Full Transcript for Matthew Bickel (From Overweight to Endurance Athlete)

trail, he quits, he doesn't want to do it anymore, he gives up, he calls me to come get him. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:20.079 I lie to him on the phone and say I'm on my way. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.279 I run backwards on the trail seven miles through the night. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:32.000 And it was honestly not even the experience that happened post that, but those seven miles of May Queen backwards, watching the faces of people. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:36.959 This is four in the morning, seeing these people that have been running for 24 hours now in the middle of the night. 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:39.920 The just this state, I have full goosebumps right now. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:42.800 Seeing these looks on their faces one by one by one. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:45.360 By the time I got to Bobby, I was on fire. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:48.079 And I was like, get up, we're finishing this race. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:49.600 I got this map on my watch. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:52.319 It says we gotta run, we gotta go, follow my heels. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:55.279 And long story, we finish with like 12 minutes to spare. 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:56.959 Bobby becomes a lead man. 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:57.920 I'm on fire. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:04:58.720 I'm a runner now. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:04:59.360 You know what I mean? 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:01.600 I was training for a half uh for a marathon already. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:04.800 The very next weekend is Burning Man, they have ultra marathon. 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:05.920 I'm running an ultra. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:07.519 So go out, run an ultra. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:09.600 No, like hadn't even tried a marathon yet. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:12.079 So my first marathon was in the ultra at Burning Man. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:21.040 Finish the Ultra, go out, run the marathon, have a terrible time on the road marathon, and decide I want to be a trail runner, I want to run the hundred, I'm gonna do it in two years. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:22.560 So started training for that. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:31.360 Last year I ran the um the Leadville Marathon, which is the hardest marathon in North America, and then I ran uh the Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim with you. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:35.680 Um came up short on that by a few miles at the top because I was sick that day. 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:40.720 So this year it's Grand Canyon full rim to rim to rim, marathon again, Leadville 100. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:42.399 Long story, but that's where I'm at. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:43.040 That's huge. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:06:04.560 That is a long story, and there's a lot to unpack there, and I want to get to the community aspect in a minute because I was at Leadville last year as well, pacing my our friend Mike Adala, and I remember how stoked you were, and saving Bobby's ass from just sitting on a rock bump to getting him back in the race and Bobby becoming a lead man, and that was massive. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:06.399 Um

that was such a fun weekend. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:11.519 Um, but I want to take this back before the fitness, before the yoga. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:13.759 Um give people a little backstory. 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:20.000 I know you played a baler, um, I know you were obese for a large part of your life. 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:25.120 Walk me back to kind of how you got yourself into that position. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:29.199 And then more so, I'm interested in what had to change. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:33.439 What changes did you make to be the man who's sitting in the chair across from you now? 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:35.519 Yeah, great question again. 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:47.839 Um for me, it was uh looking for love is like a big, big if you dig for the root, which has taken me about 30 years of my life to find the root, but the root is I was looking for love and food always loved me. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:51.680 And so, as feeling unloved, I could always go to food and it was there. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:56.480 And growing up, um, I think that was a comfort thing that turned into an addiction. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:03.199 Uh, playing football was a way to hide, it was it fit in a box, so I could be overweight and um just somewhat overweight. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:07.439 I had to fight my weight, but being larger it was accepted and almost rewarded. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:13.199 And then when I got done playing, um, I got to a point where I became successful. 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:17.680 And ironically, my idea of success was travel and find dining. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:23.439 And so I would try and eat decadent meals and go to exotic places, and I thought that was like killing it. 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:31.839 And I thought I was living this exotic, beautiful life, and I was gaining a pound a month for 10 years, and I was already fighting the weight when I got done playing football. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:33.680 So I got done playing at 350. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:35.600 For 10 years, I gained a pound a month. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:51.600 You do the math, that ends up being about, you know, I think the I saw 512 pounds was the heaviest I've ever saw on a scale, but I had been, it took me four months to find a scale that weighed over 500 pounds while I was losing weight to even get on a scale. 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:59.680 Um, so yeah, man, the shift was honestly a like learning how to cook, but the root of learning how to cook is self-love. 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:01.120 Everything comes from self-love. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:06.319 You're not gonna fix this problem until you get pissed off about it and until you start loving yourself. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:09.600 And no one who's that obese truly loves themselves. 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:10.160 You can't. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:18.079 You think you can, you can try and play games with yourself, but if you sit there in the mirror all by yourself alone, I'm miserable with who I am.

00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:25.120 Yeah, but what does it internal or external as far as the motivation? 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:27.040 Was it disgust? 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:30.959 Was it what became too big of a burden to bear? 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:31.199 Yeah. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:36.960 To where you could no longer accept it, and it's like I have to change today or consequences. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:38.080 It was a blend. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:41.360 Funny enough, I never had a doctor be like, hey, you're gonna die. 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:43.840 I had never had a friend come up to me and be like, what are you doing? 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:45.039 You're killing yourself. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:47.919 Like, I was quite the opposite. 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:53.600 I was like doing 14ers and skiing at 500 pounds, like it took a long time and it hurt really, really bad. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:58.960 And I was slow as shit, but I just like I kind of just moved through life at a different speed. 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:01.200 And um, for me, it was a couple things. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:08.720 One, as dumb as it sounds, it's like this dirty closet that you've known you've had for like a decade that you just need to throw all this shit out and get to it. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:17.039 And and you know you're such I'm such a type A person that I know once I clean out that closet, I'm gonna never be able to not have it completely organized again because I'm too OCD. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:19.200 And that's where I was putting off the weight loss. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:23.200 I knew I was getting big, I knew things were happening, and a couple things happened around me. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:27.679 A bunch of big linemen guys I was friends with lost a bunch of weight, and I lost my fraternity of big boys. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:32.159 All of a sudden, I was like, wait a minute, I don't want to be the only one here that's you know, belly hanging over his belt. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:33.759 And so that happened. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:37.679 And then some externals or internal, I guess, my body started to hurt really bad. 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:41.600 So I'd have really bad lower back problems from carrying that gut around and sleeping. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:45.279 I couldn't get comfortable sleeping, and every morning I'd wake up in so much back pain. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:53.279 And then the last piece, and this is such a boring but monumental thing, is I was burnt out on eating cheat meals. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:58.320 Uh, I had a friend who got gastric bypass surgery, and when he did, he had to do a psychological test beforehand. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:01.600 And they asked him a question how many cheat meals do you have a week? 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:03.440 And he's like, What do you consider a cheat meal? 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:06.799 And they, you know, like, order whatever you want, don't think about calories. 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:10.559 He's like 21 to 28, and that's exactly where I was. 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:16.639 I was eating three to four meals a day of as much food as I could consume to fill my heart's desire. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:23.279 And so just understanding that and making that change of like, it was almost like I was training to be that overweight. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:26.639 So as soon as I made a change, things started to shift and happen. 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:33.200 And when I did that and kind of understood how to cook for myself and learned so a little bit tiniest bit about nutrition, it just changed. 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:39.759 And then obviously, what opened the floodgates is community friends having fun doing fitness, not being forced to work out. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:42.320 But that's a long road you got to get to when you're really out of shape. 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:46.720 Yeah, so there how many, how long can you put off? 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:50.559 Because I've never been 500 pounds, and a lot of people haven't. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:57.120 I'm sure there are a lot of people who are going and there are probably people maybe who listen to this podcast and they're not who are going in that direction. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:03.279 How long can you go trying to undo you're over 500? 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:12.639 Yeah, trying to shove that back down, and what what mental gymnastics did you have to go through to justify that? 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:16.159 Ultimately, and what I want to get to is what the turning point was. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:18.720 Like, what was the first step you made you talked about cooking? 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:19.360 Yeah, right. 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:20.320 What was the spark? 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:20.960 Were you watching? 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:22.000 Was it Julia Child? 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:24.399 Like, were you watching a cooking show? 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:31.679 Or what was the level where you accepted responsibility now for the things you take from your hand and put it in your mouth? 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:35.759 Yeah, so the first question is weird. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:43.440 I one thing that I can't unsee now is really, really obese people, and I just want to go hug them when I see them out in public. 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:47.600 And I just want I it just like hurts my heart because I know exactly what they're going through. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:12:03.919 Uh, one of my favorite stories is I'd go see a lot of shows at Red Rocks when I was that big, and I would be afraid to get up and go pee during the show because of the looks on people's faces when they would see me coming, be like, like, because they were how tall, tell the people how tall you are. 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:04.799 I'm six five. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:06.799 Yeah, you're not it, you're not a set of fucking parties. 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:07.440 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:09.519 I'm a big six five, five. 00:12:10.000 -->

00:12:10.799 280, you look great. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:12.720 Yeah, but you're still a towering human being. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:14.240 Yeah, I'm a big massive person. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:20.399 And I and I'd probably still get some of those reactions now, but then it was like seeing a circus freak, and I knew it. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:28.639 And so unknowing is there's a difference between you know the whole time, but you deny it, you deny it, you deny it. 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:33.360 And then my biggest, I thought that airplanes were getting smaller, I thought that cars were getting smaller. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:35.840 I really you could live in that much denial. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:55.039 Um, and then the breaking point for me, ironically, was um I was eating a meal from Codoba, and my normal Cadoba dinner was a steak burrito with extra steak, a chicken quesadilla, chips and queso, queso on the burrito, guac on the on the burrito, and a guac for dipping and a massive soda. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:57.039 And that was just like that was dinner. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:58.559 You know, that wasn't a special occasion. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:00.080 That wasn't, I just ran 25 miles. 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:07.840 Yeah, like I probably had to be like I probably had that for lunch and for breakfast also, and like was gonna eat that night. 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:11.600 And I was so burnt out on it, and I was like, man, does pizza sound good? 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:12.879 No, does donuts sound good? 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:17.360 I had burnt myself out on every bad food because I was in this spiral of eating so bad. 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:19.039 It was at my biggest I've ever been. 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:22.720 And so I was like, maybe I should try vegetables, maybe that would taste good. 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:24.240 I couldn't think of anything that would taste good. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:30.960 And I went to Whole Foods website because at that point I was so in the dust that like Whole Foods is where healthy people eat. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:33.519 I thought, you know, I didn't realize they have cookies there, and I do now. 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:39.519 Um so I clicked on the website, and on the top right corner, I'll never forget, there was a link that said eat right, comma now. 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:41.759 And I was like, that's me, I want to eat right. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:46.480 So I clicked on it and it popped up this uh the aggregate nutritional density index. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:53.039 It's a big fancy word, it's a scale that Andy scale is what it's called, and it rates food one to a thousand. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:57.600 And a one is a Coca-Cola, and a thousand is rainbow chard. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:07.279 And like the top, you know, anything over 800 is gonna be like bok choy, um kale, collard greens, like big, thick, heavy, dense vegetables. 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:11.919 And basically what that is, is it's how much nutritional density is in one bite of food. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:17.759 And that's why if you try and eat chard and kale, it's so hard to eat because it's so packed nutritionally dense. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:23.200 And for me, that was a big breakthrough because I was so afraid of having food taken away. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:29.919 When you're addicted to food, you know, you could feed me horse slop as long as I'm getting food, I'm like, I'm not so scared. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:41.039 And so I made a deal with myself that I was gonna learn how to cook these things and I was going to eat only on the left side of the list for half of my plate, and I could eat a truckload of it. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:44.639 And when I heard the truckload thing, it was like the psychological, like, okay, I'm safe. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:46.879 I can eat a truckload, it's just gonna have to be this stuff. 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:49.360 And then I started learning how to prepare it. 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:54.960 I bought a bamboo cutting board and a Japanese steel knife, and that was amazing. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:58.960 To this day, I credit a lot of my health to my love for cooking. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:01.919 And anyone who knows me now, you know, I'm like the chef guy. 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:14.720 I love being in charge of the food, and I think a lot of being in charge of the food is the say psychological safety that I'm gonna eat healthy, that I'm gonna get enough, that I'm gonna not, you know, blow it, or somebody's not gonna put a bunch of butter or oil in my food. 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:18.399 And so that kind of was the big huge shift for me right then. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:23.279 It's obviously been a journey of a million ups and downs since then, but that was the catalyst that started it. 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:33.840 So you burn yourself out, you burn your palate out, or there's potentially something inside you that's saying, we can't do this anymore, nothing's appetizing, and we cannot do this. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:40.639 So you go to the whole food site, you click the thing, you get some bottle choice, cutting board, steel knife. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:42.799 Okay, that deals with the nutrition side. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:44.399 Where does the movement come in? 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:50.559 So, what are the next steps after, okay, I'm gonna start controlling and taking responsibility for what I'm eating. 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:52.480 Now, how what are the first steps? 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:56.240 What does it look like to move in your body as a 500 plus pound apple? 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:58.799 Yeah, so I started going. 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:01.600 The first step was thank God for dogs. 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:06.559 I've had dogs and I lived up in the mountains in Conifer, and there was this trail called Maxwell Falls. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:09.440 It's probably a 5k, maybe a little short. 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:12.879 Um, it's probably

got 900 feet of vert in it, up and down. 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:15.679 And I would go walk it every single day with my dogs. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:18.240 And when I started doing it, it would take me two and a half hours. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:21.519 I'd have to stop every probably half mile and sit down. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:27.440 Um, I'm a very big quantifiable guy, so times, paces, always have been a big deal for me. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:29.120 So I started racing my times. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:32.639 And and first I wasn't racing my times, I was racing can I do it without stopping? 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:34.080 Can I do it without sitting down? 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:36.960 And those were these monumental steps. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:40.639 Then I bought the scale that weighed over 500 pounds. 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:45.600 Then I saw 5'12, and I don't know, I mean I'm gonna cuss real quickly on here. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:47.200 I don't like to cuss a lot of the podcasts. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:51.279 But I started walking every single step saying, fuck you, 512. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:52.480 Every single step. 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:54.960 And I would just, my legs hurt so bad. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:56.879 I I was sore for nine months. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:06.079 My legs were like they just had so much weight they were carrying, and I was walking up and down hills for the first time, like aggressively, consistently, not just like once a year hitting a 14er. 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:10.160 And I would just mantra in my head, fuck you, 512, fuck you, 512. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:18.000 And the cool thing is when you're that overweight and you had been training that much to be that fat, it's so cool how much weight you get to. 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.319 I got to lose like a hundred pounds in three months. 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:20.960 You know what I mean? 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:23.119 Like it just started falling off me. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:25.200 Now, was that a body transformation? 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:36.559 No, it was it was just a loss of fat, which is a great start, but it you know, I I think that's where I tried to separate myself is like I don't want to be a weight loss story, I want to be an unbreakable human being. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:39.200 And so that started the process though. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:42.640 Got down to 325, hiking and chopping vegetables. 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:58.480 Thought I was like fighting weight, thought I was ready to go, super soft 325, and then cannabis got I work in cannabis, cannabis got legalized recreationally in 2014, and my life changed, and I started going all over the world and doing all this cool stuff, and I got back up to almost 400 pounds again. 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:09.759 And that's when I found CrossFit, and that's when I found the secret sauce, which is community and the fun of fitness, where I stopped working out to lose weight and I started training with my homies, and this is the result. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:10.400 Yeah. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:20.160 And you know, even going back to the running where we I wanted to talk about community and explore whether how much of discipline is actually social. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:25.039 So um I've heard you mention before that community kind of equals consistency. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:25.519 Yeah. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:28.799 And what did that look like for you? 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:31.920 You know, who did you have to leave behind? 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:32.480 Right? 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:35.359 Because a big part of change is what you're leaving behind. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:37.599 It's it's the unfortunate part of any story. 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:37.920 Yeah. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:41.599 So you're leaving behind one community who knows Mr. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:55.359 Good Time, 500 pounds, Matt Bickle going to Red Rocks and doing all this really fun stuff, and now you're eating Bach Choi fucking hiking mountains, and now you're you're finding yourself in this fitness community. 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:58.400 Did you was the fitness community welcoming to you? 00:18:58.480 --> 00:18:59.519 Like what did that look like? 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:05.759 And then how much of a role has community played, and how important has it become along this journey? 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:08.160 Yeah, so great questions again. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:14.240 I was living in the mountains, hiking and chopping vegetables, and I was losing momentum. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.319 That's when I started creeping back up to 400 pounds. 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:17.359 I couldn't do it alone. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:31.920 I was going to the gym and the down in conifer, the 24-hour fitness or whatever little hole in the wall place, and and I was losing my momentum, and I had a fire in me for about a year and a half, and I typically have the fire, and it definitely was fading on me. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:34.079 And so I knew I needed something. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:44.079 I saw Rich Froning win his last games on TV on ESPN on one of the like on a day where I was sitting there eating pizza feeling super fat, knowing I was almost 400 pounds again. 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:50.079 And I was moving back to the city from the mountains, and I did it for, I was doing it for community. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:52.160 I was like, I think community is the thing I'm missing. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:54.079 Like, I think I need to be around people. 00:19:54.319 --> 00:20:04.720 And so between Froning and needing community, I was at the deli in the mountains, and I was moving to Lodo, and I saw a guy walk into the deli wearing a hat that said CrossFit Lodo, and I thought, I'll go to that place. 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:06.240 That's gotta be right in Lodo. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:08.720 And so looked it up, went there. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:13.039 First time I walked in the door, they were

doing a free class on Saturdays and they were doing burpees. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:15.440 And after the third one, I was like, when are they gonna stop? 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:16.799 Like, this is unhealthy. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:20.000 You know, just like seeing people get on and off the ground three times was that scary to me. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:22.400 That's how unhealthy and like where my mind was. 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:29.440 And I did like a personal training class, and the head coach was smart enough to have me do a rower and squats. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:35.119 I could squat a lot of weight my whole life, and a rower, if you're 300 and 400 pounds, you can pull the hell out of a rower, you know. 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:38.559 So got some little win there and just jumped into the classes. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:41.920 And it's funny, the like I went to the right gym. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:45.839 I went to a gym where now knock on Lodo, but there's no one's going to the games from Lodo. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:50.000 No one's like, no one's probably barely a few people who are doing local competitions. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:52.319 And it was like a barrier of entry that wasn't scaring the hell. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:56.319 If I'd have gone to Cenitas or something like that, they'd have scared me right out the door. 00:20:56.559 --> 00:21:03.440 And it's funny because at first I wanted so badly to be a cool CrossFit guy that those guys were all really rude to me. 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:06.960 But the the normal general population was awesome to me. 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:11.359 And so there was a 78-year-old woman named Judy that had just retired from her job. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:16.000 That my goal was to beat Judy every day when I started doing CrossFit and I started getting Judy. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:20.720 And then it was like this guy, Sean, that was one of the fitter guys of like the general pop. 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:26.960 And then I was trying to beat the coaches, and then that led me to like, well, can I go and do local local competitions? 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:39.759 And then can I find games athletes to train with and literally have worked my way to where, like yourself, I get to train with the fittest people in the world, like finding you, and that's through my passion and love for community and fitness. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:52.559 Um, the community piece like really took off when I got hungry for more and more, and I finally figured out that CrossFit wasn't a class at noon on Monday through Friday. 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:59.599 That CrossFit was a lifestyle, and like I would travel and go to CrossFit gyms and do drop ins, and then see the same people from the gym. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:06.960 On the hike in Alaska, and it started to correlate like, oh, this isn't a class, this isn't fitness, this is life. 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:11.920 And I started incorporating my daily life around it and then attracting all

these people. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:13.839 And now I'm surrounded in this place. 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:18.559 I literally live in like the most safe bubble in the world if you want to be fit as shit. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:24.960 Because everywhere I go, everyone's about their goals, everyone's challenging themselves to the point of the hundred. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:25.680 Why the hundred? 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:28.480 Now we're getting to it because it's been normalized. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:30.160 Because everybody I know did it. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:32.720 Because it's like all of a sudden you ran a marathon. 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:33.440 Way to go, bro. 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:34.319 Run four in a row. 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:35.039 You know what I mean? 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:39.599 Like, and and like to your question earlier, you're doing lead man or a marathon or the hundred. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:40.640 No, just the hundred. 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:42.319 I'm not doing the four races. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:43.680 Like, what in the world? 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:44.400 That's normal. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:45.119 And it is. 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:53.039 Like it's it's so cool that we've created that world because we've raised the bar so high that I don't have to keep the fire lit. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:54.799 I don't have, and I'm gonna fall off. 00:22:54.880 --> 00:23:01.359 I'm gonna have go through six months periods where I'm not the guy leading the way and the charge of like being on top of it. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:10.640 But I got people like you and a hundred others around me that are never gonna let me fall too far, and then as soon as this fire gets lit again, here you are, you know, and that's where I'm at. 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:30.559 Yeah, so the identity shift of you walking in to Loto and competing with Judy because everybody else looks super scary, and now you have friends like Chandler Smith, Matt Frazier, you know, him, and you have all these incredibly fit people who've been doing this for a long time. 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:32.720 Is it a level of expense? 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:39.680 Like what is that where did your comp where did that confidence come from as far as being intimidated day one? 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:41.200 Do I belong here? 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:43.759 Do I deserve to be fit? 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:45.440 Do I deserve to be around these people? 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:54.720 What does their performance say about me versus now you are the metaphoric 76-year-old Judy who's inspiring people? 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:56.880 Now you're driving people into fitness. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:06.000 So what was what had to change for your perspective of how you see yourself versus belonging with this group of fit people? 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:06.319 Yeah. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:11.200 Like what has that done for you from a confidence perspective or identity perspective? 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:12.559 Funny

you say that. 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:18.400 I I think what changed is I realized that through this process, I realized that I have a gift. 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:25.359 That like Sam Dancers told me a million times that if I was 5'9, 195, I'd have won the game six times in a row, too. 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:31.359 Like, and and I'm not saying that arrogantly, like, my gift is my joy and my love for the process. 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:39.119 And anyone who's knows me or is around me knows that like I don't cut corners, I love to work hard, and I love pushing everybody everywhere I go. 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:49.200 And a joy comes out of me when I'm doing that and an access to flow state that makes it to where I belong in any room in the world when there's people doing the things that I'm aligned with. 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:55.119 And I've learned that through with through career stuff, through social settings, and through fitness. 00:24:55.279 --> 00:25:04.079 But I'm my I'm a damn good version of myself in a fitness setting where a lot of people are intimidated, especially around a Matt Fraser or a Chandler Smith. 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:12.559 And I just tear down the walls for everyone with with the way I train, the way I interact, and the fun that I'm having, and the fun that I cause everyone else to have. 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:21.279 And I've it's such a gift that I realize like I if you if you let me in the room and it when we're training, you're probably gonna walk away going, I would like to train with that guy again. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:29.279 And if I if you can create that atmosphere, you can go anywhere with this sport or in life in general, it's just finding the things that give you the access to feel that way. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:39.680 Um again, going back to the contradiction of doing balancing all of these different I like to call them it's like your portfolio of enthusiasm. 00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:40.480 That's what mine is. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:42.240 It's a little bit of everything, right? 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:45.279 Um we'll get into the why not one thing here shortly. 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:51.519 But what does fitness mean to you is a method of freedom and express and personal and physical expression? 00:25:51.759 --> 00:26:02.000 Like you don't you have to do some level of footwork to even be able to train for a 100-mile race that's entirely above$10,000 a calorie. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:09.119 So I want to speak to the gift of now being in a position where you're fit enough to do this, right? 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:14.960 Where a lot of people they need that 10 or 15 year run-up to even be able to train for something like this. 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:19.759 So, what does fitness mean to you in regards to freedom of expression? 00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:22.079 Man, you almost nailed my answer. 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:24.880 Fitness is freedom and health is wealth. 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:31.359 And like the richest people in the world that don't have their health are the poorest people in the world. 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:33.440 This body is a fleeting thing. 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:37.839 It's it's got a it's got an hourglass that the sand is falling through fast. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:41.519 And the only way you can't stop it, but you can slow it down. 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:46.400 And ultimately, you ask anyone laying on their deathbed, what do they wish for? 00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:48.160 They wish to get off their deathbed. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:51.279 I'm running, I'm sprinting from the deathbed. 00:26:51.440 --> 00:27:06.480 And I'm doing it in a way that I'm also aging as gratefully as possible, putting deposits in the bank account on a daily basis to where I am going to be hopefully one of the richest men in the world at 90 years old, still doing the things I'm doing today. 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:11.759 And you have to get older, you or I'm sorry, you have to age, you don't have to get older. 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:18.160 Like, I'm 45 years old, and so funny, some guy left a really mean, hurtful comment on my Instagram the other day. 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:24.480 Um, I thought I looked jacked, but I was wearing like Nike running shorts, and he's like, Not everyone should wear that. 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:28.240 And I was like, hey man, like F off, like this is my body, and I'm proud of it. 00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:30.799 And he's like, You're 45 doing high rocks. 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:32.799 And I was like, dang, I am 40. 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:35.039 He said, You're pushing 50 doing high rocks. 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:37.759 And I was like, Yeah, I am pushing 50 doing high rocks. 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:38.880 Like, awesome. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:41.839 I don't see that in my head and in everyone's head. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:56.160 We're 20-year-old kids, we're insecure 10-year-olds in their conscious, our bodies and our minds are these 20-year-old things that are like, man, I can't believe I'm 45 years old, and we're all just like terrified and deer and headlights of the fact that we're gonna be 90 one day. 00:27:56.319 --> 00:28:01.279 Um I think what's funny is everyone wants to, the normal everyone wants to hide from that. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:04.720 There's like, uh it, you know, and that'll happen eventually. 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:10.880 It's like, no, you can take this into your own hands and you can make yourself my my biggest aha moment ever. 00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:13.599 I got super into CrossFit, it was all about weight loss. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:14.880 I was fighting community. 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:16.880 I got invited to go to the CrossFit games. 00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:22.000 I went and as I was walking up, the masters were finishing the swim run. 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:29.279 So they were all in their swimsuits, and these were all people from 35 to 70, and I saw their bodies and the light bulb came on. 00:28:29.359 -->

00:28:38.319 I was like, oh, I don't need to snatch 300 pounds, I don't need to go to the CrossFit games, all I need to do is look like that when I'm 80 years old, and I'm fine. 00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:42.480 Like that means that like life doesn't end at 60 or 70 or whatever. 00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:47.519 Life ends when the when the lights go out, but you can go out kicking and screaming and having a blast. 00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:57.200 So that's my why, and that's why like basically if I can push the limits as far as I can now, if I'm running 100 miles at 45, I should be cruising at 60, you know. 00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:08.079 Yeah, I've gone to a number of masterminds recently where everybody writes down you know the well, their 15 to 20 things that they want, and it's all wealth related, and I want the house and I want the perfect morning. 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:15.839 And then I just go up there, whatever keynote speech I had planned, and like none of you said physical health, none of you said joy. 00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:20.400 And the fastest way to lose all those things is to have one health problem. 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:26.319 And you're starting to see it a lot more when you have a thousand problems until you have a serious health problem, and then you have a problem. 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:30.160 Anyone who's been through that is already very well aware of that. 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:30.400 Yeah. 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:33.759 Um you have a six thousand square foot house and you can't get upstairs. 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:38.559 Yeah, you know, like you can't sit out on your toilet, so you live in a nursing home while your six thousand square foot house is. 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:49.839 Or you're the or you're the guy on social media that only has the energy to sit there and criticize people and sit in the fucking comment section while you're wiping fucking flaming hot Cheetos on your shirt so you don't get it on your fucking phone. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:51.039 Yeah, fuck those people. 00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:52.559 So you all cuss on a podcast. 00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:57.359 And the other piece of that I don't want to miss is fitness is freedom. 00:29:57.440 --> 00:29:58.960 And and that's the other piece. 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:09.440 You're like, you live a life, Bo, where you're you're gonna do Grand Canyon rim-to-rim to rim, back-to-back weekends, and and you're not going to do a nine-month training block for it. 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:10.799 You stay ready. 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:26.480 And I learned that early about you, and like you've been, you know, you're a competitive CrossFit Games athlete, you're a freaking strongman savage, you're an ultra runner, and and sitting back and observing like the guys that can do everything, that's what people are jealous about. 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:29.599 People at my age, I'm not jealous of a 300-pound snatch. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:36.079 I'm jealous of a guy that can run 50 miles and can, you know, lift their body weight in every single lift. 00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:37.519 Like, that's so impressive to me. 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:42.559 And so, do you have the freedom of anytime someone asks you to do something, yeah, I'll go do it. 00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:48.000 You know, and like most people are bound to their abilities and they're bound to their fitness. 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:51.519 I don't even fitness is a weird word, but their their body preparation. 00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:58.799 And a great example is I hadn't ridden my bike in five months and did four bike rides and rode 100 miles the other day. 00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:00.960 And I'd never ridden 100 miles before in my life. 00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:04.240 I only ridden 60, and like it was fine. 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:07.440 Like it's when you get when you stay ready, you don't have to get ready. 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:13.680 And that's a freedom that if you don't know it, you should give yourself the opportunity to try because it's pretty freaking cool, you know. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:15.920 If you keep a sharp axe, it's ready when you need it. 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:16.720 That's the point. 00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:17.039 Yep. 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:30.640 And then one of my overarching themes I talk about with all of our a lot of our guys, um, like that that shit sandwich, that health problem, uh like there's always another wave coming, and whether it's mental, physical, emotional. 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:50.000 I think the best thing you can do, in my opinion, is keep your keep take great care of yourself so that when other people are down, when the health problems come, when the relationship, when any of that comes, like the more prepared you are, that fitness is a buffer to absorb life bullshit for the shit sandwich that's all coming that we're gonna have to take a bite of. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:52.559 Fitness to me acts as that buffer, right? 00:31:54.559 --> 00:32:01.599 Um you'd mentioned that the hundred doesn't seem viable yet. 00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:05.920 Like you can't imagine you finishing the hundred yet. 00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:06.160 Yeah. 00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:09.759 Yet being the the objective term there. 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:10.880 Walk me through that. 00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:13.279 Yeah, we're sure at with that right now. 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:17.279 So I this is the first time of anything. 00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:21.119 Like, sometimes I do something and I'm like, I don't know if I can do it or not. 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:22.240 I should go try. 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:24.960 Um, and sometimes I'm like, I can absolutely do something. 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:34.640 This is the first one that I absolutely know that I have zero chance unless I max out the next 198 days. 00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:36.480 Like it's I have zero chance. 00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:43.920 Like if I took what I've got today and or tomorrow, or the even the next 175 days, I won't have it.

00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:56.160 But I know that if I give every single thing in my body what I can, and that's recovery, that's nutrition, that's stress, that's focus, that there is a chance. 00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:59.759 Um, but the only way is by absolutely maxing everything out. 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:02.880 So I I tell everyone I don't know now. 00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:05.519 I think I'll know before I go to the starting line. 00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:06.640 I truly do. 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:09.359 Um, but it's going to take everything in me. 00:33:09.440 --> 00:33:14.640 And, you know, like I said, I've I'm down 45 pounds, I'm trying to lose another 30. 00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:17.200 Like this is gonna be a total life transformation. 00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:21.039 And the cool part about that is let's talk about falling on my face. 00:33:21.119 --> 00:33:22.559 Let's talk about the worst case scenario. 00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:25.039 Worst case scenario is the first time cutoff is at Mayqueen. 00:33:25.119 --> 00:33:26.319 It's 13 miles out. 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:41.759 Let's say that I show up to Mayqueen, and the next 198 days I wear it out and I bring the fittest version of my mind, body, and soul ever to that starting line, and I jog 11, 12 and a half miles and fall on my face and get capped. 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:43.599 It's a pretty fucking cool story. 00:33:43.759 --> 00:33:45.920 I walk away the fittest I've ever been in my life. 00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:48.960 I walk away 50, 60 pounds lighter than I've ever been. 00:33:49.119 --> 00:33:51.920 I step to the scariest thing ever and took a huge swing. 00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:53.279 Do I think that's gonna happen? 00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:54.240 Absolutely not. 00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:57.839 I think I'm known for having a day on days when I need to have a day. 00:33:58.160 --> 00:33:58.799 You know what I mean? 00:33:58.880 --> 00:34:04.319 Like I somehow, somehow, and and and we'll know a lot more before then. 00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:11.440 But again, um, if I can be proud of the effort of the next 198 days, I don't give a shit what happens on race day. 00:34:11.519 --> 00:34:16.239 Yeah, I like the notion of calibrating consequence and what real consequence is. 00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:26.880 And when I've done, I had a similar story with the the Bahamas to Florida prone paddle that I did, but looking at what real consequences are. 00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:37.280 Worst case scenario for Leadville, you bring the fittest Matt Vickle out there, you get time capped, and then you walk off the course to a bunch of people who love you and are proud of you. 00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:44.960 Like that's literally unless you're mauled by a mountain lion, um, unless the caldera yellowstone burst that day and we're all burned up. 00:34:45.119 --> 00:34:45.679 Yeah. 00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:47.519 Those aren't consequences. 00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:48.320 That's a story. 00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:48.639 Yep. 00:34:48.880 --> 00:34:52.480 And there are real people out there that have real consequences, right? 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:58.960 And so how like managing that in your head, I know I went through a similar scenario with the prone paddle, where I actually called a really good friend of mine. 00:34:59.119 --> 00:35:07.840 I'm like, dude, and I know the inner, the inner story was I don't know if I can finish this and I'm gonna look bad and um people are gonna think X about me. 00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:16.400 But in reality, the worst case scenario, unless I get bit by a shark or something like that, is I just get on the fucking boat and then I cheer on all my other friends who were doing the radically. 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:20.079 So these aren't real, all these consequences live up here. 00:35:20.559 --> 00:35:25.440 In reality, worst case scenario, you have an awesome day of watching everybody else fucking crush. 00:35:25.519 --> 00:35:32.000 If that's as bad as your day gets, I think you probably still have it better than a lot of human beings on the planet, right? 00:35:32.239 --> 00:35:33.840 Um so I'm really glad we got to that. 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:38.800 Is this are you proving something or are you discovering something? 00:35:39.039 --> 00:35:40.079 I'm discovering. 00:35:40.239 --> 00:35:40.480 Yeah. 00:35:40.559 --> 00:35:41.760 There's uh you sure? 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:43.039 Is that what are you discovering? 00:35:43.599 --> 00:35:54.239 The reason I can say that is because I I've there's two people in my head that are the yin and yang of Ultras, and it's David Goggins and Chris Roglowski and Courtney DeWalter. 00:35:54.400 --> 00:35:55.760 She kind of falls into that side too. 00:35:56.000 --> 00:35:59.760 And it's do you run because you're trying not to be a pussy? 00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:02.639 Because you need to be tougher, you need to figure out who you are. 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:06.079 Are you running because I got legs that work? 00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:08.239 God gave me a heart that beats. 00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:13.519 I got blood that pumps through my body in some scientific way that I'll never be able to unexplain. 00:36:13.679 --> 00:36:16.800 And and this is not a sure thing tomorrow. 00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:20.800 So I'm gonna go out and celebrate the shit out of these legs. 00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:22.320 I'm gonna celebrate these lungs. 00:36:22.480 --> 00:36:27.440 I'm gonna celebrate this creation that God made that is mind-blowing to me, these mountains. 00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:38.400 And the fact that I can go challenge myself in those places and discover how bad I can want something, how bad can I dig deep for something, and how much am I willing to suffer for something? 00:36:38.639 --> 00:36:39.280 I love that. 00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:41.519 That that gave me goosebumps again, head to toe. 00:36:41.599 --> 00:36:48.480 Like, I'm like, and to be able to do it, like if you told me how to do 100 miles on the treadmill, I'd be

like, F off, dude. 00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:52.079 But you put me in freaking Leadville, Colorado. 00:36:52.239 --> 00:36:57.760 Anyone who doesn't know, Leadville is as beautiful, if not more, than most of the towns in Colorado. 00:36:57.840 --> 00:37:02.000 It's just not as popularized because it's above 10,000 feet and people can't sleep up there. 00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:04.800 And so, and it's a little methy from the mines still. 00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:09.679 Um, but having said that, like just the the pure beauty of it alone. 00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:14.639 I'm gonna get to spend 30 hours with my friends out in the woods looking at the most beautiful creation on earth. 00:37:14.719 --> 00:37:16.320 Like, it sounds like a pretty good time to me. 00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:18.079 Yeah, no, I agree. 00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:22.239 Um you you alluded to this briefly. 00:37:22.559 --> 00:37:25.360 You said Let Bill's 198 days out. 00:37:25.519 --> 00:37:25.920 Yeah. 00:37:26.559 --> 00:37:29.679 What story are you gonna be telling yourself in 199 days? 00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:31.280 What does that story look like? 00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:38.239 The story is um I'm not gonna say the haze in the barn because I love making fun of people that say the haze in the barn. 00:37:38.400 --> 00:37:46.559 Um, the story I'm gonna tell myself is like I'm not gonna say you better be. 00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:51.119 You're gonna, I'm gonna be damn proud of what I did the last 198 days. 00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:58.000 Um I I didn't even realize, I posted it on my Instagram, um, and we can probably get a graphic of it up on the podcast. 00:37:58.239 --> 00:38:03.280 The day I got accepted, the day I found out I could do it, I was not in my best shape. 00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:04.719 And I didn't know that even. 00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:10.239 And I I was like brushing my teeth, and I got the email, and I walked over to my mirror and I took a photo. 00:38:10.559 --> 00:38:14.320 And I was like, How are what are you gonna do? 00:38:14.480 --> 00:38:15.920 Like, you're on your own now. 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:20.239 You just put yourself into the storm, like you were in the crosshairs of the scariest thing you've ever done in your life. 00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:26.000 So the next morning I woke up and for 83 days, I didn't know it was 83 days, but for 83 days, I started grinding. 00:38:26.079 --> 00:38:27.440 I mean, I started going after it. 00:38:27.519 --> 00:38:29.039 I didn't have a coach, didn't have programming. 00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:31.519 I was like, how much can I do between now and then? 00:38:31.679 --> 00:38:32.559 You were helping me. 00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:34.719 I was just give doing everything I could. 00:38:34.880 --> 00:38:39.920 And the other night I was like, man, I think I was wearing these same shorts when I took that photo. 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:41.199 I'll bet I look a lot different. 00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:44.719 And I walked over and I took a photo of 83 days later, and I didn't know it. 00:38:44.800 --> 00:38:46.639 I had to go back and look it up and see how many days it was. 00:38:46.719 --> 00:38:52.800 And I put them next to each other, and I was like, I mean, I lost an entire gut in 83 days that I didn't even know I had on me. 00:38:52.880 --> 00:38:55.519 You know, it's funny how you can hide from your body and your eyes. 00:38:55.760 --> 00:39:01.760 And so now my next thing is like, I can do 83 days three more times almost. 00:39:01.920 --> 00:39:02.639 You know what I mean? 00:39:02.719 --> 00:39:08.159 Like that if that's what's capable in 83 days, and those were the worst 83 days, I can't wait to see what the next 83 days. 00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:11.599 And I benchmarked it on my calendar to take a picture every 83 days. 00:39:11.679 --> 00:39:15.519 And so all I'm focused on right now is these next 83 days. 00:39:15.679 --> 00:39:36.239 Um, I think that like the goal is to get the body weight down to like 250, and then to have that happen by the time that there's every trail in Leadville is runnable, and then two to three days a week, tons of volume running, uphill and downhill, pounding the hell out of the body, just getting it durable and strong, and worrying about getting faster when I'm lighter. 00:39:36.559 --> 00:39:44.559 I have whenever I come back from any of the things that I do, I always get a slew of questions and I'll support people up until the point. 00:39:45.119 --> 00:39:48.320 And then at some point I'm like, dude, to find out anything else, you need to sign up. 00:39:48.400 --> 00:39:48.559 Yeah. 00:39:48.719 --> 00:39:52.000 Like if you say yes first, you'll figure everything out. 00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:53.599 You'll figure out how second. 00:39:54.079 --> 00:40:10.000 So along those lines, what change mentally between, oh, I think I can do this thing to actually sweaty palms, getting on your computer, your phone, signing up for it, and then finding a guy. 00:40:10.559 --> 00:40:16.960 What shift, what chip do you wake up with on your shoulder now that you didn't wake up with? 00:40:17.920 --> 00:40:20.320 Even if you see this as a blessing, I don't mean a chip on your shoulder now. 00:40:20.559 --> 00:40:21.039 Yeah, I get it. 00:40:21.679 --> 00:40:22.159 I get it. 00:40:22.400 --> 00:40:26.639 But once you actually commit to the thing, what changes? 00:40:26.880 --> 00:40:34.960 When you get the email saying, guess what, I'm gonna be in the middle of brushing your teeth, but you have 200 and something days and you're gonna be on the course in the arena? 00:40:35.119 --> 00:40:39.119 Yeah, what changes the moment you commit to something like that? 00:40:39.360 --> 00:40:43.679 Specifically one that you're not even sure you're capable of? 00:40:43.840 --> 00:40:44.000 Yeah. 00:40:44.400 --> 00:40:48.719 What changes in your your perspective of how you deal with fitness, health, and the world? 00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:54.880 So it's very similar to the 500 pounds to 280

pounds. 00:40:55.039 --> 00:41:08.559 Um, when you're 500 pounds and you want to be 280 pounds, I the my my um analogy is like looking through the keyhole in the door, and that's all you can see is just this sliver of light through the keyhole. 00:41:08.719 --> 00:41:15.119 And somehow you've got to get your body through the keyhole, and it's this big and you're 500 pounds. 00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:22.719 And like it's the most impossible seeming thing in the world where it's like most people are like, you can't fit your body through that keyhole, it's this big of a keyhole. 00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:26.559 I'm 500 pounds, and I know for a fact I can get through the keyhole. 00:41:26.639 --> 00:41:29.039 I've been through the keyhole numerous times, unfortunately. 00:41:29.199 --> 00:41:37.519 It's one of those things where if you ever, you know, I'm and that kind of leads to the second part of this, which is it's been, you know, it's five, six years ago. 00:41:37.760 --> 00:41:46.639 I was, I had like you could see a six-pack, you could, I was shredded, I was the strongest guy in the gym, I had a whole different identity. 00:41:46.880 --> 00:41:54.079 And after that shifted, and I lost a lot of that because of injury and because of just stupidity and can't do it, and I'm 45 years old now. 00:41:54.320 --> 00:41:56.239 I needed something to light a fire. 00:41:56.320 --> 00:41:59.599 That get the I have the fire, but I needed some gas for the fire. 00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:05.280 And there's no gas for the fire, like doing the most terrifying thing that most people will ever put on a calendar. 00:42:05.519 --> 00:42:07.280 Yeah, that's huge, man. 00:42:07.679 --> 00:42:09.119 So the fire got lit. 00:42:09.440 --> 00:42:10.960 Where can people find you? 00:42:11.119 --> 00:42:13.199 Um can people watch this journey around? 00:42:13.440 --> 00:42:16.880 Yeah, my Instagram, Bickleco, B-I-C-K-E-L-C-O. 00:42:17.360 --> 00:42:25.840 Um, you know, I'm I'm trying to talk to some brands, talk to some people, and see if we can't get a little bit more of the long version stuff out there. 00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:35.599 But um, I just started working with an agency that's uh 1441 collective, our good friends Brad Sieber and Nick Walker, and those guys are gonna start helping me really get the story out. 00:42:35.760 --> 00:42:43.440 And um, you know, I'm trying to be better about sharing it because I'm realizing like um I'm kind of in uncharted waters right now. 00:42:43.519 --> 00:42:57.119 Um, and that's what you know, talking to Ryan uh McGuire, my coach, he's like, you know, how do you if if you're 180 pounds ran or 130 pounds ran high school across country, I can write a program for you to finish Leadville in 30 hours. 00:42:57.360 --> 00:42:59.599 This is we're all in something brand new here. 00:42:59.760 --> 00:43:06.159 And I do want to not miss out on there's what if I run to May Queen and get time capped and cheer on my friends. 00:43:06.320 --> 00:43:08.000 What if I finish this thing, bro? 00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:10.480 What if I come in at 2930? 00:43:10.960 --> 00:43:12.239 I could change my whole life. 00:43:12.559 --> 00:43:13.199 You know what I mean? 00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:17.039 Like this could be something where like never been done before. 00:43:17.199 --> 00:43:21.119 I'm the first one, and the the and like I love being the first one. 00:43:21.199 --> 00:43:25.760 I love the risk of failing because there's a huge reward if I finish this. 00:43:25.840 --> 00:43:28.719 Like I'm all of a sudden the face of plus size running. 00:43:28.960 --> 00:43:29.599 You know what I mean? 00:43:29.760 --> 00:43:33.280 Like, I can do this, and and that that motivates me so much. 00:43:33.440 --> 00:43:35.280 That motivates me to want to go run right now. 00:43:35.440 --> 00:43:45.840 Like, I I I think that if I can remember that part, like the doubts will will be there, but we can quiet them down a whole lot by thinking of all the good stuff that can happen from this. 00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:47.360 And it's already happening from this. 00:43:47.519 --> 00:43:50.559 I have Speedlamp pick me up, Nordic Track pick me up. 00:43:50.639 --> 00:43:53.119 Um, I've got two different treadmills being shipped to me. 00:43:53.280 --> 00:43:56.079 People are hearing the story and want to support and help. 00:43:56.239 --> 00:43:59.519 And for the longest time, you know, I ran the marathon last year. 00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.079 And I didn't invite a single person to come because I was so afraid of getting time capped. 00:44:04.159 --> 00:44:09.920 And then when I beat the time capped, I went across the finish line by myself and was like, eh, you know what I mean? 00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:12.400 Like for Leadville, I've invited everyone I know. 00:44:12.480 --> 00:44:13.599 I'm having people fly out. 00:44:13.760 --> 00:44:16.159 We got a 12-bedroom house in Twin Lakes. 00:44:16.239 --> 00:44:19.280 Like I'm bringing if I fail, I'm failing in front of the world. 00:44:19.440 --> 00:44:21.519 And that's why I want to show this story. 00:44:21.599 --> 00:44:27.920 That's why I want to document it because every time I do, I write another check with my mouth that my ass has got to go cash. 00:44:28.239 --> 00:44:32.559 And that was the signing up was like speaking things into existence. 00:44:32.639 --> 00:44:37.360 I think there's a big difference between being, you could say I'm a liar, saying I'm gonna go run level 100. 00:44:37.440 --> 00:44:41.039 It's like, no, you're not, or you could say I'm speaking things into existence. 00:44:41.119 --> 00:44:46.480 It's the exact same mindset, whether you the class is half full or half empty, and I've always been a half full guy. 00:44:46.639 --> 00:44:48.480 So I speak it into existence. 00:44:48.639 --> 00:44:50.639 I force myself to be a man of my word. 00:44:50.719 --> 00:44:52.880 I'm not a man, I'm not not a man of my word. 00:44:53.039 --> 00:45:01.679 So if I

say something, that means now I've written a contract to myself that I have got to fulfill, and I'm trying my with everything in my power to fulfill this contract. 00:45:02.159 --> 00:45:11.760 What's the what's the the final piece of advice you would have for anybody who may be in your shoes whether it's 300 or 500? 00:45:13.920 --> 00:45:19.039 What advice do you have for those people that are feeling hopeless or nothing's worth for them? 00:45:19.360 --> 00:45:22.239 Like what is speak directly to them? 00:45:22.320 --> 00:45:24.239 Like what is that you want to leave in? 00:45:24.559 --> 00:45:30.400 How are you using this story as a way to inspire impact others? 00:45:30.960 --> 00:45:36.239 So I would say the best piece of advice I have is well, one is a simple one. 00:45:36.320 --> 00:45:40.400 It's uh drink water, don't drink calories, like that'll change your whole life. 00:45:40.639 --> 00:45:51.119 But simplifying that is find joy, search for joy not for fitness that requires body movement. 00:45:51.280 --> 00:45:55.360 Search for body movement that brings joy that's not fitness, that's not working out. 00:45:55.519 --> 00:46:06.480 Working out, the first word is working, and I think that's like a I don't know that I've worked, I mean I work out sometimes because yes, it's work sometimes, but the majority of the time, like today, I had a blast training with you. 00:46:06.639 --> 00:46:07.280 You know what I mean? 00:46:07.440 --> 00:46:09.679 Like it was fun, we were chatting, catching up. 00:46:09.840 --> 00:46:13.119 Like when you get better at stuff, it doesn't hurt so bad. 00:46:13.280 --> 00:46:20.639 And and like if you have to go try 50 or 60 sports, something is fun to you. 00:46:20.800 --> 00:46:27.360 If it's pickleball, if it's tennis, if it's walking, like and finding that thing, and then I would say diversification. 00:46:27.599 --> 00:46:33.280 Like, if you you know, everybody burns themselves out by finding something they like and then just beating it to death. 00:46:33.440 --> 00:46:50.400 And like the the thing that me and you do so well is I've done so many activities with you in a pool, on a bike, on a trail, in a gym, like and it if you've got those in your tool bag, you're just gonna find yourself having more fun and not being a burden of fitness. 00:46:50.559 --> 00:46:54.480 If if you're overweight, you have a burden to lose weight. 00:46:54.639 --> 00:46:56.800 You don't have to lose weight through burden. 00:46:56.960 --> 00:46:58.400 You can lose weight through fun. 00:46:58.480 --> 00:47:09.920 And that's the biggest thing that like there was a time when I stopped stepping on the scale, I stopped taking pictures in the mirror, I stopped worrying about that shit because it, you know, do I look my best or not? 00:47:10.079 --> 00:47:12.239 I don't know, but I feel my best and I move my best. 00:47:12.320 --> 00:47:13.679 Those are the things I'm judging it on. 00:47:13.840 --> 00:47:19.599 When I'm in yoga, if I can do bicycle sit-ups and touch my elbow to my knee really good, I know I'm in shape. 00:47:19.760 --> 00:47:23.440 If I have a hard time getting up there, I know there's some shit getting in the way, you know. 00:47:23.599 --> 00:47:32.800 There's these little indicators that that like, oh yeah, I need to get in better shape, but I'm never like waking up with the burden of losing weight, of being obese. 00:47:32.960 --> 00:47:36.159 And even though I'm still technically overweight, you know what I mean? 00:47:36.239 --> 00:47:38.159 Like, probably will be considered that my whole life. 00:47:38.239 --> 00:47:44.000 So I think that just culminates in the game isn't to get in shape, the game is to stay in shape. 00:47:44.559 --> 00:47:44.880 Right? 00:47:45.119 --> 00:47:47.119 Yeah, Matt Dickle, appreciate the time. 00:47:47.360 --> 00:47:47.920 Hey, appreciate it. 00:47:48.079 --> 00:47:48.480 Love you, dude. 00:47:48.639 --> 00:47:49.199 Love you, dude. 00:47:49.360 --> 00:47:49.519 Yeah.