Courtney Dauwalter Talks About Overcoming The Pain Cave-Running with Ryan-Ep 5

[Music] hello everybody and welcome to another running with Ryan I hope you're having a great day I'm having a great day because I'm about to go running with one of my heroes in the world of running she is a total badass she is an ultra ultra runner and by that I mean she does races that are over 200 miles long she's so down to earth she is the definition of Minnesota nice that's where she's from she loves candy she has a total sweet tooth she was named the 2018 ultra runner of the year she has won races all over the world and a lot of times she beats all of the men as well ladies and gentlemen get ready for the one and only Courtney do Walter I'd like to point out that we're almost matching his shorts red shoes we didn't get the t-shirt notice though it's nice together that's true we're kind of meeting halfway on the boulder boy she's a golden girl it's perfect yeah so you already went on a run today just today what is the little jog mean for Courtney to Walter well I think you'd be proud of me I ate a pint of Ben and Jerry's fish Street last night for dinner one of the best flavors malleus world oh it's so good so good I actually one of my jobs in college I was an ice cream scooper hot Ben and Jerry's really yeah that's kind of a dream come true did you have one arm that was really strong yeah or I just like really struggled with some of the scooping thankful for you sample for me exactly half baked cookie dough chunks you know ice cream it's a good one absolutely I am with you buts so green so green Colorado is not like this very often this is like the only month that it's super green and it's every year I feel like surprising when it comes cuz you're like oh it can be green yeah oh yeah I forgot about that just blowing along the whole front side you're from a very green state Minnesota very good yeah how long have you been here now well I came out for undergrad and then left for a couple years and came out again so I guess most recently it's been like man maybe eight years so you've had a good year so far it's only what may and you've won a couple big races talk just a little bit about the the most recent one how do you say it Madera Madera yeah it's an island off the coast of Portugal who are you asking questions and then they just run up a hill I know this is a hill this is gonna be the most difficult workout of your life talking and running for 45 minutes straight okay we'll give what we give a positive [Music] okay yeah so Madera oh look at the snow-capped I don't think we're gonna talk about anything we're just gonna enjoy nature today nature run off the coast of Portugal okay and it's not super big so it was 115 kilometers and now let's point-to-point from one end of the island to the other okay Wow it's cool yeah to experience the whole thing you know and it's super mountainous through the middle there's this whole spine of mountains so you're running with ocean all around but then like climbing up these huge Pete's let's go back a little bit you have you have an adult surrender all that long really right what cross-country speed in high school yeah not just about your path quickly sorry normal I did cross-country running track and Nordic skiing in high school and college Nordic skiing after college I just wanted something to work towards so I did a couple road marathons okay which I thought before those like it's like the morning of the marathon I'm like texting goodbye to my parents and my friends died but you survived I survived yeah and so then surviving that was like oh sweet what else is there yeah but I could try to survive and it brought me to the ultrarunning world which I didn't even know existed yeah and then it's a weird world I didn't know it existed either till recently yeah bunch of weirdos in this sport yeah well my first and this is a very weird of bolter but my first ultra was The Burning Man ultra you can run it naked you can run it with however you want well yeah that was my first ultra and that got me into the world of running and the thing is it was the community yeah that's the people that's so supportive so fun and I was out there at Burning Man like wow I'm seeing some people running this race never a lot of their bodies but I was like I would never tag that person as somebody who could run 31 miles yeah yeah yeah it totally is that so the community grabbed me on it to like I loved going really far in like I don't know surviving these distances I didn't think we're actually possible but it was the community that like cemented it my first 50-mile race so I did a 50k 50-mile was next and it was like this wild weather like we ended up in the hill sweet sideways you know everything was just crazy the good stuff yeah and I face-planted into a mud puddle at one point and someone in front of me let's go you don't see that in a lot of other sports and then there's this guy runnin in a garbage bag fezzes poncho just like whooping and hollering the whole time like getting pelted by this awful weather he's loved it it'd be easy to like you know just start trudging along and hating life yeah and he was just like oh that's kind of a feel when I run it's like you're out in the middle of nowhere you're connected to nature and the people and you just wanna like grow it's just been really fun to keep exploring and keep like being surprised by what we can do yeah everyone who lines up you wherever you finish in the field in a race like you covered that distance with just your two feet yeah and I think that's really incredible it really is human powered adventures are my favorites yeah there are bikes I know you bite you bite yeah yeah how else would I get there holy bikes yeah so what is what is it about running that you love takeaway the community of it you're out on the trail by yourself what do you love most I love where you end up yeah so the exploring you can do I do some of my best thinking yeah and I love that it's like something where it's a pretty direct correlation between what you put into it and what you get out of it yeah so like you've worked really hard oftentimes that just correlates to them totally no it feels awesome when you train for something for months and you go out then do a race and you're like well my body feels awesome I feel like a superhero [Music] all right we're gonna try some single track now I'm gonna show you right between these trees talking about running or something was boring what do you do when it gets really hard and maybe what's me what's up advice for people you know when they're in their own race it just seems insurmountable yeah I think it's always gonna get really hard yeah and so just knowing that makes it already less stressful when it does get hard cuz you're like okay I expected this there we go running a really far away's of course it's going to physically hurt so I think that's the number one is like knowing that's gonna happen and then knowing when it does happen that's when you can like just mentally overpower the physical pain by breaking it into whatever digestible piece you have to so like maybe you can like think of the next aid station and that moves you forward or maybe that's too far and that's stressful you know so then it's like well that next tree I can get to that you know and then sometimes if it gets really bad then it's just the next step I'm focusing on is the next one stuff that's when you start chanting the little engine that could trick you can do to distract your brain or to make your brain think like oh my god I can do that yeah not like get overwhelmed by the big picture so at this point your body is blown up your brain stays in it by playing tricks on it as you say your brain can stay in it if you make it yeah right like your brain will take the easy out also if it has it it's like Oh sweetie I could stop now cuz it hurts yeah like sweetie I'm done so it's not just like automatic yeah absolutely you're gonna want to fight it I think but if you figure out how to do some trickery some mind games with yourself yeah which is so crazy Jedi mind trick let's have a stop for the view really quick this is a really beautiful I've never been on this trail can you give us any examples of some moments where you're like I am done I can't do this anymore but you weren't done you rallied yeah it almost happens every race for sure in the long run so over like hundred K+ yeah there's usually at least one moment in it where it's like yeah can you rally oftentimes I'll try like one of my first things I'll try is just calories yeah because one it can be distracting and also - it's just like I don't know it gives your brain maybe some extra energy to help you fight what's going on yep so and it tastes good it's like it feels good is usually ultra food is sweet and it's like oh cool candy I love candy treats are great I sometimes think about ultra races is not so much a running race but an eating race I don't know I thought that 100 miles was crazy and that was enough and now I look at people like you were doing 200 miles and I'm like huh that's interesting maybe that's possible so the answer is I don't know I don't like to say never but it seems a little Loco to me that's pretty fun let's talk about one of you have 200 miles yeah I imagine it is because it's not just one day we're talking like two days plus if you're going fast five days I'm so for Candis Burt's 200 yeah her destination show ones I think the cut-offs range from like wow that just sounds silly take some solid nap that was a good I know that feeling where you're not paying attention you clip your toe good rescue here we're still on a technical trail I can't guarantee nobody's gonna fall but we're gonna try our best yeah what are your favorite types of trails to run on some of the races I've done you know are just on a flat like even a 400 meter track yeah that's true but I love getting into mountains I love you know the fast runner bull stuff so I don't have a preference yeah I don't think let's go back you just mentioned running on a 400 meter track how long did you run on that truck for just 24 hours just 24 hours I've done like 48 hours I think six-day races are sometimes held on tracks like that and how far did you run that day 159 ish - Wow in 24 hours exactly yeah Wow yeah this is incredible quality for eight because it's just how far can you get in 24 hours yeah so like you try not to waste any time you know you don't want to like sit if you don't have to yeah eat while you're going if you can every second ends up counting because you need it that kind of stuff boggles my mind because you know you go run a 240 miles into a lab you're in nature you're on you're not doubling back on things a track is just like well how do you how do you work your mind on that one it's a Super Bowl mind game it's fun because on a track like that you can turn off like you're putting ya have to pay attention to your footing and your navigation true just keep turning its go left yeah keep going left go left again you get to like access some different parts of your brain I think that like when you don't have to be focused on other things you can really like get in there yeah which is a little bit scary it is scary I think for me when I've done some of these long runs it's almost like therapy yeah because you go through these ups and downs and give time to really dig deep into your soul have you figured some big life questions out on the long runs yeah all the world's problems awesome let's have a moment to look at nature again we don't need power what does your mom think about this my mom thinks I'm crazy your mom I don't know she's amazing okay um both my parents said you know once I started like doing these they were like what what do you mean and then they were just full-on supportive like my dad was one of my crew people at the first hundred mile races I finished and there was this 24 hour race that I would go back to in Minnesota for like I did it like four years in a row or something um just like you didn't you know try and learn how to get higher miles yeah I would do it and so my mom after like going there two years the third year I went back to it she was like well I'm sitting out there for 24 hours anyways why don't I just sign up and I'll do the 24 hour race - oh cool she had never done a marathon and that day she did like 70 miles well I loved it just off the couch I mean she's like an active person but not like a huge you know she doesn't run every day and speaking of you know you inspired your mom I've read a lot of the comments on the videos about you on YouTube and I would say the overwhelming majority say like oh my god I wasn't a runner before I saw this but now I want to run because of you what do you think about that yeah I think in general people don't like give themselves credit for what they can actually do you know you like set your your bar low yeah I'm what you think is possible but if you just raise it up a little bit I think we'd all surprise ourselves with like well we can actually accomplish in anything you know no I was running like anything relationships work jobs projects Mars traveling to Mars no I truly I believe that and that's one of the reasons why I love pushing myself physically because it's not just physical some mental challenge and once you do like 100 mile race you look at other challenges in life you're like oh wait I got this yeah I just ran 100 miles I can do this yeah yeah what's your favorite candy fruity candy like jelly beans Mike and Ikes gummy bears usually not the fruity candy and wrappers like a starburst yeah okay that's too much work that's true yeah I'm with you because the starburst yeah it's of like long fingernails to open those packages like screw it then you eat it with the wrapper on because they're so hungry and then it's just like comes a mess I'm just gonna film you with the mountains and we'll make this slow-motion growing up in Minnesota Dairy Queen Lazar like oh yeah have these mr. Misty's yeah they're like a for you but you can get ice cream mixed in yes so good speaking of Dairy Queen Oreo blizzard so good you're a good or a bad influence okay sounds good I will do it holy a few coach me okay that Stewart's on camera she fell on camera and I dedicated myself to a 200 mile race on camera today all right it's a good day going back to the candy stuff a lot of like elite athletes are so meticulous about what they put in their bodies and training regimens and schedules and all that stuff but you're not a strict you just kind of like listen to your body right yeah yeah for me for the training stuff I'm just trying to figure it out and having fun doing that like it's like a science experiment you know yeah thank you how many Mike and Ikes will it take to get through this hundred mile race like do this much training am i blown out and then useless or like is that still where I could build off of it to do more you know girl because I don't I don't know it's not uh there's no method to the madness really except trial and error and then for food stuff like I just want to enjoy and eat what I like and drink what I like and sure and also you kind of earn it when you burn that many calories you're like hell yes I deserve this giant mr. Misti right I think we should just run to the nearest Dairy Queen now yeah well we should meet there let's do laughs I'm a Dairy Queen that would be a good ol truck huh how could you resist like stopping oh you know yeah maybe every 30 miles you're allowed to stop and get a get a treat those purple flowers a marathon misty look at that we're totally distracted today by nature and candy yeah okay okay let's talk about your husband and he's with you at a lot of these races and he supports you and he's part of your team he's like a team yeah talk about how you guys work together as a couple it's been really fun because basically from the get-go he's been part of it so like this whole time we've been kind of figuring it out together and I feel really lucky that he liked screwing which I know a lot of people don't like you know so it does a pain in the ass you have to love the person you're working for yeah I mean I've met plenty where their spouse like they love each other a whole lotta but their spouse refuses to crew them all that glamorous I mean you're up for days at a time here you're dealing with cranky people and crazy emotions sometimes he's like why don't you 50 mile distance we wake up in the morning we go to bed in our own bed that night yeah and is he much of a runner kids now okay yeah when we first met he wasn't at all and I think the community kind of scooped him into like you started coming to these things to crew and then was like you know well this is awesome community and adventure to be out on these trails so now he has done a 100-mile race which is really exciting do you have any other like running adventure dreams like maybe a long fast pack or something for Appalachian Trail or something like that yeah any of that crazy any of those crazy trails like I mean I think living in Colorado it would be really fun to do the Colorado Trail yeah for sure like 500 miles yeah across the whole state basically yeah it's a bunch of good stuff yeah would you take that a little bit easier or would you try to blast through as fast as possible yeah when that actually ends up happening because have you fun to try either way yeah true take it next nice and leisurely with your husband yeah run 2530 miles a day camp out under the stars what happened next I can't really explain I was running I was talking and then I ate it I was on the ground unfortunately it didn't record because the battery popped out of the camera and the file didn't record to the card so all I have is the aftermath we were joking about crashing and falling it look I did it brought you down I crap I dented the lens yeah get the ground though you saved yourself so Courtney what does your normal day look like you're not a teacher anymore what are you doing yeah definitely start with coffee and then run and then eat run okay and then beer and beer that's a great day what's your favorite divos favorite local microbrew oh man all about yeah as far as like breweries and golden Isle of nutrient okay I have not they have a great setup and modern toad oh cool another good one if it's what ain't cold I like it I like it all right Courtney were coming toward the end of the refrigerant life out we've been out here for hours hours we both crashed and burned the camera has a pink in the lens today was a good day it was a good Thursday going to Dairy Queen baby thank you so much I really appreciate it yeah absolutely there was tons of fun best of luck in all your a sis y'all send you the links to the 200 yeah oh that's right thanks coach yeah maybe I'll do the Moab one I love my love adventures yeah yeah so thank you all out there for watching this and stay tuned I'll say I'll put some links at the bottom dollar Courtney's cool videos and films and articles you can cheer her on and we will see you next time for the next runnin with Ryan Letta have to get a new camera [Music]

Channel: Ryan Van Duzer

Views: 173,110

Rating: 4.9566236 out of 5

Keywords: ryan van duzer runner, running with ryan, courtney dauwalter training, courtney dauwalter ultra runner, courtney dauwalter interview, courtney dauwalter 24 hour race, courtney dauwalter, courtney dauwalter joe rogan, courtney dauwalter moab 240, western states 100 courtney dauwalter, woman ultra runner, inspirational running podcast, ultra running motivation, ultra running podcast, ultra running nutrition, ultra running diet, ultra running training, ultra running documentary

Id: KT4gjcLSY8Y

Length: 28min 3sec (1683 seconds)

Published: Wed May 22 2019