December 26, 2024 • 32 mins
#123 - In this episode, we sit down with Micky Ely, a Spartan OCR and DEKA racer, to share our respective journeys of overcoming running injuries and setbacks to compete in the Spartan DEKA World Championships. We discuss the importance of community support, goal-setting, and maintaining self-belief throughout recovery.
Topics Covered:
- Listen to the events leading up to our respective running injuries and unexpected setbacks
- Discover the importance of identifying and accepting where you are and making the best decision to move forward
- See how you can succeed by embracing challenges and accepting the highs and lows of a long recovery
- Find inspiration to overcome your running injuries and setbacks
Today’s Guest
Micky Ely
Micky got into OCR racing back in 2018 where he joined and raced in Bonefrog, Maryland to spend time with his brother; having no idea what to expect or what training was required. Surprisingly he placed in the top 25 wearing basketball shorts and running shoes. Over the next two years, he begun to build his obstacle proficiency and dedication to running finishing the run the year challenge of 2020 miles during the year.
2021 was a breakout season for Micky setting personal records in all three Spartan distances while finishing two trifectas. During the season, he ran perfect races (NO BURPEES) in all but two events setting his focus on reaching his first podium in 2022 and showing everyone that the big guys can win races!!!
Follow Micky Ely:
- Instagram - @m_ely84
Resources:
- Inspire to Run on Instagram - @inspiretorunpodcast
- Free Guide - Kickstart your Fitness in 5 Steps
- 8 Week Fitness Coaching Program with Underdog Fitness
- Sign-up using code INSPIRE10 for 10% off
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, my friend, I recently achieved one of my
three goals, which was toqualify and run the Spartan DECA
World Championships this year,and it was such a long journey
to get here and definitely notwithout its challenges.
And today I'm sitting down withone of my race partners and we
talk about our journey to WorldChampionships and how both of us
overcame running injuries andsetbacks, and we're gonna share
(00:23):
with you tips and things that wedid to work through that
journey and get back to where wewanted to be, which is at the
championship race.
So hope you enjoy Welcome.
To Inspire, to Run podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Here you will find inspiration, whether you are
looking to take control of yourhealth and fitness or you are a
seasoned runner looking forcommunity and some extra
motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richardConner.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Hi, my friend, Welcome back to Inspire to Run
Podcast.
I'm excited to have Mickey Elyhere on the show with me again.
Mickey is a Spartan OCR and DECAracer and he was my teammate
this year for DECA and we justhad a phenomenal year kind of
leading up into WorldChampionships.
That happened not too long agoand what I wanted to do is kind
of bring Mickey on the show andwe both kind of had our
(01:18):
challenges during the year whichI think many runners and
athletes experience in terms of,like running, injuries and
other setbacks.
So, just as we kind of closeout the year here, just want to
chat a little bit about ourexperiences and kind of how we
dealt with it physically butalso mentally, because you know,
getting injuries or setbacks isnot an easy thing to kind of
(01:39):
deal with just holistically.
So we wanted to kind of shareour experiences with you and
it's just a pleasure for me tohave a chat with mickey and
spend time with him.
So, mickey, what we'll do is,uh, just welcome to the show and
you know really love to hear alittle bit about your story kind
of leading up to some of youryou know, in running injuries
and setbacks yeah, like I said,richard, thanks for having me on
(02:03):
here again.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
It's, uh, always a pleasure to sit down and talk to
you.
It has definitely been a rollercoaster of a year, has its
highs, has its lows.
We started, me and you, on oneof the highest of highs, I flew
to Connecticut so we couldcompete together.
It was kind of a surprise.
I dropped in without telling youto pretty much say, hey, I'm
(02:24):
here, let's run a race.
I think I was quite possibly atthe peak of my fitness when I
was in Connecticut.
I knew I had some lingeringissues that I was working
through, but nothing to thechallenges that I would face
later on in the year and Ireally have to be in the right
mindset to get through all thechallenges that not only me and
(02:48):
you faced, but as a team, but aspersonal and I know each of us
had our own personal setbacksthis year which really
accumulated into the end of yearevent that we just finished up,
which was pretty astonishingthat both of us were there and
able to compete.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, it's been a wild year and I appreciate you
sharing that.
And you know I really love tohear you know kind of your
injuries and setbacks and youknow, just for our listeners.
You know we had Mickey onepisode 54.
You could take the first stepin your transformation and
Mickey just has an incrediblestory about kind of where he's
been to where he's today.
So when you say he was like inthe most you know fitness wise,
(03:28):
like in a really great shapethis year and you just have to
know that he's been through somuch and has accomplished so
much over the years, so reallyjust great to see you kind of
progress and where you are todayand what you've been able to
accomplish, so just kind of wantto throw that in there.
So yeah, so just share a littlebit about kind of what was
going on.
I think kind of during thesummer, kind of rolling into the
fall is when things started tokind of go off the rails a
(03:50):
little bit.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yeah, so this is actually my third year training
with Underdog and it's beendownright amazing.
Like I said, I continued totrain even during the offseason,
working through strengthtraining and endurance training,
but at the beginning of theyear I started feeling what
almost felt like plantarfasciitis, and I would manage it
(04:15):
, I would stretch it out.
It was just, but it would becontinuous.
The longer that I ran, the moresore that it got and it
progressed.
So most people would take arest, take it easy.
So I just dialed it back alittle bit, hoping that it was
more of a ligament injury andnot really something that was
long-term or detrimental to myrunning, and that I could work
(04:37):
through it.
Like most injuries, we tend tojust try to rehab and try to get
through it without too muchinjury, while trying to maintain
our fitness at the same time.
So, fast forwarding through themonths, it progressively got
worse up until about March Apriltime frame.
I really didn't know what wasgoing on.
So I ended up seeing aorthopedic surgeon and he did a
(05:03):
scan of my heel and noticedsevere inflammation within the
tendon, which happens I mean anyrunner who's been through it.
You get major inflammation atsome point somewhere from
overworking, overtraining, andit's just natural.
With this, though, it was morethan just overtraining.
(05:26):
It was a pain that I had neverfelt before, but I continued to
press my luck, I like to say,and just push through it.
Getting up into Connecticutearlier this year, I went into
the Connecticut races with thepain in my heel, knowing that I
was still able to compete.
It was just understanding mypain, tolerance and my ability
(05:48):
to work through under duress orunder pain, with hopes of
rehabbing somewhere down theroad.
So, as we finished up inConnecticut and had an amazing
time racing, the pain wasn'tgoing away.
So I headed back to the doctorand he tells me that we need to
have an MRI.
He thinks that there'ssomething else, so, naturally,
(06:10):
as an athlete you're like oh noan.
MRI, what's going to happen,what's the level?
And so all the all the negativethoughts start flowing through
my head and I'm like well, maybeit can't be too bad.
I'm still able to compete, I'mstill able to run, I'm still
able to do all these otherthings.
And Decafit Charlotte was rightaround the corner, so I was
trying to figure out whatexactly.
(06:33):
I needed to do to get to thatrace, which was the week after,
still compete with Richard andcome out of it healthy enough to
move on throughout the rest ofthe year healthy enough to move
on throughout the rest of theyear.
Tragically, right after DecafitCharlotte, we found out that I
had bone spurs on my heel thatwere actually ripping through my
(06:56):
Achilles tendon every time Iran.
That had been degrading thetendon for roughly six months
and at this point I sat downwith my doctor and I said what
are the options?
Speaker 1 (07:16):
He said well, it's like a ticking time bomb.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
He said you can keep running on it.
The tendon is still whole, hesaid, but you never know when
it's gonna completely ripthrough or you could get surgery
.
So naturally, as an athlete, Iwas like, no, I don't want
surgery.
He said what are your plans forthe rest of the year?
And this is a hard, hard pillto swallow.
(07:42):
But I was like I'd like to goto world championships at the
end of the year.
That was my goal all year thatwas my purpose.
That was why me and you trainedtogether was to make it to
world championships.
So I told him to be blunt withme.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I said would you get the surgery?
He looked me dead in the faceand said absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
And I said well, that's hard to swallow said
absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
And I said, well, that's hard to swallow Hearing
it from my doctor that hewouldn't get the surgery that he
would just see if he cancorrect it from other means.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
But, with that being said, I wanted to know all the
options.
I asked him.
I said if I got to surgerytoday, this week, do you think
I'd make it to worldchampionships?
And he flat out said no, Idon't think you will.
He said but miracles do happen.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
People do heal different If you'd like to get
the surgery?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
we can see how it goes, see where you're healing
and see if we can get you there.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
So naturally, I was like, let's get it done.
Let's get it done right now.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Let's get it so I have more time to heal.
Um, because at this point we'reroughly like 125 days out from
world championships.
So I knew it was going to be atight window to be able to get
in, get to surgery andunderstand how my body feels, to
get to the point of being ableto compete not just compete, but
(09:07):
compete at a competitive level.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Because I'm not somebody to go out there and
just say hey, I'm here toparticipate Give me a chance.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
No, I'm going to go out there and push and push and
push to my body's limits prettymuch until I pass out.
It's just who I've always beenmy competitive nature and the
more that I'm around ourunderdog team, the more I see
how everybody pushes.
It gives you a level ofdetermination to be better and
(09:40):
just overall, perform at a levelthat you've never seen before.
So about a week after I gotthat diagnosis, my doctor
scheduled my surgery.
It scared the living crap outof me.
I had never had any majorinjuries in my career and
sitting in the hospital.
So many thoughts go throughyour head of will I ever be the
(10:02):
same after this Will?
Did I make the right decision?
Did the doctor put me on theright path?
And I just totally ignored him?
So it was very uneasy sittingthere knowing that I could have
possibly made the wrong decision.
So I went through the surgery.
(10:24):
It was about four hours long.
The doctor completelydisconnected my Achilles tendon,
ground down bone spurs on theback of my heel, cut off two
inches of my tendon andproceeded to of my tendon and
(10:49):
proceeded to stretch my calfmuscle and my tendon back in
place on the back of my heel andsecure it with five pins.
Most people would say thatsounds absolutely terrible and
I'll probably never be able torun right again or anything.
But I put my faith in Dr Ray.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I'm going to, I'll say his name.
It was Dr Thomas Ray down inKingsland, Georgia.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
One of the best surgeons I've ever been to, um,
said that everything was asuccess when I came out, um,
which couldn't have been moremusic to my ears and put me in
the highest of high spiritsdirectly out of surgery.
So at that point it was a knownsuccess that the surgery went
(11:35):
well and I was on my road torecovery, a very, very long,
hard, emotional-filled recoverythat took me to dark places, to
days of anguish, upset, crying,pissed off every emotion that
you could possibly feel as yourone focus is an event 90 days
(12:03):
away, essentially.
So it was tough.
It had to put me in the rightmindset to succeed.
At no means, at no meanswhatsoever after my surgery did
I ever think that I was going tohave an even success one in a
million shot to be able to race.
How I felt.
It was excruciating, it wasdebilitating, it was a feeling
(12:28):
and a place that I probablynever want to be at again in my
life.
It was.
It was rough, it was absolutelyrough.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
And you know I don't, I didn't know like 95% of what
was going on with you.
I know, you know we're goingback and forth and messaging and
checking in on you during thattime but you know, as you're
talking about it here, like Irealized I didn't know most of
what you're going through, but Iknew it had to be hard, I knew
it had to be painful, but Iobviously it's hard for me to
imagine kind of what that waslike.
(12:56):
So I appreciate you sharingthat and you know really kind of
sharing how you felt.
You know really kind of sharinghow you felt.
You know emotionally, how youfelt physically, and I think
you're right, like when he saidit was music to your ears, like
that is the best possibleoutcome in that moment to hear
that the surgery was a success.
And then that really just meansthat you have to focus on your
recovery right and gettingbetter, whether it meant racing
(13:17):
or not, like just really kind ofgetting back on your feet and
getting better.
And we all know how the storyends, which is, you know, quite
a success story.
But you know that's reallyincredible to hear kind of what
you went through during thattime and you know I'd love to
hear, maybe, what are like thethree things that you did or
that helped you during that timeto get back on your feet, get
(13:39):
back into training andeventually get to where we were,
which is World Championship.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Get back on your feet , get back into training and
eventually get to where we were,which is world championship.
Yeah, honestly, I want to putthe number one thing out there,
and that was the amount ofpositive comments, feedback,
people checking on me.
I can't express enough thenumber of people that actually
reached out to say hey, you gotthis, you're on the right path,
(14:06):
keep pushing, keep motivating,keep keep yourself in the right
mindset.
Everybody would.
A lot of people check on me,kevin.
He would have his tough love,as always.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
But that's, that's a major thing that I needed to get
back.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
And number two, I'd have to say, was set goals.
Set goals for yourself, eventhe small ones.
When I started out early, itwas like, hey, let me just stand
up in front of a chair.
It wasn't't let me take a step,it was let me stand up in front
of the chair to see if I caneven stand on my own two feet
(14:47):
again.
And it was little wins like that, that was, hey, I stood up
today.
And then, oh, look, I stood upwithout crutches or I got three
steps.
It was the little wins everyday that kept my mind in the
right place to be able to keepreaching those small goals.
(15:08):
I actually wrote down on apiece of paper dates in which I
wanted to meet certain goals.
Obviously, the worldchampionships was the last goal,
world Championships was thelast goal.
So you had that longevity of atimeline to say, hey, what do I
want to accomplish in thesethree months to be able to make
(15:29):
it to my long-term goal?
And it was those little stepsthat I wrote on a piece of paper
meticulously from the wordsthat the doctor gave me.
He said hey, 30 days you shouldbe doing this, 60 days you
should be doing this, and by thetime you get to the world's
championships, you should havemet every one of these steps.
So definitely focusing on thesmall goals instead of the large
picture, because I feel likeyou can get lost into oh my gosh
(15:53):
, I got to compete in threemonths.
I can't even take a step or Ican't even go to the bathroom
without a scooter.
It's those little things thatyou need to stay focused on.
And the last one is believingin yourself.
I've talked about this duringour last podcast.
(16:13):
It's understanding who you areand who you want to become.
So if you lose sight of who youare, what your goals are, what
your motivation is, you'll neverbe able to get to the place
where you need to be.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
And I know the last two kind of tie into each other,
but they're definitelydependent upon each other to
make that one goal and that onepossibility at the end.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
So I mean it's it those, are the three major.
Those are the three majorthings that were driving my
success to be ready to be therein December with you.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
That's incredible and I appreciate you sharing that.
Mickey, you know I love whatyou said and as you're talking
through those three things Ithings.
It does remind me of our lastconversation on the podcast.
So you know you're veryconsistent, you're very
methodical, you have yourprocess and obviously it's
working and you know so you'retalking about.
You know kind of setting thosegoals but really kind of
(17:15):
celebrating the wins.
You know absolutely love thatyou talked about.
You know believing in yourself,love that you talked about.
You know believing in yourselfand you talked about really
having that support system orthat community right which we
have with the underdog communityand I'm sure beyond that, like
your family, your friends, likehaving that so important to help
you if you're going through it.
But I would say, if you're notgoing through it and you know
(17:37):
someone who is check in on them,see how they're doing and give
them words of encouragement,because you're hearing, you know
from your story, mickey, howmuch it helped you and you know
that's really nice to hear thatthat was part of your recovery.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Absolutely.
It's definitely a team effort,from your closest friends to
your teammates, to your family,to your neighbor next door,
everybody checking in on you aspart of the process.
It's it.
It fills your happiness bag, aswe like to say in the Navy.
We have our happiness bag andanytime we can put little
tidbits in there, it's alwaysnice to keep it full and keep
(18:14):
you energized with positiveenergy.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Absolutely, absolutely.
So I appreciate you sharingthat and I'll share just a
little bit of my story whichI've talked about on the show,
but I'll just share it hereagain and then we'll talk about,
like, what all this led to.
So you know my side.
I kind of dealt with two mainissues this year.
One was around my knee, myright knee, and it was.
It was just kind of botheringme during the year, but mostly
(18:39):
when I sat, not really when Iwas active or running, until
maybe the middle of the year.
Later on in the year then itwould bother me a little bit
when I was running and that, youknow, really caused concern.
So I've been working with aphysical therapist and you know,
and that's been going well andyou know it's, I was able to
kind of get through the year.
So nothing major there.
So that's something that I justneed to keep an eye on.
(19:00):
But to your point, mickey, likeyou know, we just kind of want
to work through these things,right.
We just kind of want to workthrough.
If something happens, you'relike we don't want to stop.
You've got these goals, you gotthese races and just got to
kind of make the best of it.
So you know.
So that was one thing that wassomewhat minor, maybe not too
terrible, but you know, whatreally kind of took me out for a
(19:29):
little while was I ran, um, myhalf marathon one of my half
marathons this year, in the fall, and it's one of my favorite
ones and for the second year ina row, like I got slower right,
I didn't improve my time, eventhough I'd PR and other races
during the year, and I felt likeI was getting stronger and
faster.
In this one I just didn't,didn't PR, and which in of
itself was fine, but really whatgot me was at the end of the
race I kind of didn't care, likenot in a, like yeah, whatever,
(19:49):
I don't care.
No, like I really just don'tcare, you know, if I did better
or not, and that concerned me,because that's not normally how
I am Right, I'm like, no, I wantto do better, I want to know
why I didn't achieve what I setout to achieve and in that
moment I didn't.
So you know, I kind of you know, self-diagnosed, but I kind of
(20:09):
came to the conclusion thatmaybe I was experiencing burnout
, which was a terrible time forthat to happen, because you know
, I had a marathon that wascoming up and then, of course
you know we've been talkingabout Deco World Championships.
So you know I went through thisprocess of like out what's going
on with me and what do I needto do to get out of it and I
talk about it in episode 117,how to bounce back from burnout
for marathon success just totalk about what was going on in
(20:31):
my life during that time.
But I'm happy to say that I wasable to kind of get through it
and some of the basics wasreally around just taking a
break.
So I'm just like you know what?
I'm not running, I'm notworking out, I'm not doing
anything Like the only thing Iwas doing was like work and like
family and like that was it,like everything else was just
put aside.
So just really is a time for meto reset and recharge and there
(20:56):
are other things that I was kindof doing during that time to
help me just get out of whateverit is that I was kind of going
through.
So happy to say that that ledto my first marathon in France
in November, which you know Iran pretty well, I did it
according to plan and it wasjust beautiful and awesome and
really just kind of regained mylove for running and what I'm
doing and I got to the end ofthat saying, yes, I did it, I
(21:19):
feel great about it, I'm sohappy I did it.
Now I'm ready for, like, worldchampionships.
So that's a little bit of mystory, so not, you know, not
necessarily dealing with surgeryor the injury to your extent,
mickey, but you know I was goingthrough some stuff and, like I
said, a lot of runners and otherathletes go through things
during the year and you justneed to work through it with
kind of what we're talking abouthere.
(21:39):
Right on what we're goingthrough yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Injuries do happen all the time, to the most elite
athletes, to just the normalweekend warriors, as I like to
call them, who just go out anddo a run on the weekend.
But injuries are a real thingand and I kind of took that for
granted, that we're invincible,that we can't get hurt, and
(22:06):
sadly this proved me wrong.
But I think this injuryabsolutely did change me as a
person and a competitor, becauseit, let me know that yes, I'm
human and yes, I need to workharder.
What I mean by working harder iswas I overtraining before?
(22:27):
I don't know Was I doing?
everything that I need to on adaily basis to be the best
athlete I could, yes, butthere's always those unknowns
and you don't know what's goingon with your body, underneath
your skin.
But there's always thoseunknowns and you don't know
what's going on with your body,underneath your skin.
It's continuously working,especially as we get older.
(22:48):
You have to put in that extraeffort, or that extra
pre-workout or post-workoutstretches, or just the prehab
that you have to do, or thetaking care of your body, the
(23:08):
saunas, the cold plunges, therollers, the massage guns,
anything you could possibly doto kind of alleviate the muscle
tension and the possibility ofinjury over time and while
you're training.
The more that I train, the morethat I understand that that 30
minutes before and after canreally dictate how your training
is going to go in the futuredown the road 100% and you know,
(23:30):
I totally agree with you onsome of the things that you you
can do, like the massages.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
So, like I have massage boots, I go to get
massages now, which you know, inthe past I didn't really like
to do, so I think all that'sbeen really helpful, so
definitely agree with you there.
Uh, there's also tech and gearthat can help you.
Like, I use IncrediWear, so Ihave a sleeve for my knee, which
is super helpful.
Um, so yeah, there's just somuch out there that can help you
(23:55):
.
But it's really just kind oftaking the time and seeing
what's right for you and justbeing consistent and doing those
things.
And seeing what's right for youand just being consistent and
doing those things.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
That's exactly it.
Consistency, um.
You couldn't have used a betterword, and consistency is what
helped me recover um consistencyand understanding, so
consistency.
I preach this guy up and down,one side and the other, kevin,
knew exactly what I needed, whatconsistent level of training
that I needed, how much to pushmy leg, how much not to push my
(24:26):
leg.
Understanding when to take off,when to tell my body, okay,
it's enough for today.
Even looking at the workload,it's like, okay, I'm not done,
but my body's done, and I thinkthat's a misconception or
something most people don'tunderstand is your body tells
(24:47):
you when it's ready or it's not,and I think some people get
hurt because they don't listento their body.
And that was the biggest part ofmy success in coming back and
being able to be there with youguys was knowing my limitations
and understanding what my bodyis telling me, because during
this recovery process, there wasdays where I woke up that I
(25:09):
could barely walk.
It was to the point where I wasin recovery.
I was working the muscles andmy body just said enough, like
take a break, sit down, resetand we'll come about it tomorrow
.
And I think I posted a lotabout that.
It's it's understanding that mybody was ready, but it wasn't.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
So all of this led us to Deco world Championships
this year, which was both of ourgoals, and you know we
qualified as a team, we ran as ateam, we fought hard as a team
and I know you ran a differentrace as well with Chrissy, which
is great.
So you know we arrived rightthroughout the struggles and
(25:56):
setbacks and running injuries,we arrived in Ocala, florida,
and it was just a tremendoustime.
So you know, really justgrateful that you know you were
able to recover and heal and bethere kind of on your terms.
So you know, no pressure for melike this is totally on your
terms, but happy there, truethere, and you know you're able
to get to that point and reachyour goals despite what happened
(26:18):
this year.
So I'm I'm really happy for youand also excited that we got to
run this together.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Yeah, it was almost surreal walking in the arena the
first day and I got therereally early, um before most of
the team got there, and it wasalmost like walking into a dream
.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
I like to say a dream , because that was my dream to
get there to recover enough.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
To walk through those doors on my own, two feet,
without aid, and looking up tosee my name on a board was
unbelievable.
That's the only feelings that Ican.
I can say.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Did I go in 100 percent?
Speaker 3 (26:58):
Absolutely not Me, and you have talked about it
over and over again that therace was painful painful, not
just cardiovascular endurance,it was.
(27:18):
It was painful my foot is not ahundred percent but it was well
enough to get there and competeto a level where I thought me
and you were respectable.
I like to use respectablebecause we didn't walk, we
didn't minimize our efforts.
(27:38):
We went out there and weactually pushed the issue and
pushed our levels of fitnesswhere we were at overcoming
major injuries that we had notto in the distant past, to
literally finish about a minuteoff our personal best.
We can't complain whatsoeverabout how that day went and the
(28:02):
feelings that we felt crossingthe finish line.
I think I might've died insidea little bit, because I had the.
The cardiovascular demand wasnot there from sitting around
for three months, but it it, itpassed, it passed.
And the feelings, uh, engulfedmy body with the positivity and
(28:22):
the celebration of theturnaround that I had over the
three months.
And when I went back to thearea where we were all staged at
and sitting down, I looked atmy son and, with the quietest
voice, I just said I did it.
(28:43):
And he laughed at me a littlebit, like a typical teenager
would, but it was those words Idid it, which was my goal from
the beginning the minute I leftthat hospital and you can hear
it in my voice.
I'm getting a little emotionalabout this, but my heart and
(29:04):
soul went into my recovery.
There was days where I sat inmy garage literally in tears,
trying to accomplish somethingas simple as doing a single leg
toe race to where I couldn'teven move my foot.
The level of emotion that Ifelt when we crossed that finish
(29:28):
line is nothing that I ever haddone in my life.
I finished Spartan Ultras, I'veran marathons, I've done
weightlifting competitions, I'veeven played in the Little
League World Series back in theday, but the level of emotion
that I felt when I crossed thatfinish line with you was the
(29:51):
best feeling of my life, and Ithink this is the first time I'm
telling anybody this.
But I couldn't have asked for abetter teammate, a better team,
a better support network and,overall, just the level of
support to make that magicalmoment happen.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Love it, love it and I appreciate you.
Like I said, we we qualified asa team and, honestly, like it
was a two of us that got usthere uh, to world championships
together, you know.
So I appreciate you and Iappreciate the battle that you
fought physically and mentallyto get there and just the
opportunity to run with just awonderful person as yourself.
(30:34):
So so, thank you so much,mickey, and thank you for being
vulnerable here and sharing yourstory.
And you know, typically, as youknow, my one of my last
questions is you know, what isthe one thing that you would say
to our listeners to inspirethem to run?
And I think I would change thatfor this conversation.
I would ask you what is the onething that you would say to
inspire our listeners to notgive up after running injuries
(30:58):
and setback?
Speaker 3 (31:00):
The one thing I'd have to say is probably stay
true to yourself, and what Imean by that is all of us have
our silent goals, and what Imean by silent goals it's
something that we don't tellother people that we want to
accomplish.
Of course, we write down ouraccomplishments and our goal
long-term goals, short-termgoals but there's always those
(31:22):
self-goals that you never tellanybody about, that you hold
true to yourself and that youhave the ability to focus on
those above and beyondeverything else.
Yes, you have goals forteammates.
Yes, you have goals andaspirations for doing things
down the road or with friends,but your goals are what matter.
(31:45):
The things that are near anddear to your heart is what you
should always focus on, and ifyou focus on those things, it
will always pull you through thedark moments.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Love it, love it.
Mickey, congratulations on allthat you've accomplished this
year, despite everything thatyou've been through.
Thank you again for being anawesome running mate.
I'm really looking forward to2025.
We're absolutely going to crushit next year.
You're on your road to recovery, I'm on my road to recovery.
Next year is going to be ouryear, so really just congrats
(32:18):
again.
Thank you for sharing yourstory here on the show and you
know, with that, have a greatday.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Thanks for interviewing.
I appreciate it, as always.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run
podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
Hi, my friend, I recently achieved one of my
three goals, which was toqualify and run the Spartan DECA
World Championships this year,and it was such a long journey
to get here and definitely notwithout its challenges.
And today I'm sitting down withone of my race partners and we
talk about our journey to WorldChampionships and how both of us
overcame running injuries andsetbacks, and we're gonna share
(00:23):
with you tips and things that wedid to work through that
journey and get back to where wewanted to be, which is at the
championship race.
So hope you enjoy Welcome.
To Inspire, to Run podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Here you will find inspiration, whether you are
looking to take control of yourhealth and fitness or you are a
seasoned runner looking forcommunity and some extra
motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richardConner.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Hi, my friend, Welcome back to Inspire to Run
Podcast.
I'm excited to have Mickey Elyhere on the show with me again.
Mickey is a Spartan OCR and DECAracer and he was my teammate
this year for DECA and we justhad a phenomenal year kind of
leading up into WorldChampionships.
That happened not too long agoand what I wanted to do is kind
of bring Mickey on the show andwe both kind of had our
(01:18):
challenges during the year whichI think many runners and
athletes experience in terms of,like running, injuries and
other setbacks.
So, just as we kind of closeout the year here, just want to
chat a little bit about ourexperiences and kind of how we
dealt with it physically butalso mentally, because you know,
getting injuries or setbacks isnot an easy thing to kind of
(01:39):
deal with just holistically.
So we wanted to kind of shareour experiences with you and
it's just a pleasure for me tohave a chat with mickey and
spend time with him.
So, mickey, what we'll do is,uh, just welcome to the show and
you know really love to hear alittle bit about your story kind
of leading up to some of youryou know, in running injuries
and setbacks yeah, like I said,richard, thanks for having me on
(02:03):
here again.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
It's, uh, always a pleasure to sit down and talk to
you.
It has definitely been a rollercoaster of a year, has its
highs, has its lows.
We started, me and you, on oneof the highest of highs, I flew
to Connecticut so we couldcompete together.
It was kind of a surprise.
I dropped in without telling youto pretty much say, hey, I'm
(02:24):
here, let's run a race.
I think I was quite possibly atthe peak of my fitness when I
was in Connecticut.
I knew I had some lingeringissues that I was working
through, but nothing to thechallenges that I would face
later on in the year and Ireally have to be in the right
mindset to get through all thechallenges that not only me and
(02:48):
you faced, but as a team, but aspersonal and I know each of us
had our own personal setbacksthis year which really
accumulated into the end of yearevent that we just finished up,
which was pretty astonishingthat both of us were there and
able to compete.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, it's been a wild year and I appreciate you
sharing that.
And you know I really love tohear you know kind of your
injuries and setbacks and youknow, just for our listeners.
You know we had Mickey onepisode 54.
You could take the first stepin your transformation and
Mickey just has an incrediblestory about kind of where he's
been to where he's today.
So when you say he was like inthe most you know fitness wise,
(03:28):
like in a really great shapethis year and you just have to
know that he's been through somuch and has accomplished so
much over the years, so reallyjust great to see you kind of
progress and where you are todayand what you've been able to
accomplish, so just kind of wantto throw that in there.
So yeah, so just share a littlebit about kind of what was
going on.
I think kind of during thesummer, kind of rolling into the
fall is when things started tokind of go off the rails a
(03:50):
little bit.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yeah, so this is actually my third year training
with Underdog and it's beendownright amazing.
Like I said, I continued totrain even during the offseason,
working through strengthtraining and endurance training,
but at the beginning of theyear I started feeling what
almost felt like plantarfasciitis, and I would manage it
(04:15):
, I would stretch it out.
It was just, but it would becontinuous.
The longer that I ran, the moresore that it got and it
progressed.
So most people would take arest, take it easy.
So I just dialed it back alittle bit, hoping that it was
more of a ligament injury andnot really something that was
long-term or detrimental to myrunning, and that I could work
(04:37):
through it.
Like most injuries, we tend tojust try to rehab and try to get
through it without too muchinjury, while trying to maintain
our fitness at the same time.
So, fast forwarding through themonths, it progressively got
worse up until about March Apriltime frame.
I really didn't know what wasgoing on.
So I ended up seeing aorthopedic surgeon and he did a
(05:03):
scan of my heel and noticedsevere inflammation within the
tendon, which happens I mean anyrunner who's been through it.
You get major inflammation atsome point somewhere from
overworking, overtraining, andit's just natural.
With this, though, it was morethan just overtraining.
(05:26):
It was a pain that I had neverfelt before, but I continued to
press my luck, I like to say,and just push through it.
Getting up into Connecticutearlier this year, I went into
the Connecticut races with thepain in my heel, knowing that I
was still able to compete.
It was just understanding mypain, tolerance and my ability
(05:48):
to work through under duress orunder pain, with hopes of
rehabbing somewhere down theroad.
So, as we finished up inConnecticut and had an amazing
time racing, the pain wasn'tgoing away.
So I headed back to the doctorand he tells me that we need to
have an MRI.
He thinks that there'ssomething else, so, naturally,
(06:10):
as an athlete you're like oh noan.
MRI, what's going to happen,what's the level?
And so all the all the negativethoughts start flowing through
my head and I'm like well, maybeit can't be too bad.
I'm still able to compete, I'mstill able to run, I'm still
able to do all these otherthings.
And Decafit Charlotte was rightaround the corner, so I was
trying to figure out whatexactly.
(06:33):
I needed to do to get to thatrace, which was the week after,
still compete with Richard andcome out of it healthy enough to
move on throughout the rest ofthe year healthy enough to move
on throughout the rest of theyear.
Tragically, right after DecafitCharlotte, we found out that I
had bone spurs on my heel thatwere actually ripping through my
(06:56):
Achilles tendon every time Iran.
That had been degrading thetendon for roughly six months
and at this point I sat downwith my doctor and I said what
are the options?
Speaker 1 (07:16):
He said well, it's like a ticking time bomb.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
He said you can keep running on it.
The tendon is still whole, hesaid, but you never know when
it's gonna completely ripthrough or you could get surgery
.
So naturally, as an athlete, Iwas like, no, I don't want
surgery.
He said what are your plans forthe rest of the year?
And this is a hard, hard pillto swallow.
(07:42):
But I was like I'd like to goto world championships at the
end of the year.
That was my goal all year thatwas my purpose.
That was why me and you trainedtogether was to make it to
world championships.
So I told him to be blunt withme.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I said would you get the surgery?
He looked me dead in the faceand said absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
And I said well, that's hard to swallow said
absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
And I said, well, that's hard to swallow Hearing
it from my doctor that hewouldn't get the surgery that he
would just see if he cancorrect it from other means.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
But, with that being said, I wanted to know all the
options.
I asked him.
I said if I got to surgerytoday, this week, do you think
I'd make it to worldchampionships?
And he flat out said no, Idon't think you will.
He said but miracles do happen.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
People do heal different If you'd like to get
the surgery?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
we can see how it goes, see where you're healing
and see if we can get you there.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
So naturally, I was like, let's get it done.
Let's get it done right now.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Let's get it so I have more time to heal.
Um, because at this point we'reroughly like 125 days out from
world championships.
So I knew it was going to be atight window to be able to get
in, get to surgery andunderstand how my body feels, to
get to the point of being ableto compete not just compete, but
(09:07):
compete at a competitive level.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Because I'm not somebody to go out there and
just say hey, I'm here toparticipate Give me a chance.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
No, I'm going to go out there and push and push and
push to my body's limits prettymuch until I pass out.
It's just who I've always beenmy competitive nature and the
more that I'm around ourunderdog team, the more I see
how everybody pushes.
It gives you a level ofdetermination to be better and
(09:40):
just overall, perform at a levelthat you've never seen before.
So about a week after I gotthat diagnosis, my doctor
scheduled my surgery.
It scared the living crap outof me.
I had never had any majorinjuries in my career and
sitting in the hospital.
So many thoughts go throughyour head of will I ever be the
(10:02):
same after this Will?
Did I make the right decision?
Did the doctor put me on theright path?
And I just totally ignored him?
So it was very uneasy sittingthere knowing that I could have
possibly made the wrong decision.
So I went through the surgery.
(10:24):
It was about four hours long.
The doctor completelydisconnected my Achilles tendon,
ground down bone spurs on theback of my heel, cut off two
inches of my tendon andproceeded to of my tendon and
(10:49):
proceeded to stretch my calfmuscle and my tendon back in
place on the back of my heel andsecure it with five pins.
Most people would say thatsounds absolutely terrible and
I'll probably never be able torun right again or anything.
But I put my faith in Dr Ray.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I'm going to, I'll say his name.
It was Dr Thomas Ray down inKingsland, Georgia.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
One of the best surgeons I've ever been to, um,
said that everything was asuccess when I came out, um,
which couldn't have been moremusic to my ears and put me in
the highest of high spiritsdirectly out of surgery.
So at that point it was a knownsuccess that the surgery went
(11:35):
well and I was on my road torecovery, a very, very long,
hard, emotional-filled recoverythat took me to dark places, to
days of anguish, upset, crying,pissed off every emotion that
you could possibly feel as yourone focus is an event 90 days
(12:03):
away, essentially.
So it was tough.
It had to put me in the rightmindset to succeed.
At no means, at no meanswhatsoever after my surgery did
I ever think that I was going tohave an even success one in a
million shot to be able to race.
How I felt.
It was excruciating, it wasdebilitating, it was a feeling
(12:28):
and a place that I probablynever want to be at again in my
life.
It was.
It was rough, it was absolutelyrough.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
And you know I don't, I didn't know like 95% of what
was going on with you.
I know, you know we're goingback and forth and messaging and
checking in on you during thattime but you know, as you're
talking about it here, like Irealized I didn't know most of
what you're going through, but Iknew it had to be hard, I knew
it had to be painful, but Iobviously it's hard for me to
imagine kind of what that waslike.
(12:56):
So I appreciate you sharingthat and you know really kind of
sharing how you felt.
You know really kind of sharinghow you felt.
You know emotionally, how youfelt physically, and I think
you're right, like when he saidit was music to your ears, like
that is the best possibleoutcome in that moment to hear
that the surgery was a success.
And then that really just meansthat you have to focus on your
recovery right and gettingbetter, whether it meant racing
(13:17):
or not, like just really kind ofgetting back on your feet and
getting better.
And we all know how the storyends, which is, you know, quite
a success story.
But you know that's reallyincredible to hear kind of what
you went through during thattime and you know I'd love to
hear, maybe, what are like thethree things that you did or
that helped you during that timeto get back on your feet, get
(13:39):
back into training andeventually get to where we were,
which is World Championship.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Get back on your feet , get back into training and
eventually get to where we were,which is world championship.
Yeah, honestly, I want to putthe number one thing out there,
and that was the amount ofpositive comments, feedback,
people checking on me.
I can't express enough thenumber of people that actually
reached out to say hey, you gotthis, you're on the right path,
(14:06):
keep pushing, keep motivating,keep keep yourself in the right
mindset.
Everybody would.
A lot of people check on me,kevin.
He would have his tough love,as always.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
But that's, that's a major thing that I needed to get
back.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
And number two, I'd have to say, was set goals.
Set goals for yourself, eventhe small ones.
When I started out early, itwas like, hey, let me just stand
up in front of a chair.
It wasn't't let me take a step,it was let me stand up in front
of the chair to see if I caneven stand on my own two feet
(14:47):
again.
And it was little wins like that, that was, hey, I stood up
today.
And then, oh, look, I stood upwithout crutches or I got three
steps.
It was the little wins everyday that kept my mind in the
right place to be able to keepreaching those small goals.
(15:08):
I actually wrote down on apiece of paper dates in which I
wanted to meet certain goals.
Obviously, the worldchampionships was the last goal,
world Championships was thelast goal.
So you had that longevity of atimeline to say, hey, what do I
want to accomplish in thesethree months to be able to make
(15:29):
it to my long-term goal?
And it was those little stepsthat I wrote on a piece of paper
meticulously from the wordsthat the doctor gave me.
He said hey, 30 days you shouldbe doing this, 60 days you
should be doing this, and by thetime you get to the world's
championships, you should havemet every one of these steps.
So definitely focusing on thesmall goals instead of the large
picture, because I feel likeyou can get lost into oh my gosh
(15:53):
, I got to compete in threemonths.
I can't even take a step or Ican't even go to the bathroom
without a scooter.
It's those little things thatyou need to stay focused on.
And the last one is believingin yourself.
I've talked about this duringour last podcast.
(16:13):
It's understanding who you areand who you want to become.
So if you lose sight of who youare, what your goals are, what
your motivation is, you'll neverbe able to get to the place
where you need to be.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
And I know the last two kind of tie into each other,
but they're definitelydependent upon each other to
make that one goal and that onepossibility at the end.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
So I mean it's it those, are the three major.
Those are the three majorthings that were driving my
success to be ready to be therein December with you.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
That's incredible and I appreciate you sharing that.
Mickey, you know I love whatyou said and as you're talking
through those three things Ithings.
It does remind me of our lastconversation on the podcast.
So you know you're veryconsistent, you're very
methodical, you have yourprocess and obviously it's
working and you know so you'retalking about.
You know kind of setting thosegoals but really kind of
(17:15):
celebrating the wins.
You know absolutely love thatyou talked about.
You know believing in yourself,love that you talked about.
You know believing in yourselfand you talked about really
having that support system orthat community right which we
have with the underdog communityand I'm sure beyond that, like
your family, your friends, likehaving that so important to help
you if you're going through it.
But I would say, if you're notgoing through it and you know
(17:37):
someone who is check in on them,see how they're doing and give
them words of encouragement,because you're hearing, you know
from your story, mickey, howmuch it helped you and you know
that's really nice to hear thatthat was part of your recovery.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Absolutely.
It's definitely a team effort,from your closest friends to
your teammates, to your family,to your neighbor next door,
everybody checking in on you aspart of the process.
It's it.
It fills your happiness bag, aswe like to say in the Navy.
We have our happiness bag andanytime we can put little
tidbits in there, it's alwaysnice to keep it full and keep
(18:14):
you energized with positiveenergy.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Absolutely, absolutely.
So I appreciate you sharingthat and I'll share just a
little bit of my story whichI've talked about on the show,
but I'll just share it hereagain and then we'll talk about,
like, what all this led to.
So you know my side.
I kind of dealt with two mainissues this year.
One was around my knee, myright knee, and it was.
It was just kind of botheringme during the year, but mostly
(18:39):
when I sat, not really when Iwas active or running, until
maybe the middle of the year.
Later on in the year then itwould bother me a little bit
when I was running and that, youknow, really caused concern.
So I've been working with aphysical therapist and you know,
and that's been going well andyou know it's, I was able to
kind of get through the year.
So nothing major there.
So that's something that I justneed to keep an eye on.
(19:00):
But to your point, mickey, likeyou know, we just kind of want
to work through these things,right.
We just kind of want to workthrough.
If something happens, you'relike we don't want to stop.
You've got these goals, you gotthese races and just got to
kind of make the best of it.
So you know.
So that was one thing that wassomewhat minor, maybe not too
terrible, but you know, whatreally kind of took me out for a
(19:29):
little while was I ran, um, myhalf marathon one of my half
marathons this year, in the fall, and it's one of my favorite
ones and for the second year ina row, like I got slower right,
I didn't improve my time, eventhough I'd PR and other races
during the year, and I felt likeI was getting stronger and
faster.
In this one I just didn't,didn't PR, and which in of
itself was fine, but really whatgot me was at the end of the
race I kind of didn't care, likenot in a, like yeah, whatever,
(19:49):
I don't care.
No, like I really just don'tcare, you know, if I did better
or not, and that concerned me,because that's not normally how
I am Right, I'm like, no, I wantto do better, I want to know
why I didn't achieve what I setout to achieve and in that
moment I didn't.
So you know, I kind of you know, self-diagnosed, but I kind of
(20:09):
came to the conclusion thatmaybe I was experiencing burnout
, which was a terrible time forthat to happen, because you know
, I had a marathon that wascoming up and then, of course
you know we've been talkingabout Deco World Championships.
So you know I went through thisprocess of like out what's going
on with me and what do I needto do to get out of it and I
talk about it in episode 117,how to bounce back from burnout
for marathon success just totalk about what was going on in
(20:31):
my life during that time.
But I'm happy to say that I wasable to kind of get through it
and some of the basics wasreally around just taking a
break.
So I'm just like you know what?
I'm not running, I'm notworking out, I'm not doing
anything Like the only thing Iwas doing was like work and like
family and like that was it,like everything else was just
put aside.
So just really is a time for meto reset and recharge and there
(20:56):
are other things that I was kindof doing during that time to
help me just get out of whateverit is that I was kind of going
through.
So happy to say that that ledto my first marathon in France
in November, which you know Iran pretty well, I did it
according to plan and it wasjust beautiful and awesome and
really just kind of regained mylove for running and what I'm
doing and I got to the end ofthat saying, yes, I did it, I
(21:19):
feel great about it, I'm sohappy I did it.
Now I'm ready for, like, worldchampionships.
So that's a little bit of mystory, so not, you know, not
necessarily dealing with surgeryor the injury to your extent,
mickey, but you know I was goingthrough some stuff and, like I
said, a lot of runners and otherathletes go through things
during the year and you justneed to work through it with
kind of what we're talking abouthere.
(21:39):
Right on what we're goingthrough yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Injuries do happen all the time, to the most elite
athletes, to just the normalweekend warriors, as I like to
call them, who just go out anddo a run on the weekend.
But injuries are a real thingand and I kind of took that for
granted, that we're invincible,that we can't get hurt, and
(22:06):
sadly this proved me wrong.
But I think this injuryabsolutely did change me as a
person and a competitor, becauseit, let me know that yes, I'm
human and yes, I need to workharder.
What I mean by working harder iswas I overtraining before?
(22:27):
I don't know Was I doing?
everything that I need to on adaily basis to be the best
athlete I could, yes, butthere's always those unknowns
and you don't know what's goingon with your body, underneath
your skin.
But there's always thoseunknowns and you don't know
what's going on with your body,underneath your skin.
It's continuously working,especially as we get older.
(22:48):
You have to put in that extraeffort, or that extra
pre-workout or post-workoutstretches, or just the prehab
that you have to do, or thetaking care of your body, the
(23:08):
saunas, the cold plunges, therollers, the massage guns,
anything you could possibly doto kind of alleviate the muscle
tension and the possibility ofinjury over time and while
you're training.
The more that I train, the morethat I understand that that 30
minutes before and after canreally dictate how your training
is going to go in the futuredown the road 100% and you know,
(23:30):
I totally agree with you onsome of the things that you you
can do, like the massages.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
So, like I have massage boots, I go to get
massages now, which you know, inthe past I didn't really like
to do, so I think all that'sbeen really helpful, so
definitely agree with you there.
Uh, there's also tech and gearthat can help you.
Like, I use IncrediWear, so Ihave a sleeve for my knee, which
is super helpful.
Um, so yeah, there's just somuch out there that can help you
(23:55):
.
But it's really just kind oftaking the time and seeing
what's right for you and justbeing consistent and doing those
things.
And seeing what's right for youand just being consistent and
doing those things.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
That's exactly it.
Consistency, um.
You couldn't have used a betterword, and consistency is what
helped me recover um consistencyand understanding, so
consistency.
I preach this guy up and down,one side and the other, kevin,
knew exactly what I needed, whatconsistent level of training
that I needed, how much to pushmy leg, how much not to push my
(24:26):
leg.
Understanding when to take off,when to tell my body, okay,
it's enough for today.
Even looking at the workload,it's like, okay, I'm not done,
but my body's done, and I thinkthat's a misconception or
something most people don'tunderstand is your body tells
(24:47):
you when it's ready or it's not,and I think some people get
hurt because they don't listento their body.
And that was the biggest part ofmy success in coming back and
being able to be there with youguys was knowing my limitations
and understanding what my bodyis telling me, because during
this recovery process, there wasdays where I woke up that I
(25:09):
could barely walk.
It was to the point where I wasin recovery.
I was working the muscles andmy body just said enough, like
take a break, sit down, resetand we'll come about it tomorrow
.
And I think I posted a lotabout that.
It's it's understanding that mybody was ready, but it wasn't.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
So all of this led us to Deco world Championships
this year, which was both of ourgoals, and you know we
qualified as a team, we ran as ateam, we fought hard as a team
and I know you ran a differentrace as well with Chrissy, which
is great.
So you know we arrived rightthroughout the struggles and
(25:56):
setbacks and running injuries,we arrived in Ocala, florida,
and it was just a tremendoustime.
So you know, really justgrateful that you know you were
able to recover and heal and bethere kind of on your terms.
So you know, no pressure for melike this is totally on your
terms, but happy there, truethere, and you know you're able
to get to that point and reachyour goals despite what happened
(26:18):
this year.
So I'm I'm really happy for youand also excited that we got to
run this together.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Yeah, it was almost surreal walking in the arena the
first day and I got therereally early, um before most of
the team got there, and it wasalmost like walking into a dream
.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
I like to say a dream , because that was my dream to
get there to recover enough.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
To walk through those doors on my own, two feet,
without aid, and looking up tosee my name on a board was
unbelievable.
That's the only feelings that Ican.
I can say.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Did I go in 100 percent?
Speaker 3 (26:58):
Absolutely not Me, and you have talked about it
over and over again that therace was painful painful, not
just cardiovascular endurance,it was.
(27:18):
It was painful my foot is not ahundred percent but it was well
enough to get there and competeto a level where I thought me
and you were respectable.
I like to use respectablebecause we didn't walk, we
didn't minimize our efforts.
(27:38):
We went out there and weactually pushed the issue and
pushed our levels of fitnesswhere we were at overcoming
major injuries that we had notto in the distant past, to
literally finish about a minuteoff our personal best.
We can't complain whatsoeverabout how that day went and the
(28:02):
feelings that we felt crossingthe finish line.
I think I might've died insidea little bit, because I had the.
The cardiovascular demand wasnot there from sitting around
for three months, but it it, itpassed, it passed.
And the feelings, uh, engulfedmy body with the positivity and
(28:22):
the celebration of theturnaround that I had over the
three months.
And when I went back to thearea where we were all staged at
and sitting down, I looked atmy son and, with the quietest
voice, I just said I did it.
(28:43):
And he laughed at me a littlebit, like a typical teenager
would, but it was those words Idid it, which was my goal from
the beginning the minute I leftthat hospital and you can hear
it in my voice.
I'm getting a little emotionalabout this, but my heart and
(29:04):
soul went into my recovery.
There was days where I sat inmy garage literally in tears,
trying to accomplish somethingas simple as doing a single leg
toe race to where I couldn'teven move my foot.
The level of emotion that Ifelt when we crossed that finish
(29:28):
line is nothing that I ever haddone in my life.
I finished Spartan Ultras, I'veran marathons, I've done
weightlifting competitions, I'veeven played in the Little
League World Series back in theday, but the level of emotion
that I felt when I crossed thatfinish line with you was the
(29:51):
best feeling of my life, and Ithink this is the first time I'm
telling anybody this.
But I couldn't have asked for abetter teammate, a better team,
a better support network and,overall, just the level of
support to make that magicalmoment happen.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Love it, love it and I appreciate you.
Like I said, we we qualified asa team and, honestly, like it
was a two of us that got usthere uh, to world championships
together, you know.
So I appreciate you and Iappreciate the battle that you
fought physically and mentallyto get there and just the
opportunity to run with just awonderful person as yourself.
(30:34):
So so, thank you so much,mickey, and thank you for being
vulnerable here and sharing yourstory.
And you know, typically, as youknow, my one of my last
questions is you know, what isthe one thing that you would say
to our listeners to inspirethem to run?
And I think I would change thatfor this conversation.
I would ask you what is the onething that you would say to
inspire our listeners to notgive up after running injuries
(30:58):
and setback?
Speaker 3 (31:00):
The one thing I'd have to say is probably stay
true to yourself, and what Imean by that is all of us have
our silent goals, and what Imean by silent goals it's
something that we don't tellother people that we want to
accomplish.
Of course, we write down ouraccomplishments and our goal
long-term goals, short-termgoals but there's always those
(31:22):
self-goals that you never tellanybody about, that you hold
true to yourself and that youhave the ability to focus on
those above and beyondeverything else.
Yes, you have goals forteammates.
Yes, you have goals andaspirations for doing things
down the road or with friends,but your goals are what matter.
(31:45):
The things that are near anddear to your heart is what you
should always focus on, and ifyou focus on those things, it
will always pull you through thedark moments.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Love it, love it.
Mickey, congratulations on allthat you've accomplished this
year, despite everything thatyou've been through.
Thank you again for being anawesome running mate.
I'm really looking forward to2025.
We're absolutely going to crushit next year.
You're on your road to recovery, I'm on my road to recovery.
Next year is going to be ouryear, so really just congrats
(32:18):
again.
Thank you for sharing yourstory here on the show and you
know, with that, have a greatday.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Thanks for interviewing.
I appreciate it, as always.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
That's it for this episode of Inspired to Run
podcast.
We hope you are inspired totake control of your health and
fitness and take it to the nextlevel.
Be sure to click the subscribebutton to join our community and
also please rate and review.
Thanks for listening.
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