Here's a link to listen to this week's episode.
Guest: Michael Douglass @michaeldouglass0518
Show Notes:
Michael Douglass has been running for decades. After listening to David Goggins on a podcast, he decided to take his running to an entirely different level and sign up for a 100 mile race.
During this episode, sponsored by Barilla Protein+ Pasta and Athlete Bouquets, we talk about:
- The temptation to address him as "Your Honor" throughout our conversation
- His two-decade journey as a recreational runner, primarily focused on personal fitness rather than races
- The unique lunchtime running community he's formed with fellow legal professionals
- Breaking ground as his immediate family's first college graduate and attorney
- Discovering and building relationships with his biological father's relatives later in life
- Taking on the Philadelphia Marathon in 2024 as his first (and only) 26.2
- Finding inspiration in David Goggins' philosophy, which propelled him to register for a 100-miler
- The dedicated support system that rallied around him
- His determination to push through mile 86, declining medical treatment
- What it felt like to cross the finish line
- A glimpse into his musical past, including opening a show for the Foo Fighters
This is a SandyBoy Productions podcast.
Episode Transcript:
This is a Sandy Boy Productions podcast.
Welcome to Finish Lines and Milestones, a podcast that celebrates the everyday runner.
I'm your host, Ali Brettnacher.
Whether you're a season marathoner, half marathoner, ultra marathoner, prefer shorter distances or just getting started, if you run, you are a runner.
0:22
And every runner has a story.
Join me each week as I share these stories and we cross finish lines and celebrate milestones together.
This episode is brought to you by Barilla Protein Plus Pasta.
Barilla wants to help you stay active this winter with its great tasting protein Plus pasta.
0:40
I don't know if you know this about me, but I am 1/4 Italian and my family actually used to have a sauce cook off every summer.
The matalone family sauce cook off and so pasta is near and dear to my heart and over this holiday break I had my mom pick up some Barilla protein plus pasta when we had sauce with my aunt who won the sauce cook off the most.
1:01
The additional protein comes from lentils, pea protein and chickpeas, which actually makes it a great source of fiber as well.
And everybody loved it.
My picky kids, my meat and potatoes husband who doesn't like to try anything different.
Everyone said it tasted great.
1:17
It's the pasta taste you love with the energy you want.
And Lord knows we all needed extra energy to power through the holiday break.
So why not grab the yellow Barilla box of pasta when you're at the grocery to get a little bit more protein and additional energy?
Especially as someone who is a runner, adding additional protein into my diet is always great, so it's the perfect way to do that.
1:38
And Speaking of running, as we often do on this podcast, put your energy to the test and take on Barilla's Protein Plus Pasta's Winter Energy Challenge this February on the Strava Fitness app It's free.
All you need to do is complete 10 days of movement for your Barilla Protein Plus pasta.
1:55
Reward terms and conditions apply.
Sign up at strava.com and thank you Barilla Protein Plus for supporting this podcast.
Hello and welcome to episode 93.
This is Allie.
I'm so excited to close out the month of January.
I'm sure you are too because January is 1000 days long in Indiana where I am, it's pretty cold.
2:15
We've had some Arctic air that has caused two hour delays for school and just miserable running temps, so I've been inside quite a bit and I'm just ready for it to get slightly warmer so I can be outside.
A quick congratulations to my marathon running buddy, Becky Riley.
2:34
We trained for the Monumental Marathon together last year.
We did all our long runs together, I should say, and I met Becky through this podcast, which is so cool.
Nicole Dobronski, who is a running coach based out of California, is Becky's coach.
2:50
And so Becky listened to that episode and then emailed me and now we're friends in real life.
And Becky got married this weekend down in Florida.
So congratulations Becky, I'm so happy for you and can't wait to see more more pictures.
Another shout out goes to my running coach Rachel Senders.
3:08
She is hosting the first ever Team RMR running retreat which will be on March 8th.
So if you are local to the Carmel area, make sure you look into that.
It's going to be a fun day.
And this weekend, Lindsay Hyne, who now I feel like is my partner in crime at Sandy Boy Productions and she's the host of the, I'll have another podcast with Lindsay Hyne where she interviews all the pros.
3:31
I am cheering her on this weekend.
She's going to be down in Florida for the Donna Marathon.
So if you are running that race, make sure you look out for Lindsay and say hi.
I wish I was going to be there.
And then last but not least, the other announcement that I will continue to reiterate is that we are Lindsay and I are hosting an event the night before the indie mini half marathon this year.
3:53
So May 2nd.
If you're local or if you're coming in town for the race, just save the date.
More details to come, but really, really excited about that.
It'll be at the Bottle Works Hotel, which is just an incredible venue, an area of downtown Indianapolis.
So pumped.
4:09
And now I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, Michael Douglas.
I loved getting to know him and hearing about his 100 mile race that he finished last year.
The interesting thing about Michael is that he really had only run a couple of half marathons and only one full marathon before deciding that he wanted to go straight to 100 miles.
4:30
So I feel like with ultra marathoners I've talked to, this isn't the traditional path.
You usually kind of stair step your way up where you go from OK marathon, then you go to 50K and then you go to 50 miles and then 100K and then 100 miles.
4:46
You know, you kind of stair step your way back.
Nope.
He listened to David Goggins on a podcast and went all in.
And so I really enjoyed getting to know Michael and he's also, he also has a very interesting day job, which you will hear about as well and which I teased in the title of this podcast episode.
5:01
So enjoy this conversation with my new friend, Michael Douglas.
Hey, Michael, good morning or afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Yes.
Yeah, I Mondays.
I never know what time it is.
They go by so fast.
Oh, I know.
But Monday's always come quickly on Sunday night.
5:19
I think everybody's always like, no, I have to go back.
But yeah, happy.
Monday, Happy Monday.
So I joked in our e-mail exchange that I was just going to call you Your Honor, throughout this entire podcast.
I mean, you can do whatever makes you happy.
I mean it.
I tried to get my wife and kids to call me that but they won't they.
5:36
Won't.
Oh my gosh, your wife, That'd be so.
Please call me Your Honor.
That's right.
Yeah.
That went over that went over like a lead balloon.
So.
Oh.
That's so funny.
Well, yeah, I want to talk about your day job at some point during this conversation because I don't know that I've ever luckily, I guess spoken to a judge.
5:54
It's probably a good.
Thing, yeah, that, that's a great thing.
That's not a bad thing because that if you're in court, no matter if it's criminal or civil, it's, it's not your necessarily best day.
So that's that's not a bad thing.
Well, first I wanted to tell people how you and I got connected.
And it's through my well, he's my family member.
6:12
He's not technically my cousin.
I just call him my cousin 'cause I think that makes it easier.
But he's actually the son of my dad's cousin.
So whatever that makes Ryan to me.
But my friend Ryan Vors, who connected us and you guys went to high school in Fort Wayne together.
That's right.
I went to Northside High School and I've known Ryan since, let's see, 1992.
6:32
And so he got me hooked up with you.
My wife Leslie also went to Northside.
Matter of fact, my wife and I, we, we've gone to school together since the 6th grade, believe it or not.
I know it's wild and crazy, but we were just exchanging texts with Ryan wishing him a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year because we haven't seen him all that much since he lives in Indianapolis and we're in Fort Wayne.
6:55
But anyways, he, he knew that I had ran this race and he thought that was pretty cool.
And so he said, hey, if you want to talk to Ali, she does this podcast.
She's a super cool lady.
You know, let me know if you want to reach out.
And so I said, yeah, let's let's do that and, and here.
We are.
Yep.
7:11
So Ryan admitted to me that he did not realize that you were a runner until he saw you did that race.
So how have you been a runner before you decided to do that race?
Yeah, that's kind of most of my friends and family, they, they had no idea that, that I was doing this until I started to post things on Instagram.
7:31
And I, I'll be honest, I don't really do social media.
I, I did create an Instagram page just for, to give updates.
I had it in my mind that I wanted to give people updates every 5 miles as I ran this race, give a little video or a picture or something.
But that's when people started to see, wow, he's doing what, what is he doing?
7:50
And, and why is he doing this?
So, but no, I've, I've been a runner for a long time.
I mean, I'm so I'm, I'm 46 and I'll be 47 in March.
But, but I've been running probably since, I don't know, early 2000s.
8:07
And it would be just be casual stuff like I never did any races or on on rare occasion, maybe my wife and I would run some races, some like 5 KS or something like that, but nothing, nothing major.
And then as I've gotten older, I got into a group of of fellow attorneys and judges that would run over.
8:26
We we would run over our lunch hours.
And so my office, so the courtroom downtown, I'm only a couple blocks away from YWCA.
And so I go there to work out of my lunch hour.
And if it's nice enough, we all go out and run.
And so I've been doing that for years.
8:42
So yeah, it's just kind of progressed.
That's so cool, a running club of like judges and attorneys.
I would love to be just a family on the wall to hear what you guys talk about.
Well, you come out anytime, but yeah, it's, it's kind of nice because in the legal profession it's just you're everybody thinks, oh, it's always contentious and, and you're fighting each other and, and you got to be a, a bulldog and you got to hate the other side.
9:07
And, and frankly, that's not really the case.
And as a judicial officer, it, it can be a solitary profession because you do have to kind of separate yourself.
So it's nice to get with friends and a group of other colleagues that frankly, we don't really talk about work.
9:25
We talk about family, friends, you know, whatever, whatever else you got going on in your life, kids, vacations, races.
And so it's it's just a nice 3.
Yeah, I bet certainly in your profession you probably can't talk about your cases anyway.
I mean, that makes sense.
9:41
I just think about all the wild stories you probably have.
Or what do you tell people who find out you're a judge like me?
And I'm like, oh, I've watched TV and movies.
That's all My that's really my frame of reference for a judge.
So tell people what that really means and what your day-to-day life kind of is like.
10:01
Well, I will say, like legal shows, you know, solving a case or presenting a case in a in 1/2 hour that that's that never happens, right?
The law and order where it goes from investigation to a trial in one episode.
You know that in real life that doesn't happen, but but some of the scene, I always joke some of the scenes in in courtroom dramas or courtroom movies, some of the languages is accurate.
10:24
Obviously the parties, the judge, the the plaintiff, the defendant or the prosecutor and the defendant and the jury, those are real.
Standing up in front of a jury and talking, those are real.
Those sorts of things.
Some of the comments in real life would be object objectionable, probably wouldn't come in in real life, but but it's a movie and it's, it makes for good TV and and movies.
10:47
But yeah, the basic premise is there.
And frankly, in my job, I mean, this is going to sound, well, I'm not sure, but it's about serving the public.
And that's, and I mean that with all sincerity.
It's I've been an attorney for 18 years and I own my own law firm for a while from like 09 until 2016.
11:11
And so, and before that I, I was a prosecutor or deputy prosecutor attorney and I work with another law firm and it, it really is about trying to do good, trying to help people.
I know lawyers get bad raps, you know, it's, and I, and I laugh at the lawyer jokes too.
11:27
But truth be told, we're doing this for a specific reason and that's to, to help people.
And being a judicial officer, I can do it on more of a mass scale, even if you don't get the result that you want.
And I'm in civil court right now, so we don't hear anything criminal.
11:44
I hear almost like the best thing I can equate it to is like Judge Judy, but we do, we do small, I do small claims cases.
So that's that.
Anything $10,000 or less in the civil world.
So like breach a contract, what we call home improvement cases where say, if somebody comes out to your, your house or an apartment or whatever and they're trying to fix something, they don't do a good job or, or you don't pay them or debt collection.
12:08
We do a lot of landlord tenant stuff.
So evictions and damages to, you know, beyond normal wear and tear to people's property, you name it, right?
We also do protective orders, which are serious, which is a serious component.
And so we're very busy court.
But yeah, people come in.
12:25
Even if you don't necessarily quote, UN quote when your case, I hope that when you leave my courtroom, you're going to know that at least you were hurt and you were taken seriously and the court takes your issue seriously, even if it doesn't go in your favor.
12:41
And if I can do that and I can resolve someone's issue or a problem, that's good.
So you as a judge, do you do anything that's criminal or are you specifically your specialty is civil?
It's just civil, OK.
Yeah, in the bigger county.
So like Allen County, So Marion County, obviously Indianapolis, largest in the state.
12:59
Allen County, Fort Wayne is the second largest city in the state.
So Allen County is rather large and so we have different divisions.
So we have the civil division and we have the criminal division and then we also have the family law division.
And so everybody does their wherever you're at, that's what you, that's what you can focus on.
13:17
Gotcha.
And the word magistrate, is that the same as judge?
Are those interchangeable terms or what does that mean?
They're interchangeable terms when you're in the courtroom.
So a lot of people say judge or a judge or yes, judge or your Honor, those sorts of things.
13:33
But technically they're two different terms.
So a judge is an elected official.
So a judge in the state of Indiana, if you're a judge, a Circuit Court judge or a Superior Court judge, which they have the same authority and the same power to do to, to do their job.
13:52
Circuit Court, not to bore you, but Circuit Court is, is specifically listed in the Indiana Constitution.
Every county, there's 92 counties in Indiana shall have a Circuit Court judge.
And if you think back to like history, like Abraham Lincoln riding the circuit, Well, what that means is back in the day, the judge and the attorneys used to ride around all the different counties and, and hold court.
14:15
And they like their stories of Abraham Lincoln, you know, sharing a bedroom or, you know, some sort of a room with the Circuit Court judge because they were going around doing their cases.
So circuit courts then as the population grew, the cases grew.
14:31
Then the system, the judiciary had to figure out, OK, well, one Circuit Court judge can't handle all this stuff.
So then they started to, you know, statutorily or legislatively branch out and say, OK, we're going to create a Superior Court judge Superior Court system.
So it's the same thing.
14:47
But a judge is an elected position and when you're elected you hold a six year term.
OK, so and then a magistrate such as myself, I'm an appointed position.
So at least in Allen County I have 4 Superior Court judges that are my direct superiors and then they appoint they appoint me to be a magistrate.
15:09
OK.
Yeah, I know nothing.
So that is very interesting.
So you aren't like one of the people that have the yard signs what come election season, right To be elected, you are an appointed magistrate.
Yeah, once I got hired on in essence or appointed, unless my 4 judges want to not have me here anymore, then I'm I'm, I'm here for the duration and I'm thankful for it because you know, people ask me all the time how do you like your job?
15:37
And I've been saying this.
I've been in my current role for seven years now, and then I say the same thing.
And I said this in private practice, too.
It's like, I love my job and people like really, I'm like, yeah, really.
I actually enjoy what I do.
Now, that doesn't mean it's not stressful or, you know, hard or it's everything else that everybody else goes through.
15:56
But I can really say and mean it that I enjoy what I do and I'm thankful for it.
Was it something that was in your family before, like law, or how did you end up falling into this profession?
No.
Believe it or not, I'm the first person in my immediate family to go to college.
16:14
That's right.
And let alone law school.
So no, it wasn't in my family.
You know, I like the people say I don't come.
I don't come from money and I don't come from politics.
And So what I've done is is by working hard.
And that doesn't mean that I haven't had people mentor me and help me along the way.
16:32
I absolutely have.
So I finished undergrad, I was on the slow track, I was in a band for a while.
And yeah, I really didn't put a focus on college all that much, to be honest with you, because I was focused on other things.
And one, once my wife and I started to date, which probably would have been in late 1999, I knew it was like Peter Pan.
16:53
It was like, it's time to grow up.
And I and I will never regret anything that I did up to that point in time because I loved my life.
I loved the experiences with the band, I, my bandmates, just everything.
But I knew that it was time to move forward.
So I left after we played a show at a local bar here in town for New Year's Eve.
17:12
And then after that, that was my last show.
Then I buckled down, graduated college and started working and I worked here in town in Fort Wayne for a little bit.
And I, I don't know if you've ever had this urge about wanting to do more, wanting to do something else, knowing that what you're doing is you just know deep down that it's just not, you know, there's just something more out there.
17:34
And, and, and, and that's how I felt.
And so I would, my wife and I, we didn't have kids at the time.
And so we were, we'd go for walks or whatever.
And, and we talk about it.
And I said, man, I just really want to do something.
I want to do something that helps, you know, And so we talked about law school, we talked about Med school, law school.
17:51
And we, we ended up with law school.
And then so I went to law school and graduated and I started in 2003 and I went to a place called Thomas Cooley Law School, which is up in Lansing, MI Went up there and finished in like 2 1/2 years because I wanted to get done and because I was married and I actually had my son in 2004, which is nuts looking back.
18:17
It's like, what were we thinking?
Crazy.
But you know, you just make things work.
And so I finished law school in 2000 and then went on from there.
Yeah, I forgot.
You told me that you were the first in your family to go to college, which is just incredible.
That's how my mom was.
18:32
And her family, they're from my, both my parents are from Fort Wayne as as well.
And just she was the oldest girl in her family.
She has a total of five other siblings.
And yeah, she was the 1st to go to college.
And it it's just interesting to think about that, especially in the world we are in now, I feel like it's just kind of what happens.
18:51
Do you have any siblings?
You an only child.
Yeah, No, I'm an only child.
So my mom.
Yeah.
So my mom had me when she was 18.
OK.
And this is a wild story, you know, So I never knew my biological father.
And.
And it wasn't anything that my mom did.
19:08
So she, my grandparents moved around from my grandfather's job.
And so my mom, at the time, they were living in Springfield.
OH, and my mom went to this high school and she met this young man named Steve and how they got together, went to prom and then she ended up getting pregnant and she graduated high school and then my grandfather got relocated back to Fort Wayne.
19:30
And so obviously I was born in Fort Wayne.
So she was pregnant at the time and she was so young.
She came back with them and got a job, full time job and you know, had me.
And then Steve was, he had a football scholarship to Earlham College that he went and did.
19:50
And so he just never was around his parents or his dad.
And I'm not sure about the full story, but he just didn't just didn't come around.
So my mom reached out to him.
She found somebody new and I was probably. 65, fiveish and I was adopted by a guy named Tom and who I call my dad today because he is.
20:10
And so I never met Steve.
I never knew anything about his family and my mom wasn't one to keep things from me.
She said, hey, whenever you want to know, whatever you want to know, whatever information I have, I'll tell you.
And I never really cared to be honest with you.
It was more of the mindset of well, if he doesn't want anything to do with me, I don't know any different.
20:30
And I have a guy that is loving me and caring for me.
Well, I'm going to share a personal story with you real quick that a lot of people don't know.
A couple of years ago, it was probably 2000 and 2020, probably 2020 ish somewhere around in there, you know, and I was, I had always, the late, the older I got and when I started having kids, you know, I didn't know much about half of me, you know, anything medically, family wise.
20:56
And, and I just, I, I'd be starting to become curious.
And so I was talking to my mother one day and she was telling me that she was doing this ancestry.com, you know, she'd done DNA swap and all that stuff.
And she was talking to me about it.
And she started to do some investigation on her side and her roots and stuff.
21:15
And in the process, she was told by a high school friend that Steve, who would have been at that time, probably in his mid to late 50s, had died and he had passed away.
You know, throughout the years, I looked him up on the Internet to see who his family was in Springfield.
21:32
And if I ever wanted to reach out, I could.
So I found a couple numbers that I had stashed away because I knew at some point I wanted to talk to him and just just talk to him.
But then when she told me that, I thought, man, I never got a chance to reach out to him.
21:48
But I did have his, who I thought were his family's contact numbers that I found.
So one night I'm home by myself, my Leslie and the kids were gone.
Like I say this is probably in 2020 ish and I get the nerve to call these numbers and I know right And and I I call and I had two numbers.
22:10
One number was John Fricke, who my mom had said that he had a younger brother named John.
And another one was Jamie, who I didn't know who this Jamie was, but it, it says, you know, when you search somebody up on it, it says who their possible spouse may be or who they're related to.
22:26
And then I saw that there was a Margaret and that was her name.
And so I called, I called the number, I called this number and I got this voicemail and it says John and I, I didn't leave a voicemail.
I hung up.
I kind of chickened down.
I'm like, oh man.
But I said, OK, come on, man, you, you made that call.
22:44
Call again.
Something was telling me, call again.
And so I call again and this time a woman answers the phone.
And I thought, well, and I said hi.
I said, this is going to sound crazy, but I think my name is Michael Douglas.
And I said, and I'm trying to reach a John Fricke, who I believe would be my uncle or my dad's brother.
23:06
My dad's name is Steve Fricke.
And there was dead silence on the phone.
And this woman responded and she said, well, my name is Jamie and I'm John's wife and we've been waiting for your call.
And she said, do you mind if I put you on speakerphone so I can get John and my daughter Megan?
23:24
And of course, I'm like, absolutely.
We talked for about two hours and now I see them.
I go to their house, they come to my home.
I've been introduced to all the extended family members, even my what would be my grandmother.
I got to meet her before she passed away.
23:42
I did not get to meet my grandfather.
His name was Jack.
He he had passed away before I could get out there.
They still live in Springfield.
OH, I've got to meet John's daughters.
And one of his older, his oldest daughter has two kids now.
And so it's just been a wonderful experience, man.
23:59
And but yeah.
So I'm an only child, though.
Wow.
That is.
Wild Michael isn't that crazy.
Yes.
Like by the greatest.
God, that's that's how I by the hand of God, I I don't know if I ever would have made that call and I don't know why I made that call on that particular day, but I'm so thankful that I did because they're great people.
24:19
I love heaven, this whole other.
Family almost right.
I mean, it really is.
It's this whole family you never really had and wow, that's really cool.
Well, I'm glad you got connected to them.
And is your is your mom still living?
She is, yeah.
Yeah, she is.
She lives in Fort Wayne and she had moved away.
24:36
So my parents got divorced when I was 15 and I was a freshman in high school.
And my mom ended up moving to New Jersey, take a job, and she wanted me to go with her.
And I said, hey, I'm I just finished my freshman year.
24:52
I'm not I'm not really wanting to go to New Jersey.
And those were tough conversations.
That was a tough time.
But I stayed in Fort Wayne with my dad and finished out.
The rest is history.
So as.
A kid growing up, did you play sports?
25:07
Were you athletic?
I was in.
Band.
And we played sports.
I mean, we played basketball and I played baseball all the way up until I was, I don't know, 15 or 16 by the time I was 8.
But once I got to high school, you kind of had to make a choice whether it was going to be band or sports.
25:25
And I really loved music.
So I got into the band portion of it.
I did wrestle my freshman year.
I was terrible.
I got, I'm a tall, lanky guy and, and you know, if you know anything about high school wrestling, it's like I was 125 lbs.
The other guy that I was wrestling was like, I don't know if he won state, but he either did or was like runner up or something.
25:46
He was great.
His name is Jason, but he's like shorter than me and he's just ripped, you know what I mean?
He just would tear me up all the time.
So I wrestled my freshman year in high school, believe it or not.
But then after that I just said now, but I played sports and stuff when I was young.
I never did any.
Like there was no travel sports or if there was, it wasn't anything that my friends and I did.
26:07
And so, you know, he'd pick, pick up basketball, baseball, that kind of stuff.
But but no, I, I never, and that's one of the reasons why I wanted to do this 100 mile race is that I, I was never really physically or mentally pushed to my limit.
26:23
I didn't have that coach or those teammates going, you know, pushing you to excel or to not give up or to fight, you know, and I, I just never had that.
So no, to answer your question, no I not not really.
Well, this is.
26:38
The first time since we've been talking that you mentioned that this little race that you did was not so little at all and that it's 100 mile race, which is, you know, I actually last week talked to a guy who attempted his first 100 miles last year and now he is going for redemption come May.
26:59
And I just told him I I can't wrap my head around the distance really.
So did he, did he?
Yeah.
He made it 67 miles.
I mean, getting pretty damn close.
But yeah, it seems like in the sport of ultra running, you know, ADNF, not finishing is is really pretty common because it's such a feat.
27:19
And to your point, like the mental side of it.
So walk me through how in the heck you decided, OK, I'm going to do 100 miles because have you ever run a marathon before?
Have you ever done like I mean half marathons or even a 50K or A50 mile like so?
27:39
So, yeah, that's a great question.
So, yeah, you know, at this point in my life, I've been running for years, but nothing, nothing like that.
And I had in Fort Wayne, we have what's called the Fort for Fitness.
And so when that came about, and I, I don't recall the year that it started, but I did the very first, at that time it was a half marathon only, but I've done 1/2 marathon.
28:02
I did that race twice.
And then believe it or not, I've only ran one marathon prior to the 100 mile race.
And it was in November of 2023.
And I did the, the, the Philadelphia Marathon.
Amazing event.
28:18
Amazing.
I mean, I love Philadelphia as a city anyways, but it, it was an awesome event.
Les and I went there for a weekend and I've got to just walk around the city.
And then the race itself was great.
I love history.
So all the history and and all that.
28:34
It was just an amazing experience.
But that was my one and only, I'll say long distance run.
I mean, that was it.
And so I continued to run after that.
And you know, I had plans of running another marathon and and those sorts of things and was listening to this podcast and and David Goggins happened to be on this podcast.
28:54
And I don't know if you're familiar with or not.
I am.
Yeah, I really.
Liked what he was saying, of course.
I like the cuss too.
I mean, just in general.
I mean, it just kind of he's just being himself and I like that people.
Like.
That this is me, right?
29:10
If you were to talk to me off camera or off mic, you're going to get this.
This is just me.
And I really like that about this guy.
And he dubs him and says, listen, I'm not a self help guru.
He said.
I'm just going to share my personal stories, and I never heard of David Goggins before, but I listened to this podcast and he was promoting his what came to be his second book.
29:29
Never finished or Never.
Yeah, I think it was never finished or never finished.
And so I bought the book.
And so I read the book and I really thought his story was inspiring and more more inspiring to me was his mindset of he, he coined a phrase called be a savage.
29:47
Matter of fact, I have it taped up here.
Obviously you can't see it, but it's facing me on my computer screen.
Be a savage.
And I, I look at it every day all the time because his theory of you can do anything that you put your mind to.
It's not going to be easy.
30:03
It's going to be tough.
It's going to be hard work.
You got to grind through it.
You got to do things you don't want to do.
You got to whatever it takes, you got to do it.
And in certain points of my life, I felt like I've done that, but but nothing to that level.
And that really struck a chord in me.
30:19
I, I'll be honest with it.
It struck a chord in me.
And I, I started thinking about, he tells stories about running in Death Valley and doing these 200 mile races and just doing all this extraordinary stuff.
And it's like, man, this guy sees this.
30:35
Guy, he's great, he's nuts and and I'm thinking.
Why can't it be me?
Why can't I do that because I'm holding myself back or because I have an excuse that I can't train or Oh my gosh, this is wild.
Like that's 100 miles, who can do that?
30:51
Who does that?
And and I just was like, why, Why am I putting self-imposed limitations on me?
And I tell you, when I was thinking about that, it changed my life.
It changed me.
And then I read his first book.
I did it backwards.
31:06
And then I read another book called Finding Ultra by a guy named A Rich Role.
Oh yeah, I listen.
To his podcast sometimes.
Yeah, great podcast.
And I read his book and the combination of the two solidified it.
I'm not going to be, I'm just not going to settle anymore.
31:24
In my personal life, in my professional life, I'm just not.
I'm going to be a savage.
And if I fail, this is what Dave Goggin says too.
If you fail, it's not failure.
It's a learning tool.
And like your friend, like your guest.
OK, so you didn't finish.
31:40
Who cares?
You made it to mile 60 something.
That's amazing.
Now, what can you do to finish?
And so I'll be honest, I've been employing that to the best I can since I read those books.
And this was June of 2024.
I read those books in June of 2024.
31:58
And I thought to myself, I'm doing this and I researched.
I just kind of started Googling 100 mile races.
OK.
How Tampa?
Came into the picture.
There we go.
Yeah, I.
Started Googling and I'm like I was amazed at how many races there were and how many people were doing this stuff right at.
32:16
Least.
That's what it felt like, right?
I think statistically it's a very minute, you know, sure, small portion, right?
But when you use Google 100 mile races, you're going to see a list of things pop up.
And so I, I've got family in Colorado and for whatever reason, I'm kind of glad it didn't work out.
32:34
I probably would have killed myself.
Those, those Leadville 100.
You ever heard about the OG, like the OG race, right.
And so I, I tried to sign up.
OK, that's how I am.
Once I'm in, it's like it's go time, let's go.
32:50
So I tried to sign up and there was a waiting list.
And you matter of fact for that race, you got to get into a, a lottery system in December and then they, they pick, they pull out your number or whatever in January and the race is in August.
33:06
So that was a no go.
Then I found this race in Ohio and I tried to sign up for that and that was sold out.
I'm like, what, what, what in the world?
Who, who, who's doing this?
And then I started to really actually think about, OK, my very first attempt and race like, what do I want to do?
33:23
I wanted flat land.
I wanted good requirement.
I wanted something to where maybe I can spend an extra couple days afterwards enjoying and just relaxing.
And I came across this Tampa Bay 100 Tampa Bay 100 endurance run.
33:39
So I tried to sign up sold out.
I'm like what?
And so I get on the wait list.
I said, hey, maybe I can squeeze on this one.
This was in.
So the race was November 2nd and 3rd of 2020.
Mind you, I'm in June now, sold out.
A couple days go by and I'm like Jones.
33:55
And I'm like, man, Dang, if I'm going to go, I got to start planning this, you know, flights and hotel or Airbnb, whatever it may be.
And so I reach out to the race director.
His name's Joseph, super great guy.
And I said, hey, Joseph said, here's who I am, here's where I'm from.
34:12
This is my first 100 mile ultra.
When would you think that I would know worst case scenario if I'm in or not because I need to make arrangements.
He instantly responded back and said, what you from Indiana?
My parents are from Indiana, man.
They still live there.
Your first ultra, get out of here, you're on the list.
34:30
And so he puts me on, he puts me in, and there, there starts the journey.
Wild.
But yeah, and.
His but his parents, like my son goes to IU Bloomington and that's where his mom and dad, I think both went there.
And so he was he was very nice.
34:46
I got to meet his mom and dad.
They, they were there at the race as, as part of the race crew or, you know, they were helping out at the aid stations and I got some pics with them and of course they love that I was from Fort Wayne or Indiana.
Yeah, yeah, it was great.
But yeah, so that's that's he put me on the list and then it was time to figure out what I need to do because I had no idea right now you.
35:08
Google how to train for 100 mile race that's exactly.
Right.
And that's what I did.
I I researched, I bought a book on training for 100 miles.
But that this book is great.
But as I was diving into this particular book, it was like a training plan for like a year.
35:26
Oh, yeah.
Well, I had from now at this point, I didn't really start training until July.
So from July until the end of October that that was my window of training.
So it's like, well, I mean, this book is great because they had like what you should take, what should pack, you know, different things to consider nutrition, which I knew nothing about any of those things.
35:45
So it was great.
It was a good guide.
Yeah.
I just googled stuff and talked to some other people and figured out a training that worked for me and my schedule because it is time and intensive.
And so I would still run over my lunch hour but I would try to run 5 to 6 miles a day over my lunch hour and then on the weekends.
36:06
So like I would run Monday through Thursday five to six hours over my lunch hour and then take a day off on Friday and then Saturday I would run up to 20.
The the longest I ran was 28 miles and then the next day I would run 1512 to 15.
36:26
But generally it was like 20 miles on a Saturday, 12 to 15 on a Sunday.
And I would do that.
I would build up to that, but I was doing that for a while.
Wow, So 20. 828 miles is the longest distance training run that you did like in one go where you're like, OK, I'm going to go 28 miles.
36:45
Yeah, yeah, wow.
Now.
And it was.
Wild, man.
It was rain.
I'll never forget that day.
I ran.
Yeah.
So I just ran.
I ran like, 14 miles one way and then turned around and came back.
And these are on, like, major roads in Fort Wayne.
37:01
But then it started pouring down rain.
And I'm sloshing through and literally, I'm thinking of David Goggins, like, be a savage, don't stop, you know?
And so, yeah, But yeah, 28 miles for me, that was the most that I ran now.
37:18
Did your wife Leslie, did she run train at all with with you?
Does she still run?
She hates to run.
She she will run.
She's in great shape.
She does like more of the HIT cardio stuff.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And she's been doing that stuff for years.
37:33
She used to be a teacher, all sorts of stuff.
So she's in great shape.
Matter of fact, she just did 1.
So some of the guys that I work out with, we connected with her on Zoom and she taught a little class over the lunch hour to me and three other guys and kicked our butts.
37:49
Well, that's awesome.
So she.
Will run and she did run with me on occasion just to change up her routine and we would run six.
She would run 6 to 8 miles with me now that's great and she'd go forever.
She just said I just I just don't enjoy it.
And then as one of my crew members, which they all kind of surprised me, I don't know, maybe we'll get into this later, but she ended up running with me and pacing with me for about 11 miles on the day of the race, too.
38:16
That's really.
Cool.
Yeah.
I was going to ask you if you brought your family, like how you planned your crew.
Yeah.
So did she come?
She came down for the race.
Did your kids come down too?
No, because.
It was during their some my so my son.
Let's see that would have been last year.
So he was been a freshman or No, that would have been his start of his sophomore year.
38:35
So yeah, he was in school and Seoul's my daughter.
And so no, they couldn't come down.
But.
But originally it was just Leslie.
I didn't know.
And she didn't know.
I'm like, hey, babe, I need you to be my crew for this.
She's like, what does that mean?
I said, I have no idea, but I need somebody down there with me in case I like something happens.
38:53
I don't know.
So funny.
So you just.
And so she's like, OK, but you know what?
And this, this gets me every time I talk about her to think about it because the community, the fellowship of just people or you have people in your life that that, and I have people in my life and, and maybe we're those people for other people too.
39:12
But like when people started to hear what I was doing, like my friends at the gym, there's two guys, one guy named Sam Mello.
He's in his mid 60s and he has run a marathon on every continent.
Even even.
39:28
Including Antarctica.
I mean, the guy's a beast.
He goes, you're running, you're going to run 100 miles.
And I said, well, yes, I'm going to do my best.
And he was like, I'm coming.
I didn't ask anybody because it's time, it's money, it's effort, you know, it's a lot.
39:45
And he goes, I'm coming, I'm going, I'm coming, I'm going to, I'm going to pace with you because I could have Pacers too.
I couldn't have a pacer for my very for the first segment, which is 28 miles.
So for the 1st 28 miles, it was just me, which is fine.
And after that then I can have Pacers.
40:01
Well, Sam ended up pacing with me for 17 miles.
This is how much of A beast he is and just a a great human.
He shows up me and my wife and kind of getting ahead of myself, but my wife and I and then we had my mom when she found out I was doing it and her husband, they they said, Oh no, we're we're coming down and then.
40:22
A very good friends of ours and Brian and Carla, a husband and wife.
They heard that I was or you know, we were just talking about it and they're like, you're doing this, like we're going to be there, dude.
Like we're we're we want to be a part of this.
So all these people voluntarily just came.
40:39
They just kind of got into my orbit and, and help me and, and and help me and I didn't ask any of them.
They just did, they just did it.
And so Sam shows up and I have another friend named Rob, and him and his wife came and Rob was one of my Pacers as well.
40:57
Yeah.
It was an amazing bonding experience.
Like I I'll never forget it.
And I don't think they will either.
And it was just a moment of love.
I can't say that enough.
It was a moment of love.
And.
And I'm thankful and grateful for each of them.
41:13
But so Sam, he paced with me because I needed, I wanted somebody to run with me when it got dark because I didn't know what minds, what I would be like physically, mentally running that late.
And especially in there one in the morning, 2:00 in the morning.
41:28
And I've been up since 5:00 in the morning or four in the morning.
The next, you know, the previous morning, I didn't know what I was going to be like.
And I have, of course, you're researching all these things and you see people be delirious and you know, and, and doing whatever, right.
So I'm like, Oh my gosh, I can't, I don't want to be like, you know, not found in some street off of, in Tampa or something because I'm brothering around not knowing what I'm doing.
41:53
Oh, Sam hooked up with me at mile 56.
That was another eight.
That was the second aid station.
And so by that time it was dark.
It was dark.
And so we get the aid station.
I always would change clothes, get something to eat or try to, even though you're not really hungry, you don't feel like you want to.
42:13
You got to force yourself.
And then Sam hooked up with me then.
And then he ran for 17 miles with me.
And then at 1:30 in the morning, he said, man, I got to bounce, man.
He's like, I got to get back to the hotel, take a shower because my flight leaves back to Fort Wayne at 6:00 AM.
42:29
So he gets picked up by an Uber on the side of the road at 1:30 in the morning.
After he just.
Ran 17 miles with me and so he's amazing and the rest of my crew.
I mentioned earlier that I was only planning on having two Pacers, Sam and Rob, and Rob was going to pace with me and did the last segment.
42:49
So last 14 miles, Rob paced me, which was which is very thankful for because I didn't know I was walking.
I couldn't run.
I mean, I was, I walked the last 14 miles and and the rest of the crew, so my wife, they all kind of surprised me.
43:06
So at the first aid station, this was after 20 miles, they said, hey, we've all decided you're not going to be alone for the rest of the race.
I'm like, what are you guys talking about?
And they're like, we're running like Leslie's eyes.
I'm going to run.
And I'm like, what?
You don't even have running shoes.
Like you brought these old tennis shoes that were like, they're not really running shoes.
43:25
She says I don't care, I'm going to run.
And so she ran 11 miles and it was hot.
It was like 9293.
Yeah.
And it was you're running on the sidewalk like on a major.
This is like a six lane Rd. you know, down in Tampa.
43:41
And it's like sun's beating down on you.
I mean, it was, it was hot.
And she was a trooper, man.
And she did it.
And then my mom, who's 65, she ran, what was it like 2 miles ran slash walk because at that point I would run for like 20 minutes, walk for 10, run for 20 minutes, walk for 10.
44:03
And so she, she did that.
We kind of walked a little more, but she she did it for two miles.
And then my friend Brian, he rented a bike actually, and biked with me on two separate occasions, but for like a total of like 25 miles or something like that.
Yeah, man, that's what I'm saying, man.
44:20
I just felt the energy and felt the felt the love until I and then I passed out.
I did.
I actually.
Passed out at mile 86.
So it was the last aid station Ally.
This is why it's wild, man.
44:36
I mean, I I was running and I was actually doing well.
My goal was to finish 30 hours because most 100 mile trail races.
Now this was inside a city so they called it an endurance run.
But most trail races they give you 30 hours to complete.
This one, they gave you 34 1/2 for some reason, but my goal, because I knew I'm probably going to do another one.
44:59
I wanted to finish 3030 hours or less and I was on it.
I was killing it for me, for an old guy, for 46 years old, I'm like, yeah, we're doing this thing.
And I was on track to do it, man, to finish sub 30 hours.
And I started, yeah, I saw people puking and throwing up and not feeling well throughout the whole race.
45:19
And I was, you know, I had a little routine where I would eat the, the, I had these gel packets that I would eat and then I would supplement that with some Fig Newtons because I found these Fig Newton bars that were 200 calories that I can fit in my desk that I was wearing and plus my electrolytes and plus where the water and all those things.
45:40
So I would do that every half hour to every hour, I'd I'd have a gel pack and I'd have a Fig Newton and I would drink my electrolytes obviously to keep going.
Well, after a while of that, you know, my stomach started to get upset.
And the third aid station was at mile 67 and I wasn't feeling well at all.
46:00
And when I left, the people that were manning the station was talking to Leslie and they were like, hey, when he gets to the next eights, they tell him to stop eating that stuff because it's obviously it's messing up his stomach and tell him to start eating some salty stuff, chips and whatever else.
But when he gets to mile 86, have him take like a 20 minute, 1520 minute power nap, put his feet up, take a nap, wake him up, get some knee and then hit the road.
46:28
So when they told me that, so my crew, they rent, we rented a van and so they were up just like I was.
They followed me around and monitored me.
And about every 5 miles they would stop and make sure my water was refilled, make sure I had enough gels, food, whatever I needed.
46:48
They were, it was, they were amazing.
And so they were on this journey too.
I mean, they didn't sleep.
It's.
Hard.
That's hard, too.
Right.
I mean, it's, it was it was intense.
So they told me this and I'm like, OK, great.
That nap sounds amazing.
47:04
I'll be at this point I'm exhausted.
I mean, I am physically and mentally exhausted.
There was a point in time where it was past the 75th mile marker.
I'm walking, walking, walking slash running, but walking and it's early in the morning and it's still dark out and my friend Brian is on his bike and he's in the roadway and I'm on the sidewalk.
47:25
And this is right after the Hurricanes, both hurricanes.
And so there's still a lot of debris and stuff piled up on the roadway and on the sidewalks.
And so I kept going up and down the curb and stuff.
But I remember we were in some neighborhood and I remember wake when I feel like waking up and I'm, I'm in the middle of this side street now there's no cars, but I'm thinking to myself, like, man, you got to get it together.
47:49
You're like going to get, you're going to get hit or something and you're going to fall over or something.
So, so I'm like trying to wake myself up and I literally was sleepwalking.
And Fast forward, we're all reminiscing after the race and I I tell that to Brian and he goes, man, I wonder, He said, because you ran into a Bush and he ran into someone's Bush in their yard.
48:13
He's like, but I didn't know, he said.
I just thought you were tired or something.
He's like, I'm like, yeah, I was sleeping, man.
Like I was like sleepwalking.
That's funny.
So it was great.
So I get to mile 86 and they got the van pulled up.
It was like this little parking lot, almost like a park pavilion almost.
48:30
And they had food there and drinks and different things.
And so I immediately took my socks and shoes off, got in the front seat of the van laying back, put my feet on the dash and I was out.
I mean, like dead to the world out.
Leslie wakes me up like 20 minutes later and she's like, it's time to get up.
48:49
And so I wake up and, and I turn around, I'm in the passenger seat of the van and I turn around to get out.
And my stomach was upset.
And I thought, well, OK, I'm just going to, I'm just going to throw up and get sick and I'll, you know, then get something to eat and then we'll keep moving.
49:07
And we're on this pavement.
And so I said, hey, and my rest of my crew is there.
Other runners are there and they're people.
And so I said, hey, I'm going to go over here and get sick.
I'll be back.
I go to get I get out of the van and then I pass out and luckily she's there and she catches me before I land on the pavement and she places me like in the passenger wheel well of the van.
49:34
And another one of our crew member, Carla, our good friend, she's smacking me in the face.
Come to find out she's like, like smacking.
Wake up, wake up.
And so finally I come to and Leslie is like, her face is like right in my face.
And she's yelling breathe, breathe, breathe.
49:52
I'm going.
What?
Like, I'm.
I'm breathing.
And they ask me questions, like, what's your name?
Where are you at?
And I, of course I knew.
I knew it.
Yeah, well, while I was out, Leslie was talking to the race personnel and they called the EMS shit.
50:10
And the EMS come and they hooked me up and they were like, hey, man, your your vitals are great.
We just think you're a little dehydrated.
And they said we can do one of two things.
We can take you to the hospital or you can decline treatment.
50:28
And I tell you, Ally, that's the first time out of the entire race so far that I thought to myself, should I quit?
Like what?
Because I'm looking at Leslie and she's looking at me now.
I, I had to ask my crew beforehand.
50:44
I said, now listen, I've read and done a lot of research and people can do and act crazy and, and be mean or nasty when they're in these states of, of running all day long.
I don't know if that's going to be me or not, but no matter what I say or do, don't let me quit and don't let me even talk about quitting.
51:09
Quick reminder, this podcast is also brought to you by Athlete Bouquets.
Celebrate finish lines and milestones of the people you love with runner gifts from athletebouquets.com.
Now, I hadn't said any of that and I wasn't mean and nasty, thankfully.
51:27
And that was they were actually laughing at me because I was more concerned about them.
Like Leslie, you're doing great.
You're running great.
You're at mile 10.
This is amazing.
Keep it up.
Or my friend Ryan.
Brian, how are you doing, man?
How are you?
Are you?
You're writing.
They're like a matter of fact.
Brian goes Mike, you're asking about how I am, he says.
51:46
I'm riding a bike.
You, you're at mile 70 or whatever it is, like we're here for you, man.
It's all good.
That's funny and so I but.
I told him I said strict rule, no quitting, no talking about quitting, no matter what I say or do, please, please don't let me.
52:02
But at that moment when the EMS is standing there wanting me to tell them what I want to do, I'm looking at her and she's not saying anything.
But I can tell on her face she's concerned, right?
She's like, what?
You just passed out and I this is what this is not right.
52:19
Yeah, seems.
Like the time to consider quitting when you pass out?
Yep, right.
Right.
And so I'm, I'm internally thinking like, God, I don't want to hurt myself and I'm going to be extreme.
I don't want to like die or yeah, you know, or something.
52:35
And then Carla, God love her.
She's standing there and she can must see that I'm internally I'm thinking about this.
And she goes, Michael and I look up at her and she's like, do you want to finish this race?
And it was like the proverbial last slap.
52:51
And I'm like, yes, I do, because I'm only 14 miles away.
I mean, only in quotes, right?
Only for miles away.
But I said so I said, and I did, I said, yes, I do.
And she goes, well, then let's go.
53:07
And so I looked at the the the and the Ames guys were great.
And I said, hey, thank you for your service.
Thank you for helping me, and I'm going to decline treatment.
So I did and declined treatment.
Got something to eat, got a little something to drink.
53:25
I put my socks and shoes on.
And my friend Rob that I mentioned earlier, he's standing there and he goes, Mike, whenever you're ready, I'm going to get you across that finish line.
And I said, OK.
And I, that killed my, I mean, I still finish the race and I'm very thankful for that.
53:40
But I, they killed my time.
I was there for almost 3 hours and, and I was, I think I finished 33 hours and some change.
And it was like, ow, I would have made my goal.
So I, I got up and I, I went through and I finished just like shaking.
53:58
My head for people who are not going to be watching this video, I just it's like wow, runners are nuts like we're just nuts.
You know, I I run marathons and I think that's you know, that's a lot.
But then talking to people, I mean it is it's all all of it is relative and if you run, you're a runner, but I just the 100 and those distance races are just now if you had to say what percentage would you say is physical versus mental?
54:25
Oh, I would say.
I mean, once you're once you're conditioned, once you train and I, and now mind you, I'm running a lot slower pace than what you would run for a marathon.
So like I'm running it, I train for like 12 minute miles, which is a very slow try.
54:43
And even when I would walk, I would do like a power walk at about 15 to 14 minute miles and marathons, you're running a lot faster than that.
I would say it's mental, man.
It's mental after pick a mile wipe for you.
55:01
Like for me, it was probably like in the middle of night when I was sleep running.
After that it was like I was exhausted.
I remember sitting on the curb having some watermelon and telling my wife, you know, because they would again every 5 miles or so we'd stop and make sure I had everything.
55:19
And I'm, I remember sitting on the curb and I'm just, I'm telling her I'm slumped over and I'm eating my watermelon.
I'm like, I'm just so exhausted.
I'm mentally and physically exhausted, but you just got to keep pushing.
Like Goggins is right, but you just got to keep going.
55:35
And I don't care what it is, marathons, 5 KS, walking to your car, whatever, whatever it is, you just got to keep going because you can do it.
I think he shares a some sort of stat like from the military is like, you know, when you think you're physically exhausted, you've got 40% left in you right.
55:56
And that's.
Wild to think about, isn't it?
Right, and that's where the mental part comes, comes in and it's so true, man.
I mean, I, I was, I had never been that exhausted in my in my entire life up to that point in time.
And it was just you got to keep going, keep moving even after passing out, keep going.
56:16
And so that's just that's what you got to do.
So to answer your question, it's, yeah, it's physical to a point, but then you're going to be tired, you're going to be sore.
You're not going to want to eat.
You got to keep drinking and eating and just keep moving.
Yeah, I'm convinced.
56:32
It's like at least 8020 like 80% mental like maybe if not like more than that because you just start telling yourself you can't do it and all these negative thoughts just start flooding in.
It's like that is hard to fight at times, especially when you're physically so tired.
56:49
Yeah, that's right.
I agree with that.
I like to tell.
Myself, when it gets really hard, like in a marathon, I, I just think, OK, this is what you train for.
This is the moment you train for is you trained to feel horrible and just figure out how to sit in that for as long as possible.
57:06
Sounds so bad, but it's like that's how you get through it.
You're like, I know that I have trained for this and when I do a training run that has maybe some speed or something in it and I feel like that's hard.
I'm like, well, you're just, you're just practicing for when the race is going to be really hard.
Yeah.
And, you know, when I was reading those books and doing the, you know, watch yourself on YouTube and research, it's like people call it, you've probably heard this too.
57:30
Pain cave, the pain cave on the pain cave.
And it's like, OK, bring it on.
I'm going to stop here, but we're going to get this done, I think.
And, and maybe, you know, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this too.
Is that I've, it changed my life.
I mean, I and I don't my day-to-day living is the same, but I mean is my mindset is I can literally, I feel that I can literally do what I set my mind to do.
57:57
Obviously I'm never going to be an astronaut and go to, you know, those sorts of things, at least right now in my life.
I mean, but you probably could.
I guess like at this point, but if you don't want to, then you're not going to.
Yeah, right, right.
But.
I I can achieve things personally and professionally that I probably never would have considered or dreamt of prior to this journey.
58:19
Yeah.
And it's just like.
Running your first marathon or running your however many marathons you've run, right?
Yeah.
I mean, it's all yeah, and it's all relative.
Again, like we just said, whatever that is to you, right?
It's not easy at times.
And if it is easy the whole time, then you're not pushing yourself hard enough.
58:35
Yeah, exactly.
And I think, you know, I think that I'm trying to teach my kids this too, is that they and I, and I hope that they see their old dad and you'll do something like this is like, you can, you can do it.
Oh, you can finish college.
58:50
You can go to a grad school.
You can run 100 miles.
You can hike a mountain.
You can whatever.
It's not going to be easy.
And it takes hard work and it takes some sacrifice and it takes some grit and some pain.
But when you're out on the other side, man, it sure does feel good, doesn't it?
59:10
Yeah.
So tell us about that, that buckle, Like, OK, take us to the finish line and like who's there and what time of day it was and like how you felt when you were finally done and you did it.
Yeah, it.
Was so I'm with Rob, my pacer and we're walking in and, you know, from a distance I can see the beach and, and the finish line.
59:32
And so by this time, I mean, I'm like, I actually told Rob he was like, hey, man, because you know, we went the last 14 miles and so he would say, Hey, we're going to go another mile and take it, right?
Because he was we had an app that we used to to for the directions.
And finally.
59:48
I said, hey, Rob, can you just give me guidepost?
Because when I hear a mile or two miles left, it's like, what?
Yeah, get out of here.
So he started to do that.
And so, but once we got towards the finish, I could see the the end.
1:00:04
And then it was like, OK, we're going to keep walking, keep moving.
And we go down this like little ramp.
Area and we're on the beach now and we come around this bend and that's where the finish line is and you have all the race personnel.
Joseph, his last name is Fuller and he's there.
1:00:23
The rest of his people are there and people are cheering and different things.
And people that were there for me were my crew.
So yet Rob was with me.
Sam had to leave.
But and then my wife Leslie, my mom, Vicki, her husband Paul, and then Brian and Carla.
1:00:38
And it was just a surreal feeling of accomplishment.
I did it, we did it.
And when I crossed the finish line, I gave my wife a huge hug, started tearing up, and then gave hugs to everybody else and got the buckle.
1:00:53
And that's all about the buckle, baby.
And, and it was just, you know, it's like that scene out of Shawshank Redemption where he, the main character is crawling through that pipe.
You know, at the end of the movie, he's crawling through the pipe and it's like disgusting and, and hard and nasty.
1:01:12
And he finally makes it through any rain comes down and then he's on a sunny beach enjoying life.
That's how I felt and that's how I felt for me and my crew is like we went through something together through it was raining at some points in time, it was hot, I passed out.
1:01:30
They hadn't slept.
They didn't know what they were doing either.
We were all doing this for the first time and we and we survived and we were successful and we did it.
And then we're sitting on this on the sunny beach and just enjoying each other's company and love.
1:01:48
And it was, it was amazing.
And I asked for Starbucks and I had a Starbucks coffee because if you knew me more, Ally, I'm a complete coffee junkie, OK?
OK, what's your drink?
Just black coffee.
Black coffee, straight up.
1:02:05
Straight up.
Yeah, straight.
Up Yep, so it was it was amazing.
And we sat at the beach for a little bit and just kind of reminisced and shared, shared war stories, so to speak.
Remember when you slapped?
Me, Carla.
Hey, you remember when you ran into the Bush, man?
1:02:21
Like, yeah, that's so fun.
Exactly.
And you know, we did that for a little bit and then it was time to, we was like time wise.
I mean, gosh, I'm not even real sure.
It was early afternoon, 1:30-ish, something like that.
So the race started at 5:00 AM on the second, which is a Saturday.
1:02:41
So 33 hours and some change later, but I want to say early afternoon somewhere around in there.
And then we went back to our, we Airbnb this place and we went back there and everybody basically passed out, took a nap for a couple hours.
1:02:57
And we got up about 6:30.
And they asked me and they say, hey, what do you want for dinner?
And I wanted, I didn't want to go anywhere.
Yeah.
I know and I.
Just wanted to lay with my feet up and so I said I'd like to have pizza and chicken wings.
And so that's what we had, Pizza and wings.
1:03:14
Perfect.
So.
It was an epic adventure, and the best way I can describe it is it was terrible and terrific all at the same time.
Yeah, you know, I.
Like, to use the Taylor Swift lyric, it's miserable and magical.
Yes, because it is.
It's like, that's exactly how you can describe it because it is utterly miserable.
1:03:32
But there's something just so magical about that.
I don't know.
Yeah, I know.
And when you?
Look back, it's like you, you don't remember the pain and the self doubt or anything like that.
I mean, you can reminisce about those things, but you don't really remember those things.
1:03:50
It's the magical part.
It's it's the terrific part that you've that you've accomplished something which is special and and I'm glad that I did it and I know for a fact that I'll do it again.
Yeah, I was going to.
Come back to that which is part of the end of the podcast question.
1:04:06
So we'll we'll save that for a minute, but what did you do with your buckle?
Why is it not it on your wall behind you?
I like well, I.
Have it and actually my mom so they gave us some other little stuff too.
So a belt buckle and like a a little Florida flag and some other things.
1:04:24
And my mom asked if she could have those things and she's going to put it in a shadow box.
That's cool.
As a as a present.
Yeah.
So I said sure.
And so no, that's that'll be hung up somewhere and no.
So, yeah, for sure.
So.
Cool.
Well, huge congratulations again for such an incredible accomplishment.
1:04:43
It's amazing.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Very much so.
Yeah, now it's time for end of the podcast questions, which I can't believe.
Two questions.
First is your favorite mantra and or song which I feel like I might know your mantra now that you said you have it taped in front of you, but right.
1:05:00
So yeah, my mantra would be, yeah, be a savage.
I got to give credit to David Goggins, but be a savage.
Just never stop.
That's kind of what it is.
As far as a song, you know, I was talking to my staff before, before we were going to meet, and I said, man, that's a tough one.
1:05:16
I said I, I don't really have a song, but I have a genre.
So, you know, I went to high school from 92 to 96 and these rap was starting, was coming out and chronic and all that stuff, which is near and dear to my heart.
So it's so I, I have Pandora and that's what I use when I run.
1:05:34
And I have a these gangster rap station that I that I plug in and that's what I listen to when I run long distances because it just gets me.
Oh, it just gets me pumped up.
That's so great.
I love.
That my, we were just, my husband and I were just listening to Will Smith with the kids recently and I was just like, man, I mean, that's not the obviously like the hardcore 90s rap, but oh man, summertime.
1:05:58
Man, great song, right?
I mean I.
Forgot about all of it.
So yeah, so good.
I love that.
Now.
Please tell me what genre your band played, the band that you were in so.
We played ska music, so I played the Alto saxophone and so are you familiar with ska music?
1:06:15
You're going to need to tell me.
What that is?
So it's like a.
Reggae, jazz kind of mix.
And it was, I guess, the best.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
Yeah, OK.
No doubt.
So they were kind of some popular bands back in the mid 90s, mid to late 90s.
1:06:32
And so, yeah, I was in a band called Scalposis for from about 96 to the, like I said, the end of 99, New Year's Day of 2000.
And so we played, man, we played all over the place.
We toured around and our, our claim to fame, we're on the radio for a while.
1:06:50
That's cool.
We got to open up.
Yeah, it was, it was a lot of fun, man.
And we got to open up for the Foo Fighters and Ben's full the hell out.
Of here.
Yeah, the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, which is our local kind of venue, you know, here.
1:07:06
So there's like 10,000 people there plus.
So it was, it was a it was, it was wild.
It was awesome.
That's why I say I'll never regret those years because it was just a lot of fun.
Yeah, that's.
Really cool.
Have you ever Have you read David Grohl's book?
1:07:22
Have you read his book?
I have.
Not it's so good.
I love the Foo Fighter.
Yeah.
Is it OK?
Yeah, I listened to.
It and it was excellent.
OK, good.
Yeah, I'll have to listen or read that you.
Will I don't know if you.
Can see that is Brett Michaels band you can see.
1:07:38
That right?
Here, drumhead and then this picture, which has nothing to do with my the band that I was in, but when I was in private practice, I represented Brett Michaels, bass guitar player and got him out of a jam and got his cases dismissed, some felonies dismissed.
1:07:57
And as a thank you, they came to Pierre's, which is a local club here in town and played.
So Les and I and two of our couple friends, Brian and Carla being one of them and another couple named Jason Lynette, we got to have VIP passes to see them play.
And then Les and I got to go on their tour bus after that and she got a picture with Brett Michaels.
1:08:17
And then we hung out with Ray or what he went by was Dirty Ray at that time.
That's.
Great, SO.
Oh yeah, that's all of fame there.
That is so.
Fun.
I've never been on a tour bus.
Maybe.
Someday.
I don't know.
It was now Brett.
1:08:33
At that time Brett Michaels had his own.
So there was 2 tour buses.
He had one just for himself and then the rest of the band had one which had like bunks and stuff in it.
OK.
And so we sat.
On the other one, we got on his just to take a picture, and then we went and hung out on the other one.
1:08:49
That's so cool with Ray.
Yeah.
It was a lot of fun.
Good guys.
Oh, man.
OK.
And.
Then final question, perhaps next finish liner milestone.
So what 100 are you going to get into next?
When are you thinking you want to do it?
Are you going to do anything else?
1:09:04
Any other marathons?
Sprinkle those in there for training runs.
I don't know man.
I'm going to do 800.
I'm not sure which one.
I'll probably do it again this coming fall because at that time my daughter's soccer season will be done and I don't like to miss my kids stuff if I can avoid it.
1:09:22
So it just worked out that time of year works out well because she's in she'll be in high school soccer.
She's a junior right now and she'll be a senior next year.
So this coming fall she'll be a senior, but I won't really I won't miss anything as far as that goes.
1:09:38
So probably sometime in the fall where at I'm not sure.
I would love to do the Leadville.
I, I was too late for me to, I didn't put my name in for the lottery, but they do have a Leadville 50 Miller.
And the, the thing with Leadville, if you're not familiar with it, it's, it's in the mountains.
1:09:55
So you start off at like above 9000 feet above sea level starting off and then you go up from there to above 12,000 feet and then back down.
And so, and I've done stuff on the mountains before and it's, it's tough, right?
I've never done anything like that.
1:10:10
I've hiked a 12,000 foot mountain before.
So that's on my radar.
You don't have to, I don't think you have to join any sort of lottery for that particular race.
But so that that's kind of appealing to me.
But yeah, I'm not sure.
But I'll definitely do 100 another hundred this year if I see him this.
1:10:30
Year OK, I just looked it up the IT 100 is October, I don't know if that's late enough.
October 11th and 12th.
Oh, is that the?
Speedway.
No, it's.
It's the.
It's the Indiana Trail 100 and it's in Albion, IN I want to say it's up by Fort Wayne.
1:10:45
I thought maybe I'm picturing the Yeah, I'll be in is a.
Little further north than us.
Yeah, OK, 'cause I that's a good one.
There's another hundred that they do it by the White River, Yeah.
I don't know.
See, you're talking to a marathoner.
So I learned through my guests about races that happen because I'm like, I don't know anything.
1:11:05
Yeah.
So I think.
There's another, I'll keep that one in mind too.
And then there's one that's done on some sort of path like a like a pavement and it's called the piston.
I don't know, Speedway something.
But yeah, that's in July, I I think.
But yeah, plus the fall.
1:11:22
The the other reason why I like to do the fall is it's not so hot.
Although you did Tampa for your first 100, Miller, I feel like if you're running in 90° like doing an Indiana fall 100 would be just this like welcome.
I mean, I can't even, I'm not a hot weather runner.
1:11:39
I'm not really a cold weather runner either, but I'd rather be cold so I can just layer on the gear versus being so hot and not able to really do much.
So that's crazy.
Yeah, it was.
It was hot, it was hot man.
So yeah, well, thank you for that because I'll put that on the list to to research.
1:11:57
And and I've also been kicking around.
I I've never done well, I don't even own like a like a road bike or anything, but 1/2 Iron Man.
Is it kind of appealing to me too.
I know why 1/2 That's what my wife.
Why not just go?
For the full Iron Man, you.
1:12:12
Got to have the mentality now.
Why do half when you can do the full so but but I I don't own a bike and I've never really swam like that yeah so that I haven't decided on that yet, but we'll probably do something like that too Well I'm.
1:12:30
So glad that Ryan connected us because I'll be I'll be cheering for you and if you keep posting on the Instagram that you had for your first 100, then I can at least follow your adventures there.
So you'll have to just keep me posted since you're not on social media and I can't.
I do still have my Instagram.
1:12:48
I got to be honest, I don't really post things, but but yeah, I do still have it.
I mean, this is how bad it is.
I don't even know what it is.
Michael Douglas 0518, I think at Michael Douglas 0518.
So anyways, yeah, check it out.
1:13:05
I think my videos that I was posting was still up real quick and then I I don't want to keep you longer than kicked out.
I'm getting.
Kicked out of my room that I'm in at the library.
This lady is like staring at me.
OK, so, so I, I was doing every five mile segments, right?
1:13:22
Well, then like mile 75 ish, I stopped and then I passed out and I didn't start up again.
And so people were texting Leslie and my like, is he OK?
What's he doing?
Is he what, what's going on?
And so I, I, so people were actually watching it, which I didn't know if people would or not.
1:13:40
But so anyway, well, thank you so much.
It's my pleasure to be here.
And I'm glad that we got connected and, and hopefully we can stay connected.
Same same.
Well, thank you and thank you to everybody who has listened and happy running.
Thank you you as.
Well, thank you.
If you enjoyed this Sandy Boy Productions podcast, please please go share rate review.
1:14:01
If you want to be friends online, you can follow me at Ally ALLYT.
Brett under score runs.
See you next week.