Jeff Colt | 2023 Western States 100 Pre-Race Interview

Welcome back, or welcome to, the Single Track Podcast. I'm your host, finn Malanson, and in this episode, we're joined by Jeff Colt ahead of the 2023 Western States 100. Before we get started, though, this episode is brought to you by Hoka Rabbit Morton and Features Head to the show notes page of this episode for new product releases and discount codes from each of our four sponsors. With that, let's get started, jeff Colt, welcome back to the Single Track Podcast.

Thanks for having me here in person.

Yeah, this is a cool one. Jeff's one of the few Long Run Archives guests.

That's right.

Yeah, way back when That was an infamous one. Yeah, we went deep into the weeds. That was probably one of the more hotly talked about Long Run Archives.

Yeah, i tripped Finn up and he got called out on Twitter. It didn't end there.

It's not over. It's not over. It's never over.

Seriously, it's great to have you here. You make the sport so exciting And I think, before we get into Western State stuff, one question I want to ask you. You've played a pivotal role, i feel like, in the last two to three years popularizing the World Championship team here in the US, and what are your thoughts on just how the team performed over in Innsbruck for the Eddie Case a couple weeks back?

I might rephrase that and say maybe I played a role in the last nine months.

Nine months Yeah.

Last September I found out I was going to Chiang Mai and all of a sudden Innsbruck just happened. The men's ADK team crushed it. I was really excited watching them actually race live. I got a little ahead of myself because I did some wrong mental math and I thought they clinched the victory again, but rightfully so. France ended up beating us this year the same way that we beat France last year by having a really strong runner off the front that put a big gap on everyone else The US team. It was so special to see them perform, to see Drew and Zach finish literally together and Eric Lapuma finish a minute and a half after. I think it solidified the message I was trying to send that when you're racing for a team, it pulls a different reach and different depth out of your ability And you're running for something greater than yourself. Seeing those guys finish that way was really special.

Yeah, and then even the added layer of the way that the race is scored. With total time, you have Drew and Zach and Eric all in the same place, whereas if it's going for points, for places, they don't need to hammer it in like that, but then there's every seconds on the line and just absolutely trashing themselves coming in. I think that's a super unique way to score the race.

Definitely, and kudos to Zach Miller. I've always looked up to that guy. I still do Leaning at the finish line putting everything out there. I actually learned so much about aid station management and how to go through an aid station from Zach Miller watching his videos from Penyaglosa And any of the grief he was getting I think was pretty undeserved for the guy that he is Leaning at the line in a 84 kilometer race that says it all.

That's not the ultra lean that we're used to seeing.

Yeah.

Is that going to be a focus for you in 2025,? do you think looking ahead to Spain?

That would be so cool, and the Pyrenees, like in northern Spain, right.

Yeah, remember how it's an even harder course.

Yeah, i believe it. There's a reason that Killian's from that part of the world. It is vert on top of vert, on top of vert on top of vert. That would be really cool to focus on that in 2025. I think at some point here I want to focus more on just really climbing races and less on the much faster races. Sites continue to be set on hard rock one day, but 2025 worlds would be so cool to be part of that team again, and I can only hope that there's an amazing collection of 40 runners going from the US and that it's still fully funded, because it's such a cool opportunity.

Does that put any added pressure on this year at Western States for you, knowing that you want to get back to that type of racing at some point, To really I mean, you had a great race last year but still left wanting. Is there more pressure to get it right this year and close the book on Western States?

I don't think the book will ever fully close in Western States. I'll continue putting in the lottery. I likely won't chase golden tickets. I don't think it's pressure as much, as I'm going to approach this race differently than I've ever approached a race and I'm going all or not. I'm. I'm not trying to get top ten, i'm trying to end up on the podium at Western States and I've seen what happens when people blow up trying to do that. I know that that's a reality. I also know I do have many layers of governors Internally and I'm hoping to override a couple of them to allow me to mix it up and spice things up sooner in the race and stay in contention. I also know I Am really responsible with hydration and nutrition. So I don't foresee an explosion on Saturday, but I do foresee me pushing myself harder than I have earlier on and I'm excited about the opportunity to do that. I think when I I reconsidered Western States last year in September, i basically had a bit of a switch of thought and was like I want to go back, i want to do what I know I can do there and I want to go to Olympic Valley being fitter than I know. I am like Having no real idea of what I could run. I think last year when we talked I said I can run a 1647 and I ran a 1651. I want to like, no doubt, be able to run sub 15 if, if Tom Evan says a 1428, 1428, it's gonna win, cool, i don't. I don't want to think that I can't run that. So That's a scary thought, but also really exciting. Are you in the?

best ultra running shape of your life right now.

Yeah, and like speed fitness wise, certainly going from doing zero speed workouts to doing 16, you know, weeks of speed workouts. Speed's coming really naturally, which is nice. I Definitely feel like I'm in a place to Not even not even have a frame of reference for splits to be running and, ideally, autopilot is Quite a bit faster than you know. One I'm comfortable with and two, what I was running last year.

Oh, it seemed like so. We watched your, your pre-race vlog, the last little training link to bits which, yeah, we'll link to a great, great video. But it really seems like you know the last I don't know 12 months or so, like there has been like a new Amount of seriousness that has gone into your running, or just like you know the amount that you've invested Into your training, improving, you know getting a coach like where was that like turning point? and, yeah, i mean it sounds like it's been great. But we'd love to hear just more about like what, what that, what the new, the new Jeff Colt has been like why did that?

Why did the switch?

flip. Yeah, let's jump back to post black canyons. I think I told you like where I found success going into black canyons was actually taking a step back from being a fan of the sport and like focusing on me as a holistic person and like Jeff, as a human and that kind of removed me from being caught up in the who's who and what's happening. And There was a lot of truth to that. In August I went down the Grand Canyon with a couple friends from college and friends from you know different parts of my life, and the first night we had this freak flash flood that Scared me to like psychological level that I didn't. It fully flipped a switch in terms of Me questioning a lot of things in life, knowing like I was inches or seconds away from being killed in a flash flood that had an impact of What do I value, what am I doing, how am I living and how would I like to be living. And at that point on, i think I did a pretty strong assessment of like what am I putting in my body? What am I consuming? Is that helping me? and I think one of the first things I questioned was just drinking, and it's like Going from 12 to 20 drinks a week for like a decade or 12 years kind of like. From college onward, living in a mountain town. It's really easy to just be like, oh, maybe I won't have a beer because it's Monday, but I'll have two on Tuesday and like maybe five on Saturday. I Never did anything good for me and actually asking why I was doing that and Really taking like a little bit of control and initiative to at least be able to say like No, i'm good and not really feel this social taboo around that. So I think that little switch was on many different facets of my life and one of them was my relationship with myself and That does tie into my relationship with, like, substance use. Yeah, but I liked people thinking that I wasn't just a runner and I felt like I needed to put on a show to prove that in a way that like oh yeah, jeff's like out partying super hard. Yet like the next morning I'd get up and go run 20 miles and at some point I started scratching my head like it's, it's not just the 500 hours of training I'm putting in a year, it's the 23 years of accumulative Training, like I clearly care so much about this. So why am I trying to make it a more marginal part of who I am or my identity? And I still very much focus on me as a human, like Jeff is a human and really future Jeff, my future self, is who I'm thinking most about. That doesn't mean I can't embrace wanting to have success in running and having goals, and that's where I think my head space on having a coach also changed, because I told you, you know, i do still kind of stand by coaches are overrated, like I think there's a lot of pressure for a lot of people to have coaches for maybe, you know, not necessarily the right reasons, but in talking with my friend John Ray and Katie Scheid, both of them attributed a lot of their success in the last two years to finding a coach that really worked for them. And all of these thoughts coalesced into this I want to go back to Western States. I want to hunt a cougar and go after it And I want to check all the right boxes to do so. I'm still going to have my full-time job, still be me, still be the friend I know I can be and the partner I can be, but I want to live up to the potential of the runner I can be.

What do you got off that Dude?

that was such a good answer, i mean. I mean this episode could end up being like three hours long. We won't. It won't, but I guess to go off that. You know talking about, you know last year's race and you know leading into all the things that you're doing differently. Like you know, last year's race you came off of COVID like right before, like the classic.

MJ flu game. You compromised, definitely compromised and definitely got COVID at like a 300 person wedding in New York, where I like a numerous bodega sandwiches at like 4 am and like, was you know?

out on the town. So, covid aside, was there any other like like, i don't know, like glaring mistakes that you think you made during the race, that you learned and are, you know, taking that experience into this year?

Yeah, the fact that other runners can run up Devil's Thumb and Michigan Bluff and just do that without having to like stop, slow down, hike, the time I was losing on the uphills was significant, and I've never been really strong on uphills. I've always actually just said like that's all right, i'm strong in downhills, i'm strong on the flats, like I can power uphills, but I've never been really strong at running them. And at some point I was listening to a CTS podcast and like they're talking about the just perfect, you know overlap between fitness and uphill running. It's like there's a reason that people who are incredibly fast and fit at track can run uphill fast but they can't do the rest of the race. Like uphill running and fitness go one and Horrifying. Yeah, and I was like that makes a ton of sense. I do zero speed work and running uphills is really hard. It's like let's make it my thing to not hike a hill And in the last four or five months of training I probably hiked a couple steps, but just really working at actually running all the uphills, i don't think there was any major error. I just think I had different, a different vision. And you know, i told my crew five minutes. Give me the five minute warning if I've been to the aid station and make sure I'm out of there ASAP. Yeah, no, it's a one minute. Yeah, give me the one minute warning. And if I'm not out by two, like start assessing an issue, but there's no like 45 minutes of aid station. Stop this year. You know there's 15 aid stations. Let's try to keep it to 15 minutes. So that's a big area. Again that I think. Seeing how Zach Miller moved through aid stations, i was just like whoa, i'm doing this wrong. I should not tell my crew to bring a chair. I should not tell my crew to have these like creature comforts for me. Yeah, screw that.

Yeah.

I want to unpack your mission to get on the podium this year, because this is a conversation that Brett and I have been having all week internally. I personally believe we're getting into this era of the sport where you can no longer just be like an above average athlete and work hard to get on the podium. It, it, these really truly talented runners are making less and less mistakes year after year. Brett thinks you're a free athlete. Do you think that you belong in that classification of like the Tom Evans is and the Anthony Costales and these people with like two 11 marathon pedigree? Or do you think like, Yeah, like, maybe I am like an A minus B plus runner, but like my work ethic and my mind can overcome you know, their ability to just have like leg speed that I don't have?

I'd say it's probably middle ground. I still stand by the marathon being a bad analogy for trail running.

And.

I will continue to stand by that. I'd love to do like a tactical obstacle course with Tom Evans. I know he was like served in the army and stuff, yeah, or the military, he'd probably what my ass. But if there were a baseline like, all right, this is the you know trail 50 K course or this is like the equivalent of a marathon for trail running, i'd love to see how I stack up against those guys, because I fully think that it's different biomechanics, it's different. I worked well getting into rhythm, dropping the foot, foot strikes, different heart rate, all of these things. And I work well not getting into rhythm.

Yeah, that's where I'm at. That's just really good.

I had a great half marathon earlier that that kind of made me think wow, you know, i think 2018 to 2020, that's actually out of the question, that's what I've been saying.

So I've been a Jeff Cole believer for years.

Thanks, brad, i appreciate the support there, but I do think there's something to also just being a smarter athlete And I'm not saying anything about Anthony or Tom They're both brilliant competitors and athletes, but I put a lot into the visualization of the race, i put a lot into self-belief, i put a lot into everything else other than running as well, and that's where I do think I can bring a maybe out of the ordinary performance to the table. I also respect this entire field And in my making my own fantasy free trail, because, i'll admit, i'm a big fan of this sport I really love it Yes, yes. I was like, wait a minute, That can't be right. All those names already faded. I haven't gotten these four guys on yet. And then looked at it and I was like, oh wow, This is a really competitive year. It's a good race And it's going to be deep And I've had that thought going into other races. I had that thought going into Black Indian in 2022, certainly This is such a deep field But inevitably something always happens And I do my best to mitigate risks that that something doesn't happen to me.

When you think about this past the podium and I know you've talked about it all in a few long You are a student of the sport The Zach Miller example of the aid station work Are there any particular Western states podium performances in years past that you've looked at and you can point to and say I've deconstructed that And that's the way I want to get onto the podium on Saturday.

I mean I'd love to say yeah, Tyler Greenman, from 14th to 2nd. Why can't I go from 11th to 1st or 11th to 2nd or something? That was a different year, and especially with what the forecast is looking like, it's kind of exciting that Adam's not running. I wish Adam was running. I love Adam dearly, but the fact that he's not towing the line it leaves a pretty wide open door, and last year that wide open door actually was a big problem for my plan of running. A conservative Like I'm going to hit the time that's going to get me in the top 10. All these guys went out conservatively as well, and at mile 18, i was in eyesight of the leaders Like this isn't good. I'm going quite slow And I'm behind the top women. I don't think that's going to happen this year. I think we've got a couple bigger egos on the starting line. I think the snow is going to throw some curveballs. In general, that's great for me. I feel like a durable runner. I really like the snow. If it was a 100-mile snow course, i'd put money on me for sure.

Oh, that sounds horrible.

The fact that there's going to be mixed snow through Robinson Flat And if runners are getting too excited and really trying to run too hard and again have that marathon stride and not the dexterity and agility of trail running, i think that's going to be problematic for those runners. I think energy control and just working within yourself, not taking too long of strides or doing anything that's going to waste energy with the foot slip and snow, is going to be key through that first section And, as I was just mentioning to Anthony, i think when it hits Robinson Flat it's going to be a really proper foot race.

Do you think there's a chance that anyone very intentionally just tries to hang on course record splits just because of the weather? Do you think we'll see anyone just full send from the start this year?

If they do, i think they might abandon that plan. Two miles after immigrant pass, i think it's slipping And a single hip flex or kind of a strainer over extension is enough to never mind.

Never mind.

I've got to reel it in a little bit, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are a couple of runners out there whose strategy is to push the envelope early and try to just create such a gap that you know they could hopefully run free with it.

Yeah, yeah, because I remember when after the race last year we were chatting, you were like dude, i was like moving up really well, but no one was coming back to me as fast as I thought That was really interesting to kind of hear that, because you were like, yeah, me and Scott Trail We were hauling ass, but everyone else also was Yeah, it's interesting how that is kind of showing like there's a lot of the races are trending that way where it's like you can't just bank on people really blowing up anymore.

It's like you got to Sports getting smarter.

Yeah, you got to pay attention a little bit more and you can't just like you can't let people go too much. It's interesting.

Yeah, I do think the competition is definitely getting smarter. I also think history repeats itself and we're going to see blowups. We're going to see.

It is Western states after all.

Yeah, we're going to see some semblance of the carnage of years past, and it's a really demanding course. Conditions even if they are a high of 80, they're still not going to be easy.

Yeah, that's not cold.

Yeah, and with the mosquito fire burning through 15 miles of trail, that's less shade cover, I think anyone who's resting on oh, I don't have to worry about my cooling strategy and I don't have to worry about the heat as much. I think that's foolish. I think being cooler is always going to be an advantage, unless we're talking below 60 degrees or so.

Well, jeff, it is such a pleasure to have you here. We always appreciate your insights on the sport, very excited for your race, especially with that goal to get onto the podium. We do have one tradition that has only become a tradition as of yesterday, but we have faith that it's going to be long, lasting, that we want you to partake in, and I think we got our friend Ethan or Dylan, here to bring it over. Brett, you want to provide some insight on the set tradition.

Yeah, so this is the official watermelon of Western states. There's two things that we're doing with the official watermelon of Western states. One I guess you can start thinking about it now, but you'll have 15 seconds to draw your best cougar. You said you were on the hunt for a cougar, so I'm sure you've been picturing what a cougar was like That guy right there, like that guy, yeah, so you have 15 seconds to draw your best cougar and then we want you to sign it. Okay, this is going to be the official I don't know watermelon of single track HQ in Western states.

And we're carrying it to the track in Flasser High. I love it. I have an auspicious story about cougars. if you have another minute, all right. Is there a timer?

I'll do it Three, two, one go, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, time Nice. Oh yeah, We had a couple of Brett. We had a couple of folks in the YouTube chat that have been angry with us that were not showing the finished product.

This is a good one. You're going to want to see that, yeah, so can we put the camera on top? It's kind of tough, i'm trying to work of art here. Oh yeah, here, hold that bad boy And we'll get a close up cam. Yeah, we all lifted a little bit.

Yep lift up, There we go.

We'll take pictures. We'll get some better pictures. They'll be on the single track Instagram page. We're not saying this is Jeff Sistine Chapel, but it's pretty close. I mean, yeah, it's not bad. I mean I'm getting like major autographed, major lion, lion vibes.

But You have a story for us before we go.

My last real long run, like five, six hour effort. I tried to find snow and I purposely went seeking deep snow to post hole in because it had been a minute And I realized I was in this zone, that typically I run in with other friends and that it also was early enough in the season that I was starting to question if anyone had been out in that zone yet. And long run, okay, i spooked some elk. Okay, i spooked some deer. Big bear prints, baby bear prints. Okay, i see a bear. Still all is good. I come up around this little hump and turn and boom, spooked like a fully adult, you know grown mountain lion maybe 20 feet down the trail and it like looks up and starts, you know, scurrying down the trail. But it's looking back at me and I know like all right, i can't turn and run away, and like I'm supposed to be as big and loud as possible And I just summon this guttural, you know primordial yell from my gut and I scream so loud And as I do it, a mountain lion that's like eight feet away runs the other direction. Oh we're two adult mountain lions. I don't know if spring mating season or what, but came up on them and spooked them both and they went to opposite sides of the trail and just promptly disappeared. I picked up like a softball you know size rock in one hand and a club size stick in the other, and proceeded to run and scream for the next like three and a half miles until I felt like I was, you know, in the clear enough, like getting back towards civilization.

I want to see the heart rate data.

from that I was going to say oh, my gosh dude was yeah, we can take a look afterwards.

No, wonder this cougar drawing is so spot on? because, like you, like well, i've recently seen one of those like between flash floods and cougars.

Yeah, Life scares you know, it's all. It's all in the day.

Well, Jeff, seriously, this has been such a pleasure wishing you the best on race day. Thanks for you. You probably created some fans for this interview too. We're stoked for you. Thank you so much.

Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me and for the sport.