Mile 20 Mindset

Mile 20 Mindset Podcast Episode 026 - Featuring Chuck Dizzle

• Maldonado Media • Season 1 • Episode 26

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From Asthma to Half Marathons: Chuck Dizzle's Inspiring Running Journey

Introduction:
In the latest episode of the Mal 20 Mindset podcast, host Allen Maldonado engages in an inspiring conversation with Chuck Dizzle, a renowned L.A. radio personality. Chuck shares his transformative journey from struggling with asthma to proudly completing a half marathon. This post delves into the lessons learned along the way and offers valuable insights for anyone considering running.

Main Content:

1. The Early Days of Running
Chuck Dizzle opens up about his early experiences with running, starting as a child with asthma, which held him back from fully engaging in sports. He recalls being the last person picked for teams, which shaped his perception of himself as an athlete. Despite his struggles, Chuck's story took a turn in his adult life, where he began to see running as a viable activity. 

2. The Turning Point
Fast forward to 2012, when Chuck realized he no longer needed his inhaler. He describes the exhilarating feeling of being able to engage in physical activities without the limitations of his past. This newfound freedom inspired him to pick up running, initially as a way to stay active and healthy, and eventually leading him to consider running a half marathon.

3. The Challenge of Training
When Chuck decided to take on the half marathon challenge, he reached out to his friend Butter, who guided him through the training process. With only two weeks to prepare, Chuck had to adapt quickly. He learned the importance of proper running shoes and developed a training plan that included various distances, gradually building his stamina.

4. Overcoming Obstacles
Throughout his training, Chuck faced several obstacles. One significant challenge was the physical demands of running, especially in his hometown of Carson, where he encountered inclines that tested his endurance. He candidly shares his experiences, emphasizing the importance of fueling properly and staying hydrated—lessons he learned the hard way.

5. The Power of Community
As Chuck progressed in his training, he discovered the supportive running community. Encouragement from friends and fellow runners played a crucial role in his motivation. Chuck's journey highlights how sharing experiences and celebrating milestones with others can significantly enhance the running experience and foster personal growth.

Conclusion:
Chuck Dizzle's journey from a young boy with asthma to completing a half marathon is a testament to resilience and determination. His story serves as an inspiration for anyone who may feel held back by their circumstances. Key takeaways from this episode include the importance of community support, proper training, and the belief that anything is possible with hard work and perseverance. Whether you're a seasoned runner or just starting, Chuck's experience reminds us that every step forward is a victory.

Tags: running, half marathon, asthma, personal journey, fitness, community support, training tips, motivation, resilience, health

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SPEAKER_01

Yo, hey, what's up, everybody? It's your boy, Alan Maldonado, the host of Mal20 Mindset. This is a running podcast for running enthusiasts, elite runners, and those that love supporting the runners in their lives, man. I got an incredible guest, a good friend of mine, uh, LA radio person, legendary LA radio personality, Chuck Dizzle. What's up, baby? How you doing, man? My God, hey man, you gotta take it.

SPEAKER_02

We go back from Long Beach State, bro. I know, I know.

SPEAKER_01

Listen, I know. We go back decades, man. We go back, we go back decades, man, before everything.

SPEAKER_02

It's so amazing. We we both were on our journeys at the same time. So that's why it's a full circle moment for me, man. And then this is this this journey of running this is absolutely new to me. So I appreciate the time and energy you've just been pouring into me. Uh, you know, because I'm out here raw, dogging, bro.

SPEAKER_01

It's again, this is it's full circle. The the the shoe is on the other foot, literally, as I'm I'm interviewing you now. Now you're and you're running, and you're running now. Like all it's crazy. It's it all flip-flop. So let's talk about where did you, how, how, where did where did running start? Where did how did it all start for you? Like, where did it be?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. Uh running started for me way back in elementary when I couldn't run. Okay, okay, okay. I had asthma growing up. So I was very, like, when it came to sports, I wasn't the best, bro. Like, I was very limited in what I could do with sports.

SPEAKER_04

Right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_02

I would play on teams, you know, my moms and pops would put me in like sports, um, you know, the the park and then school. I would, you know, join teams here and there, but I was always a dude that was like, all right, yeah, we're gonna pick them, then did it.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, you were the last you were the last pick.

SPEAKER_02

For sure. For sure. So throughout the years, I just automatically assumed that sports wasn't my thing. You know what I mean? Uh-huh. Always, always the best. So running was always it always scared me because anytime that I would actually get any type of wind up, I would damn near have an asthma attack, had to go get treatments and all that. So I just kind of put sports on the back burner after that. You know, I would participate every now and then, but it turns out like really pursuing it. Right. It wasn't my thing. So fast forward 20, 30 years later, you know, we met each other at Long Beach State, never even wanted to do sports. Fast forward to after I graduated, I realized that I kind of grew out of my ass, but I never had to re-up on my inhaler. Just one time, like in 2012, 13, I never had, I would always have to, like, I was a kid and a person that always had to have my inhaler on me. Gotcha. Because it would always go down. Just never knew. Like, it didn't even have to be running. It is like any type of like activity, I would need my help. Hard walk got you, got you tight. Got your boy wheezing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Gotcha, gotcha. 2012, around 2012, 13, I realized that I had to re-up on my my medicine, and I just didn't do it for whatever reason. And I realized, I'm like, damn, a year went by, I had to re-up. And then two, three years, four years, five years went by, and I'm like, oh shit, this is kind of fire. Like, I don't, I don't need it anymore. Right, right, right. So that was, that was, that felt good, man. It really felt good. Like it, if anybody that ever grew up with asthma to the to the severity that I had it, it it holds you back in a lot of things in life, right? Yeah. Um, and it's, you know, it's it's a it's a life-threatening thing at some point that it could be. So anyway, fast forward to to realizing I don't need it, um I started doing more activities. Okay. And, you know, going to events, doing different things, and for whatever reason, I decided, let me just pick up the pace and try to run.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

And I, you know, start working out a little bit more. And as I got my trainer or whatever, start working out, and I would start running a little bit more, I'm like, oh shit. I and mind you, I have no idea what a mile is or anything. Just any time I would run, I knew I would need my inhaler. So one time I'm like running, I'm like, with my trainer, I'm like, I'm on a treadmill, and I'm like, damn, he told me to do five minutes. I'm like, yo, I'm doing five minutes and I don't need my inhaler. Like, this is kind of fly. Like, I knew I didn't need it when I didn't do activities. Like, I knew I had grown out of it over the last couple of years. But I'm like, now I'm actually working out and I'm running and I'm doing, doing things that I knew for sure I couldn't do back in the day. Damn, okay, let me let me try a mile. I did a mile and I'm just like, oh my God, this is like 2017, 2018. So now I'm just doing it just to be physical, just to be active. Yeah. Uh salute to the homie Butter, man. He got this run club, Keep It 100.

SPEAKER_01

He was doing a one of uh his um his people's on uh my as my first guest. Uh Word. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely. He's doing some good thing, good work out there. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02

Doing some amazing, you gotta get him on, man. Amazing work in the community, bro. And so I knew him from, you know, years before. He was definitely not a runner. Right, right. So in the run club, I'm like, I saw, I saw his endeavor, and I just thought that was flying. I'm, you know, always supporting, you know, folks coming out of the city or whatever. So I saw him doing it from afar, but then I saw he was doing his half marathon. I'm like, let me let me try.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, he was doing half marathon through half marathon through the hood. Yeah. Through South Central. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

West side with love, right? Yeah. First one. Yep. And I just, I signed up for it. I'm just like, I hit him like literally, probably like two weeks before.

SPEAKER_01

So this is so what year was this is recent. This is 2023. Okay, yeah, yeah, this is 23. Because I I know he just started that not too long ago. Yeah. Okay, so this is 2023.

SPEAKER_02

So keeping 100 is about seven or eight years old, but that's his first half marathon a couple of years ago, 2023, I believe. Yeah, yeah. I was like, I'm gonna just try it. I was like, hey, look, I'm new to this running thing. I don't know. Like, it how dude, is there a training pro what do I do? He said, say less. Send me the information, kind of gave me a breakdown of like how much I need to run. He was like, I told him, I was like, I've been working out and I I run, but I don't, I don't know how long, the distance or anything. He said, okay, well, look, this is the what you want to do. You got two weeks left, so you're gonna have to pick it up a little bit, but it's possible. And I'm like, okay, as long as it's possible, you know me. I'm like, if it's possible, cool, I'm on it. So that really kicked off my journey. When I when I did that, that showed me that that for me, anything is possible.

SPEAKER_01

So let's, let's, let's, so let's talk about that as far as you you signing up for this half marathon. You've um rediscovered that you have your lungs back. Rediscover. They popped up out of nowhere. Oh, I got these now. All right. Um you decide to run this half. Let's talk about the training. Like, what did what did what did he have you do? Um, just because there's a lot of listeners right now that are, you know, probably on the fence of thinking about beginning running or even interested in running. Um, what were some of the things and uh sort of obstacles you had while training for this marathon or this half marathon?

SPEAKER_02

Well, first of all, I needed some new shoes. I ain't know about running shoes, bro. What was you out there? What was you out there running in? I man, I had some Nikes, but it's just like they wasn't running shoes.

SPEAKER_01

It's a difference.

SPEAKER_02

It's a difference.

SPEAKER_01

It's a difference. It's a gay difference.

SPEAKER_02

So it's just like, I'm like, oh, okay. So when I got, I got some some uh some running shoes, and I'm like, well, this is different. Like, okay, this feels different now. Right, right, right, right. All right. So that feels a little bit better. And he also had a breakdown because again, I think it's like I said two weeks, maybe like a month at the very most for this, this uh month outside of the uh the event. So he said, okay, here's a breakdown every single day. You need to be, you know, it's like three or four days. It said, you know, three miles one day, five miles another day, rest. Five miles, two miles, rest. And then as we got closer to the to the run, it would, you know, increase and increase and increase. Now, again, I had no, this is the first time now that I kind of.

SPEAKER_01

This is wild, because usually people start at a 5K or a 10K. You went straight for the hair.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Straightforward. Okay. But what what what had happened was throughout the time, that's when I started learning about the 5K's and different things. So for me, I'm I'm a I'm I'm a social person, but I like kind of doing things myself. So he gave me the breakdown, gave me the miles and all that. And then I started discovering like, oh, the three mile, the three mile is the 5K. Oh, you know, this many miles is that. So when I hear about certain things, I never signed up for it because I'm like, man, 5K, that just sounds like a long, that's just sound like long. 10K, that's crazy. But as I'm training for it, I'm like, oh, I'm actually knocking these off. So it's possible. Yeah. And then somebody told me, as I was going through this, somebody just randomly told me, I was sharing it with my journey, I'm like, yeah, you know, running a little bit more. They would see me post here and there. They're like, oh man, that's that's good for you, that's dope. Somebody was like, yo, if you can do 10 miles, like straight, you you're good. Like you can, you can, you can participate in the marathon. You know what I mean? And I'm like, all right. So at this point, my.

SPEAKER_01

So is it so these conversations are having are happening before you even ran the half. Before I even have ran the half.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, okay, okay. Before I even ran the half. But see, what what I love about this too, and and and runners and people that share their journey, what I'm learning for myself is that people will root you on. You know what I'm saying? Throughout the whole process. Like, like even you, like me and you have a different type of relationship, but you would reach out, man, good shit, good job. Like, and I would get that from so many other people along the way. So that kind of encouraged me to keep it going. And you know what I mean? Um, so here I am pacing and figuring out different times, and I'm like, okay, if I can do this and I can do this. So it would always be a challenge for myself. Before the the challenge growing up was like, yo, if I could just run without using my inhaler, this would be dope. Right. Now I'm able to do that. So it's like, okay, one mile, two miles, now at five miles. And the very first challenge that I had, this is prior to the half marathon, I decided to run, I think the the the prep was like eight miles. Okay. Like, all right. Now again, not knowing, being the inexperienced, I don't realize that it's the there's a difference between the time frames and when the sun is out and going up here. Oh yeah, oh yeah. I'm from Carson, right? And I'm running in my city, and if anybody that knows, uh there's there's a street called, uh, I believe it's uh Wilmington, Wilmington, uh, Wilmington Ave, right? Okay, okay. And it goes past uh Anderson Park. Yeah. And there's like an incline as you go up, kind of around Dominguez Hills. If you know you're from the city, you know what I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Incline over there, and I didn't realize that incline, so I'm working twice as hard going up. And when I tell you, dog, my, my, and I don't encourage anybody doing this, and this is another thing that I learned. I learned about fueling up. I learned about, oh, yeah, you you probably should eat a little something before you run, but don't go crazy. Like, stay hydrated, all those things. I'm just, when I tell you, I'm out here raw, dog, even out. I'm just getting up running. Because I just want to run. I just, hey man, I got I got three miles to do today. All right, I got four miles. That eight mile was a little different. Yeah. And that was the first time that I just thought I was like, okay, I there's a uh there's a burger stand on the corner of uh uh 213 and Wilmington. It's around kind of where I stay at. And when I tell you, bro, I'd barely made it there. And I I kicked in the doors, I'm like, water. Water. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I just need something. Desperation. Desperation.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, I see I I I I trained in Spain in the summer and it was a hundred degrees out there. I felt, I was in some, I mean, I'm in the hoods of Spain, like in the outskirt, in some liquor store, I was in the liquor store and then passed out, like, hey, I need some help. Like, yo, yo, it was crazy. So I know, I know. I know. So was that your one in that situation, which which marathon was that for you? That was me training. That wasn't even a marathon. That was that was me training. But I'm saying, was it your first which? That was literally after my first one. Um, so I ran my first one, and it was it was it was brutal, man. It was I ran the Lone Beach one, Long Beach Marathon. Not the big Lone Beach Marathon, but it was like a small, it was rinky dink. It was 15 people at this race. Um, I came in last. I broke my foot at Mal22. Are you serious? My medal was my medal, my medal that's up there is a sticker. Um, yeah, yeah, yeah. My first one, my first one was a doozy. It was a doozy. Yeah, just take that. Yeah, yeah. It was, it's a it's a perfect attendance award in elementary. That's that's how my my first Marathon medal looks. But yeah, when I went to Spain, that was when I decided to run four or five months and really like go from, you know, raw dog in the run and really like, all right, so how do we do this? And even then, this was 20, I think, 18, where just information about running and just the I I just remember I used to get people used to think I was crazy being out there running as much as I was I was running at that particular time. Like, what are you doing? Like, why are you running so much? Like, what is going on? And um, yeah, no, it's it's totally exploded. The running scene has exploded since then. But I I literally was in Spain doing 100 mile months and you know, 50 mile weeks in the desert, just just going going crazy. And I was shooting, and I was shooting a movie. So I was doing 12, 15 hour days on set, and then at like two o'clock in the morning, I'm out there running in Spain. Um Wow. Yeah, that's a different kind of discipline.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it was a different kind of discipline, bro.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it was it's different. It was different. But my first time, man, I got I got I got hurt so many times training. Like my first time running a marathon. Like I tried to train, got hurt, and then by the end of the year, I just said, I'm running it. And that's where I had all of the, I had everything go wrong in that marathon. Of course.

SPEAKER_02

You know what I'm starting to realize that it's so to uh for for everybody that's watching, yeah, and I still haven't ran a marathon. Yeah. I'm still on my journey to run one, right? And and I'm gonna need your help, bro, because I swear every time, and to your point, everything goes wrong. Yeah. And my my so my latest thing now is so I planned to run the lat one last year. Way too long, bullshit. I was like, all right, cool, I'm just gonna do another half marathon. Yeah. Um, way too long to do the half marathon, so I just did it in my neighborhood again. So, like, all right, cool, I did my time. I'm gonna sign up for this one, though. I go, literally, this is last week. I go to sign up, and the shit sold out.

SPEAKER_03

So I'm like, look, yo, these races sell out, bro.

SPEAKER_01

No, these you gotta be on it, man. Like you gotta be, you gotta, racing is it is not dealing. It's like sneaker drops, bro. Like, it's like sneaker drops. I'm literally like to get into some of these worlds and these majors, like I've been trying for like two or three years to get into London. I've been trying to have it, like, it's like, yeah, it's it's it's really like that. If you thought it was just like, oh, walk up and show and run, no, no, it's not like that.

SPEAKER_02

No, I knew that wasn't gonna be the case, but it this at least this go run. I'm like, okay, two months in advance, I'll be straight. Like, I'll be cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

They're selling out fat, depending, especially if it's a big race. If it's a big race, it's it's it's gonna sell out, man. And with that's what's so go ahead. So hear me out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So hear me out. So the last, so this happened with the, so again, let me catch you back up. So keep it 100. Okay, they did one in 2023, right? Ran that one. I was gonna sign up for the 2024. Didn't do it for whatever, didn't do it, didn't happen. But I said, you know what, I'm still gonna run. Did it in my neighborhood, all right? Knocked that out, cool. No medal, no nothing like that, but it was just for me because I was like, man, I said I was gonna do it Fridays. Knock it out. Right, right, right, right, right. I'm like, supporting the homie, came through for an interview. We talked about it. I was like, yeah, I'm participating in the half marathon for sure, I'm on it, boom, boom, boom. And then last minute again, some shit happened. I couldn't make it. I said, you know what? I'm gonna do it in my neighborhood. Boom. So here we are with the LA Marathon. And this is my question to you.

SPEAKER_01

So, so, so no, but before you go to your question, so you're telling me you plan to run two halves. You so you haven't received a medal yet. No, I got one medal. I got 2023. I got a medal.

SPEAKER_00

I'm about to say that. I'm like, you ain't got a medal yet. That's crazy. Like, yeah, that's nuts. Yo, hold on. I got I got a show for the people, too. Let me see the swagging. Come on, I'm about to say.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, you got the one. Matter of fact, let me give the matters for the rest of the time. All right, all right. Because I got one. I got one. But I I can I can I got take accountability for myself. The last couple times I just waited till the last minute and just didn't it didn't happen. But I always felt back on, okay, well, I just run in my neighborhood. I do it that way. Yeah, yeah. So here we go now, the LA merit that I'm like, yo. Next morning, the more listen, listen, hear me out, bro. Last week, I go to sign up and it's sold out. You wait till last week to yo, it's yo, it's LA been sold out for like a month. It's been sold out. Hold on, hold on. First of all, I don't need you to be judging me, right? This is a this is a podcast for what you say? For running enthusiasts.

SPEAKER_01

I'm on the inexperienced part, all right? But I don't know. But I'm just saying, like, yo, I remember you telling me you run in LA. I thought you already got your ticket.

SPEAKER_02

That's not nah, nah.

SPEAKER_01

All right, we're gonna have to figure this out. We gotta get you, we gotta get you in the we gotta get you in.

SPEAKER_02

So that I I I plan to, I want to, and when I went to go sign up, this shit is not available. You bought it. So hear me out. Hear me out. Do you think I know I know the answer for myself, but I need you to confirm or deny. Okay, okay. Okay. Yeah. So let me let me just, I'm gonna precursor with this. So the morning, the morning I found out that I couldn't do it, I was so disappointed in myself, bro. When we drove my my kid to school, and my kid goes to school in Long Beach. We we lived in the South Bay, right? Yeah. We dropped him off at school, and with me and me and wife be planning to go to the gym that day, I said, Babe, I'm running home. I can't, I'm I don't feel right about it. I'm running home. Yeah. It's about 14 miles home. Yeah, yeah. I ran home. It took me, and and as soon as I got out of the car, it starts raining. All these things have stopped me from doing it, but I did it. Right, right. It literally started raining when I got out of the car. Wife was like, hey, you show you what I want to do this.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I know you ain't gonna do it. Gotta do it. You real emotional right now. You sure you don't want to get in the car? It's like I know you, I know you, I know you hyped up. I know you, but it's it's starting to drizzle.

SPEAKER_03

I ain't got time to give you no ambulance today. All right, I got shit to do.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, that's funny. So you ran, so you ran home. I ran back home. I ran back home. It was a, it was, it was a doozy, but I I did it, right? So here we are. Now I'm like, okay, I'm not in the LA Marathon as of right now. Uh-huh. Should I take that same mentality and just do it in the neighborhood solo or figure out my own strategies?

SPEAKER_01

We gotta figure out how to get you in the marathon. Like, no, let's let's let's I I don't I don't know who I gotta call or who's listening. Um, but but we gotta get you in, bro. Because my home, if I got to, I'm running the Burbank. You know what I'm saying? Listen, and no, no, I need you to get a medal. I need you to get a medal. No, no, no, no. I need you to get a medal. And also, there's a there's again, there's an experience that when you run the marathon, that you you don't get anywhere else. And that is the fanfare and the love that you get from the people that are supporting all the runners, whether they're there to support you or anyone else, when you look in that crowd and they cheering you on, it feels earnest. Like it is a it is a it is a feeling that I, in this human experience, and I've done a lot of crazy things in this world where it's the only place where I feel safe to look in the crowd and know that this person is supporting me honestly with no with nothing other than wanting me to win. And and that is something that I I want you to experience Marathon Day. Like I've I've got the pleasure of running New York three times. By far, wall to wall, it's a huge block party. The entire city of New York comes to show up. You don't even feel that you're running until like Mile 18 just because you're so empowered by all. I'm talking about every borough, it's a party. And then I went out there and I'm, you know, I'm I'm Puerto Rican, so I wore my Puerto Rican shirt right home. Oh, it was oh every every block, it was, oh, it was going nuts. Yeah. So it's a it's a different, it's a different type of enjoyment that comes with the marathon races that are a little different, are a little added pleasure to just the running component of it. So, so yeah, now I of course if you want to go out there and run 26 on your own. More power to you, but I will say you want you're missing the experience of the marathon race in the world.

SPEAKER_02

I give you the people with the half, the half one I did, that type of experience running through Inglewood, through South Central, and kind of seeing people, you know, cheer you on every every quarter mile or every um every couple miles or whatever. Yeah, that felt good. So it's like I got a I got a little hit of that with the half marathon. And for sure, you know, I guess my why is to kind of defy the odds. You know, somebody that grew up having asthma and just kind of limited it, it had such a limiting thing on my life. I know I'm gonna do it. I know, like it's just one thing I have my eyes set on and make it happen. So we gonna figure it out.

SPEAKER_01

No, we gonna we're gonna figure out how to get you in the LA marathon. But that's also what I don't know if you know why I run is because I had a major back surgery almost like, was it 10 years ago? I think you remember that. I had to remember major back surgery. So I couldn't necessarily run for like 10 years. Like I was. Let me ask you this. So was that was that the the accident or something? Something happened. No, that was, that was, that was my car. That was when I was when, man, that's how far we go back. Jesus. That's when I got hit by a car drunk driver. I remember that. Yeah, I was walking. I was walking. So that was, man, I was 21. Yeah. I got hit by the car. I remember. I got hit by the car, it broke my right leg, my spine was curved, um, and I had stitches from here to here. I had the all, I had the whole Kanye thing going. My whole shit, my it was rocked. And 10 years later, I had to get back surgery from that, that accident. From that, though. Okay. Yeah. So between there, every day was like a, from a, from a scale to one to ten pain, it was a seven. My back was was toe up for those 10 years. Then I got the surgery, and it was one of the best decisions of my life. Got the surgery, and they come to find I was a bleeding tumor in my back. Are you serious? And that was wrapping around wrapping uh around my lungs and pushing against my spinal cord. So I could have been paralyzed. So that's in large part, you know, why I run as well, because there was a moment where I there was a time where I couldn't and almost wouldn't have been able to if I didn't get that surgery. Right. So yeah, so in hearing you, you know, fighting through asthma and all these things, it's uh it's it's coming from that same place of now being able to run, I take full advantage of it. Facts. Also, I want to I just want to talk about this as you're you you sort of embracing this running culture now as far as the internal work that comes with it. Like when you when you're running, you have these sort of internal conversations that you normally don't have due to you being distracted by family, phone, whatever. But when you're running, you may be running from a destination or towards something, but you can't run from yourself. And what is how has that sort of component of running changed you as well as the physical?

SPEAKER_02

It's it's life-changing because again, in those moments, you realize you you have only yourself. You know what I'm saying? God, of course, but it's like you're you're you're going back and forth and you're talking. And for me, some of the biggest, the biggest moments is really telling myself, I'm really talking to the younger version of myself, but I'm talking to myself as well. It's like, yo, I'm proud of you. Like, yo, you did, you're doing this. You were making it happen. Yeah, you tired. Yeah, yo, your legs hurt. Oh, yeah, you having a hard time breathing in this moment, but hey, this is nothing like getting those asthma treatments. You know what I'm saying? Yep. You're able to get past this. Hey, man, look at your, you're right there. So for me, it, I'm able, like you said, to kind of just shut off the world and have that silence for one, but then have that internal dialogue of like those affirmations, just bigging yourself up. And I think that I take away from that outside of running. It's like, yo, anything is possible. You can do that, you can do anything that you're faced against, any type of obstacle. So it's like I take that with me, and I think that it's been such a huge component, especially lately, just with just life. You know how life goes, man. Life be life. So it's like every obstacle, everything that you, even when you think you have things mapped out and understand how where you're gonna go career-wise or whatever the case may be, you can get hit with a left punch out of nowhere, and it's like you gotta remind yourself, like, hey, this is just a moment. This is not, this is not gonna last forever. And it's like with running, I learned that it's like, yeah, this feeling right here, me panting or me being tired, and um even even something as powerful as not having the expectation of it going a certain way. Yep, yep, yep. And I what I mean by that is before when I first started running, I'm like, oh, I gotta, I gotta finish 10 miles without stopping. I gotta I I would put these expectations on myself because of whatever it is. Oh, I gotta, I gotta finish a half marathon without even like, nigga, no, it's okay to pause, take a break if you need to, and get back to it. You know what I'm saying? It's okay to stop and, you know, rehydrate, take a drink, get get it on, get whatever to keep you going. You know what I mean? I guess I put the pressure on myself. I have to finish this time and you know what's crazy?

SPEAKER_01

And I think it's, you know, we've we've been in this game, we've been in this entertainment game for a very long time. And the entertainment game is a treadmill that you you can't stop. And I think uh I've I've used running as sort of my compass in in navigating in entertainment, in entertainment now, just because I've learned I'm I'm a, you know me, I'm I gotta get it done. And it's gotta get done today. I'm trying to conquer or conquer Rome and I'm the yeah, and what what running in marathon and uh marathon running sort of really implemented was pacing and understanding pace and understanding taking my time. And I'll say this I've I've ran races to PR and I've ran races with no PR, with no expectations. And I will say the difference is I still get a medal at the end, but I enjoy the race when I'm not trying to pace. I I get to see the people, I get to embrace everybody involved, I get to have experiences along the race. And I felt like in my entertainment career, I I was always trying to PR. And I didn't really get to enjoy and embrace and have these experiences. Of course, I'm having fun and living a rock star life. Now, don't get it twisted. No woe is. It's not no woe is me. You know what I mean? It ain't no woe is me story, but it's still going down. But you know what I'm saying? It's more of like, I'm because I was so locked in on these goals, I missed a lot. I miss a lot. And through marathon, and that really taught me to kind of slow down and really appreciate um the race. And yeah, I've I've had several conversations with, you know, big time legendary, legendary actors that have sort of said that in their in many different ways as far as really, you know, you hear the term, it's it's it's it's all about the journey and the destination, but everybody's, yeah, if it's if it's about the the destination, I'm trying to get to Paris. I'm trying to get to Paris. I'm trying to get to the destination of all destinations. I'm trying to get there. And you totally forget that the majority of your goal is the travel. And do you want that to be something that is just a blip and it's something that you just don't remember, and only that just seems very shallow in the idea of what this goal is and what it means to you. So when it comes to running, man, um that has really helped me navigate in in life and especially in this business in a way that I get to really see what is going on. Because as you know, everything is fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast. And then you wake up and you somewhere else. You be like, wait a minute, like, how did I happen? So, so yeah, no, I'm I'm I'm excited for the sort of spiritual and the mental um strengthening that you get from running that I know that you're experiencing right now. And that's why I'm so, I gotta figure out how to get you in LA.

SPEAKER_02

Um I would I know for sure, I know for sure. I don't like literally after we hang up, yeah, I'm signing up for Long Beach. I'm just, I I just just to have it under my belt. Long Beach is in October, November. It's like the end of the year. So it's end of the year, and then um LA Marathon is in, obviously in March. So it's the biggest thing.

SPEAKER_01

I'll tell you, because I'm I'm running, um, I'm running, I'm running, I I I've ran LA three times. So uh I'm running Barcelona this March. Yeah, I'm running in Spain. Yeah, yeah, I'm running Barcelona. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's the other thing, man. Once you really get into this, you get to travel the world. Like I've ran Berlin, I've ran Chicago, I've ran Miami, I've uh ran New York, I've ran Vegas. Um would you say New York was the most fulfilling one? Was for you, which one was the most fulfilling? New York is New York by far is hands down. I've heard London is gonna be great. I'm I'm working on getting into London and working on getting into Japan, and I run Sydney in August. Um That's amazing, bro. Yeah, yeah, like it's like yeah, and all and I told you, I said did I say I'm running uh Rio in June? So like it's man, the the the the ability to travel while doing while running is the greatest excuse for a vacation that I've ever found. Um just because even when you're doing like even like in big business, even like if I'm filming something, people tend to manage and work with the schedule because it's like, oh, he's running a marathon. Yeah, like yeah, no, we gotta make sure. So it's like it's it's like and people will will navigate and rework production schedules. It's like, no, he's running the marathon. He's crazy. He needs to be he needs to be ready for that. Go, go ahead and do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll give him Monday off. Yeah, we'll give him Monday off. Yeah, yeah. It's literally like that. He ain't gonna be no good to us that day. So yeah, just give him. Exactly. So it's a great excuse to travel, man. And the reason why I started this podcast is because I just kept meeting extremely interesting people, and everybody's why is is different, man. And that would be, I guess that would be my next question as far as you kind of stumbling into this running world and you you you you raw dogging it right now. Um what is what is your why? Like what is what is your why? What why is running become important to you?

SPEAKER_02

I think it circles back to the the beginning, like I said, because it was something I couldn't do. Physically couldn't do it. You know what I mean? And I think a big component to that, man, is we you talk about running being one of those things that you kind of use as a compass for me. I feel like it's becoming one of those things, but fatherhood is one of those things for me. It's like that's my compass. That's my why. So when I see my son out there seeing me get a medal, or you know what I'm saying, seeing me train or you know, running around, he, oh, daddy, you about to go run, it does something to me because I know whether he can express it or not, he's proud. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I I love that. So that that keeps me motivated, man, and it keeps me on on pace to say, okay, this is a good guide to just life in general. You know, you're gonna have difficult, difficult paths, difficult things that you're gonna go through, but it's all about challenges, challenging yourself and getting over that. And, you know, like you said, enjoying the journey along the way. You know what I mean? And once you cross that finish line, or once you get that medal, or just once you get to that destination of like, damn, I did that. Like, and and and using that as an anchor for the next thing, you know, whether it's another run or a milestone in your career or whatever, it's like, damn, okay, I I can actually apply this to my life, you know? So for me, it's that it's that why of of accomplishing, accomplishing something that just don't look like it can be done, you know, based off of, you know, your history, but it's like, no, you can make it happen if you really apply yourself, you know. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah. No, I had my boy on the uh the pod the other day, Brian, Brian Collins, man, and he told his story about him finishing the LA Marathon. And he right when he got to like the point two, he has uh two twin, two twin boys. They weren't there, they weren't right there at the end. They was at the end, they started screaming. Screaming his name. Boy, I almost broke down crying as he was like, he was he was like, yo, that it said it pulled at the heart string. He was like, yo, I felt like invincible, those last two points, proving and showing that I could do this in front of my my sons, because he has three, so he has two twins, he has a set of twins and a and a younger, a younger boy. So so when you say that, that that that memory of him telling me that story resonates. Cause it's is it is, man. When you when you're able to show the work rather than try to explain the work, it's it's different. And it's it's felt rather than understood. You know what I'm saying? It's felt. So I'm I'm excited. I'm excited for you to get to that that finish line and and we figure out what marathon we get you in. Because I say what, if it if it doesn't conflict with uh Sydney, I run I run beat with Long Beach with you.

SPEAKER_02

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01

I got I got and because if we gonna do it, we're gonna have to sign up today. Because I don't wanna be listening I I had a whole shout out to Daryl Britt Gibson, my brother. Um he's he's starring on Euphoria, he's he's in the trailer, but but I'm gonna I'm gonna be frank. Fuck Daryl. Because he left me and he was supposed to run the half LA Marathon with me. Um I am showing, I'm on the way to the Dodgers Stadium. And I caught, he like, ah, yeah, now I ain't even. I'm like, bro, I'm like, it's five in the morning. I'm like, yo, really? Yo. So I made a I made a t-shirt. I had a t-shirt on. And on the way there, I took a Sharpie and wrote, I'm only here because Daryl didn't show up. And I ran the whole race the whole race with this. So he he he's he's on the he's gonna be on the pod soon. So we go we gonna have some hilarious stories about running as well. But but no, I I I love that I'm seeing, especially seeing more, more, more of us, more brothers, more black men out there. Um, just because I remember a time when I looked around, it was only about three or four. Three or four of us out there, and I definitely would be like, yeah, I gotta be the fastest black person here. It's only four of us. It's only four of them's like first.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I got I gotta at least get the first black person. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

If for not any uh any other reason, not any other reason. You're like, oh, okay, all right. He's a little heavy. I think I can start sizing people up. It's only four or four, man. Right. So now I love seeing more of us out there, especially um sort of the people that have been kind of on the fence and sort of slowly embracing this running community. I tell you, I will tell you this, man, it's filled with love. It's filled with uh supportive people. Um because we know that you have, you have to do it. I my my advice is only advice. Right. Right, right. It's only advice. And I think that's why runners are so quick to be like, hey, take, because it's only advice. You still have to go do it. You still have to go out there and run. Like you and you can listen or you cannot. You could not. Right. It's on you. Yes, it's so many, so many tips that now with social media, like there's a there's a meme or a post every other second with like tips. But back in the day when I began, it wasn't, it wasn't, the information wasn't as fluid. Where it was like, I don't, I'm, I would run into other runners and then we would like trade war short stories and war secrets, and that was how we I kind of got educated on all right, I need the chafing, uh, the chafing stuff, I need the fuel and stuff. I would just learn from other people. And it was, that was, was a real sort of unique time where I'm excited that more and more people are embracing running and really finding the the healing factor of it all um as I think it's self-love. I think it's I think running is self-love, even though it could, and it could be, it could hurt sometimes, but that's that's how love works.

SPEAKER_02

And it's just amazing to kind of see how, you know, people that you didn't expect to be runners or be on that same journey as well. Again, me posting it on social media has gotten me so many people that people that I that I ate that I know and then people that I don't know reaching out, being supportive, saying, Oh, damn, have you tried this? Have you done this? Are you planning, are you running over here? Hey, do you know anybody, any other 5K runs? Like one of my um, my old co-workers, man, DJ Leslie, man, she she's an avid runner as well. And we started kind of going on a journey together. So to see her kind of take off, and she made a challenge of wanting to run, like I want to say, I could be wrong with the numbers, but she posted something about running a thousand miles in last year, something like that. But to see her go on that journey from never running to, you know, suddenly starting to do it and now pick this up as well. Again, it's it's it's similar to trading those war stories when you do run into people on the streets. It's like, oh damn, getting a DM from somebody that I would have never thought had had, even with you, like you, you give me the the advice that you gave me about, oh, you need to feel, you need to do this. I'm like, oh shit, I didn't even didn't even think about that. But it's like I'm taking those gems and like, okay, let me apply that to the next one that I do. You know what I mean? And I think that that's super helpful. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, nah, the the community, the community is great, man. And I'm I'm I'm excited for you to get more meadows. Um right now, just one. You got you with that. Hey, but I it you listen, you it gets addictive. That's all I'm all I'm saying is I'm warning you because once you get that one dope medal, you like, oh, this is crazy.

SPEAKER_00

This is it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And then you start metal chasing, and it's a good time. It's a it's a good addiction. That's what I like to say. It's a healthy addiction because it's you loving yourself, man. And um, we're gonna work. We're gonna work to get you into the LA marathon. We're gonna run, we're running the Long Beach. We're running the Long Beach. We do want to figure this out, man. But um, my last question would be for those that are, uh it always feels like an altar call. Like those that are on the fence are just even thinking about, you know, starting running or even the goal of running a marathon. You've done it half several times. Um, what would be your biggest tip to them?

SPEAKER_03

Sign up. Sign up.

SPEAKER_02

Because you're gonna be asked out like me and had no medals, but got three or four runs under your belt, but only got one medal to show for. Sign up. No, but but when I say sign up, like literally sign up, but show up for yourself. Like, show up. Literally show up. And and it literally takes one step after the next. And you'll you'll really be surprised on how much you can accomplish. I told you, I didn't think I can do, I didn't know what a mile was at first. I didn't think I can do five miles. And then when I got to 10 miles, I'm like, oh shit. So finishing the half marathon was such a huge accomplishment accomplishment for me. And to your point, it is addictive because now I'm like, damn, that's only that twice. Right. Okay. And so the the tricky part is is your your but your mind plays tricks on you, man. Like it really does. So I know I've been, I've been hitting the wall with this half marathon. I feel like that's where I'm maxed out at. But I know once I sign up and once I show up, it's gonna be, I'm not gonna say it's gonna not gonna be nothing, but I know I'll be able to go past that. And once I get past that in real time, I know the feeling of like, see, the same type of talk I've had with myself, like, yo, I'm proud of you. You you were able to accomplish this. Like, now you're at mile 20. Now you don't need now you're you're getting there. You're at you're at the end. But you have to show up. You can't sit there talking about you wanna do it or man, yeah, one day I'm going to. So sign up and show up. Like, I think that's the most important thing for not only marathon running, but just in life in general. Like, you gotta show up, you know? Dope, dope, dope.

SPEAKER_01

All right, so we're gonna do this last little quick section section. It's the knees out speed question. You know, knees out is my running quick. Knees out, baby! You already know. Uh, been screaming it forever, you know what I'm saying? Gotta get your knees out. And um, so it's you answer with knees out as yes and knees in as no. All right, okay. So um, have you ever been in the middle of a run and wanted to quit, but still showed up for yourself?

SPEAKER_02

Knees out. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

All right. Um, has running ever helped you make a major life decision?

SPEAKER_03

Knees out. Okay. Um, do you think running? Is more mental or physical? So wait. Am I answering that?

SPEAKER_01

This is this is I was to make sure you're paying attention.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, answering. If I say knees out, I'm like, nigga, what? Elaborate, elaborate, elaborate. Yeah, please. It's definitely more of a mental thing. I I've I've learned, and I think that there's a lot of physical aspects to it, but it's for sure more mental because you can psych yourself out of, and I've I've been on the other end of that as well, saying, like, I mean, I'm not gonna be able to finish this. Uh man, I okay, I I want, I want to run, I want to run 10, but damn, I'm finishing at eight. You know what I'm saying? And I'm gonna talk myself through it. I could have got through that last, that last two. And and when I ran home from Long Beach, I didn't, this is the part I didn't tell you. It was 13.0 miles. I'll end up doing that, but it was, no, it was 11 miles when I got home. Gotcha. And I'm like, ugh, I want to do that half though. Yeah. So I circled the block a couple times. And I when I tell you, I was dying doing that, but I pressed myself, and I had to say, I stopped, I chilled for a second. Yeah. But I got through it because it was like, I promised myself, like, I gotta, I gotta do it. And part of that was because I didn't sign up for the LA Marathon. I'm like, no, you gotta, you gotta at least do the half to prove to yourself today. So yeah, man, it's more mental than physical for sure.

SPEAKER_01

And and and also, like, it's when you do these, when you begin your like long runs and and when you get into your your marathon training where you go up every week, um, it's always fascinating how each week the last mile is always the hardest. Even though you ran the last it's always the last mile. If you ran eight last last week and you're running 10, you breeze past nine. And that just shows you how much of a mental game it is because it's it's always the last mile that always starts, your mind starts creeping in, and then you start negotiating and figuring and making up different illness and ailments.

SPEAKER_02

I literally, I'm telling you, this last go round, that's what I live with the last two miles I was going through. I'm like, I'm home. My shit is right there. You don't have to circle around.

SPEAKER_04

You don't have to prove yourself, bro.

SPEAKER_02

Like you did it.

SPEAKER_03

You went home from home. You got here.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I had to push through it. And it, man, it was the probably to this day. I mean, it's so funny. That was probably been the most difficult run that I've done. That was the last one I did. That was five, five, six days ago. Yeah. So you're right. It's it it gets to you, man, but it gets off.

SPEAKER_01

Especially in the in the in the early stages of you running, like I'm telling you, it it's always the last mile, and just always know that it's your mind. I'm gonna tuck that down. Always know it's your mind because think about, like, I'm telling you, you'd be like eight and you struggle on seven the week before. And then you got ten and you struggle on nine. Nine, yeah. And you didn't struggle on eight. You didn't struggle on eight. Like you didn't, like you just breeze right past that. And then when you get to nine, oh, and now now I'm back in the race. Now you want to show up. It's now your legs wanna get wide. I'm gonna tell you this. It's that is a part of the process. And you just know that when you get to that last mile, that's always the mental challenge of it all. And this is important for you just because when you get to the marathon, in which I I can't wait to have that interview with you afterwards.

SPEAKER_02

We got to double back for sure.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, uh, as far as when you reach that wall, that that 20 meet, that that mile 20 sort of mindset, when you hit that wall, this is when those moments of you overcoming that last smile really show up.

SPEAKER_04

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

That's when it's really, so that's when you, whenever you start getting into that feeling, that's when you really, really get engaged and really get activated, just because I'm I'm telling you now, that is gonna, those, that last mouth mentally is gonna get you so prepared for the marathon when those challenges start happening mentally in the race and you're gonna be ready. So that's that's a part of the training that you know you have to experience. You can't like um not do the mouse or um like I've I've biked, I've biked a few times as far as like to get my mouths and make sure my legs is there, but you lose sort of that mental, that mental uh sort of exercise that you get with actually being outside and running. Um and it's important because like I said, some some like I've ran 14 and every every marathon was different. Every, every, every it's it gets easier, but what I say easier is that each there's a challenge in every every race, whether it's physical, mental, or spiritual, I've I've found that every race has presented something new. And this is why I I run two a year now. I run it at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year, and it's more of a mental sort of cleanse and sort of make sure I'm not running from myself with anything and any of my thoughts. So, so yeah, it's it's become bigger than just the fitness and more of a, it's like a mental, it's a mental thing for me at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year to make sure I'm I'm I'm solid, you know.

SPEAKER_02

Well, just for my own, for my own, again, my own process and just be internally taking it out. I'll let y'all know we at the end of this.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, no, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02

Since you've done 14 of them, right? What's the what's the the the obstacle or the challenge that you ran into this the last marathon? I'm interested to know that because you've done so many.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I oh see, the last marathon, I tried to P, the last marathon I PR, I was going for my PR for the first time. Got it. Uh I've I've helped 15 people run their first marathon. So I've always paced with them at their pace to mile 20, and then I leave them at mile 20. The last y'all got it from here. Yeah, yeah. It's a because it's a spirit, it's a spiritual, it's a spiritual thing. Like it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, for me, the last six miles is a personal journey that I feel that you, it's almost like you when you hear those like 300 when you they they send the boy off into the quest and you become a man type thing. That's what mile 20 is. And then those last six miles are you battling you. And I think it's important for you to win that battle alone. So, with that being said, I never PR'd. So I never really even attempted to. So this last one, it had nothing to do with no mental. It had nothing to do with mental. But I tried to PR and I was going for a sub three. I was going for a sub three, my first PR, crazy, maniac. I was doing seven-minute miles, I was cooking. I was cooking to mile 23 and then the wheels fell off. The wheels fell. The wheels fell off. I'm talking about down to the brake pads. I'm talking about I'm talking about legs done. That wasn't that, but that wasn't it. Because again, I'm trying to PR, so I'm I'm booking it. Okay. I ain't used the bathroom this whole race. 23 happened, I got three inch shorts on. I almost took a shit on myself. I said, all right, I gotta slow down. I said, okay, all right. I don't want it that bad. I didn't I didn't be hard. I didn't, I didn't, I didn't want it that bad. Uh yeah, yeah, I almost I almost shit on myself the last the last three miles, and I had to slow it down. And so so it got it got spooky. It got real spooky at the end, and uh, I ended up with a 330, which is still great. That's still great. And this is and this is something that I want, I'll I'll say this in your first marathon. Don't try to put any expectations on it. Um for one, it's your first marathon, so it's you're gonna PR regardless. So no matter what time you get, just because I was I was having a conversation with another runner about just finishing and getting at 3:30, which is a huge accomplishment, which is something I've never tried to PR before. I finished and I was disappointed. I I cried in disappointment, which was something that I was mad at myself later about, just because I, again, off the like I said, I got to focus on the destination. Right. So even when I arrived, I wasn't happy.

SPEAKER_00

You didn't even, yeah, you did all that.

SPEAKER_01

I did all the time. But then we couldn't appreciate it. Yeah, I didn't even, I didn't appreciate that I was doing seven-minute miles and I did like, I was doing six, I did like six thirties for like five miles straight. I never did a six thirty in training. I was out of my I was out of my body that day. I was, I, it was, it was crazy because the marathon, we were supposed to run Big Bear, but then Big Bear, it was a mudslide, so they had to cancel the, cancel the race and they moved it to Vegas. So and when they moved it, they pushed the race up maybe I think three weeks, three or four weeks. So I didn't even get to go through my full training. So I didn't even ramp up to get to the 630. That was the goal. I got to like sevens and just like consistent training, like sevens and all of my long runs. So, so yeah, no, the last one was spooky, but everyone is different. Like sometimes I'm I'm completely healthy. I ran the LA Marathon on two bum knees last year. Um that was that was tough. Uh Chicago, I lost my phone. Um at Mal 12 and went through a whole mental roller coaster. Wait, so you you saw like you knew it, you lost it at the time, or is it like you lost it? My fanny pack, my fanny pack broke. And by the time I realized, because you know you listening to the Bluetooth, I was I didn't ran off. And it just cut off. You got no music at mile 12? Mile 12, so I had to run. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was, and I, and I'm, and I never ran without music, so it was a complete culture shock. And I was dealing with childhood trauma. You know, it was, I was, yeah, I I'll I'll I'll tell I'll tell this story. I'm gonna tell this, I'll tell the story. I'll tell this story, I'll tell this story. Okay, yo. So, so I've literally, you know, I played basketball and like, nope, nope, and as a kid, nobody came to the games.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So I'm dealing with, I'm dealing with this. At this mature age, it's a Chicago marathon. I'm dealing with, I'm thinking back to all the times nobody showed up to my basketball game. So I don't know if I start hallucinating or out what. So at Mile 12, I spot a a person holding a sign for their for their Allen. They're like, yeah, go Allen, go Allen. I'm like, oh, okay, all right, well, cool, whatever. Forget that Allen. It's a little sign. I'm talking about as I got further in the race, I see that sign. Another person got an Allen, they got a full like head cut out. By the time I got to Mal like 22, it was a whole crowd of people. They got a full life-size cutout of their Allen. They letting off, and I just so happened to see their Allen show up in the ride. So they popping confetti. I'm like, yo, man, fuck that Allen, man. I'm like, yo. So I've been, I'm talking about I'm pouting. I'm pouting. I'm stomping. I'm stomping like somebody stole my bike. I had a man recognize me. He be like, oh, yo, that's out. Yo, you said, I'm like, man, I ain't got time for that shit, man. I was, I was, I was gold, bro, nigga. I was, I was gone. I was like, I already wanna be in this race. I said, I already want to be here. I was perfectly fine. And have no injuries, no nothing. Oh my God. It was, but this is but this is the you know, sort of the full circle moment. Uh once I completed it, I man, I was in it, I went to my hotel room. I was crying in the whole, I was I was messed up. I come to realize some one, my phone, somebody found my phone. It was it was sent to my hotel. So I got my phone back. And then I realized at the Chicago Marathon, there's at every mile, there's like these big LED screens and monitors. Where unbeknownst to me, because I was so in my head, my friends and family were sending pictures, sending it and and this just goes to show you when you're thinking about the red drum or the uh or the monkey playing the drum, the red drums, if that's your dominant thought, you're gonna miss everything. Everything. And and that was a that was a huge lesson for me. And again, like I said, that's why I run these marathons because it teaches me something every time where it's like, yeah, I could be focused on the past, but I'm completely missing the present and not receiving the love of the present. And that's that's usually what happens in life. You be so caught up thinking about what happened in the past or what's gonna what's concerning of the future, where it's like, yeah, no, all the love that I I need is right here. I just don't I'm not focused on it.

SPEAKER_02

And damn, that's a good lesson, bro.

SPEAKER_01

That is amazing. So they had they had the love for you that whole time. It was it was pick my mind at the I was totally missing it, bro, because I was in my I was in my own way. I was in my own way. So each each marathon has its different obstacles. And that's why I say, like, it had nothing to do with physical. I was trained up. It would have nothing to do with that. And then, yeah, so so I'm I'm I'm I'm excited. I'm excited. I'm excited for it for your journey. And then my last question is this you know, do you believe running can change a person beyond the mouths?

SPEAKER_02

Knees out for sure. Knees out for sure, man. Like you said, I mean, just hearing hearing that story, and then again, just like seeing, seeing again people's journeys and and and and watching people's stories and just seeing how they take something with them after this, no matter what. Even if they decide not to run again, you take something with it. Like I say, even with my half-marathon, it was like it's taking something with me showing, like, damn, okay, you can you can actually when you put your mind to something, you can actually do it. You know what I'm saying? So definitely, I feel like knees out on that one for sure. It sticks with you not only after the race, but for life. You know what I mean? And I I believe, I believe, and I I mean, again, I'm I'm only new to this, but even from my short experience, I I've been able to take, take what what I can, what I've I've been able to take the lessons from running beyond just running itself from the short experience that I have right now. So absolutely these out.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, dope, man. Listen, man, I got I I'll say it on this pod, man. I I'm proud of you, brother. I'm proud of you as a man, as a black man. And I've seen you navigate, rise in this business, you know, uh be go from boy to man to now father, brother. Um I I I'm excited for you to go from father to marathoner. Um I'm on it. So I appreciate you, brother. I appreciate your time, man. Yo, everybody out there, please follow and subscribe. This is another great episode of Mile 20 Mindset. Peace, y'all.