Expert Coaching for Every Step of Your Journey

Workout plans to help you get in-shape and stay injury free during your thru-hike. Mindfulness practices that will allow you to thrive in harsh and unforgiving environments. Mental toughness training that will allow you to push through obstacles that stand between you and your goals, no matter how long or grueling the path is. Get expert coaching from Jack “Quadzilla” Jones; he has hiked over 14,000 miles, and was the 14th person to complete a Calendar Year Triple Crown.

KNOW That You Will Succeed

Heading into the wilderness on a multi-month trip is a daunting experience. There are a myriad of unknowns and of course that will generate fear and anxiety. Working with me won’t erase your fears; but it will set you up for success. The only way to move through your fear is to get out there and experience it for yourself. My training program will ensure that you have all the tools necessary to meet each new fear, obstacle, and challenge head-on and succeed. Succeed with a balanced, calm, and steady mind that is free from suffering.

Gear, fitness, nutrition, mindset, mindfulness, mental toughness, and planning. We will cover every aspect of what it takes to be successful on a hike with a emphasis on physical and mental preparedness.

Willpower and Motivation is NOT ENOUGH

Throughout my 20’s I struggled to finish any large task. Constantly quitting and failing.

I thought I was lazy. I thought I just didn’t have what it takes to be successful. What I know now is that I was approaching life with the wrong strategy. I didn’t know how to manage my depression, anxiety, and fears. I didn’t know how to work with my body’s natural energy cycles.

Simply put – I didn’t know how my mind worked. You cannot succeed on a long, difficult endeavor through willpower and motivation alone. I’ll work with you to develop the mental disciplines and habits that will help you thrive in adverse conditions. These mental disciplines will help you see fatigue, pain, and discomfort are only signals from the body. And when we can see the true nature of these signals then they lose their power to influence our actions.

I saw this in action first hand when I ran a 106 mile ultramarathon. After continuously running for 24 hours I felt more pain and fatigue than I’ve ever felt in my life – but these sensations didn’t stop me from continuing to run. I took first place in the race by over two hours. I was able to simply feel the sensation and detach the story associated with the sensations. This allowed me to continue on toward my goal and not be overwhelmed by pain. This practice is how I was able to average hiking a marathon a day for 290 straight days during my CYTC.

You Can Do It

When I set out to hike the Appalachian Trail the first time in 2016 I remember feeling like the task of walking 2,189 miles from Georgia to Maine was a superhuman feat that I couldn’t possibly accomplish. What I’ve learned after multiple thru-hikes and thousands of miles is that each of us has a deep reserve of strength and power and that our bodies are capable of incredible feats of endurance.

The problem is that we aren’t asked to tap these reserves of strength in our day-to-day lives and so we’ve forgotten what we’re truly capable of. I am not special. I wasn’t an athlete in school. I was the opposite – playing video games like World of Warcraft with all of my free time. I lived a very normal life until I hiked the Appalachian Trail the first time. That hike showed me what I was truly capable of and ever since I’ve been on a journey to learn how to gain true mastery over the mind and body.

You don’t need to be a super-human athlete to finish a thru-hike. You don’t even need to be a super-human athlete to finish a Calendar Year Triple Crown. It requires disciplined daily effort. That’s it. When viewed in totality hiking over 7,400 miles over the course of an entire year is completely overwhelming. But broken down, day by day, step by step, it is very manageable. And that’s one of the key skills that we will develop in this training program. You don’t need to hike your whole hike right now. You only need to focus on the present moment. Take care of the present moment and everything else will inevitably take care of itself.

You can do this. It’s not about being an amazing athlete. It’s about knowing how to work in harmony with your body and mind. The trail, and life doesn’t have to be a constant daily struggle. When we work in alignment with our mind and body we can achieve incredible results with an effortless grace.

Program Outline

  • Personalized fitness plan tailored specifically to your goals. At home no equipment, gym workouts, trail runs/hikes – the workouts will be optimized to what you have access to and how much time you want to devote.

  • Nutrition guidance on how to eat before, during, and after your hike.

  • Progressive series of actionable mindfulness disciplines to build mental resilience and reduce suffering in all aspects of life.

  • Goal planning. I will help you plan the optimal and realistic timeline based on your specific goals; whether your goal is a thru-hike, section hike, CYTC, or FKT.

  • Gear shakedowns. Take what you need and nothing else. We’ll build the best gear kit according to your goals and budget.

FAQ

  • Who is this program for? This program is for thru-hikers, section hikers, day hikers, and non-hikers! The program is for anyone who is interested in improving their physical and mental fitness and succeed in their life goals. Most importantly this program is for those who want to gain insight and mastery over their minds and live a more peaceful, happy, and balanced life.

  • What kind of workouts will be involved? Workouts will be tailored to your goals and needs. There will be an emphasis on building strength in order to prevent injury. We’ll start at whatever level you’re at – building a base of strength and conditioning for a total beginner or increasing maximal strength and work capacity for an advanced athlete. Maybe your fitness plan is dialed in and you just need accountability and strategies for managing your mind and working with fatigue and discomfort, we can do that too!

  • What does the mental training look like? Mental training will involved guided sitting and movement meditations and daily habits that build awareness, equanimity, and peace. The important thing is that these will be all actionable practices that you can implement and see benefit from. It’s not platitudes and flowery words like “be in the present” and “be happy.” These are real, tangible practices that I have found to actually make my mind more peaceful and genuinely reduce the level of suffering I have in my daily life.

Ready to Get Started? Fill out this 3 minute application! I currently have two spots left for this cycle of training.

Fill out this form to get started! As of April, 2024 I have two spots left! https://forms.gle/6unxDBYSVHefKXgA7

My Credentials

  • 2016 – Thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail

  • 2018 – Bikepacked Arizona Trail and Hwy 1 from Mexico to Canada

  • 2018 – Thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail to New Mexico(Caught Giardia)

  • 2020 – Section hiked half of the Arizona Trail

  • 2021 – Section hiked Washington section of the Pacific Crest Trail

  • 2021 – Thru-hike of the Colorado Trail

  • 2021 – Section hiked NM of Continental Divide Trail

  • 2022 – Calendar Year Triple Crown – Thru-hike of the Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide Trails

  • 2024 - 800 Mile South Island Thru-Hike of the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand

  • Races completed: 50 milers, 24 hour races, and first place finish on the Dead Man Peaks 106 mile ultramarathon two days after finishing the CDT in 2021.

  • I’ve been involved in the fitness industry for 16 years and have held a NASM CPT and CrossFit L1.

  • I hold a Wilderness EMT certification from NOLS

  • Bachelors and Masters of Science from the University of Missouri, Columbia

  • I’ve served in the US Army as an Infantryman and worked on a USFS Wildland Firefighting crew as a Hotshot.