236 | Ironheart Jeremy Woodward | The Zipper Club

Join us as we welcome Jeremy Woodward's "Ironheart Jeremy" (10:29) to the podfan and we hear his inspiring journey through heart surgeries, running, triathlon and his dedication to fitness and overcoming adversity. Discover insights on resilience, medical challenges, and the power of positive mindset. Jeremy Woodward shares his inspiring journey through heart surgery, his passion for endurance sports, and how he overcomes challenges to live a full, active life. Discover his insights on resilience, medical advancements, and his mission to inspire others.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Hosts
03:21 Celebrating Global Running Day
06:20 Eric's Return to Hockey
09:14 Erika's Experience at the Infinitas Race
10:29 Introduction to Jeremy Woodward
12:53 Jeremy's Heart Journey Begins
15:50 The First Open Heart Surgery
18:54 The Second Heart Surgery and Its Challenges
21:47 Facing Life-Threatening Decisions
24:42 Choosing Between Mechanical and Tissue Valves
27:56 The Impact of Heart Surgery on Life
30:52 Reflections on Health and Resilience
34:31 Life After Surgery: The Road to Recovery
35:55 Ironheart: Embracing the Challenge
40:10 From Novice to Ironman: The Transformation
44:27 Celebrating Accomplishments: Ironman and Beyond
46:34 The Challenge of Elevation and Weather in Arizona Triathlons
49:17 The Journey of Fitness Coaching and Evolution
52:16 Documentary Filmmaking and Personal Stories
55:20 Running the Boston Marathon: A Personal Journey
58:18 The Impact of Team Abbott and Fundraising
01:01:19 Public Speaking: From Fear to Passion
01:04:56 Resilience and Personal Growth
01:06:56 Inspiring Others Through Action
01:08:55 Community Engagement and Event Participation
01:10:46 Training and Mentorship in Running
01:12:32 Future Aspirations and Opportunities
01:13:57 Final Thoughts and Reflections
01:18:08 Erika's Experience at the Infinitas Race
01:19:18 Introducing Jeremy: The Iron Heart

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Transcript

Eric (00:55)
What's up, everybody? And welcome to episode 236 of the On the Runs podcast. And it's Tuesday, baby. It's the best day to make better than yesterday. And tomorrow is Global Running Day. But before we get to any of that, in our amazing guest today, I must say hello to my amazing kick-ass rock star for co-host, Six Star Erica. What's up?

Erika (01:18)
Eric, what's up, buddy? ⁓ I feel like I haven't talked to you all weekend. I was kind of off the grid.

Eric (01:24)
Yeah, and you made no content so no one knew what you did and what's going on and unfortunately none of them are gonna get to know because we're gonna g yeah, because we're gonna get right to our guests pretty soon. But you did like some mudding in Vermont, right?

Erika (01:32)
Until like next week. Two weeks.

I did. I was I was

crewing in Vermont for a friend of mine who was working on her one hundred miler attempt at Infinitas. And just Google that race, you guys. There's a ton of different options, but it is a super intense trail race. And my badass friend Hester just crushed a hundred freaking miles there. Yeah.

Eric (01:58)
Okay.

⁓ it was Hester who the one you'll

never invite me to go on a run, sometimes with her because you're like, it's Hester's run. She invited me. I'm I can't invite my friends. It would be weird. Okay, yeah, her. Gotcha.

Erika (02:10)
Yeah.

Now we can.

I I've gotten to know her all so much better, so maybe I'll introduce you into the fold this time around.

Eric (02:16)
Mm-hmm. All right. All right. Yeah. Yeah.

Guys, I'm not that special. She's not like, yeah. Anyways.

Erika (02:22)
But we're not

talking about you. We're talking about her and how badass she is and how she just did like

Eric (02:27)
I swear to God, you're just gonna say we're not

talking about me, we're talking about you. But you good good save there. ⁓ no.

Erika (02:31)
No, her. She did like 19,000

feet of climbing over a hundred miles and she's the most badass runner I can even think of right now. She's amazing.

Eric (02:37)
That's insane. Well we'll

well let's do a little programming note. And then I'll tell you what I did yesterday since you told me a little bit about what you did. But this episode, we're gonna get right to Jeremy in about three minutes, guys. Programming note. We're back tomorrow. Because Erica, what is tomorrow?

Erika (02:47)
Sure, sure, sure.

It's global running day.

Eric (03:00)
We have an amazing episode tomorrow where we just do one of our favorite things. We don't do it often, but when we do, it's a lot of fun. We're calling Pod Fam on the pod, and we're calling not the usual ones we always call. We're calling some ones that, you know, you're gonna love to hear from. Erica doesn't know about half of them. So she's like excited to hear the phone call. And we left a couple voicemails for the ones who didn't pick up.

Erika (03:21)
I cannot wait, you guys.

Eric (03:26)
It was a lot of fun. And we're just celebrating, running, celebrating our pod fam. ⁓ thanking everyone for coming on. That's tomorrow. And then you're going away on vacation and you put in red on the calendar, Erica can't record. So I planned it well. Next week will be the Millennium Running Run to Remember Half Marathon Expo Day. And if you you will think, like, no, you already dropped that. We dropped only the live stream that hour on that Saturday.

Erika (03:32)
Mm-hmm.

I am.

Mm.

Eric (03:54)
and listen to the live stream. We got a lot more. And it's delayed because you took my podcast gear home with you. Cause I went back to camping in the rain the whole time. Man, this rain has sucked, but the weather coming up is nice. So.

Erika (03:54)
We got a lot more for you guys.

Yeah, yeah.

Well we still had it. I I'm just mad. Why does a rain have to be on a weekend? Like just just work with us here. Work with us.

Eric (04:15)
I know. It's the worst. The worst. ⁓

but then we'll we're thinking about coming back next Thursday to do just do do one with you and me, 'cause we haven't talked in forever. We have, but not to you, Podfam. We haven't talked to you. So we're

Erika (04:24)
Yeah, catch up. Mm-hmm. Yep.

Mm-hmm. We gotta fill you

in on what's been up and what's new.

Eric (04:33)
Right.

So next week on Thursday, if not the following week on Thursday, we'll do a a a wicked awesome catch up troz only. We do have an amazing guest from who did the Coca Donna ⁓ Eric, spit it out. We do have amazing I'm leaving that in too. We have an amazing guest who did Coca Donna as well. So like we got some amazing stuff and then we got our huge wicked fun summer series where over half of our couples, we're talking to couples throughout the summer. Over half of them are from New Hampshire. Like we're really like

Erika (05:01)
I love that.

Eric (05:03)
Honing in on the local here, because we're always stay local, even when we go out there and find people like Meb and people like Bex or maybe someone like Brittany Charbonneau. So Hey, guess what I did yesterday for the first time in seven years, and I think for the second time in about 15 years.

Erika (05:04)
Mm-hmm.

Winkity wink yeah. ⁓

Well, I already know, so do you really want me to guess?

Eric (05:28)
Yeah, I I I want you to say it.

Erika (05:31)
All right, guys. Eric played pickup hockey the other day. Like actually played. There we go. Mm-mm.

Eric (05:35)
Mm-hmm.

It was awesome. It was so much fun. ⁓

Erika (05:40)
How'd it go? You said it

definitely raised your heart rate.

Eric (05:45)
my God, dude, I'm out of shape. Like there's there's being in shape, and then there's doing a new sport, and you just feel like you're not in that sport sport shape. But Justin has been trying to get me to go play hockey with him for over a month. And I told him after, I'm like, thanks for asking me every time you go to play to come because every time I couldn't go, but then eventually, I even said I could not go on Sunday night. And then things changed. A rainstorm came in. Ashley's shift got canceled because of the rain. I'm like, you still going? I can go.

Erika (05:55)
huh.

Mm-hmm.

Eric (06:15)
Dude, an hour and a half of ice time I was spent so much fun. The

Erika (06:20)
It is so

so crazy. Like you have been putting in so much work though. So I feel like you are better off to play just a random pickup game because you've been doing that recycled fit like how many times a week? Three times? I mean, it it makes sense. You're with the recycled percussion guy. So like that's just you have your dedication to that. You're like, you're getting back into things and now you can just be like, all right, yeah, I'm it I'm in the mood. Let's go pick it up.

Eric (06:31)
Yeah, you like how I call it Recycle Fit, by the way? It's a great name.

Yeah, wanna I wanna play

a little more. I scored three goals, but I did not score those three goals until the last 15 minutes when a couple things happened. One, I probably started to feel the puck better because my hands were like stones for the beginning. Like every time I would catch a pass or or try to pass, I was always a forward, but I was playing defense a lot because I just felt like I had to feel I I didn't want to be like charging into the boards. And I did fall, land on my elbow, and it hurt.

Erika (06:50)
shit.

Mm-hmm.

What position do you usually play? Like are you are Okay.

Oof. Mm-hmm.

Eric (07:13)
But

I kept playing. If I was a basketball player, I would have been out for like three months. So ⁓ I gotta go get some gear. It's funny, I got a hockey puck here, and there's the Timberlane Owl right there. ⁓ it was so much fun. I need to do different things than just run. You just run all the time. That's fine. I need the skiing, I need the running, I need the hockey, I need the recycled fit.

Erika (07:17)
my god.

Nice.

I do, but now I'm starting to change up the

Yeah, I'm starting to at least change up the the terrain. Let's put it that way. Yeah.

Eric (07:42)
Yeah, we actually

talked to a really cool funny guy, ⁓ who only runs trails a little bit, ⁓ outside of his other funny stuff.

Erika (07:49)
Yep. I had so

I had so many conversations over the weekend because the weather was not great for for Hester's race. And we spent so I went out on she had to do a nine mile lap, eighteen, nine, eighteen, nine, eighteen, eighteen. So that eventually adds up to a hundred-ish miles. And I caught I caught her for her fourth lap, which was eighteen miles, a big loop.

And we get 10 miles in and it starts to absolutely downpour. This is Friday. And it totally destroyed the trails. I'm not having it, but I'm trying to like be positive for Hester. And I'm like, we can do this. We're we're doing fine. But we get like so much elevation, 18 miles in a hiking loop. And then I'm like finally warming up, talking to some people around a bonfire. And they're just like, you know what? I would take this any day over a road. And I'm like, are you kidding me? There's no freaking way.

I this is why I stick to the roads, just because it's easy. I mean, it may be more fun to be out in the rain in the mud, but like me, I'm like, God, this is so totally out of my element. But just seeing what these people are were out there doing, I had an absolute blast and I'm so proud of my friend. So I just want to put that out there that I am trying different things way outside of my comfort zone.

Eric (09:10)
Try a triathlon.

Erika (09:13)
That's where you get the cricket button where I just shut up and cricket, cricket.

There it is. Okay.

Eric (09:24)
Anyways, I said it was to be a three-minute intro. It's been much longer, but we have a wicked awesome guest today. Erica, tell us about Jeremy.

Erika (09:25)
Mm. Yeah. Yeah. We do. ⁓

I'm so pumped. We have the Iron Heart Jeremy on the podcast. And he's just such an inspiring person. You're gonna hear all about like the the heart issues that he had and trying to the zipper club. I didn't realize that was a thing, but he's not the only one. It's just it's just such an incredible thing for him to like

Eric (09:44)
Zipper Club.

Erika (09:53)
to happen to him and for him to overcome. And he just has such an inspiring story. You guys are going to really enjoy it.

Eric (09:59)
Jeremy's Wicked Awesome. Also, thank you to my race tats for bringing us this incredible episode. This one this one's good, guys. You're gonna love some of these stories. Like, he was on his deathbed. We'll put it there. Like, embrace this one. It's incredible. Jeremy Woodward, or as many of you know him as Iron Heart Jeremy on the On the Runs podcast.

Erika (10:05)
Mm.

Eric (10:30)
Our next guest on the pod is a team Abbott member, an Ironman, an eight time boss marathoner. He's had two open heart surgeries and he's closing in on 400 races since the most recent surgery. He lives life to the fittest and I can't wait to talk to him. One of New Hampshire's own Jeremy Woodward. Welcome to the On The Runs podcast. What's up buddy?

Jeremy (10:48)
⁓ Thank you so much for having me on guys. This has been a long time coming. And like I was saying pre-show, this is gonna be the highlight of my week. So I'm very much looking forward to this.

Erika (10:58)
job,

Jeremy, you're too kind. And we're just so excited that we can finally make this happen. I know it has been a long time in the works, but we're so happy to have you here. You're going to be an awesome fit and we can't wait to learn more about you.

Jeremy (11:13)
Absolutely, thank you. Again, thank you so much for having me on guys.

Eric (11:16)
We learned a little bit about you last March. We ran into you at the St. Patty's 5K, 10K. We were doing the live show. You walked over, you talked to us with your friend. I think his name is Jeff. You're both training for the Boss Marathon. You're like, yeah. And I'm like, this guy's really good on a podcast. He talks really well. He knows how to use a microphone because a lot of people forget they have to talk into a microphone. And then as you're leaving, you just casually go.

Erika (11:23)
Mm-hmm.

For good reason.

Eric (11:43)
by the way, I have my own podcast. It's called Live Life to the Fittest. And I go, I know who you are. Yeah.

Jeremy (11:48)
Hahaha

Erika (11:49)
And

that's why you're so good on the mic. Perfect.

Jeremy (11:52)
Well, I appreciate that. And Jeff and I, we were laughing so hard on the ride back because I was like, you know, Jeff, you brought up how he and I originally connected. And it was at a funeral home. And I said, Jeff, remember that show, Wedding Crashers? We need to start going to funerals and start talking to people. This would be perfect. Yes. It works. It works. I mean, what a place, right?

Erika (12:09)
you

Eric (12:11)
MA! The meatloaf ma!

Erika (12:16)
wow.

Eric (12:16)
Hey, it

really works. Apparently it really works. Brunell crashing.

Jeremy (12:20)
funerals, like let's start going to funerals.

Eric (12:22)
Yeah, maybe we try weddings first. Just a happier occasion.

Erika (12:23)
you

Jeremy (12:28)
⁓

Erika (12:28)
Or races,

Jeremy (12:29)
I agree.

Erika (12:29)
let's just stick to races. Right?

Eric (12:31)
That would be, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're all

Jeremy (12:31)
Bingo.

Eric (12:34)
off the market, but let's just go and test the waters and see, like, you can always look at the menu, you just can't order off it, is what a teacher of mine told me once.

Jeremy (12:45)
I am not gonna say anything, because my wife will probably listen to this episode and I don't want to get myself in trouble.

Erika (12:45)
They're not wrong.

Eric (12:53)
Listen, listen, we're all smart people here. We know what we're doing. We know what we're not doing either. So we're not doing any of that, but we are podcasting with you, man. Listen, we kind of know bits and pieces of your story. We don't know a whole lot though. I know you've had open heart surgeries. I know you have a podcast. I listened to it by the way with a DJ, Darren Roy. I didn't even know DJ had like all these open heart surgeries. So

That was so fun to listen and learn about DJ and kind of learn a little more about you, but why don't you fill us in a little bit about who Jeremy is.

Jeremy (13:26)
Absolutely, before we get to that funny story about DJ Darren, I had no idea he and I had worked a whole bunch of races together. And then one day he's like, I've had open heart surgery. I was like, I'm part of the zipper club as well. And then we connected after that. Yeah, he did. He is an awesome, awesome dude. yeah, so ⁓ I was born with a congenital heart defect. I've had. ⁓

Erika (13:40)
my gosh.

Eric (13:42)
Is that,

it's a, wow.

Yeah.

Jeremy (13:54)
multiple heart surgeries. I was told when I was born with a congenital heart defect, which was a bicuspid aortic heart valve. So most people, healthy hearts is a tricuspid. It helps facilitate blood flow through the body. I was only born with a bicuspid. My doctor told me, he's like, look, you'll probably never ever have an issue with it. But if you do kind of put an asterisk next to it, you're going to know. If you have a problem, you're definitely going to know.

Erika (14:08)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (14:22)
And, know, I never, ever thought about it because I just lived a very normal life growing up. I played sports, played basketball. went to Bishop Brady high school, played on the 97 championship team, ⁓ dating, born and raised in New Hampshire, Concord, New Hampshire. Yep. And, ⁓ yeah, it was, you know, everything was pretty normal. Now, looking back on things I knew, there were definitely things that were abnormal about the time.

Eric (14:35)
So you're born and raised in New Hampshire.

Erika (14:38)
Excellent.

Jeremy (14:51)
But yeah, I went through, everything was pretty normal up until I was 21, almost about to turn 22 years old. I ended up becoming symptomatic, was very like flu-like symptoms. And then I also started getting black and blues all over my body, joints. The doctors initially thought that, you know, maybe low, I mean, there was all these things that being thrown around.

And the next thing you know, I'm over at Concord hospital and they're shoving a camera down my throat, doing a trans esophageal echo shoves it right down here. It's horrible. It totally sucks. I hated it, but they went down 15 minutes later. They're like, you have a huge abscess on your heart valve on the diseased heart valve. So I'm thinking like, Oh my goodness, what does this all mean? Well, a half hour later, they had me in an ambulance rushing me to Boston med.

Erika (15:50)
wow.

Jeremy (15:50)
Um,

yeah, it was wild. So I'm 20, almost 22 years old at the time. They get me down to Boston. Um, they do their thing and they said, yeah, you gotta have your, gotta have an open heart surgery. Um, they tried to me on some preventative antibiotics, but after two days, they saw no decline whatsoever. So in a decline in the size of the abscess. So they ended up, um, putting, uh, you know, they went in and did my first open heart surgery. Um,

Erika (16:09)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (16:18)
gave me the option prior to surgery that said you can either get a tissue valve or a mechanical heart valve. Now I was 22 and I'm like, I don't want to have a mechanical one because if I go with a mechanical, that's going to mean that I'm have to be on blood thinners. If I'm on blood thinners, I can't do the things that I like. At the time, I was heavily, heavily competing in karate tournaments, fighting, all that stuff. was like, that's out of the question. Can't do it.

Erika (16:44)
Okay,

yeah, totally off limits.

Jeremy (16:46)
Totally off limit. So I was like, I'll go with the tissue valve. What's what's the you know? What's wrong with tissue valve? And they said well if you go with the tissue valve within seven

Erika (16:51)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (16:56)
And I was like, well, I'm going to hedge my bets here. And I ended up, I come home with a tissue valve, literally almost seven years to the day that valve failed. This time though, the symptoms were totally different. Um, I had a, and it was a very acute as well. So I ended up getting fluid. Um, you know, I gained like 10 pounds. I had also made at that time a very big jump in my life career wise.

Erika (17:08)
no.

Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (17:26)
So

I initially attributed it to just a change in career. My wife and I, we had just gotten married not too long before that. So I just wasn't even thinking it's something with the heart valve. And then within a month, I was walking up a flight of stairs. I got to the second or third flight. ⁓ It was the craziest thing. I couldn't breathe and I didn't know. You could have asked me, what is my name?

I have no idea. I had no idea what was going on. And it all, came back to the fluid retention. ⁓ Three months later, I've got now about 30 pounds of fluid on me. Organs are starting to shut down. We go to a hospital here, not Cochrane Hospital, we went to another one who I'm not gonna, I will not name names, but ⁓ I'm not gonna name any names. I will say at the time they had the highest mortality rate.

Erika (17:57)
no.

Eric (18:16)
Ooh, drama, juicy details.

Erika (18:18)
⁓

Jeremy (18:23)
of any hospital in the state of New Hampshire. So we went there and it was wild. It was right around the 4th of July. In fact, it was the 3rd. It was July 3rd, because my wife was, she was like pissed because she always goes to Wolfboro for the 4th of July where she's from. She's never missed the parade. She's like, I'm going to miss the parade. I'm like, well, okay, whatever. And I think at the time she's like, I might take the parade. I don't know.

Erika (18:25)
no.

Mm-hmm.

Eric (18:45)
You either miss a parade or you miss me, honey. It's one or the other.

Erika (18:45)
I got some stuff going on.

Jeremy (18:53)
But I'm in the hospital. ⁓ They do some more exams. So then they said, okay, tomorrow morning, the 4th of July, we're getting, you're going to have your gallbladder out. So I'm like, okay, this is going to fix me. Great. Whatever. ⁓ We go in there and there was this angel nurse who stepped in and she really, she was, you know, overriding the doctor. And she said, he cannot be operated on. She's like, he cannot.

Erika (19:17)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (19:21)
If he gets operated on, he will die on the table. There is more going on to what, you know, than a gallbladder. Yes, his gallbladder does need to come out, but there's more going on. The craziest thing is six hours later, they didn't do the surgery. They come in the room and they give me the discharge paperwork. like, we'll see you in a couple of weeks. My wife and I were like, what? 10 minutes?

Erika (19:43)
Whoa.

So you're still having all

these issues. They did not resolve anything for you. And they're just like, see ya.

Jeremy (19:52)
Zero. Zero. They're ready to kick me out. And I was like, was I that annoying? Like, what is it? They just wanna kick me out. I don't know. So anyway, we go home for the night. Two days, I think was two or three days later, my wife had to go on a work trip. I called my best friend at the time. You know, you gotta listen to your intuition. And I knew when my wife left to go to the Cape for work, I was like, something's wrong. Something is serious around. I called my best friend up. I'm like, Jake.

Erika (19:58)
Yeah. What's going on?

Yeah.

Jeremy (20:19)
You got to come over here. I don't even know. I told him, said, I don't even know if I'm going to make it through tonight. I don't want to worry my wife, but something is not right. I knew it. couldn't, it was just, there was this intuition was telling me, sure enough, I was very, very sick. My wife ended up coming home. She had had enough, got me in the car. We drove down to Boston the next morning. We check in to, we would go through an emergency department down at Tufts Medical. At the time it was New England Medical.

We get down there, the doctors come in, they literally look at my neck and they could see it's pulsing. And I could see the concern on the head of the cardiac unit. I could see the concern on his face. He leaves, he comes back. Now he's got a team with him of at least five or six doctors. Now they come over, touches my neck, kind of looks at me and he says, he's like, I'm going to tell you this. He's like, if you didn't come in, you probably had lost some 24 hours to live. He's like,

Erika (21:06)
Mm-hmm.

⁓ my

God.

Jeremy (21:17)
There

is no doubt he's like, if, and he's like, if you had stayed home another 24 to 48 hours, we wouldn't be having this conversation would be an entirely different situation. And he's like, I looked at your medical reports from, from, know, ⁓ previous to the hospital. If they had opened you up and operated on the table, he's like, you would have died on the table, no doubt. So he's like, we're going to immediately get you on a list for, a donor heart, the transplant. Cause he's like, we don't know how bad it is.

Erika (21:43)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (21:47)
So he's like, we're going to cross our fingers. So me, I'm like super positive, super optimistic. I said to him, said, so is this like an outpatient thing? And he like looks at me he like, they're all laughing. They're like, there is no outpatient. They're like, if you leave the hospital, you will not come back. That's it. They immediately got me on diuretics. They had to get all the fluid off of me. I'm normally somewhere around 180 pounds ish, 185, give or take. I had

Erika (22:09)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (22:16)
ballooned up to about 220 pounds of fluid. Yeah, it was crazy. mean, ⁓ it was, it was awful. It was awful. mean, like when they say skin literally stretches and it's painful, that was my stomach. It was my legs. I would put on a pair of sweatpants and they literally look like cycling tights. I mean, that's, it was so bad. It was so bad. So I spend three weeks in the hospital.

Erika (22:19)
my God, you must've been so uncomfortable on top of just feeling like total crud. Jeremy.

⁓ no.

Jeremy (22:46)
I'm sorry, two weeks in the hospital pre-surgery. They had to get me to an operable state. Now they did disclose to me, they said, if you go into cardiac arrest, we can't save you. We're gonna open you up, we're gonna do everything, but there's no way we're gonna be able to save you in the state that you're in. So let's cross our fingers and hope that everything is all good. And fortunately, I didn't go into cardiac arrest, but they did get the fluid off of me. They got me to an operable state. They were gonna do the surgery.

Erika (23:04)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (23:13)
Well,

I got many questions and I hate to interrupt the pace of this, but what is your mind thinking right there? I might not come out of this.

Jeremy (23:19)
Sure.

Erika (23:24)
I was going to ask that too, like you must have had some serious

emotions.

Jeremy (23:28)
⁓ Well, like I said, I'm a very...

Eric (23:30)
Like you just breezed

over that like a 5k.

Jeremy (23:33)
I'm a very positive and very optimistic. So I'm looking at it from the standpoint of I have to be strong for my wife. My wife and I, been married at that point for about a year, year and a half. She has totally lost it because they're telling her, ⁓ putting them on a, we're going to begin the process of putting them on a transplant list. If you go into cardiac arrest, we can't save them. So I mean,

I figured the only thing I know is to be positive and optimistic. That's it. ⁓ It didn't hit me until after the surgeries, until after the second surgery. ⁓ Even post that because I wasn't out of the window after that surgery. I was not out of the window at all. There was still some other things we had to get beyond. ⁓

Erika (24:05)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (24:12)
Like when you wake up.

Jeremy (24:26)
But backtracking a little bit, go into, you we had this two or three week window of them getting all the fluid off of me. And then they came back to me and they said, well, you have an option. You want a mechanical valve or do you want a tissue valve? And I was like, well, that's a no. Second time, I'm like, sure. Sure.

Erika (24:34)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (24:42)
This is the second time you're getting the option, right? Okay. All right. Let me pause you because I got, I already got questions and

that was one of them. So I looked up the differences between a mechanical and a tissue and a mechanical is very durable. It's very, you know, uh, besides the blood thinners, it has maximum durability lasts your lifetime. The, the tissue valve one is made of animal tissue and it's not for the long term.

so you know it will only last 10 to 20 years. The other key note here, this came from a college in Boston called Harvard. I don't know if you ever heard of Harvard. Harvard Health, the mechanical is favored for young patients under the age of 60. You were 22. Why did you choose the tissue outside of the blood thinners? Was that the only reason?

Erika (25:18)
you

Jeremy (25:18)
I have.

first time.

Most of it was because I was very active. was competing, doing a lot of sparring, very heavily involved in karate. I didn't want to mess that up. I didn't want to disrupt it. And I also thought too, I'm like, I'm 22. I'm invincible, invincible, right? That would have been in 2000.

Eric (25:48)
What year was this, by the way?

So would we have known those facts about the mechanical versus tissue 25, 26 years ago?

Jeremy (26:00)
Well, we wouldn't have had as easy access to it. Now they came in and gave me a pamphlet. said, this is what it is. ⁓ Here you go. Tomorrow morning we do surgery. didn't have this at my fingertips to go on. There were no Facebook groups. was nothing that, there was no support groups at all whatsoever other than the person sitting in the bed next to me who was 70 years old, who was going through the same thing. And I'm like, I'm like,

Eric (26:11)
Mm-hmm.

Erika (26:14)
Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Jeremy (26:29)
45, 50 years, I'm going to this individual, I'm going to go with a tissue valve. I'm going to live 15, 20 years. Now, I do know of an individual who does have a tissue valve, and he has lived with that valve for 15 years, a very healthy, very fit life. He's gone on to do many marathons and Ironman, but the last conversation I had with him about a year ago, was, it's coming to an end. And I'm going to have, you know, he was telling me he was going to have to have surgery.

Erika (26:55)
So is he getting symptoms

where he can tell that the valve is starting to fail?

Jeremy (26:59)
he could tell. then, you

know, like going back to my childhood, I always thought that I was just a normal like living normally. But I struggled when it came to working really like putting a lot of load on the heart, cardiovascular stuff, wind sprints. I mean, I would outwork everybody in the gym from a you know, skills and all that stuff. But

Erika (27:20)
Mm.

Jeremy (27:27)
I could not go in and sprint and hang with everybody because I just couldn't catch my breath. And of course, you know, looking back, I didn't have a healthy heart. I didn't have a strong heart, but the heart that I did have, what, you know, as strong as it was, it's really truly what saved me. mean, when they went back, when they went in and the second, especially the second time when they went in and did surgery, he told me literally, I mean, I don't know if you've looked up like what goes on in an open heart surgery, but they literally, they cracked a chest open.

Erika (27:34)
Yeah.

Eric (27:41)
Mm-hmm.

Erika (27:56)
Hmm.

Jeremy (27:56)
They take your heart out. They do that thing. They put you on a heart lung bypass machine and you're literally like, mean, you're essentially you're dead. And they said my heart was literally, he said it was crumbling. There were pieces of it that were literally breaking off. I know it's total insanity. What do I think about it? It's so crazy. Yeah. Yeah.

Erika (28:04)
you

Holy shit.

Eric (28:17)
I mean, I think everyone

understands it's probably the most serious operation. Like your heart stops, technically, right? And then they bring you back to life. You have seen the light. Maybe. Twice. Okay, before we go back to your next decision of mechanical versus tissue for the second time, I want to know about the camera they stuck down your throat, and I really want to know more. Were you awake for it?

Jeremy (28:25)
Yeah. Yeah.

Erika (28:26)
It has to.

Jeremy (28:30)
crazy.

Twice.

They give you a partial sedation. So I do remember them inserting it in, going down. I remember them looking, doing their, it was, and I say it was 15 minutes. may have only been five minutes. The worst part though was the gag. It was a gag when they pulled that sucker out, I vom, I puked everywhere. It was awful. So then the second time when I go in, they said to me, they're like, ⁓ yeah, we got to do a T E a trans stuff, a geo echo. And I was like, ⁓ I was like, can you do

Erika (28:59)
Felt like forever.

Eric (29:02)
That's.

Erika (29:03)
I don't blame you.

Jeremy (29:15)
And it's like, and they ended up aborting it. No, they aborted it and they didn't end up doing it because they knew they're like, they did all the other, you every other test that you could imagine. So yeah.

Erika (29:16)
Knock me out.

⁓ they

could tell without doing that that they still needed to proceed with what they needed to do.

Jeremy (29:32)
They knew what was up and they knew that that was probably gonna be a very last resort thing. Absolutely, absolutely, yeah, yeah.

Erika (29:36)
Please just spare me that one piece. ⁓ Jeremy.

Eric (29:41)
So impressive what they can do now. What they could do then. Like, if you ever watch those medical shows that show like those really intense details of... They spare no detail. It's incredible.

Erika (29:45)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (29:54)
So you know what they're doing

now? They're doing portals now. So they go up through your rib cage or they do a TAVR. They go up through your leg and total valve replacements. You're in an aisle hospital and one night, two days of that. So it's crazy. It is, yeah.

Eric (29:57)
Yeah, I've seen.

Erika (30:07)
That is mind blowing, absolutely mind blowing.

Eric (30:11)
So

let's go back to that next time in the hospital though and you know you need to get a new valve, tissue or mechanical. What did you choose?

Jeremy (30:20)
I went with mechanical. I don't want to do this again. I was like, I don't ever want to have to do this again. And I also the surgeon, his name was Dr. Hassan Rastegar. Amazing. Like apparently prior to me, he had operated on some royalty and you know, in the Middle East, like he is the best of the best at this type, this particular type of surgery. And I just knew that

Eric (30:22)
Yeah.

Erika (30:45)
Mm.

Eric (30:47)
Did you have

it in Boston? Like, is he based in Boston or does he travel the world to do these?

Jeremy (30:49)
at second.

No, he was in Boston and from what I was told, this family from the Middle East came over and apparently rented out or whatever they did an entire unit for like three weeks ⁓ at the hospital so that they could do the surgery. Yeah, it's pretty wild, crazy. I know, I know. And he was so, I mean, there was even at one point ⁓ like two or three days prior to the day that they did my surgery.

Erika (31:07)
Well, I'm glad they did because they saved, they saved your heart.

Jeremy (31:20)
He was supposed to operate and they canceled it at the last second. And I thought, uh-oh, is it me? He said, no, nothing. He was so particular about who's in the room, who is handing him his medical instruments, who is doing anesthetics. mean, he was so particular and somebody happened to be sick and he's like, I'm not doing it. So yeah, yeah.

Erika (31:39)
I mean, that

just shows how much confidence he has though in his team. So he wanted his whole team to be there to ensure your success in your health.

Jeremy (31:45)
Yeah.

Yeah. And I, that day, was one of three people. I was the first to go that day, but I was one of three that he was doing. So I was in really, really good hands there. I was very lucky, very fortunate. ⁓

Eric (31:56)
How common is this? Like I know it's probably

common, but three times in a day, it, it doesn't happen every day then, does it? Or does this?

Jeremy (32:04)
I don't know what his schedule, I don't know if it's, you they do it three days a week. I mean, I can't imagine operating at that level three, four, five days a week.

Eric (32:11)
Well, I mean like in general,

what you have and what others have had like Darren, how common is this amongst just normal people?

Jeremy (32:16)
Yeah.

more common than we think. I don't know the numbers, the specifics, but it is more common. I mean, I was just at a run. Oh, geez, it was back in, I think it was back in end of March. It was not the St. Patty's Day, it when I saw you guys, but it was another one and it happened to be talking to the guy and he was like, oh yeah, I've had open heart surgery. And I was like, what? So, zipper club. I was like, let's show, let's see, let's see it right here. So, yeah.

Eric (32:40)
Zipper Club.

Wild.

Erika (32:48)
That's a really

intense scar, but I mean, you should wear it with a badge of honor. You guys have been through so much just to be able to live normally. And yeah, show it off with pride.

Jeremy (33:00)
Yeah, I mean, I literally tell people like, it's a knife. I was knifed. I mean, I was. I was cracked. Knife. Actually, it's a, it's a, it's a saw. It's a, it's a medical saw, which is just no, ⁓ nasty, gross. ⁓ getting chills.

Erika (33:05)
You were a knife. You were cracked. Like, what else? Yeah.

Ugh, that doesn't make it any better. He be jeebies.

Eric (33:18)
What were you doing

at this point in your life? Like around the time you had the incident where you didn't want to bother your wife, you got rushed to the hospital, which we all learned, just go to Boston. We love New Hampshire, go to Boston. But were you active? Were you running? Were you doing Ironmans? Were you just doing karate? What were you doing?

Jeremy (33:27)
Just go to balls.

Erika (33:27)
Basically.

Jeremy (33:36)
I was doing a little bit of running, not races, but just more sort of stay in shape. At the time I was 29 years old, the second time around. So I was running, still very heavily involved in karate and ⁓ lifting and all ⁓ that. I had just made a huge transition. I'd been working for my dad in construction and I made a transition to ⁓ personal training. And that's when I started my, getting into the fitness business.

Erika (33:41)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (34:04)
So I had literally quit my job working with my dad, started training, built up a full clientele, had to tell a full clientele after four months, I'm out of here. And I didn't go back for, I did the surgery, in August. I'm sorry, yeah, it was in August and I didn't go back to work until November. So I had a long rehab. was a rough, I had already done it before. I knew what to expect.

Erika (34:26)
Mm.

Jeremy (34:31)
but the second time around was pretty brutal. had a couple ⁓ during surgery, they had sewed me up, they did everything and I ended up having a collapsed lung twice, same lung, same side collapsed. So I had broken ribs. I remember waking up from the surgery the second time, because you know what to expect, right? I knew that I was gonna wake up and get sick and all that, but I woke up and I was like, my gosh, my ribs, like what? And then they told me that was almost more painful than this.

Erika (34:43)
Whoa.

Yep.

Cool.

Jeremy (35:00)
the beam

opened up. yeah, so that was that was at the second time around. It was was pretty nuts. Pretty crazy. Yeah, yeah.

Erika (35:09)
I just, ⁓

I cannot imagine the trauma this actually puts on like your body, but even mentally, like, I just, I don't know, don't know, Jeremy, but with this mechanical valve, that's where you get that nickname, right? Ironheart Jeremy?

Eric (35:22)
I've been through a lot.

Jeremy (35:27)
Yes, the Iron Heart was actually given to me from a reporter here in Concord. did a piece on me before, I think it was before I did Iron Man Lake Placid and the front page of the newspaper, it was Iron Heart. And I was like, that's awesome. That's going to stick with me for the rest of my life. I love it. yeah. Yeah. So that's how that all came about. like I never, you know, I had heard of Triathlon. I had heard of all of it, but

Erika (35:43)
love this. Yes.

Jeremy (35:55)
I didn't know it. didn't understand it until I was in the hospital before my second open heart surgery. And I remember my wife had given me some stuff to read just to kind of take my mind off of things that morning. And I remember reading about the Ironman and I was like, okay, if I get through this, I am going to do the hardest single day event that I know of now, which is the Ironman. I remember the docs came in that afternoon. They're meeting with me and my wife. This is what's going to happen. Blah, blah. And they said, you know, what are you thinking? I said,

Erika (35:59)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (36:25)
You're gonna, you're gonna save my life. You're gonna get me through this and I'm gonna do the Iron Man. And they were like, it totally floored them. And they thought I was messing with me and they, said something to my wife. They're like, he needs to get his head checked after all of this. Seriously, they were kind of just.

Erika (36:33)
you

Eric (36:40)
You know what?

know what? These doctors should know better. How many times do we hear these stories? You'll never you'll never run again. You'll never do anything like this again. Maybe. So are you saying the doctors know what they're doing and say you can't do it to get you to do it?

Jeremy (36:49)
Yeah!

Erika (36:52)
gives you more motivation when somebody tells you you can't. I'm gonna prove it.

Jeremy (36:54)
⁓

Right?

I think they might be just, I think so. think so. So yeah. And literally the, had that surgery that morning out of commission all day, they get you up and out of bed the following day. There is no, like you're up, you're moving around. And that was a day I said day one, one lap around the ICU, then two laps and three and so on. And that's, you know, pretty much how it all started. And I ended up because we had some complications with the collapse lung.

Erika (37:01)
⁓ reverse psychology.

Mort.

Mm-hmm.

Good for you.

Jeremy (37:31)
We couldn't get my blood to coagulate appropriately now that I'm on blood thinners. So I was in the hospital for almost three weeks post-op and it sucked. It was horrible. The first week you're like, okay, you're in a safe place. Like if something goes wrong, whatever. But then like weeks two and then going on to week three, I was like, get me out of this place. And they let me go home. My INR range, which is like where I need to be. It's 2.5 to 3.5.

Erika (37:31)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (38:00)
They let me go home at 1.7 and he said, if it's not up to two within three or four days, you're back in here. And so we got home and I'm like, I'm to do everything possible to get it up to two. And we got it over and it was 2.1 and, um, and that was it. So. Yeah. So that's how it all started. One lap around in the ICU literally led to me crossing the finish line at Ironman three days later. And you want to hear the coolest thing about this? Um,

Erika (38:17)
All right.

Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (38:28)
The head nurse who took care one of the head nurses in the ICU who took care of me. ⁓ Her husband was a total, total stud triathlete. You probably know him. His wife took care of me. She was at the finish line, high-fived me when I went through. Yeah, yeah, it was pretty awesome. Yep, I'm sure you guys are probably, it is, it really is.

Erika (38:45)
No way.

Eric (38:49)
It's a tight community when you're in it.

It's like, yeah, there's not many of us. Even with running in the marathon community, 1%. How often when you go to a big marathon do you see people you know?

Jeremy (38:55)
No.

Yeah, that's right.

Erika (39:00)
I imagine

the Iron Man.

Jeremy (39:03)
Right, right, exactly.

Erika (39:04)
That's true. I imagine the Ironman

community is, is it smaller? It's gotta be smaller. It's way more intense of a sport.

Jeremy (39:10)
It

is, but it's also, it's a very tight community. ⁓ It's a very welcoming community in many, many respects, very similar to running, very, similar to it. It's an awesome community. Everybody's so supportive and I just, I love it. That's why I've been drawn to it for so long. Yeah.

Erika (39:28)
That's amazing. So which one was your first? Yeah,

which one was the big one? Post-surgery and recovery?

Jeremy (39:35)
⁓ Iron Man Lake Placid.

Eric (39:35)
Like how do you go about

that process too? Where you're like, wait, I have to swim, I need to learn how to swim? Like what was that first step?

Erika (39:37)
Lake Placid.

Jeremy (39:43)
So I grew up at our house, we had a pool and I thought, I've had a pool, this will be a piece of cake. Well, I get into the pool in 2008, I get into a lap pool, I think it was over at the YMCA and they were like, get to the other end. I couldn't get to the other end. I'm like, I can't swim. This is no way, this is not gonna happen. And then I, it was, I was like, my gosh, how am gonna be able to do this?

Erika (39:55)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (40:03)
It wasn't your heart, Jeremy. I couldn't do it either when I tried.

Erika (40:06)
Yeah.

Jeremy (40:10)
Well, I ended up doing a sprint triathlon in Massachusetts and it was on a dare actually. Cause I was, at the time grappling with some friends and we were, I don't know, in between grappling, sparring, whatever. And he's like, I dare you to do a sprint. So I ended up doing the sprint. It was a total disaster. I borrowed a bike from a friend. I get out there on the shore. Okay. You guys are going you guys will die with this one. I didn't have a wetsuit. I just had basketball shorts on.

Erika (40:14)
Mm-hmm.

You

⁓ no.

Jeremy (40:40)
And I think it was like that morning, I was like, the drawstring broke. So I couldn't tighten the shorts. go out. I was literally the last person to finish in the sprint and the swim. I got on the bike, did that, did the, ⁓ the run. It was fine. I loved it. I was totally obsessed and hooked. was like, okay, I am going to figure this out. I am going to figure out how to swim. I'm going to figure out how to do this. And then, ⁓ I remember the first time I swam a mile, wasn't like Placid. I went up to volunteer because

Erika (40:52)
Yup.

Jeremy (41:09)
That was also around the time it was in 2009. Um, you had to, you know, get in line the year before to guarantee getting a spot. Cause the Ironman spots were so, I mean, like if you weren't in line a year before, or you didn't volunteer, you didn't get a spot. And it's because it would sell out in hours. And so I did, I went up, I swam with a friend. did a mile. I was like, I can do this. I got work to do, but I can do this. And you know, a year later I'm crossing that finish line. So.

Erika (41:26)
wow.

for you.

Eric (41:37)
Mike Riley's like, Ironheart Jeremy, you are an Ironman. Did you tell him your story? Because you know how you can fill in your story. Did he say something anything to do with your heart?

Jeremy (41:37)
Yeah, it's crazy.

Ugh.

Not that I recall. When I was coming through there, that shoot was so loud. It was, the energy was incredible. It was so fun. But I did meet Mike Riley at an event in Massachusetts. And I told him that story. I said, I remember you crossing the, calling me across the finish line. And he was, he was awesome. He was so cool. We had a great conversation for like 15 minutes or so. Good guy. Really good guy. Yeah.

Eric (42:14)
That's awesome.

Yeah. Yeah, that's so cool. What hour did you finish at? I'm curious. I'm not worried about your time, but did you finish in the day or the night?

Jeremy (42:24)
I finished in the night. This soccer can only take so much.

Eric (42:28)
So the nighttime

is the right time at an Ironman.

Jeremy (42:33)
There's more people out. It's crazy. It's wild. It was so fun. I was 15 plus hours, 15 and a half hours for that first one.

Eric (42:41)
So you were, yeah,

cause you get 17. So you weren't right in that last hour, which is epic, but that's when it's building. That's, and everyone's got the thunder sticks and the DJs playing. Darren Royce should DJ like the finish line of Iron Man. ⁓ it's just so intense. It's a party. It might gets everyone going. And it's because typically in the last couple of hours, it's just like four or five people finishing and it's a buildup to that.

Erika (42:56)
Eww.

Eric (43:10)
And it's so much fun. And that's what I miss so much. It's been, what, 2019 was my only full Ironman. But it's been like four years since I've done any kind of triathlon. And I miss it!

Jeremy (43:24)
Okay.

All right, time to make a comeback there.

Eric (43:28)
I know, no, I just put the bike up for sale actually. Well, you know, when I do it, want a newer bike. I will just say that. Yeah, yeah, I didn't sell it yet.

Jeremy (43:31)
Wow.

Okay. All right, good call. Good call.

Erika (43:35)
Mm-hmm. Like you didn't sell it yet, Eric. There's still time to take

it down.

Jeremy (43:41)
Yeah, I had a blast. It was so fun. I do remember my intention was to stay until that 17 hour mark to see everybody come through. But after like 15 minutes of hanging out, I said to my wife, was like, okay, there's no restaurants open right now. And except for McDonald's. And we had like a 45 minute drive from where we were where we were staying, because we didn't stay in Placid. We stayed outside at a friend's place.

Erika (43:41)
you

Mm-hmm.

Yep, yep.

Jeremy (44:10)
I was like, we need to hit that McDonald's right now before they close at midnight so I can some food in me. And it was the best. yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Erika (44:13)
Help me.

Mm-hmm. What an incredible accomplishment. mean, just to celebrate

your health, your working heart, your iron heart. Just wonderful.

Jeremy (44:27)
Yes.

Eric (44:28)
How many,

how long was it in between the second surgery and this Iron Man?

Jeremy (44:33)
⁓ Second surgery in the Ironman was three years and it was almost to the day ⁓ within, I think it was a week, a week difference or so, a week and a half difference. Yeah.

Erika (44:44)
What

a way to celebrate the anniversary.

Jeremy (44:46)
It sure was. Yeah, it was

crazy. It was so fun. The whole thing was, it was a blast. I'll never, I'll never, forget that Iron Man ever. Yeah. Hard course. It is.

Erika (44:53)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (44:54)
Yeah, Lake Placid's a special one. Now

is that your only full Iron Man or have you done more?

Jeremy (45:00)
I did Arizona in 2023. Yeah, I did Ironman Arizona in 2023. Equally, it was, you know, because 2020, when I did it in 2010, ⁓ we only had my oldest daughter and she was a year and a half at that time. So in 2023, I was like, okay, we're not having any more children. I want all three of our girls to see this. So we went out to Arizona and I'm glad I did because now the race is no longer.

Erika (45:04)
Hmm.

⁓ awesome.

Jeremy (45:30)
it's discontinued. they did. Yeah. I guess a lot of, not because of participation, but I think there's so much development and Tempe that they safely could not put that race on going forward, I guess. Yeah.

Erika (45:31)
they got rid of it. ⁓

I see.

Eric (45:42)
There's so much with the logistics and these races

and like the whole entire city or town, village in Mount Tremblant, like where I did it, shuts down. You can't get in and out. Like in Mount Tremblant, you have to stay in the village. You can't stay 45 minutes outside unless you're prepared to leave after midnight and get McDonald's. You can't, like, it's just, there's one road in and out and you're biking on it. And Lake Placid's not like, it's...

Erika (45:45)
I believe it.

Jeremy (45:52)
Yeah.

Erika (46:03)
⁓

Jeremy (46:03)
Yeah.

Yeah, right.

Eric (46:11)
It's kind of in the middle of nowhere. So there's no easy way to get there and there's no easy way to get out.

Jeremy (46:14)
Yeah.

Erika (46:17)
Mm.

Jeremy (46:18)
Right,

exactly. But what a special place though, right? ⁓

Eric (46:20)
Yeah, I've been there so many times, mostly in the winter

playing hockey, but I love it. So nice. Yeah, hilly though, hard course, but a fair course. Like Arizona, was it flat?

Jeremy (46:26)
⁓ it's awesome. Love it. Yeah. my gosh. Yeah.

Erika (46:31)
Wow.

Jeremy (46:34)
So in Arizona, it's about 2,300 feet of elevation. And you go out, you got a slight uphill. When you come back, it's a slight downhill. However, the winds can be absolutely brutal. And I remember in 2023, the winds were, I mean, you're hoping to get some speed going back, right? And I think my speed was like 11 miles per hour heading back 30 plus, the winds were like 30 plus, oh.

Erika (46:57)
⁓ just headwind.

Jeremy (47:00)
And, know, when I got on a 106 here up in Concord and did a lot of training, knowing that we're probably going to get some headwinds and same, I mean, you know, I was prepared for it, but not for 30, 35 mile per localized winds out there. And you, you get into the city, when you get into Tempe, totally fine, no problem. But you're only in Tempe for a couple miles that should make your way in.

Eric (47:22)
just feels not fair. Like you got Lake Placid and Mont Tremblant both have over 6,000 feet of climbing. And then you go to that one in Arizona, it's like 2,000 feet. This is gonna be easy. And then you got 35 mile an hour winds.

Jeremy (47:27)
Mm.

There is no easy Ironman and that we got so spoiled in Lake Placid on the swim. The swim in Tempe was like 59 degrees, 60 degrees. It was so cold and you can put your hand in there and you cannot see your hand in the water. It's disgusting. Yeah, nasty.

Erika (47:34)
you

⁓

Eric (47:53)
Yeah, don't tell Erica

that I'm trying to get her to do a triathlon one day. ⁓

Erika (47:56)
I heard this already. I'm

Jeremy (47:58)
Choose wisely when you do pick.

Erika (47:58)
going to do it like I'm going to do like your kids do with the swimming pool. You just have to do one lap and I'll do that part.

Jeremy (48:07)
Yeah, choose wisely because it was, I got out and I knew that I was gonna get sick and throw up the water, because I didn't throw up in Lake Placid, that was perfect. All the training we did around here, no problems. But getting out there, I ended up getting sick. But it was fine, I got sick and felt like a million bucks afterwards. I was like, okay, I'm good. I just threw up. Yeah, I was like, all right, I just threw up half a Tempe town lake, but I'm good now, it's good.

Erika (48:08)
Mmm.

Mm-hmm.

Puking rally!

Bleh.

Eric (48:33)
You can rally baby. Love it. So at this time, even before this time, you started your gym, your fitness journey, like your coaching, and you're still doing it today. I see all the content. I see you got Miss New Hampshire out there helping you make content and you're... Right, you're... Exactly, you're getting them to do half marathons and you have a lot of people like, are you still building this at the time while you're doing your triathlon journey?

Jeremy (48:34)
You're good rally. ⁓

Erika (48:35)
Ooh.

I saw them on the course. They did cheap.

Jeremy (48:51)
You

Yes, absolutely. And you know, it's always a continuous build and also the openness to evolve and pivot. ⁓ I've changed a lot of things.

Eric (49:07)
Like what Erica

should do with her question evolve?

Jeremy (49:11)
I love it. love it. Yeah, you got to be willing to pivot. There's a lot of competition in the fitness business, especially up here. mean, on every corner, there's a new gym popping up. ⁓ But you have to, you you've got to, you know, at the end of the day, deliver a really good product, the best product that you can deliver the, you know, build the relationships and, you know, just

Eric (49:13)
Sorry I had to. I had to.

Erika (49:13)
No comment, no comment.

you

Jeremy (49:41)
you know, be, have an openness to pivot and evolve.

Eric (49:45)
So let's talk about it. Let's talk about what you do, why you do it and tell people like where it is, what the, what the goal is with the gym. And sometimes like if someone is looking to join a gym in that area, why choose yours?

Erika (49:56)
Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (49:58)
Sure, Yeah, no, great question. Like I said, I've been doing this for now for 17 years. I love what I do. The people that I get to meet, mean, the individual that you met when we initially connected back in March, I met him, aside from the funeral. He ended up coming into the gym and his story is incredible. He's lost 120 plus pounds.

Eric (50:14)
Yeah

Jeremy (50:24)
And he's now on this running journey, but also a big part of it is his fitness journey. And, you know, just being able to be a part of that and being a part of other individuals and just seeing them in what they're able to accomplish. You know, I'm a big believer and we can always do hard things. Not everybody is going to go and run a race, but to them, that hard thing might be, you know, walking into that gym to sign up for that membership. I've only got, that is.

Erika (50:50)
Sometimes that's the hardest part is just getting

there and getting out the door.

Jeremy (50:55)
Absolutely. you know, and I, at one point years ago, I had a studio before COVID, you know, we had 80 to 100 active members. had, you know, it was just, it was, it was a very different thing. didn't do any one-on-ones. I did a little bit of coaching. COVID happens, everything changes. We lose, you know, 80 % of our membership in 45 days. So we had to change and then, you know, other things left the studio that I was at, you know, cause had my own studio. I moved into another place.

Erika (51:16)
no.

Jeremy (51:25)
And it's just rebuilding. I, you know, I've got a couple of classes that I teach during the week. I predominantly work with one-on-ones, but now I'm evolving into the coaching stuff. I'm doing more speaking. I've had opportunities to get on stages, which I love, love, love, love doing. And I do see that in the future, that is where I'll be. I'll be doing more speaking opportunities, being on stages and having my coach clients because.

When you can have clients, you can coach online. You don't need a space to rent. don't, there's a lot of benefits to it. And that's, that's what I'm pushing forward and leading into right now.

Erika (51:59)
Mm-hmm.

There we go.

Eric (52:06)
I saw it, yeah, I saw you did, you spoke at the Boston Marathon Expo for Team Abbott, you do Ted Talks, you have a 2026 film coming.

Jeremy (52:16)
we do. It's, it is so awesome. They were here a year plus ago. They filmed, they filmed at the New England Half Marathon. was the New England Half Marathon was part of the story, but they were there for, they were with us for three days. My kids love going on YouTube. They love going in Instagram and recording and everything. And all of a sudden we put cameras in front of their face and they like freeze. They were like,

Erika (52:42)
⁓ That's

because it's like legit. When you get like a real camera, you're like, this isn't a phone. This is important.

Jeremy (52:48)
Exactly. my gosh.

It was so funny, but we had a blast. So there is an independent, there was a film company from out in Utah. They came up, filmed. We have the, the, the documentary. Yeah, it's amazing. We've had a couple of local groups, Delta Dental being one of them that, know, when Tom found out what we were doing, Tom jumped right on board and said, how can we help? How can we be a part of it? He's been amazing. So

Eric (52:59)
It's legit.

Erika (53:12)
I love that.

Jeremy (53:13)
That will be out, I'm guessing sometime by September, October at the very latest. And when we do, we're gonna screen it. We're gonna film, the first show will be here at Red River. ⁓ I want you guys there. You guys get tickets on the house, I want you guys there. So I've seen...

Eric (53:25)
Can I come?

Erika (53:27)
will be there. We are so happy about

that. We will be there for you.

Jeremy (53:34)
I have a, I do have a visual real ⁓ visual, real trailer that I can send. I'll send it to you guys. It is so cool. They did an amazing job and we're hoping. So, you know, we're going to do some big things with it. So it's all good. Yeah. Yeah.

Eric (53:48)
This is so cool. This is

so cool. I'm so glad you came up to us at the St. Patty's 5k.

Erika (53:52)
So how did, right? But quick

Jeremy (53:56)
You know,

Erika (53:56)
question.

Jeremy (53:56)
it was because of Erica's sweat. It was Erica that got, cause she's like, come on over here. was like, all right, I'll jump on him. So.

Eric (54:03)
Thank

Erika (54:03)
Today is Erica's birthday. I think so, yeah. Yeah, the 11th. Happy birthday,

Eric (54:03)
you, Erica. Wait, today? Today recording? Well, this comes out a couple weeks after, but happy birthday, Erica Sweat.

Jeremy (54:05)
Today is, ⁓ I'm gonna.

Erika (54:12)
Erica. Happy belated birthday, Jeremy.

Jeremy (54:14)
thank you. Thank you.

I'm going to sit there. I'm going to text her after we get off and text her happy birthday. yeah.

Eric (54:19)
Yeah.

Erika (54:20)
Jeremy, how did this whole documentary thing come to be? Did they reach out to you? Did they hear about your story or was this something that you wanted to gather together or like, did, how, was the origin story of that?

Jeremy (54:32)
Great question. So do you know James Lawrence, Iron Cowboy?

Eric (54:37)
Yes.

Erika (54:38)
Yes!

Jeremy (54:39)
So I had him on my podcast show a while back and he and I got talking. He's from Utah and something got brought up. He's like, you got to check out these guys with story. He's like, I think when they did the 50 50 or when he did the one of them, ⁓ they were a part of something that he did. He's like, let me make a, let me make a, you know, a connection, whatever he made the connection. Next thing I know, I had an interview with them. They're selective in the sense that they like stories similar to mine. They tell a lot of.

cancer stories and tell a of ⁓ comeback stories. We talked and they said, this is what we want to do. What do you think? And I said, I'm on board. Let's do it. And they've been, they've been amazing to work with Dan and his whole team over there. They are, they are top notch. They put, I think they put out now over 600 plus films like this. A couple of them.

Erika (55:12)
Mm-hmm.

That's awesome.

Wow.

Eric (55:30)
I watched

50, 50, 50. He did 50 Ironmans, 50 days, 50 states. Now this wasn't Erica, this wasn't like ⁓ Ironman. He would do it just by himself. He would drive to the state and do one and then they would drive to another state and do it. It was really well done and they had the bad weather days, the good weather days, it was hard. He wasn't raising the money he was hoping to raise at the time. So he's struggling in the documentary.

Erika (55:37)
Whoa. Like on his own.

I'm looking this up.

Mm-hmm.

Eric (55:59)
Like, why am I doing this? I've only raised 50K. My goal is 100K. I'm making the numbers up. But the storyline was so good. And if it's the same production company, this movie that you're going to be a part of in the fall, it's going to be just as good. Better.

Erika (56:04)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jeremy (56:15)
It is. I'm not sure. They may have done assisting production or something, but I know that there was work that they did. And James was like, you got to talk to these guys. They're amazing. And that's how that happened. And, ⁓ you know, the thing is too, James, like he had gone bankrupt prior, lost his home. mean, everything. then next thing know, he's out there doing, you know, doing this. was just, it was amazing.

He's amazing. And I met him in Boston. We connected at the hotel. He was in the lobby and I said, hey, got a couple minutes to get around. Nicest guy in the world. ⁓ If you guys could ever get him on the show, I'm happy to make a connection. He is amazing.

Eric (56:57)
Yes, very cool. We'll talk about that off air, but while we got you on, you mentioned Boston. You've run eight Boston marathons. I'm assuming these all happen after heart surgeries. Like you're doing triathlons, you're starting to dabbling a little more in running. You're running almost 400 races since that second surgery. Let's hear a little bit about the running journey in the Boston Marathon too.

Erika (57:05)
eat.

Jeremy (57:23)
In 2009, I believe it was 2009, I went down, Armstrong was running, I think it was either 2008 or 2009. I go down to watch the Boston Marathon with my best friend. And we watched Lance come through and we're like, my gosh. And I said to him, said, I'm gonna run the Boston Marathon someday. We were right at the corner of Hereford and Boylston. He said, all right, let's do it. And he talked and he goes, let's go over to the hospital and let's go find your team.

We walk over to Tufts. I happened to go in. Now my surgeon was in surgery, so I couldn't talk to him, but I talked to one of his support staff. She came out and chatted somebody. She had also been part of my team when I was there. And I told her, said, I'm here watching the Boston Marathon. Someday I'm going to run the Boston Marathon. Well, five, six years later, I find myself at the start line. I got connected with Teddy Bursky with his

Erika (58:05)
Mm-hmm.

Eric (58:18)
Not a big

deal.

Jeremy (58:20)
Amazing. The best guy. He's the best. He's the absolute best. I got connected with them in 2014 during the application process. Somebody that I knew here from New Hampshire that was connected with the American Heart Association said, reach out, put your name in. You got a great heart story. Good chance you could get picked. I got picked to run the 15 marathon. And then I ran 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. I ran from home with them.

Erika (58:20)
Teddy's team.

Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (58:50)
Which was a fun time because that year, the last two miles I got to run with Sununu, he met me up, him and his team met me up. Yeah, we ran the last two miles and it was, it was really cool. And then, um, we ended up, um, I took a break because I was so burnt out from fundraising. like, I love the mission and everything, but I was also making a lot of pivots with my studio and everything else that was going on. just said, you got to take a break from it. And I jumped back on in 2015. I'm sorry, 2025.

Erika (58:56)
Cool.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (59:19)
raced again and they connected me with Abbott. They said, you gotta share, this is for the Chicago Marathon. They're like, you gotta, we gotta connect you. They did. And then that's how that relationship ⁓ just grew and stuff. They happened to be the maker of my heart valve. It's a natural ⁓ relationship and they've been amazing to me.

Erika (59:37)
Yeah.

Jeremy (59:38)
And so that was cool too, with Teddy's team making the connection because they have a very, very close relationship. They do a lot together. It's, it's, it's been awesome. Great partnership. Um, and then, uh, Abbott team, Abbott reached out and said, do you want to run Boston for 2026? I was going to apply again to run for Teddy's team. Um, and I went back to Teddy's team. said, I feel so guilty. I've only ever run Boston with you guys. I feel like I'm cheating on you. What do we do? And he said, no, go for it. it. And the.

Erika (1:00:03)
you

Jeremy (1:00:08)
I, you know, and I felt very fortunate. I didn't have to fundraise for team Abbott. Yeah. You did. I love it. Okay. Good to know. Good to know.

Eric (1:00:12)
What? Erica, that's your ticket.

Erika (1:00:16)
I actually applied. I did.

Eric (1:00:20)
You need to have open

heart surgery, Erica. You need to join the Zipper Club to join Team Abbott. All right?

Erika (1:00:25)
There are more deserving people who can take the vips.

Eric (1:00:29)
Let me ask you, like, when they approached you, did you have to apply, first off? Did they find you? If not, like, did they find you? How did they find you? And then you got to do things. You spoke on panels. You had, they made Instagram posts about you. You had camera crews following you around at some point, or at least you're on their reels. What was that whole experience like from the beginning until the marathon?

Jeremy (1:00:48)
Yes.

So I got connected with them through Teddy's team and the follow right before the Chicago marathon. As soon as I got wind that, okay, I'm a recipient of their vows, I run with it literally. We were literally on the phone because when they reached out, they're like, I said, oh, do you want to try to talk next week or two weeks? I said, no, can you talk like this afternoon? So ended up talking with them, shared my whole story. Next thing you know, I'm with their.

PR and media team were doing different things, talking about how we could do stuff. So I sat on their panel in Chicago, had a blast. It was a ton of fun. And then I got invited out separately in November to Chicago to speak at the Abbott HR conference. So it's like 250, 300 of all of their human resource managers. They all come together. I got to go. They put me up. It was amazing, like fly me out, all that stuff.

Erika (1:01:42)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (1:01:49)
And then in December, said, do you, if you want to run, um, you know, I had to go through it from out, had to put my application in and whatever, but they're like, do you want to run? And I was like, yeah, I'd love to run. And I said, what, you what do I need to fundraise? And they're like, you don't. And then they said, we want to profile you. It was, mean, it was, it's hard fundraising is amazing. And I totally believe in it. And absolutely, but you know, I just needed a break fundraising break and stuff.

Erika (1:01:55)
That's fair.

Eric (1:02:04)
What a relief, right? Yeah.

Erika (1:02:13)
Mm-hmm.

How

much total have you raised for a Teddys team throughout the years?

Jeremy (1:02:19)
⁓ so they were initially connected with the American Heart Association and then, or American Heart and Cirque Association. And then they got away from them, even though they still, they still, you know, contribute and all that, but Teddy wanted his own incorporated. So he went, ⁓ formed his own group. I think it's probably somewhere around since the beginning, 80,000 ish. Yeah. I think it's, you know, since they technically were, they were only Teddy's team when they went.

Erika (1:02:25)
Mm-hmm.

It's incredible.

Jeremy (1:02:49)
18 or 19, I think it's like 25 or 30 grand, but all collectively, everything going to their mission back to 15 is somewhere around 75, 80,000 ish. So yeah,

Erika (1:02:51)
Mm-hmm.

That's incredible.

Eric (1:03:00)
So

amazing.

The talking events like the Ted Talks and the Abbott Talks in front of crowds, I imagine that had to be fun. It seems like that's your jam now. We know a few people who just like that they found that to be their purpose and it kind of feels the same for you. I love it. I just I think that's so cool because you got a cool story. You know how to talk about it and you must be comfortable now talking in front of crowds like that.

Jeremy (1:03:26)
I am. love it. Now I was terrified growing up speaking in front of groups. mean, sweat profusely, want to vomit, you name it, that was me. And then having this opportunity in 2023 to do my first Ted talk, that all came about literally on a month's notice, because they had a cancellation. Somebody said, hey, put your name in right now. I interviewed, I got the spot and I was like,

Eric (1:03:32)
same.

Erika (1:03:34)
Same.

Jeremy (1:03:56)
How long do I have three, four months to prepare? they're like, no, you have like less than 30 days. So I did that.

Erika (1:04:01)
Not a big deal.

Eric (1:04:02)
So how does that work?

Like if you want to do a Ted Talk, you just apply and say, you know, in my case, my name's Eric and I started a podcast and I want to talk about it. And then there's like a whole interview. And then are you doing that on your own time? Like, are you doing it? I don't want to ask like, what are you making for money? But is this like a thing you're doing for free just to go out there and talk and get your story out? And hopefully that builds into more opportunities.

Jeremy (1:04:26)
Yeah. if you, anybody who's ever talked on the 10 stage, my understanding is that they have never been paid. They do not pay. mean, even some of the biggest names in the world, you don't, it's more of a, like a prestige thing or, Hey, you had that opportunity. I got to speak at Boston college at the Rossham theater. It was a dream venue. So fun. All the girls were there. They got to see it. They got to hear, you know, to them, I'm dad to them. like,

Erika (1:04:41)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Jeremy (1:04:56)
You know, he keeps telling me I got to clean my room, right? But they hear me on the stage and they hear a different person and they get to hear more of my story and they get it. And so then that has led to, because when you have that, you can use that. They give you the, the, the, the, the usage rights and stuff. And I've been able to use that to get on other stages that have been paying stages and stuff. So it's pretty, it's been pretty cool. It's been pretty wild.

Erika (1:05:04)
⁓

Eric (1:05:24)
Yeah, it's...

Erika (1:05:24)
love your journey.

really is just showing how you can be resilient, even having something as serious as a valve replacement, like congenital heart defect. It's not the end of the world. You can live a normal life. You can do the things you love. It's just staying on it and staying healthy.

Jeremy (1:05:40)
Mm-hmm.

That's it. You just

have to persevere. know what the thing I use on my podcast is dream, believe, inspire, know, dream it if you can believe it. And then, you know, hopefully you can inspire others along the way.

Eric (1:05:56)
The dream and believe, I believe because that's how I did this one. I dreamed it and I believed in it. The inspire, yeah, and maybe Erica is my inspire part on this side, ⁓

Erika (1:05:56)
Mm-hmm.

Yep.

Jeremy's got the inspire part down. He's got it down.

Jeremy (1:06:09)
It's you

never know who's watching though. never, there's so many people that sit in the shadows and watch and listen. You are, look at the show you have. You have the, an amazing platform. You guys are inspiring people. It's awesome.

Eric (1:06:15)
Well, I'm not the one inspiring people, Jeremy. I hope it's the guest.

Thank you. And I wanted to ask, like, I don't know how long you followed our show, but last year, it's every year I evolve and I learned how to pitch and change my question. Last year was the pasta dinner question. And I had this whole thing at the end of the year. Okay, here's our pasta dinner. This is where we're going to put everyone in their tables and this person's going to sit with that person. did a whole episode on it. And then we announced our keynote speakers and I'm going to add you as a secondary keynote speaker.

Erika (1:06:37)
He's never gonna let me live it down.

Eric (1:06:56)
alongside President Obama.

Erika (1:06:56)
I love this.

Jeremy (1:06:59)
Haha, I love it, thank you.

Eric (1:07:01)
So if it ever

really happens, I'm counting on you because I don't know if ⁓ Obama's gonna really make it. I'm gonna try though, I'm gonna try. His wife's already there at one of the tables, I mean he might as well come.

Erika (1:07:08)
Yeah

Jeremy (1:07:11)
You never know, and I am totally there.

I love it.

Eric (1:07:17)
Yeah.

You have a ⁓ really cool presence in New Hampshire. Born and raised. You live in the state capital of Concord. You have your gym. You have your podcast. You're going to have a movie about you in a few months, but you also work with Millennium. And I didn't realize this when we met you in March.

What do you do for Millennium because you've mentioned a couple times when you've worked for Millennium and you've worked with Darren.

Jeremy (1:07:42)
So I work part-time, very part-time. I probably do maybe 10 to 15 events for them each year. And I just do event ⁓ logistics and stuff, set up, clean up, all the cones you see on the road. I mean, we're, you know, our team's out there, we're laying them, picking them up, all the mile markers, all that stuff. So John has been amazing. I went to John a couple of years ago and I said, Hey, make a couple of extra bucks.

And he's like, oh, you can race for free too. I was like, all right, sign me up. So I just kind of pick and choose, pick and choose the ones that, you know, fit our family. um, you know, as long as it doesn't conflict with our girls, dance comp schedules and stuff, I usually try to jump in and they are, they're an awesome crew to work with. His team is top notch. They're amazing.

Erika (1:08:13)
Hahaha

Eric (1:08:23)
dance.

Yeah, no, it's been a blast this past year since we met him and started doing those shows, which are just so much fun. They're a blast. And people just heard a... Yeah, well, it's a lot of fun. And I finally got to run one the other day and I got to meet you in the Porta Potty line again. And it's so much fun to run them sometimes too. So it's just really great events.

Erika (1:08:37)
So much fun.

Jeremy (1:08:39)
Love seeing you guys there.

Erika (1:08:43)
The feeling's mutual.

Jeremy (1:08:55)
It is, and it's also, you know, we're out there, the platform you guys have, ⁓ what I'm able to do, leading by example, when people are out there and they see you, they're like, okay, he's, you know, he's leading by example. So I think it's important that we're out there doing it.

Erika (1:09:08)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Eric (1:09:11)
Well,

we see you leading by example with Miss New Hampshire. Tell me this story. She goes to your gym, you run with her. I think she just ran her first half marathon. I wish I thought of this before. We would have called her in right now. But you do this with, I'm sure more than just her, you do this with other clients. And like Jeff, you run with Jeff. You train with Jeff and you run with Jeff. So it's not just like a, hey, I'm going to train you in a gym. Good luck in your race. You go and you run with them.

Jeremy (1:09:36)
I do. Miss New Hampshire, so we're talking about Santee Russell and she was the Miss New Hampshire 2025. I've had the opportunity to work with the two prior, two previous, both Brooke Mills and Emily Spencer of 2023, 24. with Santee, I kind of race bullied her. I'm not gonna lie. We were training one day back in, I think it was November or December.

And something was said, was like, Hey, you know what? Let's jump in, do the two miler at the, you will light up the lights up at the speedway. She's like, okay, I'll do it. If I like it, I'll do a half or I'll do, you know, I think it was, if I like it, I'll do the 10 K. And then I was like, look, if you're going to do the 10 K, we're going to do the half. So we did the two miler together and next thing you know, she's like, all right, I'll sign up for the 10 K, which she signed up with literally that night. Then I said, you're going to sign up for the half. And she signed up for the half. We had a blast training.

Eric (1:10:15)
That's a big jump.

Erika (1:10:20)
Mm-hmm.

⁓

Jeremy (1:10:32)
did a bunch of eight, nine, 10-mileers together. Unfortunately, she was really sick the day of the half marathon. So I think she wants to get one more go at it at some point when she's healthy. But yeah, we had a blast. So, but yeah.

Erika (1:10:43)
right.

Eric (1:10:46)
New England half

in the fall, it conquered and at the state capital. It's a good one.

Jeremy (1:10:51)
Yes, ⁓

fortunately for her, she's going down to work at Disney. ⁓ She just gave up her reign as Miss New Hampshire a week ago. ⁓ And she's leaving, I was actually training with her this morning, but she leaves June 1st go to Disney for an eight month contract down there to work.

Erika (1:11:01)
⁓

Eric (1:11:10)
What is she doing? I'm curious.

Erika (1:11:10)
cool

Jeremy (1:11:12)
I believe she's gonna be one of the character princesses. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a pretty cool game.

Eric (1:11:16)
Yes, that's so cool. She might get picked up by an

Erika (1:11:18)
Wow.

Eric (1:11:21)
IndyCar driver.

Erika (1:11:24)
What? No?

Eric (1:11:25)
Did you know this? Joseph

Jeremy (1:11:26)
No.

Eric (1:11:27)
Newgarden, who's like a three time Indy 500 champion, met his wife at Cinderella's castle dinner, like the character dinner. She was one of the princesses. I don't think she was Cinderella. She might've been Belle. they connected. She was very professional apparently, but like his dad slipped the email address to her somehow.

Erika (1:11:34)
Was she Cinderella?

my God, that's so cute.

Jeremy (1:11:41)
Bye.

Eric (1:11:51)
And then she emailed and they went on a date and now they're married with kids and everything.

Erika (1:11:55)
Wow.

Jeremy (1:11:55)
That's so cool, I had no

Eric (1:11:57)
Yeah. And then someone

Jeremy (1:11:57)
idea.

Eric (1:11:59)
else I know, ⁓ their cousin is Mary Poppins.

Jeremy (1:12:03)
Wow, no kidding.

Erika (1:12:04)
That's

Eric (1:12:05)
It's actually, it's

Erika (1:12:05)
so fun. What a job.

Eric (1:12:07)
my cousin's wife's cousin. Something like that. So, yeah. We saw her and I took a picture. go, is this her? And she goes, that's my cousin. That's so cool. I do know sometimes those contracts that a Disney princess has could be a much longer contract than eight months, but you have to go and do a couple months in Disney Tokyo, a couple months at Disneyland.

Jeremy (1:12:11)
Ha, no kidding.

Erika (1:12:12)
you

Jeremy (1:12:17)
That's awesome.

Erika (1:12:17)
funny.

Eric (1:12:32)
Couple months at Disney World, you don't just get to stick to one, but that's so cool she's doing that. And she could run the Disney half marathon.

Erika (1:12:32)
⁓

Jeremy (1:12:37)
Yeah,

she could. I've talked to her and said, Hey, if I can get down there and I think it's in November or whatever, ⁓ could I talk you into it? She does. Yeah. And she said, maybe she still has not hit that runner's high though. Like not yet. know.

Erika (1:12:40)
you

They have a few to choose from. Yeah.

Eric (1:12:51)
No.

Erika (1:12:52)
Hey, it took

Mia solid probably 10 years before I truly enjoyed running. So I do not blame her for not loving it off the bat. It happens and it takes time and, and yeah, discipline and dedication and yeah, she's, she's got plenty of time.

Eric (1:12:56)
She's young.

Jeremy (1:13:06)
Yeah, that's it.

Eric (1:13:09)
Yeah, she's young. She's young. Jeremy,

Jeremy (1:13:09)
Yeah, absolutely. Yes.

Eric (1:13:12)
I think you're a fan of this podcast. You know what's coming up next. We have our two final questions brought to you by MyRacedHats. And I'm going to let Erica go first with her non-changing, never makes a pitch, never evolves question.

Erika (1:13:18)
Mm-hmm.

Me?

You know what, if we both kept evolving and it would just get to be too many logistics, so one of us, I am happy to just stay the same so you get the creative vision, okay? I like my, I am a creature of habit. I will keep things the same. But Jeremy, we have a Spotify playlist and we like to invite our guests to add songs to it. And I said songs, so Eric can go, screw. We'll see.

Eric (1:13:51)
Whoa, no! Song!

Erika (1:13:57)
But Jeremy, is there something that you like to listen to that just pumps you up, gets you motivated, gets you out the door?

Jeremy (1:14:03)
Absolutely, you guys are gonna die when I tell you it. The original karate kid, Phil Esposito, you're the best.

Erika (1:14:12)
you

Eric (1:14:13)
Phil Esposito? The same Phil Esposito I'm thinking of?

Jeremy (1:14:14)
Phil Esposito. used to listen to that.

the... No. No, no, no, no. I don't believe so. No. I don't think so.

Eric (1:14:21)
Number seven, retired in the rafters for the Boston Bruins.

Erika (1:14:27)
We're going to look this up.

Eric (1:14:28)
He a singer?

I don't think it's the same, but you know.

Jeremy (1:14:33)
No, no, I don't think so either. But that is, I can listen to that song and I am totally jacked up all day for it. It is my, I listened to it before Boston. ⁓ That and everybody was kung fu fighting.

Erika (1:14:42)
Those are the vibes we look for.

Eric (1:14:47)
Yeah. Yep. And then what's the one everybody wang chung tonight?

Erika (1:14:48)
Also a good one.

Jeremy (1:14:49)
Also a good one.

Every, yes. Yes.

Erika (1:14:54)
Have fun tonight Wing Chun.

Eric (1:14:55)
That's a fun one. That's a fun one.

My question this year is a hot take. I want a hot take from Jeremy. It can be fun, can be silly, it can be serious. Give me a hot take for the year 2026, for the year of hot takes as I'm calling it.

Jeremy (1:15:12)
⁓ boy, hot takes. ⁓ Lots of evolution. Yeah, don't, just being open to, like we were talking about before, being open to pivot and evolve and really just leaning into my heart and where I want to go with things and what I want, in my, in what my, you know, what my, my calling is.

and where I will serve people the best.

Eric (1:15:44)
Write that down, Erica. I got a hot take. I think Erica is gonna change her question at the end of the year. That's my hot take. Jeremy, this was so cool, man. This was so much fun. Listen, the Zipper Club, that's a new one, the Zipper Club, eight Boston marathons, over 400 races are approaching 400 since your last open heart surgery. I can't wait to see you at the show in the fall when your film comes out. will be a lot of fun.

Jeremy (1:15:52)
Good.

I had a blast.

Eric (1:16:13)
Keep us in the loop. Let us know. Maybe we live podcast from the show or maybe we just take it in and enjoy it. And then we'll have you back on after to talk about it. That was awesome.

Jeremy (1:16:22)
That would be awesome.

I would love it. That would be so great. And thank you guys. This is, like I said, this has been the highlight. This is the highlight of my week right here.

Erika (1:16:29)
You're too kind, Jeremy. Honestly, this was such a pleasure to get to know you better and to just learn your story. And you truly are an inspiration. So I hope that it reaches our listeners and goes and inspires more people.

Jeremy (1:16:41)
Thank you, I appreciate it guys.

Eric (1:16:43)
One more question, actually, dude. Am I gonna see you?

in a couple of weeks at all these happy hour hustles on Thursday nights.

Jeremy (1:16:51)
Absolutely. I will be there. plan is to get all five happy hours. So I will see you there. Yeah.

Eric (1:16:55)
Same. Same. And then...

Erika (1:16:55)
Awesome. I think I

can only make one of them. I will be there. Somebody's got to keep Eric and Tara honest. We got to have some kind of tiebreaker, ⁓ somebody just make sure they're playing fair. No tripping, Tara. OK, no tripping. Play fair. The July one. I can do the July one.

Jeremy (1:17:02)
Yes.

Eric (1:17:06)
There's gonna be no tiebreaker. I'm just gonna crush her. I'm gonna crush her dreams. No tripping, okay? You didn't say no pushing over though.

Jeremy (1:17:11)
Which one are you gonna be at, Erica?

Eric (1:17:18)
Do you...

Jeremy (1:17:18)
So the July

one is two miles from my house. It's at Pembroke Pines. Yeah.

Eric (1:17:22)
Yes. All right.

Erika (1:17:23)
Hey, that one

I may be, I may not be racing. ⁓ that's going to be like the week after I have like a 72 hour ultra that I'm doing. So it's going to be a very slow, relaxed one for me, but maybe I can just keep an eye on those two and you.

Jeremy (1:17:39)
You are crazy.

You are crazy.

Erika (1:17:42)
I am a little bit, yes.

Eric (1:17:42)
Well,

Jeremy (1:17:43)
Yeah.

Eric (1:17:43)
I can't wait to see you at the next one, man. My goal, just like you, make all five happy hour hustles. But guys, that was wicked awesome. Ironheart Jeremy, Jeremy Woodward, from Concord, will keep you in the loop when his film comes out. That's so cool to hear. Let's sell the place out, guys. Let's sell it out. It's gonna be wicked awesome. Jeremy, thank you so much.

Jeremy (1:18:03)
Thank you so much, guys. This has been an absolute blast being on here with you tonight. Thank you.

Erika (1:18:11)
Jeremy, we are so happy to get a chance to finally talk to you for your own episode. I know we did get to speak a little bit back in March when we first met, but but having you and just hearing your whole story, it's it really is so inspiring. You are an incredible person. And I'm really looking forward to when your documentary drops. So just make sure you keep us in the loop for that. It's gonna be awesome.

Eric (1:18:29)
I can't wait. I can't wait. His ⁓ song,

you remember his song? He wanted You're the best. And he said it's by Phil Esposito. And I was like, the hockey player? He's like, No, different, different Phil. He he instantly, like after he stopped recording, he sent me a DM. He goes, ⁓ I can't believe I did this. It was Joe Esposito.

Erika (1:18:34)
Mm-hmm.

Yep. ⁓

⁓ Easy fix, easy fix.

Eric (1:18:52)
So You're the Best by Joe

Esposito. And I played it today on the story with the tomorrow, the teaser post. And I was like, I know that song. So it's funny sometimes people will say these songs, especially these oldies, we'll call it an oldies song. And I'm like, yeah, I know that song. That's a good song. So Joe Esposito, you're the best. Jeremy, you are the

Erika (1:19:02)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

yeah.

Eric (1:19:15)
anyways, that was Wicked Awesome. Thank you to my race tats for bringing us that episode. ⁓ you guys are incredible. My race tats is staying on board in a different capacity for the summer series because we have two other new sponsors coming on board for the summer series. It's like it's so cool. And we're doing some fun things when you're going on vacation. I'm gonna be out with one of them pre recording some stuff and making some content. Yeah, right on.

Erika (1:19:18)
As always.

It is.

Right on.

Thank you guys for believing in us.

Eric (1:19:40)
You should do it with our other sponsors since that's your connection and you

want to do the feet content, like that could be your start.

Erika (1:19:50)
⁓ man. Should never have brought that up.

Eric (1:19:51)
It could be.

Guys,

we're back tomorrow for the global running day. On Thursday, we might be at the Salem Run Club. I need to get a babysitter. We might be there. And then the following Thursday, I will be at the Happy Hour Hustle. I have to sign up. Terra Pterodactyl said she'll tell me when there's only 10 spots left. Right now there's like 35. Yeah.

Erika (1:20:14)
Really? You're gonna wait last

minute. You know you're gonna do it. Just sign up. Why?

Eric (1:20:18)
I'm waiting to the point where

I know if I have to get a babysitter, which I won't know till this weekend. Even though I probably should get a babysitter and then cancel on them if actually's not working, I should probably just do that. Maybe that would be the smarter thing. I love it. My male name, danger. Iceman. Awesome.

Erika (1:20:23)
⁓ well, let's hope it does not sell out.

Yeah. Yeah.

You're playing a dangerous game, dude. Gamma Middle name gamma phobia. Just do it, just do it.

Eric (1:20:44)
Listen, we're gonna have to catch up. I was about to do my little Kyle Bush thing. I'll do it when we catch up. I want to talk about Kyle Bush too for a little bit. We're gonna have a wicked fun episode. But I'll mention one thing about Kyle Bush right at the right now. And it just has to do with your name, because I'm changing your nickname. A lot of people will write down KFB. What would that KFB? Like like your initials, right? Guess what? Kyle fucking Bush.

Erika (1:20:50)
⁓ yeah.

Yes.

To what?

KFB.

Yeah? Kyle fucking Bush?

Eric (1:21:14)
And I thought of it.

Erika (1:21:14)
We we

used to call my friend one of the penguins Mike Rabidou. We used to call him Mike fucking rabbido, so that's his name. But yeah. Yeah.

Eric (1:21:20)
Well, I have a new one for you.

You're SSFE. Six star fucking Erica, take us home!

Erika (1:21:29)
Six star fucking

I took a minute for my mind to compute that. I was like, wait, there's too many letters. All right. Thank you again to MyRace Tats for supporting us. We we love you so much. And we hope that you guys go out there, check the show notes for the link and support them because they are amazing. So as always, thank you for listening. You know we love you.

Eric (1:21:37)
Check us home.

Don't fear the code brown.

Erika (1:21:55)
And don't forget to stretch.