355 - Seven Marathons, Seven Continents, One Time-Starved Executive: The Scot Davis Story

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Welcome to the Purple Patch Podcast!

Scot Davis, a Purple Patch Athlete and Chief Operating Officer at Crow Holdings, completed the World Marathon Challenge, running seven marathons in seven days across seven continents. His journey began after caring for his mother with pancreatic cancer. Initially training with a previous coach, he transitioned to Purple Patch Fitness Coach Will Turner, who reduced his running volume and introduced multi-sport training. Despite challenges like illness and extreme conditions, Scot completed the challenge, setting a world record for the shortest duration. Post-challenge, he aims to run 52 marathons in a year. Scot emphasized the importance of a strong support system and mental resilience.

IRONMAN Master Coach Matt Dixon outlines the episode's focus on Scot's preparation, mindset, and the lessons learned from completing the World Marathon Challenge. Scot's transition to training with Coach Will Turner focuses on multi-sport, strength training, and nutrition. Scot discusses the physical toll of high-volume training and the importance of rest and recovery.

Scot Davis, Purple Patch Athlete—races seven marathons in seven days, in seven continents.

If you have any questions about the Purple Patch program, feel free to reach out at info@purplepatchfitness.com.

Episode Timecodes:

:00-1:06 Purple Patch Promo

1:07-4:36 Intro of Scot Davis

4:50–9:08 Background of Scot Davis

9:41–13:10 Building towards a Challenge

13:15–16:50 The Race Logistics

18:30-21:14 Nutrition + Hydration

20:20-25:41 Coach Will’s Perspective

25:55-29:13 Transition to Coach Will

29:39–31:10 Which Race was most challenging

31:10-37:35 Physical and Mental Challenges

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Transcription

Matt Dixon 00:00

Matt Dixon 00:00

Alright, folks, just before we get going, a quick word about the engine behind it all. Purple Patch coaching. If you're an athlete looking to perform at your best, whether you're chasing your first Iron Man finish podium spot, or simply want to thrive in work or life, Purple Patch tri squad is your home base, with customized training, strength integration, direct access to the whole team of Purple Patch coaches. Tri squad before provides everything that you need to train smarter, not harder. It's more than a training plan. It's a system, a performance community, and most importantly, it's built around your life to integrate into it, not conflict with it. 1000s of athletes around around the world have used tri squad to train with purpose, race with confidence, live with energy. Now I ask you this, are you ready to join us? Head to Purple Patch fitness to get started. Now enjoy the show today. It's a goodie. It's about a Purple Patch athlete who does something quite extreme, seven marathons in seven days across seven continents, the Marathon challenge. Enjoy the show. I'm Matt Dixon, and welcome to the Purple Patch podcast. The mission of Purple Patch is to empower and educate every human being to reach their athletic potential. Through the lens of athletic potential, you reach your human potential. The purpose of this podcast is to help time starved people everywhere integrate sport into life. And welcome to the Purple Patch podcast as ever your host, Matt Dixon. We are exploring the habits, mindset, systems that fuel performance, ready, living across work, sport and life, and I'm your host as ever. Your Matt Dixon, founder, head coach of Purple Patch fitness and today's episode, well, quite frankly, it's a special one. We are diving into one of the most audacious and inspiring feats of endurance. You're ever going to hear seven marathons in seven days across seven continents. It's one thing to want to go around the world on a one wonderful backpacking experience, but in the course of a week, running a marathon every single day for every day of the week. Our guest today, Scot Davis, Purple Patch athlete who recently completed the World Marathon Challenge it is running seven marathons on seven continents in just one week. But here's the thing, today's episode isn't just about running. It's about preparation mindset. It's about applying high performance systems to achieve something really quite extraordinary. Joining us in the show as well is his coach. Will Turner a Purple Patch, senior coach, one of the leading experts in ultra endurance coaching, Will himself, is an incredibly accomplished endurance athlete and has done many things akin and parallel to this sort of craziness, as I might label it, but he's also the architect between behind Scot's preparation, helping him navigate the demands of training, recovery and execution, while and get this Scot being a very busy executive and wholly engaged father with a family. Now, before we dive into the family itself, I want to give you a little context on Scot because his story is a master class in balancing high level professional life, family and, of course, the extreme endurance pursuits.

Scot Davis is the Chief Operating Officer at Crow holdings, privately owned real estate investment and development firm headquartered in Dallas, with a background in law, finance and operations, Scot plays a key role in overseeing strategy and execution across one of the most respected names in us, real estate now beyond the boardroom. Scot is also a committed endurance athlete, a father of four, yes, four, and after this year, a global marathoner. Goodness me, in today's show, we're going to unpack why Scot took on the challenge in the first place, what it took to prepare without actually breaking down, both physically and emotionally, what happened every single day across all seven days on his little trot around the globe. And then, of course, we wanted to unpack some of the powerful lessons that he's walking away with. And so whether you're an athlete, an executive, someone to look to stretch your own limits, this is the show for you today. And so without further ado, I give you Scot Davis Will Turner his coach in today's episode. It is the meat and potatoes

Matt Dixon 04:42

you all right, it is the meat and potatoes. And this is an episode, folks, where you need to fasten your seat boats. This is, this is I'm delighted to welcome Purple Patch Senior Coach Will thanks so much for joining us on here. And wonderful. One of your coached athletes, Scot Davis, Scot, thank you for joining us. Thank you. I am I am humbled to be in the presence of you two guys and your crazy athletic accomplishments. But we want to shine the light on as I mentioned in the introduction, Scot, your recent performance, and I've been writing it down as seven by seven by seven and and seven marathons on seven continents in seven days and, and it conjures up straight away, oh, my goodness me, that's hard. And then the next question is, what about all of the logistics? So in preparation for this podcast, I started to write down all the questions. And there was probably 200 questions I had, and I and I filtered it all down to just one single question, which is why? But I won't ask you that now we want to first ground in is an amazing accomplishment. I want to first say, congratulations, thank you. Great accomplishing and really well done. Both of you. We're going to unpack the coaching relationship. In the course of this conversation, we're going to dig into what the experience is like, where some of the euphoria was and where some of the struggle was, and understand some of the logistics and the challenge and but to ground us, as I love to do with all guests, Scot, I think it's really, really helpful, and particularly in your case, by the way, because you've just done this amazing feat, I'd love to have some Background just in broader life, where did you grow up? Where you live in now, family situation. What do you do professionally? Just, just give listeners a little bit of grounding of who is Scot Davis, yeah,

Scot Davis 06:51

I'm, you know, I grew up in Houston. I've lived here my entire life. I met my wife, Billy about 26 years ago, and we've been married almost, I guess, 22 years. We've got three kids. Austin is a college freshman, he's 19. Dylan's a high school junior, he's 17, and Lauren's a freshman in high school. She's 15. So yeah, I went to school here. I just never left. So Houston's my home. And professionally, I'm a real estate developer. We focus on multi family development. I've been here at Trammell crea residential for about 19 years. So

Matt Dixon 07:36

so you are, you're busy, kids all in and and very busy professional. I think that's the first grounding. I can't help. I want to, want to ask about sports, because one thing that just popped up for me is Houston. It's, it's not the trail running mecca of the world. It's, it's not sort of known as a running capital per se, although it does have the Houston Marathon, of course. But I'd love to know your history of sports growing up. Were you always an endurance athlete? What did you do as a young puppy growing up? No,

Scot Davis 08:12

you know, actually, I, I started growing late, so I wasn't very athletic. I played sports when I was younger, and then the high school I was, you know, the equipment manager, so I never, I developed late and really got into running, gosh, probably about 24 years ago, I started. I primarily trained in the gym, and I joined a boot camp program in our memorial park. I was run by a former Navy SEAL, and I, I joined, and we had to go through a two week boot camp. And, you know, I loved it, and that, that was the first time I really got into running and and, you know, and it was really shorter distance, you know, saying, you know, 1010, miles and under. And then in 2010 I ran my first marathon. I ran it injured, and I finished, but I said, Okay, I've checked that box and never want to do that again. So, but yeah, that's that's where I started. I started running for the first time.

Matt Dixon 09:25

Well, let's get into this thing. I think many of the listeners will have heard of this thing happening before seven, seven by seven by seven, as I call it. What inspired you to take on this challenge? Is this something that that you're sort of building towards, or was there a specific moment or realization that you're like, let's do this. It was a little

Scot Davis 09:48

bit of an evolution, you know, in May of 20. It really kind of started in May of 2023, I had been caring for my mom. She had i. Was battling pancreatic cancer, and it had been going on for about two and a half years, and I needed, I felt like I needed, some kind of outlet. And my wife and I were driving home from Dallas back to Houston, late one night, and I looked over and I said, Hey, can you look and see if there's a marathon in Antarctica? Because at the time, that was kind of the hardest thing I could think of, and she looked at me like I was crazy, but she found, she found a company called Run buck that that does a marathon in Antarctica, and I looked it over. And the next weekend, I went out and ran 20 miles to see if I could do it. And I did, and it was miserable. I said, Okay, now I need to train. So I trained for that. I ran in Antarctica, and it was actually I ran that race two months after my mom passed away in december 2023 and run Buck offered a another marathon two days later when we returned to Chile so that everybody could disperse and go home. So I ran that. And I'd always been intrigued by the World Marathon Challenge. So that kind of started my wheels turning. And a couple weeks after that, I ran the Houston Marathon. So, you know, those were, I ran three marathons in 30 days, and so I came back to Houston, or when I, when I got done with Houston Marathon, I sat down with my coach at the time and said, Hey, I want to, I want to do this. And we were exactly a year out. And, you know, he strongly suggested I trained for two years, and, you know, give myself time, and I wasn't going to have it. And so he agreed to work with me, and off we went. But I think,

11:36

and I just want to point out I wasn't as coach

Matt Dixon 11:38

fan, right? Yes, yeah, yeah, this is pre Purple Patch. Is the Purple

Scot Davis 11:41

Patch? Yeah, and you know it was, I think it started off as a, kind of an outlet for me and dealing with my mom's illness and being a caregiver. But then also, by that point, you know when, when you're caring for somebody like that, it kind of gives you some perspective that, you know, everybody kind of, you know, puts things off. I want to do this someday, or, you know, I'm going to do this, but I'm going to wait a year, and it kind of gave me a sense of urgency that, you know, hey, I'm in my early 50s, and all these things I've talked about doing before, I need to go do it. Yeah, take some risk well

Matt Dixon 12:22

before we dive into the training. Because I think that's a really fascinating part of it is the journey towards there. And you can almost had two chapters of that I know, like sort of, we'll call it sort of pre Purple Patch, and then Will's guidance under Purple Patch. But just just ground people, let's, let's make sure that that all listeners understand. Just give us a minute or two of the event, because it's really crazy. What does it entail? Where did the journey start? And just walk us through the route, continent by continent. Literally, yeah,

Scot Davis 12:55

this is a, you know, this is a an event that's put on by runbuck, and there's 60 athletes that participated, and we all met in Cape Town, that's where we had our pre race briefings, and everybody kind of staged. And from Cape Town, we took a a cargo plane, a Russian, Russian cargo plane, to Antarctica, to ultimate base in our Antarctica, and we ran the marathon there. And then we came back to Cape Town and ran that marathon. And then we from that point, we boarded a a custom 767, that had, you know, 80 business class seats so we could lay back. Oh, wow. And so from Cape Town, we went to Perth, Australia. And then from Perth, we went to Dubai, and then Madrid and Florida, Lisa, Brazil, and then we finished in Miami, wow. And our group, as a group, we we set the the world record for total duration. So it was the the previous record was over six days. Our group finished it under six so the winner of the last race actually set the world record. I think it was five days, 19 hours.

Matt Dixon 14:19

So it was seven marathons in five days, 19 hours by the winner of the total race. It's unbelievable. So that that answers my immediate question, which I'm sure many of us like, oh my goodness me, how did you possibly do this? Because you couldn't, you couldn't do it in this time frame, on regular commercial flights, something Okay, right? And or

Matt Dixon 14:44

regular marathon routes, right? It's yeah, jumping into the marathon in Madrid. Your custom marathon just for that group,

Matt Dixon 14:53

right? Custom marathon just for that group, which is really important. And then, of course, you're as well. Thought out of navigating the time zone. So each one of them has to be linked up with feasible flight times and stuff like that. So you're managing huge travel stress, huge time zone stress, which I guess in some ways, is perhaps less of a relevance, because who cares what kind of that time of day you're navigating fueling and hydration and everything else. But beyond the the single thing of even if you stayed on an airstrip and just sat there doing a marathon every single day, the physical load, there's all of the other sort of stresses that come with it, hugely empowering. So I'm guessing when you Let's go back and we'll start with pre Purple Patch first, leading up into it and, and I know that there was a transition point you, you decided to hop off from from the prior coach, go and go to will, and then we're going to bring Will's perspective into this. Yeah, go back first. What? What was life like leading up to it, when you started, you had a year to get ready. You started on the journey. You've got your your husband, you're a father, you're a very busy professional. What? What was life like? What was training like? How did you quote, balance all of these things? Well, my previous

Scot Davis 16:21

coach, you know, he's, he's a really good, good person, good coach, yeah, and the plan that he developed for me was where I was building up my mileage. So we really started February 1 of 2024, and we in each month, we increase the mileage. I think I got up close to at my my top mileage in a month, I think, was around 300 miles. And so we would go four to six weeks, and we would have a really high volume week, where I was running really high volume for seven days in a row. And, you know, and it when you're running that much mileage day after day, you know, takes a physical toll. But also, just from a time standpoint, it's really tough, you know, some days I would have to, you know, get up at 130 in the morning to get my run in. And then I would teach my I teach a boot camp class. I would do that. And then it's, you know, into the office, and then work on all the recovery stuff with the recovery professionals that I work with. And then, you know, in the evenings, it's usually, you know, kids have games and activities and stuff that I want to make and then, you know, I try to get in bed by, you know, nine or 10, and then I'm up, you know, the next morning. So it was really, it was challenging, but you know, the only time of day that I can control is, is early in the morning. So I get up at whatever time I need to, to get my work in.

Matt Dixon 18:02

And sleep is sacrificed, and a lot of other things, right? Yeah,

Matt Dixon 18:05

a lot of and it was from a modality standpoint. You were running, running and running, yeah, right. So that was that, yeah. So it was pure running. As I listen, my ears bring prick up. But sleep compromise. What about fueling and caloric intake? Were you really intentional about that? Was it piling in the calories on a day to day basis?

Scot Davis 18:30

You know, I was, I was over trained. And so, you know, when you're over trained, sometimes your appetite disappears. And then also in Houston, starting in May start, it gets really hot and humid and the summers are brutal. And then I I had a hard time wanting to eat in those situations as well. And so I started working with a nutritionist, Kelli Jones, that really helped me a lot with, you know, finding foods that that were not only good for me, but that I wanted to eat. And so really got my calorie intake up. And then also, you know, in the Houston heat, there was, you know, everyone's different. And so I had to figure out what my hydration and caloric requirements were for those long runs in the heat because, and I needed to figure it out, because there were several climates really warm during the World Marathon Challenge, and so Kelli really helped me with that. There was a there's a lot of trial and error, a lot of error, and I just really had to figure it out.

Matt Dixon 19:37

So what was fast forward. You You made a change, and you're on a journey and style accounts. And I want to make sure I double underline this, you had a really good relationship with a and a lot of success with your prior coach. So I want to make sure this isn't looking at the prior coach and saying, Oh, bad. Now Purple Patch comes in and rescue. That's not the tone, but, but you did make. Change halfway through the journey. Was there a catalyst for that? Was there something that sort of just thought, you know, what, I need to shift up the recipe here a little bit.

Scot Davis 20:10

Yeah. I mean, I had, you know, running the Houston heat. There were a couple of instances where I passed out because I was pushing myself way too hard. And I also, you know, was I was still trying to figure out what my body needed in those extreme situations. You know, I hadn't been, I haven't been running marathons that long, and so I'm still trying to figure it out. In some ways, I still am. And I had one instance where I passed out when I was I was on a run. I didn't feel great. I finished my long run, and I thought, I just need to get home and eat. And I passed out driving home, and that was kind of a wake up call. And it, you know, I really had to stop. And this was in August, and my my event was in January. So, you know, I had some concerns about making a change, but I just felt like it was the right thing to do at that time. You know, I just needed a strike. I needed a new direction.

Matt Dixon 21:05

Well, okay, well, it's probably a good timing to to bring in will here. Will and, and I think it's really important to for the listeners to highlight. Will is a senior Purple Patch coach. Will is the first time on the show you haven't been on the show. You and I do a lot of work with each other, go and go and do a lot of leadership workshops and things along those lines. But for listeners, Will, Will has amongst all of the Purple Patch coaches, by far the most experience in these types of crazy things. I mean, will you've done back to back to back to back to back to back to back Iron Man races continue. You've done a lot of ultra endurance racing, so you come with the pedigree to help. I'm really interested. When you took Scot on and, and, and what were your first impressions you sort of heard this story, what as an athlete, what was sort of your instinct? Well,

Matt Dixon 22:10

first off, I was very excited because, you know, that's kind of my wheelhouse. And I was excited because I love people that go after big, hairy, audacious goals. And Scot was doing that, and I knew that was going to be a very transformative experience. So as a coach, it's very rewarding. I also knew that I did have the experience to kind of help and shepherd him through the process. So I was excited about being able to do that. I was very concerned. However, as a coach, you know, I kind of got the the background that that, you know, he had passed out while driving, you know, and found out that he was running basically six days a week, and running large volumes. And I was concerned that, you know, he was in this I was happy that I wasn't happy that he had the incident, that he had that kind of flipped the switch for him, but I knew it was probably beneficial for my relationship, because he was ready for a change, because what he was doing was no longer working for him. My concern was, was he ready to really make a big shift in the way that we would approach the rest of his training in a way that would make him feel comfortable and competent with, you know, how we were moving forward, because we basically cut his running volume down from six days a week, you know, averaging a lot in the in August and even prior in July, looking back at his training peaks, plan that he had With his prior coach, he was running some big mileage, as he said earlier, but often, he was running about 70 miles a week, double digits most days, and I was cutting him down to about three to four runs a week, wanting to get that running mileage down to about half of what it was, at least, and also wanting to introduce some cross training, introduce some strength training, introduce, you know, a real focus on nutrition. And he was starting to dial that in with, you know, his his nutritionist, but really wanting to dial in all those aspects that were going to help support him on this journey for the next six months. And, you know, probably the biggest little concern I had when we initially talked was when I was talking to him about doing frost training, he was a little resistant, right? Scot and bike. I was like, you know, we can bike, we can swim, we can, you know, row, we can find another, you know, outlet for cardio. And he's like, I don't have a bike, I don't swim. I'm like, okay, you've got to figure this out. And so he had a stationary bike that he could use. And so, I mean, that's how we we started leveraging to crawl. Training days a week, and I added also a rest and recovery day in there to make sure that he was just having a full day of recovery throughout the rest of his very busy week.

Matt Dixon 25:10

So echoes and parallels very much the sort of Purple Patch approach of marathon running. I mean, we talked a lot of the show about getting, getting athletes to go very, very fast relative to their their prior performances by leveraging multi sport and, of course, strength and conditioning. But I can't help but come back to you, Scot, that's got to be a little bit of a mind Twister. You know, it certainly took, and I'll say it right now, well done on, on being really, really brave on this. But you, you must have had a little bit of fear of like, welcome to your new coach. We're gonna half your volume. Like that must have been at the start. Like, Whoa, hang on. I want change, but I'm not ready for change. Change is hard, yeah, change is really, really hard. It

Scot Davis 25:52

is. And I had some concerns, you know, doing it that close to the actual event, because, yeah, I knew, you know, I think will and I talked first, for the first time in August. I think it was late August, and then I figured there was going to be a, you know, at least a 30 day get to know you period. And then, you know, we were getting even closer to the event. So it was a little scary. But, you know, once I got connected with Will and I talked to him, I really liked him. And yes, you know, the change was a little scary, but he got me on the bike, and, you know, I've got a rower, and so, you know, we just, we changed things up a bit. And, you know, it was, my legs felt much better and actually felt stronger.

Matt Dixon 26:37

So, so I'd love, yeah, I gotta go to ask that, like, what was the once you got that ball rolling, proverbially, and it was like, Will came in, bam, you know, we're changing it all up right now. Like, none of this. We're not going to go down this journey. You, you went with it, which, by the way, is not easy. I want to double on the dice for anyone. It's not easy. Change is not easy, even if it's positive change. And the fact you did that, that shows actually a lot of athletic IQ or a lot of coachability. I think that's a thing that we should highlight here. But once you got that, you know, four, six weeks in, what was the impact of that? You know, you've you've dropped down, your your volume, you've increased your, um, your other modalities in there, but in multi sport, did you feel fitter, stronger, more in control, greater performance, predictability. What was the sort of and finally, confidence before you went into the event. Yeah, my

Scot Davis 27:30

body felt better. My mind felt better, my legs felt stronger. You know, will you put me on the bike for some pretty grueling workouts. And, you know, I hated every minute of it, and he heard about it, but, but I really started seeing my strength and and everything improve. And so, you know, I, you know, when I decided to go with will, you know, figured if, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to be all in. And he's so even killed, and he's got, you know, he's obviously got the resume. And so, you know, I just trusted him, and it worked out. And, you know, not running as much was really hard because I was, I was used to going out day after day and grinding. And, you know, credit to my previous coach that although I was doing so much volume, I had a really great running base for, you know, to work with, and that really carried me through the rest of the year. So, yeah, but yeah, will, will really came in and changed things up. And I think it made it made things better. I know it did. Yeah.

Matt Dixon 28:39

I mean, one thing that you would often tell me is that you just felt less fatigued, which, you know, you're coming in fresher to your workouts, so you're fit and fresh, as we like to say, a Purple Patch, which was a great thing. And even though there was resistance with the biking, you complained about it, you also, you know, as I would kind of press them on, it's like, Hey, I know it's working, so I'm doing it right, but every minute of it, type of thing,

Matt Dixon 29:05

it's often the way. First

Matt Dixon 29:07

thing was, how can anybody stay on the bike for an hour? That's awful, yeah.

Matt Dixon 29:15

Well, let's go through the experience. Because I'm sure listeners were desperate to hear this thing. Because, you know, running a single marathon, tough seven days in a row, different continents, and every one, sleep deprivation, time shifts. It's a whole nother level. Here's my first one of the seven, which one was the toughest, and why that? There must have been one or two that were just harder.

Scot Davis 29:38

I I mean, I think the the worst one was probably what was for the Lisa Brazil. We had just run in Madrid, you know, 12 or 14 hours before. And we flew all night. We got to Brazil early that morning. We were running by 6am and, you know, and because. We had turbulence on the plane. They weren't able to feed us before the run, and I was, you know, so I was in a calorie deficit. I hadn't had a chance to really rehydrate. I didn't sleep. And so we get there, and we start running, and because we're right on the equator, that sun came up fast, and before we knew it, it was, you know, 9293 degrees and really high humidity and no shade. And I got into the run, and I had some, some some spasms in my legs, and said, Okay, I just need to dial it back. So I dialed it way back, because at that point it was just, you know, finish. So that one was, that one was, was especially difficult. And then really, the first two marathons, Antarctica and Cape Town, were difficult because I was running a fever and had nausea. And so it just wasn't, you know, it just it was tough. So I, you know, I think those were the ones that stand out.

Matt Dixon 31:09

Well, I want to ask the and I want to separate this into the physical first thing I'm going to ask about the mental challenges. Because I it's obviously a physical challenge, but it's also a a mental challenge. Clearly, what were the biggest physical challenges you faced? You obviously had the heat stress and then then obviously that, that's an inauspicious start, having the first two navigating with a fever. I mean, that must have been emotionally very challenging as well. But what were the major like? Do you have any major injuries or huge fatigue points or breakdown moments in any of these. What was the physical side of it?

Scot Davis 31:45

No, I mean, it was the first two, obviously I was sick. And then that kind of, you know, although the fever broke after the second race, you know, I had, you know, the illness kind of stayed with me. I didn't feel great, my I didn't feel strong physically. You know, there was nothing major. I had a couple of just aches and pains. But, you know, and that's

32:13

a good blister. Oh,

Scot Davis 32:14

that's right, yeah, after Antarctica, I was wearing specific kind of trail shoe for Antarctica, and I had a blister on the end of one of my toes, and had it took over the entire end of my toe and under the nail bed, and I let it go. And then by the end of the third marathon, I thought I'd you should go see the doctor. And so he he fixed it up for me. And, you know, off I went, I think, I think I sent will a picture.

Matt Dixon 32:48

So, yeah, where do I? Where do I sign up for this event, anyway?

Scot Davis 32:54

But yeah, I mean, those were the biggest, you know, physically, those were the biggest issues.

Matt Dixon 33:02

So it leads into the mental challenges and roadblocks. And, I mean, I'm sure the sickness side was a was probably a huge weight and shoulders, but what sort of the mental side of it? I can't imagine. Like, there's an old saying fatigue makes cowards of a sword type thing, and you've obviously got the accumulation of fatigue, so I'm, I'm fascinated on the mental side of this. Well,

Scot Davis 33:24

you know, I will, and I have talked about this. And, you know, when I started training for this event, I worked on the mental side as hard as I did the physical side. I didn't cut myself any slack. You know, I ran 2500 miles training for this thing last year. And I ran, you know, I ran when I was sick, I ran in all kinds of weather. You know, I ran when I hurt, I ran when I was sleep deprived. I didn't cut myself any slack. So going into the I knew that, you know, the World Marathon Challenge there were, I either finished it or I didn't, and there, you know, there weren't any excuses. And so I just put myself in, you know, as many difficult situations going into it as I could. I didn't ever imagine that I would be hit with all those things at once. You know, the difficult weather, being sick, being sleep deprived, you know, you calorie deprived, but I felt like I was well prepared. And I remember in Antarctica when I had the fever, and, you know, I had, I would have to stop periodically, you know, be dry heaving, and it's like, well, you know, you got yourself into this, and there's really only one way out is to finish. Because I'm not, I'm not going home. And so, you know, just put one foot in front of the other and keep going. I, you know, I just didn't give myself any any other option.

Matt Dixon 34:53

Well, yeah, just, I'll interrupt here, Matt. And just from a coaching perspective, I mean, I obviously go. Into this, knowing that mindsets really critical for this, you know, and because Scot was willing to kind of push himself in all these situations prior, you know, and we had plenty of discussions about it, you know, I knew that his mindset was solid, that, you know, he was going to do whatever he could do to to keep moving one foot in front of the other, and so that there was a lot of assurance I had, and I think he had, as well, the confidence that he could push through these really tough conditions. And we set up some, some pre race situations. He did several marathons, and we we doubled up clustered runs before his marathons, that we'd have two or three big days right in a row, and he'd be flying to these marathons, so he would be dealing with flight fatigue and dealing with different protocols he could use to help him in the World Marathon Challenge. So all of that was done very strategically to make sure that he had all the things that he needed going into it. And I felt confident as a coach that he was fully prepared. And I think Scot, you felt the same way that you were just going to get it done and there wasn't another option unless someone was going to wheel you away from Carter.

Matt Dixon 36:18

It's the ultimate control. The controllables. In many ways, it's like, Okay, I can't control the conditions or the fever, but what I can control is where I'm placing my mind and energy. Yeah, it's, it's, I am interested in euphoria a little bit because it occurs. Did you? Did you have moments or blocks where perhaps fatigue in juice, or stress in juice, that you had these euphoric moments as well. Do you remember because it, I think a lot of people that it's so such a big thing that it, there's a danger that people just can't identify with it at all. And they, they, they assume that it's just down in the trenches and suffering always. So I'm wondering, I assume, that you also had these moments of just amazing. I don't want to call it euphoria, because it makes it sound like it's peak, but you just had these worlds of really positive experiences. Was that along the way?

Scot Davis 37:14

Yeah, I mean, I had a really good run in Madrid. I you know, I felt decent. I was still sick, but I felt decent. The weather was cooler, and we were we the course in Madrid was a racetrack, and so we went 11 times around this racetrack, and it had two really nasty hills in it. And, you know, the course kind of banked a little bit because it was a racetrack, but I really enjoyed it, and I enjoyed the the weather was nice, and it was really my first good race where I felt I felt better than I had the previous three. And then, you know, in in Miami, that was really great. Because my, I was expecting my wife and a couple of friends to show up as she brought my whole office. So they, they surprised me, which was really nice. And so that gave me a boost for the for the very last one, you know, going into it. Because, you know, again, we, after we ran in for the Lisa, we took off that evening from Fort Elisa. We arrived in Miami. I think around midnight, we started running by two or one or two, and so, you know, that gave me a boost to finish. And that was, that was one of my better races as well. So, your fastest race?

Matt Dixon 38:41

Yeah, yeah, fastest race was the last race. Yeah, staggering this. So I got two more questions, and I'm going to ask some lessons. But one, it's funny when we go away to take people to training camps, and we do that frequently, and we really get people out of their comfort zone relative to where they're at, but it's a shared experience. There's almost this shared mission where it's like we're all doing this, and everyone's at very different levels. But something really magical occurs when you take a group of people, and they can be strangers, you get them way out of their comfort zone with a sense of mission, and they're solving challenges together. This is 60 people, very much a shared mission. Individually. I want to try and finish this, but they're all it's all the same. So I am very, very interested in the collaboration, support, sort of team aspect is, was there a team aspect to it? Was it like real camaraderie, despite the suffering,

Scot Davis 39:41

to a certain extent. Everybody was there, you know, we were all miserable, and, you know, trying to, you know, I think everybody had their own way of accomplishing the goal. It was really interesting to watch. You had the, you know, what I'd call the elite. Runners, you know, the people that were doing marathon after marathon, and you know, 315 pace or 315 marathon. And then you had the people that that were really experienced Ultra marathoners or marathoners that power walked every race and just super, super consistent. And then he had all of us in between. And so, you know, we would, you know, we, and it was usually kind of a loop course. And so we'd be passing each other, and, you know, we'd give high fives or thumbs up, but everybody kind of had their head down and, you know, and we all made contacts and everything. But it was, everybody was just, you know, just trying to survive that week, honestly, yeah, and, you know, and we've, we're on a, we're on a chat group, and so everybody's, you know, chatting and whatnot still. But yeah, it was, it was really about survival that week. We were all rooting for each other, but we were all trying to survive.

Matt Dixon 41:04

And was the finish line? And days following, was there? What? What the emotions crossing the finish line? And then what often happens is it's, bizarrely, a little bit of a letdown, a little bit of a did you go through that, that process? I'm really interested in the finish line, and the the subsequent days or weeks on the

Scot Davis 41:23

finish line. You know, it was, it was great because my family and friends were there. But, man, I was tired. Yeah, I think I crossed the finish line. I just sat there with my hands on my knees and just for for about five minutes. So I got back to Houston, and, you know, being sick, and I think I got 12 hours sleep all week, and I completely crashed, you know, I was, I was wiped out. I'm not, I'm not one to take naps, but I think I took six hour naps for three days straight, and then slept all night. So I just really needed the recovery, you know, I had, I was aware that, you know, after you work on a big goal for a long time, and then when you accomplish that goal, there can be a letdown. So I wanted to avoid that. And so I had a lot of time, a lot of miles to think about what I wanted to do next, and so I immediately jumped right into my next goal so that I could avoid that. And, you

Matt Dixon 42:30

know, come on, it's not a 5k What are we wearing here? Yeah, what is it? Come on. What have you two been conjuring up together? Well, it kind

42:39

Scot Davis 42:41

evolved where I thought, Okay, I want to do 30 marathons this year, and then it turned into 40. And then it's like, okay, well, let me see if I can do 50 marathons in a year. And you know, it's again, I don't. I'm not. I'm still not an experienced marathoner. I'm still learning with every every training run, every marathon I do. But you know, I like, I like to challenge myself, and, you know, and with Will's help, and, you know, if I can stay healthy, then, you know, I think it's, it's a, it's a good, challenging goal,

Matt Dixon 43:16

5050, marathons. That's the goal. Yeah, yeah.

43:18

Well, actually, it's 52 right? Will

Matt Dixon 43:20

that trade? He's at 50. I'm like, you're 52 years old. At least there's 52

Matt Dixon 43:25

weeks in the year. Why would you only possibly limit?

Will Turner 43:30

I'm Scot, CEO, Chief enabler officer. Yes, yeah.

Scot Davis 43:34

Oh my. So, I mean, it's just, it's, it's all, and, you know, with me staying healthy and so

Matt Dixon 43:40

injury and focus on recovery. Yeah, yeah. So it's amazing, and we have those discussions every week when we have our coaching call we do about recovery and strength training and doing the things he needs to do, which isn't a lot of volume at this point, because basically we're racing, recovering, getting strong, doing Yeah, and just getting ready for the next race.

Matt Dixon 44:01

Amazing. Scot, what, what would be your out of if you had to distill this experience? Last question, what would be the top lesson, or lessons that that you've taken away? What? What would be the things that you've taken away that maybe can help listeners on their journey?

Scot Davis 44:19

Um, I think it's, you know, finding good people to work with and guide you. You know, I was lucky to meet up with will, and then I work with a great group of professionals. My chiropractor, Dr Daniel de Walsh, Dr Floyd Palette, or Rosty Kelli Jones, my nutritionist, I've got a great PT named Paige Mackenzie at Bulletproof here in Houston. And just finding really great people to work with and guide you. I learn different things from each one of those people. I think having a really strong support system. Is, is key, you know, I'm really fortunate. I've got a really supportive family. I've got a great team here at work, you know, and then all those professionals I work with, and then you've got to, you got to put in the time, but be smart about it, you know, put in the right time, right and listen to your coaches and, you know, really listen to your body. And look, I'm not always the best at that, but I'm, I'm learning with wills help and all the people I work with. But yeah, I think those are the, I mean, you got to put in time, you got to grind and you got to work on the mental part as much as the physical part. I think that's key.

Matt Dixon 45:45

Well done. Both of you. Well, great coaching. But, but Scot, you own. It's your journey and a fantastic accomplishment. And so that's part one. I really appreciate it. And thanks everyone for listening. But, but Scot, congratulations. A great job, inspiring, and a little bit of craziness, but fantastic. And your Purple Patch crowd, so well done. And thank you for joining on the show. Thank

Will Turner 46:10

you and will thank you for all your help. Absolutely.

46:13

Thank you

Matt Dixon 46:14

Take care, guys. Guys, thanks so much for joining, and thank you for listening. I hope that you enjoyed the new format. You can never miss an episode by simply subscribing. Head to the Purple Patch channel of YouTube, and you will find it there. And you could subscribe. Of course, I'd like to ask you if you will subscribe. Also Share It With Your Friends, and it's really helpful if you leave a nice, positive review in the comments. Now, any questions that you have, let me know, feel free to add a comment, and I will try my best to respond and support you on your performance journey. And in fact, as we commence this video podcast experience, if you have any feedback at all, as mentioned earlier in the show, we would love your help in helping us to improve. Simply email us at info@purplepatchfitness.com, or leave it in the comments of the show at the Purple Patch page, and we will get you dialed in. We'd love constructive feedback. We are in a growth mindset, as we like to call it, and so feel free to share with your friends. But as I said, Let's build this together. Let's make it something special. It's really fun. We're really trying hard to make it a special experience, and we want to welcome you into the Purple Patch community with that. I hope you have a great week. Stay healthy, have fun, keep smiling, doing whatever you do, take care.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

World Marathon Challenge, seven marathons, seven continents, Scott Davis, Purple Patch coaching, ultra endurance, mental preparation, physical challenges, training plan, recovery, nutrition, support system, extreme endurance, performance mindset, athletic potential

Carrie BarrettApril 16, 2025