October 4, 2024 • 59 mins
Ken Skrien's journey into running is nothing short of transformative. From his early days of reluctantly lacing up his shoes in high school to his passionate pursuit of marathons and ultra-marathons, Ken's story is filled with resilience, creativity, and an unyielding spirit. Discover how running became Ken's sanctuary through a series of life-altering events, including battling depression, witnessing the Boston Marathon bombing, and enduring a brain injury that changed everything.
In this episode, Ken opens up about the profound challenges he faced after his accident, losing his business and home, and how running provided a lifeline. Adaptability became his mantra as he navigated neural fatigue and visual impairments, finding ingenious ways to continue his passion with limited resources. Listen to Ken's vivid recounts of nearly 150 marathons, where his resourcefulness and determination helped him overcome physical and logistical obstacles, such as hitchhiking to races and running barefoot.
Perhaps most inspiring is Ken's unique approach to marathon running, which includes volunteering for race directors and participating in the six major marathons in body paint, each design reflecting a personal connection or honoring the host city. From becoming a giant Japanese flag in Tokyo to embodying the Statue of Liberty in New York, Ken's story is a vivid reminder that embracing individuality and a resilient mindset can lead to extraordinary achievements. Join us for an episode that highlights the importance of focusing on what can be done rather than limitations, and be inspired by Ken's incredible journey.
Hydrapatch.com code OTNH10
You can reach out to us at:
https://coffeycrewcoaching.com
email: Carla@coffeycrewcoaching.com
FB @ Over the Next Hill Fitness Group
IG @coffeycrewcoaching.com
and Buy Me a Coffee
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Carlau
https://hydra-patch.com/discount/OTNH20
https://rnwy.life code: OTNH15
https://jambar.com code: CARLA20
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Thank you, but that's a lot for me, so I really
appreciate everybody who'ssharing and reading the program
starting to grow a little bit.
There are a lot of discounts inthe show notes.
If you want to take advantageof those, feel free to do that,
and if you know someone's whosestory needs to on the podcast,
(01:07):
please have them reach out to meand we can get them on.
Maybe you're that person.
Don't be shy, it's super easyand it's fun sometimes.
It's fun for me All right.
Today we're going to be talkingto Ken Skrien .
.
..
Amazing athlete, just amazing,so warm and just such a giving
(01:30):
spirit and has accomplished somuch.
You guys are really going tojust be drawn to him right away.
So you can listen here on thepodcast.
You also can go to the YouTubechannel and see it there as well
.
For those of you who arelistening on YouTube to the
intro, I promise you will get tosee the actual recording.
(01:54):
I just did this separately fromthe actual podcast and was not
camera worthy, so all you get isa voice.
So there you go, so listen orwatch and enjoy.
Welcome to the show, ken.
It's so great to have you here.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
So let's start with your beginning of your running
journey.
When did you start and why?
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Well beginning if we go way back.
When I was in high school, myparents quite frankly told me
we're not picking you up untilafter practice, so you need to
choose a sport and go, and I wasnot very good at soccer.
(02:50):
I was of a size that would makeme best qualified to be the
ball on the football team.
So I chose running and,honestly, at first I hated it
but it grew on me pretty quickly, got my first runner's high
running Started out in my earlyyears.
Honestly, it was what got methrough depression and stuff
(03:12):
like that and I got lazy incollege.
I admit to that.
I kind of wish I could go backand change that, but later on I
realized that I couldn'tcontinue to run off of training.
That I did in high school and Ishould probably go out and
(03:33):
start running again every day.
And that was 12 years ago nowand since then it's kind of
snowballed and running hasbecome the very core of my being
.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Okay, so you had a little break and now you've been
running for 12 years, prettyconsecutively, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
I got humbled when I tried to run a marathon with no
training in 2012.
And when I say no training, Imean like I hadn't run all year,
but I still had the 18-year-oldyoung man mentality of I can
will my way through it and Istarted running.
(04:15):
I got about, I think, eightmiles in and I had to walk the
rest of the way.
Wow, I would not give myselfthe permission to quit.
The mentality at that point wasyou brought the sign yourself,
you idiot.
You're going to pay the priceof it.
(04:36):
And I had a very long, slow,painful walk and realized that I
need to start training.
Started training 2013 was thefirst year that I had actually
trained and, ironically, Ithought was going to be the
(05:00):
first year that I was preparedto run Boston, and I was at the
finish line when the bombs wentoff.
It ended up being the event thatI was least prepared for, in a
very different way than I'd everimagined could be possible.
But after going through somePTSD from that, it made running
(05:23):
far more important to me than ithad ever been, and then it's
just built from there.
About a year and a half afterthat, I was bike commuting down
to Miami Beach and was hit by acar from behind.
I think, statistically speaking, at the speed that woman was
(05:43):
traveling, there was an 85%chance of fatality Counting my
blessings that, despite all thehealth issues I'm still dealing
with, I'm running ultras.
I'm the lucky one.
But when I lost my business andmy home from the brain injury
that that caused, running waspretty much all that I had left
(06:08):
and I just jumped into itwholeheartedly and said, all
right, let's go.
And it has been an adventurefrom there.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Wow, I guess.
So you ran your first marathon.
Well, you walked your firstmarathon and then, right after
that, you went to Boston.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Okay.
So first of all disclaimer atthis point.
The culture has changed.
Don't do this anymore.
But once upon a time banditingwas part of Boston's culture.
Oh wow, boston's culture.
I went to Boston College and inthe 90s, early 2000s there were
(06:52):
thousands of bandits.
The race announcer wouldliterally be like all right
bandits, go have fun.
It was an unspoken, unwrittenrule that don't get in the way.
You start after every singleofficial runner started and you
go and you don't get in the way.
And so my first year as afreshman at Boston College I was
(07:19):
out watching the marathon andeveryone that ran by I couldn't
help but think that should be me.
So the next year I went and Ijumped in and I ran.
So my first marathon was Boston2000.
(07:41):
But I'm not in the results andagain I'm going to emphasize
that culture has changed.
Don't do that again.
I I you know Boston is the onlyrace I ever have or ever will
even consider bandaging.
I know how my work racedirectors put into things and
with the security concerns nowand all the other costs and
(08:04):
everything involved, it's a verydifferent world than it was in
the year 2000.
So my first unofficial marathonwas the 2000 Boston Marathon.
I kept running it every yearwithout training.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
As a bandit.
Yes and no training.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
And no training.
Don't do like I do.
Seriously, everything I coulddo wrong, I somehow did wrong.
In 2003, I did something alittle different.
I was the crazy sports fan atBoston College At this point.
I've seen BC sports teams playin 36 states and you know I was
(08:54):
a lunatic when you turned on theTV that you saw bouncing around
covered in paint.
Cool, I was graduating and howcan I go out in style?
I know I'm going to run theBoston Marathon painted red All
right.
And so red shorts, shoes and awhole lot of body paint.
(09:15):
I ran from Hopkinton to Bostonscreaming and yelling and just
pretty much partying the wholeway, and it was supposed to be
my last time painting, but thereception I got from pretty much
everyone was so positive it'snow become my thing.
(09:38):
In 2004 I ran my first officialmarathon.
A local politician who had seenthe paint that I had done,
thought it was awesome, and he'slike I'm sponsoring you oh,
very cool, and I got aninvitation.
an invitational entry in 2004was like brutally hot, 85
(10:02):
degrees, but still unpainted,decked out in red, and went out
and had fun for about four hourson that course.
And so 2004 was my firstunofficial or was my first
official marathon.
It's crazy.
It is now looking at it thefirst marathon that I ever ran
(10:26):
that was not named Boston wasthe 2018 Cleveland marathon.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Okay, and what took you there?
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Um, as I mentioned, the culture was changing and uh,
it's like, well, I guess I gotto get myself a Boston qualifier
.
Okay, so I signed up forCleveland, I went to Cleveland
it was supposed to be a one anddone, I'll get my BQ, I'll run
Boston every year and requalifyfor the next year, and I don't
(10:54):
ever have to waste my time withanother marathon.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
But I saw your room with all your awards, so clearly
that's not how that story went.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
I saw your room with all your awards.
So clearly, that's not how thatstory went.
Nope, I had fun runningCleveland and I realized that,
yes, boston was still Boston,but other marathons could be fun
too, and at that point this wasafter the marathon, bombing
PTSD and getting hit by that carTBI.
(11:27):
So I was really really full inon running at that point.
So I had fun in Cleveland.
Next thing, you know, laterthat year I'm doing Philadelphia
.
I paced my first marathon inCollege Station, texasas, and at
the end of 2018, 2019 I believeI did 56 marathons that one
(11:51):
year alone.
Um, I had fun.
It was.
It was crazy.
Like that year.
Um, that year, that year, thatwas my.
That was everything to me.
I had, um, from the brain injury, I lost my home in 2018 and I
(12:13):
was quasi homeless.
Um, when I had no place to go,I decided you know what, where's
the next race, that's where I'mgoing, and I started doing a
lot of hitchhiking to get toraces.
My social media handle for awhile was the Hobo Runner,
(12:34):
because that very well definedwhat I did.
I'd hitchhike to a race.
I'd just sleep on the side ofthe road, I'd get up in the
morning and I'd run, and thenI'd hitch my way to the next
race, so that 2019 was the firstfull calendar year that I
didn't have that after I'd lostmy home.
(12:57):
So that year alone it was 56marathons or greater.
But when you factor in all theother events I did, I think I
did about 85 organized raceevents that year.
Um, it was literally one afteranother after another, and it
was.
It was such an amazingexperience.
Um, I paced a lot of them,pacing.
(13:20):
I love pacing.
It's it's a great way to giveback to the community.
The running community is myfamily.
At this point, I don't recallif I told you the meaning of my
surname.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
No.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Did I mention that to you earlier?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
No, you just sent me the recording on how to, so I
can pronounce it properly.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Okay, so skrien is actually a Latvian word that
means you run, and when I lostmy old life because of the brain
injury, a lot of the people Ihad relied on turned their back
on me or just told me to move onlike nothing had ever happened.
(14:07):
When I'm dealing with thesemajor health issues, the
challenges I went through weremore because of being abandoned
rather than the brain injuryitself.
And as I started in 2018, 2019,pre-pandemic, 2020, going to
(14:35):
all these races, the runningcommunity took me in like family
.
Um, it went from starting I hadto hitchhike to every race and
I had to sleep on the side ofthe road at every race, to the
other amazing, crazy people thatI've met along this journey
being like, hey, I'm going tothis race tomorrow, do you want
to come?
Sure, and you know, when theweather's bad, I'd have other
(14:57):
runners being like come, stay atmy hotel.
I had, uh, my hotel.
I had some race directors whowould literally be like if
anybody asks your security, gosleep in the tent where all the
stuff is.
And you know, the just thecrazy number of races I did
(15:21):
became possible because therunning community became my
family, and so I decided to makethat official and legally
changed my name to Scrian andquite literally, the running
community is and always will bemy family.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Yeah, that's a really awesome story, wow.
Yeah, that's a really awesomestory, wow.
So how did your body hold updoing all those races every?
Speaker 1 (15:51):
day, my necessity gradual increase process.
I've always been stronger atlonger distances, even in high
(16:11):
school.
My high school cross countryteam.
We were one of the best teamsin the country, but I was pretty
much a scrub on that team.
I wasn't fast enough to keep upwith the best guys on my team,
like in Connecticut where I grewup.
I would have been like top twoor three runner on every team in
(16:32):
the state, except for mine andone other On mine.
I wasn't even top 10.
But my strength was the longerraces I was doing.
I was a half marathon every yearin high school and all the guys
that would destroy me in the 5KI'd take the prize in the half.
(16:55):
Later on, when I got back intorunning, the half was my
preferred distance.
But because of a whole bunch ofissues, in large part from the
brain injury, um, I've beendealing with vision issues so I
can't drive.
I never actually got my license.
(17:15):
I didn't need it living in thecity when I bicycled everywhere,
um, but now I needed my licensebut because of visual issues I
can't get it.
I'm out of work, I have nomoney, so I can't afford to Uber
places, so my way of gettingthere was hitchhiking or running
(17:36):
In 2017, 2018, when I was doinga bunch of half marathons, it
was not unheard of for me tohave a eight mile warm up, run
(17:57):
the half marathon, have an eightmile cool down and that was
like well, I'm already ready formarathon distance because
that's what I end up doing.
So I ended up doing that withmarathons and now I'm ready for
ultra marathons because I justhad a 10 mile warmup before I
ran my marathon, um.
So it started off with muchlower mileage uh, base around 40
(18:26):
or 50, which is what I wasdoing in high school and then,
adding all these other stuff in,suddenly I was doing 60, 70, 80
mile weeks and it was no bigdeal.
At this point, I do a hundredmiles most weeks, um, and my
(18:46):
body thrives on that volume.
The more I'm running, thebetter I tend to run.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Really.
So no injuries along the wayother than, obviously, the main
one.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I'm not sure how to answer that.
The reality is, because of allthe brain injury stuff, I also
apparently fractured my L3vertebrae.
There's been ongoing brain,spine and gut issues for nine
years now.
I just learned to deal withthem.
There have been minor things Umthe.
(19:25):
There have been minor things Um, last last year in New York, I
either stress, fractured orbroke my foot.
Um, because I'm not used torunning on cement oh yeah, used
to running on cement.
Oh yeah, I'm used to running.
I do a lot of my running ondirt road, trails, gravel roads,
(19:47):
um, and to complicate things inmany ways, I'm effectively
running barefoot.
Um, because of the financesfrom that hit and run, I
literally have not bought a pairof running shoes since 2015.
So my running shoes approach4,000 miles on them.
(20:13):
There's not much padding.
That's one thing when I'mrunning on dirt roads and trails
.
It's a very different thingwhen I'm pounding cement on New
York City sidewalks the weekbefore the New York Marathon.
So I may have broken the foot,considering how it felt and what
(20:38):
I know about things, but justbabied it and let it heal and
keep on going.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
So now, how many official races have you run
Marathons?
Let's start with the marathons.
How many official marathons?
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Official Okay, so you know like you didn't band it.
Yes, um, my overall count isapproaching 150.
If you include the ultras, theum, there were maybe it's 12
(21:18):
bandit bostons in there.
And again, don't do that athome, don't?
I'm not encouraging that if youhave a time machine and you can
go back to 1990, go banditBoston.
But if you don't have a timemachine, qualify, get in, run it
.
It is an amazing event.
But yeah, I think if you don'tinclude those in your numbers,
(21:42):
I'm at about 130 or so.
I can tell you in just a second.
I have a database witheverything in it, but the number
that I keep track of is morethe overall Um.
So I have.
(22:02):
I'm at 145 marathons and 125club qualifying marathons.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
What does that mean?
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Um, a lot of the clubs, like the 50 state club
and the marathon maniacs, havespecific rules on what does and
does not count, because theydon't want people to go out and
say I just going to run 26 milesand loops around my house and
call it a marathon right um,number one, you have to be
registered so the the banditones don't count there.
(22:36):
But also there's got to be acertain number of starters and
finishers to each race.
So I've done a handful of liketime-based race or or ultra
marathons or, um, a couple ofdifferent things that have not
had enough runners to count.
(22:57):
Um, I mean, I did one 50 Kwhere I came in first place and
last place.
Oh no, so clearly that doesn'tcount for club standards as a
race.
Yeah, everybody else that hadsigned up for the 50K distance
dropped down and just settledfor a half marathon or a
marathon, and I'm the only onethat was crazy enough to keep
(23:20):
going, to keep going.
So you've got the different.
I've got the different countsthere because I want to know
what counts Like 50 statemarathon club.
I've run marathons in all 50states.
However, the race I ran inNorth Dakota was a marathon-ish
(23:48):
trail run.
The race distance is notcertified.
The race was actually like 28miles or something like that,
but it wasn't certified, so itdoesn't count by those rules.
Oh yeah, I'm going to be inBismarck, north Dakota, at the
end of September now pacing thefour-hour group at the marathon
(24:11):
there, and I believe that willbe my official 50 state finish.
Okay, um, because the the otheractually.
No, it won't be, because therace that I did in West Virginia
was also a uncertified trailmarathon.
Oh man, so when I go to WestVirginia in October, two weeks
(24:37):
later, that will be my 50-statefinish.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Okay.
That happened to me in Ohio.
There wasn't enough finishers,and so I have to do Ohio again.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Yeah, you know, on one hand it's kind of
frustrating, but on the otherhand it makes sense, yeah, and
it provides more opportunities.
Um, I'm I've got sub goals.
Just because I can, I want to.
(25:10):
I'm trying to go through and dofaster now as the the health
issues have improved, andthey've improved in leaps and
bounds in in the past four orfive years.
The brain injury was almostnine years ago at this point.
(25:31):
Um, I mean to give you an idea,the I lost my sense of smell
and my sense of taste forprobably about half a decade.
I'd be at all these races withyou know, at the start finish
line there's tons ofport-o-potties.
I couldn't smell it.
So when I started getting mysense of smell back, the first
(25:55):
time that I was able to smellthat line of port-o-potties, I
was excited.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
You're the only one.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
I'm definitely the only one.
It is not an excitement thathas continued, but it was one of
those things where it's justlike, after not being able to
smell for so long, it's a littlevictory, sure, and every little
victory is a huge thing.
Every little victory is a hugething.
But a lot of the brain injuryissues and the spinal issues
(26:25):
have been improving, which isallowing me to be more
aggressive in how fast I run.
And you know, if I could get toa point where I've got a proper
nutrition plan, proper runninggear, all that normal stuff,
(26:46):
it'd be interesting to see whatI could do out there.
But even with doing everythingwrong and one of the things that
I focus on a lot when I talk tomy pace groups is mindset.
Find your why, find somethingthat's important to you, and you
will blow your mind with whatyou're able to accomplish
(27:06):
because your head's in the rightplace.
The the timing of our interviewactually makes this a perfect
story.
As you see, I have a small armyof cats.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
And I hear them as well.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Yes, those are the tinies.
They're about four months oldright now.
But I had a running buddy puppy.
His name was Hermes and Hermeswas about two and a half years
old when on Labor Day weekendlast year he was hit by a car
and killed.
I was not happy.
(27:50):
My why?
When I'm running, every day hassince the marathon bombing been
for Dennis, for Sean, forCrystal, for Lou and for Martin
the five that we lost from thebombing itself and in the
manhunt afterwards, and that'salways what gets me through when
(28:11):
things start to suck.
But when I lost Hermes, to sayI was pissed at the world would
be an understatement.
I lost Hermes.
To say I was pissed at theworld would be an understatement
.
Have you seen the movie?
Speaker 2 (28:28):
John Wick.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Maybe it's not much of a spoiler alert because it's
literally like the first scenesin the movie, but John Wick has
this puppy that his late wifegave him before she passed, and
when some bad guys kill JohnWick's puppy, he takes on the
(28:58):
entire underworld.
The week after I lost Hermes, Isigned up for Revel Big
Cottonwood and I John Wicked thecourse.
Basically I carried his collarand just tore it up.
I finished the race in mygarments like 5k PR, 10k PR,
half marathon PR, marathon PR.
(29:19):
I set basically a 10-minutemarathon PR and that was after
the last five miles, easing upsignificantly because I knew
that I was pacing a race in Ohiothe next week and I couldn't
destroy my legs, so I had toease up, but I still said a 10
minute pr?
(29:41):
Um.
Your why matters and it'ssomething that I'm always
telling my pace groups is if youcould find something that means
that much to you.
It does not matter what theworld throws at you, you're
gonna get it done.
If you're're wise, strongenough, you win.
Period, end of story.
(30:02):
And for everybody that'slistening find your why If you
can find something that means asmuch to you as honoring those
that we lost in Boston over adecade ago now does to me, and
and running for Hermes,especially that day, meant to me
(30:23):
you'll get it done like I'ddone.
No speed training at all, zerospeed training.
My training was volume pacing,marathons.
And then all of a sudden, Idon't that that speed came out
of willpower and nothing else.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
That's great, wow, great story.
So you said you also run ultras.
Is there a favorite distance ofultra that you like?
Speaker 1 (30:53):
I want all the miles.
I've just started getting moreinto ultras.
There's a couple majorlogistical challenges for me
with ultras at this point thatI'm still trying to figure out
that make it hard for me toparticipate in ultras With
(31:21):
marathons.
Again, I've mentioned thefinancial situation a couple
times.
I live off of a few thousanddollars a year.
That's it.
I laugh when I see people talkabout how expensive the sport is
.
It's like, oh no, you just gotto get rid of your standards.
If you get rid of yourstandards, then you could do it
all with nothing.
Trust me, I've done it.
But you want to sleep in a bed,you want to eat food, you want
(31:44):
shoes?
Okay, that costs you money.
With the ultras, the races aremore expensive.
Yes, yeah, you also don't havepacers for time, so I can't earn
(32:05):
an entry by being a pacer.
You also have the logisticalchallenges of getting to it.
A lot of your marathons are incities.
Finding a ride to a city isvery different than finding a
ride to a very rural area fivehours outside the nearest city,
(32:26):
so it's logistically much morechallenging.
I did do my first 100 miler inOklahoma last year and I ran the
Vermont 100 this year, nice, um, and unfortunately, some brain
injury issues complicated that Ium, my brain gives gives up
(32:50):
before my bat, my body does, um.
I try to use analogies toexplain things that people
otherwise don't understand,because you see me, you see me
running sub three hour marathonsand you think, oh, he's fine,
why doesn't he go get a job?
The way I try to explain one ofthe biggest issues for me is
neural fatigue.
(33:12):
Imagine your smartphone cannotcharge past 10 to 20% ever and
you don't have a charger readilyavailable.
And now you've got to getthrough your day.
How much can you actually do?
Not much.
But that clock on your phone itkeeps running and it barely
(33:34):
drains your battery.
And for me it's very similar inthat.
And for me it's very similar inthat you know anything that
requires me to think I'll shutdown.
I can go a few hours, but Ican't make it a day.
I would not be able to survivea nine to five shift.
I just would not be able to doit.
Um, but running doesn't taketoo many brain cells.
(33:57):
You put one foot in front ofthe other, over and over and
over and over again.
So I can do that all day longwithout draining that battery,
except when it gets dark.
And now the bobbing of aheadlamp means my eyes and my
brain are constantly adjustingto shifting lights and I shut
(34:19):
down In both cases.
In both of those hundreds I did.
I was running comfortably.
I was at the top or right nearthe top of the field until dusk
and then I had to walk the restof the way.
And then I had to walk the restof the way as things continue
(34:42):
to improve.
I'm anxious to see what I cando when my brain is not the
limiting factor and my body is,because in both of those races I
still had a lot in the tank.
As far as running went, inVermont, I will confess I still
had a lot in the tank.
As far as running away InVermont, I will confess I was
(35:03):
done climbing.
If it stayed light, I'd stillbe walking up the hills, because
17,000 feet of vert is a lotmore than I'm used to,
especially having spent over adecade in South Florida where
there's no such thing as a hill.
But had there been light on theflats and the downhills, I'd
(35:27):
still be cruising at acomfortable pace.
So as time goes, I'm excited tosee what I can do with ultras,
because that has always been mystrength, what I can do with
ultras, because that has alwaysbeen my strength, and as I
(35:49):
learned to better manage theinjuries and the neural issues,
it's exciting to think of what Icould potentially accomplish.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Yeah, for sure, and I know even myself running at
night.
It's a struggle, and if youhave vision problems as well and
the neuro fatigue, wow, that'sgood for you for not giving up.
You're still doing them.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
But, that said, give me a nice full moon and an open
road.
That is the best thing for mybrain.
There's just enough light tonavigate but there's not
stimulation.
I don't have sounds or sightsbombarding my senses and forcing
(36:36):
my brain to make sense ofwhat's going on around it.
And forcing my brain to makesense of what's going on around
it A nice moonlight run.
When I first got hit, that wasthe only way I was able to do it
.
I was almost like a vampire.
I couldn't go out during theday.
The sunlight was too much.
(36:56):
At that point I'd have a fiveminute phone conversation with
someone and I was wiped out fordays.
So I would go out.
I lived in Miami Beach at thetime and as soon as it got dark
and the tourists were all offthe beach, the moonlight, even
in the light, in the closer to anew moon right on the the water
(37:18):
, you still get enough moonlightreflecting to just be able to
run along the beach as a.
As an added bonus to that, um,I have motor skills issues,
sometimes because of the braininjury, and I just fall um for a
for a while.
(37:38):
My mantra was right foot faceplant is still forward progress
and I'd tell my pace groups thatand they'd laugh, thinking I
was joking.
And then five minutes later Ijust fall for no reason
whatsoever.
I would just fall and I'd getback up and they'd look at me
like you aren't kidding.
Nope, I'm dead serious.
Early on when I was falling allthe time.
(38:00):
Falling in sand is much nicerthan falling on cement.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Yeah, I'd have to agree.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
So going out to the beach after the sunset and
getting my runs done was theonly way I could do it.
I didn't mention before, I'm astreak runner, so I run every
single day, no exceptions period.
End of story.
Today will actually be day 3059of my streak when I go run
(38:37):
dealing with the health issues,it became an issue of how can I
make this work.
I have these obstacles.
There's nothing I can do aboutthose obstacles, they're just a
fact of life.
But how can I get around them,through them, over them, or even
(38:59):
use them to get what I want toget done?
And it's forced me to becreative, it's forced me to
focus on the can rather thancan't.
Yeah, in those 3,000 days,there's a whole lot of days that
(39:21):
I had every valid reason to sayI'm not running.
Today, when I broke stress,fractured, whatever I did to my
foot, I kept running.
I cut my mileage down.
I was only doing about 50 milesa week, but I adapted my stride
, made sure that I was onlydoing about 50 miles a week, but
(39:41):
I adapted my stride, made surethat I was running on dirt and
gravel rather than hardersurfaces.
And on that foot I wasdeliberately heel striking not
what you normally want to do.
If I landed, normally I wasputting stress on a portion of
(40:04):
bone that I knew was, to anextent unknown to me, damaged.
So I had to adapt and I spent amonth and a half deliberately.
He's striking's striking.
It's all been about finding waysto overcome things and, again
(40:27):
the whole thing, find your why.
If something means enough toyou, it gets done.
It's a pet peeve of mine whensomebody's like, oh, I could
never run a marathon.
I call them out on it everysingle time.
It's like bull, if I had a gunto your head, would you finish?
Well, yeah, well, then youdon't want to run a marathon,
(40:51):
not, you can't run a marathon.
That word, choice, matters.
When you start framing things asI don't want to do this versus
I can't do this, it reallytransforms everything in life
and you start realizing it'slike, yeah, I could fly if I
(41:12):
wanted to, but the landing makesit not worth it.
There's nothing that you can'tdo.
There's a lot of things thataren't worth doing.
There's a lot of things thatyou don't want to do, that you
don't care to do.
But when you start to recognizethat the limitations are simply
a matter of desire, rather thana desire, than a matter of
(41:34):
ability, it reframes everything.
It reframes everything, um,when I pace a lot, I do a lot of
pacing at women's bq times.
So, like 330 marathon, um, 325.
Now the cutoffs are gettingtougher.
Like it's funny, I went frombeing the boston bandit to
(41:56):
someone who whose greatest joyis qualifying people to get
there, like that is thehighlight for me.
If I qualified somebody to goand experience Boston for the
first time, if I help them topunch that ticket, it's a good
day.
I want everyone to experienceit and I can't say just show up,
anyway it was like come, comeon, I'm going to pace you to
(42:19):
your first Boston.
And so a lot of times I'm pacingin the 320 to 330 range and
actually in a couple coursesI've been able to increase my
own pace, that I've paced acouple three-hour marathons to
get the guys' BQ time in as well.
But I tell the women in mygroups all the time is like it's
(42:43):
going to hurt.
No matter what you do, it'sgoing to hurt.
Is it worth it?
Physiologically you're designedto handle that better than I am
, thank God.
I will never know how much ithurts to bear a child, but if
it's worth it, you go throughthe pain.
(43:03):
If it's worth it.
The pain is not a problem, it'sjust part of it.
And with my personal running,with all the issues that I've
been dealing with my health,that's the same mentality that I
take.
It's worth it.
(43:24):
To me it's been nine yearssince I've not been in pain.
But I can cry about what I lostor I can celebrate that
statistically speaking, I'm ananomaly and still being alive
and running the speed and thedistance that I'm running,
despite having a motor vehiclehit me from behind at about 40
(43:46):
miles per hour.
I don't know if you've seen thenews but Johnny and Matthew
Goudreau, the hockey players asa BC guy, I used to watch them
play at BC.
That news this past week or sowas devastating for me because
(44:08):
the way they died had so manysimilarities to what happened to
me similarities to whathappened to me, and so it stung.
But it also helped me torefocus and reframe that.
Yeah, this hurts.
(44:30):
Yeah, this is wrong.
Yeah, this is a problem.
Yeah, I can't do what I used tobe able to do neurologically,
but I'm alive and by so manyaccounts, I probably shouldn't
be.
So it all comes down again tothe you know how do you frame
(44:53):
something?
How are you going to look?
What lens are you going to lookat something through?
Are you going to look at it asa debilitating problem or a
speed bump?
Are you going to look at it asthis is the end, that wall's too
high to climb, or how awesomeis the view going to be when I
get to the top?
Speaker 2 (45:13):
It's such a great outlook on life that you just
don't get that from very manypeople.
So we really appreciate hearingthat, because obviously in our
world not as many people canhave that kind of outlook.
Speaker 1 (45:27):
I mean, I hate to say it, but when the pandemic
happened and everything startedshutting down, I was just
cringing.
It was like, oh man, peoplehave no idea how to handle
adversity.
Yeah, I mean, there was a lotof things that by necessity had
to change, and I'm notchallenging that, but the way
(45:48):
your average it was just wow,people need to to focus on what
really matters.
It's like okay, yes, we can'tdo this, but we're alive.
Speaker 2 (46:06):
Why are we crying?
Speaker 1 (46:07):
about what we can't do when we're alive.
And there's all these otherthings that we can do.
And again, pacing I keepmentioning that because it's one
of my favorite things to do islike.
I love organized race events.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
If there's a race that you could pace that, like
right now, seems out of reach,what would it be?
What would be like yourultimate race to pace?
Speaker 1 (46:37):
So for me it's the pacing is a hundred percent
about helping people.
The more people I can help, themore tickets to Boston that I
can help people punch, thehappier I am.
So simple mathematics on thatthe bigger the race, the more
(46:57):
people I can help.
Simple mathematics on that thebigger the race, the more people
I can help.
So, pacing london, pacingchicago, pacing berlin I'd love
to do those.
Pacing tokyo I'd love to dothose because the groups would
be massive.
Yeah, there's a lot of theraces, like when I'm in north
dakota later on this month atfour, four hours, I might have a
(47:21):
couple people with me at thefinish.
It's a smaller race.
There's been a couple racesthat I've paced and I finished
in the top 10 as a pacer.
If I'm pacing and I don't havesomeone in my group, that's not
fun.
But the bigger my group, themore that everybody else's
(47:49):
energy I feed off of anamplifier and that's how I've
always been, whether it was thecrazy fan at the Boston College
Games or pacing.
If I've got an energetic group,I'll amp that up to another
level.
I love when I've got groups.
I've had races where I've had agroup of a couple people and we
(48:12):
get into conversation and,again, focus is what you're
focusing on matters.
And we'll get into conversation.
And we'll get to mile 24 of themarathon.
We'll be like, wow, how are wehere already?
And these are people who aregoing for a five minute PR.
They get to mile 24, they'restill conversational, running
(48:38):
five minutes faster than they'veever run in their life.
And it's frustrating and funnyto see that once they notice
that they're a mile 24,something in the back of their
head is saying it's supposed tohurt right now.
So they go from beingconversational to just in a
split second and it's just likeno, it's what you're focusing on
(49:00):
.
If you're focused, if we'rehaving fun as a pace group,
those miles fly by.
But if you're focusing on ohman, I still got so many miles
left to go, it's gonna hurt more.
And having those groups is sorewarding Seeing those goals
(49:24):
just get demolished.
And you know, uh, one, uh, oneof my highlights as a I wasn't
even an official pacer.
There was a race I did, um, therace director I.
I learned to swallow my prideearly when my whole life blew up
on me and I'd reach out to racedirectors and be like look,
(49:46):
here's my situation.
I have no money but I have time.
What can I do to earn an entry?
I can't give you $150, becausethat's 33% of what I have for
the entire month, because that's33% of what I have for the
entire month.
But I got all day Tell me whatto do and the vast majority of
(50:08):
race directors would work withme.
I've done so many packetpickups.
I've done so many coursemarkings.
I've done so many breakdownsafter the races, like I've done
pretty much all the secondaryroles of race organization.
I know what's involved so I'm agreat worker for them.
(50:28):
Because it's not my first rodeoand it's allowed me to do, I
told you I did like 85 races.
I think the only races Iactually paid for that year were
the majors.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
So you've done the majors too.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
Yes, I told you I did the body paint when I decided
to do the majors.
I pride myself on not beingnormal.
It's like, oh, thousands ofpeople have run all six majors,
but how many have run them inbody paint?
Speaker 2 (50:55):
How'd that go in Tokyo?
Speaker 1 (51:00):
Because they're kind of strict, aren't they?
I was basically a giantJapanese flag.
Okay, so I did.
They do have strict rules, butpaint is makeup, it's not a
costume.
Speaker 2 (51:12):
Fair.
Speaker 1 (51:14):
So I'm not violating any rules and while Tokyo does
have strict rules aboutpolitical messages and religious
messages and so on and so forth, basically being a giant
Japanese flag is not going tooffend anybody in Tokyo.
Speaker 2 (51:31):
It's their flag, yeah .
Speaker 1 (51:40):
So when I decided to do the majors, to paint the
majors, it's like, do I continuedoing what I do in Boston and
my Boston at BC my thing was redface with a gold cross on my
face.
I rode crew and that was thedesign on our oar, and BC's a
Jesuit Catholic school.
So that was a perfect fit forbeing the crazy BC fan.
I was a BC super fan.
(52:00):
I was at every.
I was at more games than themascot was and the red paint
with the gold cross on my facewas my thing.
And so I kept that for Bostonand for the Boston marathon.
I've done that every time I'verun Boston, with the exception
(52:21):
of 2021.
2021, I inverted the colorsbecause 2021 was not on Patriots
Day, it was because of thepandemic.
They had moved it to the falland I said, well, the red body
paint is a Patriots Daytradition.
I'm doing something slightlydifferent and I painted gold
(52:41):
with the red offset.
But in 2019, when I decided todo the majors, it's like, do I
do everything BC colors or do Ido it different?
And I decided I'd do each majora different color.
So after I did Boston, I didLondon.
(53:02):
So what should I paint myselffor London.
You know I'll paint for thecharity I'm running for that one
.
I did fundraising for action onhearing loss.
Um, and I wasn't even thinkingI'll just paint whatever their
colors are.
Went to their website oh, itlooks like I'm purple and pink.
So I kept the cross design onmy face.
(53:22):
I did all purple with a pinkcross and a pink Action on
Hearing Loss logo on my chest.
And then Berlin I basically Istarted to make it so each race
the colors were somethingrelated to the location in some
(53:45):
way shape or form.
So when I did Berlin, I wasyellow with red cross and a
black German eagle design on mychest, so they're flag colors.
I went to Chicago and I didblue with and a black German
eagle design on my chest, sothey're flag colors.
I went to Chicago and I didblue with a flesh-colored stripe
(54:08):
and three red stars on my chest, so basically the Chicago flag
with a yellow cross on my face.
Inadvertently, I didn't realizeit, I was Sweden, so I got a
whole lot of go Sweden and ittook me a while to figure out
they were cheering for me.
New York I did painted greenwith a Statue of Liberty design
(54:32):
in white on my chest.
So basically I was a Statue ofLiberty and a lot of the New
Yorkers started calling me MrLiberty, like Statue of Liberty,
and a lot of the New Yorkersstarted calling me Mr Liberty.
I'm like cool, I could run withthat.
And then when I did Tokyo, itwas red and white.
I was inadvertently a Britbecause I had the white face
with a red cross on it, but Ialso more most predominantly,
(54:53):
people notice the big red sun onmy chest.
I was a giant japanese flag.
Um, I'm annually continuing todo boston and new york painted
that's really cool and thecrowds go nuts when I go by and
it's just so much fun.
(55:14):
The paint's a huge project butit's so worth it and I mean
we're 50-something days from NewYork I'll be painted green
again.
Speaker 2 (55:34):
I changed my offset color to orange because that's
what the NYR chose as theircolor for branding for the race
going forward.
That's very cool.
Well, we are going to need towrap this up.
Do you have any last umthoughts or words?
Speaker 1 (55:48):
for my listeners that we need to know again to focus
on the whole mindset matters.
Find your why and and anotherin the same line of thought as
that is the mentality thatnumbers are somebody else's
standards.
If you're doing your trainingand your life based on oh well,
somebody said that I need to runa Boston qualifying time why
(56:11):
are you judging yourself basedon their standards?
Run your best, chooseaggressive standards based on
yourself, and those otherstandards just naturally happen
If you're chasing after a BQ.
That Boston qualifying timebecomes a mental roadblock and
(56:35):
even if you're physicallycapable of it, something in the
back of your mind telling youthis is unachievable.
So don't set your goal as yourBQ time.
Set your goal as your New Yorkqualifying time, which is about
15 minutes faster, and then youhave a bad day and you still
qualified for Boston by 10minutes.
Speaker 2 (56:51):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (56:52):
Numbers are somebody else's standards.
If you're focusing on theirstandards, you're not achieving
your potential.
If you focus on who you are,what you're capable of doing,
and stop judging yourself bythose standards, you blow
yourself away with what you'recapable of.
Speaker 2 (57:09):
That's awesome.
Well, ken, I really could talkto you all day, but, yeah, we do
have a cutoff.
Thank you so much for being onthe show and I hope the best for
you for your next few races,and I'll talk to you again after
you've accomplished some morethings that are just out of this
world thank you so much forhaving me.
Speaker 1 (57:29):
It's been a pleasure and I hope we'll get to see each
other at a race somewhere outthere in the not too distant
future.
Speaker 2 (57:35):
I hope so too, thanks , bye-bye all right well, thanks
for listening to the episode.
I hope so too.
Thanks, bye-bye, take care, allright.
Well, thanks for listening tothe episode.
I hope you enjoyed it.
Please continue to follow,share and rate the program.
If you're needing that coach,reach out to me.
There's a button in the shownotes that you can contact me
directly.
Share it with a friend if youthink their story needs to be on
(57:57):
the podcast, I'd love to hearfrom them.
So thanks again and have agreat day.
Thank you, but that's a lot for me, so I really
appreciate everybody who'ssharing and reading the program
starting to grow a little bit.
There are a lot of discounts inthe show notes.
If you want to take advantageof those, feel free to do that,
and if you know someone's whosestory needs to on the podcast,
(01:07):
please have them reach out to meand we can get them on.
Maybe you're that person.
Don't be shy, it's super easyand it's fun sometimes.
It's fun for me All right.
Today we're going to be talkingto Ken Skrien .
.
..
Amazing athlete, just amazing,so warm and just such a giving
(01:30):
spirit and has accomplished somuch.
You guys are really going tojust be drawn to him right away.
So you can listen here on thepodcast.
You also can go to the YouTubechannel and see it there as well
.
For those of you who arelistening on YouTube to the
intro, I promise you will get tosee the actual recording.
(01:54):
I just did this separately fromthe actual podcast and was not
camera worthy, so all you get isa voice.
So there you go, so listen orwatch and enjoy.
Welcome to the show, ken.
It's so great to have you here.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
So let's start with your beginning of your running
journey.
When did you start and why?
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Well beginning if we go way back.
When I was in high school, myparents quite frankly told me
we're not picking you up untilafter practice, so you need to
choose a sport and go, and I wasnot very good at soccer.
(02:50):
I was of a size that would makeme best qualified to be the
ball on the football team.
So I chose running and,honestly, at first I hated it
but it grew on me pretty quickly, got my first runner's high
running Started out in my earlyyears.
Honestly, it was what got methrough depression and stuff
(03:12):
like that and I got lazy incollege.
I admit to that.
I kind of wish I could go backand change that, but later on I
realized that I couldn'tcontinue to run off of training.
That I did in high school and Ishould probably go out and
(03:33):
start running again every day.
And that was 12 years ago nowand since then it's kind of
snowballed and running hasbecome the very core of my being
.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Okay, so you had a little break and now you've been
running for 12 years, prettyconsecutively, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
I got humbled when I tried to run a marathon with no
training in 2012.
And when I say no training, Imean like I hadn't run all year,
but I still had the 18-year-oldyoung man mentality of I can
will my way through it and Istarted running.
(04:15):
I got about, I think, eightmiles in and I had to walk the
rest of the way.
Wow, I would not give myselfthe permission to quit.
The mentality at that point wasyou brought the sign yourself,
you idiot.
You're going to pay the priceof it.
(04:36):
And I had a very long, slow,painful walk and realized that I
need to start training.
Started training 2013 was thefirst year that I had actually
trained and, ironically, Ithought was going to be the
(05:00):
first year that I was preparedto run Boston, and I was at the
finish line when the bombs wentoff.
It ended up being the event thatI was least prepared for, in a
very different way than I'd everimagined could be possible.
But after going through somePTSD from that, it made running
(05:23):
far more important to me than ithad ever been, and then it's
just built from there.
About a year and a half afterthat, I was bike commuting down
to Miami Beach and was hit by acar from behind.
I think, statistically speaking, at the speed that woman was
(05:43):
traveling, there was an 85%chance of fatality Counting my
blessings that, despite all thehealth issues I'm still dealing
with, I'm running ultras.
I'm the lucky one.
But when I lost my business andmy home from the brain injury
that that caused, running waspretty much all that I had left
(06:08):
and I just jumped into itwholeheartedly and said, all
right, let's go.
And it has been an adventurefrom there.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Wow, I guess.
So you ran your first marathon.
Well, you walked your firstmarathon and then, right after
that, you went to Boston.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Okay.
So first of all disclaimer atthis point.
The culture has changed.
Don't do this anymore.
But once upon a time banditingwas part of Boston's culture.
Oh wow, boston's culture.
I went to Boston College and inthe 90s, early 2000s there were
(06:52):
thousands of bandits.
The race announcer wouldliterally be like all right
bandits, go have fun.
It was an unspoken, unwrittenrule that don't get in the way.
You start after every singleofficial runner started and you
go and you don't get in the way.
And so my first year as afreshman at Boston College I was
(07:19):
out watching the marathon andeveryone that ran by I couldn't
help but think that should be me.
So the next year I went and Ijumped in and I ran.
So my first marathon was Boston2000.
(07:41):
But I'm not in the results andagain I'm going to emphasize
that culture has changed.
Don't do that again.
I I you know Boston is the onlyrace I ever have or ever will
even consider bandaging.
I know how my work racedirectors put into things and
with the security concerns nowand all the other costs and
(08:04):
everything involved, it's a verydifferent world than it was in
the year 2000.
So my first unofficial marathonwas the 2000 Boston Marathon.
I kept running it every yearwithout training.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
As a bandit.
Yes and no training.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
And no training.
Don't do like I do.
Seriously, everything I coulddo wrong, I somehow did wrong.
In 2003, I did something alittle different.
I was the crazy sports fan atBoston College At this point.
I've seen BC sports teams playin 36 states and you know I was
(08:54):
a lunatic when you turned on theTV that you saw bouncing around
covered in paint.
Cool, I was graduating and howcan I go out in style?
I know I'm going to run theBoston Marathon painted red All
right.
And so red shorts, shoes and awhole lot of body paint.
(09:15):
I ran from Hopkinton to Bostonscreaming and yelling and just
pretty much partying the wholeway, and it was supposed to be
my last time painting, but thereception I got from pretty much
everyone was so positive it'snow become my thing.
(09:38):
In 2004 I ran my first officialmarathon.
A local politician who had seenthe paint that I had done,
thought it was awesome, and he'slike I'm sponsoring you oh,
very cool, and I got aninvitation.
an invitational entry in 2004was like brutally hot, 85
(10:02):
degrees, but still unpainted,decked out in red, and went out
and had fun for about four hourson that course.
And so 2004 was my firstunofficial or was my first
official marathon.
It's crazy.
It is now looking at it thefirst marathon that I ever ran
(10:26):
that was not named Boston wasthe 2018 Cleveland marathon.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Okay, and what took you there?
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Um, as I mentioned, the culture was changing and uh,
it's like, well, I guess I gotto get myself a Boston qualifier
.
Okay, so I signed up forCleveland, I went to Cleveland
it was supposed to be a one anddone, I'll get my BQ, I'll run
Boston every year and requalifyfor the next year, and I don't
(10:54):
ever have to waste my time withanother marathon.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
But I saw your room with all your awards, so clearly
that's not how that story went.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
I saw your room with all your awards.
So clearly, that's not how thatstory went.
Nope, I had fun runningCleveland and I realized that,
yes, boston was still Boston,but other marathons could be fun
too, and at that point this wasafter the marathon, bombing
PTSD and getting hit by that carTBI.
(11:27):
So I was really really full inon running at that point.
So I had fun in Cleveland.
Next thing, you know, laterthat year I'm doing Philadelphia
.
I paced my first marathon inCollege Station, texasas, and at
the end of 2018, 2019 I believeI did 56 marathons that one
(11:51):
year alone.
Um, I had fun.
It was.
It was crazy.
Like that year.
Um, that year, that year, thatwas my.
That was everything to me.
I had, um, from the brain injury, I lost my home in 2018 and I
(12:13):
was quasi homeless.
Um, when I had no place to go,I decided you know what, where's
the next race, that's where I'mgoing, and I started doing a
lot of hitchhiking to get toraces.
My social media handle for awhile was the Hobo Runner,
(12:34):
because that very well definedwhat I did.
I'd hitchhike to a race.
I'd just sleep on the side ofthe road, I'd get up in the
morning and I'd run, and thenI'd hitch my way to the next
race, so that 2019 was the firstfull calendar year that I
didn't have that after I'd lostmy home.
(12:57):
So that year alone it was 56marathons or greater.
But when you factor in all theother events I did, I think I
did about 85 organized raceevents that year.
Um, it was literally one afteranother after another, and it
was.
It was such an amazingexperience.
Um, I paced a lot of them,pacing.
(13:20):
I love pacing.
It's it's a great way to giveback to the community.
The running community is myfamily.
At this point, I don't recallif I told you the meaning of my
surname.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
No.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Did I mention that to you earlier?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
No, you just sent me the recording on how to, so I
can pronounce it properly.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Okay, so skrien is actually a Latvian word that
means you run, and when I lostmy old life because of the brain
injury, a lot of the people Ihad relied on turned their back
on me or just told me to move onlike nothing had ever happened.
(14:07):
When I'm dealing with thesemajor health issues, the
challenges I went through weremore because of being abandoned
rather than the brain injuryitself.
And as I started in 2018, 2019,pre-pandemic, 2020, going to
(14:35):
all these races, the runningcommunity took me in like family
.
Um, it went from starting I hadto hitchhike to every race and
I had to sleep on the side ofthe road at every race, to the
other amazing, crazy people thatI've met along this journey
being like, hey, I'm going tothis race tomorrow, do you want
to come?
Sure, and you know, when theweather's bad, I'd have other
(14:57):
runners being like come, stay atmy hotel.
I had, uh, my hotel.
I had some race directors whowould literally be like if
anybody asks your security, gosleep in the tent where all the
stuff is.
And you know, the just thecrazy number of races I did
(15:21):
became possible because therunning community became my
family, and so I decided to makethat official and legally
changed my name to Scrian andquite literally, the running
community is and always will bemy family.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Yeah, that's a really awesome story, wow.
Yeah, that's a really awesomestory, wow.
So how did your body hold updoing all those races every?
Speaker 1 (15:51):
day, my necessity gradual increase process.
I've always been stronger atlonger distances, even in high
(16:11):
school.
My high school cross countryteam.
We were one of the best teamsin the country, but I was pretty
much a scrub on that team.
I wasn't fast enough to keep upwith the best guys on my team,
like in Connecticut where I grewup.
I would have been like top twoor three runner on every team in
(16:32):
the state, except for mine andone other On mine.
I wasn't even top 10.
But my strength was the longerraces I was doing.
I was a half marathon every yearin high school and all the guys
that would destroy me in the 5KI'd take the prize in the half.
(16:55):
Later on, when I got back intorunning, the half was my
preferred distance.
But because of a whole bunch ofissues, in large part from the
brain injury, um, I've beendealing with vision issues so I
can't drive.
I never actually got my license.
(17:15):
I didn't need it living in thecity when I bicycled everywhere,
um, but now I needed my licensebut because of visual issues I
can't get it.
I'm out of work, I have nomoney, so I can't afford to Uber
places, so my way of gettingthere was hitchhiking or running
(17:36):
In 2017, 2018, when I was doinga bunch of half marathons, it
was not unheard of for me tohave a eight mile warm up, run
(17:57):
the half marathon, have an eightmile cool down and that was
like well, I'm already ready formarathon distance because
that's what I end up doing.
So I ended up doing that withmarathons and now I'm ready for
ultra marathons because I justhad a 10 mile warmup before I
ran my marathon, um.
So it started off with muchlower mileage uh, base around 40
(18:26):
or 50, which is what I wasdoing in high school and then,
adding all these other stuff in,suddenly I was doing 60, 70, 80
mile weeks and it was no bigdeal.
At this point, I do a hundredmiles most weeks, um, and my
(18:46):
body thrives on that volume.
The more I'm running, thebetter I tend to run.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Really.
So no injuries along the wayother than, obviously, the main
one.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I'm not sure how to answer that.
The reality is, because of allthe brain injury stuff, I also
apparently fractured my L3vertebrae.
There's been ongoing brain,spine and gut issues for nine
years now.
I just learned to deal withthem.
There have been minor things Umthe.
(19:25):
There have been minor things Um, last last year in New York, I
either stress, fractured orbroke my foot.
Um, because I'm not used torunning on cement oh yeah, used
to running on cement.
Oh yeah, I'm used to running.
I do a lot of my running ondirt road, trails, gravel roads,
(19:47):
um, and to complicate things inmany ways, I'm effectively
running barefoot.
Um, because of the financesfrom that hit and run, I
literally have not bought a pairof running shoes since 2015.
So my running shoes approach4,000 miles on them.
(20:13):
There's not much padding.
That's one thing when I'mrunning on dirt roads and trails
.
It's a very different thingwhen I'm pounding cement on New
York City sidewalks the weekbefore the New York Marathon.
So I may have broken the foot,considering how it felt and what
(20:38):
I know about things, but justbabied it and let it heal and
keep on going.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
So now, how many official races have you run
Marathons?
Let's start with the marathons.
How many official marathons?
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Official Okay, so you know like you didn't band it.
Yes, um, my overall count isapproaching 150.
If you include the ultras, theum, there were maybe it's 12
(21:18):
bandit bostons in there.
And again, don't do that athome, don't?
I'm not encouraging that if youhave a time machine and you can
go back to 1990, go banditBoston.
But if you don't have a timemachine, qualify, get in, run it
.
It is an amazing event.
But yeah, I think if you don'tinclude those in your numbers,
(21:42):
I'm at about 130 or so.
I can tell you in just a second.
I have a database witheverything in it, but the number
that I keep track of is morethe overall Um.
So I have.
(22:02):
I'm at 145 marathons and 125club qualifying marathons.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
What does that mean?
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Um, a lot of the clubs, like the 50 state club
and the marathon maniacs, havespecific rules on what does and
does not count, because theydon't want people to go out and
say I just going to run 26 milesand loops around my house and
call it a marathon right um,number one, you have to be
registered so the the banditones don't count there.
(22:36):
But also there's got to be acertain number of starters and
finishers to each race.
So I've done a handful of liketime-based race or or ultra
marathons or, um, a couple ofdifferent things that have not
had enough runners to count.
(22:57):
Um, I mean, I did one 50 Kwhere I came in first place and
last place.
Oh no, so clearly that doesn'tcount for club standards as a
race.
Yeah, everybody else that hadsigned up for the 50K distance
dropped down and just settledfor a half marathon or a
marathon, and I'm the only onethat was crazy enough to keep
(23:20):
going, to keep going.
So you've got the different.
I've got the different countsthere because I want to know
what counts Like 50 statemarathon club.
I've run marathons in all 50states.
However, the race I ran inNorth Dakota was a marathon-ish
(23:48):
trail run.
The race distance is notcertified.
The race was actually like 28miles or something like that,
but it wasn't certified, so itdoesn't count by those rules.
Oh yeah, I'm going to be inBismarck, north Dakota, at the
end of September now pacing thefour-hour group at the marathon
(24:11):
there, and I believe that willbe my official 50 state finish.
Okay, um, because the the otheractually.
No, it won't be, because therace that I did in West Virginia
was also a uncertified trailmarathon.
Oh man, so when I go to WestVirginia in October, two weeks
(24:37):
later, that will be my 50-statefinish.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Okay.
That happened to me in Ohio.
There wasn't enough finishers,and so I have to do Ohio again.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Yeah, you know, on one hand it's kind of
frustrating, but on the otherhand it makes sense, yeah, and
it provides more opportunities.
Um, I'm I've got sub goals.
Just because I can, I want to.
(25:10):
I'm trying to go through and dofaster now as the the health
issues have improved, andthey've improved in leaps and
bounds in in the past four orfive years.
The brain injury was almostnine years ago at this point.
(25:31):
Um, I mean to give you an idea,the I lost my sense of smell
and my sense of taste forprobably about half a decade.
I'd be at all these races withyou know, at the start finish
line there's tons ofport-o-potties.
I couldn't smell it.
So when I started getting mysense of smell back, the first
(25:55):
time that I was able to smellthat line of port-o-potties, I
was excited.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
You're the only one.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
I'm definitely the only one.
It is not an excitement thathas continued, but it was one of
those things where it's justlike, after not being able to
smell for so long, it's a littlevictory, sure, and every little
victory is a huge thing.
Every little victory is a hugething.
But a lot of the brain injuryissues and the spinal issues
(26:25):
have been improving, which isallowing me to be more
aggressive in how fast I run.
And you know, if I could get toa point where I've got a proper
nutrition plan, proper runninggear, all that normal stuff,
(26:46):
it'd be interesting to see whatI could do out there.
But even with doing everythingwrong and one of the things that
I focus on a lot when I talk tomy pace groups is mindset.
Find your why, find somethingthat's important to you, and you
will blow your mind with whatyou're able to accomplish
(27:06):
because your head's in the rightplace.
The the timing of our interviewactually makes this a perfect
story.
As you see, I have a small armyof cats.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
And I hear them as well.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Yes, those are the tinies.
They're about four months oldright now.
But I had a running buddy puppy.
His name was Hermes and Hermeswas about two and a half years
old when on Labor Day weekendlast year he was hit by a car
and killed.
I was not happy.
(27:50):
My why?
When I'm running, every day hassince the marathon bombing been
for Dennis, for Sean, forCrystal, for Lou and for Martin
the five that we lost from thebombing itself and in the
manhunt afterwards, and that'salways what gets me through when
(28:11):
things start to suck.
But when I lost Hermes, to sayI was pissed at the world would
be an understatement.
I lost Hermes.
To say I was pissed at theworld would be an understatement
.
Have you seen the movie?
Speaker 2 (28:28):
John Wick.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Maybe it's not much of a spoiler alert because it's
literally like the first scenesin the movie, but John Wick has
this puppy that his late wifegave him before she passed, and
when some bad guys kill JohnWick's puppy, he takes on the
(28:58):
entire underworld.
The week after I lost Hermes, Isigned up for Revel Big
Cottonwood and I John Wicked thecourse.
Basically I carried his collarand just tore it up.
I finished the race in mygarments like 5k PR, 10k PR,
half marathon PR, marathon PR.
(29:19):
I set basically a 10-minutemarathon PR and that was after
the last five miles, easing upsignificantly because I knew
that I was pacing a race in Ohiothe next week and I couldn't
destroy my legs, so I had toease up, but I still said a 10
minute pr?
(29:41):
Um.
Your why matters and it'ssomething that I'm always
telling my pace groups is if youcould find something that means
that much to you.
It does not matter what theworld throws at you, you're
gonna get it done.
If you're're wise, strongenough, you win.
Period, end of story.
(30:02):
And for everybody that'slistening find your why If you
can find something that means asmuch to you as honoring those
that we lost in Boston over adecade ago now does to me, and
and running for Hermes,especially that day, meant to me
(30:23):
you'll get it done like I'ddone.
No speed training at all, zerospeed training.
My training was volume pacing,marathons.
And then all of a sudden, Idon't that that speed came out
of willpower and nothing else.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
That's great, wow, great story.
So you said you also run ultras.
Is there a favorite distance ofultra that you like?
Speaker 1 (30:53):
I want all the miles.
I've just started getting moreinto ultras.
There's a couple majorlogistical challenges for me
with ultras at this point thatI'm still trying to figure out
that make it hard for me toparticipate in ultras With
(31:21):
marathons.
Again, I've mentioned thefinancial situation a couple
times.
I live off of a few thousanddollars a year.
That's it.
I laugh when I see people talkabout how expensive the sport is
.
It's like, oh no, you just gotto get rid of your standards.
If you get rid of yourstandards, then you could do it
all with nothing.
Trust me, I've done it.
But you want to sleep in a bed,you want to eat food, you want
(31:44):
shoes?
Okay, that costs you money.
With the ultras, the races aremore expensive.
Yes, yeah, you also don't havepacers for time, so I can't earn
(32:05):
an entry by being a pacer.
You also have the logisticalchallenges of getting to it.
A lot of your marathons are incities.
Finding a ride to a city isvery different than finding a
ride to a very rural area fivehours outside the nearest city,
(32:26):
so it's logistically much morechallenging.
I did do my first 100 miler inOklahoma last year and I ran the
Vermont 100 this year, nice, um, and unfortunately, some brain
injury issues complicated that Ium, my brain gives gives up
(32:50):
before my bat, my body does, um.
I try to use analogies toexplain things that people
otherwise don't understand,because you see me, you see me
running sub three hour marathonsand you think, oh, he's fine,
why doesn't he go get a job?
The way I try to explain one ofthe biggest issues for me is
neural fatigue.
(33:12):
Imagine your smartphone cannotcharge past 10 to 20% ever and
you don't have a charger readilyavailable.
And now you've got to getthrough your day.
How much can you actually do?
Not much.
But that clock on your phone itkeeps running and it barely
(33:34):
drains your battery.
And for me it's very similar inthat.
And for me it's very similar inthat you know anything that
requires me to think I'll shutdown.
I can go a few hours, but Ican't make it a day.
I would not be able to survivea nine to five shift.
I just would not be able to doit.
Um, but running doesn't taketoo many brain cells.
(33:57):
You put one foot in front ofthe other, over and over and
over and over again.
So I can do that all day longwithout draining that battery,
except when it gets dark.
And now the bobbing of aheadlamp means my eyes and my
brain are constantly adjustingto shifting lights and I shut
(34:19):
down In both cases.
In both of those hundreds I did.
I was running comfortably.
I was at the top or right nearthe top of the field until dusk
and then I had to walk the restof the way.
And then I had to walk the restof the way as things continue
(34:42):
to improve.
I'm anxious to see what I cando when my brain is not the
limiting factor and my body is,because in both of those races I
still had a lot in the tank.
As far as running went, inVermont, I will confess I still
had a lot in the tank.
As far as running away InVermont, I will confess I was
(35:03):
done climbing.
If it stayed light, I'd stillbe walking up the hills, because
17,000 feet of vert is a lotmore than I'm used to,
especially having spent over adecade in South Florida where
there's no such thing as a hill.
But had there been light on theflats and the downhills, I'd
(35:27):
still be cruising at acomfortable pace.
So as time goes, I'm excited tosee what I can do with ultras,
because that has always been mystrength, what I can do with
ultras, because that has alwaysbeen my strength, and as I
(35:49):
learned to better manage theinjuries and the neural issues,
it's exciting to think of what Icould potentially accomplish.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Yeah, for sure, and I know even myself running at
night.
It's a struggle, and if youhave vision problems as well and
the neuro fatigue, wow, that'sgood for you for not giving up.
You're still doing them.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
But, that said, give me a nice full moon and an open
road.
That is the best thing for mybrain.
There's just enough light tonavigate but there's not
stimulation.
I don't have sounds or sightsbombarding my senses and forcing
(36:36):
my brain to make sense ofwhat's going on around it.
And forcing my brain to makesense of what's going on around
it A nice moonlight run.
When I first got hit, that wasthe only way I was able to do it
.
I was almost like a vampire.
I couldn't go out during theday.
The sunlight was too much.
(36:56):
At that point I'd have a fiveminute phone conversation with
someone and I was wiped out fordays.
So I would go out.
I lived in Miami Beach at thetime and as soon as it got dark
and the tourists were all offthe beach, the moonlight, even
in the light, in the closer to anew moon right on the the water
(37:18):
, you still get enough moonlightreflecting to just be able to
run along the beach as a.
As an added bonus to that, um,I have motor skills issues,
sometimes because of the braininjury, and I just fall um for a
for a while.
(37:38):
My mantra was right foot faceplant is still forward progress
and I'd tell my pace groups thatand they'd laugh, thinking I
was joking.
And then five minutes later Ijust fall for no reason
whatsoever.
I would just fall and I'd getback up and they'd look at me
like you aren't kidding.
Nope, I'm dead serious.
Early on when I was falling allthe time.
(38:00):
Falling in sand is much nicerthan falling on cement.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Yeah, I'd have to agree.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
So going out to the beach after the sunset and
getting my runs done was theonly way I could do it.
I didn't mention before, I'm astreak runner, so I run every
single day, no exceptions period.
End of story.
Today will actually be day 3059of my streak when I go run
(38:37):
dealing with the health issues,it became an issue of how can I
make this work.
I have these obstacles.
There's nothing I can do aboutthose obstacles, they're just a
fact of life.
But how can I get around them,through them, over them, or even
(38:59):
use them to get what I want toget done?
And it's forced me to becreative, it's forced me to
focus on the can rather thancan't.
Yeah, in those 3,000 days,there's a whole lot of days that
(39:21):
I had every valid reason to sayI'm not running.
Today, when I broke stress,fractured, whatever I did to my
foot, I kept running.
I cut my mileage down.
I was only doing about 50 milesa week, but I adapted my stride
, made sure that I was onlydoing about 50 miles a week, but
(39:41):
I adapted my stride, made surethat I was running on dirt and
gravel rather than hardersurfaces.
And on that foot I wasdeliberately heel striking not
what you normally want to do.
If I landed, normally I wasputting stress on a portion of
(40:04):
bone that I knew was, to anextent unknown to me, damaged.
So I had to adapt and I spent amonth and a half deliberately.
He's striking's striking.
It's all been about finding waysto overcome things and, again
(40:27):
the whole thing, find your why.
If something means enough toyou, it gets done.
It's a pet peeve of mine whensomebody's like, oh, I could
never run a marathon.
I call them out on it everysingle time.
It's like bull, if I had a gunto your head, would you finish?
Well, yeah, well, then youdon't want to run a marathon,
(40:51):
not, you can't run a marathon.
That word, choice, matters.
When you start framing things asI don't want to do this versus
I can't do this, it reallytransforms everything in life
and you start realizing it'slike, yeah, I could fly if I
(41:12):
wanted to, but the landing makesit not worth it.
There's nothing that you can'tdo.
There's a lot of things thataren't worth doing.
There's a lot of things thatyou don't want to do, that you
don't care to do.
But when you start to recognizethat the limitations are simply
a matter of desire, rather thana desire, than a matter of
(41:34):
ability, it reframes everything.
It reframes everything, um,when I pace a lot, I do a lot of
pacing at women's bq times.
So, like 330 marathon, um, 325.
Now the cutoffs are gettingtougher.
Like it's funny, I went frombeing the boston bandit to
(41:56):
someone who whose greatest joyis qualifying people to get
there, like that is thehighlight for me.
If I qualified somebody to goand experience Boston for the
first time, if I help them topunch that ticket, it's a good
day.
I want everyone to experienceit and I can't say just show up,
anyway it was like come, comeon, I'm going to pace you to
(42:19):
your first Boston.
And so a lot of times I'm pacingin the 320 to 330 range and
actually in a couple coursesI've been able to increase my
own pace, that I've paced acouple three-hour marathons to
get the guys' BQ time in as well.
But I tell the women in mygroups all the time is like it's
(42:43):
going to hurt.
No matter what you do, it'sgoing to hurt.
Is it worth it?
Physiologically you're designedto handle that better than I am
, thank God.
I will never know how much ithurts to bear a child, but if
it's worth it, you go throughthe pain.
(43:03):
If it's worth it.
The pain is not a problem, it'sjust part of it.
And with my personal running,with all the issues that I've
been dealing with my health,that's the same mentality that I
take.
It's worth it.
(43:24):
To me it's been nine yearssince I've not been in pain.
But I can cry about what I lostor I can celebrate that
statistically speaking, I'm ananomaly and still being alive
and running the speed and thedistance that I'm running,
despite having a motor vehiclehit me from behind at about 40
(43:46):
miles per hour.
I don't know if you've seen thenews but Johnny and Matthew
Goudreau, the hockey players asa BC guy, I used to watch them
play at BC.
That news this past week or sowas devastating for me because
(44:08):
the way they died had so manysimilarities to what happened to
me similarities to whathappened to me, and so it stung.
But it also helped me torefocus and reframe that.
Yeah, this hurts.
(44:30):
Yeah, this is wrong.
Yeah, this is a problem.
Yeah, I can't do what I used tobe able to do neurologically,
but I'm alive and by so manyaccounts, I probably shouldn't
be.
So it all comes down again tothe you know how do you frame
(44:53):
something?
How are you going to look?
What lens are you going to lookat something through?
Are you going to look at it asa debilitating problem or a
speed bump?
Are you going to look at it asthis is the end, that wall's too
high to climb, or how awesomeis the view going to be when I
get to the top?
Speaker 2 (45:13):
It's such a great outlook on life that you just
don't get that from very manypeople.
So we really appreciate hearingthat, because obviously in our
world not as many people canhave that kind of outlook.
Speaker 1 (45:27):
I mean, I hate to say it, but when the pandemic
happened and everything startedshutting down, I was just
cringing.
It was like, oh man, peoplehave no idea how to handle
adversity.
Yeah, I mean, there was a lotof things that by necessity had
to change, and I'm notchallenging that, but the way
(45:48):
your average it was just wow,people need to to focus on what
really matters.
It's like okay, yes, we can'tdo this, but we're alive.
Speaker 2 (46:06):
Why are we crying?
Speaker 1 (46:07):
about what we can't do when we're alive.
And there's all these otherthings that we can do.
And again, pacing I keepmentioning that because it's one
of my favorite things to do islike.
I love organized race events.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
If there's a race that you could pace that, like
right now, seems out of reach,what would it be?
What would be like yourultimate race to pace?
Speaker 1 (46:37):
So for me it's the pacing is a hundred percent
about helping people.
The more people I can help, themore tickets to Boston that I
can help people punch, thehappier I am.
So simple mathematics on thatthe bigger the race, the more
(46:57):
people I can help.
Simple mathematics on that thebigger the race, the more people
I can help.
So, pacing london, pacingchicago, pacing berlin I'd love
to do those.
Pacing tokyo I'd love to dothose because the groups would
be massive.
Yeah, there's a lot of theraces, like when I'm in north
dakota later on this month atfour, four hours, I might have a
(47:21):
couple people with me at thefinish.
It's a smaller race.
There's been a couple racesthat I've paced and I finished
in the top 10 as a pacer.
If I'm pacing and I don't havesomeone in my group, that's not
fun.
But the bigger my group, themore that everybody else's
(47:49):
energy I feed off of anamplifier and that's how I've
always been, whether it was thecrazy fan at the Boston College
Games or pacing.
If I've got an energetic group,I'll amp that up to another
level.
I love when I've got groups.
I've had races where I've had agroup of a couple people and we
(48:12):
get into conversation and,again, focus is what you're
focusing on matters.
And we'll get into conversation.
And we'll get to mile 24 of themarathon.
We'll be like, wow, how are wehere already?
And these are people who aregoing for a five minute PR.
They get to mile 24, they'restill conversational, running
(48:38):
five minutes faster than they'veever run in their life.
And it's frustrating and funnyto see that once they notice
that they're a mile 24,something in the back of their
head is saying it's supposed tohurt right now.
So they go from beingconversational to just in a
split second and it's just likeno, it's what you're focusing on
(49:00):
.
If you're focused, if we'rehaving fun as a pace group,
those miles fly by.
But if you're focusing on ohman, I still got so many miles
left to go, it's gonna hurt more.
And having those groups is sorewarding Seeing those goals
(49:24):
just get demolished.
And you know, uh, one, uh, oneof my highlights as a I wasn't
even an official pacer.
There was a race I did, um, therace director I.
I learned to swallow my prideearly when my whole life blew up
on me and I'd reach out to racedirectors and be like look,
(49:46):
here's my situation.
I have no money but I have time.
What can I do to earn an entry?
I can't give you $150, becausethat's 33% of what I have for
the entire month, because that's33% of what I have for the
entire month.
But I got all day Tell me whatto do and the vast majority of
(50:08):
race directors would work withme.
I've done so many packetpickups.
I've done so many coursemarkings.
I've done so many breakdownsafter the races, like I've done
pretty much all the secondaryroles of race organization.
I know what's involved so I'm agreat worker for them.
(50:28):
Because it's not my first rodeoand it's allowed me to do, I
told you I did like 85 races.
I think the only races Iactually paid for that year were
the majors.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
So you've done the majors too.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
Yes, I told you I did the body paint when I decided
to do the majors.
I pride myself on not beingnormal.
It's like, oh, thousands ofpeople have run all six majors,
but how many have run them inbody paint?
Speaker 2 (50:55):
How'd that go in Tokyo?
Speaker 1 (51:00):
Because they're kind of strict, aren't they?
I was basically a giantJapanese flag.
Okay, so I did.
They do have strict rules, butpaint is makeup, it's not a
costume.
Speaker 2 (51:12):
Fair.
Speaker 1 (51:14):
So I'm not violating any rules and while Tokyo does
have strict rules aboutpolitical messages and religious
messages and so on and so forth, basically being a giant
Japanese flag is not going tooffend anybody in Tokyo.
Speaker 2 (51:31):
It's their flag, yeah .
Speaker 1 (51:40):
So when I decided to do the majors, to paint the
majors, it's like, do I continuedoing what I do in Boston and
my Boston at BC my thing was redface with a gold cross on my
face.
I rode crew and that was thedesign on our oar, and BC's a
Jesuit Catholic school.
So that was a perfect fit forbeing the crazy BC fan.
I was a BC super fan.
(52:00):
I was at every.
I was at more games than themascot was and the red paint
with the gold cross on my facewas my thing.
And so I kept that for Bostonand for the Boston marathon.
I've done that every time I'verun Boston, with the exception
(52:21):
of 2021.
2021, I inverted the colorsbecause 2021 was not on Patriots
Day, it was because of thepandemic.
They had moved it to the falland I said, well, the red body
paint is a Patriots Daytradition.
I'm doing something slightlydifferent and I painted gold
(52:41):
with the red offset.
But in 2019, when I decided todo the majors, it's like, do I
do everything BC colors or do Ido it different?
And I decided I'd do each majora different color.
So after I did Boston, I didLondon.
(53:02):
So what should I paint myselffor London.
You know I'll paint for thecharity I'm running for that one
.
I did fundraising for action onhearing loss.
Um, and I wasn't even thinkingI'll just paint whatever their
colors are.
Went to their website oh, itlooks like I'm purple and pink.
So I kept the cross design onmy face.
(53:22):
I did all purple with a pinkcross and a pink Action on
Hearing Loss logo on my chest.
And then Berlin I basically Istarted to make it so each race
the colors were somethingrelated to the location in some
(53:45):
way shape or form.
So when I did Berlin, I wasyellow with red cross and a
black German eagle design on mychest, so they're flag colors.
I went to Chicago and I didblue with and a black German
eagle design on my chest, sothey're flag colors.
I went to Chicago and I didblue with a flesh-colored stripe
(54:08):
and three red stars on my chest, so basically the Chicago flag
with a yellow cross on my face.
Inadvertently, I didn't realizeit, I was Sweden, so I got a
whole lot of go Sweden and ittook me a while to figure out
they were cheering for me.
New York I did painted greenwith a Statue of Liberty design
(54:32):
in white on my chest.
So basically I was a Statue ofLiberty and a lot of the New
Yorkers started calling me MrLiberty, like Statue of Liberty,
and a lot of the New Yorkersstarted calling me Mr Liberty.
I'm like cool, I could run withthat.
And then when I did Tokyo, itwas red and white.
I was inadvertently a Britbecause I had the white face
with a red cross on it, but Ialso more most predominantly,
(54:53):
people notice the big red sun onmy chest.
I was a giant japanese flag.
Um, I'm annually continuing todo boston and new york painted
that's really cool and thecrowds go nuts when I go by and
it's just so much fun.
(55:14):
The paint's a huge project butit's so worth it and I mean
we're 50-something days from NewYork I'll be painted green
again.
Speaker 2 (55:34):
I changed my offset color to orange because that's
what the NYR chose as theircolor for branding for the race
going forward.
That's very cool.
Well, we are going to need towrap this up.
Do you have any last umthoughts or words?
Speaker 1 (55:48):
for my listeners that we need to know again to focus
on the whole mindset matters.
Find your why and and anotherin the same line of thought as
that is the mentality thatnumbers are somebody else's
standards.
If you're doing your trainingand your life based on oh well,
somebody said that I need to runa Boston qualifying time why
(56:11):
are you judging yourself basedon their standards?
Run your best, chooseaggressive standards based on
yourself, and those otherstandards just naturally happen
If you're chasing after a BQ.
That Boston qualifying timebecomes a mental roadblock and
(56:35):
even if you're physicallycapable of it, something in the
back of your mind telling youthis is unachievable.
So don't set your goal as yourBQ time.
Set your goal as your New Yorkqualifying time, which is about
15 minutes faster, and then youhave a bad day and you still
qualified for Boston by 10minutes.
Speaker 2 (56:51):
There you go.
Speaker 1 (56:52):
Numbers are somebody else's standards.
If you're focusing on theirstandards, you're not achieving
your potential.
If you focus on who you are,what you're capable of doing,
and stop judging yourself bythose standards, you blow
yourself away with what you'recapable of.
Speaker 2 (57:09):
That's awesome.
Well, ken, I really could talkto you all day, but, yeah, we do
have a cutoff.
Thank you so much for being onthe show and I hope the best for
you for your next few races,and I'll talk to you again after
you've accomplished some morethings that are just out of this
world thank you so much forhaving me.
Speaker 1 (57:29):
It's been a pleasure and I hope we'll get to see each
other at a race somewhere outthere in the not too distant
future.
Speaker 2 (57:35):
I hope so too, thanks , bye-bye all right well, thanks
for listening to the episode.
I hope so too.
Thanks, bye-bye, take care, allright.
Well, thanks for listening tothe episode.
I hope you enjoyed it.
Please continue to follow,share and rate the program.
If you're needing that coach,reach out to me.
There's a button in the shownotes that you can contact me
directly.
Share it with a friend if youthink their story needs to be on
(57:57):
the podcast, I'd love to hearfrom them.
So thanks again and have agreat day.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.