Getting After It

074: Nomad's For Jordan - Running Through Adversity

• Brett Rossell

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Welcome to an episode where grit meets the ground—my first-ever 50K ultra-marathon through the unforgiving terrain of the Arizona desert. 

Today, I take you through the relentless months of training, the mental battles of carb loading, and the deep personal drives that fueled me to push past the boundaries of pain and exhaustion. 

This race was more than just a physical test; it was a tribute to my father-in-law, Tim, and my friend, Jordan Gallup, who is fiercely battling stage four colon cancer.

From enduring the brutal desert heat to fighting through nausea and gear malfunctions, I share the gritty details of each mile. Throughout the race, I had to rely on the unwavering support from my family and friends, particularly my wife, Ally, was crucial in keeping me moving forward. 

I talk about how endurance running serves as a powerful metaphor for life's toughest challenges, emphasizing the importance of resilience and the impact of fulfilling promises to oneself and to others. This race wasn't just about crossing a finish line; yes, it was important to me to see what I was capable of. More importantly, it was about honoring the spirit of those who inspire us to tackle the impossible and showing that with the right support, any challenge can be made easier with love.

Looking ahead, I’m excited to announce new developments for our podcast. Expect riveting guest interviews, insightful book and essay reviews, and in-depth discussions on historical figures and core values like faith and discipline. Each episode is designed to bring valuable lessons and inspiration to our listeners. We'll dive into stories of perseverance, the role of support, and the transformative power of pushing personal limits for causes greater than ourselves.

Join me on this journey of endurance, support, discipline, consistency, grit, and unyielding determination.

If you want to support the Gallup family, please checkout their GoFundMe page.

You can also shop the Nomad's For Jordan collection on American Nomad Apparel.

Follow on Instagram: @bcrossell
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I hope you've enjoyed today's discussion and that it's ignited a fire within you to pursue your dreams and embrace your true potential. (If it was helpful, share it with someone you think could benefit.)

If you're hungry for motivation, personal development, and career insights, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform. I try to have a diverse lineup of guests, each with their own unique stories and experiences to share.

Remember, this podcast is all about you—the dreamers and the doers. I'm here to provide a platform where your voice can be heard, where you can find inspiration, and where you can learn from the journeys of others who have dared to chase their dreams.

If you are interested in being a guest, reach out.

I appreciate your support, let's connect on social media. Follow us on Instagram (@gettingafterit_) to stay updated on new episodes and behind-the-scenes content.

Remember, your dreams are within reach. You just have to decide to Get After It.

Speaker 1:

Allie, my brothers, my mom, they all said you know, hey, we'd still be proud of you if you dropped out. You know that's it's okay. Like you're throwing up, your race is not going as you expected it to. It's okay, Don't feel like a failure. Well, everybody, I'm back and it's been a ride in quite the past couple of weeks and I'm sorry I didn't upload last week, but we are here.

Speaker 1:

There's been a lot of thinking what I wanted to go into the podcast of the future for getting after it, and what I mean by that is like what exactly I will talk about because there hasn't necessarily been structure behind it right now or up to this point and looking back at the episodes that I've done, that I've done the best and that I've heard feedback on, which are the most helpful, it comes down to guests are number one book reviews, essays talking about a historical figure and principles that I discuss. So I boiled it down to those four topics, which is what I'm going to be focusing on from here on out on this podcast. So a book or an essay review, something that I've learned from a book or an essay that I'm studying. I will talk about that and discuss certain points of it. Historical figures like Steve Jobs, winston Churchill, michael Jordan, even people like Jesus those are usually pretty valuable. There's a lot that we can learn from other people's lives and lessons that they had to go through, and you can learn from history, so you don't repeat it, right? You don't repeat the mistakes that they made, and instead you could take the good and implement that into your life. Principles like faith, discipline, consistency I think it's crucial for you guys to understand, like how my mind works when I think about those kinds of things, and so that's what I'm going to talk about. And then, of course, a guest, which is pretty self-explanatory, but getting insights from different people who are doing different things, I think is going to be a good way to keep you guys engaged and provide value to all you listeners out there. So I'm excited for the future of the podcast. There's a it's. You know I've almost been doing this for two years, coming up in August, which is wild, but it happens. It goes by quick, and there's been a lot that I've learned just from doing this, and so, if I can make it even more specific and more valuable to you all, I think we're onto a good track there. So going well, but I'm going to talk about something big today, and it's big to me at least.

Speaker 1:

Maybe some people out there have done way more than this, but I ran my first ever 50K two weeks ago no, a week ago and it was hard as hell. It was probably the hardest physical thing I've ever done in my life, but I've mentioned how long I was training for it, all the work that went into it, and so this was the moment where I was going to put my money where my mouth was and perform. It was in Arizona, and so my wife and I we went down the Thursday before my race, which was on a Saturday, and it was the nerves before it were so hard to describe because, like I said, this was something that I've worked so hard for. Hours and hours of preparation went into this. Hours and hours of training went into this. Pain went into this. I had a train when my knees were I was battling runner's knee or my feet were so sore my ankle, something would happen to it. When I was on the trails I'd roll it a few times and have to strengthen it back right, but this was the time All my work went into this moment. We'll get into it. But we got down on Thursday and it was really good. We just spent time with some family.

Speaker 1:

This was the moment I started carb loading. Well, actually I was. I was carb loading on that Wednesday but I felt like a fat slob and it was a mental game for me, honestly, like training and preparation and running and hitting the trails. That was all fairly easy, like I just had to go get it done. But sitting there and when my coach said, hey, you have to eat 850 grams of carbs on Wednesday, 675 grams of carbs on Thursday and then another 675 on that Friday, I was not feeling the best Like mentally. That's always been.

Speaker 1:

A hard thing for me is eating, and because it's probably comes from when I was called fat early on in my life um, I was a chubby little kid and so I always had this fear that that would come back and haunt me and I would become that chubby little kid again. Fat bread would really take rain here and I knew this was part of the process, so I just did it. I know I'm complaining about eating a bunch of food, but mentally it was tough for me but I got it done, um, with the help of my wife. It was funny. When we got to Arizona, um, I was like, damn it, allie, I'm I'm behind on my carbs a little bit. And she's like, okay, that's fine.

Speaker 1:

We went to go pick up her brother's truck so we could drive it around. And his girlfriend was like yo, you need carbs. Like what do you want? And there's a loaf of bread on her counter. She's like just take this from her house to my parents' house, which is where we stayed. I think I ate like six slices of bread and then when I got back to my parents' house, I ate like another four. So I was just pounding stuff this whole time. But it was good, it was fun. You never really get to do that, so it's just a nice little break in the routine there.

Speaker 1:

But I was carb loading, I was doing all the right stuff and this was a special race for me because this next or this race I got into running because of my wife and because of cancer. Every year I've mentioned this many times, but every year we run a race in honor of her dad, who passed away in 2020 from cancer, and we call it Team Tim, which we're building a brand around that. There's a lot more to come on that I'm excited to talk about. But Team Tim is what got me running in the first place. I wanted to impress my wife. I wanted to show her that I could do hard things just like that's. The motto of Team Tim is you can do hard things, it doesn't matter what it is, but you can bear through it and push through difficulties.

Speaker 1:

And the whole point of it is to realize that people who are going through cancer and their families are arguably experiencing one of the hardest things that they will have to in their lifetime one of the hardest things that they will have to in their lifetime, possibly the hardest thing that they will have to experience in their lifetime. And cancer sucks it really does. There's no way to get around it. It's hard to find the silver lining when you see a family struggling with a family member who has cancer or a friend that you love dearly struggling with cancer.

Speaker 1:

And my friend, jordan Gallop. He has stage four colon cancer. He right now is on hospice and is not doing the best. He is struggling His family. He has six kids, two of whom were adopted, and a wife, and he started a company called American Nomad Apparel.

Speaker 1:

That's how I actually got introduced to Jordan when I worked at Swillow Marketing. We would run his ads on Facebook, instagram I think we started doing TikTok for him. But he would come to our office and he was always like the cheeriest guy, super fun to get along with. We'd go out to lunch with him. And Jordan is a badass. There's no way to sugarcoat that either. He's just a happy dude and I found out that he had cancer about two months ago.

Speaker 1:

My friend, or my brother, called me and he told me that he had stage four colon cancer. He went into the doctor just with some stomach pain in February which turned out to be multiple tumors that he had in his stomach and unfortunately it's just progressed to the point to where the cancer is overridden on most of his organs and he's struggling. So, hearing that, I wanted to run this race for him because if I could do anything, I at least wanted to raise awareness for him and his family. They have a GoFundMe which I will link in the show notes if you feel so obligated to go and donate. But it's hard to see and it makes it real when it's someone that you know and you see their family affected just as much as the person who's going through the struggle.

Speaker 1:

So with that in mind, I wanted to do my best on this race, because it was all for Jordan and big shout out to my brother, blake and Drew, who, um, they were also, you know, part of the crew at Swallow that helped run his ads, and Blake was kind of the genius behind it all, and Drew and I were the guys just doing the grunt work, putting up the ads and all that stuff. Um, but shout out to them, because they made this race about him too, and we had shirts actually made at a um like a t-shirt shop the night before the race. So Friday we got the designs done. Blake stayed up and and put in some work on that front. But, uh, we got everything done and what it's like? The? Uh, like I said, his company is called nomad american nomad apparel and now if you go onto their site, you'll see there's a section called Nomads for Jordan and anything that's purchased under the Nomads for Jordan section. All of those proceeds go to helping Jordan's family and supporting them, just in this time. So if you want to go, check out their website again it's AmericanNomadApparelcom and look for the Nomads for Jordan sticker, which, if you look at my Instagram, you'll see I was wearing that hat and posted about it in my race recap.

Speaker 1:

But that's what this is is I'm going to tell you about the race. I'm going to tell you about some of the thoughts that were going through my mind. But yeah, we got it done, anyways. So we had these shirts made. We had a crew come in. Drew was the crew chief. He's my brother. He's been on this podcast. Blake was the media guy, so he was recording and he actually came up with a pretty sick video, which I'll be coming out with on my Instagram relatively soon, if it already hasn't posted when I upload this podcast.

Speaker 1:

But it was a lot of fun. So Allie was there. She was my main support, my main cheerleader during this time. Drew was there, blake was there, both my parents were there. My mother-in-law was there with her husband and they were all just there to support me and it was awesome. It was so much fun to see them come out.

Speaker 1:

But then I also had this fear in my head. I was like, man, I'm the only one running and I got to really perform for them. I want to make sure I don't do a bad show. And it's interesting because the main reason I like running is because it tests your limits. And there's this quote from Socrates. It's not Socrates, I'm sorry. I watched Bill and Ted Excellent Like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and they call Socrates Socrates, and so I always default to Socrates, but he's like a Greek philosopher. Anyways, there's this quote from him. It says it is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable. And I haven't found that limit to my capabilities yet, and this race proved it. But that's why I love running, because it's always a mental game. But once you're able to push past that, you can see that your body is capable of doing so much more, and that's what I wanted to see. I wanted to test my limit, which I haven't found yet.

Speaker 1:

But you never know what to expect when you get into a race, and this race was no different. Going back to my first marathon in June 2023, I bonked so hard around mile 18. I had to run and walk the rest of it, but ended with a three hour 49 marathon time, my second marathon. I ran. I was training to go sub three, which I was able to do, but again it was freezing, it was cold, it was raining Like something I've never really um anticipated and incorporated into my training. I was running in Arizona. I wasn't expecting it to be cold and rainy and everything like that, and this one my third marathon, which July 2024, was also full of challenges and surprises. It was no different than the first two marathons I ran. I was about to go and do something I never did before, which was going to be full of surprises and challenges that I hadn't dealt with in my first races, and it was pretty good.

Speaker 1:

Anyways, we got to the race and we set up our little camp, which was basically just a table that my family and friends could sit around and play games. We had some coolers with some drinks and shout out to Dina because she brought all these different rags and everyone was kind of making fun of her. They're like why do you bring all these rags? And she's like just in case, you know, we want to be prepared. We'll go into that later.

Speaker 1:

But we set up the camp and then that's when, like, really the nerves started setting in. I was like OK, it's about an hour before I'm supposed to go and run and it's so hard to actually let me tell you about the race first. So it was a seven and a half mile loop in the middle of the desert of Arizona that repeated four times. So I had to run this loop three or four times to get to 31.2 miles, which is the distance of a 50 K? Um. When we got there it was 110 degrees outside and it's probably around 6 45 PM.

Speaker 1:

The race started at 7 30 PM, so it was hot, but I started trying to stay as cool as possible. I wasn't really lifting a lot, I just stretched, tried warming up a little bit and eventually I towed up to the race line and they said basically just what I did gave the course description, talked about the rules of the race and all that stuff, and then the countdown begin. And I am not kidding when I say this. I felt electricity go through my veins. It's hard to explain, but I think it was everything from anticipation, excitement and fear all at the same time just rushing into me Because, like I said, so many months and hours of preparation went into this thing that I wanted to see it through and I was nervous. It was like something. It was like Christmas. Right the night before Christmas you're like oh man, what am I going to get? What's Santa going to put under the tree for me this year? But it was kind of the same feeling. It was like, oh man, how am I going to perform? What's it going to be like? How much pain am I going to be in? All these thoughts were going through my head and that's kind of what that electricity felt like a little bit. But they did the countdown five, four, three, two, one and we were all off. It was about 50 racers and, um, I was doing pretty good from the front and, uh, I was third in place for a while.

Speaker 1:

We got to a mile 2.2 and I know it was mile 2.2 because there was a standalone water station just out there and they told us that that was at mile 2.2. And they're like, hey, if it gets low, just tell us when you come in on your next lap and we'll go fill it up, anyway. So I got to that point and this is where the first challenge came into play. I got there and I started throwing up. I just couldn't hold food down. I was like, okay, that sucked, but it's nothing I haven't dealt with before on a trail run. There's been trail runs where I've pushed myself so hard that, yeah, I've thrown up a couple times. But I was a little concerned because this is mile 2.2. And, yeah, it kept going. Every quarter mile I would have to stop running to the bushes or the cactuses and just puke a little bit, um, and I was like, okay, well, hopefully this just passes, like, I'll get through this, that's fine, I'm just going to keep going.

Speaker 1:

It kept happening for the first entire lap and I'd run, throw up, get back on the trail, keep going. But I was still doing. Well, like, when I came in, um, after the first lap, I was still in third place, um, but I was just puking. It felt like someone stuck a knife into my side. It felt like my stomach was cramping so hard. Um, it was, you know, twisting around, doing whatever. It was painful, um, but I think it was all because of the heat, like I've been training in Utah, which is nowhere near 110 degrees at 7 30 PM at night, but my body almost felt like it was going into some kind of shock. It was like what the hell is happening? When I got to the first aid station, I dipped my head in like a bucket of ice water Didn't really help. But when I did cross on my first lap, I went up to my team. They were filling me up with like new electrolytes and all this stuff, but I handed them pretty much a full bottle of electrolytes that I wasn't able to put down because I was throwing up and I ran.

Speaker 1:

I started my second lap, got about 250 yards down the trail when I threw up so bad Sorry for the graphic images here but I was puking and I saw all my lunch come up and I was weak I turned around and walked back to my team and I said, hey, listen, I can't stop throwing up, I don't know what's going on. I can't keep anything down, I can't keep fuel down, I can't keep water down, electrolytes. So I'm getting a little bit worried because, like I said, it's 110 degrees, I'm sweating a bunch. If I don't keep electrolytes in me I'm going to have some serious issues and potentially go into like heat stroke or whatever that's called. But I was worried and so I didn't know what to do. They kind of reassured me, tried cooling me down with those rags which again shout out to Dina for bringing them. They dipped them in ice water and put them on my neck, on my forehead. I gave them my hat because I figured I'd let my head ventilate a little bit, didn't want to keep that heat in, and so I was off again.

Speaker 1:

I ran down the trail and again probably made it maybe a quarter mile down, threw up again and I stopped and called my wife and she told me that she was super worried at this point because at first she's like okay, well, I was worried when you came back in the camp, but then you called me just just when you left and that made me even more worried. Um, cause, again, she knows how hard I've worked for this, she's seen the training that's gone into it and I don't think she thinks I would back down from a challenge. But I started feeling like I was going to. I started feeling like I was giving up and I was weak and I wasn't able to perform the way I wanted to. So I called her and I was like Allie, I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm about to give up on this race.

Speaker 1:

I was battling myself at this point and Allie said hey, listen, I'm going to come run to you. Um, I'll run this next lap with you and you know, if you're still feeling bad, then maybe we talk about you dropping out of the race. And I was like, okay, that's fine, that's a good plan. So Allie wasn't planning on running at all during this race. I think we talked about her running the last lap with me because they allowed that. But she just put a headlamp on and ran straight to me and I felt like I failed because it was only eight miles in and she said hey, listen, it doesn't matter how fast you go, the goal is to finish. And that's what we were doing. And at this point I was like, okay, you're right, because this race wasn't about me.

Speaker 1:

This race was for Jordan Gallup and his family. I wanted to raise awareness for them, and I run for a cause. I don't run for myself. Yes, I enjoy seeing the limits that I'm able to break, the limitations I'm able to pass in my mind. I love being in the fight and staying in there until the goal is done and it's accomplished. And so that same feeling came in and I was like this is for Jordan and his family, and so that advice is really what kept me going. It doesn't matter how fast you go, the goal is to finish and that's what we are doing. Notice that. I said we again, this isn't about me, but that kept me going throughout the next lap.

Speaker 1:

So Allie came along. She was running right by my side, but the vomiting didn't stop, unfortunately. So every quarter mile I would puke again, and it actually got worse as we progressively went through. I still couldn't keep my electrolytes down, couldn't keep any fuel in, and especially water, like none of that. She actually called my coach and my coach was like hey, listen, if you just get them to sip water, um, just really really slowly, hopefully this passes. And so that's what I tried doing, but wasn't able to keep things down. So, um, we kept going.

Speaker 1:

But Allie is a freaking champion, because not once did she baby me, not once did she tell me to stop. She was literally there in the mud with me fighting the same fight I was, and I didn't hear her complain one time or show any sign of discouragement in me. And, as a husband, that means the world to me, because she knows what I can do and she believed in me, and so that belief from her resonated with me so much where I was like, okay, I'm going to go One step at a time is what she kept saying Just take one step at a time, and having someone in your corner that's fighting battles with you, or having someone who has the same goals as you and is there in the mud in the hardest of your times, changes everything, like that's the importance of surrounding yourself with amazing people. Because Allie is no exception. She literally changed everything about the race. She made it so much better. But that doesn't mean it wasn't any difficult than it was.

Speaker 1:

So we got to the first aid station, which is about 5.5 miles into the loop, and um, I grabbed like a peanut butter sandwich, grabbed a banana, ate the banana, put the peanut butter sandwich in my vest and kept going and, um, we finally made it and crossed the finish line of lap number two. So I'm about 15 miles into the race and, um, I ran over to the medic station cause I was still feeling like shit and I was throwing up and in a lot of pain and like my stomach felt like I was going to crab. I felt super lightheaded, I like I was going to pass out. So I sat down. They took my vitals and were asking me pretty dumb questions like oh, um, what'd you eat today? Uh, and I was like don't give me that Just freaking, tell me if I can keep running or not. And when I was sitting there they took my vitals and said, okay, everything looks good. My heart rate started to decrease a little bit, which was a good sign, and shout out again to Blake uh, brad, which is Carmen's husband, um, and a few other people I don't know who else helped do this, but they all grabbed like cold rags and like started tossing them all over me. Brad put like this giant ice cube on my neck and was rubbing it around and then like opened up my shirt and put it down there. Um, he was, uh, he was an athletic trainer all throughout his life, so like it was kind of nice having him there, cause he had some experience with this kind of stuff before.

Speaker 1:

But eventually the medics were like, yeah, I mean, if you feel good enough, you can keep going. And every single one of no discredit to any of them but Allie, my brothers, my mom, they all said, hey, we'd still be proud of you if you dropped out. It's okay. You're throwing up. Your race is not going as you expected it to, it's okay, don't feel like a failure. And unfortunately I didn't listen to any of them Not, unfortunately. I mean, I appreciate their advice, but in my head I was like no, I want to see this through. Yes, it's not going as I expected it to, but races never really do. You have to learn how to adapt. And so I learned how to adapt and I decided you know what? This isn't for me, this is for Jordan, and if the medics cleared me, if I'm good to go, I'm going to keep going. So that's what I did. I lost my third place position, but that didn't matter. So I trotted down the trail, and I say trotted because I was going slow.

Speaker 1:

At this point I figured, if I was going to be able to stay in the fight, I wasn't going to be able to keep my eight minute pace, that I originally thought I was going to be and that I kept for the first lap. Um, but I just I went and I figured, hey, if, maybe on the next, if I can't do it, then okay, maybe I'll drop out. But I was feeling good enough. Where I um, I left for for lap number three and um, like I said, things don't go as planned.

Speaker 1:

So I'm running and about three miles into lap number three, my headlamp dies and at this point it's pitch black, like the moon is out, but other than that, it's pitch black in the middle of the desert. There's no street lights, nothing like that, it's just cactuses and snakes and all that good stuff. And so I was like, oh shit. And so I grabbed my phone, pulled it out and use that as my light, which was a sad excuse for a light, because I don't know, apple, you got to get your crap together with the phone lights there.

Speaker 1:

But the entire time I just ran with my phone in my hand as a little lamp and tried staying positive through the whole thing, because optimism is a powerful tool and if you can find something to be positive about, then by all means that'll get you further than looking at the negative. If I was looking at the negative, I could easily dropped out lap two and said, yeah, I'm not doing this. But again the positivity was hey, I'm feeling decent enough, I'm strong enough, I prepped enough with carb loading. So that played into my favor at this point, and so I just tried to keep a positive attitude. And another thing that helped me is I thought of Jordan and his family, because, as bad as this sounds, I was not going through what they were going through and what they are going through. And so I ran for them because, again, this whole point was to raise awareness for Jordan, and so I kept thinking of him. I kept thinking of Tim, who we run team Tim for, and he, his whole mantra was you can do hard things.

Speaker 1:

And so I finally made it to that aid station, which was 5.5 miles in, and my wife, allie, was there waiting for me. So she walked back backwards on the trail to get to that aid station because she felt like she needed to be there. She said she had a sense of urgency and just needed to get over there. She's like I was antsy and I wanted to come see you, um, and I'm glad she did because, again, my headlamp was out. So Allie came back, she got me and we used her light. She literally lit up my heart and the trail. Sorry, al, a little cheese, but it's the truth. But I got so excited when I saw her and we just kept going.

Speaker 1:

And so we made it through lap three and my stomach was feeling okay. I was able to keep down some food. I pounded a peanut butter jelly sandwich and somehow kept that down when I was there for the final lap, I topped off my camelback my electrolytes ate that snack replaced the batteries in my headlamp. I was thinking in my head hey, jordan, this one's for you, this last lap it's for you because my body was also in so much pain too Like this was 23 miles into the race and I was feeling it like my hips were hurting. Um cause, up to this point, the furthest I've ever ran was 26.2 miles in those first two marathons. So anything above 26.2 was a new record for me, and so I uh kept going and went off on my last lap.

Speaker 1:

So, oddly enough guess what? My headlamp died again, probably like same amount of time, like three miles in, and so I found out later that the batteries weren't pushed in all the way. So that's kind of my fault, but I was trying to hurry and go and, um, this isn't might be a little embarrassing, but I kept on yelling, not yelling. But I'd like look up at this guy and be like tim what the hell man, help me out here. Like I'm out here for I'm out here for cancer. Like, come on, help me out, I can do. I'm out here for I'm out here for cancer. Like, come on, help me out. I can do hard things, but I need some help. And he probably laughed and was just like hey, get after it, brett. Like, shut up, go do it, um. But I did so I brought my phone out again and went through that same protocol. I just kept going one foot in front of the other.

Speaker 1:

Um reached 26.2 miles, and that's when the mental game really kicked in Cause. Like I said, up to this point that would be a new record for me, um, and so I made it to the levy aid station again 5.5 miles in, and my beautiful, loving, determined wife was there waiting for me. She wanted to run the last 2.2 miles with me and again, I'm so glad that she did, because she gave me the motivation I needed to finally make it across that finish line when the time came Because I'm not kidding when I said that those moments I saw her were probably the strongest I felt. And it goes back again to what I was talking about with surrounding yourself with great people and people that you love, and people that love you and that believe in you and support you, because without Allie, I can almost guarantee you I wouldn't have finished this race. She believed in me and when I got to her, I was like, okay, babe, let's finish this thing. And we were off and nothing would have stopped me at this point. I knew I was going to finish.

Speaker 1:

I was basically limp running at this point. So I was like looked like, uh, I really went through the ringer here. Um, probably look pretty goofy, but you do what you gotta do, right? Um, allie kept on pushing me and said like, hey, stay strong. Like you got this, you're right there. And with her by my side, it was a lot easier to do that. But, uh, we were about a mile away from the finish line and, um, I was like, okay, babe, when we get to a mile, I'm going to push as hard as I can. And she was in front of me and she's like yep, that's the goal, like that's exactly what we're going to do. And so, with Allie by my side, I pushed as hard as I could. Um, I was struggling, though, like it was no, no fact, like you could see it on my face. But I kept going and we finally made it and crossed that finish line.

Speaker 1:

My initial goal was to finish the race before one 30 in the morning and I finished the race at one 2727 am. When I crossed that finish line, that same electricity went through me that was there at the start, because I fought that feeling of doubt, discouragement, the pain that I had from my stomach and the fact that I was throwing up nonstop. I passed all that and I was able to finish this race. I struggled, but in the end I did it. I got it done and it was all for Jordan and his family. That's what I was thinking about. That was the main reason I was running and I'm so glad I was able to do it for them, because I just know that doing hard things for other people it makes you closer to them, as weird as that sounds, but you become closer with them, you develop a better relationship with them, and I'm not saying that that's the main reason I did this, but I just wanted to let them know that I wanted to support them any way I could and by raising money to fight cancer, to support their family. I hope I was able to do something for them.

Speaker 1:

But when I crossed that finish line, my entire family was waiting for me there and when I saw Allie I almost cried because, like I said, I could not have done that without her, I don't think I would have been able to finish the race. Everyone was really proud of me and um had a lot of gratitude for all those people who came. But I never want to forget this race because it was a battle. It was probably the hardest race I've ever had to do. The sub three, yes, that was. That was difficult, but this was hard. This was something that I never thought that I could have done, um, because, like I said, in 2021, I was 135 pounds and the doctors thought that I had leukemia, and so I was initially told to not run the first ever half marathon I signed up for because doctors thought I could have a heart attack. So coming from that point to finishing my first ever 50k was a huge accomplishment for myself and I was proud of the work that I put in.

Speaker 1:

And this was a perfect example of what I always tell Allie that running is a metaphor for life, because things don't always go as planned and the whole point of this life is to endure to the end, to learn and to help others along the way right. I think that's why we're all here to support each other and get each other across the finish line, and this race was it's kind of an example of that. Like I had to rely on other people, I had to push through and endure to the end and combat those feelings of doubt, of discouragement, of the physical feelings of pain and sickness, and I was learning. I was learning how to adapt and change my strategy. So I needed to slow down, I needed to sip my water and adapt my fueling plan. I learned that leaning on other people for support during our most challenging times is what gets you across the finish line. And I learned, when you do hard things with people you love, your love for them grows and develops into something you never knew you could feel, which is what happened with Allie and my family Just them being there and helping me. And so I'm lucky. I'm healthy enough to run these types of races and challenge myself in new ways on a continual basis, but that's the only way to grow and it encapsulates my motto of getting after it. So the 50 miler is next and a lot of time and effort and preparation is going to have to go into that and I'm sure I'll run into more unexpected challenges. I'm going to target to run that next year.

Speaker 1:

But when I boil it down to the main reason I did it. It's because I want other people to know that I'm fighting with them and I wanted my friend Jordan to know that I was willing to fight my own battle alongside with him. And I'm not trying to compare running an ultra marathon to going through cancer, because that's kind of I don't know, that's a bad thing to do. Um, cancer is a much different battle and it affects people way more emotionally than a race does. But the point I'm trying to make is it was a difficult thing for me to do and I wanted to show Jordan that I loved him by doing something that wasn't easy for me and saying hey, this is because I'm trying to raise awareness for cancer, I'm trying to help your family and let them know that I'm there for them. And some people might think that's silly, like making that comparison, but I just it's difficult seeing people that you love go through challenges like that.

Speaker 1:

Now, jordan is, like I said, on hospice. He's not doing great, but he has had an amazing spirit and an amazing attitude through this whole thing. He just keeps smiling and, um, it's, uh, it's interesting just reflecting on the race and everything, because the more that I do, the more. I realized like, hey, that was just a moment. That little race was a moment, um, but I hope it's a moment that Jordan won't forget, his family won't forget, or me, I don't want to forget it. It was challenging.

Speaker 1:

And another reason why I love running is because you have to learn to dig deep. You have to learn that, no matter what happens, if your goal is to accomplish and finish the race, even if that means you're just walking, then finish the race. Because keeping your word to yourself, keeping your words to other people, that tells a lot about who you are. That shows what your character is. And I didn't want to be someone who said, oh yeah, I'm going to run this race for Jordan and didn't follow through. That wasn't going to be me. That wasn't going to be the story I told myself. I wanted to see it through till the end and I really wanted to make those around me proud that I was able to keep my word and keep that word to myself. Because I can guarantee you, if I dropped out of that race, I would not be making this podcast. I would not have a lot of motivation to keep doing a podcast because I feel like I would be a liar, um. But it's important to keep your word to yourself and to those who you love, and I freaking love Jordan and I hope I was able to do something to raise awareness for cancer. Like I said, if you want to donate to his family, I'll link the GoFundMe below, I'll link American Nomad Apparel below and if you can just go on there and purchase a hat, a t-shirt or anything with the Nomads for Jordan patched by it, all those proceeds go to his family.

Speaker 1:

Cancer sucks, so if we can make it a little bit easier for other people who are going through it, then let's do it. Let's do it together, because that's how we make a difference, is we unite and we come together and support those that need it. You can make a difference on your own, but it's a lot easier with a group. It's a lot easier with people who know what others are going through, and my wife has been a victim of you know seeing a loved one go through cancer. Her dad passed away from cancer. She was so close to him and hearing her talk about him it's almost like a sacred experience because he changed a lot of people's lives. But really she knows what it's like to go through that experience and I think that's what honestly kept her going to during this race. She thought about her dad and realized that the gallops are going through that same thing. Um, and so if we can all come together and support each other, lift each other up, build each other up, then I think the world will be a better place. It will be a better place.

Speaker 1:

You know, a lot of times we're so selfish. If I was running this race for selfish reasons, I would have dropped out. There's no question. Yes, I love seeing what I'm capable of. I love seeing what I can do. But if it's just for you, what's that got to do with anything? You didn't change yourself. No, you do it for other people. You come together and show them that you're willing to support any way you can. That's what this race was and that's what my 50 mile hour will be Just to raise awareness for those who are going through the battle themselves. A 50 mile or will be just to raise awareness for those who are going through the battle themselves.

Speaker 1:

And, uh, I feel very grateful I was able to do it.

Speaker 1:

I feel very grateful I was able to stay strong enough to endure and keep going. Um, I had to bring on my inner Goggins a couple of times, but that's fine, and I feel very grateful that I have people around me that are willing to fight with me and support me when they can, because that made the biggest difference in this race. So I'm grateful for all that. But I appreciate everyone for listening to this. This was kind of not necessarily a principle or anything like that, but just learning how to adapt and find people who are willing to fight the fight with you, I think, is the main message for this. So if this podcast helped again, please share it with someone. If you know a family that's going through cancer or a friend that's going through cancer, a family member who's going through it, reach out to them. Just give them a call, talk to them. Let them know that you're there for them and that you love them, because even that can make the biggest difference and everyone appreciate you listening to this episode. Keep getting after it. Peace out.