:06.660
morning and shook each other's hands and said

00:33:06.660 --> 00:33:11.160
a few words and solid dude. And we both continued

00:33:11.160 --> 00:33:13.759
on our journeys. That's crazy. How does that

00:33:13.759 --> 00:33:16.980
happen? That, I mean, Texas is so big throughout

00:33:16.980 --> 00:33:19.720
the entire year. Y 'all somehow ended up on the

00:33:19.720 --> 00:33:22.880
same day in the same spot in this big ass state.

00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:25.420
You know what I mean? It's, you know, it's all

00:33:25.420 --> 00:33:28.500
something bigger than us, man. That's cool. Did

00:33:28.500 --> 00:33:30.839
you come across somebody else that was rucking

00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:33.920
on your journey? It's kind of funny. We were

00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:39.460
in the middle. My buddy Carson Tinker came out

00:33:39.460 --> 00:33:41.859
and spent two days with me. He did about 50,

00:33:41.859 --> 00:33:46.359
60 miles with me. And we woke up in the morning

00:33:46.359 --> 00:33:51.880
and every day I would shoot a video for a recap

00:33:51.880 --> 00:33:54.759
of the day before. And we were shooting this

00:33:54.759 --> 00:33:56.680
video. You know, I hadn't seen anybody other

00:33:56.680 --> 00:33:59.880
than Carson for days. And we're talking about

00:33:59.880 --> 00:34:03.240
how alone it is out here. Then all of a sudden

00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:05.400
in the background, somebody comes walking by

00:34:05.400 --> 00:34:09.010
and I was like. what the heck was that and we

00:34:09.010 --> 00:34:12.909
stopped and talked to the guy and he started

00:34:12.909 --> 00:34:19.550
i want to say in 22 0 22 or 23 he started up

00:34:19.550 --> 00:34:23.510
at the arctic circle came down followed the canadian

00:34:23.510 --> 00:34:28.030
border all the way to I think, Maine. Then he

00:34:28.030 --> 00:34:31.250
went down to Florida, made his way to Nashville,

00:34:31.329 --> 00:34:33.769
and then he's in the middle of the desert. That's

00:34:33.769 --> 00:34:35.969
another crazy thing. Like, what are the chances

00:34:35.969 --> 00:34:42.250
that two people pass cross at the same time?

00:34:42.389 --> 00:34:46.570
And his name is Marcus Johnson, and he's trying

00:34:46.570 --> 00:34:49.849
to make it to San Diego. His deal's a lot different

00:34:49.849 --> 00:34:53.650
than mine, but he's been doing it for, I think,

00:34:53.650 --> 00:34:56.639
four years now, three or four years now. living

00:34:56.639 --> 00:34:59.159
out of a bag and putting one foot in front of

00:34:59.159 --> 00:35:02.079
the other. Wow, that's amazing. I'm going to

00:35:02.079 --> 00:35:05.639
have to go Google his name and hear about his

00:35:05.639 --> 00:35:07.199
story because I'm sure there's something to unpack

00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:10.179
there. That's wild. What are the chances you

00:35:10.179 --> 00:35:13.880
run into two people on parallel paths, I guess.

00:35:14.360 --> 00:35:17.019
Going back to logistics, I am curious. We did

00:35:17.019 --> 00:35:22.199
talk about... But was there any logistical surprise

00:35:22.199 --> 00:35:25.760
that you encountered, something that you didn't

00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:31.099
anticipate maybe? Like you mentioned like missing

00:35:31.099 --> 00:35:35.380
one of the food cache because you were having

00:35:35.380 --> 00:35:37.099
a conversation on the side of the road. Was there

00:35:37.099 --> 00:35:39.960
any other like logistical item that maybe you

00:35:39.960 --> 00:35:42.320
would have improved if you were to do it again

00:35:42.320 --> 00:35:45.840
or something you wish you would have done? I

00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:52.030
would say that. The biggest things that I wasn't,

00:35:52.030 --> 00:35:55.170
I was pretty, pretty dialed in and pretty prepared.

00:35:55.309 --> 00:35:58.150
And the things that I wasn't prepared for was

00:35:58.150 --> 00:36:01.510
usually stuff outside of anything I had control

00:36:01.510 --> 00:36:08.849
over, which was weather, which was the thorns.

00:36:08.849 --> 00:36:11.050
The thorns out in the desert was something that

00:36:11.050 --> 00:36:14.730
I did not even think about. But it was like,

00:36:14.789 --> 00:36:18.519
I probably, probably the last. 10 to 15 days.

00:36:18.579 --> 00:36:21.199
Every day I spent probably at least 45 minutes

00:36:21.199 --> 00:36:25.400
pulling thorns out of my shoes. And the heat,

00:36:25.400 --> 00:36:29.059
the wind, it was all elements like that. But

00:36:29.059 --> 00:36:32.599
pretty much everything on paper, I had pretty

00:36:32.599 --> 00:36:36.420
dialed in. And things I would have done different,

00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:38.940
I probably would have put more water out there

00:36:38.940 --> 00:36:41.380
for me because there was a lot of times I had

00:36:41.380 --> 00:36:45.820
to ration pretty, you know, I had to be on top.

00:36:46.170 --> 00:36:48.710
of it so there's a fine line that i mean and

00:36:48.710 --> 00:36:50.369
i did get dehydrated out there but there's a

00:36:50.369 --> 00:36:53.110
fine line and you know staying on top of those

00:36:53.110 --> 00:36:55.309
things because it could really it could kill

00:36:55.309 --> 00:36:59.030
the whole deal so i probably would have put more

00:36:59.030 --> 00:37:01.949
food more water out there had i done a different

00:37:01.949 --> 00:37:05.610
also more little treats for myself little morale

00:37:05.610 --> 00:37:08.750
boosters and uh so i didn't have any of that

00:37:08.750 --> 00:37:12.130
stuff out there which would go a long way you

00:37:12.130 --> 00:37:15.320
know a little something to just Give you a little

00:37:15.320 --> 00:37:18.800
bit of a sugar rush or a, you know, something

00:37:18.800 --> 00:37:20.820
to make you feel better for a second would always

00:37:20.820 --> 00:37:24.119
be a treat, you know. I'm thinking back on one

00:37:24.119 --> 00:37:28.239
specific day. You were in a crunch for time.

00:37:28.380 --> 00:37:30.820
I think you needed to do laundry, but you also

00:37:30.820 --> 00:37:32.320
had to get to your food cache. Do you remember

00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:34.599
that day? I think the laundromat was like closed

00:37:34.599 --> 00:37:38.420
or something. Yeah, so that was in Brenham. And

00:37:38.420 --> 00:37:42.920
I think I was 10 days into it. I'd been sweating

00:37:42.920 --> 00:37:45.480
my butt off. all the way through East Texas.

00:37:46.420 --> 00:37:50.820
And it was a funny story. And all I wanted to

00:37:50.820 --> 00:37:54.760
do was get to Brenham and get to a laundromat,

00:37:54.820 --> 00:37:58.579
wash my clothes, and then get a hot meal. And

00:37:58.579 --> 00:38:02.659
there was a CrossFit gym there. Brenham CrossFit

00:38:02.659 --> 00:38:05.840
was going to let me crash in their gym that night.

00:38:05.960 --> 00:38:07.800
And then we were doing a community ruck out of

00:38:07.800 --> 00:38:10.539
there in the morning. And I was asking the guys,

00:38:10.579 --> 00:38:12.260
hey, where's the laundromat? Oh, there's one

00:38:12.260 --> 00:38:16.449
right over here. So I'm just whooped. I'm in

00:38:16.449 --> 00:38:19.690
pain, dirty. All I could think about was food

00:38:19.690 --> 00:38:22.510
and getting clean and get to the laundromat.

00:38:23.250 --> 00:38:26.590
Sweet, they were closing in an hour or something.

00:38:26.690 --> 00:38:27.909
So I was like, sweet, I have just enough time

00:38:27.909 --> 00:38:30.510
to wash clothes. So I didn't have a whole lot

00:38:30.510 --> 00:38:33.929
of clothes. So I pretty much stripped down to

00:38:33.929 --> 00:38:37.670
a pair of gym shorts that I had at that time.

00:38:38.409 --> 00:38:41.269
And so no shirt, no socks, no underwear. I'm

00:38:41.269 --> 00:38:44.769
just wearing a pair of shorts and emptied my

00:38:44.769 --> 00:38:47.789
bag. So my bag spread out on the folding tables,

00:38:47.869 --> 00:38:50.070
get everything loaded into the washing machine.

00:38:50.909 --> 00:38:53.550
And I go over to the coin machine to get coins.

00:38:53.650 --> 00:38:56.090
And I was trying to shove money into the machine

00:38:56.090 --> 00:38:57.869
and it wouldn't take it. And I look, there's

00:38:57.869 --> 00:39:00.550
a red light and it said out of service. I'm like,

00:39:00.610 --> 00:39:03.920
get out of here. So I had to go get dressed,

00:39:04.139 --> 00:39:07.300
repack my bag, and I was feeling pretty defeated.

00:39:07.420 --> 00:39:10.280
And I looked at the only other laundromat in

00:39:10.280 --> 00:39:14.320
town, and it was two miles in the opposite direction

00:39:14.320 --> 00:39:18.780
of the gym I was going to stay at. And so I started

00:39:18.780 --> 00:39:20.880
feeling really sorry for myself, and I was pissed

00:39:20.880 --> 00:39:24.480
off and just sitting on the curb. And I was like,

00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:27.019
dude, just quit feeling sorry for yourself. Get

00:39:27.019 --> 00:39:29.559
off your ass. Go wash your clothes. Step one,

00:39:29.719 --> 00:39:34.909
get clean. Went to that laundromat and shoved

00:39:34.909 --> 00:39:39.349
all my stuff into the laundry machine. And I

00:39:39.349 --> 00:39:43.190
had just enough time because I started looking

00:39:43.190 --> 00:39:46.030
on places to eat and I found a burger joint that

00:39:46.030 --> 00:39:49.650
closed in 45 minutes. So I was like, all right,

00:39:49.690 --> 00:39:51.869
I have just enough time to wash and dry my clothes.

00:39:52.090 --> 00:39:54.750
Run them through the wash. I go to open up the

00:39:54.750 --> 00:39:57.670
washing machine and the spin cycle thing didn't

00:39:57.670 --> 00:40:00.090
go. So they're soaking wet. And I'm like, oh,

00:40:00.110 --> 00:40:05.000
there's no way. dry in 15 minutes shove it on

00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:07.099
the dryer get it dried as best i can pull them

00:40:07.099 --> 00:40:10.360
out they're still wet wet socks on blistered

00:40:10.360 --> 00:40:13.480
feet and it's like i got i think i had it was

00:40:13.480 --> 00:40:17.340
two miles and i think i had like 30 minutes to

00:40:17.340 --> 00:40:19.280
get there and i was like typically that wouldn't

00:40:19.280 --> 00:40:21.920
be that big of a deal but i'm you gotta remember

00:40:21.920 --> 00:40:25.780
i'm hammered my feet hurt and uh blistered up

00:40:25.780 --> 00:40:30.090
and uh i had taken my bandages off and uh So

00:40:30.090 --> 00:40:33.869
I think I made it to that. I think it was a Sonic.

00:40:33.949 --> 00:40:36.250
I think I made it there in like 20 minutes. So

00:40:36.250 --> 00:40:38.010
it was like I had enough time to get the burger

00:40:38.010 --> 00:40:40.630
and all that. So, yeah, that was a that was a

00:40:40.630 --> 00:40:43.510
whole little. That's wild. I mean, you're averaging,

00:40:43.630 --> 00:40:47.130
what, 20 something a day. The smallest little

00:40:47.130 --> 00:40:50.889
hiccup adds. Two miles, four miles. That's just,

00:40:50.929 --> 00:40:53.730
yeah, that's hard. That's hard to stomach. It

00:40:53.730 --> 00:40:56.150
doesn't seem like much, but if you really think

00:40:56.150 --> 00:40:57.989
about it, I mean, it adds up, you know, I mean,

00:40:58.010 --> 00:41:00.989
you figure every, every mile is typically about

00:41:00.989 --> 00:41:03.829
20 minutes. So, you know, it starts stacking

00:41:03.829 --> 00:41:05.769
up, especially when you get beat up, those 20

00:41:05.769 --> 00:41:10.849
minute miles aren't always there. Yeah. Take

00:41:10.849 --> 00:41:16.630
me to the last push of Mount Cristo Ray on Veterans

00:41:16.630 --> 00:41:19.840
Day. What were you thinking? Did that feeling

00:41:19.840 --> 00:41:22.059
match what you thought you would experience?

00:41:23.519 --> 00:41:28.500
So rolling into El Paso, I mean, I was beat up

00:41:28.500 --> 00:41:33.760
pretty bad. And I wasn't moving fast. And it

00:41:33.760 --> 00:41:37.579
was just a slow go. Every step was extremely

00:41:37.579 --> 00:41:42.659
painful. And we got down to the Rio Grande and

00:41:42.659 --> 00:41:46.389
where the border wall is. And I made this turn

00:41:46.389 --> 00:41:51.389
and I could see Mount Cristo Rey. And that was

00:41:51.389 --> 00:41:53.750
a moment. I had to sit down. You know, I got

00:41:53.750 --> 00:41:55.670
a little emotional. I was like, holy shit, there

00:41:55.670 --> 00:41:59.690
it is. You know, this is the end of the journey,

00:41:59.809 --> 00:42:03.789
you know. And I just sat down and looked at the

00:42:03.789 --> 00:42:05.989
Statue of Christ on top of that mountain. And

00:42:05.989 --> 00:42:10.130
it was monumental. I still had another five miles

00:42:10.130 --> 00:42:12.349
to go because the way the river goes, you got

00:42:12.349 --> 00:42:17.150
to go around it. And that last stretch, I mean,

00:42:17.190 --> 00:42:21.570
it was a fight. Every step was a fight. But every

00:42:21.570 --> 00:42:25.289
step was also like this weight being lifted off.

00:42:25.670 --> 00:42:30.010
And we got to the Rio Grande and there's a bridge

00:42:30.010 --> 00:42:31.969
that goes over the Rio Grande. And once you cross

00:42:31.969 --> 00:42:34.969
the Rio Grande, you're in New Mexico. And I remember

00:42:34.969 --> 00:42:37.070
I got to the middle of the bridge in the middle

00:42:37.070 --> 00:42:39.130
of the river and I just stood and I was like,

00:42:39.230 --> 00:42:44.510
holy shit. I just walked across the whole state

00:42:44.510 --> 00:42:48.510
of Texas, and it was surreal. You know, it seemed

00:42:48.510 --> 00:42:51.690
like the whole way I'd never get to that point,

00:42:51.769 --> 00:42:55.329
but I had gotten to that point. So it was just

00:42:55.329 --> 00:42:59.110
this moment that just, I can't really explain

00:42:59.110 --> 00:43:02.969
it in words. I was still in a lot of pain. You

00:43:02.969 --> 00:43:05.789
know, none of that stuff just went away. And

00:43:05.789 --> 00:43:08.369
then, you know, a little bit down the road, there's

00:43:08.369 --> 00:43:11.550
the turnoff to go to the base where the parking

00:43:11.550 --> 00:43:14.650
lot is, the base of Mount Cristo Rey is. And

00:43:14.650 --> 00:43:17.030
it's a pretty good little hill right there. And

00:43:17.030 --> 00:43:21.929
I started up that hill and just fighting it.

00:43:21.989 --> 00:43:24.869
You know, I mean, I knew that this is the end

00:43:24.869 --> 00:43:28.489
and everything hurt. And I got past this one

00:43:28.489 --> 00:43:36.179
point and I looked up and. I could see all my

00:43:36.179 --> 00:43:38.800
people up there. And my daughter had made this

00:43:38.800 --> 00:43:42.340
sign, you know, that said, like, congratulations.

00:43:43.099 --> 00:43:46.400
And I forgot all what was on there. I was pretty

00:43:46.400 --> 00:43:49.360
much a wreck at that point. And then I remember

00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:54.730
just like, you know, walk with purpose. Got to

00:43:54.730 --> 00:43:58.210
the top and greeted them, and it worked out perfect

00:43:58.210 --> 00:43:59.730
because we were doing a community event there

00:43:59.730 --> 00:44:02.590
at 3 o 'clock, and I pulled in at 2. So, you

00:44:02.590 --> 00:44:05.510
know, everything just worked exactly the way

00:44:05.510 --> 00:44:09.750
it was figured to go. And had I screwed around

00:44:09.750 --> 00:44:11.929
another two hours earlier, I wouldn't have made

00:44:11.929 --> 00:44:15.070
it there in time. They went and got me some food,

00:44:15.130 --> 00:44:19.489
and I was able to get some food in me and hang

00:44:19.489 --> 00:44:22.289
out with my friends, my wife, my son, my daughter.

00:44:23.070 --> 00:44:26.110
And people started showing up. And I mean, I

00:44:26.110 --> 00:44:28.369
knew just a hand. There was a whole handful of

00:44:28.369 --> 00:44:30.969
people that showed up from from my area. But

00:44:30.969 --> 00:44:33.469
there was a lot of people that I've never met

00:44:33.469 --> 00:44:37.449
that had followed that journey. And it was just

00:44:37.449 --> 00:44:40.550
it was surreal. And it was just, you know, I

00:44:40.550 --> 00:44:43.550
went and met and shook everybody's hand. And

00:44:43.550 --> 00:44:46.070
then we started up Mount Cristo Rey. And it was

00:44:46.070 --> 00:44:49.769
when we started, man, I still had all that pain.

00:44:49.869 --> 00:44:51.929
But it just like everything kind of just lifted

00:44:51.929 --> 00:44:55.340
off. and i started just hammering it out you

00:44:55.340 --> 00:44:57.440
know and i started like putting a gap between

00:44:57.440 --> 00:44:59.659
me and everybody else and then the next thing

00:44:59.659 --> 00:45:02.579
i know there was all these little kids around

00:45:02.579 --> 00:45:04.679
me and because there was a bunch of people that

00:45:04.679 --> 00:45:06.880
brought their kids and i'm surrounded by like

00:45:06.880 --> 00:45:10.579
a bunch of kids and they're like so excited you

00:45:10.579 --> 00:45:13.719
know to be part of this and i was just like how

00:45:13.719 --> 00:45:20.610
freaking cool you know and Looking down at those

00:45:20.610 --> 00:45:22.949
kids and just seeing the excitement and just

00:45:22.949 --> 00:45:25.449
talking to them, telling them stories. And then

00:45:25.449 --> 00:45:28.230
we got to the top and then we did a patch ceremony

00:45:28.230 --> 00:45:30.789
up there and giving those kids those patches,

00:45:30.909 --> 00:45:34.250
you know, was was huge for me. It was like I

00:45:34.250 --> 00:45:36.170
kind of felt like things had gone full circle,

00:45:36.230 --> 00:45:38.849
you know, because I didn't have the best childhood

00:45:38.849 --> 00:45:44.610
coming up. Being able to show those kids that,

00:45:44.630 --> 00:45:47.170
you know, we can do more than we think we can

00:45:47.170 --> 00:45:50.030
and to go out there and try to be the best version

00:45:50.030 --> 00:45:52.530
of ourselves. It was just, it was just changed

00:45:52.530 --> 00:45:55.190
my life. That whole event just really, truly

00:45:55.190 --> 00:45:58.570
changed my life. I 100 % was not the same person

00:45:58.570 --> 00:46:02.710
that started it on October 2nd and finishing

00:46:02.710 --> 00:46:05.329
it 40 days later. It was a, it was a big transformation

00:46:05.329 --> 00:46:09.070
and a lot of what I think, how I feel and all

00:46:09.070 --> 00:46:11.599
of that. So, yeah. That's amazing. Thanks for

00:46:11.599 --> 00:46:13.559
sharing that, Terrence. Transformation, that's

00:46:13.559 --> 00:46:16.579
a really good way to put it. That's truly phenomenal.

00:46:17.679 --> 00:46:19.860
Now, we haven't talked about it yet, but Official

00:46:19.860 --> 00:46:23.719
Project Grit, for the audience member just learning

00:46:23.719 --> 00:46:26.119
about it now through this episode, do you mind

00:46:26.119 --> 00:46:29.099
giving us a little bit of a description of the

00:46:29.099 --> 00:46:31.900
mission statement and what y 'all do? So, Official

00:46:31.900 --> 00:46:36.159
Project Grit started... It started on the middle

00:46:36.159 --> 00:46:40.039
of a road, and it started on the very first Immortal

00:46:40.039 --> 00:46:45.639
32 ruck, and we were 45 miles into a 75 -mile

00:46:45.639 --> 00:46:50.260
ruck. It was 2 a .m., and I started to pull away

00:46:50.260 --> 00:46:52.559
from my partner. It was just me and one other

00:46:52.559 --> 00:46:55.699
guy, and super fit dude, and we were hammering

00:46:55.699 --> 00:46:58.420
it out. He kept falling back, and I remember

00:46:58.420 --> 00:47:02.199
looking back and getting angry and getting frustrated.

00:47:03.239 --> 00:47:07.579
I looked back and saw the faint glow of his headlamp.

00:47:07.579 --> 00:47:09.679
And I was like, you know what? He's a grown man.

00:47:09.760 --> 00:47:11.880
He can figure this out, dude. I'm going to push

00:47:11.880 --> 00:47:14.000
on. He's making this harder on me. And I was

00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:16.840
ready to leave him in the dark. And then something

00:47:16.840 --> 00:47:19.920
bigger had me turn around and walk back to him.

00:47:20.019 --> 00:47:22.900
And the whole way back to him, I'm cussing him

00:47:22.900 --> 00:47:25.760
in my head. I was just real frustrated. I was

00:47:25.760 --> 00:47:30.730
in a world of pain. I was in a tough spot. And

00:47:30.730 --> 00:47:34.869
when I got to him, I looked down on him and he

00:47:34.869 --> 00:47:36.550
looked up to me and said, I'm done. I can't go

00:47:36.550 --> 00:47:41.230
on. And when I looked down, I saw the version

00:47:41.230 --> 00:47:43.929
of myself. I saw the version of myself when I

00:47:43.929 --> 00:47:47.150
was ready to just give up on life. And I thought

00:47:47.150 --> 00:47:49.670
of Kenny and how Kenny stuck that hand out for

00:47:49.670 --> 00:47:53.269
me. So I don't know exactly what the words are

00:47:53.269 --> 00:47:57.219
that I told him, but it was. Pretty much, you

00:47:57.219 --> 00:47:59.099
know, hey, let's get up. I'm not going to ditch

00:47:59.099 --> 00:48:00.940
you. We're going to finish this thing side by

00:48:00.940 --> 00:48:04.179
side. He stood up and we continued and we finished

00:48:04.179 --> 00:48:08.719
that 75 miler. And that was the moment that Project

00:48:08.719 --> 00:48:13.099
Grit was formed. And it's not about going and

00:48:13.099 --> 00:48:15.860
doing something extremely hard. It's not about

00:48:15.860 --> 00:48:19.920
going and doing some, you know, extremely long

00:48:19.920 --> 00:48:23.059
distance. It's about one person helping another

00:48:23.059 --> 00:48:24.920
person out when they're in the lowest point.

00:48:25.659 --> 00:48:29.219
And from that, we two years later, we brought

00:48:29.219 --> 00:48:32.119
it out for the public to do. And I started seeing

00:48:32.119 --> 00:48:35.639
other people, ironically, pretty much in that

00:48:35.639 --> 00:48:38.719
same spot, start getting outside of themselves

00:48:38.719 --> 00:48:41.840
and helping another person get through that tough

00:48:41.840 --> 00:48:46.420
spot. All of my ruts are group ruts. So we travel

00:48:46.420 --> 00:48:49.840
as a team. There's no like it's not a race. It's

00:48:49.840 --> 00:48:53.260
it's about one person helping the other person

00:48:53.260 --> 00:48:57.750
get through it. I have multiple events that I

00:48:57.750 --> 00:49:00.409
do throughout the year, and it's about getting

00:49:00.409 --> 00:49:02.269
out there and doing that. And it's more than

00:49:02.269 --> 00:49:08.150
just that. It's the stuff that Kenny had taught

00:49:08.150 --> 00:49:11.170
me that changed my life. It's about doing the

00:49:11.170 --> 00:49:13.150
hard thing. That was one big thing that he was

00:49:13.150 --> 00:49:17.409
always adamant about is the things in life. that

00:49:17.409 --> 00:49:20.690
i'm trying to avoid the things in life that i

00:49:20.690 --> 00:49:24.070
i'm afraid to go do the things in life that that

00:49:24.070 --> 00:49:27.389
i keep running from are usually the things that

00:49:27.389 --> 00:49:29.710
i need to go and address you don't have to like

00:49:29.710 --> 00:49:33.949
it but go figure out what it is and and find

00:49:33.949 --> 00:49:36.170
out what's on the other side of that and that's

00:49:36.170 --> 00:49:38.750
that's where it started for me so project grid

00:49:38.750 --> 00:49:42.250
is all about you know it's Changing your life,

00:49:42.389 --> 00:49:44.570
you know, and I got to a point in my life where,

00:49:44.610 --> 00:49:47.869
you know, I'm 24 years clean and sober. And I'd

00:49:47.869 --> 00:49:50.269
got to this point in my life that I was, what

00:49:50.269 --> 00:49:52.690
I wanted was a family. I wanted a home and I

00:49:52.690 --> 00:49:55.530
wanted to get out of that situation. I'd gotten

00:49:55.530 --> 00:49:57.530
to this point in life where it's like I achieved

00:49:57.530 --> 00:50:00.090
those goals and I felt like something was still

00:50:00.090 --> 00:50:03.750
missing. And I felt like mediocrity had set in.

00:50:04.570 --> 00:50:08.750
And Project Grit is set up to, you know, get

00:50:08.750 --> 00:50:12.809
over that mediocrity. Do challenging things and

00:50:12.809 --> 00:50:15.710
find the power of teamwork. You know, I mean,

00:50:15.750 --> 00:50:19.090
that's pretty much what we're all about and going

00:50:19.090 --> 00:50:20.769
and doing the thing that you don't want to do.

00:50:20.869 --> 00:50:23.949
And it changed my life. It helped me find my

00:50:23.949 --> 00:50:27.949
purpose. And that's what we do, man. What an

00:50:27.949 --> 00:50:31.230
excellent way to pay it forward. If someone is

00:50:31.230 --> 00:50:34.969
curious about getting involved or, you know,

00:50:34.989 --> 00:50:37.710
joining you on a ruck, where can they go to learn

00:50:37.710 --> 00:50:39.530
more? Where can they go to sign up for anything?

00:50:40.059 --> 00:50:43.260
So I have a website, officialprojectgrit .com.

00:50:43.539 --> 00:50:46.599
And on that website, it shows my events. It shows

00:50:46.599 --> 00:50:50.219
what we do. I have a newsletter that comes out

00:50:50.219 --> 00:50:53.300
twice a week. There's one that comes out on Tuesdays.

00:50:53.300 --> 00:50:55.820
It's a little more philosophical about kind of

00:50:55.820 --> 00:50:58.460
some of the teachings that Kenny gave me. And

00:50:58.460 --> 00:51:02.800
on Saturday mornings, it's about obscure people

00:51:02.800 --> 00:51:06.219
that you probably never heard of that I call

00:51:06.219 --> 00:51:10.059
it the legends of grit. persevered in life by

00:51:10.059 --> 00:51:12.460
pushing through and getting gritty and getting

00:51:12.460 --> 00:51:16.000
things done. So that also, another way is I'm

00:51:16.000 --> 00:51:18.079
on Instagram. That's more of my day -to -day

00:51:18.079 --> 00:51:22.099
stuff at official project grit. And you can see

00:51:22.099 --> 00:51:25.099
more, more of my daily content on that. So those

00:51:25.099 --> 00:51:27.380
are the best ways to get in touch with me. Excellent.

00:51:27.420 --> 00:51:30.440
And I'm so curious, what's next? You mentioned

00:51:30.440 --> 00:51:32.920
a documentary. Is that in the works still? What's

00:51:32.920 --> 00:51:36.219
going on there? So documentary is in post -production.

00:51:36.780 --> 00:51:40.119
We're looking at it being completed in July.

00:51:40.260 --> 00:51:42.139
Then we're going to push it out to some film

00:51:42.139 --> 00:51:45.699
festivals, which will be private showings while

00:51:45.699 --> 00:51:47.460
it's going through all that. Once it's through

00:51:47.460 --> 00:51:50.679
the festivals, it'll be open to the public. I

00:51:50.679 --> 00:51:55.420
have a book that I'm about ready to send to an

00:51:55.420 --> 00:52:01.699
editor that is about everything before. the thousand

00:52:01.699 --> 00:52:04.440
mile rock i will have a book too that is on the

00:52:04.440 --> 00:52:09.440
thousand mile rock and uh the next big event

00:52:09.440 --> 00:52:12.239
that we got going on that i'm about to release

00:52:12.239 --> 00:52:16.780
is the gritty 50 and that is going to be a 50

00:52:16.780 --> 00:52:21.539
mile rock in 1908 theater theodore roosevelt

00:52:21.539 --> 00:52:26.849
issued executive order 989 And it was that all

00:52:26.849 --> 00:52:29.550
Marine Corps officers had to complete 50 miles

00:52:29.550 --> 00:52:33.469
in 20 hours to keep their commission. Fast forward

00:52:33.469 --> 00:52:37.289
to the 60s, JFK reinstated that executive order.

00:52:37.389 --> 00:52:41.030
He had a big speech about fitness. And it kind

00:52:41.030 --> 00:52:43.769
of like that there was like a civilian craze

00:52:43.769 --> 00:52:46.110
of people trying to do 50 miles in 20 hours.

00:52:46.469 --> 00:52:51.460
The Gritty 50 is Project Grit's version to. bring

00:52:51.460 --> 00:52:54.960
that standard back. And it will be a 50 -mile

00:52:54.960 --> 00:52:58.480
with a 20 -hour cutoff to make the standard,

00:52:58.619 --> 00:53:03.599
a 24 -hour cutoff to just be a finisher. So that's

00:53:03.599 --> 00:53:06.119
coming out in the fall. The first one will be

00:53:06.119 --> 00:53:09.480
in Georgetown, Texas, Lake Georgetown on the

00:53:09.480 --> 00:53:14.260
Goodwater Loop. But my idea with this event is

00:53:14.260 --> 00:53:16.739
to take it through multiple cities throughout

00:53:16.739 --> 00:53:20.460
the United States. Wow. I'll look up when it's

00:53:20.460 --> 00:53:23.320
in Louisiana. I'll join you on that one. Terrence,

00:53:23.340 --> 00:53:25.480
thank you so much for joining me today. I really,

00:53:25.500 --> 00:53:27.800
really appreciate you offering your time. Thanks.

00:53:28.659 --> 00:53:30.840
Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. And, uh,

00:53:30.920 --> 00:53:33.280
yeah, it was a great conversation. All right.

00:53:33.300 --> 00:53:35.360
That wraps up my conversation with Terrence.

00:53:35.579 --> 00:53:38.480
You can connect with him on Instagram at official

00:53:38.480 --> 00:53:40.619
project grit. I'll drop the link in the show

00:53:40.619 --> 00:53:42.599
notes. If you want to reach out to me, head on

00:53:42.599 --> 00:53:44.980
over to the records edge .com or on Instagram

00:53:44.980 --> 00:53:47.489
at the records edge pod. If you enjoyed today's

00:53:47.489 --> 00:53:49.090
episode, make sure to follow or subscribe to

00:53:49.090 --> 00:53:51.369
the show in your favorite podcast app so you're

00:53:51.369 --> 00:53:54.230
notified of new episodes. Before I go, I want

00:53:54.230 --> 00:53:55.710
to give you a quick heads up. I'm going to be

00:53:55.710 --> 00:53:57.909
taking a short break over the next three weeks,

00:53:58.010 --> 00:54:00.309
but mark your calendar. I'll be back on May 6th

00:54:00.309 --> 00:54:02.510
with a brand new episode featuring Jessica Flores,

00:54:02.670 --> 00:54:05.190
co -founder of Triton Ruck Club out of San Diego.

00:54:05.769 --> 00:54:08.309
Okay, that's it for today. Thanks again for listening

00:54:08.309 --> 00:54:10.190
to this episode of The Rucker's Edge.