You look stupid when you run, but that might be the whole point.
Speaker AThere's a version of running that's about performance, time splits, results looking good.
Speaker AAnd then there's another version where none of that really matters.
Speaker AThis episode with Mike Kratzer lives in that second world.
Speaker AWhat he's pointing at in this conversation isn't really about running at all.
Speaker AIt's about what's left when running strips everything else away and you're no longer trying to be someone, impress anyone, prove anything, or hold on to an idea of who you think you're supposed to be.
Speaker ABecause Ultra Running forces you to stop lying to yourself.
Speaker ABorderland it's the Borderlands Trail and Ultra Running podcast, presented by Kip Run.
Speaker AMy name is Josh Rosenthal, the host and the founder.
Speaker ALook for Kip Run's new Kip Summit Series dropping April 1st in the United States.
Speaker AOkay, I want to take a moment to clarify a few points from a previous conversation on this podcast with Marli Dickinson regarding Camille Herron.
Speaker ASince that episode aired, additional information has been brought to my attention, and I want to make sure that listeners have that context.
Speaker AFirst, Camille Herron has never admitted to making edits on her own Wikipedia page or to the pages of other athletes, and has consistently denied being responsible for those edits.
Speaker ASecond, her husband, Connor, has publicly stated that he was responsible for the edits in question, that he made the edits in good faith, and that Camille was not involved.
Speaker AAnd third, regarding Camille's relationship with Lululemon, her representatives have stated that her contract was terminated under a standard no cause provision and not because of any ethical breach or misconduct on her part.
Speaker ATo the extent that anything discussed on this podcast may have suggested otherwise, I regret any misunderstanding.
Speaker AMy goal is to ensure that this additional context is clearly communicated so listeners have an accurate understanding of these points.
Speaker AAnd from there, we get into it.
Speaker AThis is Mike Kratzer with us in the Borderlands studio at Paris Fashion Week.
Speaker BYou carry yourself like someone who is at peace.
Speaker BYou know, do you feel that way?
Speaker BLike, do you.
Speaker BDo you feel like maybe the word is integrated?
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BLike you feel like there is no Mike Kratzer on Instagram compared to the Mike Kratzer that's at home, compared to the Mike Kratzer that's at Paris Fashion?
Speaker BLike, do you feel like one person?
Speaker BLike, integrated?
Speaker BLike you just are who you are?
Speaker CYeah, I think, yeah, I can.
Speaker CI'm at peace with what I am, and I don't feel the need to force myself into being somebody else.
Speaker CI think.
Speaker BDoes running play into that for you 100%.
Speaker CIt's like the.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CI've just come from Jason, who does Minor Planet, and he had, like, a way different way of arriving at that piece, but it's, like, pretty similar.
Speaker CAnd with him, when we talked, it was like, the same.
Speaker CYou just, like.
Speaker CYou always knew that something wasn't, like, right, but you always, like, covered it with whatever.
Speaker CAnd then through running, there was no need to cover anything else because you look stupid when you run.
Speaker CYou don't.
Speaker CLike the guy who crewed us for the first tsp after two days of running, he was like.
Speaker CIt was the middle of the night.
Speaker CWe were on Power Line Road.
Speaker CAnd then he was like, Philip is his name.
Speaker CLike, yo, Mike.
Speaker CLike, do you really think running looks good?
Speaker CI was like, what do you mean?
Speaker CHe was like, it looks so stupid to me.
Speaker CLike, I've been watching you guys for two days now, and it just looks stupid to me.
Speaker CI was like, I never looked at it that way.
Speaker CBut I think, yeah, like, running doesn't always look, like, picture perfect.
Speaker CAnd I think through that, you.
Speaker CYeah, you just accept it.
Speaker CAnd through that, you accept, like, flaws in others and just, like, let them be.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BLike, the.
Speaker BJust being comfortable with the warts.
Speaker BLike, being comfortable with the other stuff.
Speaker CThere's like.
Speaker CLike, I don't have hair.
Speaker CThat's just a fact.
Speaker CAnd they just won't grow.
Speaker CLike, my kids make fun of me all the time, but definitely when I started losing them, like, mid to end 20s, it was a problem because your whole identity, if you're into rock and roll and Vlah, is like, hair and looking good.
Speaker CAnd to me, it didn't look good.
Speaker CBut then Ram Dass, who I listen to a lot, he had one episode about being.
Speaker CHaving products, trying to hide how old you are.
Speaker CLike, if you get older, you have, like, those spots on the hands and you try to hide them.
Speaker CAnd he was like, why do we do that?
Speaker CYou don't look at an old tree and you're like, oh, man, that tree is old.
Speaker CLike, that tree.
Speaker CYou know, you don't.
Speaker CLike.
Speaker CYou don't judge a tree.
Speaker CWe actually celebrate it crooked or whatever.
Speaker CYou just like, a tree is a tree.
Speaker CAnd I think, like, we are who we are, and there's no need to change like the other or be like, yeah, that guy runs really slow in DNFs all the time.
Speaker CI'm sorry for that.
Speaker BIt's okay.
Speaker CPun intended.
Speaker CIt's okay.
Speaker BIn my mind, I'm convinced that I've figured something out, but I won't Know, until I'm back in the fray, back into my hundreds.
Speaker BBut I hope I'm on the other side.
Speaker BI want to hear about what you alluded to, the rock and roll past.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BBecause I know there's some connection with music.
Speaker BI know there's some connection with party scene, with DJing.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BLike, who's Mike Croucher?
Speaker BBefore running and sobriety.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CLoose cannon.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CI used to DJ for a living for a couple of years, and I've been in Berlin.
Speaker CNo, in Nuremberg.
Speaker CI was with a band that got signed and they all moved to Berlin.
Speaker CBut I did never find, like, a big city appealing.
Speaker CSo I think I always had it in me that I needed, like, nature.
Speaker CBut living in Nuremberg and having everything accessible all the time just made it really hard to, like, cut it.
Speaker CAnd also, the whole friend group back then was just people who either owned bars or clubs or were DJs over in bands.
Speaker CSo it was like there was never, like, a path out, really, because everything we did all the time was that, which was fun for a while.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker CUntil you figure out there's more to life.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BWhat kind of music were you playing?
Speaker CUsually, like, rock and roll guitar music.
Speaker BWere you the guitar player?
Speaker CI did play guitar, yeah.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker BSing.
Speaker CI don't think.
Speaker BOkay, so just rock and roll guitar.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BWhat guitar were you playing?
Speaker CEpiphone.
Speaker CSemi acoustic.
Speaker BNice.
Speaker CYeah, it was good.
Speaker CBut also I wasn't a good guitar player, so it's probably for the better.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BWhat happened to that band?
Speaker BThey go off to Berlin and did.
Speaker CThey keep going or some.
Speaker COne guy came back, Luca, the rest.
Speaker CI don't think any of them do any music anymore.
Speaker CLike, they played for a while, supported some bigger bands, and then disappeared.
Speaker CI don't think moving to, like, the most competitive city in Germany for music is a good thing when you could also just stay outside of that rivalry there.
Speaker CAnd.
Speaker CYeah, but, yeah, that was their choice back then.
Speaker CAnd I was like, nah, I don't.
Speaker BThink I was always.
Speaker BI thought, similar to you, that I would rather be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond.
Speaker BSo even though the music I was making wasn't great, I wouldn't have made it in LA or New York or Nashville.
Speaker BI could do okay in Salt Lake City or in Lubbock, Texas.
Speaker BYou know, like, it worked and I could be happy and it could be my life.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CI think that was a really fun time.
Speaker CBut through that, like, they moved, and then I was only DJing because having a band is a Lot of work, as you know.
Speaker CSo.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CAnd that just got redundant after a while.
Speaker CLike every week it's pretty similar.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CTuesday, there's your local thing here at that bar.
Speaker CAnd then Wednesdays you go here.
Speaker COn the weekends, you're in different cities.
Speaker CAnd after a while it was like, same conversations, nothing really new, and it really became a job.
Speaker CAnd that's when I was like, oh, my God, Like, I don't want to DJ tonight.
Speaker CBecause it felt like a job.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker CThen I was like, oh, maybe I should change something here.
Speaker CLike, this is not cool anymore.
Speaker BSo to someone like me, I never got into that scene.
Speaker BWhat.
Speaker BI mean, what does it mean to DJ, you know?
Speaker BWhat type of DJing were you doing?
Speaker CJust like Club Lights.
Speaker CLike, I did book a couple of bands, and then after that we would DJ till 4 in the morning.
Speaker CSo you're there really early, you binge drink all night.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CAnd then they're there when everybody leaves.
Speaker CAnd then you go either to an after party or eat something and go home.
Speaker BAnd what were you known for?
Speaker BLike, why would you be the DJ that a certain club hired?
Speaker CWhat was the.
Speaker BWhat did you bring with you?
Speaker CI think we were young, loud and snotty.
Speaker CI don't know.
Speaker CIt's just like with.
Speaker CSame with Running Now.
Speaker CLike, you just.
Speaker CIf you establish yourself and you know people, whereas on the street, and then you just get to know more people and through that, get more opportunities and then just start it real small.
Speaker CAnd then at some point was like, yeah, something that wasn't fun anymore.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd then.
Speaker BSo the it in the documentary that you released on a TSP solo that you did, I thought it was a phenomenal documentary.
Speaker BYou'll have to help me with who worked on it.
Speaker BI know Tom Reynolds worked on it.
Speaker CHe was the producer and wrote for Mental Athletic.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker CAbout it.
Speaker CAnd then Dan King was.
Speaker BYeah, I just thought it was really well done.
Speaker CI mean, like.
Speaker BLike in a world right now where we're getting a lot of running documentaries, which is a good world.
Speaker BI like that world.
Speaker BDon't get me wrong.
Speaker BYours stood out and was memorable to me in some of how the production was done and the way that it moved through your story.
Speaker BAnd so you're sitting in what looked like maybe a driveway or something like that at the beginning, and you're just kind of riffing and just.
Speaker BYou're talking about things and you very haphazardly say, I stopped drinking either right before my wedding or my wedding was the last time that I drank.
Speaker BSo I. I'm Curious about that era of your life.
Speaker BSo right now, if we're looking at the.
Speaker BThe spring equinox where this is the moment of the year where light is overpowering darkness.
Speaker BAnd so I'm looking for stories about it.
Speaker BIt would seem like quitting drinking and you saying this is at peace and that you feel that, you know, that you're happy with that decision, that this was a moment in your life where you're getting married.
Speaker BProbably happy about that.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BQuit drinking.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BAnd, you know, light.
Speaker BLight has overcome darkness for you.
Speaker BI'm curious about that.
Speaker BLike.
Speaker BLike the.
Speaker BThe month before the wedding and the.
Speaker BThe wedding and the month after.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CLike, it's been a while before the wedding that I just didn't want to drink because it's, like, socially so accepted.
Speaker CLike here you can see it.
Speaker CLike, people go out after they finish in their showrooms, get shit faced.
Speaker CThe next morning, they regret it.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CIn the evening, they do it again.
Speaker CAnd I was just, like, sick of that.
Speaker CEverything around it involved with drinking.
Speaker CLike, we could have a meaningful conversation.
Speaker CAnd five years deep, you just search for another beer.
Speaker CAnd I try to get laid.
Speaker CAnd then, like, the nice evening and the good intentions are gone because then you're just like, zombie, right?
Speaker CAnd I think, yeah, I wanted to do it for a while, but I knew that we would marry soon.
Speaker CAnd I knew that the social conventions would get me in trouble if I would have stopped, like, before.
Speaker CLike, my parents would be asking, all the guests would be like, hey, what's wrong?
Speaker CAnd I just didn't want to deal with it.
Speaker CI was like, all right, so we get married.
Speaker CWe're gonna have my friends play here, we're gonna smoke weed, we're gonna do all of that.
Speaker CAnd then the next day, nobody will ask for it anymore.
Speaker CYou know, I will always be like, yeah, like, I'm done.
Speaker CBecause then there's nothing of, like, social value that where I have to drink.
Speaker CLike, if I go to a wedding, I don't have to drink.
Speaker CBut if you're the main part of the wedding, like, it's kind of accepted of you to, like, do that.
Speaker CAnd I wasn't ready to stop before, so that was, like, my focus.
Speaker CAnd I told my wife that, and then she was like, yeah, you could stop before.
Speaker CAnd I was like, I know I could, but also, like, your parents already give me shit if I don't drink a beer on the weekends when we go to have dinner.
Speaker CBecause it's, like, so enrooted in, like, German culture, the wurzhaus.
Speaker CAnd you Know the shuffle on the weekend.
Speaker CIt's like a pork thingy with a beer.
Speaker CIt's just like what you do.
Speaker CAnd I just didn't want to do it anymore.
Speaker CI was just like, why can't we just not have that?
Speaker BI know that you're half American, so you have a German parent and you have an American parent.
Speaker BSo I don't know how familiar you are with Seinfeld, but I do feel like what you're describing to me feels a little bit like Seinfeld.
Speaker BYou went out on top.
Speaker BBut if, if you have a negative, like, connotation or connection with drinking, I don't know if you would agree with that.
Speaker BBut it sounds like there's never going to be a bigger party in your life.
Speaker BThere's never going to be a bigger celebration.
Speaker BLike, this was the moment.
Speaker BI'm going to let this be the crescendo.
Speaker CYeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker BAnd to.
Speaker BTo drink again after that will some ways diminish.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BWhat you were.
Speaker BThe whole statement about that is there is.
Speaker BAm I close?
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CI 100 agree.
Speaker CThat's like a good way to end it.
Speaker BAnd so how long ago was that now?
Speaker CTen years.
Speaker BTen years?
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BDo you.
Speaker BDid it feel like a movement into light?
Speaker BDid it feel like dark before or did this.
Speaker BYou're just done?
Speaker BIt's not darkness necessarily.
Speaker CJust during the New York marathon week, I was talking to Terry, who does body language, and he watched the movie and then like we just walked around and talked.
Speaker CAnd he really had like drug problems and everything and had to really fight demons to get out of it.
Speaker CI didn't really have that.
Speaker CLike, I was socially working.
Speaker CI didn't like, miss any, like, work related things.
Speaker CI wasn't like really having problems.
Speaker CI just didn't want to do it anymore.
Speaker CThere was no, like, I have to stop now or I'll kill myself or I have to stop now or I'll lose my jobs or my kids get taken away.
Speaker BIt was, it wasn't a rock bottom situation.
Speaker CAbsolutely not.
Speaker CIt was just like going into a direction where I was like, I don't enjoy it anymore.
Speaker CIt had nothing to do with like hardship or anything.
Speaker CSo I think that's like a big difference from if you're like really heavily drinking and it causes problems.
Speaker CI also think then it's like harder to stop it because for me it was really easy.
Speaker CI just stopped the next day.
Speaker CAnd it wasn't like ever that I had like the need to drink again.
Speaker CLike, for me it was like, not like, oh my God, I Can't be around beer now for the next two months till I detached myself from it.
Speaker CBecause if you count like that, you definitely are still in danger to get back to it when you're like, all right, I haven't drank for 2,000, 336 days.
Speaker CLike, I don't drink.
Speaker CThat's it.
Speaker CAnd I can sit around people that drink.
Speaker CLike, it's the same with eating meat.
Speaker CLike, I don't have a problem with all of that.
Speaker CI just don't want to do it anymore.
Speaker CSo it's a. Yeah.
Speaker CIt's not that dramatic, I would say.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BIs there?
Speaker BSo when you stopped playing with that band, they want to go to Berlin, and you were content to let that go than drinking.
Speaker BContent to let that go.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BAnd then your move into running, to me, it seems like there's some threads that connect all those in that I geek out on personality types.
Speaker BI really love.
Speaker BI love to observe people and think about people.
Speaker BAnd you are really comfortable in being unique.
Speaker BAnd maybe you even go toward being unique, making sure it seems like you're comfortable just going your own way.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BWhatever that way is.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BAnd if the way that you're choosing to go is counter to everyone else, does that motivate you more?
Speaker BLike, knowing that you were going against the grain motivates me.
Speaker CNo, it's just.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CJust follow what interests me.
Speaker CMe.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker CLike, when I started running, it was definitely not hip to be a trail runner or, like, anything of that.
Speaker CLike.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker CBut even back then, you found your people within that space.
Speaker CAlthough it was not, like, blown up like it is now.
Speaker CBut even back then, everybody would say, like, oh, my God, trail running is gonna.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker CChange dramatically.
Speaker CAnd now we're 10 years later and everybody's still, like, trying to either gatekeep or, like, take advantage of it.
Speaker CAnd that's, like, how it probably will always be.
Speaker CBut, like, the.
Speaker CThe discussions are the same.
Speaker CLike, 10 years ago, but we have nicer clothes now.
Speaker CWe have better technology.
Speaker CThe whole discussion about utmb, if you don't like it, don't go there.
Speaker CLike.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker CLike, there's just so much that I don't like about, like, people forcing your will on them.
Speaker CSo that's why I just do what I think I like.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker CAnd if it resonates with people, which usually is the case, that's cool.
Speaker CBut if not, that's also fine.
Speaker CLike, I don't think it's important to me that.
Speaker COr that my whole personality is dependent on if somebody likes what I do or not.
Speaker CAnd that's where like, some sort of uniqueness comes in.
Speaker CBecause I had a conversation yesterday about, like, like real run influencers and they all lose.
Speaker CUse the same formula.
Speaker CLike, if you scroll to Instagram it, like, oh, do the same stuff with the same music.
Speaker CNo, it's.
Speaker CIt's like it is right now.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker CAnd like, you can either, like, buy into it or you just do what you want to do.
Speaker CAnd then people might not jump on it the first time, but if you continue to do what you want to do, like the same with the podcast.
Speaker CIt starts with 12 people listening and then 500 listening and then 200 leaving again if you say something they don't like.
Speaker CBut it's like a constant for them back.
Speaker CBut through being, like, consistent through it, you'll find your people in your audience.
Speaker CAnd I think that consistency is what I learned, like, through running.
Speaker CAnd if I believe in it, probably there's other people believing in it.
Speaker CLike the pop up we did in New York and now here.
Speaker CLike, on paper, it's absolutely stupid to have so many brands in there.
Speaker CAnd then it's like, I don't even have a brand.
Speaker CI'm just there.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CBut I also don't feel the need to just have a brand.
Speaker CTo have a brand and do T shirts that, like, there's no need for me to do it.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CSo I don't know what I'm doing with physical eradication services, but it's going somewhere, right?
Speaker BDid you trade.
Speaker BI mean, so you said stopped drinking 10 years ago, and then you also just said running 10 years ago.
Speaker BDid those happen the same time?
Speaker CKind of overlapping.
Speaker CI used to cycle when I was younger.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker CBut yeah, like, I think 12 years ago, just out of necessity because of kids and stuff, I couldn't cycle as long as I wanted.
Speaker CAnd then like, running took over because it's more convenient.
Speaker CYou can do it here, here, now.
Speaker CAnd yeah, I sucked.
Speaker CLike, my first 10k race I did with my dad, my stepdad.
Speaker CAnd yeah, like 10k in like 59 minutes.
Speaker CAnd I thought, I'm fit through cycling, but in running, I was not fit.
Speaker CAnd that bugged me.
Speaker CAnd then that all started, like, and pretty early.
Speaker CIt was like, I hate running around, like, the same track.
Speaker CAnd then I found through Anton Krupica trail running.
Speaker CAnd then that was like the whole, like, I saw some commercial and I was like, yo, that guy, like, he listens to nice music.
Speaker CHe looks pretty cool.
Speaker CLike, that's what I'm gonna do now.
Speaker BI love.
Speaker BI wasn't even thinking we'd go down that path.
Speaker BI mean, Anton Kaprichka.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo he was your gateway drug.
Speaker C100%.
Speaker BReally?
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BOh, my gosh.
Speaker BDo you remember what the ad was or do you remember the thing?
Speaker COh, it was.
Speaker CHe was still with New Balance and like the whole shaving the shoe.
Speaker BHe was shaving the shoe in like his laboratory or something like that, cutting off the heel.
Speaker CI still have the Vimeo video.
Speaker CReally?
Speaker CThat Wolperdinger did.
Speaker BWolperdinger, yes.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CWow.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CThat's a long time ago.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker CI still have the shoes at home.
Speaker BOh, you had.
Speaker BYou mean the ones that they put the anti confich in the balances?
Speaker CYeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker CThat's so cool.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BYou've got an Anton Kaprichka ness to you.
Speaker BAnd what makes him unique as an influencer is that he's somewhat.
Speaker BI mean, he's an anti influencer.
Speaker BHe'd probably hate to even say influencer.
Speaker BMaybe not hate, because he seems like this guy who's at peace with himself.
Speaker BLike you.
Speaker CYeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker BSo it's not so much that he would hate it, but he's just.
Speaker BHe's an anti influencer.
Speaker BHe's out front.
Speaker BHe's sort of like taste making but not trying to taste, which is probably the best type of taste making is the truest form of tastemaking.
Speaker BHe's just trying to Unapologetically who he is.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BBut even unapologetically doesn't do it service because he's not offensive.
Speaker BHe's not trying to be just.
Speaker CHe's the nicest guy.
Speaker BHe's such a badass runner and he gets burned out and he starts gravel biking across the country.
Speaker BHe just does what he wants to do and he.
Speaker BAnd he looks great while doing it.
Speaker BAnd brands use him as a canvas.
Speaker BLike, he's like a canvas and brands can kind of paint themselves on.
Speaker CI met him after we talked in Chamonix.
Speaker CThat was like a full circuit moment.
Speaker CLike, while I was walking back to our Airbnb, he was walking down the street and I was like, right.
Speaker BRight after we.
Speaker CYeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker COn the way back.
Speaker BI've never met him.
Speaker CYeah, that was the.
Speaker CHe was the chillest guy.
Speaker CIt was like we talked like we already knew each other.
Speaker CThen he was like, yeah, if you're ever in Colorado, let me know.
Speaker CI was like, all right.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BAnd then you book a.
Speaker BYou book a plane to Colorado immediately.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CI was like, okay, we're friends now.
Speaker BOh, man.
Speaker BHe's the.
Speaker BYeah, he's the best I just.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BSo so much about him was.
Speaker BHe was, he was in the.
Speaker BHe was in the zeitgeist.
Speaker BHe was among everybody, but he was not the same.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CBecause he, like, like I always say, like, I'm really competitive, but like not with anybody else.
Speaker CLike, I don't.
Speaker CLike in Valencia, I didn't run the time I wanted, but it didn't matter.
Speaker CLike, I put in the training, I probably could have run that fast.
Speaker CBut also I don't.
Speaker CAnd I think he was the same.
Speaker CLike he wanted to be the best, but he wasn't like reliant on podium him all the time or like having all that for him, like time outside, I think was like the important stuff.
Speaker CAnd like scrambling like.
Speaker BYes.
Speaker CAnd like, I think it's.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CSomething that.
Speaker CIt's more important to me that I can do the training than doing the run.
Speaker CLike last year before Snowdonia, I had the muscle tear on the day of the race.
Speaker COh, that's right.
Speaker CAnd that sucked.
Speaker CBut the training leading up was so good that I couldn't be mad at it.
Speaker CI was like, all right, like next year I get to train again for this.
Speaker CSo it's not like I still got a couple of years of running in me.
Speaker CSo it wasn't that.
Speaker CIt really bothered me.
Speaker CAnd I think through his injuries that he had and like his Achilles is somewhere weird and he doesn't want to have an operation and that's why he had to find other outlets to be in the outdoors.
Speaker CAnd I think, yeah, some people should not be that like one dimensional when it comes to those sports.
Speaker CLike, I think a lot of pros are really like one dimensional and that makes them really good.
Speaker CBut I think they miss out on a lot of other things through that.
Speaker CAnd that's why I'm really happy that I'm not a pro, because I can venture wherever I want.
Speaker BI mean, and he's of the era and you resemble that era where no matter how many podiums you're on, the money's not there.
Speaker BBut other brands, brands found ways to write them checks.
Speaker BBecause he was just so interesting.
Speaker CYeah, because he was telling stories.
Speaker CI don't know what podcast it was, but they were talking about like all the old Solomon videos from back then, Solomon tv.
Speaker CSo good storytelling.
Speaker CIt wasn't just pros, it was just everyday runners that had a great story.
Speaker CAnd I don't know why they stopped that.
Speaker CTo me, now they're just like a Formula one team with replaceable names that don't resonate at all.
Speaker CAnd back Then it was like they were really like stories attached to the people that made them like feasible.
Speaker CAlthough their running was like way absolutely not relatable.
Speaker CBut through their stories they became relatable.
Speaker CThey became relatable and now it's like, all right, like, Tom Evans trains like a maniac, blah, blah, blah, like, he's the fittest, he's the best, blah, blah.
Speaker CI don't care.
Speaker CRight.
Speaker CWhat I'm interested in is like other stuff.
Speaker BAre you seeing, what are you seeing out there right now?
Speaker BBecause my biggest issue right now is.
Speaker BAnd this is not.
Speaker BI'm not saying this is anyone else's problem, this is my problem.
Speaker BI want to be inspired and I'm not.
Speaker BAnd I'm trying to find it so often.
Speaker BThis isn't a big deal.
Speaker BI'll just, I'm just, I don't, I don't look into anything that's happening and running to get inspiration.
Speaker BBut I'll.
Speaker BI'm obsessed with Ernest Hemingway right now.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BThat's actually informing my running a little bit right now.
Speaker BEspecially because I live in the neighborhood where he used to live.
Speaker BAnd so I'm like trying to tour like all the places that I'm reading in, you know, in the book.
Speaker BWhat's inspiring you right now?
Speaker CJust small, local, like I'm inspired by my kids and them exploring the world.
Speaker CAnd other than that, I still go back to the old videos.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CAnd like old music.
Speaker CThere's not much new stuff.
Speaker CLike most of the stuff that's coming out now is like, same, same.
Speaker CI don't know the last time that I watched a documentary or anything where I was like, all right, like, let's go.
Speaker CThis was sick.
Speaker BI gotta go run right now.
Speaker CLike, I watch it and I'm like, alright.
Speaker CBut then also there's like so much now.
Speaker CLike, then you had to video on demand.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CAnd you had to wait till it's done.
Speaker CYou got a trailer about Jen Shelton and then like four months later you can watch it.
Speaker CAnd then you would watch it religiously.
Speaker CI think there's not a lot of long form content that I'm really inspired by.
Speaker CI'm inspired by my friends and them doing stuff.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CBut there's no.
Speaker BI wonder if that's us.
Speaker BAnd that's not the content's fault.
Speaker BIt's our fault.
Speaker BAnd it's not because I feel the same way literally with Unbreakable, with Anton.
Speaker BYeah, all that.
Speaker BThat used to every.
Speaker BSo every year I'd go with my friends to run this race in Moab.
Speaker BEvery February yeah.
Speaker BThe night before we would watch that every time and it just made me want to go run the race.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BAnd at this point, I don't know what I would watch the night before my next big ultra.
Speaker CThe one thing is the ten Year Satisfy video.
Speaker CThat's like basically a skate clip.
Speaker CThree and a half minutes.
Speaker CJoyce Manor.
Speaker CNice song.
Speaker CI just leave that on repeat.
Speaker CThe song is great.
Speaker CIf you look there, you get nice visuals and then I go out run.
Speaker BI mean, is there a moment.
Speaker BSo here.
Speaker BBut now this is what I go back to.
Speaker BSo maybe I'm not inspired to go run, but running still satisfies me, like the act of running.
Speaker BSo I think I want this content world.
Speaker BI want all this great stuff to come and bring me like inspiration.
Speaker BBut in the end, when I'm out running, I'm so happy.
Speaker BI'm just still as happy.
Speaker BI mean, it's, you know, get all the.
Speaker BThere can be no such thing as running content.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BWhen I'm running, I'm so happy.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CThat same.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BAnd I want, then I want to transfer that and make content because I'm so happy.
Speaker CYeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker CThat's what I've told you before, like trying to do more like long form stuff about what I do.
Speaker CBut that's a lot of work if you're a one man army.
Speaker CSo.
Speaker CYeah, we'll see if that turns out to be good.
Speaker CHow.
Speaker BHow did.
Speaker BSo then if we were looking at the, the evolution of my Kratzer.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BWhere so at some point you quit music, you, you quit drinking, you're.
Speaker BYou're married, you're happy, you turn on Instagram and you start just.
Speaker CI was so late to Instagram.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BI mean, what's the story of that?
Speaker CI founded a run club with a friend or with a friend.
Speaker CCouple of friends.
Speaker CBecause we wanted.
Speaker CI think it was for Berlin Marathon.
Speaker CAnd then it was the beginning of like all that like run club stuff.
Speaker CAnd then it was like pretty early in TSP's history and it was like, all right, like we're gonna found this run club.
Speaker CAnd our main objective was to do comrades together.
Speaker CAnd tsp, did you ever do comrades?
Speaker CNot yet, but that was like the two goals.
Speaker CAnd through being active with the run club, I met all the other run clubs, like I told you.
Speaker CAndre from New York, Jesse Tsopo, blah, blah, blah, like the guys from rundom in London.
Speaker CAnd through linking with all of them, you had like a network where you would go somewhere, Copenhagen half, and you would meet them.
Speaker CAnd that was like the fun Part.
Speaker CAnd then Instagram came to stay connected to all those people, because I live, like, outside of Nuremberg, and I don't really have a crew to run with anymore.
Speaker CAnd through that, I started, like, documenting my running thing, where everybody in the beginning was like, yo, Mike, you're so cringe.
Speaker CWhat are you doing?
Speaker CNo, but through skateboarding, like, we would go out and skate our shitty tricks, film our shitty tricks all the time.
Speaker CAnd with running, I felt the same need to share what I'm doing.
Speaker CAnd, yeah, maybe that resonated with people.
Speaker CAnd through that, like, a lot of coincidences, it kept going to where it is now.
Speaker BThat's a good connection, because I. I hear people talk about the connection between skateboarding and running a lot.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BAnd I think people talk about it more than it actually is there.
Speaker BBut that's so true.
Speaker BYou know, we'd have a camcorder and we'd film ourselves skateboarding.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BIt was so depressing.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker BTo see what we actually look like.
Speaker CBecause I thought.
Speaker BI thought I was ollieing so high, and then I see it, I'm like, oh, my God, it's depressing.
Speaker BFeel the same way about my running.
Speaker BLike, it's like, you know, I look like Kipchoge, or I feel like I'm working on.
Speaker BI'm bringing my knees up higher or whatever.
Speaker BYeah, yeah, you see it.
Speaker BIt's like, oh, no, still not Tony Hawk.
Speaker CNo, no, but I think, like, that was, like, the main.
Speaker CMain driver why I wanted to, like, record my running or, like, do stuff with it.
Speaker CAnd then with not having bands anymore, I didn't know what to write about, so I started writing about running.
Speaker CAnd, like, it just, like.
Speaker CThat's why I still compare running and skateboarding, because the creative drive behind it is the same.
Speaker CIt's not like, to be the best at something, but, like, art.
Speaker CTo show my art, so to say.
Speaker BYeah, that completely makes sense to me.
Speaker BThis will air long after Paris Fashion Week is over, but I hope you have a good week here.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CThank you for having me, man.
Speaker BThanks for taking.
Speaker CAs always.
Speaker CThank you.