September 20, 2024 • 30 mins
Ever wonder how running can transform a person's life completely? Join us as we sit down with the incredible Ken Anderlitch, a devoted runner whose path from addiction to sobriety is truly awe-inspiring. Ken opens up about how running became his essential lifeline, helping him to overcome life challenges. Listen to his riveting account of running 840 miles across Texas in just 19 days to raise awareness about addiction. And don’t miss the scoop on his next ambitious journey from Washington DC to San Antonio to support families in recovery, showcasing his unrelenting dedication to advocacy and resilience.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Ella Go.
My name is Lisa.
Join me on the journey inhaving real, raw and
uncomfortable discussions aboutfitness, health and everything
in between, because, let's behonest, this journey would suck
if we don't get our shittogether.
Welcome to the Elego Podcast.
(00:37):
My name is Lisa.
I am your host.
Today's guest is Ken Andelich.
Ken is a runner, but he's notyour average runner.
In 2023, ken ran across Texasto raise awareness on addiction.
This was about 840 miles in 19days.
And now he will be starting anew challenge on September 20th,
(00:58):
right, and he will startrunning from Washington DC to
San Antonio, texas, to raisemoney to help families in
recovery.
So welcome Ken.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
First of all, I saw your story on the Run Try
magazine and I'm like, who isthis?
And I reached out to Jason andI'm like, oh my God, this guy is
is incredible.
How did you start with running?
How did that get started?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
So the story usually goes that I had I got sober
almost about two years into mysobriety, I was in a
relationship, got into a into arelationship right away when I
got sober, and then I tried tokeep it going for about a year
and a half, and then, um, withinthat point of the year and a
(01:54):
half, I was getting to closer totwo years and all I was doing
was just, uh, trying to appeasethis relationship and just
wasn't working.
Um, so I had to do the hardestthing for an alcoholic, which
was let things go.
And then so I obviously foundmyself letting go of this
(02:15):
relationship.
But at the same time, I foundmyself trying to get back into
it, or at least the notion oflike maybe I can make it work.
And I knew deep down inside, ifI were to continue doing this'd
kill me.
So, uh, you know, I wasdesperate and, plus, at the time
I just stopped smokingcigarettes.
So, um, I was like you gothrough a relationship and you
(02:36):
get through a relationship andthen you don't have any
cigarettes, what do I do nowwith my life?
And so I was working, uh, and Isaw a buddy of mine, real well,
he was looking at some stuff ona map and I said what are you
doing?
He says I'm, I'm about to runsix miles, that's it.
I could do that, and uh.
(02:57):
And he said well, come on.
And uh, lo and behold, he gotme up at like 5, 30, 5, 45 in
the morning and we hit thestreets and within that time I
realized there was nothing elsethat really mattered other than
just I do not want to getdropped and so I don't.
It was the same city that Irecognized, but then at the same
(03:18):
time, it was the same city thatI didn't even know, just for
the simple fact that I neveractually gave running a chance.
So it was cool to just get thatperspective of like running and
within that time, also theperspective of like physically
and mentally, like not worryingabout something else within my
life, all those worries of is myex seeing somebody else.
(03:42):
That you move on, whatever thecase was.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Is my ex seeing somebody else, did she move on,
whatever the case was, and so itjust became a tool.
You know another coping for me.
It gave me, like this,empowerment and felt like I
would have some control.
So for you, was it more of likeyou said, it was a tool for
coping, and in the sense of likeletting it go, that you didn't
(04:18):
have to think about it.
Or did it give you somestrength, or was that along the
way?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
I think if I were to, uh, I told myself like, if
you're able to get up this earlyin the morning and and put
yourself through this, and thatwas just the first day.
But then, you know, as time went, you know, days and weeks went
by and my buddy Robo said, well,I'm going to stay on my side of
town and train, but you know,you know now what to do.
(04:42):
I was like, ok, so I foundmyself consistently trying to do
it a little bit more, and alittle bit more, and a little
bit more.
And you know I may not berunning six miles here and six
miles there, but I was doingsomething.
And so I told myself thediscipline of doing that should
help incorporate some sort of alittle bit of discipline on not
(05:02):
worrying about, you know, alittle bit of discipline on not
worrying about, you know, asex-girlfriends, social media,
the discipline of like of and,like I said, I stopped smoking
cigarettes, I don't have tosmoke cigarettes anymore, and it
was like chipping away at someof the stuff I thought was when
you get sober, you hold on tothe old things in life, like,
let's say, like relationshipsand like cigarettes and nicotine
(05:26):
and caffeine and all this otherstuff, you know, because it's
like you get this change in yourlife, but we do it.
To us alcoholics do it to theextreme, and so we have to learn
how to discipline ourselves inorder to kind of, you know,
still enjoy those things withouthaving to feel like we're
overwhelmed and that's the samething with running.
running is like I have todiscipline myself now from
running because there comes apoint where I do too much of it,
(05:48):
because I take it to theextreme.
So with the running now broughtinto my life, it helped me
bring discipline into some ofthe things back then which was
like you don't, do you reallyneed a cigarette?
Do you really need to be in arelationship?
Do you really need to have?
Do you really need to be in arelationship?
Do you really need to have cap?
Yes, I do need to have a lot ofcapi, but like, but of course I
(06:10):
do discipline myself on somesort of level with all those
things.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
You started running and then when did it become like
like this thing, Like I mean, Isaw where you did this whole,
the whole size of Texas, whichis huge, Like how, where, how
did you get from running thefirst time and then doing this
run where you're running theentire width of of that state?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Uh so, um, when I started running I was 29, um,
going into turning 30.
29, going into turning 30.
So my first month I attemptedto try to run 30 miles you know
(07:00):
for 30, for my 30th birthday andfailed.
I failed on many levels, butmore or less I failed just
because of the simple fact thatI was brand new to it.
But I continued to, just, Icontinued to try.
At that point, you know, I ranfrom one end of the city to the
other end and back, and realized, like you know, that wasn't
enough distance.
And by the time I knew that,like by the time I got back, I
(07:22):
was like, oh, it was only 22miles.
So I was like, instead of,instead of being happy that I
ran 22 miles, I was like, no, Iwanted to run 30.
And so, a little bit after theage of 30, I finally ran, like
30 miles on nothing but concrete.
It was like it was this we havethis mission trail.
(07:42):
We did nothing but concrete onthese old Ultra shoes that I was
given, realizing that my ankleswere busted up and my calves
and everything like that Nothingagainst Ultra but my poor feet
were just not ready for thatimpact.
I did it and then continued torealize that there was more to
(08:05):
running as I went, and so I wentand got into trail running.
Trail running I went to I don'tknow if you've ever heard of
Bandera, but I was taken toBandera on my first trail run.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Showed up to Bandera with a.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Starbucks cup and, like you know, just completely
unprepared, like I told myself,oh, I just ran 14 miles with my
friend on a workout, I couldhandle this, and my buddy took
me through six miles of that andI wanted to cry and realize.
I was a whole new challenge ofrunning, and so I got into that
(08:37):
and, of course, like as we gotinto trail running, I realized,
you know, trails are softer onthe feet, they're great.
And you get through so manyother trials and tribulations
with that, and so I did.
You know long distances withthat and once both the worlds of
and that's the thing with melike it doesn't matter if it's
trail or road, they have bothbeen implemented in my life
(08:59):
where I can't tell thedifference.
I can tell the difference, butyou know, in all honesty, I love
both of them.
I love trail and road, itdoesn't really matter.
I think I'm at that point in mylife right now where my body
can take both ends and be okaywith it.
So, uh, I figured, okay, well,I want to uh start doing ultras.
I think, like uh, within myfirst couple months, I ran my
(09:21):
first hundred K through a lastman standing, um, and as long as
I feel like sometimes, as longas I have some music to kind of
tune out, I can probably detachfrom everything else like I
don't even listen to the music.
It just helps me tune out like,uh, it becomes white noise for
me.
Um, in that sense, to just kindof, you know, just stay focused
(09:44):
on one foot in front of theother and nothing else really
matters.
And then, of course, you know,as time went, covid hit and by
that time I've already done myfirst 100-miler, I've done my
first 100K, I've done a coupleof 100Ks, and then of course,
I'm doing like you know, runs,from one end of the city to the
(10:08):
other end of the city, justnonchalant, and I, when COVID
hit, I signed up for a hundredmile.
That got canceled and you knowI was in self-pity.
But there was these runningchallenges when we're, when
COVID was hitting, of like whocan run the most and who can do
that, and it kind of inspired,and it inspired me to.
Well, if I'm doing it for this,I might as well raise money for
(10:30):
it.
So I saw my buddy, ben.
He ran from Austin to Corpus,which is 223 miles, which is
called Catechos.
I'm like, let me try that and Itry it and I got a hold a child
safe.
Child safe is a child advocacycenter.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
I am a victim that I don't identify as one anymore.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
But I am a victim of child abuse, right, but I don't
identify as much now, I try tosay, as more of a survivor or
more of somebody as an advocatefor that survivor or or somebody
as an advocate for that.
So, uh, I look at these, thesethings that I kind of shied away
from or I didn't want to speakabout, or I didn't want to bring
it, and I and I faced that fearand I want to raise awareness
(11:15):
about it, especially with males,right.
And so, as a male, I felt likethe message was just as
impactful.
Um, come and shed light on,like, hey, this has happened to
me.
So, that's, I raised money forthat, with the help of my crew
and with the help of thecommunity, seventeen thousand
(11:37):
dollars was able to be raisedfor child safe.
And so, you know, a couple ofyears later, down there, I do
some other ultras, I do someother stuff.
And then, I think, my buddy,who was a CEO of Pave Forward,
reached out to me and says, hey,what else you got?
And I heard about a couple ofattempts of across texas, one of
(11:57):
them with jacob, um, he, he,unfortunately he, he's an just
an experienced runner and he uhkind of stopped over at west
texas, or I believe it was likecloser to the hill country, and
um, and then, of course, rebeccaguttrowow and she, she
attempted to do this as well,and somewhere around I believe
(12:18):
it was I can't say it was likeby she.
She unfortunately passed awayfrom doing something like this.
So there was a lot of, therewas a lot of danger behind it, a
lot of like unknown behind it.
But then I found out about thisother guy who did it and he was
in his like fifties, forties orfifties diabetic.
(12:38):
And you know just, I was like,how did he do it?
He did like 30 miles a day, youknow, and I tried to reach out
to him.
I was like, which route did youtake?
This is that?
And I looked at, I looked at,uh, his fkt.
I looked at the route and onstrava, I went from this to that
(13:01):
and the map was made.
That was it.
I mean, yeah, uh.
And then I, and then I pulledout an rei map and I kind of
lined up to see, uh, that it wasall runnable.
There's a lot of like, uh,inexper happened behind it, just
like this.
Right now, there's a lot ofinexperience that's happened
behind this just because wedon't have, I mean, like now, if
(13:21):
this happens, I can say thatI've attempted, because I
haven't yet done it is that theattempt of running through
states is bound to happen.
So I can at least say like,okay, like I know what it feels
like to run in this state, inthat state or whatever.
The idea has always been likeI'm not going to run for, like
(13:44):
the fkt I, so I got the fastest,no time there, but I never
actually submitted theinformation because it really
doesn't matter too much to me.
It's like it really doesn'tmatter too much to me.
It's like it really doesn'tmatter If somebody wants it take
it.
None of that matters to me.
Like the fact that, like there'san FKT, it arouses some people,
it's great, it's monumental,whatever.
(14:05):
But for me it's like the factthat, like the message is clear,
for sober living has now hadthat ripple effect with other
communities.
Oh, that is big right.
Fkts can always be taken away,right.
But nobody can take away thefact that other people now have
that message and are spreadingthat to other people.
(14:26):
Whether it's like, hey, someguy ran for sober living, or hey
, some guy ran for families thatneeded recovery, or hey, this
guy ran for, you know, uh,victims of of sexual, uh
violence, it's that that is abigger message than an fkt to me
because, like the fkt.
There's always gonna besomebody stronger, faster, you
know um, so those are bound tobe.
(14:47):
You know, you get an fkt, staysthere for a couple years and
then somebody else takes it, soI mean, I don't live for that.
The fact that the message is isthere for a purpose, because
that's what we need, is moreimportant to me.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Let's talk about your , your mindset here.
Okay, because you know,obviously that's different from
your physical and being able todo these runs.
But in your mind, like you saidthat you sometimes detach right
, so but what is it that?
I mean, come on, you got to belike you're running right.
(15:24):
And those self-doubts, theself-doubt talk, sometimes
creeps in or does it, I don'tknow.
I mean, does it happen and howdo you combat that?
How do you overcome that, likewhat keeps you going?
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I've always had this thing because I've I've done
overtraining before, andovertraining always leads me
into a point of negativity.
Um, because I feel run down, Ifeel tired, I feel all these
things now, um, everybody has adifferent point of overtraining.
For me, uh, I get to a pointwhere, uh, if it doesn't become
(16:01):
fun for me anymore, I don't wantto do it.
I have, I already have adhd asit is, so so the fact that, like
, if it becomes something whereit's a job, I already have a job
right and I have otherresponsibilities.
So if this thing becomes aresponsibility, I don't want to
do it.
So when I get into something,there's a little bit of like,
(16:22):
there's a little bit of fearbehind this, but I think the
biggest fear is that when it'sall over, I can't do it anymore.
It's already done, like that's.
My biggest fear is, like, whenit's all done, I got to go back
to being an adult, so I must bedoing something right.
When I'm getting into this andI get to feel excited about
something, you know, I get tofeel like I'm about to do
something that like we can allfeel included in, but going into
(16:47):
this with more on the level ofexcitement and like somewhere of
like I can't wait for this tohappen.
And just put me in, coach.
It's, you know, like it's a lotof talk right now, right, and it
does have that build up, butonce I'm out there, I completely
shut it all off because it'swhite noise and I just know that
(17:08):
on my watch it's going to tellme to go left right, straight,
whatever, but I'm going to keepgoing right, straight, whatever,
but I'm going to keep goingRight.
And I get to go out there andcontinuously challenge myself
every day.
It's going to hurt.
It's going to hurt really bad,but there's also going to be
some there's.
There's also going to be somehigh points as well, which is,
you know, the exciting part.
(17:28):
It's like, how many times areyou going to be able to get
yourself out of the low, to getyourself, you know, back into
that high point?
Speaker 2 (17:36):
yeah, um.
So I was surprised that yousaid you had a job, because I
was like I thought this was hisjob.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I'm like, wow, okay I I had two jobs actually.
Uh, yeah, I I worked from eight.
I was working from 8 am to 12,and then I'll take a nap, and
then I'll work from 3 pm to 11pm Any time before that time
I'll train, and then the timebetween 12 and 3, I'll take a
(18:08):
small nap, put some food in me,whatever I got to do, and then
go to work and then do it allover again.
And my hours were so flexiblewith my first job, the morning
job, so I can kind of flex thehours around a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
But so obviously you've been training for this
and you've been diligently.
You know doing your trainingand you know the difference
between overtraining and thingslike that.
And you, I think you have acoach, you have like a running
coach right.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah, ryan Miller is my running coach.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
First of all, why did you get a running coach?
And number two, what was itabout your running coach that
gravitated yourself to him?
Speaker 1 (18:51):
The coach is just to kind of manage my, my
consistency because, like I said, uh, you know, like I don't
want to overtrain, there is a,there is a point where if you
tell yourself I don't want toovertrain it, and then you're
just like you know, I I feellike overtraining by doing five
miles, that's consideredovertraining.
It's like no, it's not.
(19:11):
Uh, quit lying to yourself, yougot to get that five miles in.
I'm like probably one of themost lazy athletes you'll
probably come across withoutstructure.
So, again, like I really don'twant to tell myself like okay,
like don't worry, you'll be ableto do the five miles sometime
(19:32):
later on this week, or whateverthe case may be, you'll be able
to do the five miles sometimelater on this week, I do, or
whatever the case may be.
And then I also know thatthere's some feedback that my
coach may tell me.
If I'm cutting corners, you knowhe reminds me like hey, so you
did that eight mile run or that10 mile run, but you didn't put
those striders in there.
You didn't put, you know, thosehill repeats I asked you to do,
(19:53):
you didn't.
Those things have a lot morepower to it.
Trust me on that, um, that sortof thing and, um, you know I
signed up for some texas summerraces as well.
I had three 360ks kind of backto back to back, along with a
couple of, I think like a coupleof 5ks and 100kK all throughout
(20:13):
the summer just to kind of seewhere my hydration was, my
nutrition, just make sure thatthings are kind of coming
together.
And you know, most of themworked out.
I had 160K where I just DNF'd.
I just I think I just got intothis funk and I was like I'm
going to, I cut myself short, Ididn't, I didn't plan out the uh
(20:36):
hydration uh, a little bitbetter.
I could have, you know, putsome ice on me a little bit more
.
You know, I just I got a littletoo lax, but I, I look at that
uh dnf as more of a educationalreminder that you, I mean I was
doing so well in these otherraces.
I mean mean I was, I was winningall the other races, I get to
(20:57):
DNF on the 60K and so I I toldmyself like the complacency
started kicking in so that thatthat DNF helped me kind of
rejuvenate more on the level ofyou got more stuff to learn.
So after that, after that DNF,I was like, okay, I need to
buckle down on hydration, I needto do this, I need to do that.
It kind of helped revamp mytraining into the summer.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Let's talk about your charities or who you run for
For this going from DC to SanAntonio.
What is the name of the causethat you're running for?
Speaker 1 (21:35):
It's three, three nonprofits Uh, it's hidden for
hope, pay for it and lifetime.
They're all working inconjunction together to start a
facility for families that arein need of recovery, and so with
that, hopefully, you know,haven for Hope will provide the
(21:56):
facility, as Lifetime will getit a little bit more into the
grants of everything and allthat.
And then, of course, pay itForward would provide the case
management end of it, so thatand Pay it Forward just has an
ample amount of knowledge on howto handle recovery, and so they
(22:19):
have recovery coaches onstandby, they have all these
things, and so it's just cool tosee these three nonprofits work
together and just try to get acommunity and going because I
mean one of the things I'veasked myself was like, is there
a safe, sober living environmentfor single dads or single moms
(22:42):
or single parents?
and I work in a place where cPSis having to be called on a
daily basis and I've seen myshare of child removals and
safety plans and whatnot andthings just kind of go south
just because there's not thatcare for that kind of population
.
And so I'd like to see you knowa lot more success stories if
(23:03):
this program were to work out,you know and not just within our
facility, but more you know alot more success stories if this
program were to work out, youknow and not just within our
facility, but more you know outthere where it's needed as well.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
So I want to ask you two more questions.
So one question I had was youknow, when I was watching the
video of you with your trainingdoing the Texas run, there was
just the caption said that youknow you had these checkpoints
and you not only had to talk tosomeone, you know, that was like
(23:40):
more like a trainer, physicaltherapist or whatever more
taking care of your physical.
But then you said it said even,it said counseling.
So did you have like mentalhealth support along the way as
well?
Speaker 1 (23:54):
I didn't really have too much of like um, like a
therapist on standby, as more of, I would say, like um, like a
spiritual advisor that I wouldcall every now and again feeling
at my lowest.
I have, I have anaccountability support system
(24:15):
that I can call when I'm feelinglike at my lowest.
But but for the most part, Ithink that you know, being in
recovery, you haveresponsibility to not only take
care of the side of your ownaddiction, but if there's
something else that comes alongwith it, I feel like you have a
responsibility to take care ofthat as well.
Um, and so again, like uh, I, Igo through therapy.
(24:40):
Uh, on, you know on a usualbasis, more than I would like to
admit, but as well as I wouldlike I probably utilize, when
I'm going through these things,utilize a little bit more of my
spiritual advisor to kind ofjust remind me, okay, like, hey,
like, even though he's got noexperience at running whatsoever
(25:03):
.
So it's like, you know, I don'thave, I really don't have any
parents to call, so I'll justcall and ask for a word of
support, but it's very few andfar between that.
I call just because of thesimple fact that, like, I know
deep down inside, um, you knowit's, it's gonna, it's gonna
pass and we'll get through thisand it's, you know, it's just
(25:24):
another day.
So, yeah, well, you know, firstof all, I'm glad you know it's
just another day.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
So yeah, well, you know, first of all, I'm glad
that you were transparent aboutit, because there's a stigma for
men seeking therapy, right, andyou know, I think we need to
hear more about it.
I think a lot of people need tosee it, almost like you're
going to see a doctor, you get acheckup, you know, I mean, and
(25:49):
it's just something that a lotof us need, and I know there's a
lot of people who need it andcan't even get to that kind of
care.
So, you know, I think that'sdefinitely something important
to talk more about.
I'm gonna ask you this lastquestion so you're talking about
your own recovery and addictionand you doing the things that
(26:10):
you're doing now, and this isnot like, like I said, you're
not an average runner.
I mean, you're definitely goingto the extreme with all of this
, right, what would you say tosomebody who is struggling right
now with addiction, kind offeeling hopeless and needs
(26:31):
something?
What are some words that youwould share?
Speaker 1 (26:34):
When I first got sober, I was a year sober and I
called my friend and he wassomebody that I used with.
I'm both an alcoholic and anaddict, but I thought he was
more hopeless than I was, and sowhen I found out he had years
(26:55):
of sobriety because I was gonefrom the scene.
I went to prison for five and ahalf years altogether, so I was
locked up and then I was in myaddiction.
So I haven't talked to him inlike 10 years.
When I found out that he hadlike eight or nine years of
sobriety.
So I reached out to him withone year of sobriety Uh, I'm
sure, if that was going to likeyou're so uncertain on which
(27:20):
path is going to go.
I asked them, like how did youget nine years of body?
Did you just continue to go tomeetings all the time?
Did you, you know, do this ordid you do that?
Did you, you know?
You're just not hanging outwith the same friends.
I think that this is the bestadvice that someone has given me
(27:41):
.
It's just stay honest.
That's it.
The honesty part will help younavigate on if you're an addict
or not, or an alcoholic.
The honesty part will help youadmit like do I have a problem
with alcohol or not?
Honesty part will also help youdown the line with years of
(28:02):
sobriety.
Am I, am I being complacent?
Am I, am I doing enough with myprogram or should I be doing
more?
Am I, am I treating people likeshit or am I?
You know?
Of course, being true to myword and being a man of
integrity and honesty hurts.
Honesty is not easy, right?
(28:23):
Honesty, will you know.
Keep people you know in or outof your life that you need or
you don't need, but at the sametime, you know it's that bravery
it's very easy to lie aboutstuff.
It's very easy to about um anduh, keeping stuff away from you,
but at the same time, it's likeI was told that we're only as
(28:45):
sick as our secrets.
And so, um, knowing thatthey're and I trust me in my
sobriety I have lied in mysobriety, I have kept things
from people and in the end it itends up and bite me in the ass.
Um, I am not perfect at myprogram, but if there's somebody
who's truly struggling, um, andsays, like I don't know where
(29:08):
to go from here, so well, behonest with me, do you really
want to change or not?
Do you really want to do this?
And then explain to them whatit's going to take and ask them,
like, is this something thatyou want to continue doing?
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Yeah, yeah, no, that's, that's really good
advice, ken.
All right.
So, ken, I want to first of allthank you so much for being a
part of this.
We're going to put all theplaces, the not-for-profits that
you're raising money for, onthe links to this podcast.
I am confident that you gotthis.
(29:41):
I know you'll get through tothis.
I think that the mental part isprobably the hardest part.
I always say it's harder thanthe physical sometimes, but
thank you for being a part ofthis, of course, thank you, I
really do appreciate it.
All right, until next time,everyone For you and I For you,
(30:08):
and I For you and I.
Welcome to Ella Go.
My name is Lisa.
Join me on the journey inhaving real, raw and
uncomfortable discussions aboutfitness, health and everything
in between, because, let's behonest, this journey would suck
if we don't get our shittogether.
Welcome to the Elego Podcast.
(00:37):
My name is Lisa.
I am your host.
Today's guest is Ken Andelich.
Ken is a runner, but he's notyour average runner.
In 2023, ken ran across Texasto raise awareness on addiction.
This was about 840 miles in 19days.
And now he will be starting anew challenge on September 20th,
(00:58):
right, and he will startrunning from Washington DC to
San Antonio, texas, to raisemoney to help families in
recovery.
So welcome Ken.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
First of all, I saw your story on the Run Try
magazine and I'm like, who isthis?
And I reached out to Jason andI'm like, oh my God, this guy is
is incredible.
How did you start with running?
How did that get started?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
So the story usually goes that I had I got sober
almost about two years into mysobriety, I was in a
relationship, got into a into arelationship right away when I
got sober, and then I tried tokeep it going for about a year
and a half, and then, um, withinthat point of the year and a
(01:54):
half, I was getting to closer totwo years and all I was doing
was just, uh, trying to appeasethis relationship and just
wasn't working.
Um, so I had to do the hardestthing for an alcoholic, which
was let things go.
And then so I obviously foundmyself letting go of this
(02:15):
relationship.
But at the same time, I foundmyself trying to get back into
it, or at least the notion oflike maybe I can make it work.
And I knew deep down inside, ifI were to continue doing this'd
kill me.
So, uh, you know, I wasdesperate and, plus, at the time
I just stopped smokingcigarettes.
So, um, I was like you gothrough a relationship and you
(02:36):
get through a relationship andthen you don't have any
cigarettes, what do I do nowwith my life?
And so I was working, uh, and Isaw a buddy of mine, real well,
he was looking at some stuff ona map and I said what are you
doing?
He says I'm, I'm about to runsix miles, that's it.
I could do that, and uh.
(02:57):
And he said well, come on.
And uh, lo and behold, he gotme up at like 5, 30, 5, 45 in
the morning and we hit thestreets and within that time I
realized there was nothing elsethat really mattered other than
just I do not want to getdropped and so I don't.
It was the same city that Irecognized, but then at the same
(03:18):
time, it was the same city thatI didn't even know, just for
the simple fact that I neveractually gave running a chance.
So it was cool to just get thatperspective of like running and
within that time, also theperspective of like physically
and mentally, like not worryingabout something else within my
life, all those worries of is myex seeing somebody else.
(03:42):
That you move on, whatever thecase was.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Is my ex seeing somebody else, did she move on,
whatever the case was, and so itjust became a tool.
You know another coping for me.
It gave me, like this,empowerment and felt like I
would have some control.
So for you, was it more of likeyou said, it was a tool for
coping, and in the sense of likeletting it go, that you didn't
(04:18):
have to think about it.
Or did it give you somestrength, or was that along the
way?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
I think if I were to, uh, I told myself like, if
you're able to get up this earlyin the morning and and put
yourself through this, and thatwas just the first day.
But then, you know, as time went, you know, days and weeks went
by and my buddy Robo said, well,I'm going to stay on my side of
town and train, but you know,you know now what to do.
(04:42):
I was like, ok, so I foundmyself consistently trying to do
it a little bit more, and alittle bit more, and a little
bit more.
And you know I may not berunning six miles here and six
miles there, but I was doingsomething.
And so I told myself thediscipline of doing that should
help incorporate some sort of alittle bit of discipline on not
(05:02):
worrying about, you know, alittle bit of discipline on not
worrying about, you know, asex-girlfriends, social media,
the discipline of like of and,like I said, I stopped smoking
cigarettes, I don't have tosmoke cigarettes anymore, and it
was like chipping away at someof the stuff I thought was when
you get sober, you hold on tothe old things in life, like,
let's say, like relationshipsand like cigarettes and nicotine
(05:26):
and caffeine and all this otherstuff, you know, because it's
like you get this change in yourlife, but we do it.
To us alcoholics do it to theextreme, and so we have to learn
how to discipline ourselves inorder to kind of, you know,
still enjoy those things withouthaving to feel like we're
overwhelmed and that's the samething with running.
running is like I have todiscipline myself now from
running because there comes apoint where I do too much of it,
(05:48):
because I take it to theextreme.
So with the running now broughtinto my life, it helped me
bring discipline into some ofthe things back then which was
like you don't, do you reallyneed a cigarette?
Do you really need to be in arelationship?
Do you really need to have?
Do you really need to be in arelationship?
Do you really need to have cap?
Yes, I do need to have a lot ofcapi, but like, but of course I
(06:10):
do discipline myself on somesort of level with all those
things.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
You started running and then when did it become like
like this thing, Like I mean, Isaw where you did this whole,
the whole size of Texas, whichis huge, Like how, where, how
did you get from running thefirst time and then doing this
run where you're running theentire width of of that state?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Uh so, um, when I started running I was 29, um,
going into turning 30.
29, going into turning 30.
So my first month I attemptedto try to run 30 miles you know
(07:00):
for 30, for my 30th birthday andfailed.
I failed on many levels, butmore or less I failed just
because of the simple fact thatI was brand new to it.
But I continued to, just, Icontinued to try.
At that point, you know, I ranfrom one end of the city to the
other end and back, and realized, like you know, that wasn't
enough distance.
And by the time I knew that,like by the time I got back, I
(07:22):
was like, oh, it was only 22miles.
So I was like, instead of,instead of being happy that I
ran 22 miles, I was like, no, Iwanted to run 30.
And so, a little bit after theage of 30, I finally ran, like
30 miles on nothing but concrete.
It was like it was this we havethis mission trail.
(07:42):
We did nothing but concrete onthese old Ultra shoes that I was
given, realizing that my ankleswere busted up and my calves
and everything like that Nothingagainst Ultra but my poor feet
were just not ready for thatimpact.
I did it and then continued torealize that there was more to
(08:05):
running as I went, and so I wentand got into trail running.
Trail running I went to I don'tknow if you've ever heard of
Bandera, but I was taken toBandera on my first trail run.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Showed up to Bandera with a.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Starbucks cup and, like you know, just completely
unprepared, like I told myself,oh, I just ran 14 miles with my
friend on a workout, I couldhandle this, and my buddy took
me through six miles of that andI wanted to cry and realize.
I was a whole new challenge ofrunning, and so I got into that
(08:37):
and, of course, like as we gotinto trail running, I realized,
you know, trails are softer onthe feet, they're great.
And you get through so manyother trials and tribulations
with that, and so I did.
You know long distances withthat and once both the worlds of
and that's the thing with melike it doesn't matter if it's
trail or road, they have bothbeen implemented in my life
(08:59):
where I can't tell thedifference.
I can tell the difference, butyou know, in all honesty, I love
both of them.
I love trail and road, itdoesn't really matter.
I think I'm at that point in mylife right now where my body
can take both ends and be okaywith it.
So, uh, I figured, okay, well,I want to uh start doing ultras.
I think, like uh, within myfirst couple months, I ran my
(09:21):
first hundred K through a lastman standing, um, and as long as
I feel like sometimes, as longas I have some music to kind of
tune out, I can probably detachfrom everything else like I
don't even listen to the music.
It just helps me tune out like,uh, it becomes white noise for
me.
Um, in that sense, to just kindof, you know, just stay focused
(09:44):
on one foot in front of theother and nothing else really
matters.
And then, of course, you know,as time went, covid hit and by
that time I've already done myfirst 100-miler, I've done my
first 100K, I've done a coupleof 100Ks, and then of course,
I'm doing like you know, runs,from one end of the city to the
(10:08):
other end of the city, justnonchalant, and I, when COVID
hit, I signed up for a hundredmile.
That got canceled and you knowI was in self-pity.
But there was these runningchallenges when we're, when
COVID was hitting, of like whocan run the most and who can do
that, and it kind of inspired,and it inspired me to.
Well, if I'm doing it for this,I might as well raise money for
(10:30):
it.
So I saw my buddy, ben.
He ran from Austin to Corpus,which is 223 miles, which is
called Catechos.
I'm like, let me try that and Itry it and I got a hold a child
safe.
Child safe is a child advocacycenter.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
I am a victim that I don't identify as one anymore.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
But I am a victim of child abuse, right, but I don't
identify as much now, I try tosay, as more of a survivor or
more of somebody as an advocatefor that survivor or or somebody
as an advocate for that.
So, uh, I look at these, thesethings that I kind of shied away
from or I didn't want to speakabout, or I didn't want to bring
it, and I and I faced that fearand I want to raise awareness
(11:15):
about it, especially with males,right.
And so, as a male, I felt likethe message was just as
impactful.
Um, come and shed light on,like, hey, this has happened to
me.
So, that's, I raised money forthat, with the help of my crew
and with the help of thecommunity, seventeen thousand
(11:37):
dollars was able to be raisedfor child safe.
And so, you know, a couple ofyears later, down there, I do
some other ultras, I do someother stuff.
And then, I think, my buddy,who was a CEO of Pave Forward,
reached out to me and says, hey,what else you got?
And I heard about a couple ofattempts of across texas, one of
(11:57):
them with jacob, um, he, he,unfortunately he, he's an just
an experienced runner and he uhkind of stopped over at west
texas, or I believe it was likecloser to the hill country, and
um, and then, of course, rebeccaguttrowow and she, she
attempted to do this as well,and somewhere around I believe
(12:18):
it was I can't say it was likeby she.
She unfortunately passed awayfrom doing something like this.
So there was a lot of, therewas a lot of danger behind it, a
lot of like unknown behind it.
But then I found out about thisother guy who did it and he was
in his like fifties, forties orfifties diabetic.
(12:38):
And you know just, I was like,how did he do it?
He did like 30 miles a day, youknow, and I tried to reach out
to him.
I was like, which route did youtake?
This is that?
And I looked at, I looked at,uh, his fkt.
I looked at the route and onstrava, I went from this to that
(13:01):
and the map was made.
That was it.
I mean, yeah, uh.
And then I, and then I pulledout an rei map and I kind of
lined up to see, uh, that it wasall runnable.
There's a lot of like, uh,inexper happened behind it, just
like this.
Right now, there's a lot ofinexperience that's happened
behind this just because wedon't have, I mean, like now, if
(13:21):
this happens, I can say thatI've attempted, because I
haven't yet done it is that theattempt of running through
states is bound to happen.
So I can at least say like,okay, like I know what it feels
like to run in this state, inthat state or whatever.
The idea has always been likeI'm not going to run for, like
(13:44):
the fkt I, so I got the fastest,no time there, but I never
actually submitted theinformation because it really
doesn't matter too much to me.
It's like it really doesn'tmatter too much to me.
It's like it really doesn'tmatter If somebody wants it take
it.
None of that matters to me.
Like the fact that, like there'san FKT, it arouses some people,
it's great, it's monumental,whatever.
(14:05):
But for me it's like the factthat, like the message is clear,
for sober living has now hadthat ripple effect with other
communities.
Oh, that is big right.
Fkts can always be taken away,right.
But nobody can take away thefact that other people now have
that message and are spreadingthat to other people.
(14:26):
Whether it's like, hey, someguy ran for sober living, or hey
, some guy ran for families thatneeded recovery, or hey, this
guy ran for, you know, uh,victims of of sexual, uh
violence, it's that that is abigger message than an fkt to me
because, like the fkt.
There's always gonna besomebody stronger, faster, you
know um, so those are bound tobe.
(14:47):
You know, you get an fkt, staysthere for a couple years and
then somebody else takes it, soI mean, I don't live for that.
The fact that the message is isthere for a purpose, because
that's what we need, is moreimportant to me.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Let's talk about your , your mindset here.
Okay, because you know,obviously that's different from
your physical and being able todo these runs.
But in your mind, like you saidthat you sometimes detach right
, so but what is it that?
I mean, come on, you got to belike you're running right.
(15:24):
And those self-doubts, theself-doubt talk, sometimes
creeps in or does it, I don'tknow.
I mean, does it happen and howdo you combat that?
How do you overcome that, likewhat keeps you going?
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I've always had this thing because I've I've done
overtraining before, andovertraining always leads me
into a point of negativity.
Um, because I feel run down, Ifeel tired, I feel all these
things now, um, everybody has adifferent point of overtraining.
For me, uh, I get to a pointwhere, uh, if it doesn't become
(16:01):
fun for me anymore, I don't wantto do it.
I have, I already have adhd asit is, so so the fact that, like
, if it becomes something whereit's a job, I already have a job
right and I have otherresponsibilities.
So if this thing becomes aresponsibility, I don't want to
do it.
So when I get into something,there's a little bit of like,
(16:22):
there's a little bit of fearbehind this, but I think the
biggest fear is that when it'sall over, I can't do it anymore.
It's already done, like that's.
My biggest fear is, like, whenit's all done, I got to go back
to being an adult, so I must bedoing something right.
When I'm getting into this andI get to feel excited about
something, you know, I get tofeel like I'm about to do
something that like we can allfeel included in, but going into
(16:47):
this with more on the level ofexcitement and like somewhere of
like I can't wait for this tohappen.
And just put me in, coach.
It's, you know, like it's a lotof talk right now, right, and it
does have that build up, butonce I'm out there, I completely
shut it all off because it'swhite noise and I just know that
(17:08):
on my watch it's going to tellme to go left right, straight,
whatever, but I'm going to keepgoing right, straight, whatever,
but I'm going to keep goingRight.
And I get to go out there andcontinuously challenge myself
every day.
It's going to hurt.
It's going to hurt really bad,but there's also going to be
some there's.
There's also going to be somehigh points as well, which is,
you know, the exciting part.
(17:28):
It's like, how many times areyou going to be able to get
yourself out of the low, to getyourself, you know, back into
that high point?
Speaker 2 (17:36):
yeah, um.
So I was surprised that yousaid you had a job, because I
was like I thought this was hisjob.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I'm like, wow, okay I I had two jobs actually.
Uh, yeah, I I worked from eight.
I was working from 8 am to 12,and then I'll take a nap, and
then I'll work from 3 pm to 11pm Any time before that time
I'll train, and then the timebetween 12 and 3, I'll take a
(18:08):
small nap, put some food in me,whatever I got to do, and then
go to work and then do it allover again.
And my hours were so flexiblewith my first job, the morning
job, so I can kind of flex thehours around a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
But so obviously you've been training for this
and you've been diligently.
You know doing your trainingand you know the difference
between overtraining and thingslike that.
And you, I think you have acoach, you have like a running
coach right.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah, ryan Miller is my running coach.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
First of all, why did you get a running coach?
And number two, what was itabout your running coach that
gravitated yourself to him?
Speaker 1 (18:51):
The coach is just to kind of manage my, my
consistency because, like I said, uh, you know, like I don't
want to overtrain, there is a,there is a point where if you
tell yourself I don't want toovertrain it, and then you're
just like you know, I I feellike overtraining by doing five
miles, that's consideredovertraining.
It's like no, it's not.
(19:11):
Uh, quit lying to yourself, yougot to get that five miles in.
I'm like probably one of themost lazy athletes you'll
probably come across withoutstructure.
So, again, like I really don'twant to tell myself like okay,
like don't worry, you'll be ableto do the five miles sometime
(19:32):
later on this week, or whateverthe case may be, you'll be able
to do the five miles sometimelater on this week, I do, or
whatever the case may be.
And then I also know thatthere's some feedback that my
coach may tell me.
If I'm cutting corners, you knowhe reminds me like hey, so you
did that eight mile run or that10 mile run, but you didn't put
those striders in there.
You didn't put, you know, thosehill repeats I asked you to do,
(19:53):
you didn't.
Those things have a lot morepower to it.
Trust me on that, um, that sortof thing and, um, you know I
signed up for some texas summerraces as well.
I had three 360ks kind of backto back to back, along with a
couple of, I think like a coupleof 5ks and 100kK all throughout
(20:13):
the summer just to kind of seewhere my hydration was, my
nutrition, just make sure thatthings are kind of coming
together.
And you know, most of themworked out.
I had 160K where I just DNF'd.
I just I think I just got intothis funk and I was like I'm
going to, I cut myself short, Ididn't, I didn't plan out the uh
(20:36):
hydration uh, a little bitbetter.
I could have, you know, putsome ice on me a little bit more
.
You know, I just I got a littletoo lax, but I, I look at that
uh dnf as more of a educationalreminder that you, I mean I was
doing so well in these otherraces.
I mean mean I was, I was winningall the other races, I get to
(20:57):
DNF on the 60K and so I I toldmyself like the complacency
started kicking in so that thatthat DNF helped me kind of
rejuvenate more on the level ofyou got more stuff to learn.
So after that, after that DNF,I was like, okay, I need to
buckle down on hydration, I needto do this, I need to do that.
It kind of helped revamp mytraining into the summer.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Let's talk about your charities or who you run for
For this going from DC to SanAntonio.
What is the name of the causethat you're running for?
Speaker 1 (21:35):
It's three, three nonprofits Uh, it's hidden for
hope, pay for it and lifetime.
They're all working inconjunction together to start a
facility for families that arein need of recovery, and so with
that, hopefully, you know,haven for Hope will provide the
(21:56):
facility, as Lifetime will getit a little bit more into the
grants of everything and allthat.
And then, of course, pay itForward would provide the case
management end of it, so thatand Pay it Forward just has an
ample amount of knowledge on howto handle recovery, and so they
(22:19):
have recovery coaches onstandby, they have all these
things, and so it's just cool tosee these three nonprofits work
together and just try to get acommunity and going because I
mean one of the things I'veasked myself was like, is there
a safe, sober living environmentfor single dads or single moms
(22:42):
or single parents?
and I work in a place where cPSis having to be called on a
daily basis and I've seen myshare of child removals and
safety plans and whatnot andthings just kind of go south
just because there's not thatcare for that kind of population
.
And so I'd like to see you knowa lot more success stories if
(23:03):
this program were to work out,you know and not just within our
facility, but more you know alot more success stories if this
program were to work out, youknow and not just within our
facility, but more you know outthere where it's needed as well.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
So I want to ask you two more questions.
So one question I had was youknow, when I was watching the
video of you with your trainingdoing the Texas run, there was
just the caption said that youknow you had these checkpoints
and you not only had to talk tosomeone, you know, that was like
(23:40):
more like a trainer, physicaltherapist or whatever more
taking care of your physical.
But then you said it said even,it said counseling.
So did you have like mentalhealth support along the way as
well?
Speaker 1 (23:54):
I didn't really have too much of like um, like a
therapist on standby, as more of, I would say, like um, like a
spiritual advisor that I wouldcall every now and again feeling
at my lowest.
I have, I have anaccountability support system
(24:15):
that I can call when I'm feelinglike at my lowest.
But but for the most part, Ithink that you know, being in
recovery, you haveresponsibility to not only take
care of the side of your ownaddiction, but if there's
something else that comes alongwith it, I feel like you have a
responsibility to take care ofthat as well.
Um, and so again, like uh, I, Igo through therapy.
(24:40):
Uh, on, you know on a usualbasis, more than I would like to
admit, but as well as I wouldlike I probably utilize, when
I'm going through these things,utilize a little bit more of my
spiritual advisor to kind ofjust remind me, okay, like, hey,
like, even though he's got noexperience at running whatsoever
(25:03):
.
So it's like, you know, I don'thave, I really don't have any
parents to call, so I'll justcall and ask for a word of
support, but it's very few andfar between that.
I call just because of thesimple fact that, like, I know
deep down inside, um, you knowit's, it's gonna, it's gonna
pass and we'll get through thisand it's, you know, it's just
(25:24):
another day.
So, yeah, well, you know, firstof all, I'm glad you know it's
just another day.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
So yeah, well, you know, first of all, I'm glad
that you were transparent aboutit, because there's a stigma for
men seeking therapy, right, andyou know, I think we need to
hear more about it.
I think a lot of people need tosee it, almost like you're
going to see a doctor, you get acheckup, you know, I mean, and
(25:49):
it's just something that a lotof us need, and I know there's a
lot of people who need it andcan't even get to that kind of
care.
So, you know, I think that'sdefinitely something important
to talk more about.
I'm gonna ask you this lastquestion so you're talking about
your own recovery and addictionand you doing the things that
(26:10):
you're doing now, and this isnot like, like I said, you're
not an average runner.
I mean, you're definitely goingto the extreme with all of this
, right, what would you say tosomebody who is struggling right
now with addiction, kind offeeling hopeless and needs
(26:31):
something?
What are some words that youwould share?
Speaker 1 (26:34):
When I first got sober, I was a year sober and I
called my friend and he wassomebody that I used with.
I'm both an alcoholic and anaddict, but I thought he was
more hopeless than I was, and sowhen I found out he had years
(26:55):
of sobriety because I was gonefrom the scene.
I went to prison for five and ahalf years altogether, so I was
locked up and then I was in myaddiction.
So I haven't talked to him inlike 10 years.
When I found out that he hadlike eight or nine years of
sobriety.
So I reached out to him withone year of sobriety Uh, I'm
sure, if that was going to likeyou're so uncertain on which
(27:20):
path is going to go.
I asked them, like how did youget nine years of body?
Did you just continue to go tomeetings all the time?
Did you, you know, do this ordid you do that?
Did you, you know?
You're just not hanging outwith the same friends.
I think that this is the bestadvice that someone has given me
(27:41):
.
It's just stay honest.
That's it.
The honesty part will help younavigate on if you're an addict
or not, or an alcoholic.
The honesty part will help youadmit like do I have a problem
with alcohol or not?
Honesty part will also help youdown the line with years of
(28:02):
sobriety.
Am I, am I being complacent?
Am I, am I doing enough with myprogram or should I be doing
more?
Am I, am I treating people likeshit or am I?
You know?
Of course, being true to myword and being a man of
integrity and honesty hurts.
Honesty is not easy, right?
(28:23):
Honesty, will you know.
Keep people you know in or outof your life that you need or
you don't need, but at the sametime, you know it's that bravery
it's very easy to lie aboutstuff.
It's very easy to about um anduh, keeping stuff away from you,
but at the same time, it's likeI was told that we're only as
(28:45):
sick as our secrets.
And so, um, knowing thatthey're and I trust me in my
sobriety I have lied in mysobriety, I have kept things
from people and in the end it itends up and bite me in the ass.
Um, I am not perfect at myprogram, but if there's somebody
who's truly struggling, um, andsays, like I don't know where
(29:08):
to go from here, so well, behonest with me, do you really
want to change or not?
Do you really want to do this?
And then explain to them whatit's going to take and ask them,
like, is this something thatyou want to continue doing?
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Yeah, yeah, no, that's, that's really good
advice, ken.
All right.
So, ken, I want to first of allthank you so much for being a
part of this.
We're going to put all theplaces, the not-for-profits that
you're raising money for, onthe links to this podcast.
I am confident that you gotthis.
(29:41):
I know you'll get through tothis.
I think that the mental part isprobably the hardest part.
I always say it's harder thanthe physical sometimes, but
thank you for being a part ofthis, of course, thank you, I
really do appreciate it.
All right, until next time,everyone For you and I For you,
(30:08):
and I For you and I.
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