Preface: We begged our friend Matt Griffitt not to run in the Goggins 4x4x48 Challenge because as physical therapists, we felt the challenge would put Matt at risk for injury due to his average weekly mileage. However, when Matt told us that he was going to run no matter what, we realized it was our duty to help reduce his risk for injury by giving him some words of wisdom on warming up, stretching, and run cadence to reduce ground reaction force through his joints. We'd like to think our advice helped, but Matt is also truly a one of a kind person inside and out. We asked him to write about the 10 things he learned while doing the challenge, please enjoy and remember... challenges like this are NOT meant for everyone!

The weekend of March 6-8, I took part in the “Goggins’ 4x4x48 Challenge.”  The task was simple enough: run 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours (that’s 48 miles for those of you doing the math). I first saw the challenge on David Goggins’ Instagram page earlier that week.  David Goggins is a former Navy Seal, author of the book Can’t Hurt Me, and now somewhat of a motivational speaker.  He pretty much spends his time yelling at people on social media and telling them to “Stay Hard!”  When I first saw the challenge, my initial thought was, “I wonder if I could do that.”  Immediately, I was hooked.  This thought of not knowing if I was capable of overcoming this challenge dominated my thinking for the next couple of days.  I had run 4 miles before...I would just have to do that 12 times.  Couldn’t be that bad.  

The weekend of March 6-8, I took part in the “Goggins’ 4x4x48 Challenge.”  The task was simple enough: run 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours (that’s 48 miles for those of you doing the math). I first saw the challenge on David Goggins’ Instagram page earlier that week.  David Goggins is a former Navy Seal, author of the book Can’t Hurt Me, and now somewhat of a motivational speaker.  He pretty much spends his time yelling at people on social media and telling them to “Stay Hard!”  When I first saw the challenge, my initial thought was, “I wonder if I could do that.”  Immediately, I was hooked.  This thought of not knowing if I was capable of overcoming this challenge dominated my thinking for the next couple of days.  I had run 4 miles before...I would just have to do that 12 times.  Couldn’t be that bad.  

In the end (and after convincing some crazy friends of mine to join in) we were able to accomplish our goal.  We ran slow, but every 4 hours we actually ran the full 4 miles until we had reached our 48 mile goal.  We started at 10 p.m. Friday night (March 6) and started our last run at 6 p.m. Sunday night (March 8).  It was a very different challenge than what I thought it was going to be.  But here are 10 things I learned after running 48 miles in 48 hours:

1. When it comes to running, the more the merrier.  All of my life, I have pretty much hated running.  It was always just so boring (and still is).  But after doing this challenge, I realized that there is a direct correlation between more fun had running and the more running buddies you have.  I was able to enlist the help of 1 friend for all of the runs (shout out Will Collins). It helped a ton to have someone to keep me accountable when we woke up at 1:45 a.m. for our 2 a.m. run, but we found that the runs we actually had a lot  fun on were the ones where even more people joined in.  
2. It’s time we put an end to daylight savings.  We’ve all been thinking it for a while now.  This just made it even more clear when we actually only had 3 hours between our 10 p.m. run Saturday night and 2 a.m. run Sunday morning.  I’m certain Goggins knew what he was doing with that one.  
3. Sleep is huge.  Over the course of the 48 hours, my watch logged 2 hours of actual sleep.  Waking up each time for the runs was certainly the hardest part.  Once we began every 4 miles, it was not too bad.  By the end though, my body was pretty beat up.  I was barely walking to my bed on Sunday night.  I then slept for 11 hours and felt like a new man the next morning.  
4. Stretching also helps.  I found that when I stretched after runs, I felt way better than after runs when I was too lazy to stretch.  Not too excited to confess that because I previously thought it was pretty much a waste of time, but I am man enough to admit when I am wrong.  
5. Ice baths can also be helpful.  Pretty much any recovery tool you can think of to even help a little bit is awesome when you’re running or so long.  An ice bath can be a bit cumbersome when you only have a 4-hour window to run and recover.  We had to go to the store, spend money on the ice, fill up the tub, dry off, drain the tub.  Just a big ordeal to only sit in something for 5 minutes.  
6. Find foods that sit well.  This whole challenge was a pretty last-minute decision for and completely unchartered territory.  So naturally, without knowing what and how much to eat, we went to Sam’s club and bought absolute garbage.  We basically lived off Mott’s gummies and Hostess cupcakes for 2 days.  As you can imagine, those did not sit well in our stomachs for 48 miles of running and practically no sleep.  Having knots in your stomach does not make the journey any more pleasurable.  If you decide to do some long-distance running, please do yourself a favor and test out some different foods beforehand to see what your stomach handles the best.  
7. Change up your running routes.  Similarly, how having more buddies makes running more fun, having a new scenery for your runs helps keep things interesting.  It was extremely easy for us to get bored with the same running route over and over again.  We found that when we ran a different route, it made for an easy morale boost.
8. Social media can be a huge motivator.  While social media tends to get a bad reputation, it can also be used for good.  There were a ton of people who joined in on Goggins’ challenge, one of whom we actually ran into on our first run.  Given the right context and goals, social media can be used as a great motivation for people to get active or get outside of your comfort zone.
9. Ultra-Endurance Athletes are fascinating.  There are plenty of things that my body can’t physically do.  I can’t squat 600 pounds.  I haven’t put in the time or effort to be able to do that.  My body physically is not able to do that.  Running is a functional movement that many are capable of doing at a variety of speeds. That’s why this challenge lured me in so much. I knew it was going to be more mental than anything.  Since doing this challenge, I have become captivated by watching ultra-endurance athletes.  It absolutely blows my mind to see an athlete just run until their legs give out.  I’ve seen athletes literally crawl across finish lines after an Iron Man or their body not being able to hold down food in the middle of a 205-mile run through the mountains.  The mental side of the sport makes endurance athletes some of my favorite.
10. The human body is capable of more than we think.  We have been fearfully and wonderfully made by a loving God, the creator of the universe.  A lot of times our bodies are restricted by the limitations we put on it ourselves.  While not everyone is called to be some ultra-endurance athlete, 300-pound strongman, or Olympic medalist, God has certainly put a spirit of perseverance and determination in our hearts and minds so that He may be glorified by how amazing his creation can be and what feats we can all accomplish. How then shall we not be able to accomplish whatever we set our minds to and pursue it without fear knowing that the Sovereign Lord of everything has a plan for you according to His purpose and glory. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” 2 Timothy 1:7."