099 | From 300 lbs to Ultras: How Josh Ruff Rebuilt Himself

Yeah.

That's definitely something I, I, you know, as Brian mentioned, I experienced firsthand as you, you know, put me through, uh, put me through, uh, the wringer out, uh, on the Burrito League loop.

And just seeing you, like, yeah, the intensity.

But I would say the intensity with, uh, you know, that community focus and like wanting to bring people together through these things was, was something like s- so cool to see of like, yeah, you were always there, always pushing everyone.

But, well, I would say 95% of the time with a smile on your face.

[laughs]

'Cause I, I did see a few non-smile moments.

Oh, for sure.

Yeah, yeah.

Um, but yeah, that's, uh, uh, obviously that's, yeah, crazy that like you jumped r- basically right into that marathon.

Uh, you just skipped all of those, you know, short distance, middle distance.

Like I said, most people will do a 5K first, but you're just like marathon.

And now, I mean, now your, your sights are on, on much larger distances.

Um, I know you've done, uh, your f- Was your first ultra the Jovelina 100 or d- have you done-

My first one-- So of course I, I progressed very quickly here.

I swung-- My very first ultra was Sulfur Springs four years ago.

It was a hun- was the 100K was my first, um, trail race or ultra, so I went right to the 100K, um, which again, I was terrified.

Um, ran that race pretty well.

Same thing, I actually surprised myself.

I, I was like everybody was just like, "I just wanna survive this thing, and I'll be happy if I finish it." But turned out I actually ran better than I was expecting.

I mean, the last 20 kilometers was a death march, which took forever, but same thing.

I was like kind of surprised myself.

And I think that's been the thing that keeps me coming back is like, you know, you, you, you can really surprise your- A, if you put in the work, you're committed, and you kinda just like surrender to the results, I think is something I've struggled with a little bit more recently.

But it's like, hey, control what you can control.

Go out there, put in the work, and nine times out of ten, I think you're gonna surprise yourself.

Yeah.

That's definitely something I, I, you know, as Brian mentioned, I experienced firsthand as you, you know, put me through, uh, put me through, uh, the wringer out, uh, on the Burrito League loop.

And just seeing you, like, yeah, the intensity.

But I would say the intensity with, uh, you know, that community focus and like wanting to bring people together through these things was, was something like s- so cool to see of like, yeah, you were always there, always pushing everyone.

But, well, I would say 95% of the time with a smile on your face.

[laughs]

'Cause I, I did see a few non-smile moments.

Oh, for sure.

Yeah, yeah.

Um, but yeah, that's, uh, uh, obviously that's, yeah, crazy that like you jumped r- basically right into that marathon.

Uh, you just skipped all of those, you know, short distance, middle distance.

Like I said, most people will do a 5K first, but you're just like marathon.

And now, I mean, now your, your sights are on, on much larger distances.

Um, I know you've done, uh, your f- Was your first ultra the Jovelina 100 or d- have you done-

My first one-- So of course I, I progressed very quickly here.

I swung-- My very first ultra was Sulfur Springs four years ago.

It was a hun- was the 100K was my first, um, trail race or ultra, so I went right to the 100K, um, which again, I was terrified.

Um, ran that race pretty well.

Same thing, I actually surprised myself.

I, I was like everybody was just like, "I just wanna survive this thing, and I'll be happy if I finish it." But turned out I actually ran better than I was expecting.

I mean, the last 20 kilometers was a death march, which took forever, but same thing.

I was like kind of surprised myself.

And I think that's been the thing that keeps me coming back is like, you know, you, you, you can really surprise your- A, if you put in the work, you're committed, and you kinda just like surrender to the results, I think is something I've struggled with a little bit more recently.

But it's like, hey, control what you can control.

Go out there, put in the work, and nine times out of ten, I think you're gonna surprise yourself.