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Stefan ozich welcome to my podcast yeah it's good to be here Dom so first of all
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um who is stepan ozich um well I suppose [ __ ] if You' ask me that 10 years ago it would be a
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different answer asked me five years ago it be a different answer asked me that two years ago it would be a different
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answer so yeah kind of just that continual progression I guess Stefan I'm a well I
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guess I could say I'm an athlete um that's something that I've become
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obsessed with not only athleticism but just pushing pushing the body physically mentally and spiritually that's kind of
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become a lifetime Pursuit as I kind of became acquainted with um endurance as a as a Endeavor what four years ago
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so in in in in a synthesized form and that would be that and I would say also that um focused on service being service
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oriented that's a huge huge component of my life and something that I truly believe makes a life worth living and
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that that came along with my um training about four years ago also so yeah that would be good question to start with
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there yeah what's what's a it's funny it's should be the easiest question to
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ask a person but I don't know as new zealanders I think in particular we're
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kind of shy and awkward it's it's hard to answer that I think a lot of people
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would answer that by just saying what they do for a job I guess which is like it's not actually who you are as a
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person is it absolutely absolutely something you said there in that answer that I wanted to um uh pick up on I
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actually saw a quote from you it said my athletic Endeavors began out of out of necessity a bigger part of me knew I
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needed to change my bad deplorable habits now most people would say bad habits but you you added an extra word
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deplorable what were these bad deplorable habits um well you know I think we can all relate to like in New Zealand
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especially we got that um that culture of just going out and you know bad habits of drinking and um you know
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hidden hidden istic Tendencies pornography girls drugs staying up late every night lying
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showing up to work late excuses just the whole lony of of just just things that I
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knew that I was just missing the Mark um and I was also a heavy weed smoker um which was probably my worst habit I had
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and I realized very quickly this would have been about two years ago but I had to stop this and that that was the
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biggest habit that I had to give up and I knew that it wasn't going to bring me
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closer to where I knew I wanted to go and where I was aiming for in my life so I had to let that go alongside those
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other habits I just mentioned yeah and you've gone like completely the other
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way so you 've gone from um chasing cheap dopamine which is something that's
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easy that we all do all those things you mentioned you know drugs alcohol pornography uh whatever else um to
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chasing the most expensive dopamine imaginable with um the most extreme event but this is really cool so we
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we'll get into this then we'll get into your why yeah because I think um yeah I think if if the why something
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I've learned from doing this podcast and speaking to like all sorts of um fascinating people who've done amazing
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things um with anything if the why is strong enough the how sort of figures itself out yeah yeah so so you're you're
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embarking on this adventure to run the length of New Zealand uh twice on the ti how do you say Tor Trail Tor Trail yeah
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okay so you're going to go from um cap ranga to Bluff and then back up again
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back up again yeah 6,000 K all up yeah and you're no one's no one's ever done
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it before so just completing it a world record yeah which I find interesting cuz
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people could definitely do like I'm definitely not some like high stock I'm
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not coming from a rare breed rare oak it's something just someone no one's
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done I don't know why but I guess people are like why why would I run it twice
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that's probably their logic once is enough but yeah I found that was a good reason to do it cuz no one had done it
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brings more hype more for the um Foundation ultimately and and you hoping to do it in about a 100 days yeah that's
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kind of my target but honestly like the the first leg I would like to get the fkt which is uh just under 49 days
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George what does fkt stand for fastest SN in time oh so George Henderson he's
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the one that holds the current record absolutely good Stell bloke he helped me with everything in in regards to
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logistics for us just giving me information he holds the current one of of about 49 days so I'd like to get that
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and on the way back whatever's time's left is what time is left and I've given
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me that Target because it's already such an audacious task and go as it is I may
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as well just have that um kind of you know that that stick that that carrot to aim for yeah I'm not too I'm not too
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fuss but I definitely don't want to be going much longer you know if we had 105
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hey but if we start going longer I kind of don't want it to get to that point but it's just a good Target
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yeah yeah but if you shoot for like 100 days that's an average of about 60k a
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day correct exactly which like a marathon and a half which is and and on Trails as well not on
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road it's it's it's a Nutty a by by most normal normal people's standards yeah
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hey it's crazy yeah yeah it's it's funny because I look back to where I was four
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years ago to now and it's like it's just become this normal normal sea now when I
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when I hang around a lot of my Runner friends out in um Riverhead that they took me in cuz I started late I only
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really been running Ultras for two years and they they took me in really nice people and all of them run 5050 60k in
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the weekend like it's nothing it's just become this normal thing now like I look
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at it as if it's like my friend that runs a 10K it's got to that point so
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when you say that I agree but then there's this part of me that I don't see
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it as that which is I guess that's probably a good thing because I'm going
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in to this with that sort of naivity and that that sort of um without seeing the
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audacity of the goal I'm kind of seeing it as oh yeah it's kind of giving me a
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bit of uh a bit of Peace in a way you know I'm not too stressed about it somewhat doing doing things like this
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this um this podcast like prior to even beginning does that um add an extra layer of um fear or nerves n nerves 100%
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nerves fear yeah I suppose there is fear for sure but it's the nerves and the
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excitement the other two core emotions I'm feeling right now yeah just just like soaking it up it's kind of like in
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the previous events I've done in the past I have a similar emotion of like just that adrenaline but just Keen to
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get out there Keen for the gun to to go off yeah well I I I suppose like once it
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starts all you have to do is focus on literally putting one foot in front of the other but um before you start it's
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the training the preparation um all the logistics and we'll get into all that
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that sounds like an absolute nightmare yeah oh it's yeah as I was saying to you
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before it's almost a full-time job yeah yeah yeah so what's your CV when it
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comes to endurance like anyone listening to this um why should they assume that you are going to do this yeah good
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question uh well I've done I've done several marathons I've done several 100
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plus k um Ultra marathons and I've done 200 mile races um I've done an Iron Man
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did that beginning of this year done a couple half Iron Man's but to begin it
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all which we might get into I actually began um this journey when I walked the Camino Santiago which is a pilgrimage in
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the north of Spain was about 1,000 kilometers I did that in 28 days this is when I was UN untrained way heavier way
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unathletic and average nearly 36 K a day over 28 days so I kind of had that backbone somewhat and that was kind of
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my springboard into this um and yeah I guess that's really my resume from a physical standpoint but I think the the
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the key here is it's the mental component it's the waking up every day at 5:00 a.m. 5:30 a.m. it's the going to
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train the matter the weather it's the doing things every single day day and day out despite the feeling of whether
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you want to do it or not um it's the discipline with eating with diet with stretching those are the things I think
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that people any one person could go for something like big and extreme if you do
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the little things and I think that's where people um can really like forget that it's the compounding it's the
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building of the little things that over time over six months a year you've like
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built this whole new person because you've been doing those little things and I think the things behind closed
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doors you know not the stra segments you God it's it's it's the things that you
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do behind closed doors when no one's looking you know they're not the ones
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that are seeing you waking up in the morning and turning up at the track where it's pitch black and you need a
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freaking head torch to see you know so I think those are the things that's where
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I'm I'm leveraging off of from a resume standpoint yeah I think think what
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you're talking about is like the um the picture of the iceberg eh there's the
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the bed out of the water and then there's everything underneath which which no one sees which you can apply to
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like most sort of um high level things um exactly [ __ ] you're an you're an
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intense dude hey I I I get the feeling already 10 minutes and you're a guy that's got like a very addictive
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personality so I can see why you would have been very good at smoking weed like so you've you negative things you you
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know you go into it boots and all but the same as positive things which is what you're doing now would that be fair
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yeah that's interesting no people have I don't know if people have ever said it
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like that so it's funny yeah I think I am quite intense and I think I've kind
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of owned that in life you know people would say ADHD but I don't know um once
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I'm on something I'm like I'm in I'm all you could ask my close friends and they
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can probably agree um yeah I mean well you go to any sort of like ultra marathon event and there's
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there's there's a lot of twist of people there and you go you've got demons
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you've got Point we've all got that and I think and I think I think normalizing that and
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also not only normalizing it but showing that everyone like [ __ ] man if if we could get into everyone's heads would be
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like holy [ __ ] like you're messed up as me that's kind of cool I think people
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need a real realiz that we're all actually very similar in the way we think but obviously people manifest it
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and project it and show it very differently because you've obviously got the different um character types you've
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got you know the introverts and extroverts and they will display that differently but I think internally
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there's a lot of things that are going on that are very similar and I think that's kind of cool to kind of bring
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that to light which is why me doing this as well that's going to be a big part of
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that I'll be sharing a lot of that um the demons in the dark days that I'll be
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inevitably um encountering like to show that yeah man this is very much part of the the process you know yeah and um
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yeah it's The Human Experience too you know there is um you like like shame and
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I guess guilt associated with um like demons but it's like they there within
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all of us yeah so you you're um you're hoping to raise $1 million for a charity
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called the last last chance project um Gees we're in a cost of living crisis
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a million dollars is a lofty Target yeah but I I I still think power to you like
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if you get 10% of that it's still 100,000 which is amazing so if you fall short there's absolutely no shame in
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that but what is the last chance project great um yeah they're basically uh men's
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mental health Foundation um they're a trust that were established in 2022 and the reason a big part that I
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got um drawn into them is one of the chair uh man on the chair uh Sam he's a
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good friend of mine um and he knew my brother Jerome and he was went to the old school same school as us and he's
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the one that introduced me to the whole um foundation and what their kind of you
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know their their MOS um and a big part of it was about just really bringing up and um pushing forward the men that were
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in you know fragile situations but not only that creating really robust forms of um change and how we can actually
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change ourselves inside out and how we can as an individual you can begin that process to then contribute and add to
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the people around you so there I've got some core pillars which is uh I'm still
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kind of memorizing in but I believe it's change um connect um and oh what was the third one
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um I forget what the third one is but basically they're coming from the idea
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that if you want to you first have to connect with the individual and their whole thing is about brotherly
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connection and about connecting to the C to where they're struggling and then
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from there when you can when you can connect you're more likely to want to change cuz you know the adage you can
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lead a horse to the water but you can't get it to drink you know so their whole
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thing is about guiding them to that water tra and teaching them how to drink the water and then carrying on and
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telling their peers and friends around them as to how to actually drink this water because we're in a situation now
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where as we know with mental health that men were at the we're at the peak of it
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you know with with with even just taking our own lives you know it's it's very
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common for men to do so and with Last Chance project V trying to change that conversation but bring men to the
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Limelight to say that okay it's okay to be a man it's okay to be uh aggressive
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and it's okay to be disciplined and it's okay to have these goals and Ambitions
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um because it's very characteristic of men to have those qualities but we're in
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a society now where that's almost not allowed and I think that's a big problem
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because we need to be fundamentally who we are and LCP is at the really trying to aim and push that idea of male
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empowerment but in a healthy way you know it's being hijacked with media with
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Society the societal norms and with um you know Hollywood and through music and all this all this culture that's quite
00:14:15
toxic uh but we're bringing them bringing forth and LCP are bringing forth the idea that you know we we we
00:14:21
are able to do more and men men are able to do more and men are strong um and yeah as a as a foundation that's kind of
00:14:29
the a big a big part of whereever they're wanting to go towards and they're looking at it holistically too
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which I think is a real big difference that a lot of um you know not naming names but there's foundations out there
00:14:41
that are that are talking about it which is amazing and I think that's a great
00:14:44
step but how can you initiate and bring in Practical um approaches you know for example like how how are people eating
00:14:52
how are they drinking how are they sleeping what's their relationships like what kind of work and Korea are they and
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what's their relationship like with their wives and with their um their spouses and with their children all
00:15:03
those behind kind of you know that Iceberg analogy it's all what's underneath the ice and that's what LCP
00:15:09
are focused on really getting to the core as to what's under the ice where are the things that are faulty and how
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can we better improve that and you know make a change for these men yeah and you
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haven't even started this um Adventure yet and you've already raised like how
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much like 50k yeah yeah 50 5% of the money it's bloody amazing yeah it is it
00:15:28
is amazing even even if not a not another scent gets donated it's still an impressive donation it's really cool
00:15:34
yeah it is it is and I think that's what's amazing like kind of being a bit
00:15:39
um you know I guess again that naive a like [ __ ] cost living crisis you made the point you're very right but imagine
00:15:46
if just a fifth of New Zealand's population just gave $5 like the thought of that it's like
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damn so it's like okay that's kind of another reason why wanted to do two
00:15:59
lengths one length people might pay attention but two people would be like oh okay may as well shoot so far for the
00:16:07
moon because it's an extreme thing I'm doing inherently why not have the target
00:16:10
be Extreme as well because either way as you said if even if we get a tenth of it
00:16:16
20th of it that St a big amount of money for that Foundation to then start helping these men so yeah that was my L
00:16:23
it's a bit reductionist and simplified way of thinking but I figured why not
00:16:27
you know no it's it's it's great but how how will you feel yourself if you fall
00:16:31
way short of that of thatty Target um is what it is I mean end of the day wherever we get to um we'll be
00:16:43
definitely further away from where they are now you know so wherever it ends up that's going to be that much more
00:16:50
exposure and awareness for this Foundation than it was at the start so that's a win in my books and I don't
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want to be too attached to that outcome too cuz then very quickly I'll become
00:16:59
too attached to that outcome and if I don't meet that then I'll feel like a
00:17:02
failure and I think that in itself will become its own kidle of fish that won't
00:17:06
serve me or even serving the men and the people in the foundation because it's
00:17:10
not about that really we want to just get the message out there as much as we can and get as much resources for these
00:17:16
men as as possible so yeah I I love that that yeah that's a good answer CU you
00:17:21
got to yeah control the controllables don't you yeah absolutely which in my case is running running it's out of your
00:17:28
out of your hands okay let's get to the white um see you mentioned um your brother Jerome um a couple of minutes
00:17:35
ago so um yeah you want to talk about this you want to take us back to May 5 last year yeah yeah oh man it's like
00:17:44
yeah like is he your older older brother slightly older brother two years older so I got a family of six siblings and he
00:17:52
he was a second I'm the youngest and he was the second youngest um so we were
00:17:56
tight we're extremely tight him and I um but yeah on on May 5th um I get a freaking knock on well my brother
00:18:05
smashed on my door didn't even hear it slip through it and then my brother came
00:18:10
around later on came around to the door and said like yo Steph step and I was like what the what the heck and then
00:18:17
open the door and he just said he's gone so my brother yeah Jerome he he took his
00:18:21
life and um [ __ ] man like I can't even explain just that pain you know like you
00:18:30
know he was just such a such a beautiful man and someone like that um for those watching if if if you knew Jerome you
00:18:39
know you could agree he just like he was just a rare human being um and yeah as last chance project they they the
00:18:50
language they use as he took his last chance and I think that's a real um it's I think it's a real
00:19:00
gentle but also very direct way of saying that yeah that's that's what what
00:19:04
what he did and um yeah it was yeah man that that that moment um yeah it's intense like it's still to
00:19:14
this day it feels like it's like just this blur and I was writing in my diary
00:19:19
the other day uh that you know with this Mission I'm doing nothing comes close to
00:19:23
the pain that my family and I experienced on that night having to get that that call from the cops or receive
00:19:31
that information you know about about our brother when we had to go identify him and it's just like what the [ __ ] you
00:19:38
know so so so yeah and I think the thing about it as well is um we were all acutely aware our family we very tight
00:19:46
family we're very vocal we're very intense as as you said um we're very
00:19:52
direct and we speak yeah we don't we don't beat around the bush when it comes
00:19:56
to things and we're all you know we all bound together to um help drum because he was very vocal
00:20:03
about what he was going through and we were trying to get all the support and so yeah it was in that process of seeing
00:20:10
my brother suffer but also seeing um from a support standpoint what was available and and what wasn't available
00:20:17
and it was just it just opened my eyes because you know when you're not in it
00:20:21
you've got no idea right um and because we were involved in it and had to go
00:20:25
through that process we um yeah we very Qui realized like holy [ __ ] there's like
00:20:31
like for what is available there's so many wait times and not only that the approaches they take and you know you
00:20:37
can't the thing is with about I can't put the blame on that on that system
00:20:42
because they they theyve got the resources that they've got right and I've got the information that they've
00:20:47
got so there's this very it's a very deep deep issue um but that was the big
00:20:53
part of it and that's yeah this is why I'm here where I am now and doing this
00:20:58
thing and but the the other intense thing just a year prior I lost another like he was literally like I got a tight
00:21:07
group of friends and he was in that tight group same same circumstance um but for him I had no
00:21:14
idea none of us had any idea that was what was that was what was intense we had no clue you know that's the complex
00:21:22
thing about mental health isn't it it seems like your mate's more um what we
00:21:26
associate with male suicide you know that's why these slogans that it's not
00:21:30
weak to speak and it's okay to ask for help it's to try and um target people
00:21:34
like that but then there's people like your brother Jerome who um from what I've from what you've suggested had no
00:21:40
problem um you know sharing his vulnerabilities and his struggles and still that wasn't enough no and the
00:21:46
thing with Jerome he's he was such an acutely aware emotionally High iqed individual like he he he was the kind of
00:21:56
guy that like in any room if was a discussion and then everyone agreed he would be like well he wouldn't appease
00:22:05
the crowd you know appease the group of people he'd be like well no he would be
00:22:09
like no like that's this that this that he would have such a direct Gentle Way
00:22:16
of affirming his stance in anyone's situation and I think that was one of his real gifts and real talents he
00:22:23
wouldn't shy away from that and then despite that sort of emotional you know um intelligence and
00:22:32
still it got you know it got him now how long had he been in well for really it was the start of last year where it
00:22:40
started to kind of yeah show up before that we were kind of aw you know like not really but he he was pretty like
00:22:47
saying how we felt but it was nothing it was nothing that we thought kind of like
00:22:52
that would stood out but it was in the beginning of the year where he moved to Wellington stayed with my auntie
00:22:59
uh and yeah just things went wrong and then he came back to Oakland and then yeah just kind of went downhill from
00:23:07
there that was the it was just it was like a it was like a snowball it just just grew momentum and it just got so
00:23:15
fast so intense yeah um yeah man it's just it's just yeah it's insane man cuz you feel
00:23:25
it's like the equivalent of someone um you know when someone's got cancer
00:23:32
right you kind of you have hopefully if it's isolated you can have cancer and
00:23:37
cut out the tumor whereas with this it's just in its head you know no one could affect except for really
00:23:46
themselves that's the hardest thing could start to you know have that surgical procedure but it wasn't like a
00:23:53
tumor you wish you could just have surgery and cut it out but you couldn't yeah yeah it's um it's so difficult is
00:24:00
man I'm so sorry for your loss like how you how are your parents how have they
00:24:04
been I I can't imagine the hole at leaves oh man like at at First mom yeah Mom was a mess you know out of everyone
00:24:13
like we're all messes we're all [ __ ] we're like we're all traumatized fragile
00:24:20
broken you know I I went I got very dark which was very scary and it's something
00:24:26
I want to also share on this journey as it progresses too that you know I got I got very yeah very dark myself but then
00:24:33
my parents yeah Dad dad's a bit more of a old school sto because he's in his 70s
00:24:37
so he's just got that old school kind of stoicness about him and he speaks and
00:24:41
shares what needs he's not so much at his reserve but he just speaks and shares where he thinks and what he
00:24:48
thinks is necessary you know whereas Mom she's way more emotive and vocal she was
00:24:52
a teacher um so she obviously wasn't teaching so she was just having to deal
00:24:56
through that whole process but then you know over time she's she's she's got
00:25:01
better but she still has days where she just breaks down you know just thinking about that her son's gone she just has
00:25:08
sometimes it comes and hits her in waves but but the thing is where she was to where she is now she's extremely better
00:25:15
so I think that's kind of a thing like the idea of like time is the best healer
00:25:19
and really like time has been the best healer for all of us yeah I don't know
00:25:24
if um you people said Time Heals um all the wounds but I don't I don't know if
00:25:28
the wound heals I think you just learn to live with it we we'll have these scars for the rest of our lives yeah
00:25:34
yeah what about what about you yeah oh man it was it was it was it was dark man it got very dark I got very afraid
00:25:41
actually how dark I got I'd never been in that space you know I had suicide or
00:25:45
ideation and I've never in my life been that way and all of a sudden it was like
00:25:50
a defense mechanism yeah and that got scary man like what keep you going um faith and
00:25:57
knowing that I could doing that this was it would pass yeah and I kept training like like at the time I was doing I
00:26:05
don't know if you know a 75 hard challenge have you heard of oh yeah yeah um what is it drink nothing but water
00:26:11
all day two workouts a day uh 10 pages of um some positive eating 75 and if you if you
00:26:20
slip up on one day you have to resit and go back to zero yeah last I did it the year before and failed about 30 days in
00:26:27
I was like damn did it again I think I got 25 days and I was like damn did it again I got 60 I think 55 or 60 days in
00:26:34
failed and I'm like [ __ ] I was going overseas then I was like n I'll have to
00:26:38
come back do it again so then this year I did it well last year I was doing it and I was about 30 days in and then my
00:26:44
brother died and I'm like holy [ __ ] like I can't continue this I was like no
00:26:49
like if I'm able to persever in the My Darkest most painful most uncomfortable
00:26:57
situation in my life life having to griev the loss of my brother then how how am I ever going to do it and I just
00:27:04
continued and that I think was a huge part as to my healing I just knew the pain I was feeling which was very
00:27:11
intense would pass and I just honestly I just persevered and just continued I was
00:27:16
very vocal with my friends how I was feeling um I didn't hide anything and at
00:27:20
that point I'd stopped smoking marijuana so I was very clear I wasn't dripping a
00:27:24
drop drop of alcohol I wasn't having sugar no process I wasn't giving my body
00:27:29
any more extra dopamine it was just raw rawness just sitting in your emotions sitting in it speaking it
00:27:36
sitting in it hugely um and again that ties in to the earlier question about my resume that I'm I'm leaning on that I'm
00:27:44
leaning on that majorly with what I had to go through last year experiencing the
00:27:48
loss of my brother and working through that 75 hard while going through that grief you know that was a [ __ ] grind
00:27:55
like you know so yeah that's and how I am now I'm definitely in the best space
00:28:01
I've been since it's happened probably ever but I think now I've just the but
00:28:06
you know there's a there's a degree of like you know you could say a bit of
00:28:10
numbness for sure in some instances like people say things that are horrific I'm
00:28:15
like I'm kind of unfazed because it's just I can't compare it to you know
00:28:20
losing Jerome can you remember your last um conversation with him yeah yeah I can
00:28:26
it was it was a phone call and we actually meant to catch up the following day it was on the Friday we're catching
00:28:31
up on the Saturday I was going to go pick him up from the Respite Center we're going to hang out for the day
00:28:36
what's a what's a resp Respite Center it's basically like a facility where you
00:28:39
go when you're in kind of like a an acute um sense of you know could be uh like a mental breakdown or in a sense of
00:28:48
drone where you're where you attempted to you know take your life um or someone
00:28:53
that's in like just emotionally volatile State it's kind of a place to Center to
00:28:57
go and kind of get a bit of a reprieve and have some support workers there just to kind of guide you through the day and
00:29:03
just be relaxed and just don't down regulate um so I was going to pick him up from there and with two of his best
00:29:09
mates Tom and Maurice they're like they were like that and we were all going to
00:29:13
come and it was all great and we had a little back and forth text and then I think a day before that we had a call
00:29:18
but man he he was just yeah it just wasn't him you know that was the hardest
00:29:23
thing he just so flat you know sharing how he fouled and yeah that that was really it that was
00:29:30
kind of like the last proper proper call yeah man I'm so sorry yeah did did he
00:29:37
leave the note or anything yeah he did the he did well so he he attempted once but he pulled out he left a note then
00:29:46
the second time he didn't leave a note apparently that's very common yeah yeah
00:29:51
yeah yeah it's it's it's kind of rare I believe for a night to be yeah left yeah
00:29:57
[ __ ] Yeah man so yeah and that's like ultimately this Mission that's that's the why you
00:30:06
know him and then Jordan and then before that sha really CL he used to be my best
00:30:12
friend in primary um sorry at College in year seven and eight were like same same circumstances all in
00:30:20
a three-year period so except I've um I've I've lost one friend this this way
00:30:26
and um it had a Prof impact on me yeah like made me almost um you know uproot my whole life in a lot of ways cuz I I
00:30:34
thought no one ever saw this coming and I thought if this if this can happen to this particular friend um who seemed
00:30:40
like the life of the party and wore a [ __ ] good mask um it could easily be me um and that made me really look deep
00:30:48
and look into things it's um yeah the um the the ripple effect of these things is um unimaginable isn't it
00:30:56
EXA yeah exactly right is that why what started kind of your journey cuz you got
00:31:00
deep into your running right in the last yeah definitely yeah yeah 100% it was wow wow um and just yeah just other
00:31:08
aspects of my life as well just completely like look under the Bonnet work out what's working and what's not
00:31:12
working and make some drastic changes um which is good in a way but it was motivated by fear fear that I could end
00:31:18
up in the same space I think that's that's the powerful thing he when it
00:31:22
comes to like tragedy and um yeah very very like uh horrific circumstan s is that we can actually turn that into
00:31:29
something powerful but it's just crazy it has to be that way but sometimes it's
00:31:33
just the way it is in times of Crisis um and there's this there's this idea it's
00:31:39
like a it's like a quote I think it's by what's his name um the cave or How does
00:31:45
it go the cave you fear to enter is um the most is the cave you must enter into something along those
00:31:51
lines um and I think that's a big part of this is that yeah when we're in those
00:31:57
places of Crisis that you know we got to go down that place where we know we got
00:32:03
to go I think we're very aware of where we need to go but it's it's very
00:32:06
daunting but sometimes in times of Crisis it forces us to go there and you um you lost your uncle uh last year as
00:32:15
well same month as your brother J literally like literally within a month what was what was that yeah he had a
00:32:21
stroke Jes so yeah his circumstances were um quite like it was somewhat a blessing because he had a stroke in 2012
00:32:30
and then he lived you know what's that like 12 years on which in itself was a
00:32:37
miracle and then he but he had a second one and it just unfortunately he was two
00:32:41
he was 72 years old so he was just too old unfortunately um so yeah that happened as well which f for my dad you
00:32:50
know cuz it was his brother yeah that's why I felt so so worried and and and and
00:32:56
and sad for my dad dad cuz he had to deal through that you know he didn't really have the tools you just you start
00:33:02
to feel beaten up you're like what the [ __ ] is going to happen and then two
00:33:06
weeks before that my cousin's wife gets diagnosed with cancer so that all happened in that period of like two
00:33:12
months like just felt left right and center and I think this ties into the mental health um thing as well is that
00:33:20
you know it can feel like the world's against you and we just getting blows from all angles but if you if you have a
00:33:26
why you know that I be any for any why you can bear anyhow but if you have that why if you continually progress on there
00:33:33
anything that comes yes it'll be painful and you'll be afflicted to a lot but man
00:33:37
if you persist you can we're so much stronger than we think just got to continue though even you know in that
00:33:44
dark dark path we're on that there's that light you know and that light will
00:33:47
get brighter and brighter but it's always there I think it's always there
00:33:51
but when you're in the darkness you feel blinded by it cuz it's so dark but
00:33:55
there's always a light there I think that's something that yeah is the driver of all of us for me
00:34:00
and I think for everyone that's going through it that you know you may feel like you're just in the ringer and you
00:34:06
you are you will be the pain you can't deny it but man you can persevere more
00:34:11
than you think you know yeah so it's unimaginable tragedy that you've gone
00:34:16
through and um yeah I mean on top of this both your parents have survived cancer as well yes yes like it's like
00:34:24
man how how how have you been how's your mental health well it was it was man it
00:34:29
was it was [ __ ] Rocky last year um but yeah where it's at now it's in a
00:34:35
place of like you know cuz I'm I'm a man of faith and that's something that got
00:34:39
introduced to me last year my my path to God and accepting um accepting Jesus fundamentally and the teachings um of
00:34:48
him and and and really trying to like surrender and reduce yourself down into something that's bigger than you and
00:34:54
that's been a huge huge Factor to my mental health and my peace I have now because I don't see things that are
00:35:02
happening to me anymore I see them as things that are happening for me for the betterment of my service and that's why
00:35:08
service is so important to me so I think yeah answering that question it's like
00:35:12
I'm in a place now where I just want to serve um I want to be the best Beacon of
00:35:17
light that I can be and the best servant to God fundamentally that's how I see my
00:35:21
life now and that keeps me keeps me quite humble because with this Mission heaps of people were saying oh you you
00:35:28
you you and you're and I'm like it's not really about me even though I'm the one
00:35:33
running yes but I see it that I'm just working as like a conduit and I'm just
00:35:37
going forward and doing this thing and and and the reasoning is working through me and I just happen to be the person
00:35:43
The Vessel that's doing it you know and it keeps me humbled because I don't want
00:35:46
to let the ego the ego can trickle in and start to hijack the whole thing so yeah that's keeping my my head space um
00:35:54
it's keeping me grounded you know I don't want to get my head up in the cloud and um let those things kind of
00:36:00
infiltrate me and affect me uh so yeah but yeah it was it was it was tough last year honestly it was very very
00:36:08
tough uh just yeah just felt like it was just unending you know even though I knew I just knew that I was
00:36:19
going to get through it and it would pass it was still felt so like intense at times so it made me feel bad for
00:36:26
people that have no tools and have no faith or have no friendship friendships or have no families around them um I'm
00:36:33
like damn that's I'm not surpris that you see a lot of you know the homeless
00:36:37
like most of it so many of them are I read the statistic that's high percentage of them have mental health
00:36:44
issues you know for sure that's that's what's that's what's like gave a lot of
00:36:48
perspective when I see homeless now I'm like damn like that could have been my
00:36:51
brother if he didn't have our family like obviously in this sense that that decision was made but had that not been
00:36:58
made he probably would have ended up on the streets if he had no support network
00:37:02
and that's like probably just as bad yeah you know how did how did you get introduced to Faith was it through a
00:37:08
friend or was it yeah in a way well I grew up in a Catholic Family and you know growing up I was always kind of
00:37:14
like oh I don't want to go to church like you know Dad would knock on the door I'd be pretending to be asleep
00:37:19
which is stupid because he's going to wake me up anyway you know I never wanted to go to church and then it was
00:37:25
the beginning of last year which ties to why I stopped smoking marijana I joined
00:37:29
a men's group and the men's group was about um just becoming a better better
00:37:34
man in this world becoming no discipline structured living a life of virtue um living a life of um humility um but
00:37:43
being very passionate and driven and around that ethos was daily prayer um and I was like oh interesting and then
00:37:51
one day I got on my knees started to pray and then all of a sudden just this floodgates of emotions and love just
00:37:57
filled my body and yeah it was quite intense like I must admit but it felt so good um honestly like a like was like a
00:38:05
drug like I'd never had before and and receiving that I was like oh interesting
00:38:12
that's quite profound so I continued on that path and then it was when Drome
00:38:16
died um I was continuing on that you know that path of you know the the daily prayer and I wasn't smoking and you know
00:38:25
75 heart Etc and then I had had a brother's friend happen to text me um and prior to that probably a week prior
00:38:32
had this inkling about baptism I was like okay I'm kind of pulled there for some reason I don't know what it was and
00:38:37
then this friend not knowing that I had that thought text me saying hey bro I felt called to text you that we're doing
00:38:44
baptisms at the church um this weekend and I was like what the heck I was like okay yeah did that and then from there
00:38:52
ever since then it's kind of just been that path I've been on now just yeah
00:38:57
just too many odd circumstances um so yeah that's and now now as I've willingly and consciously um
00:39:06
accepted um that path and gone the path of you know accepting God and Jesus and those those ideas that it's changed from
00:39:13
when I was a child so yeah and that's kind of how it began and where it's
00:39:18
going now so yeah it's pretty geez you're not you're not a guy that does
00:39:22
anything by halves yeah it seems like whatever you do you to 110 yeah cuz cuz before that I was on the spiritual path
00:39:32
you know I did the passers did a couple 10day silent Retreats and went down the path of Buddhism joined the Buddhist um
00:39:41
Center when I was living in Christ Church and and you know was all a part of that and just seeking that that that
00:39:48
that internal peace you know and then um yeah so I've I've I've seeked and I've
00:39:53
I've shopped around as you would say you know so yeah fun you say that it's it's
00:39:58
very much the case of yeah go in you know yeah and are you so so this the time we're recording this um the
00:40:07
challenge that we're doing uh 100 days hopefully uh running the length of the
00:40:12
country twice um yeah what about your mental health on that there's going to
00:40:17
be some dark times some Dark Places yeah I guess same answer as before um I honestly see that God's using me as a
00:40:24
vessel and I'm just doing his will so whatever that happens whatever I'm
00:40:29
feeling I'll accept it embrace it work through it um but yeah I've got the the
00:40:35
path to go you know again it's kind of like that um kind of approaching it from
00:40:40
a more stoic standpoint that yes I'm feeling his emotions and I'm 100% going
00:40:45
to be feeling these emotions um allow them feel them I'll have my crew to talk
00:40:50
to so yeah it's kind of just coming from that same way I've been processing
00:40:54
through with derome it's just accepting it embracing it not ignoring it working
00:40:58
through it knowing that it will pass each day is going to be its own Challenge and taking it day at a time I
00:41:04
think I shared this in The Herald article that the hardest thing of this obviously physically that's inevitable
00:41:10
but it's just not thinking far ahead I have to be in each day each each segment
00:41:16
of each day so each 20K block that's my focus for that time just bit by bit and
00:41:21
it's the same as running 100 miles the moment you think about the Finish Line
00:41:25
you're [ __ ] or at least you're going to be overwhelmed Yeah well yeah it's a it's a
00:41:31
a cliche but it is literally just putting one foot in front of the other a and it's um there's so so many good
00:41:36
metaphors for life that I love with um distance running it's like um you you
00:41:41
you you've got to expect it's going to be hard and difficult and then when that
00:41:44
does happen you're not going to be surprised or shocked yeah and that's like life as well exactly right so um
00:41:50
you've been working through your training you you work in a Vineyard work in a Vineyard y y so been doing that now
00:41:57
on off since 2019 um there was a period where I was working in a working laboring um as well in that but yeah in
00:42:04
the vineyard which as I was saying off off off the camera before was um it's
00:42:09
good time on feet you know that's the good thing about it like I'm on my feet
00:42:13
all day every day so I'm essentially walking all day so it's great cross training and and
00:42:21
your employers that they've obviously been really good and really accommodating real accommodating I had
00:42:26
to give my notice for this one though but that's I think now it's just a way
00:42:29
of formalizing what do they what do they make of you what do they think um I don't know I've never actually asked
00:42:35
they think you're Bonkers yeah I don't know I'd have to ask I'd have to ask
00:42:39
David he might yeah he's been aware cuz I I I left about two years ago and I got
00:42:45
reemployed over just just over a year ago now and he was very acutely aware of my my Endeavors and he was quite
00:42:51
accommodating in that respect so but yeah I've never actually asked him I don't know you would have to contact him
00:42:57
yeah I mean it's a huge it's a huge undertaking you know people talk about a
00:43:01
um big hairy audacious gold this is definitely that yeah yeah absolutely yeah so um TR what's training looked
00:43:08
like yeah cool so it's been I've self coached because I've I've I've you know
00:43:15
somewhat built a pretty good knowledge base and I had a coach in my Iron Man Simon Cochran you probably know him I've
00:43:21
had him on the podcast I have yeah he's a Savage Savage so inspiring yeah he so
00:43:26
he he was my my coach when I did my first Iron Man this year and like and then prior to that having have done my
00:43:32
own um you know 100 miles and previous races I kind of with his with his expertise for his coaching and through
00:43:39
my prior um experiences I kind of just Amalgamated all that and obviously now with my further knowledge I've been
00:43:46
researching through like podcasts and articles and reading like the nutrition literature all that stuff and it's kind
00:43:51
of just kind of culminated into this into this sort of uh blueprint that I've
00:43:57
formulated so key is obviously time on feet that's been a huge component so with work but it's also just running I
00:44:05
was running basically every day for like at one point for probably two months close to two months that in itself I
00:44:11
think was a good stimulus um Progressive overload so progressively and gradually
00:44:18
building up volume and sustaining it and then building up again dropping it building up so the the technical term is
00:44:25
called periodization so you like little Peaks and troughs throughout that phase and I had about a 16 we specific build
00:44:32
for this I was leveraging obviously the Iron Man I've done this year and a few
00:44:36
Ultras i' done prior to that I was very much using that as a launch pad into
00:44:41
this um and then yeah obviously a lot of long runs backto back long runs that's
00:44:47
been a big a big fact you know being able to run 50k and that be easy like that's a good sign I think I'm in a good
00:44:53
place cuz I do 50k now I'm like oh yeah cool mean feels like ran 10K so having
00:44:58
that sort of mental and physical feedback was like real good signs um and obviously just eating eating a lot this
00:45:05
last three four weeks I've put on probably four 5 kg I'm definitely heavier than I usually am doing a lot of
00:45:12
gem as well yeah I was going to ask when when I meet you at the doorstep you've
00:45:15
got sort of like more definitely more of an Iron Man body than a a marathon body
00:45:20
I was I was I was wondering what I was going to see at the doorstep cuz yeah I thought you might be like um beefing up
00:45:26
as much as you can you're going to L so you start running it doesn't let you
00:45:31
carrying any of extra fat or anything yeah somewhat but I'm definitely are heavier than usually
00:45:36
usually around the race I'm like 88 87 and now I'm about a now I'm about 92 93
00:45:41
kgs so yeah eating a lot more um I'm quite a strict and quite like intense with my diet but this time I've been
00:45:49
very like laxity cool like having pies more cuz I'm going be eating a lot of
00:45:53
Pies on the mission you know um and just having like lot just more volume more volume um so yeah diet eating is being
00:46:00
very imperative just making sure I'm getting a lot of protein you know I want
00:46:03
to be heading 20 100 plus grams a day on the mission so making that staple now has been very kind of a key focal point
00:46:11
um so yeah that's good and then obviously recovery that's huge so like you know trying to massage as much as I
00:46:17
can self massage um yoga as much as I can sauna sauna is huge I do that at least at the moment cuz with work it's
00:46:26
been hectic so I've been going at least once a week to the sauna I think that
00:46:31
alone is better than nothing but it's also just for replenishment um and also
00:46:36
it's just good for recovery for blood flow that's a good thing with sauna um
00:46:40
cuz once you start you're not going to be a to do any any saing are you yeah
00:46:44
yeah probably not I'd like to but probably not I probably won't be able to
00:46:48
yeah got a ice bath that but that'll be that'll be in during I've got like a
00:46:53
little inflatable one um I'll be using every time we have access to water and
00:46:58
ice we'll do that as much as we can cuz that's huge there's yeah I don't know
00:47:02
much about the um about about the trail I think I've ran like parts of it myself
00:47:08
but it runs the entire length of the country but um yeah a lot of it you're completely isolated right yeah yeah
00:47:13
South irand is going to be the most isolated about 50% of it I'll be very much like on my own and it'll be about a
00:47:20
two-day 1 to two day period where it'll be literally like inaccessible to the
00:47:24
crew fortunately I've got I've got my of my crew Sam good old Sammy boy um he'll
00:47:29
be pacing um along with me at certain points so that's going to be real good
00:47:34
just for morale but just to have him take some of the load that obviously the weit CU obviously don't want to be
00:47:40
having too much extra weight and that's another thing as well I I'd be remissed
00:47:43
to not not add his um rcking that's been huge so what that means is basically
00:47:49
backpack on 20 25 kgs of weight in the backpack and going for hikes uphills that's been a real huge uge component to
00:47:57
my training too just time on feet walking with very tired legs but also walking with a lot of load you're kind
00:48:03
of emulating how you'll feel obviously I'm not going to be running more than
00:48:07
100ks but when you run 100ks your body gets very heavy and tired so I've kind
00:48:11
of just been emulating that a bit just to kind of have that bit of um you know specificity to that adaptation it's it's
00:48:19
going to carry over especially when in the South Island portion where there's a
00:48:22
lot of hiking um that will be the case yeah so yeah so the um the um the sort of average we we're going for us like
00:48:29
60k a day which works out to be 420 km a week which is exactly it's nut it's
00:48:35
insane um yes so the support so who is it semi semi um Mark he's camera guy Logistics
00:48:45
and then Joel he's Logistics and also cooking he's a real good cook right so
00:48:49
they're just sort of driving like State Highway One St and then the meeting with
00:48:53
you yeah some point State high one they will be yeah yeah that's T Trails obviously not on State Highway one but
00:49:01
yeah we'll be yeah exactly right meeting they'll go ahead yo boys I meet you in
00:49:05
like 3 hours cuz I'm probably averaging you know I'd like to be it's pretty slow
00:49:12
like 8 minute pace 9 minute pace some days um what's different terrain you're
00:49:16
running on so you can't really go by can't you can't really be too yeah
00:49:20
exactly you can't really go by distance it's more time Pace feel because you
00:49:24
have a moment you start going too quick that just com compounds you know and so um so you'll be sleeping in the back of
00:49:31
they've got like a camper van and meet with them okay right so you're not
00:49:34
taking a sleeping bag and are there some parts that you'll be sleeping in the
00:49:37
bush yeah the South Island part there'll be about a two day period or one and a
00:49:41
half day period where I'll be by myself so I have to take my backpack take my
00:49:44
sleeping bag but we'll stay in dock cuts which is pretty cool the thing with the
00:49:47
Tor Trail it's a sanctioned trail that was opened in 2011 and um in the south
00:49:53
island that that would probably be the most popular so to say um section of the trail and that's where there's a lot of
00:49:59
dot Cuts along the way and yeah very available and so availability is high so in that case I'll have somewhat of a
00:50:05
place to sleep and I'll take my little gas cooker burner just my dehydrated food and just on we go oh good yeah um
00:50:15
yeah what about logistics and planning like how much man I'd I'd really want to
00:50:18
share this we when did this start like I can't imagine what a mind [ __ ] this is
00:50:24
mind [ __ ] man like honestly there's a part of me that had I knowing what was
00:50:28
involved I'd almost like wait five years 10 years until I'm more like business
00:50:33
savvy in my brain but um really I I thought about this around when Jordan died last not last year year before so
00:50:41
probably about two years ago I'd thought about this um so somewhat that was kind
00:50:46
of you know the seed you could say but it was only around it was around when Jerome died that I was like yeah like
00:50:54
I'm [ __ ] doing this you know and then the logistics the real planning started
00:50:59
just before my Iron Man so that would have been around uh Jan FIB this year where I started to like start reaching
00:51:05
out to people and start formulating what this actually looks like buying the Tiora like travel book I reached out to
00:51:12
George Henderson who I mentioned before he was such a such a good guy with all his information reached out to the uh
00:51:18
female fkt holder um um oh her name's uh Brooke um oh man her book her name's Brook her
00:51:29
name's Brook but I forgotten her last name she she holds the current fkt she
00:51:32
was real helpful um so having them and it kind of just culminated that information and I just started reaching
00:51:38
out to sponsors and I I did the cost First you know looking at about 65 grand for this to be paying to be um servicing
00:51:47
all the needs of myself and the crew food um averaging about $80 a day per head which is pretty it's a good good
00:51:56
good good head room in case you know some nights we want to go out and have like a good feed so the boys are
00:52:00
somewhat you know comfortable cuz they're going to be working their butts off too you know like if anything I've
00:52:05
got the easy part I'm just running they're going to be prepping Logistics
00:52:08
driving so that and then the um fuel costs obviously that's quite massive um
00:52:14
averaging about $60 a day or diesel so you know that's still quite aggressive
00:52:19
as well so I went pretty aggressive with the with the cost because if we encounter you know emergencies we want
00:52:25
to have that contingency buffer so the cost side of things was a huge part and from there I was like okay I got to
00:52:30
raise 65 Grand where the [ __ ] do I start this when we're in a recession you know
00:52:35
so I just reached out to businesses companies let them know the Spiel and that's what it's been really just been a
00:52:41
grind of reaching out to companies reaching out to businesses people that feel they want to get behind the mission
00:52:46
get behind the vision and it just started from there and that those emails started being sent once I finished the
00:52:52
IM man I was like man now I can fully invest into this at first it was kind of like on my own terms you know emails
00:53:00
whatever but then once I did the Iron Man I was like sweet I'm all in now I can just focus solely on this so I
00:53:05
reached I obviously had to find the crew so at the vineyard one of the crew um he
00:53:10
works with me so he we got real close over the last few years he was actually Old St peters's boy old school went to
00:53:16
same school all all of the crew happened to all go St Peters which I found pretty
00:53:20
funny just a coincidence um so yeah and just from there just kind of built over time once
00:53:26
I got the once I got started again some sponsors once I built the media press kit the deck with all the information
00:53:33
about the vision and about the story with my brother um my reasoning for it my goal with the
00:53:38
foundation um and obviously again finding out the foundation that was its own process too I already had an idea I
00:53:45
wanted to go with them cuz I actually had met Jerome Tai had who's the founder
00:53:50
real good man um and he was behind it um and he knew he was kind of some what aware of like my kind of my buzz with
00:53:59
endurance and then I reached out to him and he was just stoked to you know know that I wanted to do for them and once I
00:54:05
was committed that helped because it allowed the uh approach to all the businesses and companies to become more
00:54:11
clear and refined you could say Well it it sounds like from from your perspective like the hard work is done
00:54:17
yeah I'd say so honestly you just want the game to start I just want it to start now you know this week's busy got
00:54:24
to get the motor home wrapped um got get the t-shirts in to get printed um got to
00:54:29
get the last last few bits of funding that are coming through got to get the kit got to buy some of the food that I'm
00:54:35
going to be and then there's a big another thing a big shout out there's a
00:54:39
massive event on Sunday happening that Mitchell's bone bro protein pow one of
00:54:43
my main sponsors they actually putting on an event um out on Tamaki drive at that Hyundai Marine Center MH I think
00:54:52
that's the name of it um it's called Uh brighter days and it's basically a a
00:54:56
wellness morning workshop where we'll be doing contrast therapy so ibath sauna
00:55:01
there'll be some movement some running with grave Runners be a Q&A with myself
00:55:06
a Q&A with Ty a founder of Last Chance project and a conversation with a psychologist um that will be just
00:55:12
talking about all things yeah mental health and wellness and yeah I think that in itself is going to be like the
00:55:18
Launchpad which will be real exciting that's kind of like the last last logistical thing that can then launch
00:55:25
myself and the crew into us and we can just start you know and then see you drive the camper van up
00:55:32
toang and the trail starts on 90 Mile Beach does it or no it's literally at the Lighthouse right so you got to
00:55:38
Gravel Road for a little bit then you're on beach for ages yeah yeah yeah so 90
00:55:43
Mile Beach that's going to yeah I've been watching a lot of and it's it's
00:55:46
literally like yeah I'll probably just go bare feet to be honest when I'm on
00:55:50
that I just don't see the point of wearing shoes on Sand doesn't make sense
00:55:54
I'm already such a Barefoot person as it is how many How many pairs of shoes have
00:55:58
you got here marked for 10 10 what are you wearing like hocus or Vivo Barefoot right right yeah I've been I've been
00:56:05
that way inclin for about four years now um and they jumped on board to support which was amazing um yeah teaches the
00:56:12
feet integrity and strength and for what I'm doing it's slow so I'm not needing
00:56:17
that feedback from like a spring Soul I'm not needing that sort of feedback in
00:56:21
this case it's just grinding just slow plot all day and I want something that's
00:56:25
going to strengthen me as I go along not not you know atrophies I never get blisters in these in these shoes too so
00:56:32
another thing that fers cross it I went heft to encounter so you're allowing for
00:56:37
how long each day like 10 hours a day 8 hours a day 10 to 12 10 to 12 yeah yeah yeah and and what about um like eating
00:56:45
each day just whatever you obviously you have a backpack with yeah that'll that'll have like I'll probably have
00:56:50
some Tailwind electrolytes um one of the main sponsors a light they they electrolyte company that have um jumped
00:56:57
on board and supported me that'll be huge so hydration obviously and then during during those mid portions like
00:57:04
yeah I'll be snacking and whatnot but it's going to be more so the the break
00:57:08
periods where I'll be feeding up so breakfast will be massive will be like oats with like shitload of protein
00:57:14
powder heaps of cream heaps of fruit that's going to be the first thing coffee of course um with cream can't go
00:57:20
wrong you know and then do that portion and then lunch will be kind of somewhat similar like a protein pancake type
00:57:27
thing levered with um bacon and maple syrup and eggs very dense carbohydrates um but also a lot of protein and in the
00:57:35
evenings way more carbohydrates than protein so evenings will be like very carbohydrate Rich because you want that
00:57:41
for the replenishment to V start the next day so that'll be look like Kuma and um potatoes rice not really a pasta
00:57:49
man and I don't really want to incorporate that now because it's not something I really eat much because I
00:57:54
just think I could get I can get a bit inflamed from pasta um so I usually like the whole forms of carbohydrates com
00:58:02
potato um rice um and then obviously hick load of meat and like mints easily digestable of course and then um dessert
00:58:11
would be just like fruit with cream and yogurt and so it's just Whole Foods very
00:58:16
Whole Food oriented for sure um but then in the days when I'm running like yeah
00:58:22
I'll probably have snacks for sure absolutely like but I'm more focused on
00:58:26
on those those rest stop periods so breakfast lunch dinner are going to be very pillar like they just need to be
00:58:32
targeted and very dense cuz you want to be heading about 8,000 calories a day Hing 10,000 is quite hard um from a
00:58:39
digestive standpoint is's a certain point where you can't take much more in
00:58:43
and I'm not a bodybuilder I'm not going to be able to wake up at 2: a.m. and eat
00:58:48
because that'll affect my recovery you know and and what about um like ear plugs or music are you going to be
00:58:53
listening to anything or you going to ra dog usually honestly usually I do raw dog but I'm going to have them on hand
00:58:58
because I don't want to again like I'm already doing something so intense so I
00:59:02
may as well have that at my disposal you know yeah usually I do raw dog I don't
00:59:07
usually listen to much when I run and train but usually in the evenings when I'm you know I know what I could be like
00:59:13
I'll be pretty like unmotivated so it's a matter of just being like sometimes
00:59:17
just jamming in some you know who knows what it would be I've kind my my music's
00:59:22
weird like I don't listen to like ACDC or like Hype music when run I listen to
00:59:27
like freaking like um radio head or I listen to like sometimes like jazz or like classical music weird somehow it
00:59:35
just Cals me and fires me up whatever flat your individual um exactly a lot of these a lot of these
00:59:44
epic um endurance challenges um I've seen this happen time and time again um
00:59:48
they capitulate because there's like issues with the crew or the crew gets disillusioned and it all falls to Pieces
00:59:55
um have you guys discuss like how are you going to not not be a pain in the ass when you get tired and grumpy how
01:00:01
how are you going to make sure the crew you know stay on track and stay focused is it something you've good good good
01:00:08
question in a way yeah like that's a big reason why um because obviously my crew
01:00:13
are not going to be um getting paid I'm not I haven't really got the budget but
01:00:19
I've set it up so that all their needs are met and paid for so that's what a
01:00:23
lot of that cost um that I've raised for from all these companies that are that
01:00:27
are sponsoring us and supporting us a lot of that cost is going towards them too so that their needs are met so that
01:00:32
they're somewhat comfortable so that they if they want to um go out and have
01:00:36
a beautiful lunch for themselves that that money is there 80 bucks a day per day per head food each it's a pretty I
01:00:43
feel that in itself I want at least those sorts of needs me I think that ties into what you're saying so that
01:00:49
their needs are met they're in a good head space so that if I am a grouchy [ __ ] they're at least like well I'm
01:00:55
I'm pretty replenish today I don't think I will be I'd like to think that I'll be
01:00:58
pretty stable but obviously if I'm in that space I'll be like y boys as I've
01:01:02
told them like you [ __ ] tell me how it is if I'm being a [ __ ] or being an
01:01:06
annoying annoy sorry for swearing annoying mother AKA tell me as it is I don't want us to
01:01:13
get on the bad Leaf you know I've been quite upfront don't want to beat around
01:01:17
the bush so we've been pretty clear about that from the onset that like let's just be real you know we're going
01:01:22
to be together and in close confines for a long time and that motor home will probably smell like a den you know so I
01:01:29
want to make sure that we're all somewhat like we're on the same boat here so yeah that in itself is kind of
01:01:36
like a mitigating anything that gets messy along the way um yeah yeah cuz I I genuinely believe with these sort of
01:01:43
things like I've got no doubt physically you can do it but I I think yeah this is
01:01:46
the trouble with these things cuz you're you're busy all day every day running um
01:01:51
and just basically fueling and then rinse and repeat and then you've got these these guys that are in a car
01:01:56
they're driving for a bit then they're parked up for hours just playing on
01:01:59
their phone and I suppose that's when the head thoughts creeping yeah yeah yeah AB you're so right and I think I
01:02:06
think for them too that they've all kind of come to a place where they grateful
01:02:09
that I've got them on board which is awesome to hear that back but also they
01:02:14
know and I know they know that this is going to be an adventure and an intense learning for them too like we're all
01:02:20
even already where we are now were different people to when we started this but I know for a fact that these guys my
01:02:27
crew in particular they're going to be different after at the end of this as
01:02:31
well for them this is going to be an intense like I think they're going to learn a lot about themselves too and I
01:02:36
feel that's another reason why I have leaned on these guys is that I've I want
01:02:41
I trust them but I know that they want more from themselves in life too so I feel that them going into that and me
01:02:51
knowing that they want that it's kind of like this like yeah let's let's we're
01:02:55
all on the same boat here we're all going into these Uncharted territor so yeah it's it's it's intense and I think
01:03:02
um also we'll get we learn real quickly to where things need to be you know the
01:03:06
first week I think we'll be able to tease out a lot of the points that we didn't even know
01:03:12
were teething problems yeah what what about unforeseen like um injuries or illness you just you have a like a day
01:03:19
off or two days off if you need to or well I mean like yes or no like yeah it's it's all
01:03:26
it's all going to be a day-to-day like management basis I got a I got a good
01:03:30
crew of physio on on tap I've given me a list of Nationwide physios that I'd
01:03:35
recommend so like it's all going to be management right like I I'll just be
01:03:40
real honest like okay if this is feeling like this is getting bad I'll get this
01:03:44
checked up but if it's feeling okay I'll go through it a day and then go the next
01:03:48
day try it out if it's not getting better then I'll go get it checked up
01:03:51
it's going to be kind of like all a management basis really that's kind of
01:03:55
how I'm to approach it um in terms of day offs I haven't really like planned
01:04:01
that in but hey there's contingencies definitely in the plan but I haven't
01:04:04
planned that in as the a priority if that makes sense yeah so so you have and also you haven't planned in any rest
01:04:11
days you yeah no but they're in there as contingencies for sure but if they're
01:04:15
needed yeah exactly right but ideally you just run run consecutive days cuz cuz the thing is as well that the part
01:04:22
of the T Trail is you go on the woi river so I may have a two-day period where I'm going just be on the kayak
01:04:28
which is going to be intense for Le because I'll stiffen up but at least you
01:04:32
know you've got as well exactly you know yeah oh my God so things like that like
01:04:38
yeah so so we're recording this um late September you're starting next yeah
01:04:44
Monday Tuesday Tuesday one week one week right it's Tuesday today yeah literally
01:04:50
exactly we today and what date you're starting on first of October first of October nice number so ideally you'll be
01:04:56
you go all the way from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the south island and Back Again finishing maybe
01:05:01
early January y y yeah early Jan so where will you be for Christmas Day funny we'll probably be well actually
01:05:09
yes that's probably the only planned bre day because around Christmas day will be
01:05:15
around um Huntley and then that day we'll draw the mark for day and drive up
01:05:21
to Oakland and have Christmas with our family and then drive back the next day so I think Christmas day is actually the
01:05:26
only like in the plan rest day maybe even boxing day we have a rest day I can't remember but I know boxing day we
01:05:33
definitely have as a rest day just so we can be with our families I think if you
01:05:37
were if you were really mentally tough you'd spend Christmas day in Huntley yeah way that's what I thought that's
01:05:42
mean sorry to people of H oh that's cool oh that's really cool I think that'll be
01:05:47
good for the morale and you know it'll be good just to have that birthday that
01:05:52
that Christmas um Tucker you know nothing beats oh God you've got that look in your ey
01:05:58
like you're really excited about this you're ready to go yeah yeah oh oh man
01:06:02
like I can't explain if I could like pel up the form of what I'm feeling you know that excitement but
01:06:09
that but that nerves it's just this yeah I must admit there's some nights where
01:06:14
I'm just okay I can't be thinking about it because I'll end up staying up all
01:06:17
night so I'm just like okay I'll just figure to back in the head go to sleep
01:06:21
but yeah man it's it's I'm I'm I'm obsessed you know really yeah in terms of logistics um you
01:06:30
seem really well organized but there's got to be something youve forgotten man
01:06:34
there has to be something that you you figure it out on the go though right yeah guarantee it like the sponsorships
01:06:40
too there's going to be something you sit up be like [ __ ] okay mate I'm sorry
01:06:46
I just fully you know yeah I can already see that happening but yeah and are you
01:06:51
crew going to deal with everything like that like you don't have to deal with ad
01:06:54
while you're doing it or yeah yeah yeah yeah that that's a lot that they'll be
01:06:57
the they'll be the masterminds behind that I'll still I'll still be on my
01:07:01
phone in terms of like um doing updates but the crew will be doing a lot of the content but I'll be the one that will be
01:07:07
like writing the captions there'll be some days obviously where they'll they'll tap in and share but um yeah I
01:07:13
still want to you know main goal is obviously to run end of the day like I just want to raise the money and just
01:07:19
raise as much awareness for this Foundation as possible that's the bottom line and obviously finish it like but
01:07:25
that found Foundation just for them to just get that to get that exposure they need and to get the eyes and ears and
01:07:32
the resources that they need that's that's just the main focus yeah yeah I
01:07:38
think that's probably a good place to end yeah awesome St raising hopefully a
01:07:44
million dollars for the last chance project by running the length of the country twice um Good Luck ma'am thank
01:07:50
you Don appreciate the conversation yeah pleasure to sit down with you today and
01:07:54
sorry for everything you've been through and I hope this goes well yeah agreed
01:07:57
thank you Don