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Getting After It
This isn’t just a podcast—it’s a relentless pursuit of growth, grit, and getting after life on your own terms.
Every week, we break down what it takes to push limits, embrace discomfort, and turn ambition into action. This is where wisdom meets execution—because knowledge alone doesn’t cut it. You have to apply, refine, and outwork your own self-doubt to see real results.
We bring on guests from all walks of life—entrepreneurs, athletes, creatives, adventurers—people who have battled through resistance and come out stronger. Their stories aren’t just inspiring; they’re roadmaps for anyone looking to level up.
The mission? To fuel your fire, challenge your thinking, and equip you with the mindset and tools to chase down your biggest goals.
This is Getting After It—not just a podcast, but a movement for those who refuse to settle.
Getting After It
138 - Brayden Galbraith - No Excuses, Just Finish
What happens when an ordinary dad decides he’s had enough of mediocrity?
In this episode, I sit down with Brayden—a man who turned fear into fuel. From struggling to run a mile at 29 to finishing an Ironman 70.3, Brayden shares the real story behind his transformation. No highlight reels. No filters. Just brutal miles, setbacks, and the refusal to quit.
We explore the psychology of endurance sports, the difference between chosen and unchosen suffering, and the harsh truths of self-improvement. Brayden opens up about what led him to sign up for a Tough Mudder while out of shape, the pain of training with injuries, and how his love for his kids drives everything he does. This is about more than racing—it’s about identity, resilience, and becoming the man you're meant to be.
If you've ever questioned whether you can change, this is the episode for you.
3 Key Takeaways:
Commit to Hard Things on Purpose: Choosing difficult challenges—like a Tough Mudder or 50K—forces you to train, grow, and confront your limitations. Voluntary suffering builds the resilience needed for life’s unexpected pain.
Failure Is Acceptable—Quitting Isn’t: Whether it’s a race gone sideways or a finish time missed by miles, showing up and finishing what you start says more about your character than any medal ever could.
Your Example Matters More Than You Think: Fitness isn’t just about personal goals. It’s about modeling strength, discipline, and commitment for those watching—especially your kids.
Follow Brayden on Social Media.
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I hope today’s episode sparked something within you to pursue your dreams and unlock your true potential. If you found value in it, consider sharing it with someone who might need that same push.
Getting After It is for those who. want to silence their self-doubt. Refuse to be owned by comfort. Understand their limits are man-made and breakable. We live in a time of constant comparison. Social media drowns us in highlight reels and overnight success stories. But what most people don’t see is the grit behind it all. The reps. The quiet mornings. The sacrifices. The failures.
You are just getting started.
Keep Getting After It.
I know, yeah, something really easy. I mean that would be sick at some point. That was like I saw something on Canva and was like, oh you know, I can make that the logo.
Speaker 2:But that's just more of like a cool design. That's dope too, I just noticed that you have it good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's the same thing I got tattooed there. Yeah, man. Well, yeah, we're rolling.
Speaker 2:We could jump into it at any time right just, yeah, dude, going right into the fire, fair enough, but um, brayden man, thanks for thanks for coming on. Yeah, dude, I'm I'm honored, seriously, it's like the most regular dude, so not at all.
Speaker 1:I am. I met you last year in the ragnar. We ran the ragnar together, yeah, and there was something like don't know about our group or whatever, but like we were all gung-ho to always keep running.
Speaker 2:First place, dude.
Speaker 1:We did get first place in corporate. Let's go Forgot about that.
Speaker 2:That is a good asterisk to put in there, because corporate division isn't super stacked.
Speaker 1:We did beat the Harry Potter Club, though.
Speaker 2:Oh, dude, we did beat the harry potter club though.
Speaker 1:Oh dude, so that was good for our lives.
Speaker 2:We were gonna beat harry potter. Oh yeah, that was like griffindor.
Speaker 1:Whatever they were, yeah, griffindor yeah, man, I mean, that was like my first time I ever met you, yeah, and like your attitude the whole time was like all right, I got more, like I got another six miles, whatever, um, and then like you were just a positive dude the whole time. Um, I think that goes a long way, especially in running, oh yeah. But yeah, um, that was my, my first time I ever got to meet you, so yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2:So there's like what? 24 hours in a van and like not to be dramatic, but I feel like you're my brother now.
Speaker 1:Seriously Like it's crazy.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I've always like seen the Ragnar stickers on the back of people's cars and stuff and I'm just like whatever that's so overdone. But then it's like we did it and our van specifically pushed so hard it was fun.
Speaker 1:I was like you know what that was like.
Speaker 2:call it trauma bonding or something. Yeah, no, All thing yeah, no, it's um all you guys parker, like teanu, and yeah, that was a such a good run dude.
Speaker 1:It really was fun, man, it was like I, I remember, um, I think you were in the van with parker and I when we were trying to sleep. You were like in the front row or something like that, yeah, and we're both pretty tall, so it's like we're just crammed in this thing, man. But like that really is, it is um, it's just shared suffering together oh yeah um, do you know what chris williamson is?
Speaker 1:you heard of that guy I'm not sure I'll talk my head so he's a podcaster, okay, but he talks about this thing called chosen versus unchosen suffering, and chosen suffering helps, like you know, get you through the hard times where you don't get to choose the suffering that life puts upon you. Uh, and that's definitely a time where it was like you literally choose to suffer for 24 hours, yeah, literally you pay for this thing. We all pay for the van but, man, it was worth it.
Speaker 2:I've heard that concept the chosen versus yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:So I don't know. I mean, I really think that is true. Um, you know, it's nothing like the guys who fight overseas, but they all say the same thing, like different lifestyles, different um parts of life. They all come together and by the end of it, they're brothers yeah, so no kidding it is cool though, but yeah, man, I um I just love what you're doing. I think it's awesome. Thanks, you might think you're doing yeah, well, I appreciate that.
Speaker 1:But, like you know, you might think you're a regular guy, but I think to other people it's like dang Braden's doing some cool stuff.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when did that all start? How'd you get into endurance and running and the whole journey?
Speaker 2:Fear, honestly, is the long and short. I don't know why, but I turned 29. And I'm going to age myself. I'm old now, but I turned why? But I turned 29 and I'm gonna age myself. I'm old now, but I turned. I turned 29 a few years back and something about that birthday just like hit me like a ton of bricks.
Speaker 2:I was like I'm gonna be 30 next year yeah and like I wasn't, you know, happy with mostly just physically. I think you know life's been going pretty good for a while but like physically I was just not it I hadn't done anything. I'd been in and out of the gym, you know, as long as I hadn't. But like, physically, I was just not it. I hadn't done anything, I'd been in and out of the gym, you know, as long as I hadn't torn my shoulder. It was just like this cycle of not doing anything physically and now I've got like two kids yeah and it's like I don't want to be this dad who can't do anything yeah
Speaker 2:you know, and I don't want to turn 30 and not be able to run a mile without like passing out, and so it, it literally just started at 29. I was like you know what? I got to do something. So I talked to some buddies and we decided on a Tough Mudder out in Colorado. So we flew out to Denver to do a Tough Mudder and we were deciding on, like, the distance they had I can't remember exactly two or three distance choices and I was like, and I granted, you know, out of shape, no, no reason to do this, but I was like, let's do the hardest one because I knew, knowing myself, I knew I would try to fake it yeah I was like, if we just do like the 5k, I'm gonna fake that.
Speaker 2:Like I won't train for it, blah, blah, I'll fake it. I was like, I know, if we go and do the hard which I think it was only like a, I say only now, at the time it was so long. But it was a 15 K, I believe, is what it turned out to be.
Speaker 1:It's around like what? Almost nine miles or something.
Speaker 2:Nine and some change and I was like I know I can't fake that, like I might be able to get through it in like six hours or something, but like that would suck. So I was like let's do the big one so that we have to like actually commit, yeah, and that's kind of been like you know the long and short that's the story of like how the rest of it happened is like I know if I choose something hard enough, I'm going to have to commit Cause I and kudos to the guys who do show up.
Speaker 1:and what are? The raw dog events. Like that's great. Yeah, I mean it's cool.
Speaker 2:But hard pass for me. Yeah, I'm not into it. I want to show up knowing that, like I tried, I did my best to put the work in yeah, and so that's why it's like I've always tried to continue to choose things. That's like I know I'm gonna have to put work in to do that, because I don't want to show up in raw dog things like that's like low-key, miserable yeah, absolutely like I don't know.
Speaker 1:I can't imagine. I am the furthest I've ran is a 50k same? And if someone was like, hey, you want to run 100 miles this weekend, I'd be like not a chance, I'm not ready for that at all yeah and like goggins would be like you can do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, goggins would be like, but don't be baby.
Speaker 1:It's like no, I don't that. That just sounds horrible.
Speaker 2:Right, I want to put in the work beforehand and honestly, that's where a lot of the joy is found. For me is beforehand. Honestly, a lot of races kind of suck.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2:It's like the starting gun to the finish line is just suck.
Speaker 1:It's terrible.
Speaker 2:Everybody's like enjoy the race, smile, whatever.
Speaker 1:And I'm like dude, I'm suffering so bad. It's like I'm going for speed on this one. I'm not gonna be able to breathe the entire time.
Speaker 2:I had my most fun race in buffalo, new york, a few weeks ago and it was because it was the first race I'd gone into where I wasn't trying to, like you know, win against myself. I'm obviously not conor mance, I'm not gonna win anything, but I was. I wasn't trying to beat myself for once I went to Buffalo to pace a buddy of mine and that was the most fun I've had on a run in a long time.
Speaker 1:That is cool.
Speaker 2:In a race, I should say. Just because, like we were able to chill.
Speaker 1:Like.
Speaker 2:I was able to have a great time. I don't know, it was fun. But other than that races are brutal.
Speaker 1:Like it yeah like they are really tough. Um, I told you we didn't. We dropped out of grandma's marathon. Yeah, uh, and I saw like all these athletes from bpn posting about their experience and stuff. Yeah, and I think only two people got the times that they wanted to I think we saw the same video. Yeah, it was like everyone was just like struggling. I was like man.
Speaker 2:That must have been just like tough conditions fonzie and dude missed his by like 30, some odd minutes that was nuts dang our boy.
Speaker 1:Uh, luke luke hopkins, he was he was really close, I think he wanted like a 250 or something at a 253 or somewhere like still so he was right in the range.
Speaker 2:He was the first one in the video. That was like close. Everybody else had a rough weekend so you might have done good by pushing it back a year you know, I mean, yeah, maybe it won't be as hot next year. I heard that was kind of a it was the heat.
Speaker 1:And then, like the night before, we got all these emails that was like there's 30 to 40 mile an hour winds with two inch hail, um, and all this, these like weather advisories, and then the day of it got delayed 30 minutes because of weather, and then I guess it just like heat, like got super hot, dang.
Speaker 2:So I don't know how that. Delays are brutal. I don't know if you've been to many races where they've delayed the start, but that is like that sucks the only one that I've done is the rock and roll one in vegas yeah, well, it was just like I think 33 000 people were there and it was massive like the
Speaker 1:biggest, yeah, the biggest running thing I've ever done. Um, and the reason it was taking so long was just because there were so many people. It was like hard to get them all in the corral and then send them off. But, um, yeah, that was brutal and it was hot, so it's a good time. But, yeah, man, I I want to go back to kind of like what you were saying. Um, at the beginning piece, the fear, because I think that's like really relatable, at least for me. I relate to that 100%, like I have a lot of habits that can easily take over my life and like I'm a glutton, like I'll eat a bunch of crap and lose all my fitness real quick.
Speaker 1:So I kind of like have to keep myself in check in that way. But like I, I recognize that same thing. Like you know, if I'm, if I don't take care of my body now and some people might argue that going in races and doing distance like isn't which you know, say what you want, but um, I mean it keeps me healthy, like, at least mentally, um, but like it was a big piece of fear that that drove me to do it and I wanted to just prove to myself that I could always keep getting better, um, and no matter how small that progress might seem. But like I don't know, I I wear this quote around my neck, the the man of the arena quote. Have you ever heard of that? From Teddy Roosevelt.
Speaker 2:Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's like my favorite one, just because he's like hey, the credit goes to the guy who actually tried Right. Um, and like you're saying, like you want to be prepared for a race, the best way to do that is to train to. You know, dig deep when the training runs, get hard, um, and all that kind of stuff. But yeah, so what was like training for the tough mudder, like because you garbage? Yeah so your first time, like so I had.
Speaker 2:admittedly, I was like I'll use the term athletic loosely here, but I was like athletic in high school, right, I was probably the most mediocre at any sport Did you play any sports I tried, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I did cross country and track and then I wrestled when I was younger, did everything you know as a kid Basketball, football, baseball, whatever but kind of stuck to like track and wrestling as I got older, but again very mediocre, I didn't take anything seriously and I do kind of like regret that. Not that I could have been anything crazy like I'm not gonna be that guy but I I could have put out a lot more effort for sure. So I have like some athletic background that I was going off of and I was like, oh you know what, I'll just go hit like five mile training run to get ready for this tough mudder and immediately I think it took all of two weeks and like four runs for me to have like inflamed my IT bands so bad that I like struggled to walk.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's brutal man. It band syndrome is tough.
Speaker 2:And I had no idea what they, what it was. I was like, oh, I'm tearing something. Like something isn't just not. I could tell. Obviously something's not right when it feels like you've got this like metal cable, that's just like.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it's jacked up against your knees. So I was like I don't know what to do and luckily one of my good buddies, uh jace, was there and or not there, but I was able to bounce, like you know, talk to him like hey, man, you're a runner, like what am I doing? And he was the one who, like, corrected me, got me on like the right path. I went out and I loved our cross-country program. We had great coaches but structure kind of sucked. It was just like hey, go run eight miles, we'll see you back here whenever you're done with that I've heard that a lot actually from people who have done cross-country.
Speaker 1:They just tell you to go.
Speaker 2:To be fair, we would do a track day, an interval day. Every week we had some, but I don't think any of us understood that. The rest of the runs were probably supposed to be fairly easy. It was like five days a week after school we're going out and we're going as hard as we can for three to eight miles. And that's practice, so that's all I know. So when I start training again.
Speaker 2:It's like go out as hard as I can and in my brain I'm just like, okay, if I go faster, this will be done faster. Yeah, and I come to find out that's a terrible mindset I had to slow way down, you know, then you start learning about zone two and xyz.
Speaker 2:But I was glad I had somebody at the time jace, who was already running to kind of correct that yeah okay, you need to slow way the heck down so I went from trying to hit like these sub nines to, honestly, I spent like months between like 11 and 13 minute miles just trying to like, just figure it out, get a base, not be injured, because the it thing was a real buzzkill yeah, because it affects like just well, I'm on my feet for work and so it affects like just being alive, trying to get through the day.
Speaker 1:It's tough, it van is garbage and so it affects like just being alive trying to get through the day.
Speaker 2:It's tough, it van is garbage and so slowed down a little bit, didn't have a great training, but just enough to get through the tough mudder. Um, and then that kind of like once tough mudder was done, it was like, okay, I need to do a half marathon. I don't know why that was the progression, but I was just like I finished this, let's, I need to do a half marathon.
Speaker 1:I mean nine miles why not?
Speaker 2:that was the next thing, dang and training for that didn't go well either. Really, it's like after that I do feel like I finally kind of figured it out and that was like the beginning of what do we do is 25, so that was the beginning of 24. I kind of figured it out and then I had a really good for me good race year last year yeah then this year I had goals for all these prs and I kind of sidelined all of it to like change up what I was going to do yeah did some triat, doing some triathlon stuff now and but yeah, been a lot of fun, been a lot of learning.
Speaker 1:Holy cow, so much learning I know, man, it's like I kind of approached it the same way, like running is pretty self-explanatory.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one foot in front of the other. Yeah, one foot in front of the other.
Speaker 1:You just try and go as fast as you can. Like you said, try and get it done, and that was always my approach back then. Now it's like I try and get as smart as I can about my running, so I'm learning about, like the posterior chain, which is, you know, your, your back, your glutes, your hamstrings, your calves, like everything like that mine is really weak yeah, mine is too like that's.
Speaker 1:That's what I'm learning, and the reason I started finding out about all this stuff is because my wife has runner's knee really bad oh shoot um, and like she got to the point to where she would run, and then it felt like she had knives in her knees, so she'd like stop, and I was like I wonder why this is happening. And so a lot of it's like mobility work and and, like you said, like just learning so much and yeah, um, but yeah, my start kind of was very similar, like I had no idea what I was doing.
Speaker 2:Um, you've done it super well, though. Coming back from, I mean learning about the tumor and whatnot yeah like what you are like qualifying for boston and being the beast you are now like it's trying man well, I appreciate that, yeah, it's, it's been a journey and like that's one thing.
Speaker 1:I think the reason I love running and endurance is because you think that you hit a level and that's your stopping point. And then you recognize that you, you might be, and that's your stopping point. And then you recognize that you, you might be able to push it a little bit more. And then typically you can, um, and that's like what I fell in love with was it's just a mental game at that point, like can I push myself harder, can I stay in the fight longer when it gets tough? And um, yeah, and also from a place of gratitude, like you mentioned me being sick, like that was some of the worst times and I wasn't able to run and stuff like that. And so now I know, you know the the blessing that it is to be able to get out and exercise, because I know a lot of people can't yeah um, so yeah, I mean it's kind of interesting that way like you learn along the way.
Speaker 1:but yeah to your point, it's like you're that way, like you learn along the way, but yeah to your point, it's like you're constantly trying to find ways to improve your form to your prove your times, like all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:I'm like training my hips in the gym now I know, yeah, like it's so weird.
Speaker 1:Have you ever done Copenhagen planks? Oh?
Speaker 2:dude.
Speaker 1:Those are brutal, those are the worst.
Speaker 2:I can't even true, I can't even true. I like can fake a set, but I can't even really do it. It's so hard Like just body weight. I can't like even get through.
Speaker 1:No I um those are tough. I tried it on, like if you bend your knee, and for anyone who doesn't know what we're talking about, you basically put your knee on a bench or your your foot on a bench and then you do a plank, but it's only one of your legs, so it's like your, your groin is pretty much supporting your plank and you have to just strengthen that and it's. It's tough.
Speaker 2:I realized how weak that whole area was.
Speaker 1:I know and I'm like man, I wonder if I can be a better runner if I like get all these things fine tuned.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the hope I'm like dang, if I can tune up, one thing, that's kind of strengthening the rest and all these different things it's like my training has become so different.
Speaker 2:When I was trying to lift, you know, five, six years ago, it was just like bodybuilding, bro lifting, which is great for those who do that, but, like it's not usually as effective for, like, running. So now, instead of, like you know, heavy squats and deadlifts which aren't bad, but but it's like now I'm Copenhagen's or Cossack squats and all these other things that look kind of good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, those are brutal Bulgarian split squats, man. I did those yesterday and they still suck. Those are my demise.
Speaker 2:They still suck.
Speaker 1:I'm sore today. They always will suck.
Speaker 2:They almost train your mind more than well.
Speaker 1:No, they train your legs really well, well, but it's a mind trainer. Oh yeah, dude, it's like satan's workout, seriously. But seriously it is interesting. Like I don't know, I I had on, um, my friend's wife who's a pt, as she came on the podcast and we were talking a little bit about like mobility and um, how there are just these small muscles that no one really thinks about right like I don't know if you have you ever done like tibialis raises and stuff?
Speaker 2:like that. Oh dude, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So that's like saved my shins. Yeah, I just put it like a 15 pound kettlebell on there and just get, like you know, 10 sets or 10 reps in.
Speaker 2:Dude, the Vasa by my house now has like one of those I don't even know what the heck it's called. Oh, what the heck it's called, but oh, is it the nordic curl thing? Well, not exactly it's. It's for, like the tib raises, so you can like put, you put, uh like weights on the end of it oh, yeah, yeah just like do the raises that way and that's freaking awesome dude yeah doing it with the kettlebell is effective, but it kind of sucks yeah, no, it's like you can't get range of motion that well, so it makes total sense.
Speaker 1:But yeah, man, I mean I think it's it's all aimed to to get you better and like that's why I have this podcast is, like you know, I talk about progressing in in every area that you can in your life and um fitness being one, and like sometimes you're like, oh yeah, I need to get my mile times down, or like I want to work on my overall endurance so I can stay out on the trails longer. But you know, it's also like I need to do these stupid exercises that make me look like, you know, like I'm a grandma.
Speaker 2:But right, just help me area the gym now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I mean it all like plays into each other and just like hopefully makes for a better product in the end. So, um, but yeah, so I you. You mentioned Moab was your first half marathon. Yeah, so what was that like choice? How come?
Speaker 2:nobody told me that that was a terrible choice for it, dude. It had like 3 000 something feet of elevation gain no way. So I've never run a marathon, I've never run, you know that far yeah and now I just added, without even this is how ignorant I was. I didn't even know that at the time. It was just like advertised as like this beautiful trail and it was like it was beautiful. But it also was so terrible. I want to go back and do it now that it's not like my, you know.
Speaker 1:Intro to that's not your first one but it was brutal, it was tough.
Speaker 2:I think I was almost three hours. I think it was like a 254 or something like that. And yeah, I was just not prepared, not at all. Yeah, I'd run everything on the jordan river trail which, for the most part, is flat.
Speaker 1:You can get a little bit of up and down yeah, it's a great trail, though it's like it goes on forever, oh yeah love it for long runs, but not for hill training yeah which is what I should have been doing.
Speaker 2:I should have have been doing nothing but running the trails around here, and I was not doing that, so my legs were not ready. But I was glad to finish that one. There's another one where it's like just grit, just finish. Quitting is not an option.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean that really is true. It's like I think very few times. I think the only reason you should dnf is if it's like medical reason, of course, but like yeah, if you're just tired, then it should never be an option, like you should never give yourself that, that, uh, that cookie, you know it's like or that that out is a better word to say like.
Speaker 1:I think I used to do that a lot, especially when I began trail running, like training for my first 50K I'd be like, oh yeah, well, I'm just getting into trail running so I don't want to go out too hard. But then sometimes I'd go back to the car and be like I could have pushed it harder. I lied to myself and that was always the worst feeling. I was like I hate that feeling. So I always just try and make sure sure, like you said, like quitting is not an option, even if that means like I'm dropping my pace down to you know a minute slower, it doesn't matter like finish the job, that's what.
Speaker 2:So I mentioned buffalo earlier. Um, I went out there to pace a buddy. He wanted to hit a specific time and I was coming off of the 70.3, so like I wasn't in a place to chase my own time, which- is why I was like, yeah, I'll pace you for sure.
Speaker 2:And so we're pacing for his time and we we're crushing it like we're ahead of pace for the first like eight or nine miles, and then his hill just like blew up. Like I can't remember if he said it ended up being fractured or something, but like it blew up I could tell he was in a ton of pain. Oh, I knew he obviously had to have wanted to quit the whole time because that's brutal.
Speaker 2:Like I know how it is to run on foot pain and it's it sucks yeah, it's the worst and at some point you know I was trying to be encouraging I was like come on, man, like we can still get it if we just do whatever this mile. And and he got to a point where he was like failure is fine, quitting is not an option yeah, I was like okay like that.
Speaker 1:I love that. That's good. Like I love that.
Speaker 2:And it helped me understand where his head was at.
Speaker 2:He knew like we were gonna miss this and we barely to his defense, we still barely missed it, like he had a great opening to the race, um. But I was proud to see him push through and just have that mindset of like it's okay that I'm gonna fail on my goal, like I'm not quitting this, I'm going to finish this race. And what was Dylan's thing? Like three, four weeks ago, I got to the point where it was the same. I was like I had a goal I wanted to be under five hours for that 50K and I just got to a point where I realized that wasn't going to happen. I was getting beat up. Once it got hot, that thing got rough.
Speaker 1:Dude, I bet you left at a great time. Yeah, it was still nice outside. I was like, oh man.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I dug and grabbed that out of my memory bank. I was like, oh man, logan said this and I had to use that. I was like it's okay if I'm not going to hit five hours. But, no shot. Am I quitting on Dylan or quitting on this 50K? I'm going to finish this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that mindset.
Speaker 2:I feel like if you're an endurance I mean I guess it applies in all facets of life but you've got to have that mindset. To an extent it's like failure is fine, quitting is not.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, even with things like this podcast. I failed many times with it and I just don't want to quit like I'll learn each of those times. And same thing with running, like races where I haven't done as well or I don't meet my goals, um, even on runs, it's like okay, what did I miss on that? What can I learn from it? How can I get better the next time? Because at the end of the day, it's like I made this commitment to myself. And in your case, like Dallin or um, you know all the, all the people who you ran with and I can't remember what his name was in Buffalo.
Speaker 2:Oh, Logan, Logan.
Speaker 1:Um, and like you know, it's, it's important to commitments, but I think it's, like most important to yourself. Yeah, like to keep that promise to yourself of I said I was going to do something. I might not reach the goal that I thought I would have, but, hey, I'm gonna get it done yeah, that's huge.
Speaker 2:I I really felt like that. I I just finished up the ironman 70 down in st george yeah and I didn't have the physical race that I I wanted to have. I didn't put forth the times that I had trained for, and nothing's ever given.
Speaker 1:What were you going for in that race? I?
Speaker 2:wanted to be sub six, which is very modest. It was my first one and I felt like that was still a reach of a goal, but nothing crazy. I wasn't trying to be sub five or whatever. I knew St George well. I learned later on again my own ignorance that it was kind of a harder course. It's actually not one of the easy, I think.
Speaker 1:I would imagine it is like the hardest 70 course.
Speaker 2:Wait, really yeah, I was reading this online and I was like, oh crap, like what did I sign up for? Cause I, as soon as they mentioned it was going to be the last one. I was like because I was on the fence and then they said it's gonna be the last time we're in saint george.
Speaker 2:I was like okay well, all right, we're going now we're never literally, so we're going dang, and it was tough. I mean, it was brutal, and it was one though that, when I got to the end, it was like a mental pat on the back. It was like you know what brayden I'm like, I'm proud of you for just keep continuing to go, yeah because, when?
Speaker 2:Because when I got off the bike, like the bike is what I was the most nervous about, cause it's got like 4,000 feet of gain over the 56 miles, and one one of those sections is snow Canyon, which, if you're familiar with snow Canyon. That is so steep Like people were walking bikes walking there like $15,000 bikes and I was just like this is brutal. And so we pushed through that. The bike actually ends up being my best leg of the day, and it was the one I was the most worried about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because.
Speaker 2:I'm not a cyclist. I still am slow to classify myself as a runner, even, but like my strongest discipline would have been runner.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so I wasn't worried about the run, the swim I just love. Hate with swim, won't get into that, but I was just like yeah the bike is what I was worried about the most and does it go swimming, biking running? Yeah, okay, yeah so you start in san jolo, you swim 1.2, and then you jump on the bikes and go 56, and then you finish with a half marathon in st george and the run was the only thing that I wasn't worried about.
Speaker 2:Cause I was like I know I can run a half marathon, I had to go. I was like I think that after that kind of effort I could still put down like a one 45 to one 50. And that would keep me, like you know, competitive to hit the times I wanted to hit overall.
Speaker 1:And I can't imagine what that's like after biking 56 miles, though.
Speaker 2:And so the last five miles of the bike, my feet just started hurting and I was like what the freak is this about? Like I've done 56 mile training rides and 60 mile training rides and like my feet hadn't hurt, and so I was super confused. But I was like you know what, that'll go away after a couple of miles, and it didn't. It got worse.
Speaker 2:Like cramping or just like weird pain, just like pain it felt like literally walking on like pins and needles, like every step just felt like inflammatory and I mean half marathons, what like 15,000 steps? Yeah, something like that. It was like every single one is just so painful and I wanted to be done the whole time yeah.
Speaker 2:Because and I would have like felt like it was a valid excuse I was like my feet were hurting so bad, felt like it was a valid excuse. I was like my feet were hurting so bad and they did like. Later on, you know, I had like bruises down the sides of them or something.
Speaker 2:Something must have gone. I don't think I was ready, I don't think I trained well enough for that kind of climbing on the bike. So even though I did okay with it, I don't think like my body was like totally ready for that.
Speaker 1:So that's my only guess.
Speaker 2:Because I saw I did see a couple other TikToks of people who kind of mentioned the same thing which, like gave me some comfort. I was like, okay, I wasn't the only one whose feet hurt coming off the bike, but it was so painful to run. And so, instead of, you know, hitting these eight minute ish miles, I was hitting like 11s and 12s in a freaking race, which you know.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying that that's painfully slow or anything but, when you're anticipating eights and you're hitting 11s and 12s like, and when you train for that, it sucks Like yeah, that's a mental. That's a mental kick in the nuts. It was like I wanted to just quit the whole time but I just like. It's like I'm not quitting, I'm not quitting, I'm not quitting. And when I got done I was kind of disappointed because I felt like I had so much more in my legs Um cause, my feet did finally numb out at like mile 11. Jeez.
Speaker 1:Great Right, so my last two miles.
Speaker 2:if you go look at my thing like my last two miles are eight minute miles because it's like my feet finally chilled out and I could run again yeah, and so that was like super defeating being at the finish line and it's like I was still dead.
Speaker 2:Like, don't get me wrong, that's a heavy effort that's a ton of work my legs, I felt like still had more to give and that that was sad. Um, but it was kind of a mental. I like pat myself on the back because it just it wasn't physical. You know, kind of, like you mentioned earlier, it was a mental finish. I had to just like really dig into the cookie jar and like push through that mentally because it just it hurts so bad you can't do anything about it, and so it's like just your brain willing you forward.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I mean that's a a lot like a lot of the races, especially the 50ks.
Speaker 1:You know how that goes, it's like you, at some point you get beyond physical and you have to mentally figure out how you're going to finish this race yeah, because, like I don't know, I mean you might have a couple blisters that flare up on a 50k or something like that. But um, dude, my, my experience, my first 50k, I ran in uh there's arizona arizona yeah it was.
Speaker 2:I mean that's it I make bad decisions, but that's a bad decision, arizona was a bad decision, well, originally I was gonna run the barriers um in monticello yeah yeah uh, but like while I was uh I was.
Speaker 1:I was like carb loading during that time. Like three days before the first day I started carb loading, I got so sick and I threw up all night and then the next day I couldn't eat anything. And then I was trying to run the race. I was going to do it and it was the Friday before and my mom came up and my dad came up from Arizona. I was like I got to do this and basically they were like you're stupid, you shouldn't do this. You haven't eaten anything for two days.
Speaker 2:Voices of reason.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I was like no, mom, look, I'm eating a sandwich and she's like that's great. You didn't eat anything for two days and you threw up everything.
Speaker 2:And then my wife's. Like you probably shouldn't do it, so, anyways, I found a different race and it was the the stunner nights in arizona, so it was like a night race in the desert, which I thought was cool, sounds cool, yeah, and I was like it's 100 degrees, yeah, and that's what I thought.
Speaker 1:I told myself. I was like you know, the desert cools down a lot. Um, I used to camp out there and I was like I remember it being freezing, but not in july, like it was never cold in july, and so we go, like I go there. Um, the race started at 7 pm and that's still the sun probably still up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the sun was still up.
Speaker 1:It doesn't get dark till like 8 30 in arizona and so like I had an hour and a half of sunlight um, and it was 104 when we started oh and like I came out that's so hot and I think I was in third place the first lap and I was like feeling good and it was four laps, so just like seven and a half miles each.
Speaker 2:It's a lot better than 31, by the way, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean like, yeah, that's 31 laps at a park, that's nuts man, that was so dumb.
Speaker 2:I love you, Dylan, but that was so dumb dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Dylan, that's legit.
Speaker 1:I'll dumb. Yeah, I mean, I'll be there too. I gotta redeem myself, but yeah. So like I don't know, but after that first lap, um, like I had a hat on and I think it was like it was rubber, not rubber, but it was like one of those like melon type hats.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, yeah, it's like kind of thick right um, and it's yeah, like held in all the heat of my head oh and so, like I don't know, after that lap it was rough, but um the second one I went and and I would throw up every quarter mile. Quarter mile, yeah, it was bad.
Speaker 2:How did you have anything left?
Speaker 1:I didn't. I called my coach and I was like I don't know what to do. She's like I think it's just dehydration and heat. If you can sip water, then just do it.
Speaker 2:That's brutal.
Speaker 1:That lap was my slowest one, but I finally got through it. That's brutal, and so, like, that lap was my slowest one, but I finally got through it.
Speaker 2:And I guess like that was the second one, that this happened on. Yeah, so you're only like seven miles deep at this point.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So when I finally got through, I finished the second lap, it was 15 miles and I was like I should probably go to the med station because, like I don't know what's going on. They cleared me. They're like, yeah, you're fine, like all your vitals are good. Um, my um, mother-in-law's husband he was like a ex-trainer, like for for school and stuff, and so he like took ice cubes and put it in my shirt and all this stuff. But basically everyone was like hey, if you drop out of this race, like that's fine, whatever.
Speaker 1:Um, and I was like I gotta finish this thing, like I want to just see if I can do it. Yeah, like I'm obviously not gonna hit my pace, but um, yeah, and then like other things would happen, like my light would go out, so I'm just running in the pitch black and it's like you know what, add it all up, just bring on, bring on the pain. That's that's what this is about. So, um, but you know, it's like at the end of the day, it's like I'm proud that I I kept going, like it doesn't matter. The results that I had weren't obviously what I wanted. Um, sounds like the same with, like you and in the half marathon and in the iron man yeah uh, but like you know what it's, it's an honest effort.
Speaker 1:It's what the best that you could have done. Um, and I've I've recognized recently that I compare myself a lot to people on social media, especially in the, in the endurance space. It's like it's right up in your face oh, yeah and dude, it's like.
Speaker 2:What sucks for me is we're seeing this sample of these influencers that are they're just so fast, and I mean good for them yeah, they're so fast it makes it seem like everybody's that fast, and they're just not yeah not everybody is dropping. You know 120 half marathons and stuff like 250 marathons.
Speaker 1:All the time it's like that takes a lot of effort to get to that point. Not a lot of people are going to be able to run boston and jeans oh yeah, and two and do with 236.
Speaker 2:let's get into true at Hanes.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh man, but that's that's a really good point, though, like what you said, like all the work that went into it. Um, because, true, it posted something the other day. That was like. I ran my first half marathon when I was six years old. Yeah mean he's cam's son. So like, yeah, I expect that's. I almost expect nothing less. But like, yeah, but it's like it really is. It's. It's tough not to compare yourself. Yeah, it's hard, it really is hard on strava.
Speaker 2:Yeah so with someone's zone two like you is like seven to eight minutes and my zone two is like 10, I mean, yeah it's, it's tough, but like it really is.
Speaker 1:Like you know, everyone has their own journey, though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a big thing and I think it's one of the things I love the most about endurance and why I was kind of drawn to sports like track and wrestling back in school is that it's. Yeah, there's still a team aspect, but it's very personal. A lot of it's you versus you.
Speaker 2:A hundred percent aspect, but it's very personal, it's a lot of it's you versus you, 100 and and I like that a lot because you know I can go out and you know, jace, my buddy beats me at every half marathon. But like I'm not trying to beat jace yet, but yeah, but I'm trying to beat myself. And that's like yeah that there's so much power in that, because the comparison kind of I don't know dies off a little bit when you can really just fight yourself, because there will always be someone faster.
Speaker 2:Like that's just unfortunately, kind of the way it is, someone will always be faster, but it's like I just want to be faster than I was, you know, yesterday.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Or last time I ran this race or whatever. Like I'm doing a race on Saturday, which one? It's 5k up in Farmington If you're not busy.
Speaker 1:drop by, it's a great cause no more victims.
Speaker 2:5k supporting.
Speaker 1:you know great effort there with sexual abuse victims and stuff but like just a 5k.
Speaker 2:They have a half marathon option, but we signed up for the 5k last year, um, just as something to kind of fill the gap between some half marathons that we had been doing last year and after we did it last year, like, yeah, we're doing this every year yeah it's got the best swag bag like really insane. All right, one of your one of your previous pods talked about how races don't like some races don't give out medals and stuff like that, that that was my DJ buddy. Oh yeah, Take two.
Speaker 1:Yeah, dj, take two. Yeah, man, I guess legit.
Speaker 2:This race goes so hard. And it's just a 5K, but it's like this swag bag is next level.
Speaker 2:It's so good so we're going out to do this. Jace won it last year, oh dang. I assume his goal is to get close to that again this year, so he's genuinely racing other people. I'm going to race myself. Last year I did like a 22.50 and this year it's like I got to go sub 21. I would love to go sub 20. I just haven't trained for that. Really, this year A lot of my training has been long distances and cross training with the bike and swim, so I'm just I think if I would have had some time to actually train for a 5k yeah maybe, but I do want to go sub 21, and that's the fun part about this sport I don't need to like go out and win a local 5k.
Speaker 2:not that my sub 21 will get me close to winning anyway, but I I just get to go out and win against myself, hopefully P-R-E-R, you know, that's where we're going with this one. I'm going to hit that on Saturday because I want to beat myself. That's what I love about endurance it's just like it's you against you. Obviously, you get to Connor Mance and Clayton and these guys level and it's like, okay, there's money on the line.
Speaker 1:It and Clayton and these guys level and it's like, okay, there's money on the line.
Speaker 2:It's not just you against you. It's like you against the best Kenyans out there, but I love the you versus you and I feel like that helps a lot when I start comparing, because it's so easy when you see, luke? Hopkins, just like being super shredded and then like still being super fast.
Speaker 1:It's insane.
Speaker 2:It's so hard to not just like get sad about that fast, it's insane.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so hard to not just like get sad about that.
Speaker 2:I know you're like how come that's not me? It's like part of him motivates me and part of him makes me so sad.
Speaker 1:I know it's like same with like nick bear like oh dude, yeah the og of like, making me feel bad about myself. Yeah, man, I mean just so shredded, so fast yeah he kind of started like all the the running hype recently at least, like yeah, getting on social media and stuff, dude that going more ultra I honestly think is going to change the game for running it was nuts. The way running is viewed, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's like that was such a public thing. It was awesome.
Speaker 1:I love that people were drawn into that I was literally watching all day my wife and I Same. And she'd be like, oh, lucy just dropped out, or something.
Speaker 2:I'd be like oh, Lucy just dropped out, or something. I'd be like, oh, dang Crazy.
Speaker 1:I'm like I don't know. It's so cool just seeing people get together and be like let's see how far we can all go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's see how far we can push ourselves. Kim and Kendall were like going to die to get there.
Speaker 1:That was nuts. Yeah, that was insane, and the weather stopped them, so who knows what could have happened, which?
Speaker 2:The weather stopped him, so who knows what could have happened. Which?
Speaker 1:is sad, I know A little frustrating.
Speaker 2:Almost. I was like I wanted to see who was going to die.
Speaker 1:I know, I can't remember where it is. I think it's in Europe right now, but there's a Backyard Ultra.
Speaker 2:Oh Australia. Yeah, australia, they've been going for like four days.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're at like 440 miles or something like that.
Speaker 2:I had no idea what's going on. I wish I could have like followed that live stream.
Speaker 1:Australians are built different. I guess man like yeah, dude, do you know who ned brockman is?
Speaker 2:I've heard that name. I can't say I could tell you.
Speaker 1:So he just decided like he's gonna run all the way across australia, which I think is oh dang um it's like two thousand something miles and like he did it, um, and people were like calling him out, like saying like, oh, that was fake. It might not have been him actually, it might not have been ned brockman, I can't remember who, but some australian runner um sent it across the country yeah, he's like I'm just gonna go dang and then, um, oh man, who's the other guy?
Speaker 2:dude, have you heard of matt johnson? Yeah?
Speaker 1:yeah, I know, johnson he.
Speaker 2:So he ran texas, I think, like north to south last year and now he's doing it like east to west or something like that it's like a thousand miles, he's gonna put down in like, I think, three months or something like that that's insane, but yeah, he's nuts too.
Speaker 2:He's awesome, he, because he's just so real. To me he's like an influence, like I don't compare myself to him, um, just because he's the most real of all of them, like in my biased opinion of influencers like he, and he very like unapologetically shares his story of going from broke sleeping on the mattress on the floor to just sending it on social media and hoping it would stick.
Speaker 2:And it eventually did. And now he's like got a running club with jelly roll and like, oh, that's cool, all this cool stuff. And now he's, you know, going to run across texas, the other direction, which is even longer and more insane, but like when's he doing it?
Speaker 1:in the summer or no?
Speaker 2:I think he's like still over 100 days out, so I assume kind of earlier this fall.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was going to say Texas summer would be insane.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I don't know. I just love the running community, at least for me, has just been really supportive. That's actually one thing that Take Two and I actually talked about was how it's really cool that you go out and it's like a race environment, yeah, but everyone's still like, hey, like you're gonna do great, like this is you got this? Um? And then there's people on social media like, uh, I I feel the same way about andy glaze. I don't know if you love andy glaze.
Speaker 2:That guy just seems like the most genuine down-to-earth guy ever yes um his hallucinations kill me yeah so good, yeah, he, uh, what was it?
Speaker 1:was it coca-dona or the, the monster 300? Where he's like, yeah, I saw robots. Yeah, I mean, he's like I thought they were gonna fight me or something. It's like that's just nuts. Like I can't imagine getting to that point where, like you're hallucinating in a race, but I mean, hopefully I get there, like I I was gonna say it is on the list of things to do down the road, but yeah, definitely I, I want to.
Speaker 1:I want to get to that point like you want to do like 100 one day yeah, so my goal is, um. I mean, we're doing a 50k this year in in canyon lands, which should be bad I? I was thinking about the elevation overall. It's like 2400 feet elevation. Okay, so your half marathon had more than my 50k. Well, that's, that's pretty good, um, that shows you how hard that was yeah, that's insane.
Speaker 1:And then in april of next year my brother and I were doing um a 50 miler in sedona, arizona oh dang, so that one would be, that one would be tough in arizona races man I know well, sedona would be nice, so don't know. Hopefully, like they're, a little higher elevation yeah yeah, yeah, and it's like beautiful red rocks. Um so nice, it'll be a good race, but um, and then after that, yeah, I gotta, I want to see if I can do 100 and then 150. Who knows?
Speaker 1:dang but I don't know. I mean, it's just like I love running, I love the speed side of things, but then also, like part of me is like the trails are, are where it's at. I just love getting out in the trails, being in the mountains um, being in, you know, the sun and seeing like a stream right the only thing I'm so worried about is mountain lions, but other than that it's like I'm fine so yeah, I mean it's, it's, it's cool and um, I always like sometimes I'll get discouraged and be like I'll never get to that point right
Speaker 1:but then, like I always remind myself um, you know, people have always been in this situation, like who start these things? They've always been in the beginning. Um, like you read undeniable right or listen to her yeah, something, um courtney to walter talked about that in the book. Yeah, how like she ran her first marathon when she was 25. And now she's like they call her the goat of ultra marathon running because she literally like doesn't stop and she's fast. But she talked about how, like she first found out about a 50K and like went and tried it and then was like I want to keep doing this and kept pushing herself and, um, she DNF her first I think it was a 60 K actually she DNF. But um, like it's just cool to see that the people who we look up to go through the same challenges and battles.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Um and we're all just in different parts of kind of a similar journey.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, I think that's cool. Um, I do want to ask you, cause you mentioned your kids at the beginning. Yeah, what do you?
Speaker 2:what do you hope that they take from your example? I, uh, I don't want to get controversial, but I just feel like there's so much like acceptance and almost promotion of just being generally like unhealthy, out of shape, overweight, not going to the gym, x, y, z and I'm not some shining example of gym going, but like I just want my kids to feel like it was super normal and that it is the norm to like be in decent shape.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You can. Yeah, I could run a 5K at any time, or a 10K or whatever. I want them to think. I want them to just look at fitness and health in general and just have it be something that's normal to them Right Instead of normalizing like. I think body positivity is a great thing. Yeah, you know to an extent like man, if you're in really bad shape, you should fix that. Yeah, we should. It shouldn't be glorified. We should you take steps to fix it. There's always a fix right I'm a huge believer.
Speaker 2:There's always some kind of fix um, it's just how bad do you want it? Right most people just don't want it. Bad enough, and that's fine. But I, for my two boys, I'm hoping that I can try to instill in them a little bit of that desire to like find out what they're made of. I think goggins um kind of opened my mind to it the most. I can't remember which book it was in, I think it was in the first.
Speaker 2:But he gives this analogy and it's about like when you die and you get to the gates and God is showing you like the video and he shows you the video of what life you were supposed to have led and in Gargan's scenario is, like you know, he's supposed to be an ultra marathon runner and blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 2:Everybody's scenario can be different, but that was like a really impactful, like imagery thing for me yeah because I was just like man, you know, and growing up in religious utah and believing you know certain ways is just like that was so impactful for me to hear from goggins, because I was just like man, I don't want to get up there and God was like you were supposed to set the example for your kids you know and you didn't. You just kept being you know, kept eating the entire box of donuts Instead of only a couple.
Speaker 2:You were eating the whole box every single time and so I hope you know, depending on whatever happens in the afterlife, I can get up there and he's like, yeah, you showed your kids exactly what they're supposed to do and I'm hoping they took to that. Um, hopefully they're way better than I am. They've got an awesome mom who's hopefully given them a lot better, just like genetic and mental things, than I'm passing along. But I can at least I hope to show through some example that, like fitness is normal, being healthy is is normal. It's what we should do and we should chase, you know, physical goals yeah um, I hope they.
Speaker 2:They're probably still a little young now, but like they've seen me cross a handful of finish lines yeah and to my old, my oldest. He took note that I lost to jace. He's like Dad come on. He sees Jace come through that. He's asking my wife. He's like where's Dad? He's not as fast as Jace.
Speaker 1:So you just had to rub it in your face just a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no kidding, Dang, oh man. So yeah, he always. But it's like, so I'm hoping some of that is starting to stick where. He's like seeing me cross finish lines and seeing me train. Even today, when I left the house, he's like where are you going? I was like, oh, I'm headed to the gym real quick. I want that to be normal for them.
Speaker 2:It was not normal for me growing up. My parents did a lot of great things, Showing us that fitness and caring for your health was, unfortunately not one of them. I think they would agree. I don't think they'd be super offended that I said that Um and I and I just want that aspect to be different. There's parts of my childhood that I'll never be as good as my parents at doing, but there's other parts where I hope you know I can improve and like show them that, hey, it's good to be physical, it's good to be strong, and it doesn't have to be all toxic masculinity or whatever. It's just like taking care of yourself. You're more valuable to yourself, to society, if you're strong and in shape. Let doctors have everybody else that needs that man, you stay out of there and get yourself fit.
Speaker 2:So I'm hoping that's kind of what I leave with them. I'm hoping they pick up on that. My wife she busts her back to working out. She's not into endurance like I am, but she goes hard and yes, that's the fastest that she goes hard in. She loves going to the gym and staying fit that way and that's great for her. Yeah, Endurance isn't for everybody.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, that's great for her. Yeah, that's endurance isn't for everybody no, yeah, I think it should be.
Speaker 1:But I mean, I I just love it because, like, I love a lot of the things that you said there, but like endurance, specifically, it's like, yeah, it really is just the hard work that I put in will equate to some reward, and if that's like crossing a finish line and getting a medal, awesome. But if it's just you know, you just want to stay in shape, then that's just as good. Um, yeah, but I think that's awesome and it's like it truly is just the example that you set. Like I, um my brother, like a couple things about my brother. So first he was like pretty overwhelmed overweight oh yeah and um is he about your same height?
Speaker 1:you guys about the same, he's a little bit taller than me yeah, but he was like 265, so he was like a big boy. Yeah, um, and I'm so proud of that dude because, like from our wedding photos, like when ali and I got married, um, he's a like he looks completely different from then to now.
Speaker 1:Like now he's like 203 pounds oh dang um good for him yeah, but it came from like a conversation where you know he's like ah, you know I want, and I was like you got to lose some weight, like you got to start eating better and all these things, and like I think you're right, you're spot on with like body positivity is a good thing, unless you know it's causing someone to be more sick and like sometimes you got to step up and have a hard conversation, but it's like for the, you know, because out of love, like that kind of thing and I feel like that gets missed on a lot of just social media and stuff.
Speaker 2:It's like I'm not, you know, it's not condemnation, I'm not condemning you because of the way you are. It's like I love you and I would love to see you see more in yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, and that's the hard part for me is realizing that like it is so personal, yeah, like you have to want it. You can't want it for someone else more than they want it for themselves absolutely and and that's the hard part is like I want these people to make a change, but they don't want it, and that's, that's fine yeah, you know, but it's like it's not because I'm holier than thou it's I love you and I I think you would enjoy life more if, like, these things didn't hurt because of your weight or diet or whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know I mean that's yeah, that's that's why I talk about like running and stuff, um so openly on this podcast and it's because it has helped me live a better life as weird as it sounds like it teaches you how to stay disciplined. It teaches you how to stay in the fight when you want to quit. As many, as much as like, as painful as it could be like, you got to keep going right um, it teaches you a lot about yourself.
Speaker 1:And then you know, a byproduct of that is your heart's going to be healthier. Um, your body hopefully moves a little bit better, unless you injure yourself in running, which starts to be a line of like you gotta. I'm just so injured from running, you gotta be careful there, um, but yeah, I mean, it's just like it's changed my life in so many ways.
Speaker 1:It's like I want to share that with other people and yeah I'm sure at times that can come off as like, oh my gosh, brett won't shut up about running, but it's like, yeah, I mean, yeah, I love it. It's what I'm passionate about, I feel you. Yeah, I mean, that's cool, though. And the other thing about my brother I was going to tell you is his little son. He's four years old and he'll see his dad running and be like I got to go run with dad, so I think it'll probably pay off in some way.
Speaker 2:I think that was one of like it was a couple months ago. I'm doing a run streak challenge this year with some of my friends.
Speaker 1:I was going to ask you that because it is every day.
Speaker 2:It's freaking every day. That's insane, dude, and it's weird Side tangent. It's weird because I actually feel like I've gotten a lot stronger. I tried to do a run streak last year and I just got injured so fast I think I was less than a week and I was out of my run streak. And this year we're nearing 200, probably like 180 days ish, and honestly I feel so much stronger. I feel like it's crazy. My body is like it knows I'm coming back tomorrow, so it's like it's like all right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like it's ready to go um, but one of the nights I had to hit a mile and it was getting late um and I was just gonna do the one so that, so that I could check my little box and keep the streak alive. And my oldest son he's five now and he's like I want to go with you and that's the first time that either of them have shown any interest, and so he ended up running.
Speaker 2:We did this one little loop around the neighborhood this is a quarter mile, but it's like the neighborhood this is a quarter mile.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But it's like he got out and ran a quarter mile.
Speaker 1:That's so cool and it was awesome.
Speaker 2:And this is like a proud dad moment for me yeah, because I was just like. Yes, like you know, he's seeing it.
Speaker 1:That is awesome.
Speaker 2:I don't know if he enjoyed it or not, but he was really stoked to like go run with dad.
Speaker 1:Yeah, was fun. That is cool. Man, like that, that's got to be like the most rewarding thing. Yeah, it's like put all the medals aside, whatever. It's like that right there, that's cool. Yeah, yeah, but I um, yeah, I mean one of these days, like I hope to do the same for my kids and teach them those same principles and, um, just show them like you know, it really comes down to what you're willing to put in is what you'll get out. Yeah, um, and a lot of the times it's uncomfortable, but that's the journey. It's a lot of uncomfort.
Speaker 2:I can't remember if it's Goggins or Haynes or one of them. They probably all at some point have said it. But it's like do something every day that sucks. And it's like there's so much truth in that, like even just today I did a little run and then went to the sauna. And it's just the sauna. You're just sitting there, we're not doing anything crazy hard. But I had set a timer. I was like okay, I want to do 20 minutes in the sauna today. And I got to like 16 minutes and I was so cooked I was like I'm done, I want to get the freak out of here. And I was like no.
Speaker 1:Got to push.
Speaker 2:This is my moment of suck today.
Speaker 1:This sucks.
Speaker 2:And it's as dinky as that Someone had put a little towel over the thermometer thing so it gets extra hot in there, yeah, and so I was cooking. I can usually do 20 minutes, but man, it was cooking, so I was like, okay, this is my moment of suck today, because I don't want to stay in here at all, but I'm going to push through for another four minutes.
Speaker 1:I don't want to stay in here at all, but I'm going to push through for another four minutes. I love it, dude. What have you seen the benefit of doing that?
Speaker 2:Having one moment to suck a day. It just keeps your mental game strong. So much of life is mental.
Speaker 1:I probably know a lot more than I am worthy to speak on about that because, like I, still have a lot of mental struggles.
Speaker 2:I'm actually um, I can't remember the name of the doctor on your last podcast. Oh yeah, dr Kim Buck Kim, yeah, I'm. I'm part way through that and it's actually really nice because it's like I love hearing those things, because I, you know, I have mental health. I mean, everybody does to an extent right, there's no one's exempt from that, and so, for me, like getting on the running endurance journey has just been a way to like reassure myself that like I can overcome these things yeah it's like you know what, I was 23 miles in and I wanted to be done, but I pushed through another eight miles like that.
Speaker 2:to me and myself that said a lot, and so I was like, hey, you know what, I'm probably a little bit more capable in whatever facet I am, and I know that because of something I've done in the endurance world.
Speaker 2:So it's like I can push through this or I can think twice about what I'm about to say. That's going to blow something up, and I feel like it's been just wildly beneficial that way to always like continue that. Make sure that every day you have just that little bit of willpower to like push through the suck.
Speaker 1:A hundred percent.
Speaker 2:And some days it's very. It's like yeah, I turned down a donut, which is really hard for me.
Speaker 1:Other days it's like the maple bars from Maverick man Insane those are the best Maverick just came out with.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, Maverick, man Insane. Those are the best Maverick just came out with. Oh my gosh, Maverick just came out with this one that's got like orange cream on top of it.
Speaker 1:Is it like a summer donut?
Speaker 2:Come on, it's so good, it's like it's so refreshing, but some days that's like my moment of suck. You know, as dinky as that is, it's like okay, I'm not going to get finish a 50k, which is a lot. You know that's a lot more different suck than like you might need a donut for that right.
Speaker 1:No kidding, I definitely had one after that, yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love the overcoming some kind of suck every single day yeah I feel like it's so. It's good to just like keep you on the path, and I love the run streak for that, because it's like I'm the kind of guy who will take advantage of any moment off that I can you know?
Speaker 2:if I don't have to run, I'm not going to right and so I've loved the run streak because it's like, okay, I have to get at least one mile today and you know, I'll just stop by the gym, I'll do it on treadmill. Oh, I'm at the gym, I'll get a lift in yeah, why not? Otherwise I would have skipped that. So I've been really grateful for this run streak. I'm going to keep it going I don't know, as long as it makes sense yeah um, just because I do feel like it forces me to like keep, keep it up every single day yeah because I'm the kind of guy that is like I will definitely take advantage if I don't need to run right now.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to yeah, just take it easy, because like.
Speaker 2:As much as I love running, it sucks like it's hard, it's so hard, it's always hard like even goggins talks about that. It sucks like um yeah, I think it's never enjoys a single run.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and he's like sometimes I'll sit and look at my shoes for 15 minutes and then finally lace them up and go out the door and everyone deals with it.
Speaker 2:I feel that in my soul I sit in front of the gym for like 20 minutes sometimes and I'm just like I don't want to go in here I know, but it's like I'm going to, you gotta get it done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's huge, like overcoming that. I don't want to call it the weak voice in your head, but like the one that tells you not to the comfort voice yeah, the charming ultra soft dude yeah, dude, the charming, ultra soft. Yeah, that's the one talking to you, it's the bears all the time.
Speaker 2:It just wants you to be comfy, cozy and it's like I don't think that's what we were built for is more the more I learned about like history, like primitive history, not like you know in the last couple years, but like dude, they had it so hard it's like they were running down deer and stuff. Man, like we weren't meant to sit margaritas on a beach permanently. That can be a great release if you need that. We were meant to chase down freaking deer and stuff and run away from bears.
Speaker 2:No kidding, it's insane. We've become so sedentary and our goal is now to be sedentary. That's something I hope my kids take away. Dad wasn't sedentary. He didn't sit on a beach for six hours a day, Like would that be nice. Yeah, that sounds great.
Speaker 1:I'd go for that right now, but like we're just not built for that.
Speaker 2:Like our goals, I think, have interestingly shifted. It's like we want to just chill and it's like I want to keep pushing. I want to know, if I can get up to temp and back faster than I did last year. I want to know if I can break my record, my personal record and a half this fall, or whatever. The story is you? Know, it's like don't want to be sedentary anymore.
Speaker 1:Yeah I mean it just life makes it so easy nowadays, like your favorite foods are are easier to get than to actually cook a meal just process sugar process everything like it tastes so good, yeah, I would take I would take a big mac any day of the week.
Speaker 2:That's the man so good, so good, so easy.
Speaker 1:It's like but like overall it's just yeah, comfort is the silent killer is like everyone, everyone says it really is. But it really is Like that Big Mac if you have it one day you're probably fine, but if you have it two you might feel bad. But then add that up over you know a few weeks and it's like now you got some extra weight on you or maybe I don't know, but like it's not going to be good for you. Yeah, so it's. It's not gonna be good for you. Yeah, so yeah, you get.
Speaker 2:Discipline is huge, and then consistency is like what carries you across the finish line. Yeah, oh absolutely. Getting started is always the hardest part, yeah staying in there like I didn't think I had.
Speaker 1:I was worried about the time I had to try and train for, like the 70 um, because it's a lot like I yeah, what was that like people train for a full, because that would be like double what I was doing, because it's a lot. Yeah, what was that like Setting up the training?
Speaker 2:program. I still mind boggled how people train for a full, because that would be like double what I was doing and it just made me realize how undisciplined I was with my time.
Speaker 2:I thought I was being affected with my time because I was doing all this running, all this gym work, working a job, raising kids, whatever and it was like, turns out, I had a lot more time. I just had to be disciplined about it and not scroll TikTok as much and not do whatever I know. And so it was a big eye opener. And since the 70 is finished I've actually felt kind of lazy because I'm just like man, I'm not utilizing my time as efficiently because I don't necessarily have to. Right now I need to ramp up again because I go into the Spudman triathlon next month. But like it made me realize how inefficiently we use our time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man Like.
Speaker 2:I was able to do a lot of that training with very minimal impact At least. I don't know we could probably cross check this with my wife but like very minimal impact on like home responsibilities or kid responsibilities. It was like I was able to just build in these times to work out that made sense and didn't take away from too many things. You do have to make some sacrifices. You know it's not, you're not going to get away totally scot-free, but like make some sacrifices and just discipline.
Speaker 2:And it was great because I knew again I'm not one who wants to go into an event unprepared. So, I knew I needed to make that time and make it happen and thankfully, whatever with my upbringing, I have kind of that resiliency in my mind where it's like I'm going to make this happen because I know I need to. But yeah, it's efficiency with time, it's just Dude. Yeah, it's efficiency with time, it's just dude, it's, it's it's important.
Speaker 1:It really is like yeah, you, you got to do it and my brother's running into that now because he has two um two girls that are two years old and then a four-year-old kid, so he's got twins and that's a lot at a young age, yeah, and like him and his wife.
Speaker 1:They try and run all the time and it's like they have to, he's. He always tells me he has to wake up like 5 am on a saturday just to get it done before the kids get up and um. But you know, he's. He's like it's a sacrifice. And one thing I loved in cam's book undeniable was he said that. And one thing I loved in Cam's book Undeniable was he said that passion requires sacrifice. He's like if you're passionate about something, then you'll have to learn how to make the time for it. And he talks about it with bow hunting. He always makes sure to shoot arrows every day, like lift run shoot every single day.
Speaker 2:That's what he does. I love that.
Speaker 1:And he's like I'll be successful if those three things are done. And it might just be coming up with that. He's like I'll be successful if those three things are done. It might just be coming up with that. What are the most important things you need to get done today? Just trying to add it to that. It's cool. What's next dude? What's next on the horizon?
Speaker 2:5K this weekend and then Spartan, we're doing Spartan, up at Snow Basin, doing the big one this year the Beast.
Speaker 1:What is a Spartan race?
Speaker 2:Spartan up at Snow Basin Doing the big one this year the Beast. What is a Spartan race? Is it obstacles?
Speaker 1:It's basically like a Tough Mudder on roids Really Okay.
Speaker 2:Tough Mudder was great. It was definitely challenging. Spartan is like that next level of push. I don't know, that's my opinion. Maybe some disagree, but that's how I felt, especially because they do the one here in utah snow basin and that is tough, and elevation, heinous elevation it's disgusting my friends that like got me into it last year.
Speaker 2:They're like oh, you're a runner, you'll be just fine yeah and I was like, okay, cool, so I wasn't thinking like too much of it. And then it's like the running is straight up the freaking hill. I couldn't run. You can't run straight uphill, you're just walking. It was like power hiking and yeah. So, and now last year we did the super, which is roughly a 10K. My watch said it was like seven and a half, so I'm loosely classified as a 10K.
Speaker 2:So we'll see if this the beast is supposed to be like a half marathon. Oh nice, but I've heard it's like a little more I've heard it's so much elevation gain, do you?
Speaker 1:know how much it is total, I don't I should but I think I've avoided looking at it yeah, I mean you'll find I don't want to get in my head about it like, oh, if I have to climb 2 000 feet, yeah, going with some ignorance, I mean oh man, but that's next.
Speaker 2:And then spudman um, which is an olympic distance triathlon up in idaho oh, nice, okay so doing that one, and then the big one on my plate for the year is st george marathon that that's. That's a sweet one, dude I've yeah, I'm excited I've completed 250k, so I've never actually run a marathon really I mean, you know, a legitimate marathon yeah I've done the 250s, and so this will be my first marathon. It's's a big deal.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to like really manage expectations. I've got my one. Buddies like you need to break three and it's like no, absolutely not Like, not yet you know, we'll get there. I need to get there. I want to qualify for Boston one day. Um, I want to qualify in this age of years left. I want to get Boston while it's still like in this harder age group you know, Um, so that's like my big focus.
Speaker 2:I want to see where I'm at this fall in St George and then we'll see. Maybe try for Boston quality at Ogden next year, that's awesome. Cause now they've put fricking penalties on all the downhill ones. Yeah, you got to pick one that's only got a little bit of downhill. That's crazy. So ogden was one of the ones that didn't catch a penalty, so I think that's gonna have to be.
Speaker 1:Is it five seconds at?
Speaker 2:least five minutes. Five minutes, so saint george. So if you get like a 225, george was a five or a 10 minute penalty I know the big cottonwood is a 10 minute penalty, so you got to run a 245 now oh my and then there's still everybody still says you have to have that buffer, so really you've got to do like a 242 if you're going to do big cottonwood, which dylan's going to try and do. I wish the best for him.
Speaker 2:That's tough yeah, 242 is fast, dylan, you got it yeah so I'm hoping, if things go well in october we'll try for ogden um next ogden's like may I think it's may of 26 try for a boston attempt there. But that's like my next big focus. I want to get to boston after boston.
Speaker 2:I mean I want to qualify. I'm not I don't know if we'll actually go back, but like yeah, I want to qualify right. I'm not I don't know if we'll actually go back, but like I want to qualify Right, I want that little check Mark. And I want my kids to know you know like dad qualified in the hardest age group.
Speaker 1:I mean, yeah, it's cool. Like I think that's you, you totally could do it, man, like so that's the goal. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then after after that, honestly, I do, in a few years, want to start pushing towards the longer stuff 50-mile, 100-mile. I don't know about more than that, but at least I do want to get into the more ultra realm.
Speaker 1:The 50K is fun and terrible which makes me scared to do this To do 50 as well. Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2:Everything I've heard about them is they're much slower than anything else, and I think that would be the Redeemer is like, because we we opened dylan's like nine ish minute miles or less and that was great for you know, six ish, ten ish miles and then after that, it was you know I can imagine it was just like way too fast. All right, story of every race.
Speaker 1:Though I have no control, I'm trying to get better at pacing and not opening full speed.
Speaker 2:That's what killed me. At the same 5K last year I opened at like a 6.42, which was really fast for me last year. But the problem was the first half mile of that 6.42 was probably like a 5.50 pace, so I just cooked myself in the first half mile of a 5K Dang man, I was like idiot Like all right, I was way too hyped to get off the off the line, and so this year we're gonna try to yeah, you got it.
Speaker 1:You got a redeem, a lot more disciplined about pacing.
Speaker 2:I'm not gonna blow the first 800 and then die I love it, man, and then hopefully next year.
Speaker 1:Are they doing the wasatch back next year for ragnar?
Speaker 2:they better be. They're supposed to have done it this year. I'm still bummed that we didn't do that.
Speaker 1:I'm so sad, but they canceled it, right, they didn't?
Speaker 2:do it. They canceled it. Something about permits, I think? Yeah, did you know?
Speaker 1:that. That's like the hardest Ragnar in the US.
Speaker 2:Is it really?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you just keep dude, like you keep choosing them. So that's rad. But yeah, we should do that. We should get a group together again.
Speaker 2:So yeah, well, kylie was on the right path. She's like we're gonna get a faster group this time yeah and I mean everybody did great last year, but always your improvement for speed you know, so I think it'd be really fun to get a quicker group and really send it so we could do. Oh yeah, see how many kills we can get yeah, since we didn't get a chance to avenge our title this year, we gotta that's right avenge it next year, get that gold medal in corporate yeah, no one's taking that from us, man, no one's taking the corporate medal from us.
Speaker 1:Come on oh man. Well, sweet man, um, before wrapping up, anything else you you want to say or um, share with the audience um, man, honestly, I'm just like I'm really grateful for what, like, endurance has done for me.
Speaker 2:I feel like I'm a whole new person than I was at 29. Yeah, um, so in just a few short years, I feel like I've really I don't know really learned a lot about myself. I didn't know if I had that kind of mental toughness, and I feel like, after some of the finishes that I've willed myself through, like, um, I know a lot more about myself now, a lot more than I thought I did, and I not everybody wants to know more.
Speaker 2:Um, goggins was a big one who's talked about. Just he wants to know how far he can go yeah and one day my wife asked me she's like why I was complaining about something. Admittedly, like I signed up for these things and it does suck like anybody who's kind of preaches that this doesn't suck is a liar.
Speaker 2:It's what I was complaining about. It's like, you know, you don't have to do this, and I was like. I know I was like, but I also have to do this. You know, yeah, and I was have to do this and I was like. I know I was like, but I also have to do this. You know, and I was trying to explain to her that concept of like I want to know what I'm capable of, and I know it's going to take, you know, a long time to get there, to truly figure out when properly trained, with enough time, you know what we're actually capable of. And she didn't really have interest in finding that out and was like and that's, you know, that's totally fine. Yeah, but something flipped in my brain a few years ago that, like, I do want to know. I want to know how far I can push it, what my body is capable of and if I have what it takes to get there yeah and so I'm glad that I've I've started.
Speaker 2:I'm glad I found this community, these, this is what I tend to be drawn to. Now I've kind of my friend groups have shifted a little bit over the last couple years because I just get more drawn to, like you know, I want to spend more time with people who are pushing themselves people who are working harder.
Speaker 2:Jace and I, we grew up together but we weren't like, you know, bff or anything. But I, after the last like year and a half, I would honestly say he's one of my closest friends now it's just because, like, I feel like we're both, you know, drawn to that similar mindset of like pushing yourself, getting better. Yeah, um, and even dylan, you know, we, we knew each other in the past and didn't I mean not that we ever fell totally out of contact, but it's like now we're a lot closer than before and things because we're both chasing similar things. Yeah, I love being around that energy, you know there's.
Speaker 2:Plenty of other people have talked about how surround yourself with people who are going to make you better yeah and so I love doing that, and strava has been like a good one, because it's like I can keep in touch with all these people who are also pushing themselves to be better and and that's I don't, that's all I hope to leave with, like my kids, with anybody who does listen to.
Speaker 2:This is just like find what makes you tick, you know, find your reason to keep going, whether it's kids or health or whatever. Knowing for yourself that was just the biggest one.
Speaker 2:For me, to be honest, is I want to know if I can do it and yeah, I feel like it's fun to push your limits, see what you're made of um because you learn a lot about yourself. Sometimes you learn you're not strong enough to complete a task you know or get humbled a little bit oh yeah, running is so humbling. You get passed by someone. You're just like, yeah, no way you just passed.
Speaker 1:That's super judgmental, but it's like it's so humbling it's amazing and I love it for that yeah, yeah, that's really all I appreciate you having me dude dude, of course, seriously, thank you, I, I literally, I echo everything that you said, because that's really it is. For me, it's like how how far can I go? Yeah, and then what can I learn about myself along the way? Because you do, you learn. You're not someone who quits. If you sign up for these and you commit to finishing. Like you said in the beginning, it doesn't matter if it's a failure. It's about not quitting.
Speaker 2:Just keep going. I can fail, I can't quit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, goggins even says he looks at failures as attempts. Yeah, and pretty easy thing for us to do as well. Yeah, because you will fail on this journey. Right, maybe not fail, but it won't go the way that you imagine it to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and during those times.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like you got to remember that it's not the end of the road. You can keep going, just don't quit.
Speaker 2:So it's just you against you, man. Yeah, I love that for the, for this sport.
Speaker 1:You know, it's awesome, it's fun, yeah but yeah, man, I appreciate you coming on and, um, yeah, it's been fun like watching your journey and and running with you random times like the ragnar and then dylan's birthday and yeah dude um, you know.
Speaker 2:Hopefully it doesn't stop so yeah, we'll have to get some runs in.
Speaker 1:We'll get some. I appreciate you coming on. Everyone else, thank you so much for listening to this podcast. As always, keep getting after it.