Today Lindsey and I sit down with Nick Hurff, a Army Veteran, adventurist, sports performance and exercise science professional.

Highlights include:

-Wanting to become better. -Evaluate your values. -Being present today. -Autonomy between attainment and attunement. -How to start adding adventure to your life.

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08;06;31;11 - 08;06;19;13

Jon

Hello, Grit Theory today, we have the opportunity with Lindsey and myself to sit down with Nicholas Hurff. He goes by Nick if I'm not entirely mistaken. Am I good, I'm not missing yet.

08;06;19;12 - 08;06;18;15

Nick

That's fine, that's good.

08;06;17;05 - 08;05;54;23

Jon

And yeah, so Jeramiah Solven recommended that we sit down and have a conversation. He said that you're essentially a God man. You have met each other in the service and that we would benefit from talking about living intentionally and cultivating courage, bravery and determination and living this life fully.

08;05;54;23 - 08;05;48;02

Jon

So I figured we'd sit down and pick your brain. See if I could make you uncomfortable in the first 60 seconds or not and go from there. How did you?

08;05;47;06 - 08;05;36;14

Nick

You had a pretty, pretty spot on with uncomfortable comments. No. Yeah. Jeramiah and I met at Triple C, so the captain's career.

08;05;36;14 - 08;05;35;27

Nick

Course.

08;05;34;15 - 08;05;20;07

Nick

Put in back in 2017. And then pretty much where workout partners for the entire time, for about, I guess, about solid six months. And you know, Jeramiah's couple of years older than me, five, five years older than me or so.

08;05;19;25 - 08;05;03;15

Nick

So we kind of learned he was able to mentor me a little bit there and we had a lot of great conversations. Specifically, we do a lot of ten mile runs every Friday. And that was a good time that we would, you know, in between, huffing and puffing would have a lot of deep conversations and really good

08;05;03;15 - 08;05;01;09

Nick

times right along the Chattahoochee River Walk.

08;05;01;09 - 08;04;59;17

Nick

So is good. That's cool.

08;04;59;06 - 08;04;43;29

Jon

That's what I do. I love the types of philosophical conversations you can have when you're in excruciating pain. It's just a different type of conversation. It really is. So let's go back a little bit further. What so you decided to serve in the army?

08;04;42;23 - 08;04;23;25

Jon

Correct. So why that versus like jumping straight into the civilian sector and then I know you've served for a while, you met Jeramiah specifically at captain's career course and you guys did that type of jazz. You continued serving for a bit and then now you're out doing sports performance and exercise science work.

08;04;23;12 - 08;04;16;05

Jon

So just kind of the broad spectrum, why that path? What made you want to pull the strings and let's go from there?

08;04;15;09 - 08;04;00;03

Nick

Yeah, I think I just kind of went up. So when I was little, I actually met one of my uncle's friends, use a navy seal and I was like, I don't know. I was probably eight, and I saw a documentary on the History Channel or something on that.

08;03;59;20 - 08;03;49;16

Nick

So I thought that was awesome. So then I was a little kid with, you know, one of four boys and we just play army in the woods and go fish in all kinds of stuff in the woods all the time.

08;03;49;02 - 08;03;39;13

Nick

And they'll just kind of something in the back of my mind growing up. So I kind of knew I wanted to serve. And then especially with our generation, you know, the words were going on and all that. So it was definitely.

08;03;38;29 - 08;03;38;20

Nick

Kind of.

08;03;38;20 - 08;03;24;23

Nick

Something I wanted to do. And then throughout that I specifically took I was looking at maybe enlisting actually at one point and it was really kind of pushed pursuing that. And my older cousin, he was a officer in the Coast Guard.

08;03;24;02 - 08;03;20;09

Nick

So he was like, Hey, have you looked at the ROTC program? No idea. So I looked into.

08;03;20;09 - 08;03;20;05

Nick

It.

08;03;19;11 - 08;03;10;24

Nick

As playing competitive soccer at that time. So I had opportunities to play at some low level college soccer teams like Division three levels.

08;03;10;15 - 08;03;10;01

Nick

And.

08;03;09;11 - 08;03;04;25

Nick

You know, kind of worked out. I got the scholarship, had a lot of schools I could play at that offered ROTC.

08;03;04;24 - 08;03;03;26

Nick

So it was really.

08;03;03;26 - 08;03;00;03

Nick

A free ride to college and I got to continue playing soccer, which.

08;03;00;03 - 08;02;59;21

Nick

Was fun.

08;02;59;08 - 08;02;45;22

Nick

And then after, you know, got to serve, so kind of went that route. While I was in ROTC, we had a pretty good program. We had a captain who was a Ranger, Powell and Ranger company commander kind of guy.

08;02;45;06 - 08;02;35;20

Nick

And then we had a special forces major. So it was very combat, arms focused, which is what I liked, and that's kind of where I wanted to go. There's a lot of development there and.

08;02;35;09 - 08;02;34;28

Nick

You know.

08;02;34;20 - 08;02;30;24

Nick

Branched infantry and went that whole route. So yeah.

08;02;27;28 - 08;02;23;19

Nick

Well, summarize it pretty well. Yeah. And then you bring in.

08;02;22;26 - 08;02;16;18

Jon

Yeah, yeah. So that brings you back up to meeting Jeremy Solven. And then you stayed in for a bit longer, correct?

08;02;14;29 - 08;02;04;28

Nick

Yeah. So I stayed in for about eight years, so I was a platoon leader at Fort Drum. So prior to that, did the whole Ranger airborne kind of thing happening?

08;02;04;26 - 08;02;04;21

Nick

Benning.

08;02;03;22 - 08;01;49;09

Nick

Infantry platoon leader for almost two years. We did a nine months deployment we were in. My platoon was split in five locations. We were with special forces odors all around the country. So I was with the largest element down in Helmand.

08;01;48;11 - 08;01;36;05

Nick

I had another element that was out of Bath. They got to get in a lot of stuff up in Kunduz. Another group was out a mess. They were in Badakhshan a lot and then another one was a camp integrity and all four location.

08;01;36;05 - 08;01;21;18

Nick

Pretty much my entire platoon, for the most part, got kids. We with seven valor awards and like things got pretty hairy, which was interesting at the time to us in 2015 to 2016 when we first showed up, nothing's going on.

08;01;21;02 - 08;01;16;26

Nick

And then by the end, you know, we were doing operations and everything else.

08;01;16;26 - 08;01;16;18

Nick

And.

08;01;15;07 - 08;01;01;01

Nick

Pretty intense deployment. So then from there was a company, XO, for a year and which is great and had an excellent company commander. He was an old school enlisted guy. He was a news analyst. He's like E5 Ranger Tab Sniper.

08;01;01;01 - 08;01;00;19

Nick

Guy.

08;00;59;09 - 08;00;49;07

Nick

Had a lot of combat deployments. He had Valor Award himself was very combat focused, which I like coming out of that kind of mindset with the deployment. And that made me want to stay in at least be a company commander.

08;00;47;23 - 08;00;36;05

Nick

So I stayed in that role and went to Triple C. From there, I went to the asymmetric warfare group for a bit, which was great. I was probably the youngest guy in the unit. Besides, like the comm cam.

08;00;36;05 - 08;00;35;25

Nick

People.

08;00;35;07 - 08;00;31;04

Nick

And half the unit's civilian contractors, they were all soft background.

08;00;31;04 - 08;00;30;06

Nick

So I.

08;00;30;06 - 08;00;20;07

Nick

Was kind of the the little fish in the big pond and the guys I with, you know, one point we did LPD that one of the guys in the unit ran and you know, his guys, you every.

08;00;20;07 - 08;00;20;01

Nick

Day.

08;00;19;16 - 08;00;00;27

Nick

And he was one of the guys that was in, you know, Operation Eagle Claw over in Iran years ago. So he's in his seventies, I think, and just that kind of level of, you know, your tag delta operator guys that are top notch or they're working next to you is just something that you learn a lot off

08;00;00;27 - 09;59;47;28

Nick

of, which was awesome. So I learned a ton there more developmentally. And then from there, I was only there. About a year I got out and went to do company command bliss. So we kind of had our choice of where we wanted to go.

09;59;47;27 - 09;59;45;10

Nick

We chose bliss because at the time I wanted to go to Ranger.

09;59;45;10 - 09;59;44;04

Nick

Regiment and then.

09;59;44;04 - 09;59;38;15

Nick

Over two years at bliss, we kind of started to reevaluate kind of values and life and what I wanted to have kids and.

09;59;38;15 - 09;59;38;04

Nick

All, and.

09;59;36;22 - 09;59;32;09

Nick

We made the decision to to leave the service. But it was a good time while we were in.

09;59;31;11 - 09;59;29;18

Nick

Okay. Yeah. Real quick for.

09;59;29;18 - 09;59;20;08

Jon

The for the audience. So a CIBC is a combat infantry badge. SOF is the special operation forces community and OPDs leadership personal development.

09;59;19;28 - 09;59;12;28

Lindsey

You're fine. We both know what you're talking about. Yeah, I know people who listen to our show proud. Well, not boast, but a good portion. Probably don't, probably don't.

09;59;12;28 - 09;58;58;18

Jon

So we're just as this awesome pepper the the steak with explained the acronyms as we go now. What's wild and you just like brush past some pretty. I imagine hearing experiences through your career and that's all good and well.

09;58;58;18 - 09;58;36;29

Jon

But one of the things that I picked up on. Is you seem. To run into these decision points, right, you about RTC. You go that path, you're drawn to something in the combat arms, you go that path. You keep having these opportunities to take the next step up and pursue a higher level of performance.

09;58;36;24 - 09;58;30;16

Jon

At least I know that based on the the reputation of the organizations and the types of things you were pursuing and doing.

09;58;30;14 - 09;58;29;23

Nick

Yeah, what.

09;58;29;17 - 09;58;17;05

Jon

What caused you to want to continue to hone and refine your craft and go for an echelon higher in performance as opposed to, you know, just staying where you're at and serving your time and having fun?

09;58;15;29 - 09;58;02;23

Nick

Yeah, I think it's a lot of it's just wanting to be better. So I think it's going to self-development of, you know, if I can become better as a person or as whatever my craft is, you know, kind of honing those.

09;58;02;23 - 09;58;01;09

Nick

And I feel pride in that.

09;58;00;18 - 09;58;00;09

Nick

And.

09;58;00;09 - 09;57;53;12

Nick

I feel good about it. Whereas, you know, I feel if I'm stagnant, it's not as it's not useful, I guess, is the best way.

09;57;53;12 - 09;57;53;00

Nick

To put it.

09;57;52;19 - 09;57;35;04

Nick

So I feel more fulfilled when I'm pursuing kind of pushing myself in different areas and trying to get better. I don't like to really stay stagnant. And when it comes to, you know, it's a big thing would be in the army career is very focused on kind of the combat side and wanting to excel there with like

09;57;35;04 - 09;57;34;08

Nick

being a leader and.

09;57;34;01 - 09;57;33;27

Nick

And.

09;57;33;23 - 09;57;20;06

Nick

Kind of working that. So when the opportunity came up for AWG, I thought that be a great way to go. So I applied, went through the little selection thing they did and. It went well, and, you know, I had that opportunity.

09;57;20;06 - 09;57;19;08

Nick

So it's.

09;57;19;08 - 09;57;06;28

Nick

Sometimes. You know, intimidating to know that you're going into somewhere where you're going to be kind of, you know, the small fish in the big pond, as I say, but at the same time, it's an opportunity to grow.

09;57;06;18 - 09;57;06;06

Nick

So I think.

09;57;06;06 - 09;56;53;22

Nick

Being able to take opportunities, even though you may fail at something, quote unquote, you know, if you want to term it that way or maybe not excel compared to others around you just kind of makes you grow more.

09;56;53;22 - 09;56;48;09

Nick

So that's kind of a big, big thing of one way that I kind of view the life, I guess.

09;56;46;05 - 09;56;28;12

Jon

That's fair to how you can do it, because I think it thinks the same way we both are looking for ways to grow pretty consistently. Well, I found you really have to develop like a habit and triggers to notice when you're not right, when you're starting to stagnate and begin looking for ways into it.

09;56;28;05 - 09;56;11;09

Jon

What what's that look like for you? So back in the military? The decision points are kind of baked in, right? And you have the opportunities along the way. So that makes sense. So you you serve your time. You get a good amount of experience support.

09;56;11;09 - 09;56;03;28

Jon

You go to the Advanced Warfare Group, you continue from there. And then you mentioned we and I'm assuming you're referencing your wife and you yourself.

09;56;03;14 - 09;56;00;24

Nick

Correct. Okay. Begin to correct. Correct.

09;55;59;15 - 09;55;41;00

Jon

So you begin to look at. Wife in question, like, hey, we're here at your home, we're looking at going into Ranger Regiment, which is where Jeramiah Solven pulled a lot of his experience from. And. Now we're starting to question our our motives and intent in our intent.

09;55;40;21 - 09;55;20;15

Jon

But the next couple of years of her life and and looking at maybe some trajectory changes, so being one who's continuing to pursue the next level? Right? Yeah. How did that fit in with the conversations and decisions you made with your wife on Let's Leave a career where by everything you've just said you're advancing swiftly, you're a

09;55;20;15 - 09;55;13;20

Jon

rising star. You have no reason to leave professionally. What? What fed into that thought process?

09;55;12;25 - 09;55;00;12

Nick

Yeah, that's that's great. So there's kind of a lot of stuff there, but I guess one thing is just kind of evaluating your values, you know? And that's kind of a big thing, so I do have values exercise every year or so.

09;54;59;24 - 09;54;49;23

Nick

And I like to do a kind of when life changes, right? So whenever there's kind of a life change, we move, we peaks. That's kind of where we dig into it again or if we're coming up on a big decision.

09;54;49;23 - 09;54;42;02

Nick

So it's a simple exercise. It's just it's from this book called Maximal Climbing by Eric Horst. So he's like big in the rock climbing community.

09;54;41;15 - 09;54;41;06

Nick

And.

09;54;41;02 - 09;54;40;10

Jon

Frame of reference.

09;54;39;10 - 09;54;38;09

Nick

Maximal climbing.

09;54;37;27 - 09;54;36;29

Jon

Maximal. Thank you.

09;54;36;17 - 09;54;24;25

Nick

Yeah. And that's great for non rock climbers, too. There's a lot of it's a lot of sports and performance psychology and things like that baked into it, which are great for anybody and kind of adventurous, high consequential environments.

09;54;22;09 - 09;54;07;17

Nick

So anyway, it's just a harmless 15 things, and you can substitute or whatnot, and you just kind of list them in order from one to 15 on what you think are most of value to you. And some people break it up into like personal ideals versus values, depending on how you you work it.

09;54;06;28 - 09;53;58;06

Nick

But he uses values as it. So I call it a values exercise and just kind of really evaluating that and where we want to go kind of changed it.

09;53;58;06 - 09;53;57;07

Nick

So we knew.

09;53;57;07 - 09;53;43;18

Nick

We wanted to have family. And when I was at bliss, I started in this three shop, you know, which is always a grind and then went down to company command. But one of the big things was the guys next to me, you know?

09;53;42;07 - 09;53;37;09

Nick

We're working, you know, we're there like 6:00 a.m. in the morning and we're there 8:00 p.m. at night and.

09;53;36;28 - 09;53;36;18

Nick

You know.

09;53;36;06 - 09;53;19;23

Nick

My buddy, he's he would. See, his kids go to bed at night and then he would leave before they even woke up. So like, he really didn't see them until Friday night when we'd get off a little early and he'd go a pizza with them and they put him to bed Sunday night and then he wouldn't really

09;53;19;23 - 09;53;13;02

Nick

see them again the rest of the week. And then I was looking at the majors above us and they're even working Saturdays and Sundays and just grinding and grinding.

09;53;13;01 - 09;53;12;22

Nick

Plus.

09;53;12;09 - 09;52;56;13

Nick

You can see you can see the you can see them age in front of you over the months as well. And I'm just like, What are we doing? And in kind of from that background with, you know, combat deployment where we got to get into some stuff which is good and it's kind of the mindset that I

09;52;56;13 - 09;52;50;19

Nick

came from with the light world of that and looking at how kind of over eight years seeing the changes in the army is just.

09;52;50;02 - 09;52;49;25

Nick

You know.

09;52;49;25 - 09;52;43;14

Nick

If I stay in, there's going to be a lot of I'm going to be a major and I'm going to be filling their roles and I'm going to be having.

09;52;43;14 - 09;52;42;09

Nick

Kids and.

09;52;42;09 - 09;52;30;04

Nick

I just don't want to. I don't want to have that as I don't want to raise kids that way, I guess, is the big thing. So at the same time, too, I know that as we're going up, combat deployments are going down.

09;52;29;25 - 09;52;20;16

Nick

They've ceased now and just kind of looking at where it is, I don't see it being as fulfilling there, given the consequences of decisions to stay in and everything else that.

09;52;20;08 - 09;52;19;29

Nick

You know.

09;52;19;26 - 09;52;05;22

Nick

Would be kind of the what I'm missing on. I don't think it kind of fit in with where the values were that I wanted to go and my wife felt the same way. And then another factor was I didn't want I wanted to get out before we have kids.

09;52;05;22 - 09;51;58;24

Nick

So we don't have any kids right now because I see some of my friends who are staying in and I feel that they have.

09;51;58;14 - 09;51;58;05

Nick

You know.

09;51;58;05 - 09;51;52;14

Nick

Pressure to provide financially for their families. And I feel like that's a large influence on why they're continuing to serve you.

09;51;51;27 - 09;51;50;09

Jon

I can definitely understand that pressure.

09;51;50;09 - 09;51;34;25

Lindsey

We we had all of our children in. So and he was in the US three shops. So the you know, you talking about your friend, I for sure, I'm sitting over here going, Yeah, we saw on Friday, Saturday and if he was home Saturday and yeah, so yeah, totally relate to that.

09;51;34;17 - 09;51;30;19

Lindsey

But that was a big reason why we chose to leave as well.

09;51;29;27 - 09;51;29;20

Nick

Yeah.

09;51;29;11 - 09;51;24;10

Nick

And that takes a lot of courage to to do that, especially when you know you have a livelihood you maintain.

09;51;24;10 - 09;51;23;02

Nick

And a family to provide for.

09;51;22;17 - 09;51;10;29

Lindsey

Yeah. And that was that was the hard part of the jump, like, OK, this is a great career, great health care, all these different things. And then, like the team, it is there something in the civilian sector that's just as good or better?

09;51;10;18 - 09;51;02;21

Lindsey

So it was it was scary trying to be like, you know, well, go against the grain in a sense, but it's been good so far.

09;51;02;07 - 09;50;53;15

Jon

Yeah. What's nice about it is it was you for when we're looking at transitioning. I felt like there's like this black veil where I knew there's opportunity out here in the.

09;50;53;15 - 09;50;51;23

Nick

Real world, you know, in the world.

09;50;51;11 - 09;50;36;13

Jon

But I couldn't see beyond what life would look like serving right. And when we were in, it was so little. It was it was later in the war than. When you were so it the opportunities were drying up really quickly.

09;50;36;10 - 09;50;25;21

Jon

Yeah, I had it, I had a question on that actually, because I want to hear how you explain it. If you don't mind, you made a statement that you know you had the combat deployment and you got to get into stuff which is good.

09;50;25;06 - 09;50;13;02

Jon

And then you start talking about how, you know, the combat opportunities to go and do what we're trained to do. Diminished. And that started to change the value proposition. Also looking at the purgatory of being a major.

09;50;12;19 - 09;50;08;05

Nick

Club throw off their positions. Yeah, you to you. Yeah.

09;50;07;05 - 09;49;50;23

Jon

The the price, you know, that pays their souls. But what for for those who haven't served or, you know, those who may not quite understand the statement, what makes you say that when you got into stuff, it was good, you know?

09;49;50;19 - 09;49;37;25

Jon

And what made you seek out the combat deployments and lose some level of interest or weight of value and continuing to serve when the opportunities to go and serve in that capacity began driving up?

09;49;36;27 - 09;49;17;09

Nick

Yeah, it's great. I think so, one of my top values, probably my top, it teeters. Always in the top three is adventure. So for me, that's kind of I've kind of redefined it as I go, but that's where I'm physically and mentally and really mentally and physically kind of go hand in hand, but definitely physically pushing myself

09;49;16;23 - 09;49;03;28

Nick

. And there's a lot of purpose to in that that I find. So when it comes to serving and kind of that type of stuff, there's a huge amount of purpose you feel. And there's a huge amount of intensity that comes with it.

09;49;03;28 - 09;48;55;12

Nick

And I think it's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of like hormones that go into it that that plane to affect a lot of, you know, psychology stuff that goes into it. But there's.

09;48;55;12 - 09;48;54;11

Nick

Definitely that.

09;48;54;11 - 09;48;39;01

Nick

Dopamine hit that you get, whether it's, you know, rock climbing here on backcountry snowboarding, they're, you know, deployed and we're in a combat zone. We're getting ready for a mission. There's a lot of that intensity that is there that I, I kind of.

09;48;39;01 - 09;48;37;28

Nick

Crave, and that's.

09;48;37;28 - 09;48;36;16

Nick

Something that is very big.

09;48;36;16 - 09;48;36;06

Nick

To me.

09;48;35;25 - 09;48;23;25

Nick

So with serving, that was kind of really the big thing to me was that what we do, especially, you know, I was in the infantry. And for I guess the listeners, the infantry is kind of.

09;48;23;25 - 09;48;22;28

Nick

The the.

09;48;22;23 - 09;48;05;28

Nick

Trigger puller side. So you're the guys on the ground that are, you know, you're fighting on the ground with your rifles and and whatnot. So. When we're not looking forward to training for deployments in those kind of things, the purpose is less clear.

09;48;05;12 - 09;48;05;01

Nick

Mm hmm.

09;48;03;25 - 09;47;48;21

Nick

I guess the purpose is there in theory, but it's not as prevalent when you're not preparing for things. So for me looking at, OK, I'm going to be a major and then lieutenant colonel and pretty much as I'm watching them, they're just the meetings all day nonstop.

09;47;48;21 - 09;47;35;04

Nick

And even when we deploy to the field or go to the field, they're they're just in talks. You know, the battlefield circulate a bit, but they're not really, you know, getting after the part that I would find to be the intensity that I'm looking for.

09;47;35;03 - 09;47;15;27

Nick

So for me, it's, you know, OK, that's still a value. But can I get that elsewhere, which, you know, I have been even while I was in just a while with rock climbing and snowboarding and different things like that, you can you can do to fill that kind of need, especially when, as I'm aging and moving up

09;47;15;27 - 09;47;12;06

Nick

the career wise, I know that's not really an opportunity that's in the service as well.

09;47;10;16 - 09;46;53;15

Jon

Yeah, fair enough, right? It's essentially like training to be a firefighter in a world where fire stop happening. Frank, I'm here to do a job and the opportunity to do that job is disappearing now. It's, you know, probably on the large scale, not a bad thing, but the those things are going away.

09;46;53;03 - 09;46;45;15

Jon

But it's still why would I, you know, if you're racer, it's the same thing. Why am I going to keep training for race if there's not going to be a race to run in? You know.

09;46;45;15 - 09;46;44;27

Nick

Exactly.

09;46;44;13 - 09;46;28;05

Jon

If if it's just a lap around the block for no other reason, so cool that that absolutely makes sense. And you're talking about one of your top three values is adventure, right, which is also driving your desire to grow in that that provides your sense of pride and purpose?

09;46;27;17 - 09;46;06;21

Jon

Yeah. And now you're in completely different hair. I'm sorry, different life. You have your hair grown out. You're like, not living. You're you're living the good life and you've mentioned some outdoor sports and stuff. Are you able to create in need the adventure you want in your work as well, or are you finding that you have to

09;46;06;21 - 09;46;02;22

Jon

create a different type of equation to fulfill the values that you're seeking after?

09;46;01;23 - 09;45;51;23

Nick

Yeah, that's great. So I actually love my job, so my job is very rewarding. So I really enjoy what I do with the sports performance.

09;45;51;23 - 09;45;51;13

Nick

Side.

09;45;51;01 - 09;45;36;17

Nick

And. A big thing that I value is making an impact on others, so being able to take in athletes and see them getting bigger, faster, stronger and buying into what you're doing, and I have a lot of autonomy, which is another one of my values with my job.

09;45;36;17 - 09;45;23;06

Nick

So, you know, I'm the only sports performance coach at the university I'm at, so I'm able to create the systems and structures which the army background helps with greatly, as you know, as an officer doing that. But then being able to see how that works is great.

09;45;23;06 - 09;45;09;18

Nick

So I'm getting a lot of value from work and and I enjoy it. But as far as the adventure side, I do need to kind of carve out time for that. The way I've been doing it, so my wife and I have to plan out when I do things, which is good.

09;45;09;03 - 09;44;54;24

Nick

So before it was, yes, there is friction here for a bit because I would get calls from friends or hit out by people to go do things and be like, Hey, can I do this and whatnot? And after a while, it's just I got to say no, sometimes, I guess.

09;44;54;11 - 09;44;42;02

Nick

So that's kind of where I have to rack and stack what I want to do, and we have to talk about it and plan it out and kind of both financially and time wise. So both of us have quality time is like our big love language.

09;44;42;02 - 09;44;41;04

Nick

So that's a part.

09;44;41;04 - 09;44;40;23

Nick

Of it.

09;44;40;07 - 09;44;24;03

Nick

Being able to plan things out. But yeah, some stuff I've done recently. So I guess in February, I did 100 mile adventure race in the mountains were in Virginia, West Virginia area. So it was like, I think, the race coordinator.

09;44;24;03 - 09;44;05;14

Nick

I believe he said it was around 24 k over across the time of the race. So we finished in 23 hours, 45 seconds and took second in the teen category, which is fun. So all of us did the whole thing, but it was it was good to have a sock fest again, which is needed.

09;44;05;06 - 09;44;04;14

Nick

And that was something.

09;44;04;14 - 09;44;03;12

Nick

That when I.

09;44;03;12 - 09;43;53;14

Nick

Separated, it had been a little bit. No, it wasn't. February's May May. This April or May here, April or May, it wasn't winter.

09;43;53;14 - 09;43;46;05

Jon

Is there that you just finished? It within a few weeks when we first talked, and I think that was around March ish.

09;43;44;14 - 09;43;41;14

Nick

OK, yes, maybe it was yes, it would have been in March, then probably.

09;43;40;03 - 09;43;39;15

Jon

All right, close enough.

09;43;38;18 - 09;43;37;02

Lindsey

Was it cold or in the warmer?

09;43;37;01 - 09;43;35;28

Nick

Yeah, so so you're.

09;43;35;28 - 09;43;33;19

Jon

Out there in a sec cold at night and fun.

09;43;33;10 - 09;43;30;22

Lindsey

Cold at night. So it's probably springtime then. Yeah.

09;43;30;00 - 09;43;29;22

Nick

What?

09;43;28;12 - 09;43;25;28

Jon

Well, since I completely just ignore all this by opening our mouth.

09;43;24;24 - 09;43;20;16

Nick

I forget when, but sometime in the late winter to mid spring timeframe?

09;43;20;16 - 09;43;20;08

Jon

Yeah.

09;43;19;15 - 09;43;07;21

Nick

So that's one thing I've done. I did another race with some buddies for a weekend in the summer, which is good. And then I started working in the Falls pack, so I haven't really gotten out anything coming up.

09;43;06;08 - 09;42;55;14

Nick

A couple of things looking to do a backcountry snowboarding trip with a friend in January. We think we're going to do the Sierras, but we'll look at the snow pack a little bit more, which is fun because, you know.

09;42;54;08 - 09;42;43;27

Nick

The fun part about that is there's a lot of planning that goes into it. So you have to plan, you know, what's the snow pack look like? What are the hazards, where the avalanche is? What's the go no go criteria and kind of really plan it out?

09;42;43;14 - 09;42;33;02

Nick

And then when you're there, it's really it's an all day event. So you know, you may get to three runs in, but you're choosing kind of your adventure and it's a lot of endurance getting up and and a lot of fun.

09;42;31;23 - 09;42;27;10

Nick

And then in this February, I have a 300 mile race across Florida.

09;42;26;24 - 09;42;26;16

Nick

That.

09;42;25;27 - 09;42;21;05

Nick