Spoke and Sole

I think that we need to do well, it's not I think people need to do a better job celebrating themselves when they accomplish stuff. Yep. Because, you know

I I agree.

Right now there's too much we're in such a, comparison society because of social media and all those other things where, you know, you say this all the time, run your own race. Yep. You're you're your only competition.

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Welcome back to Spoke and Sole, home of the essential athlete. I'm Terrance here with Anthony and today I wanted to have a conversation going back a couple weeks actually it might have been over a month ago, but it's really about you getting back in the game or dipping your toe back in the water. And I wanted to have this conversation because, you know, as an athlete, you know yourself or you've when it's a been there, done that, you know, you may have certain expectations and you measure yourself based on well, at least for me, it's habitual to measure yourself based on past performance.

Past performance, yep.

Again, as I said earlier, yesterday's price ain't today's price. You know how I say this all the time. Father Time is undefeated. I'm vintage, but at the same time, you know, there might be a little dust on the box that I keep myself in. So you recently ran a five k after five was it when was the last time you ran a five k?

At least five, six years. I can't even remember. It's been a minute.

So five, six years. And on top of that, life has been life in, right? Very true. And your baseline is not what it used to be. Not just because of the five or six years been off, you had a health situation where your body had to, we'll put it this way, your body's different.

Body's different. Very true.

Right? So I wanna go back to before you actually towed the line.

Okay.

And we may have talked about this, but again, I'm vintage. So my memory might not be as my memory banks ain't what they used to be. And the cost of RAM is going up. I can't afford any new ones. Right.

What got you to where you were saying, alright, you know what, I'm a do this.

Well I think as an athlete, in general, you know, we always wanna, you know, there's a difference between training and racing. It's almost like, you know, actually doing it versus, and I don't wanna say pretending because training's very important, but I think, from a mental perspective, when you're racing, your training looks different, you know? And I, I'm not gonna, I never was, you know, in between that five year time frame, I never fell off, like I, I, we would still train and, you know, I would run, bike and swim, but it's different tone of line, you know, it's, you get caught in the lull of zone two, you know, where it's like, you know, I'm kinda you know, I'm trying to preserve versus I'm trying to push forward.

So, not to cut you off, but is it is it fair to say, and for me I think this is the case, when it's not a race we're really not training. We're running, we're riding. For riding, we do this more riding. Riding is more Writing may have more of a training aspect from

this

perspective. Somebody's pushing the button at some point or we're blocking off segments where we're saying, okay, there's gonna be a effort here that is above what we've been doing and it's targeted.

Yes, and running is different with that because at that time and also, I mean I had been training but we were really getting cycle heavy so True. And if you recall at one point, you know, our Sundays would either normally be the ride or the run and then, eventually I think it ended up being the ride or the ride inside. So was, and I wanna call it a comeback because I've been here for years. Yeah. But, you know, it was more of a trying to get back into that piece of it.

Because running's my first love, you know. So for me, I wanted to get back in. And really to kinda see where I was. And I think, from a race perspective too, what I love about that is that's where you get a chance to really test your mentality, you know, because you're on the clock.

Yeah. So I I wanna talk about the mentality piece for a second because you had this itch to come back, but you weren't the same. And what I mean by that, obviously, you know, you're still the same person, but you had a health situation where you weren't the same. From a mental perspective, before you even got to a point where you felt comfortable to say, Oh, I'm ready, how did you, what was your mental like? What were the questions that you had to ask yourself or you had to answer yourself?

Well, mean, think first I had to ask myself why I was doing it. You know, was it because of ego? Was it because, you know, I still wanted to see if I still had it? Or, you know, or just if, or was it for the love of it? You know, that was the first question that I had to ask.

And the second question was, you know, what's your plan? You know, I always tell people, you know, we've been athletes for a long time. I mean, I've been an endurance athlete forever. I mean, I've done dozens, probably hundreds of races, you know, but saying, okay, can you physically do this? Because, you know, your body's different, know, as you eat, I mean, I'm gonna be 55 years old, you know, it's different, you know, and I look back and we see these time loops, you know, we've been in this game like fifteen, sixteen years, so, I mean, my 39 year old body versus my 55 year old body, you know, is totally different.

And you take that, right, so

we've been doing this for a long time and it's much longer because again, you go back, we were athletes before, life happened, kids and all that. There was a, I mean, was a gap where I can say it. I was living it up.

No, me too.

I was living it up. What I can say, not to get into what brought me back, but I mean, Ayla's what brought me back because you have these kids and they're older and then you have a little gap and then, you know.

And what's your goal too? I have two grandbabies, so I wanna be able to play with them. So for me, everything's all encompassing of, we just talked about that in the prior episode about your goals, that's my goal. You know, my goal in the future for, you know, my wife and my family to be able to, like, wanna be a, you know, I wanna be a 65, 70 year old person who, you know, when I retire, I can enjoy my retirement and, you know, I can walk up the stairs and I can do those different things.

Yes. So I'm a switch it to me for a second because this is gonna lead me to a question for you. So we go back a few years, actually it's been a while now, and I had back situation which really switched from, you know, the heavy run stuff where I was running like five, six days a week to the cycling piece. And more recently, we'll call it, I'm not even gonna call it a relapse because the stuff that I had been experiencing more recently was nothing like what I was having back then. And see, this is where I go, I said the thing.

But for me, the pause has not recent pause has not been more or less the situation with my back because I have no restrictions. For me, the pause has been, for lack of a better term, PTSD. The fear of, and this hasn't happened, but the fear of being out there and having an incident has kept me from being me and going out there and doing what I enjoy doing. The question that I have for you is at any point during your I'm trying to phrase it right way. I don't wanna say come back.

I don't wanna say revival. Or your we'll just say your training or planning for training, was there any fear from a mental perspective that, okay, well, I don't wanna do this because.

No. Think, know, and we talked about that yesterday, about systems and structures, I mean, know, a healthy, a body in motion stays in motion, it's a healthier body, so, you know, my understanding was, you know, it was nothing that, wasn't, I knew I wasn't gonna, you know, break anything or do anything from that perspective. Most of it probably was more of, you know, can you live with what the results are gonna be? That would, I mean, not gonna sit in front and be like, Oh yeah, like I'm fearless, I'm not fearless. Like, that was my thing, like, okay, you know, and I'll sit back and I'll think about, and I'll digress a little bit, but you and I, I don't remember what year it was, but it was the Gloria Gemma race, and I had been telling Tempo T, I was like, yeah man, this is what I'm trying to do, these are my, I think it was like, I was trying to get under, not, under 20, I think it was under 20 or something like that.

And we worked really hard and I thought I was gonna die at the end you know, but looking, and then looking back at that, and then, you know, those are the things you think about, because you start thinking about your past performance, you know, let's say the past performance is a predictive of, you know, is a good prediction this, of future performance, but that's not always the case, You know, and also, and having to really, you know, my fear was, again, my fear was, okay, are you going to be able to live with whatever that result is? That was my biggest fear during training. But it was also, a motivator too, because again, at the end of the day, you know, as athletes, you know, a lot of the things we do, you know, the consistency and the discipline of it makes it so simple that, you know, even if you go out and, you know, and again, because it wasn't like I wasn't training three times a week when I was doing that. I mean, my training schedule now and the way that I train now is differently than when we trained previously. You know, like I'm not a run heavy runner, like I probably run twice a week.

You know, it's the cross training that really builds me the strength. I had to kinda really have that conversation with myself. You know, can you live with the results?

Yeah, and I think for me, that's where understanding that the process has to be different. Right? Yep. I think for me, well you know, they say, you never hear of a person who had back problems. Yeah.

You know what I mean? It's always someone who has back problems. And I got a clear understanding where or what the actual issue may be. And again, like I said, I have no restrictions. But for me, I put a restriction on myself because when the incidents happen, they happen.

Then you're immobilized. And when you're immobilized, there's a whole bunch of stuff that runs through your brain. I don't care, you can be the toughest person in the world when you laying down and you can't move. You know what I mean? Your brain starts to play all these kinds of, I don't wanna say tricks, but all these questions start You going through your know, listen, what happens if I'm down here

for good?

And all

these other things.

And the challenge for me has also been, I'm glad I switched up where I go from a doctor's perspective. I'm gonna say this, don't know how the medical field that, I don't wanna term it the medical field. From a health perspective, I think there's a lot of questions that don't get answered when you go in to see a doctor today. I think that it's too much of a numbers game. I think what happens is get rushed in, you get rushed out, and there's questions that you don't have the opportunity to ask.

And so when you don't ask, they don't get answered. But I think understanding that, you know, there's two things. As time goes on, again, said Father Time is undefeated. Your baseline, you need to understand that your baseline has to, your baseline is going to change.

It is.

And you have to come to grips with that. And you mentioned this earlier, a big part that is getting over the actual ego because some of those past performances, it's just not gonna happen.

And they were what they were. And know what, and I And no

one can change that.

Yes, and no one can change that, and honestly, the fact that, and I always tell people, you know, from my perspective, you know, I always say about, and again, I'm not the most religious person in the world, but by the grace of God, I'm still able to do what I love to do. At, you know, at 55. Yeah. You know, and I know people, you know, I just, I met with a friend of mine yesterday, and you know, she's been paralyzed for like almost three decades. And I had a conversation with her, because I've been trying to be mindful about meeting people and telling people how I feel about them.

And I was telling her, and then she's like, Oh, you know, kinda, and I was like, Well, wanna come and see you just because I wanna give you your flowers now. And I was telling her, I was like, you know, you're very motivational to me. She's like, oh, why? And I'm like, you know, the fact that you get up every day and you're in this chair and I see you smiling and I see you doing everything you have to do with whatever restrictions on what you're doing, who am I? Who am I as someone that I can, that I have, you know, I have, I'm able to walk and run and do whatever else, who am I to take that for granted?

You know, so And I You always say that it's about perspective. So for me, it's it's about perspective. And also being able to understand, like you said, Father Time's undefeated, you know, but the past performances, you know, should really encourage you and have prepared you for what you still can do.

Yeah. And that's beautiful. And I think that first part is really beautiful. Again, taking the opportunity to to express to people what they actually mean to you. Again, I think that I think that is something that we do such a poor job of.

And we just gotta do better. The other part about that too is your past performances, they should be a building block. When I say building block, what I mean by that is they've happened and no one can take that away from you. But again, when you start thinking about, okay, well that happened that many years ago. If I can do this, it might not be that, but listen, I'm still in the game.

I'm still able to

actually And it's cost corrected equivalent, you know? I mean, it's cost equivalent and it's consistent. And that's the main thing, you know, I mean hell, you know, whatever I'm doing right now, when I'm 60, you know, if I've lost a minute, or if I've lost thirty seconds, personally, I'm okay with that because, you know, I understand that, you know, and even with what we're doing, and I'll just take it off track a little bit, I think that's why some people don't really get started because it's their ego. It's their, you know, I'm running thirteen minute miles, I don't give a damn if you're running a sixteen minute, I don't give a damn The

fact that

you're out there, you're moving, you're staying healthy, you're putting yourself in a position and your family in a better position to be here longer. And I think that's something that, you know, again, time humbles you and gives you a better appreciation.

This is the beautiful thing about this. And when I say about this, I mean about this, right? We talked about building the community and community is not always about running and cycling, right? It's really about, I'm a use your phrase, life lives. Yep.

Right? And you have to be able to have the conversations and weave off because if life didn't life, you wouldn't be running. You wouldn't be cycling. Right? The beauty part is being able to sit and have that conversation and being able to provide or be an example for individuals.

We have to stop comparing ourselves to other individuals.

Comparison is the comparison is the thief of joy.

Yes.

I tell people that. And and and as an I've learned that from sewing, you know, because, you know, we all create and then people are showing, oh, wish I could do this. And it's like, no. Like, you don't have to compare yourself to this person. This is your talent.

This is what you can do. And like you said, give yourself credit and flowers for what you can do and what you've accomplished. You know? I I mean, again, bringing it back to that conversation, I knew prior to that that, I mean, I've run five marathons. I've run maybe 50, doing a 50 or 60 half marathons and countless five k's.

I have nothing to prove, you know. The things that I wanna do is, you know, I wanna be able to teach and model for my 21 year old and my 19 year old sons and my grandkids that, hey, you know, that, you know, they could say what they want, they'd clown me, but, you know, Daddy's, Daddy's 55 and he's still out there and he's still doing it and he's trying to stay healthy and they don't necessarily have to do what I'm doing but they know that it's been modeled for them that you can be healthy and that there's wealth, in doing that.

Yeah, I thought you were gonna say there's wealth and health because there is.

There is.

All right. So let's get back to the race for a second.

Yep.

Right? You get out there. Now I was there.

You were there. I was there. And it was great to see you too, You like

get out there, right? You walk into that actual crowd. You're you're you're it wasn't a corral, but you're behind Oh, was listen.

First off, it was packed as hell. I had and I've, I think the last time I've been anxious was, I wanna say my first marathon, half marathon, it was a rock and roll one downtown.

Downtown, yeah,

And I remember because I think, Big Rob got a picture of me doing something like this, and I remember doing it because I was anxious. But that was the fir- that was the second time I've ever been anxious and all the time that I hustled because, you know, what I had expected versus what I got. Because I expected it to be, and they said it was a large crowd, but I expected it to be, you know, I'm not gonna say a small, but expected it to be a medium sized crowd and I got there and I'm like

The Gatsby calls them in.

The Gatsby, I'm like, this is like a roach motel up in this So, you know, and we ran from Courtney's house there so, and I got like, extended anxiety because I'm running and I'm like, Oh, shit. So I get there and was, there was some anxiety, but it's almost like second nature kicks in. Because you start seeing people, like I got a chance to see, you know, Chris, Chris Osoorski, who's our teammate. I got a chance to see, Mary Anne, who was really surprised, she didn't know I was running. I got a chance to see Skip.

Again the same kind of I a chance to see you so people who normally can give you comfort based on what we've done that was able to kind of squash the anxiety.

Yeah it was great to see. First off, it was great to see you and out there amongst the crowd, especially since it was me in Court last year, right? It was great to see the extended running family out there, which I gotta say, by the way, we haven't seen enough of them because we have not been out there. This summer, man, between my fear with the whole back six, in the last couple weeks it wasn't just fear, I was down for the count and that's the thing. But between all of that stuff, the summer, we're already in, dude we're in the middle

of August. We're in

the middle of August. And we normally see whether it's Skip, Mary Anne, Susan, Karen, we normally see them much more frequently. So you get there, you're in the crowd, you're a little anxious, expectation versus reality. The race starts. How did you feel that your body responded from an expectation perspective?

I know you did the warm up, you ran from court's house. But, again, when the gun goes off, it's a little different.

Yeah, well, I'll say this as well. You know, one of the things I love about the sport period is about the fact that, like, you always hear me say discipline, systems and structures keep you safe. You know, one of the things I knew was that I had my same structure. Like I knew, like, what it was, you know, I hadn't ran in a long time, but, you know, before the race, I had on my, you know, my playlist, my pre race playlist, you know, with Whitney Houston singing and all different things. That kinda clicked your, clicked my mindset to get me back into it, even though I hadn't done it.

Know, it was kinda like a, you know, a muscle memory type thing. So it was cool, like, you know, at first, we were, in the beginning we were, it was so crowded. And I was telling court, I was like, Listen man, I, I, we gotta get somewhere positioned. Because, you know, I remember from, I think it was the blessing of the fleet that we used to run, it was similar to that, where there were so many people that

Blessing does call out a lot

of Yeah. People, So if you don't get position, I don't care how good you're running, it's gonna affect your race because you're gonna kinda get swallowed up in the crowd. So we ended up positioning ourselves, we weren't right at the top with the elite, you know, but we got as far up enough where we could kinda do what we had to do. So that was cool. Then, you know, the gun went off, you know, and that's when the mental gymnastics start to play in your mind.

Know, and again, and I'm a pretty, I guess I'm a conservative hustler, like I'm not, you know, I'm not

You do conserve.

Yeah, I'm conservative. Look, I'm conservative and I'm strategic. So in my mind, I had played in my mind what I was gonna do, you know. My goal was, before I even stepped out there, like, hey, you know, I need to get, like, even with whatever maturity, whatever else, I need to be in under 30. Like, for me, and that's not an ego thing, that's just based on experience and everything else and having run.

I should be able to get in under 30. All things considered if I don't get hurt or anything so that was my goal. The, the gun goes off and we start running, it's hot as, it starts getting hot.

Oh, was, listen, here's the thing, you say it starts getting hot, it, well, I can imagine as your body starts to warm up, listen, it was sweltering out there.

It was, it was, so it started getting hot and then, because it was cool on the way coming up, but once we got there it got really hot, like it got

I was concerned for people during that race.

Like it got hot to the point where it it actually changed my it changed how, you know, my strategy. Because I'm like alright, you know, initially I was gonna do it progressively. You know where, you know, and again,

I- You had that, you had negative splits? Yes,

I had the negative splits, that's what I was gonna do, I was gonna go out, my goal I was gonna go nine thirty, nine thirty, nine, and then probably like eight forty five. That was, that was my goal, you know. And I, and again, that's nothin' that, that's something that should be easily attainable based on the base of training. So we get out there, and it starts getting hot. Then in my mind I had forgotten, because what we run is on, that used to be one of our routes, but it, it, I was blank on, on remembering what it was like.

But I remember, you know, and, you know, and just like what run ism is like, because how people say, oh yeah, it's not really hilly, this shit's really hilly. So in my mind I'm like, I couldn't picture where the hills were from memory. So I'm like, alright, pace yourself and be good where you're at. So we get out, the race starts, court's out. I mean he's out.

He's out. And I'm like, and you know me, like, again, I'm not, you know, I'm pretty conservative, I like to warm up. Again, you know, we talk about knowing your body. Like, know like my body's not what it used to be, so I can't get away with, you know, and I, and I don't want, and I don't wanna bonk either, I'm like, you know what, this what we're gonna do. You know, we're gonna, just chill, see how it feels.

But as that's going on, it's getting warmer. Court's out at like, man he's probably at like, eight forty five. And I, again, I'm not saying that that's fast, but from a race perspective to start out when it's that hot. He's looking back, I'm like, I'm waving him forward, so, you know. But I'm feeling good though, and surprisingly so.

But I know that's dangerous. Because, again, when we talk about men, you know, ego and mental, mental I'm like, don't fall, I'm telling my, I'm, and you know, I'm talking to myself in my mind.

Don't fall for it, don't

fall I'm for like, don't fall for okey doke, I'm like, chill. So I hit mile one, it comes up at 09:30, so I'm like, alright. So at that point I I I understood that and I felt good, and I and I really felt good because I'm like, alright, you know, my body's still, you know, I, I still, my runner's body's still my runner's body. So it's not, you know, again, don't know, it's not what it was back then, but it's solid. I mean, having, after five years, I'm like, nine thirty is good, especially how hot it is.

So I'm like, all right, I'm gonna chill, you know, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna keep this pace because I knew the hill was coming at some point. So I think at like, mile one ish, there was a little one, but I, but I, then I started to remember what it was, I'm like, okay, this is what it was. So we hit that one, and then I'm like, alright, at mile one. So I'm strategically thinking, but it's still getting hotter, it's always getting hotter. And my, my mind starts playing my tricks on me.

So I'm telling myself, I'm like, listen, you stop this shit's a rap. If you stop, was telling her, if you stop, it's a rap. So we get to, there's a turnaround at like a mile and a half, course still up there doing this thing. And, but I'm still, I'm feeling good, I'm like, all right. Like, you know, like how your body starts to, my body starts to adjust a little bit.

So I'm like, right, my body, and I felt solid. So I'm like, alright, we were at mile and a half, we turned around, but then we hit that hill coming up at like 1.7, I'm like, fuck. But I feel good though.

Yeah.

So I hit the hill, I pass court, he's walking, I pass him, and I get up to the top of the hill and I'm like, Oh shit, I feel good. So, I'm like, But you can't let cockiness kick in. So I'm like, alright, so I hit mile two and I'm still at nine thirty one. So I'm like, oh shit. I knew the hills was gone for the most part except for like that little incline or whatever.

So your strat- my strategy's still like, alright, so normally, at mile two it's like, shit. It's, you know, it's the mile time, it's championship mile time. So man, I tried to kick it into second gear and I'm like, oh shit, it wasn't.

Your gear got stuck a little bit?

It was held back a little bit, so, But I know I'm still making progress, I And still know I still got a little bit of kick, but that's when I could tell too that that's where that training piece comes in, where, like, I started to realize, like, that's where I realized when the speed and, you know, the tempo, when the tempo t runs come in. But I'm still feeling good, so I pick it up, and I get to where the race started, but bro, I, listen

You still gotta go up and

make that turn. Thought it was the finish. Gotta

go So up and make that

listen, so at, I turn, I'm like, oh shit, because I did my kick. So I turned, the gaaman hits me, and it was a double negative, yeah it like a double negative. Because I turned the corner and the gom- the gommen lady's like, nine twenty three, so I'm kinda souped, still, because, again, I still was able to shave off, you know, that amount of time. So, I turned the corner and then I look up and the clock says twenty eight zero two. So you know us as runners, I'm like, Yeah.

You gotta move your ass. Now I hadn't really played into it that the gun time versus the chip time, so I didn't really play that, and I didn't even think about that. All I'm thinking is, you gotta move it. So, again, and and traditionally, during that last quarter ish, you know, Nolan got a really good kit. So I'm like, Alright, you you whatever you got, just give it what you got.

So I I stopped pushin', and I make it through and I end up ending ending that last, quarter whatever at like a nine sixteen, which again, you know, I I finished under 30, really respectable, and most importantly I crossed the line and I wasn't dead. And I probably had more left, but like you said it's the, you know, you trying to gauge kinda where you're at. Yeah. And I'm actually glad that that happened because I got a chance to really find out, you know, I really had a chance to fight my ego. Because, you know, I could've, you know, could I have run faster?

Yes. You know, but could that have made me injured? You know, and I say that only because, you know, I don't know if you remember, but in in our whole entire race history, it was the first race that my wife went to. And I and it wasn't the last, but she, oh my god, it was that re it was the turkey trap. And that started coming into my mind because I was so gung ho on breaking, I think it was twenty eight or something, back then, twenty eight, twenty seven minutes.

And all I could remember was after I finished, like someone coming to me trying to hold me up and I ended up being in the ambulance. But, again, having the perspective to say that, you know, to live a run, live to run another day.

Yeah.

So, So as a whole, was very proud of what I did, and most importantly that I was strategic.

I'm gonna ask this question, but I'm gonna answer this question. I would guess that you would say that it was, from a race perspective, from a performance perspective, was successful. Understanding that, again, yesterday's price is not today's price. That baseline has to be different. Your performance is not going to be what it was, and it shouldn't be.

Taking all those things into account, the change in your body, I would venture to say that you felt that that was a successful race.

Very successful, and I think the most successful part of it was just understanding and knowing who you are.

The mental part of that, right?

Knowing who you are as an athlete and as a person, to and to to give yourself restraint, to to to have restraint for, you know, when you're doing things, and to give yourself grace too. And to not and and I think we maybe we may have talked about it off camera, but celebrating what you did. Yeah. You know, I mean, you know, with everything that happened, with the time off and everything else, you know, you know, my mother used to say when she was alive, she'd be like, you know, I think I did damn good. And I, I, I, in my mind I was like, I did damn good.

You know, I didn't hurt myself, you know, I exceeded, you know, I wanted to get in under 30, I did, you know, and I did it safely, and I also was able to assess, and I was able to pivot and pause as I was going through all that, and make the adjustments so that I could do those things. So for me, I couldn't have done anything differently and I couldn't have done anything better. And that's helped me to move forward for whatever other things that I'm gonna do, you know, whether that's, you know, when we ride, you know, eventually I'd like to get back into, to doing some triathlons, after doing that, that's the hardest part of that. So if I can do that, then I can do all the other two things.

I think, well first off, I'm a commend you. Two reasons. Number one, from a mental perspective, making sure that you say hold up. I'm not gonna get caught up in the trap. Right?

I need to make sure that I stick to my strategy and do what it is that I'm supposed to do and not let my ego take over. That is a huge challenge that not I mean I struggle with that. That's a huge challenge that not everybody can actually conquer. Number two man, you set a goal and you actually went out there and actually did it. You know what I mean?

I think that that is commendable. I think that you know, looking back at what you went through and what you continue to go through, life, being able to set a goal, particularly that type of goal and say, hey listen, I'm putting my feet back in the water, I wanna see what I got. I commend you for that, I think that that was an immense achievement, I think it's phenomenal, and congratulations.

No, I appreciate that. And I think that goes to your community and your tribe. I always tell people, Court and I were running yesterday and, we, you know, we, we had happened to run into one of his students who we had had fallen on hard times. And, he had talked to him doing some things, during the y'know, we were talking about life, and we were talking about how, like, y'know, in our twenties or thirties, y'know, we normally chase women, y'know. In our thirties to forties, 40, 45, you know, we chase careers and shiny things.

And then, you know, as we progress between our four our late forties and fifties, you know, we we we try to chase peace. And I was telling him, that the best thing about this phase is that the tribe that we have, with all of us, that, you know, we've we've built and established a community amongst our guys in particular, you know, where, you know, we have a safe haven, where I was, you know, you all, as my tribe, you know, wouldn't let me, you know, if I said, and that's the one thing about all you I love, if I say, Hey, yeah, I'm doing this. And I'm not doing it, somebody's gonna be like, Yo man, yo, you said you was doing that, Like, what you doing? Like, we gotta, we, you know, we have to get you there. So for me, you know, even though that we all weren't running together, our whole tribe with the cross training, with the, you know, with, the riding the bikes and just the check ins, Hey man, you doing with that, man?

You good with that? You know? That, those are the things that help you get to where your goals, which, you know, I'll end on, like I always say, and I'm gonna make a t shirt with that. People need people.

On that, yes, people do need people. I think it's important to note that as we go through this journey, life lives, right? We go through this journey of life, being able to accept, appreciate, and endure who you are when you are who you are is very important. Being able to mentally say to yourself that, listen, I understand what I've accomplished and nothing changes that. But this is who I am and this is how I'm going to move forward.

I think that's very important. I think understanding that your baseline today is different from what it used to be and accepting that is a huge challenge, but it's something that we all need to do. And I think that with this last effort, you were able actually to do that. So, with that being said, I'm gonna end it like I always end it. Keep those wheels spinning and those feet moving.

And I believe it is keep those wheels turning and And those feet we'll see you on the road.

Peace.