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hey Runners only with dime Harley
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hey team welcome to the podcast as you
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can see from the banner behind me we
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embossed it for the Boston Marathon 2023
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and very special guest on today's
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podcast Ryan Hall uh the fastest
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American runner ever fastest half
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marathon time under under one hour and
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uh fourth place at the Boston Marathon
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in 2011 in under two hours and five
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minutes this is a phenomenal guest for
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the show and I'm thrilled to bring you
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Ryan Hall on Runners only with dom
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Harvey
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from Boston
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run is only with Don Harvey and running
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royalty Ryan Hall g'day mate hey how you
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doing I'm doing great thank you so much
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for meeting up with us today in Boston
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um this isn't good this is like your
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your your home ground in a way I guess
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uh every weekend here in Boston is just
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special you know if people haven't had a
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chance to be out here it's just like
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it's probably the only place you go to
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the only weekend you go to where like
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Runners really do feel like rock stars
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you know like everyone knows everyone
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and it's just a big a big party you know
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the excitement in the city and stuff is
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just contagious yeah yeah and and today
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of all days
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um I need to extend an extra thanks to
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you for meeting up with me because um
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it's your your wife uh who you coach as
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well Sarah Hall it's her 40th birthday
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yep today she's 40. so she's uh upstairs
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getting a massage right now so you know
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she's not missing me too much
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a little um a little present Mom do you
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want to bring those flowers in
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got some flowers thank you that was very
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nice of you pass on pass on to your wife
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just for giving you an hour out of your
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special day thank you very much so
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um so we're doing this on a Saturday
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afternoon so we're two days away from um
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this year's Boston Marathon where she's
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um she's racing um so how does the next
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couple of days look like for Sarah Hall
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and her coach Ryan Hall yeah I mean try
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and just lay low as much as you can you
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know I mean obviously you're here to
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support the race and they want you to do
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some events to to promote the race you
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know so she'll be doing a little bit of
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that but they try to do a lot of that
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stuff up front so she already did all
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her press stuff so so let's be laying
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low eating a lot and
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um honestly we always say it's just
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trying to not go crazy the last couple
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days you just it's really easy to get
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really far in your head so almost trying
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to not think about it until you uh you
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know get out to the start line start
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warming up and you start to engage and
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kind but you don't want to you don't
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want to be like a warrior trapped in
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your room you want to wait to become a
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warrior until you get out to that start
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line so right now it's all about just
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like
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low positive yeah so your role as a
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coach in these um final hours before the
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Run
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um does it become like a like a like a
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counselor a therapist a mentor what is
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it honestly a lot is just reminding your
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athletes of what they've done
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um who they are reminding them to trust
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themselves like we're just out on the on
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the riverfront here doing a run together
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and I was biking next to her and I was
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talking to her about different scenarios
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that could play out what she might be
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nervous about and I was just like listen
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just you just need to trust yourself you
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know because you the thing is it feels
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good having a race plan brings security
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right because it's real firm you're like
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this is what I'm gonna do this is
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exactly how it's gonna play out but that
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is not life and that is not the best way
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to go into a race in my opinion the best
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way to go on a race is completely
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open-minded and know how you're going to
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react in a lot of different situations
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that could present themselves but really
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like not having a firm plan in your mind
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is advantageous from a racing
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perspective but it's very unsettling for
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an athlete to be like I don't know
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what's going to happen I don't know what
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I'm gonna do but that's where you gotta
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just fall back and be like I trust
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myself I know I'm gonna make the right
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decision at the right time I have a good
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head on my shoulders and she does she's
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40 years old she knows what she's doing
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so a lot is just like reminding her
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you're in really good shape you're ready
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for this race trust your instincts out
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there don't follow any moves that you
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shouldn't be following and that's that's
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probably the hardest thing for pros you
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know because a lot of these moves that
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will be made out there on Monday like
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she could cover them and maybe she will
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cover them but maybe not you know it's
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not always the wisest thing to go with
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every single move especially when you're
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on a course like Boston where there's
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lots of ups and downs in the course
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sometimes like when I ran this course
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and ran my best races I wasn't with the
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main group the whole time like it kind
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of yo-yoed sometimes I was like nope
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that one's too hot for me I'm just
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giving a little bit of space and maybe
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I'm gonna keep my eyes up hopefully I'll
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catch them you know a mile down the road
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maybe I won't maybe I'll be running by
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myself for the rest of the race but
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that's where it's just like you got to
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fall back on like what is best for you
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you know our competitors are supposed to
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draw out our best stuff out of us but
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ultimately like you have to tr you have
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to run your own plan with your own mind
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with your own giftedness in your own way
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as well and what were you like when you
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were running like um on the the night
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before a run or the morning of a run
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were you like a bundle of nerves were
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you just like excited and frothing about
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getting into it I was mainly trying to
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like not think about it I think I like
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to like just watch funny movies watching
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inspiring movies hang out with family
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and friends try and laugh as much as I
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can I think that's probably the best
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recipe for athletes the day before race
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is just try to like have frustration
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yeah and just distraction like you don't
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want to be thinking about it a lot like
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you're just gonna burn up all this
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energy and be like a caged animal and
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then when the time comes you're already
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so emotionally drained so it's like
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you're not only like preparing yourself
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physically by eating a whole bunch of
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food which is hard to do when you're
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really nervous you gotta just force down
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these calories and you don't feel like
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it but you know like my get to 21 miles
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I'm gonna be glad I hate this extra
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piece of bread right now you know but so
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there's the physical component but
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there's also very much the emotional
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component that you have to be aware of
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as well I mean like I need to store up
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my emotional energy and so the days
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before I need to just be real chill real
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light-hearted real fun
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that's amazing all right this is your
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podcast not your wife's podcast so we'll
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um we'll wind it right back so
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your dad was a runner growing up hey not
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a great Runner but like a sub three it's
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a three hour exactly okay so so a good
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weekend warrior yeah what was this PB uh
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I don't think he ever broke three I
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think he was uh I think he was always
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like right on the cusp never did it he
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was more into baseball basketball and
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football he's also a little bit of a
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bigger guy like my mom was smaller more
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like built like a runner my dad was a
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big kind of strong baseball player kind
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of guy so I think I got more of like my
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mom's genetic side
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um so he always kind of struggled with
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the run-in a little bit but he he had a
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big engine as well but yeah I only ever
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broke three wow so so you what made you
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decide to get into it because I've
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written in your books um you just said
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to him you loved team sport yeah and
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then one weekend you said to your dad I
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want to do this 15 15 mile 15 kilometer
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15 mile run around a lake yeah exactly
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how old how old were you then yeah I was
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13 years old and hated to run and I
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always say like running is a very
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difficult sport to get into because it's
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the least amount of fun at the beginning
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usually the things that grab you the
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grab kids or the things that are
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immediately fun you go do it one time
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you're like oh that was so fun I want to
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go do that again running's not like that
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usually like you go on your first run
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you're like dude that freaking hurt and
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everything's sore and that wasn't fun I
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had to stop and walk you're not just
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like floating along and that was me like
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I did this 15 mile run with my dad I
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wasn't floating through it like it was a
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long hard painful uh not necessarily it
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was enjoyable and the sense of
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accomplishment I felt when I finished it
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you know and I felt like I overcame a
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big challenge but not like enjoyable
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Sensations that I was feeling it during
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that four hour run or however long it
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took me to do that initial run around
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the lake so
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so what I'm hearing is that you didn't
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really have natural it was more hard
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work you must have some natural Talent
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obviously um but it's more hard work
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they got you to where you got to yeah
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absolutely I mean I have a I definitely
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have a big engine all my brothers my
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little brothers racing on Monday as well
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just debuted in his first marathon he's
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35 he just ran his first marathon ran
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212. so you know all of us just have
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naturally big engines for sure without a
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doubt so there is a level of talent
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there but I really don't feel like I'm
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the most talented
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Marathon or half marathoner that America
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has ever had without a doubt not even
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close when I look at the guys who are
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super talented I look at the guys who
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are really really quick on the track
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over five thousand ten thousand meters
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grant fish here guys like that you're
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like man dude if I could have run like
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12.50 for 5 000 what could I have done
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in a marathon because I was a 13-16 guy
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which sluggish
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it's a hobby jogger out there but you
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wouldn't just about any park run in the
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world that's the great thing about
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running though is you really you can get
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so much out of yourself you know you do
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have to have a certain measure of talent
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without a doubt
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um but you can get a heck of a long ways
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just off a lot of hard work and so
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that's where like you know not to jump
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into a whole different subject when
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people talk about doping in our Sport
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and guys who are cheating I'm like
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listen I wasn't the most talented guy I
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wasn't taking anything and I ran 59
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minutes for a half in shoes you could
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Bend in half right now you got guys and
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shoes that are running a minute you know
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the shoe alone is taking a minute off at
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times and half marathons and if they're
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wait significantly more talented than I
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was and they trained as far as I was of
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course they should be running way faster
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than I was ever running you know so
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that's why I like when people just
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accuse people of doping based off
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performance I'm like I don't I never I
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never jumped to that conclusion just
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because I know myself and I know my
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level of talent and I'm like there's
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guys out there who just have a whole lot
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more of what what I had and so it's you
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know it's possible to run some pretty
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insane times what are you since you
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brought it up what are you um what are
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your thoughts about the the shoes now I
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I dropped a couple of hundred bucks on a
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pair of Nike Vapor Flies whatever they
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are yesterday and I had a run of them
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this morning and they're incredible it
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was your first run yeah do you feel like
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you're on the moon a little bit bro
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phenomenal felt like I was like bouncing
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yeah the shoes are they're amazing
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they're super fun and for like now so I
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raced at 137 pounds I'm five foot ten
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now I'm 177 pounds and being heavier in
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that shoe you get even more out of it so
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like you run different in those issues
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right so like in the shoes I was in
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really minimal really bendy not a lot of
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cushion just eats your legs up on
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courses like Boston your quads are just
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freaking gone at Mile like 16 you know
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and you have to go the rest of the way
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but these shoes this and I I run in
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Super Shoes all the time because I love
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them they feel amazing but you run
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totally different in the shoes I was in
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it's more like you're a cheetah pulling
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the ground yeah you're trying to be real
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light on your feet right and now in
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these Super Shoes with the cushion and
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the plate combined it's it's totally
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different game now it's load the ground
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as hard as you can slam your leg into
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the ground as hard as you can and you're
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gonna get a huge amount of return out of
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out of the shoe out of the ground and
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can Propel you forward really quick so
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it's fun for me like all strap on those
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shoes and I'll run a mile in like under
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five minutes when I'm not even in that
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good of shape and just have no business
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running that fast but I can just load
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that shoe up and it beats it can beat up
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your lower leg so there's the injury can
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opponent so you know I wouldn't suggest
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anyone just get a pair and do every
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single run in them
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um like I'm actually trying to get my
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athletes to use them Less in training
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and still racing them right because
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there is quite a few like lower leg
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injuries that are also popping up as a
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result of those so you got to be careful
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in training but they're they're super
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they're so fun they're so fun yeah this
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is some completely hypothetical but
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yours your times the American record for
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the half marathon which is 19. so 59 43
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59 43 and the marathon which is uh
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204.50 I ran 204.50
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how much quicker do you think you could
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have gone with um the the current shoes
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hypothetical of course but yeah I mean
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yeah it's all hypothetical right and I
00:11:53
never raced in them when I was Elite
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Runner so actually I asked Ethan
00:11:56
ritzenheim who I competed with that
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question because he ran in the shoes we
00:12:00
were in and he ran in the Super Shoes in
00:12:02
in both those I was like dude how big of
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a difference is it like what do you
00:12:05
think you know you ran in both of them
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he's like I think it's easy a minute in
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the half two minutes in a marathon so
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it's like two to three seconds a
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kilometer at the pace you're running
00:12:15
that's insane oh it's that is night and
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day different I mean getting a minute
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quicker going from 59 minutes to 58
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minutes is that's a world that's a
00:12:23
lifetime of work to get that much
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improvement so it you know they really
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did they changed the scene completely
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so yeah so you start running with your
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dad um then you give up team sports
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which um in your book it sounds like it
00:12:35
was a it was a hard thing to do uh
00:12:37
you're basically leaving your mates
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behind and you know for a solo sport
00:12:41
um when did you realize you were good
00:12:42
you started doing cross-country and
00:12:43
shorter stuff right yeah you know what's
00:12:45
funny is I thought I was really good
00:12:47
because I grew I grew up in Big Bear
00:12:49
Lake which is a tiny little mountain
00:12:51
town in Southern California we get snow
00:12:53
I live like a mile away from ski resort
00:12:55
so I grew up like skiing snowboard and
00:12:57
all that but I wasn't exposed to running
00:12:59
at all there was no track team at my
00:13:00
high school the only tracks we had in
00:13:02
town were like filled with weeds and
00:13:04
stuff no one Ran So I didn't even know
00:13:06
what a good time was you know we didn't
00:13:07
have social media all this stuff now
00:13:10
yeah so like I ran a mile my first mile
00:13:14
ever in middle school was during PE gym
00:13:16
class and I ran like 5 52. I thought
00:13:18
that was like blazing fast I was like
00:13:20
that is so fast and little did I little
00:13:23
did I know that my wife Sarah she at
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that same age she was running under five
00:13:28
minutes for a month if we would have
00:13:30
gone up in the same Hometown I would
00:13:31
have never ran because I would have been
00:13:33
like this girl's a minute quicker than
00:13:34
me so it's funny how like it's all
00:13:38
relative right like my daughter was just
00:13:40
asking me this the other day she's like
00:13:41
is how good am I at the 400 meters she
00:13:44
just ran like 67 for 400 she's like how
00:13:46
good is that and I couldn't even answer
00:13:48
the question I was like it all depends
00:13:50
who you compare yourself to yeah
00:13:52
how old is she uh she's in ninth grade
00:13:55
right now and what's that what I just
00:13:57
say uh so she's 15. 15. yeah
00:14:01
15 sounds pretty good it's not it's not
00:14:03
yeah again it's
00:14:05
like are you comparing yourself to like
00:14:06
a world-class Sprinter or to like your
00:14:08
your friends in class you know so when
00:14:11
so so you you do a cross-country and
00:14:13
shorter stuff for a while why the
00:14:14
transition to Marathon yeah I never
00:14:16
thought I'd run a marathon
00:14:18
um it was really as a result of going
00:14:20
over to Europe and getting my butt
00:14:22
kicked on the track I remember I was
00:14:23
racing against uh kindanisa bakele and
00:14:26
Craig machum and those guys and we're in
00:14:28
London doing a 5k on the track and those
00:14:31
guys just destroyed me I was nowhere
00:14:33
even near the the race I was watching
00:14:35
the race on the big screen running down
00:14:37
the back stretch you know now I remember
00:14:39
just being so frustrated after that race
00:14:41
because I really felt like I've been
00:14:43
giving a gift to run with the best guys
00:14:44
in the world and here I was like not
00:14:46
even close to being in the race and I
00:14:48
was running pretty well for me at that
00:14:50
time over 5 000 you know that was a year
00:14:51
after I ran 1316. so it was during that
00:14:55
time I was like I gotta figure out what
00:14:56
I'm best at like I've I've been very
00:14:58
close-minded I was always like I'm gonna
00:15:00
be a 1500 guy like I'm gonna be a Miler
00:15:03
No One's Gonna tell me I'm not fast
00:15:04
enough whatever and then finally I
00:15:07
opened up to longer races went to the 5K
00:15:09
was much more successful I mean I should
00:15:11
have known for my training like when I
00:15:13
was in high school 18 years old I could
00:15:15
run 10 miles under five minute pace and
00:15:18
that's I mean that was very telling that
00:15:20
threshold strength comes very natural to
00:15:23
me you know but I wanted to do the short
00:15:25
fast stuff and it was good to work on
00:15:26
that like kids should be working on
00:15:28
their speed because your speed over 1500
00:15:31
meters if you're a marathoner that's
00:15:33
going to determine how high your ceiling
00:15:35
is how good you can get in this sport
00:15:37
it's gonna be determined by your 1500
00:15:38
meter speed I really believe that look
00:15:40
at a guy like Kip choge we ran in the
00:15:42
world championships together in Finland
00:15:44
he was like third in the world and
00:15:46
running you know I don't even know what
00:15:48
his PR was at that time but running
00:15:49
under 13 or whatever and just you look
00:15:52
at his ceiling now yeah well it's funny
00:15:55
that you you bring it up that you you
00:15:57
know well I was going to say sucked but
00:15:59
not just what weren't as successful as
00:16:00
what you wanted to be in the 5000
00:16:02
because it's the same sort of path with
00:16:03
uh chipkage
00:16:04
okay isn't it because he um he met
00:16:07
ordered a couple of Olympics and then
00:16:08
for the the third Olympic campaign
00:16:10
didn't even make the Kenyan Squad uh-huh
00:16:12
yes when he started to panic and that's
00:16:14
when Patrick is saying as coach said no
00:16:15
why don't you try longer yeah yeah just
00:16:17
start moving up but if you see what
00:16:19
happens because Mo Farah as well he did
00:16:21
very well at five and ten and then it's
00:16:22
like when you start to drop off the
00:16:24
Speed there is it like well there's
00:16:25
always a marathon yeah and and that's
00:16:27
the natural progression of the athlete
00:16:29
you know yeah it's like when you can no
00:16:31
longer compete with the best guys in the
00:16:32
world the shorter stuff you start moving
00:16:34
up but you still have that speed in your
00:16:36
system you know
00:16:37
um so that that's critical you gotta
00:16:39
even with just like with Run free
00:16:41
training in the athletes that we work
00:16:43
with we're working on 1500 meter mile
00:16:45
speed with those athletes and they don't
00:16:47
have to race it but they need to work on
00:16:49
it and that's why you need a coach to
00:16:50
make you do that stuff because when
00:16:52
you're 40 50 60 years old you don't want
00:16:55
to go out to the track or go to a hill
00:16:57
and do like 200 meter repeats you know
00:16:59
because that stuff generally doesn't
00:17:01
feel great to do for a marathon runner
00:17:03
but I would I would argue that doing
00:17:06
what you don't feel like doing is
00:17:08
probably the most important work you you
00:17:10
need to be doing but you got to have
00:17:11
like someone there is forcing you to do
00:17:14
it yeah so when when you're at your peak
00:17:16
of marathon training what did awake look
00:17:18
like for you
00:17:19
uh that's Australian twice a day most
00:17:21
days except for the long run day um like
00:17:23
twice as in running or like a run in a
00:17:25
gym yeah yeah twice running so you'd run
00:17:28
you know anywhere between 50 minutes to
00:17:30
75 minutes in the morning if we're just
00:17:32
doing an easy run and then a hard
00:17:34
session like two to three times a week
00:17:36
with the long run in there as well
00:17:39
um and just tired all the time to be
00:17:41
honest with you like we are training
00:17:43
you're training right on the line of
00:17:45
what your body can handle you know so I
00:17:47
remember if I missed a nap I was in a
00:17:50
bad mood like my my schedule was like
00:17:53
train in the morning come back maybe
00:17:54
stretch roll take care of stuff around
00:17:57
the house whatever I need to do for a
00:17:58
couple hours lunch two hour nap get up
00:18:01
run again go to the gym gym routine come
00:18:05
home starving eat a quick dinner go to
00:18:08
bed early and then just it's being a
00:18:11
professional athlete is not a glamorous
00:18:14
life or at least a professional Runner
00:18:15
yeah it's very monotonous you're doing
00:18:17
the same thing over and over again and
00:18:19
your life has to be really simple like I
00:18:22
didn't have energy for much else outside
00:18:25
of running and training and sleeping so
00:18:27
it's a big sacrifice you know you watch
00:18:29
these athletes out here on Monday and it
00:18:31
they make it look like so much fun and
00:18:34
So Glamorous and everyone's going crazy
00:18:35
and it is it's super fun but it's also a
00:18:38
big sacrifice for these guys you know
00:18:40
disappearing to training camp some of
00:18:42
them for three months not seeing their
00:18:44
family and just Eat Sleep Train that's
00:18:46
it but that's that's what it takes to
00:18:49
compete now at this level yeah well I
00:18:51
suppose like the marathon week is fun
00:18:53
it's a week of Celebration and catching
00:18:54
up with people and you know just
00:18:56
enjoying the occasion but what everyone
00:18:58
doesn't see is the you know the stuff
00:18:59
that goes on in the shadows months and
00:19:01
months before and what you described for
00:19:02
me before and the way you described it
00:19:04
it sounds pretty bloody Bleak but did
00:19:06
you enjoy it at the time oh yeah yeah I
00:19:09
mean I I was never I wasn't going out in
00:19:12
high school and going to parties I hated
00:19:14
dances like I didn't gravitate towards
00:19:16
being really social like I was just kind
00:19:18
of like being home so for like a
00:19:20
homebody type person it's a really good
00:19:22
lifestyle but even for my wife who's not
00:19:25
a homebody person she likes to be out
00:19:26
and doing stuff it is gratifying because
00:19:29
you are investing all of yourself in
00:19:32
something and I think no matter what it
00:19:34
is anytime you're like I'm gonna go
00:19:36
after this thing as hard as I can I'm
00:19:38
gonna see what I can do it doesn't even
00:19:40
matter what the thing is anytime you're
00:19:42
that focused on trying to do something
00:19:44
it's a pretty gratifying thing to pursue
00:19:46
it with that kind of passion that kind
00:19:48
of drive that kind of like let's go find
00:19:50
out and see what I can do here it's fun
00:19:52
yeah well for me and anyone else that
00:19:53
has followed your journey since running
00:19:55
on um Instagram
00:19:57
um you just seem like I could do that at
00:19:58
hyper fixates on whatever it is you're
00:20:00
doing oh that's very true I am like very
00:20:03
like in or out that's why I win there
00:20:06
was no like gradual retirement for me
00:20:08
you know like some people just kind of
00:20:09
like they keep racing you don't even
00:20:11
know all of a sudden they're not there
00:20:12
anymore you know they just kind of drift
00:20:14
out of the sport I was like when I'm
00:20:16
done I'm done I'm on to the next but I
00:20:19
actually it's funny because you know I
00:20:20
got into lifting and saw how far I could
00:20:23
take that over about six years which was
00:20:25
super fun because for me this is also
00:20:27
like science and an experiment of one
00:20:29
you know like my gym my garage in my
00:20:33
house my gym I call it my lab because
00:20:34
every time I go in there I'm trying
00:20:37
something new I'm learning something and
00:20:39
like I've learned so much through Sports
00:20:43
about myself about my body but also
00:20:45
about how to work with my athletes now
00:20:47
like my athletes they're directly
00:20:49
benefiting from my science experiments
00:20:51
that I'm holding on myself and I'm
00:20:53
careful not to be like they're gonna
00:20:55
react the same way I react but you can
00:20:57
take principles that you learn on
00:20:58
yourself and try it out with other
00:21:00
people and oftentimes those principles
00:21:02
also work so yeah yeah I I want to get
00:21:05
into the whole weightlifting stuff we'll
00:21:06
get we'll get there in time but it's
00:21:08
worth bringing up there's a photo of you
00:21:10
online and honestly it looks like your
00:21:11
head has been photoshopped onto some
00:21:13
other dude's body like it's just did you
00:21:15
know the photo I'm talking about there's
00:21:16
one in particular I think it was in
00:21:18
Men's Journal I mean health or something
00:21:19
and it's like they can't be his actual
00:21:21
rig that's incredible yeah well it's
00:21:25
it's yeah it's just fun to see like you
00:21:27
know I did something I was naturally
00:21:29
talented at you know to a measure and
00:21:32
then to now do something though where
00:21:34
I'm not talented at it and it's just
00:21:35
like it's all hard work like I have the
00:21:38
total wrong genetics to really be like
00:21:40
moving a lot away or to put on muscle
00:21:42
it's a real challenge it's like right
00:21:44
now like I'm doing this interview I got
00:21:46
50 grams of protein in here that I'm
00:21:48
gonna drink during the interview it's
00:21:49
like
00:21:50
nutrition sleep everything has to be
00:21:53
dialed right and it's all the hard work
00:21:55
that I did in running I'm doing it the
00:21:56
same way but now just like on a hobby of
00:21:58
lifting level but everything I learned
00:22:00
in running it helps with the next season
00:22:02
you know
00:22:03
okay so um just back to the running for
00:22:06
a bit so um so the the Boston Marathon
00:22:09
2011 would you say that's like the Run
00:22:10
of your life the performance of your
00:22:11
life
00:22:12
is that the most memorable when you look
00:22:14
back from where you are now well here's
00:22:16
the thing it was it was what it was
00:22:18
right and we had a Tailwind that day it
00:22:20
was the perfect day to run listen okay I
00:22:23
just want to stop you there before you
00:22:24
you go too far on this humble act
00:22:27
um
00:22:28
2011 is also the year I ran the Boston
00:22:31
Marathon
00:22:32
um same Tailwind I managed to do three I
00:22:35
was 19. so let's not give that Tailwind
00:22:37
too much credit yeah but definitely help
00:22:39
you guys mention it for sure but I will
00:22:42
say this though how I felt leading up to
00:22:45
that race I never felt that good before
00:22:47
wait wait what do you mean because um in
00:22:50
your book you talk about the um like a
00:22:52
warm-up event yeah there's a saying in
00:22:54
New Zealand chat the beard I don't know
00:22:55
if that's the thing in America but you
00:22:57
oh I felt terrible yeah it had no
00:22:59
idea why I felt so bad what happened in
00:23:01
that half marathon that lead up I have
00:23:03
no idea I can't tell you how long did it
00:23:05
take you to finish it felt terrible I
00:23:06
don't even know never looked in my time
00:23:08
it was like probably like 64 65 minutes
00:23:11
I mean for me that's five minutes off my
00:23:14
PR and I thought I was in PR shape like
00:23:16
my workouts have been going super well
00:23:18
you know what happened is I did that
00:23:20
race and then something just went off
00:23:22
like a switch in me and we did change
00:23:24
our environment too we went back to
00:23:26
Stanford I was training at sea level I
00:23:28
had been in Flagstaff training up there
00:23:30
at altitude we dropped down to sea level
00:23:31
and I did change the way I was training
00:23:33
it was kind of like one of those deals
00:23:35
where I had a really bad race and I was
00:23:37
like screw it I was like I'm just gonna
00:23:39
see what happens I'm just gonna I'm just
00:23:41
gonna go run as hard as I can like hard
00:23:43
all the time so I would be going out for
00:23:45
easy runs running 5 30 5 20 Pace
00:23:49
um the day before the Boston Marathon
00:23:51
did 30 minutes I was running under 5 30
00:23:54
pace and just feeling like a million
00:23:57
bucks so that's that kind of feeling is
00:24:00
more what I base like that was probably
00:24:02
like yeah my best stuff I ever had based
00:24:04
on how I was feeling leading up to the
00:24:06
race regardless so it's funny like I
00:24:08
just bombed a race no one's even
00:24:10
thinking about me but in my head and I
00:24:13
was I was licking my chops I was like I
00:24:16
feel ridiculous I'm I and then I saw
00:24:19
there was a tailwind and I talked to
00:24:21
Bill Rogers Before the Race and he was
00:24:23
like you get this like once every 10
00:24:24
years and so I was like there's me a
00:24:26
Tailwind this year I was like I'm not
00:24:27
letting one mile go by without pressing
00:24:30
it's like I'm impressed the entire way
00:24:32
which is why I went straight to the
00:24:33
front and just let as long as I could
00:24:35
and you know that's how that that race
00:24:37
oh good hang on one second
00:24:41
so we're good
00:24:47
right
00:24:54
okay no that's fine can we can we move
00:24:57
elsewhere
00:25:04
so so 2011. um Talk us through that day
00:25:06
from start to finish so yeah the the
00:25:08
night before the Boston Marathon you're
00:25:10
feeling good you're feeling relaxed yeah
00:25:12
yeah like in my mind it's like all
00:25:14
systems go you know and I'm just looking
00:25:16
at the weather and being like let's
00:25:18
let's see what happens out there
00:25:19
tomorrow you know I mean just and going
00:25:22
to the front of a race for me is nothing
00:25:24
new like I always loved going to the
00:25:26
front I always felt most comfortable in
00:25:27
the front I think that's something for
00:25:29
people to keep in mind you know a lot of
00:25:30
people try and tell you how you should
00:25:31
run I like to ask my athlete how are you
00:25:34
excited to run because that's how you're
00:25:36
gonna run your best you know so that's
00:25:37
the primary thing I I love being in the
00:25:40
front so yeah I mean I was standing on
00:25:43
the starting line Hopkinton just staring
00:25:44
at the flag and it's just blowing the
00:25:46
direction we're gonna you know how it
00:25:48
was out there it was it was just perfect
00:25:50
and so gotten fired and then off we went
00:25:53
and you feel you're feeling good you're
00:25:55
feeling good from the outside oh yeah
00:25:57
yeah I I can tell I can tell how I'm
00:26:00
feeling so quick on things and sometimes
00:26:02
I am wrong but like I can literally tell
00:26:04
you how this lift is going to go that
00:26:06
I'm about to do by just pick up a 45
00:26:08
pound plate feel how it feels in my
00:26:10
hands you know same thing with run it's
00:26:11
like some days you just warm up and you
00:26:13
just feel that bounce in your step you
00:26:15
know it's like yeah I feel good today
00:26:16
and those are fun days so so you start
00:26:19
running you've got the Tailwind
00:26:21
um you're feeling good obviously you're
00:26:23
still in agony though like you get your
00:26:25
full you're fully sending it yep yeah
00:26:27
yeah and I think the thing is you just
00:26:30
can't second guess yourself when you're
00:26:31
doing that like once you commit and for
00:26:33
me it's all about like figuring out how
00:26:36
I'm feeling and running according to
00:26:37
feeling more than time because you can
00:26:39
freak yourself out by looking at your
00:26:40
watch you know I think our first mile is
00:26:42
like 435 or something like that but and
00:26:45
so you can look at that and be like oh
00:26:46
dang I'm running way too fast what I do
00:26:48
I just mess up but really like I just go
00:26:50
back to the sensation being like if I
00:26:52
was in training I was running this since
00:26:54
this effort level could I maintain this
00:26:56
for a 15 mile threshold the answer is
00:26:58
yes you keep taking it he's generally
00:27:00
speaking for us like whatever you can do
00:27:01
for a 15 mile threshold in training and
00:27:03
the call context of big training and
00:27:05
being tired you can generally do that on
00:27:08
Marathon day yeah and you you finished
00:27:10
um fourth in that race yeah so I was
00:27:12
fourth place the fourth fastest person
00:27:14
ever on the Boston Marathon course in
00:27:16
fourth place but you know it's funny you
00:27:18
would think that I would be like mad
00:27:20
about that right it's like what do I
00:27:21
have to do to win this race I wanted to
00:27:23
know if it was sort of with mixed
00:27:24
emotions like you're stoked with your
00:27:25
time but also not even a Podium finish
00:27:28
no it wasn't mixed emotions at all it
00:27:30
was just pure Bliss I came across that
00:27:31
finish line and I was like yeah I was so
00:27:34
stoked just yelling screaming like so
00:27:36
happy and yeah like of course it would
00:27:38
have been fun to win that race but I was
00:27:40
a part of a historic race you know this
00:27:42
race has been run that at that time over
00:27:45
a hundred and like 20 years when no one
00:27:47
had ever run that fast on that course
00:27:49
with the Tailwind or in any conditions
00:27:51
you know and I got to play a role in
00:27:53
that and I'll take that over winning the
00:27:55
Boston Marathon every day when did you
00:27:57
realize you were on track for a sub 205
00:27:59
because part of me wonders why you
00:28:01
didn't take the foot off the throttle
00:28:03
like you would have still had an
00:28:04
American record maybe you would have had
00:28:06
a Ryan Hall personal beast it wouldn't
00:28:08
have changed the placing at all you're
00:28:09
right I know oh I had that Temptation I
00:28:12
honestly what was happening is I saw her
00:28:14
half split which was like 61 48 or
00:28:16
something it was so fast that the race
00:28:18
directory radioed his guy's like hey you
00:28:20
guys messed up the clock pocket said
00:28:22
they came through in 61.40 they're like
00:28:24
no that's right and so like I was
00:28:26
surprised too everyone was shocked we're
00:28:27
running that fast right but after that
00:28:30
point I was just thinking my watch was
00:28:31
like okay the goal is to see how much I
00:28:34
can go under five minute pace you know
00:28:35
for the next Mile and every mile would
00:28:38
roll by I'd be just clicking off just
00:28:40
under five just under five 448 Pace
00:28:42
whatever and then it was with a mile to
00:28:44
go I'm glad they put a clock with the
00:28:46
mile to go here
00:28:47
um because I looked at the clock and I
00:28:49
was right at two hours and so I was like
00:28:51
okay either I can try and like push down
00:28:54
and really like Hammer this last Mile
00:28:56
and go under 205 or I can enjoy myself
00:28:58
ease off the throttle a little bit and
00:29:00
yeah it's not going to change the place
00:29:02
still a really good time still really
00:29:03
fast I was like I I was like you only
00:29:06
get one shot at this it's you know once
00:29:09
every 10 years you can get this kind of
00:29:10
conditions like I'm gonna make the most
00:29:12
of this so I just graded my teeth out
00:29:14
last mile ran all the way to the finish
00:29:16
line and just squeaked under 205.
00:29:19
yeah that's amazing and then after that
00:29:23
um it seemed like you had like a like a
00:29:24
horrible period for like maybe a couple
00:29:26
of years where you were entered in races
00:29:28
and then you know you wouldn't turn up
00:29:29
or you'd be injured or like talk us talk
00:29:32
us through that period that must be that
00:29:34
must have been miserable yeah it's tough
00:29:36
you know and it's kind of something all
00:29:38
runners go through though at least Pro
00:29:40
runners go through this right where it's
00:29:41
that period of things breaking down your
00:29:44
body's slowing down and it was a four
00:29:46
year period it started with plantar
00:29:47
fasciitis training for the Olympic
00:29:49
trials and there's there's nothing I
00:29:50
could do about that one I just had to
00:29:52
keep training through it you have to do
00:29:53
the Olympic trials if you can go to the
00:29:54
Olympic Games so I just trained through
00:29:56
it and it hurt the whole time and it
00:29:58
hurt during the race and it hurt after
00:30:00
the race for months and months and there
00:30:02
was a slight compensation in my stride
00:30:04
and it just threw off the whole system
00:30:06
so that's why it's so important for
00:30:07
runners it's like don't just be okay
00:30:10
with your stride being off because it's
00:30:12
going to cause other problems down the
00:30:13
line so that started like a four-year
00:30:15
chain of injuries for me dropping out of
00:30:17
races not getting a races then this
00:30:19
whole fatigue thing set in and uh yeah
00:30:22
that was that's when I knew it was over
00:30:24
looking back over a four-year period of
00:30:26
time being like my body is clearly
00:30:28
telling me it's got nothing left to give
00:30:30
to me and now it's time for me to give
00:30:32
back to my body and get into the weights
00:30:35
is
00:30:37
yeah so it was kind of like
00:30:39
it was kind of like your body shutting
00:30:41
down really and saying no more we can't
00:30:43
you see your mind was still willing you
00:30:45
still had this Mind of a of a Savage um
00:30:47
but your body was just like shutting
00:30:49
down on you that must have been
00:30:50
um like mentally just a grueling period
00:30:52
of your life yeah yeah it was it was it
00:30:55
was a real challenge you know like but
00:30:58
what I'm I'm glad that I navigated it as
00:31:00
well as I could have at that time with
00:31:02
information they had at the time you
00:31:03
know like I tried everything I could to
00:31:05
get myself out of these halls I shifted
00:31:07
my nutrition I tried different training
00:31:10
plans different everything right to try
00:31:13
and turn my body around I was getting
00:31:14
blood tests done and funny enough like
00:31:16
nothing was coming up in my blood that
00:31:17
was showing there was like some big
00:31:19
problem I was having it was just like my
00:31:21
body was just not responding to anything
00:31:23
I was doing from a training perspective
00:31:25
so that's kind of how you know you know
00:31:28
it's like dude I've tried everything I I
00:31:30
can't turn the ship around it's just
00:31:32
clearly like getting worse and worse and
00:31:34
so I figured it was time to to hang it
00:31:37
up and move on to the next thing now
00:31:39
going back if I could do it all over
00:31:41
again I would have probably just taken a
00:31:43
good and most funny my mom was trying to
00:31:45
get me to do this and I was like I'm
00:31:47
never gonna do it like a sabbatical like
00:31:49
a break yeah exactly she wanted me to
00:31:51
take like three months off or like she
00:31:52
wanted to take like six months off or
00:31:54
something but I think if I would have
00:31:55
taken three months off and come back to
00:31:58
it maybe things would have turned around
00:32:00
you know maybe not I don't know for sure
00:32:02
but that's the only question mark I
00:32:04
still have uh were you just worried
00:32:05
about like losing losing too much in
00:32:07
their time in terms of pace or
00:32:10
I just wasn't convinced it would work
00:32:12
because I'd taken time off you know it's
00:32:13
not like I hadn't taken any break it
00:32:15
makes so much sense though right like a
00:32:16
three month break it could potentially
00:32:17
prolong your career by a couple of years
00:32:19
yeah man and then what do you do during
00:32:21
that three months I think if I would
00:32:23
have like
00:32:23
done what I did essentially maybe not
00:32:26
try to put on so much muscle but get
00:32:28
into the gym like still like be active
00:32:30
and like do things to give back to your
00:32:32
body because running is just it's real
00:32:34
catabolic at the level that we're doing
00:32:36
it at you know like like for people who
00:32:39
aren't trying to be world class you can
00:32:40
run at a very healthy level and still
00:32:43
train hard right but like for us like we
00:32:46
are right on the edge of over training
00:32:49
all the time for years and years and
00:32:52
years
00:32:53
um to pull back from that and give back
00:32:55
to your body for a longer period of time
00:32:57
I think could be really helpful so you
00:33:00
know for people who are struggling and
00:33:02
just can't seem to turn the ship around
00:33:03
like that's what I would suggest they do
00:33:05
is like take three months off eat a lot
00:33:07
of food put on some weight put on some
00:33:09
not just like muscle put on a little bit
00:33:11
of fat like don't be afraid like when
00:33:13
you're running real light all the time
00:33:15
it's really really hard on your body I
00:33:17
mean every time I test my testosterone
00:33:19
when I was running it was clinically low
00:33:22
like my T levels were like hundred like
00:33:25
really really low like I should have
00:33:27
been on something just from a health
00:33:28
perspective you know obviously we
00:33:31
couldn't take anything because you know
00:33:32
we're being tested by you saw it but now
00:33:34
look look at me now I'm 40 years old so
00:33:36
I was I was 27 my testosterone is a
00:33:39
hundred now I'm 40. my testosterone is a
00:33:42
thousand wow and not taking anything
00:33:45
just just eating well sleeping well
00:33:48
doing the weight lifting I'm doing doing
00:33:50
and I'm training super hard still you
00:33:53
know I lift every single day I run most
00:33:55
days do some type of like cardio most
00:33:57
days
00:33:58
um and so still like training real hard
00:34:00
and yet in such a healthier place right
00:34:03
because I'm where my body wants to be
00:34:05
whereas like I should be 160 pounds just
00:34:09
a normal dude walking around but I had
00:34:11
to walk around at 140 pounds 137 pounds
00:34:14
way under the weight that I should have
00:34:16
been whereas like someone like my wife
00:34:18
Sarah she's naturally like right around
00:34:20
her Marathon Raceway so her weight
00:34:23
doesn't need to fluctuate a lot and
00:34:25
she's in a healthy place the whole time
00:34:26
because she's where her body wants her
00:34:28
to be so that's something also for
00:34:30
people to keep in mind it's like where
00:34:31
where's my natural set point yeah and
00:34:33
then the goal is not to look like
00:34:35
someone else or to look like a canyon
00:34:38
you know like you're sitting in front of
00:34:39
me now and you look healthy and well and
00:34:41
you definitely look better now than what
00:34:43
you were when you were running those
00:34:44
incredible times that we talked about
00:34:46
before yeah I mean that's how you knew
00:34:47
your fit is when you look kind of sick
00:34:50
like it's not great everyone knew that
00:34:53
like if someone told you like dude your
00:34:54
face is looking really gone you were
00:34:57
like yes I did it I mean I was I was in
00:35:01
Ethiopia training for this race one year
00:35:03
and I was buying some groceries at the
00:35:06
grocery store in Addis and the checkout
00:35:07
lady she told me she's like you need to
00:35:09
eat more food I was like if someone in
00:35:12
Ethiopia is telling you you need to eat
00:35:14
more food you've probably taken it too
00:35:16
far and you it was so specific though
00:35:19
it's crazy to me how specific weight
00:35:21
plays into our sport
00:35:23
137 pounds I'm golden 135 pounds I raced
00:35:27
this race at 135 I was weak no good
00:35:30
terrible results if I'm 140 pounds not
00:35:33
competitive not going to be in it it's
00:35:35
that specific we're talking about a
00:35:36
couple of pounds difference and it's it
00:35:39
it's a factor in our sport so it's not
00:35:41
like you can just oh I'm just gonna not
00:35:43
pay attention to it like you have have
00:35:45
to at the world class level to try to
00:35:47
run with the best guys in the world it
00:35:49
has to be something that you are
00:35:50
monitoring that you are aware of yeah
00:35:52
but you got to know how to keep your
00:35:54
body in a healthy place because if you
00:35:56
have an unhealthy spot for too long it's
00:35:58
going to break down and you know you're
00:35:59
gonna have problems yeah now I know um
00:36:02
your faith is massively important to you
00:36:04
and it has been and you've got a rock
00:36:06
solid marriage with Sarah
00:36:08
um but still like it must have been a
00:36:10
rough time like you know here you are
00:36:12
Ryan Hall the runner it's sort of like
00:36:13
what defines you and your body was
00:36:15
telling you you couldn't do it anymore
00:36:16
dark days
00:36:18
I thought they would be I was scared to
00:36:21
retire I was always when I was in it and
00:36:23
I was running I was like man when I'm
00:36:25
not doing this anymore I don't know if
00:36:26
I'm gonna be okay like mentally because
00:36:28
I was so into it and I was like a dog
00:36:31
with its bone you know you take that
00:36:32
bone away I'll be like what am I gonna
00:36:34
do all day long you know but I have to
00:36:37
get a job yeah I have to get a real job
00:36:41
um but actually something that you know
00:36:45
I'm big into prayer and uh at one point
00:36:48
I remember just praying and just asking
00:36:50
God for just perspective on my situation
00:36:52
I was in an airplane and I was looking
00:36:53
out and I was thinking about how like
00:36:55
God just has this different perspective
00:36:56
than we have you know when you're when
00:36:58
it you're the one down in the mess the
00:37:00
mess seems real big when you're up above
00:37:02
it you're like oh it's not that bad you
00:37:03
know yeah so I was just asking for just
00:37:05
kind of some perspective and uh I felt
00:37:07
like he was just telling me it wasn't
00:37:09
meant to last forever and it's not meant
00:37:10
to last forever for anyone and that's
00:37:12
what makes it so beautiful you know it's
00:37:14
like we get these brief Seasons these
00:37:17
brief glimpses where we get to go
00:37:19
experience this really cool thing but
00:37:21
what makes it special is that it's not
00:37:24
infinite you know it doesn't last
00:37:25
forever could you see that at the time
00:37:27
or was that just with um hindsight and
00:37:29
maturity and that was just what I needed
00:37:31
at the time to be able to let go and be
00:37:33
and to not I think what happens is when
00:37:36
you're going through that and you're at
00:37:37
the end of a pro running career like
00:37:39
that and you can't figure it out there's
00:37:41
almost like shame and guilt involved in
00:37:43
it because you feel like you must have
00:37:45
messed something up you must have done
00:37:46
something wrong there must be some way
00:37:48
to fix this problem like what I do that
00:37:50
is so stupid to get myself feeling like
00:37:52
this like what's wrong with me like kind
00:37:54
of a deal but when I kind of got that
00:37:57
word about it's not meant to last
00:37:58
forever for anyone it's not gonna last
00:37:59
forever for kipchoge not for one person
00:38:01
you know it kind of bees like gives you
00:38:04
just a sense of Peace like oh that's
00:38:06
okay like I I did what I was supposed to
00:38:09
do for the season I was supposed to do
00:38:11
it and now it's on to the next season
00:38:13
you know so kind of just like just give
00:38:15
me a lot of Peace about it and and
00:38:17
allowed me to just move in to the next
00:38:19
season kind of seamlessly and honestly
00:38:21
when I retired I didn't I just told
00:38:24
Sarah for about a week and I just tried
00:38:26
it on I was like let me just try it out
00:38:28
my dad always told me to do that he's
00:38:30
like before you make any big decision
00:38:31
just tell yourself what you're gonna do
00:38:33
for about a week see if it feels good
00:38:35
see if it feels right and it felt right
00:38:37
felt good so then you know we told
00:38:39
people Asics and they made a video and
00:38:41
then it all kind of came out like a
00:38:42
month later but I'd already decided like
00:38:45
way before that video came out that I
00:38:47
was done and I felt like a lot of
00:38:49
freedom you know it allowed me to
00:38:51
finally be removed from the struggle
00:38:53
that I was in in my career and be able
00:38:55
just look back at the Bostons and at the
00:38:57
half and just be so thankful for those
00:39:00
performances rather than trying to chase
00:39:02
them and trying to get back to them yeah
00:39:04
yeah so what would you say is the
00:39:06
biggest high on the biggest low of uh
00:39:08
the running chapter of your life oh man
00:39:10
I had so many lows it's really hard to
00:39:12
pull up it's the funny thing about the
00:39:14
the sport how you do all this work and
00:39:16
you train for these moments and then the
00:39:18
the moment more often than not brings
00:39:20
you like a low yeah yeah I mean I I
00:39:23
guess I'd have to say my biggest low had
00:39:25
to be London uh Olympic Marathon oh is
00:39:28
that the one where you pulled out you
00:39:29
had a hammy or something yeah that was
00:39:30
the first time I ever dropped out of any
00:39:32
race in my entire life and that was just
00:39:35
I remember that when I first pulled off
00:39:37
I almost just started running again
00:39:38
because I stopped and started walking
00:39:40
and just felt so wrong I was like this
00:39:42
feels all wrong you know it's such a
00:39:44
terrible feeling but I knew I couldn't
00:39:46
run like I was like limping my hamstring
00:39:49
was really messed up I was like I'm
00:39:50
gonna just you know walk on my hands and
00:39:53
knees like six hours later or something
00:39:55
like this not not wise decision you know
00:39:59
um and then
00:40:01
I go from walking and then go walk over
00:40:03
to the media you gotta talk to media and
00:40:05
you're just you haven't figured it out
00:40:06
you haven't had time to process yourself
00:40:08
this thing just happened to you you were
00:40:10
hoping to just hit a really good day and
00:40:12
nail this marathon and all that just got
00:40:15
shattered in an instant and then you
00:40:17
have a microphone right in front of you
00:40:18
and they're asking you how you're
00:40:19
feeling and you know you're being honest
00:40:22
but you're also like
00:40:23
you're remembering there's little kids
00:40:25
watching this they're looking for like
00:40:26
inspiration you know and I think it is
00:40:29
good to be honest and real but you're
00:40:30
always I don't know I was always trying
00:40:31
to put a little bit of a positive spin
00:40:33
on it I think you're more a glass half
00:40:36
folding glass half empty this position
00:40:38
yeah yeah I'm very optimistic in nature
00:40:40
you know but when that happens so you go
00:40:42
back to your hotel room you burst into
00:40:44
tears what do you do you smash it up
00:40:46
throw a TV out the window for me is
00:40:49
almost always like uh
00:40:52
I don't know almost like I got numb like
00:40:54
I couldn't believe in disbelief that it
00:40:56
happened at all you know it was It was
00:40:58
kind of weird like to be honest and I
00:41:01
would sometimes I would process like
00:41:02
that like I'd go into my garage and have
00:41:05
punching bag in there and just punch
00:41:07
that back as hard as I can you know
00:41:10
um I guess there were different ways
00:41:11
oftentimes to be honest like a lot I'd
00:41:13
take it out on eating you know because
00:41:15
I'd be very like
00:41:17
uh particular about my diet all my
00:41:20
training leading up to it I'm going into
00:41:22
this race at 137 pounds like feeling
00:41:25
like light and but hungry all the time
00:41:28
when you're controlling your weight like
00:41:30
how I was controlling it and I was as
00:41:31
low as I was compared to where my
00:41:33
natural set point was I would at five
00:41:36
o'clock I'm staring in my watch I'm like
00:41:38
when do I get to eat dinner window I'm
00:41:40
just starving like you're just hungry
00:41:42
all the time I wake up in the middle of
00:41:43
the night just starving super hungry
00:41:45
right and I'd eat a snack and then
00:41:48
you're starving and like you're just
00:41:49
hungry all the time so that's a natural
00:41:50
kind of thing when the race is over and
00:41:52
it doesn't go well you're like screw
00:41:54
this dude so I remember after after the
00:41:56
London Marathon I went to uh uh Cinnabon
00:41:59
that's like I love cinnamon rolls I can
00:42:01
make some mean cinnamon rolls too by the
00:42:03
way but uh I went to Cinnabon and you
00:42:06
know it's like right in like downtown
00:42:07
London or whatever and the Olympics are
00:42:09
just closing up and there's a million
00:42:11
people out there and I just got a big
00:42:14
old cinnamon roll I go out to the curb
00:42:15
and I'm just pounding this thing you're
00:42:17
like Angry yeah but then I I look over
00:42:20
and see this like girl like taking a
00:42:22
picture of me on her phone I was like
00:42:24
it's gonna be like on the tabloids or
00:42:25
something oh it's so good oh yeah me my
00:42:29
running on a big week I'll do like 60
00:42:31
miles which is 100 K's in New Zealand
00:42:33
and I I'll smash anything I want to know
00:42:35
okay but this is when you eat when you
00:42:37
run this much you eat whatever you want
00:42:38
did you make me feel bad no no you can
00:42:41
but I would it wasn't just one cinnamon
00:42:43
roll once one seminal is fine it was
00:42:46
like a two-week Bender okay this was not
00:42:48
like one meal like a big meal no so then
00:42:52
after the running chapter was closed
00:42:54
um like how long how long after that
00:42:56
were you twiddling your fingers and
00:42:57
thumbs watching Netflix before you
00:42:59
discovered you know lifting uh there's
00:43:01
no moments of that it was straight into
00:43:03
the gym really yeah next day the first
00:43:06
day I wasn't running it was the first
00:43:07
day I was in the gym so this went
00:43:09
straight into it and just it was
00:43:11
humbling too I'll tell you something
00:43:12
like yeah you would have been you would
00:43:14
have been lifting the bar only yeah
00:43:16
exactly I was super weak like dead
00:43:19
lifting like not even my body weight you
00:43:22
know 140 pounds and it's just feeling
00:43:24
heavy but there was something about it
00:43:27
that I loved and it was the struggle I
00:43:29
loved it when I couldn't move the weight
00:43:31
anymore like whatever movement I was
00:43:33
doing if I could get it like part way
00:43:35
and then I'd get stuck and I'd have to
00:43:37
and I'd have to have like set it down or
00:43:40
whatever you know and I just absolutely
00:43:42
love that I loved not being able to be
00:43:46
successful and I just keep I just and I
00:43:49
still do that to this day like I'm
00:43:51
unsuccessful almost every single time I
00:43:53
lift intentionally you know there's
00:43:55
something about the struggle of lifting
00:43:58
that I just love and I used to hate
00:43:59
lifting before that by the way like we
00:44:01
were going to the gym four or five days
00:44:03
a week so I was doing stuff in the gym
00:44:05
but I hated it I'll just try to get
00:44:06
through it as quick as I can and I was
00:44:08
doing the wrong stuff you know it's like
00:44:10
doing the Band-Aid body weight stuff
00:44:12
which that stuff does have its place I'm
00:44:13
not saying you shouldn't do that but
00:44:15
what most people are neglecting most
00:44:17
Runners are neglecting which is what I
00:44:19
was neglecting is the heavy lifting
00:44:21
because you don't feel like doing it
00:44:22
when you're tired and you're 137 pounds
00:44:26
you don't feel like getting under a
00:44:28
heavy barbell it freaking hurts the heck
00:44:30
out of your shoulders and your traps you
00:44:31
have no traps to set it on it's just
00:44:33
real uncomfortable you know but again
00:44:35
you have to be forced to do the things
00:44:38
you don't want to do that's how you get
00:44:39
really good at things you know so I wish
00:44:43
I would have been lifting heavy back in
00:44:44
the day but I I went from a guy who
00:44:46
hated the gym hurried through it to the
00:44:48
guy who was embarrassed to be in the gym
00:44:50
when I first started out just wear my
00:44:52
hat real low and I wouldn't look at
00:44:54
anyone I just I'll just focus on what I
00:44:57
was doing and now I have like my own
00:44:59
setup in my garage so I don't I still
00:45:01
hardly ever go to a a normal gym but I
00:45:04
just love it I'm in there every day and
00:45:06
you'll you'll mess up now and you do
00:45:08
these weird challenges as well that's a
00:45:09
one-on-one uh is it the wood chopping
00:45:11
challenge what was the wood chopping
00:45:13
challenge yeah so that was about a year
00:45:15
ago I chopped a cord of wood at my house
00:45:17
I've always loved wood and splitting
00:45:19
wood and so how much how much is a cord
00:45:21
like enough or it is to go on the back
00:45:23
of a pickup truck a ute or yeah exactly
00:45:26
it's a thing of a pickup truck but like
00:45:27
loaded up like 10 feet high with wood
00:45:30
wow it's a decent amount of wood now I
00:45:33
have my buddies helping to stack it so I
00:45:35
was just splitting it they were stacking
00:45:36
it so that saved me a little time so I
00:45:38
did that in the morning in my house in
00:45:39
Flagstaff Arizona we drove out to the
00:45:42
Grand Canyon and I had this these big
00:45:44
seven gallon water jugs when they're
00:45:46
full they weigh almost 70 pounds they're
00:45:48
just under 70 pounds and so I ran down
00:45:50
with them empty to the bottom of the
00:45:52
Grand Canyons 10K you dropped 5 000 feet
00:45:55
and then I filled them up in the
00:45:56
Colorado River at the bottom and then I
00:45:58
farmer carried them out so just carry
00:46:00
them for as long as I could take them
00:46:02
stop rest go again stop rest took five
00:46:05
hours to carry them out from the bottom
00:46:09
of the Grand Canyon to the top of the
00:46:10
Grand Canyon but it was like what four
00:46:13
what four well it was partially for fun
00:46:16
because I love I love doing that so I
00:46:19
would have done it for just just fun
00:46:21
Factor alone and I had like my little
00:46:23
brother was out there shooting it my
00:46:24
friends are out there with me like the
00:46:27
stars were blazing the moon was out and
00:46:29
the Grand Canyon is just
00:46:31
amazing like I just love the Grand
00:46:33
Canyon the views there are just insane
00:46:35
so it was just a super fun like
00:46:37
challenge for me to do then we're also
00:46:39
like raising water or raising money
00:46:42
rather for clean water
00:46:44
um for for people in need in Africa and
00:46:45
stuff like that so it did have that kind
00:46:47
of Charity component as well oh that's
00:46:49
cool and then
00:46:50
um
00:46:51
so you retire from running you're
00:46:52
lifting for years and then you go back
00:46:54
to running again and you do the seven
00:46:56
777 challenge seven marathons and seven
00:46:59
days and seven continents I I this is
00:47:01
when I started following you on
00:47:02
Instagram uh um and it was it was
00:47:04
refreshing to watch because you did no
00:47:06
training for it and you were you were
00:47:07
bloody slow yeah and you weren't even
00:47:09
bothered by it like uh I think most
00:47:12
people like former athletes of your
00:47:13
level would surely have that little bit
00:47:15
of ego where you go I don't want someone
00:47:16
to send me to a four-hour Marathon or
00:47:18
whatever but you you seem free of that
00:47:20
yeah that's kind of the fun thing about
00:47:23
not being a pro athlete is it's easier
00:47:25
to let your ego go you know so it's like
00:47:28
I can go like run these trails and stuff
00:47:30
and like I don't care nothing to prove
00:47:32
anymore yeah like I started my we I ran
00:47:34
the Grand Canyon a couple days ago I
00:47:35
started my watch and then I never
00:47:37
touched it again the whole time we're
00:47:39
stopping and doing stuff and I think I
00:47:40
accidentally stopped it I have no record
00:47:42
that I even ran it yeah you enjoy
00:47:44
running now do you just run for Joy now
00:47:46
that was the name one of your books by
00:47:47
the way yeah yeah yeah now it's just
00:47:50
pure fun I mean not trained to like have
00:47:52
fun in the forest but it's fun to be
00:47:54
strong be able to pull yourself up stuff
00:47:57
go I like going off Trail I know not a
00:48:00
lot of people are fans of that but like
00:48:01
I do like treat the the forest with
00:48:03
respect but I love just going deep into
00:48:06
the mountains where no one else is me
00:48:09
and my buddy and we'll just go out there
00:48:10
and just be little kids in the forest no
00:48:12
shoes no shirt just playing just playing
00:48:15
in the house yeah good you said so talk
00:48:17
us through that 777 challenge so you get
00:48:20
invited to do it by the organizer yeah I
00:48:22
got invited by my friend he was a pastor
00:48:25
at the Dream Center Church in Los
00:48:27
Angeles and so he was going to do it to
00:48:28
raise money for his church and so I was
00:48:31
friends with him I was like Hey like I'd
00:48:33
love to join you you know like let me
00:48:35
know if we can make it happen sure
00:48:37
enough like he found a sponsor for me to
00:48:39
do it with him and then we're both
00:48:41
raising money for the Dream Center which
00:48:42
is our amazing Church down in Los
00:48:44
Angeles just helping people off the
00:48:46
streets doing amazing stuff there so it
00:48:48
was cool to like have something besides
00:48:50
just me doing this challenge but the
00:48:53
trip of a lifetime I mean our first
00:48:54
first marathon was in Antarctica and
00:48:56
then you're hopping in an airplane
00:48:57
you're flying funny enough I flew around
00:49:00
the world in a week I didn't watch one
00:49:02
movie not one every single time I was on
00:49:05
an airplane I was asleep because they
00:49:08
hire a plane right so that's like a like
00:49:09
a big private jet how many athletes do
00:49:12
it I think there's about 30 athletes
00:49:14
that were doing it and then you know
00:49:15
they have like five or six staff and
00:49:17
they're not like official races I mean
00:49:19
they're they're yeah they're just in the
00:49:20
course but yeah Loop courses out in
00:49:22
backs or whatever but I was so inspired
00:49:24
just by the people on the trip you know
00:49:25
it's like there was one lady who was
00:49:27
there she has a tumor in her brain and
00:49:29
she's out doing this crazy challenge
00:49:31
there's people with like missing Limbs
00:49:33
and stuff and everyone just had pretty
00:49:35
incredible stories you know so I love
00:49:37
like like the community aspect of that
00:49:39
event but it was really interesting to
00:49:41
go from literally like I didn't do one
00:49:43
run over 30 minutes leading up to it and
00:49:46
I was only running like maybe like two
00:49:48
times a week or something like 30
00:49:49
minutes you know you're an idiot I you
00:49:51
must have known you're in for a week of
00:49:53
hell yeah well this was the debate I had
00:49:55
in my head about about four months
00:49:57
before this challenge I was like I don't
00:49:59
want to run I don't want to train I want
00:50:01
to just lift and so either I can enjoy
00:50:04
my life and just lift leading up to this
00:50:06
and have one kind of painful week or I
00:50:09
can like train for this thing have a
00:50:12
subpar like three or four months and
00:50:14
then have a better week I was like I'll
00:50:16
I'll take the I'll take the first choice
00:50:18
so what was your what was your fastest
00:50:19
time and what was your slowest time that
00:50:21
way can you remember
00:50:22
I don't remember the exact time so but
00:50:25
they were around I was it was really
00:50:27
interesting so I was actually getting in
00:50:29
better shape as the week was going on so
00:50:31
my Marathon times were coming down so on
00:50:34
day five in Morocco I actually felt
00:50:36
really good it was crazy I didn't
00:50:38
understand it at all because day four in
00:50:40
Spain I felt terrible so your body was
00:50:42
just sort of adapting as you went along
00:50:43
yeah it was crazy I was getting a
00:50:45
training effect from it I couldn't
00:50:47
believe it I wasn't expecting to feel
00:50:48
better but day five in Morocco I didn't
00:50:51
break three hours but I was like maybe
00:50:53
like 306 or something somewhere right
00:50:56
now so I was getting quicker I think my
00:50:58
first one in Antarctica was like 3 30 or
00:51:01
something and but the day before day
00:51:03
four in Spain terrible I was like had
00:51:06
the worst run felt terrible my buddy was
00:51:08
there and I was like I hate running like
00:51:10
I must have said that like a thousand
00:51:12
times I was not having a good time and
00:51:13
then the next day in Morocco I felt
00:51:16
amazing so I started out real slow in
00:51:18
that one but then by the end like I was
00:51:20
charging like I was running fast and so
00:51:22
I was getting excited I was like okay
00:51:23
day six in Dubai I was like I'm gonna
00:51:25
like I'm gonna keep getting quicker you
00:51:28
know and I still wasn't like the fastest
00:51:30
guy on the trip like Mike wardian was
00:51:31
there and he's running like I accept
00:51:33
three every day right yeah he was
00:51:34
running good putting out some good times
00:51:36
and stuff so you know I wasn't like
00:51:37
being competitive with anyone but myself
00:51:39
but I was like I'm around fast but then
00:51:41
I was walking in Morocco to get dinner
00:51:44
after we finished that race and all of a
00:51:45
sudden I just felt a little bit of pain
00:51:46
in my hip I was like that's weird like
00:51:48
that pain feels like kind of recognized
00:51:50
it because I've had a stress reaction
00:51:52
before is this kind of like take your
00:51:54
breath away kind of pain you know so I I
00:51:57
was like but I was like maybe it didn't
00:51:58
mean it's nothing you know I mean it's
00:51:59
fine there's always like little niggles
00:52:01
that pop up and you're hunting you know
00:52:02
I'll just work through it but then day
00:52:03
five in Dubai I was like oh I'm in
00:52:06
trouble like I ran the first half and
00:52:08
then walked most of the second half of
00:52:10
that race because I was in a lot of pain
00:52:11
and I don't remember what my time was
00:52:13
there but it had to be over four hours
00:52:15
for sure and then we flew to Sydney for
00:52:19
the last marathon I tried to stand up
00:52:21
after laying down and sleeping and I
00:52:24
felt like someone just shot me in the
00:52:26
hip with a gun I was like I'm in big
00:52:28
trouble but you don't run six marathons
00:52:31
in six days on six continents and then
00:52:33
dnf the last one you know absolutely you
00:52:36
find a way to get it done so that last
00:52:39
marathon in Sydney was it was amazing
00:52:41
experience though I was right on I think
00:52:43
manly beaches yeah mainly yeah and I was
00:52:46
just doing a mile out and back that was
00:52:47
the course that day that night we did it
00:52:49
at night and the moon's out the waves
00:52:51
are crashing down and I was just walking
00:52:53
back and forth for a mile for the whole
00:52:56
Marathon took me well over five I was
00:52:58
thinking it was like five and a half
00:52:59
hours maybe and uh funny enough you know
00:53:02
Mike wardian who was running under three
00:53:04
he finishes his Marathon then he's doing
00:53:07
a long cooldown afterwards and he comes
00:53:09
and joins me for a couple miles I was
00:53:11
going too slow even for his cooldown but
00:53:13
he was like doing a 17 Mile cooldown so
00:53:15
he could hit a 200 mile week that week
00:53:17
he's a Savage yeah he's a Savage and
00:53:19
then at the Finish Line you took your
00:53:21
shoes off and left them on the line
00:53:22
which is nice that how do they feel that
00:53:24
must have been kind of a poignant at a
00:53:25
moment yeah it was I mean it was funny
00:53:27
because you know like I said these
00:53:28
aren't big races right so there's like
00:53:30
you know 10 people the finish line or
00:53:32
something you know it's not not a big
00:53:34
deal but you know after a week like that
00:53:37
I and I I knew I was gonna do this right
00:53:39
because this is what wrestlers do in the
00:53:41
Olympics after they know it's their last
00:53:43
wrestling match they just leave their
00:53:45
shoes on the mat and they walk away
00:53:46
Barefoot and it's kind of your way of
00:53:48
saying like I left it all out there
00:53:49
there's nothing left I'm moving on to
00:53:51
the next season I think it's important
00:53:53
for athletes and people to like have
00:53:55
something physically that you do that
00:53:58
marks the end of a season and for me it
00:54:00
was that it was leaving my shoes there
00:54:02
and so I remember I was like but in my
00:54:05
mind it wasn't gonna be a big deal I was
00:54:06
like just leave my shoes there walk away
00:54:08
that's it no big deal but I left my
00:54:10
shoes there got down my knees and took
00:54:12
them off and walked away I almost
00:54:14
started like crying as I was walking
00:54:15
away by myself you know back to the
00:54:17
hotel because it was like whoa yeah like
00:54:19
it's like really over now like it was I
00:54:22
got to say say goodbye to the sport that
00:54:24
I love though and it was
00:54:26
um I'm really glad to have the
00:54:27
opportunity to do that because a lot of
00:54:28
people don't you know you were on your
00:54:30
last race you always think you can come
00:54:32
back and run another one or and things
00:54:34
just don't work out and then you just
00:54:35
drift off into the next thing
00:54:38
um where I got to like have a really
00:54:40
cool way to say goodbye to the sport
00:54:42
that gave me so much and brought so much
00:54:45
fullness to my life and it's kind of
00:54:47
Full Circle too because you know like my
00:54:48
first round was that big 15 mile run
00:54:50
around the lake yeah challenge big long
00:54:53
hard challenge I started with I started
00:54:55
with and I finished with the seven
00:54:56
Marathon Seven Days Seven Continents a
00:54:58
real real big way to finish it out too
00:55:00
and you seem like a guy that loves being
00:55:02
in discomfort so perfect I do I do like
00:55:05
crazy I am can we talk about your family
00:55:07
for a little bit because this is a
00:55:09
remarkable part of the I think Ryan
00:55:11
Holden Sarah whole story so you guys
00:55:14
first of all um talk about this in as
00:55:16
much or as little detail as you want
00:55:18
maybe you don't want to talk about it at
00:55:19
all but did you guys try and have your
00:55:20
own biological kits we had always just
00:55:23
wanted to adopt yeah like ever since our
00:55:26
first date actually Sarah she told me
00:55:28
she's like yeah I've always wanted to
00:55:30
adopt ever since I was a little girl she
00:55:32
drew a picture of her with like a lot of
00:55:34
different colored nationality kids or
00:55:36
whatever and that was like a moment
00:55:38
where for me it just like struck me I
00:55:40
was like oh I've never even thought
00:55:41
about adoption you know I never saw it
00:55:43
she saw it like she had like family and
00:55:46
friends who had adopted before so she
00:55:48
was just around it a lot so she was
00:55:49
exposed to it but me I I hadn't been
00:55:52
until that moment on our first date and
00:55:53
that that was really like that's when I
00:55:55
started chewing on it Molin on it myself
00:55:57
so then when the time came they hey we
00:56:00
felt ready to have kids
00:56:02
um adoption just was what we always
00:56:04
wanted to do you know and it makes a ton
00:56:07
of sense too for pro Runners right it's
00:56:08
like for for women it's like you get
00:56:11
pregnant have a kid you lose you know
00:56:13
nine months of uh of your career as well
00:56:16
so yeah so why um why Ethiopia yeah
00:56:19
because you adopted um four sisters from
00:56:21
Ethiopia why Ethiopia I know they've got
00:56:24
a massive like um orphan problem there's
00:56:27
something like four million orphans and
00:56:28
orphanages around the place yeah exactly
00:56:30
so you know we one of my favorite Parts
00:56:33
about running is we get to go train
00:56:35
wherever we want you know so we'd been
00:56:37
all over the world racing and training
00:56:39
and so when you travel that much you
00:56:42
realize how there's certain places that
00:56:43
just kind of grab you you know you're
00:56:45
just like oh man this just feels like my
00:56:47
kind of people my kind of place like
00:56:49
like there's something special about
00:56:52
this place that just grabs you and
00:56:54
Ethiopia is always like that for Sarah
00:56:55
and I like there's just something about
00:56:57
it that we just love like the culture
00:56:58
the people the land the training
00:57:01
um everything about it the dancing the
00:57:02
food you know but you do see I mean you
00:57:05
walk around Addis on the streets and
00:57:07
kids come up to you like want to shine
00:57:09
your shoes for five cents you know and
00:57:11
they're stoked when you pay them double
00:57:12
you pay them 10 they're like running off
00:57:15
to all their friends hey I got 10 cents
00:57:17
you know but it just breaks your heart
00:57:18
you're like man what's what's gonna
00:57:20
happen to this kid like how's you know
00:57:22
how's he can get himself out of the
00:57:24
situation so you want to do something
00:57:26
right and so you know we have our own
00:57:27
Foundation the whole steps foundation
00:57:29
and that's just because like it's like
00:57:30
just everyone's just gotta do a little
00:57:32
bit of something and then we can take
00:57:34
care of these problems that we have in
00:57:35
the world you know I really believe that
00:57:37
so for us it was like yeah seeing all
00:57:39
these kids on the street like we can't
00:57:41
we can't totally fix the problem
00:57:43
ourselves but we can do we can take our
00:57:45
step you know and so we decide we want
00:57:48
to adopt from Ethiopia and then we're
00:57:50
just gonna adopt an infant kid that was
00:57:52
always you know our plan that's what
00:57:54
most people will start with well at
00:57:55
least I mean there's been so many
00:57:56
studies done about nurture versus nature
00:57:58
and how something like 80 of a brain
00:58:00
development has done in the first
00:58:01
thousand days or three years so I
00:58:02
suppose people will think either be the
00:58:04
the easiest option just get a get a get
00:58:07
a kit that's not pre-programmed yeah
00:58:09
yeah and it was at your intention
00:58:11
initially yeah that we wanted to just be
00:58:13
a part yeah and you want to experience
00:58:15
it too as a parent yeah you want to see
00:58:17
what it's like to have that tiny little
00:58:19
kid and hold them you know so I get it
00:58:21
you know I don't like slight people for
00:58:22
adopting infants or for wanting to have
00:58:24
infants you know it's great
00:58:26
um but what we saw is visiting the
00:58:28
orphanage we were like number 76 on a
00:58:30
waiting list to adopt an infant and that
00:58:32
waiting list was barely moving at all
00:58:34
we'd have waited we would have never got
00:58:36
an infant because they ended up closing
00:58:38
down International Adoption
00:58:40
um but when we were there we're visiting
00:58:41
these orphanages and we saw all these
00:58:43
older kids just waiting for families
00:58:44
we're like this doesn't make sense we're
00:58:46
waiting for an infant they're waiting
00:58:48
for families and after playing with the
00:58:51
kids interacting with the kids like
00:58:52
they're such great kids we're like man
00:58:54
we like adopt any one of these kids in a
00:58:56
second so we did that we went home we
00:58:58
changed all of our paperwork up and
00:59:00
jumped through a whole bunch of Hoops
00:59:02
like in adoption they call being paper
00:59:04
pregnant because you gotta just do so
00:59:06
much paperwork and so it was insane how
00:59:10
hard it is to adopt it's hard
00:59:13
um but yeah you guys had to do four
00:59:15
times the paperwork yeah yeah every day
00:59:17
and but yes we decided we want to adopt
00:59:20
kids and we became aware of uh girls
00:59:22
these four sisters and it was just them
00:59:25
there's their whole family just the
00:59:27
sisters and uh what do you know what's
00:59:30
the back story what happened to the
00:59:31
parents yeah we kind of let the kids
00:59:33
tell her the story if they want so I try
00:59:36
not to get too much into that but yeah
00:59:38
they had no other option though like
00:59:40
they weren't they weren't safe in their
00:59:41
village where they were no parents so
00:59:43
like it's heartbreaking yeah yeah they
00:59:45
were in a really tough situation so yeah
00:59:48
we decided that we were going to adopt
00:59:50
uh our kids well actually it wasn't that
00:59:52
simple we we wanted to give them choice
00:59:54
in the matter because like usually kids
00:59:56
are adopted and they don't have any
00:59:57
choice like you know these parents roll
00:59:58
up and like hey you're coming with us
01:00:00
you know they're lucky
01:00:02
so we we went to the to the orphanage
01:00:05
and we kind of just like pretended like
01:00:07
we were there playing with all the kids
01:00:08
or whatever you know and we were there
01:00:09
playing with all the kids so I guess we
01:00:11
weren't pretending but really like we
01:00:12
knew like we were gonna ask these girls
01:00:15
if they wanted to join our family but we
01:00:17
wanted them to just get to know us as
01:00:18
normal people first not potential
01:00:20
parents you know so I'll never forget uh
01:00:23
after about a week just hanging out with
01:00:25
all the kids in the orphanage we brought
01:00:26
in our girls and we asked through a
01:00:29
translator asked them if they wanted to
01:00:31
join our family and told you we had told
01:00:34
them about ourselves and they knew about
01:00:36
us and stuff and I'll never forget the
01:00:38
reaction they all just like started
01:00:39
screaming and crying and they were like
01:00:41
so excited we're all in tears you know
01:00:43
and but I think that was really
01:00:45
important for them to feel like we were
01:00:47
not only choosing them but they were
01:00:49
also choosing Us in the process and that
01:00:51
was it sounds like an episode of
01:00:53
expected when they get until they go to
01:00:54
boot camp or something
01:00:55
so what were the age ranges at the time
01:00:58
so at the time there were five seven
01:01:01
eleven and fifteen so yeah and they were
01:01:05
they were all how long how long have
01:01:07
they been there they had been in the
01:01:09
orphans for three years and they were
01:01:10
having a hard time finding a family for
01:01:12
them so they were talking about
01:01:13
splitting up the the girls so sending
01:01:15
two to one family and two to another
01:01:17
family and I grew up in the middle of
01:01:19
five kids and so I know like I couldn't
01:01:21
imagine being split up for my siblings
01:01:23
and they're you know they're talking
01:01:25
about splitting them to different
01:01:26
countries it's like they're probably
01:01:27
never going to see each other again I
01:01:29
was like I couldn't imagine doing that
01:01:30
and so I was like no that's not not okay
01:01:33
with me that's a really cool I know you
01:01:35
guys didn't do it for the uh for the you
01:01:37
know the Kudos or anything but it's a
01:01:38
really cool thing you've done yeah well
01:01:40
there's there's amazing kids like we
01:01:42
feel like we've gotten super blessed
01:01:43
Super Lucky to to have them as our kids
01:01:46
now because they're they're not standard
01:01:48
kids it's like I was out uh doing a
01:01:50
photo shoot with 10 000 down in Sedona
01:01:52
uh just two days ago and I I was trying
01:01:56
to rush to get there to pick up my
01:01:57
daughter from school and my 19 year old
01:01:59
daughter who drives she had already gone
01:02:01
and picked up Lily without even like
01:02:03
texting me or telling me she just knew
01:02:05
that I wasn't gonna make it and went and
01:02:06
picked her up so like they do stuff like
01:02:08
that all the time where I'm like you
01:02:09
guys aren't normal kids they're they're
01:02:11
really special so and so do they have
01:02:14
English as a second language or is it
01:02:16
just they didn't know any English coming
01:02:18
over here never been to school before so
01:02:20
you can imagine it was a real challenge
01:02:22
especially for the older ones you know
01:02:23
our younger two now they've forgotten
01:02:25
him heart unfortunately we're trying to
01:02:27
have them retain that because we do go
01:02:29
back all the time we're just there
01:02:31
training for this race
01:02:33
um and visiting Ethiopia but they
01:02:34
they've forgotten it Mark but the older
01:02:36
two you know they're they still their
01:02:38
English is really good and one's at GCU
01:02:41
Grand Canyon University and college uh
01:02:43
and then our other daughter she's gone
01:02:45
to NC State next year they both run so
01:02:47
they're they're doing great they've
01:02:49
amazing to me because when I go over to
01:02:52
Ethiopia like me speaking Amharic it's
01:02:55
so hard like my Mark is so terrible so I
01:02:57
couldn't imagine getting plopped into an
01:02:59
Amharic speaking school and in Addis and
01:03:02
trying to survive but they've they've
01:03:03
been able to pull it off and they're
01:03:05
just they're doing great what what know
01:03:07
about America or what do they make of it
01:03:09
when they come all I can think of is the
01:03:10
like the Eddie Murphy movie Coming to
01:03:12
America right well what's funny is so
01:03:15
they grew up out in the Sticks no TV no
01:03:18
cars no nothing right never seen a white
01:03:20
person or anything like they're out in
01:03:22
the sticks like they grew up throwing
01:03:24
rocks at monkeys to like keep them away
01:03:26
from their like cattle and stuff like
01:03:27
that they have rocket arms though all of
01:03:30
them they can throw because they're very
01:03:32
little kids yeah I know I was thinking
01:03:34
that we actually had one of our
01:03:35
daughters try the javelin
01:03:37
um but what happened is then they you
01:03:39
know came to the orphanage and then the
01:03:41
orphanage they had TV and so they
01:03:42
started watching all these Disney movies
01:03:44
and stuff which was good because
01:03:45
exposing them to English and stuff but
01:03:47
they also got exposed to a lot of
01:03:49
American stuff so we were actually
01:03:50
surprised they weren't super shocked by
01:03:53
a lot of things when they came back to
01:03:55
the States because they'd seen a lot of
01:03:56
it already on TV but we also couldn't
01:03:58
talk to them super well because they
01:04:00
only knew Amharic we knew limited
01:04:02
Amharic although Sarah zamark was pretty
01:04:04
good and uh but yeah they were they was
01:04:07
all I remember there was one moment
01:04:08
we're in an elevator we walked in an
01:04:11
elevator this is actually in Addis and I
01:04:13
knew they were gonna freak out because I
01:04:14
knew they'd never been in an elevator
01:04:16
before imagine you walk into this room
01:04:18
this door closes behind you you're in
01:04:20
this little box you press this button
01:04:22
and then all of a sudden it drops they
01:04:24
were like
01:04:27
yeah they just lost it in this elevator
01:04:30
I can only admit like when I was a kid I
01:04:32
was petrified of escalators and malls
01:04:34
like getting on them and getting off and
01:04:36
I can't imagine like never getting one
01:04:37
of them for the first time when you're
01:04:38
15 16 years old it's crazy yeah I'm sure
01:04:41
there is more of those that we didn't
01:04:42
even know about like I think like the
01:04:44
hand dryer thing got them a little bit
01:04:48
there is a couple things so what are
01:04:50
their ages now uh so now our oldest is
01:04:52
22 and then we have 19 year old uh 15
01:04:55
and then 12. they call your mum and dad
01:04:58
oh yeah yeah and that that was actually
01:05:00
one of the cool things you know from
01:05:03
someone you never even thought about
01:05:04
adoption
01:05:05
um how normal it's all felt like even
01:05:08
being a biracial family like I never
01:05:11
even
01:05:13
I I don't feel it or think about it or
01:05:15
it's not on my radar you know I mean
01:05:17
there's moments where I'm sensitive to
01:05:18
it you know especially when it's you
01:05:20
know trying to explain to them things
01:05:22
that are happening in America that have
01:05:24
to do with race and stuff like trying to
01:05:25
do a good job of talking to them about
01:05:27
those things but
01:05:29
um just how normal it's felt and organic
01:05:31
it's felt for both of us you know for
01:05:33
for us and for the girls has been really
01:05:35
cool and really kind of a surprising
01:05:37
thing I always thought I'd just walk
01:05:39
around and be like whoa I can't believe
01:05:40
like these are my kids but it's like
01:05:42
right away it's like yeah Mom Dad is my
01:05:44
daughter like I don't even think about
01:05:45
but you know sometimes we still get you
01:05:48
know people who think like my daughter
01:05:49
is my wife or something like that okay
01:05:51
you don't have to like go through
01:05:53
security be like yes these are my
01:05:55
daughters you know like yeah so yeah so
01:05:58
the elders told you since 22 now is
01:06:00
she's sort of like a I suppose a mum
01:06:02
figure in a way to the others as well
01:06:03
because like it's been there and I just
01:06:05
think I've been learning that orphanage
01:06:06
for those years I suppose that was who
01:06:08
sort of yeah the older two for sure
01:06:11
definitely like watch out for them a lot
01:06:14
especially actually Mia our second
01:06:15
oldest she's she'll just come home start
01:06:19
cleaning the house start making food
01:06:20
like because you know in Ethiopia it's
01:06:23
like even though she was really small at
01:06:25
the time that's what she was doing like
01:06:27
she was running the show at her house
01:06:29
helping with all the chores and so you
01:06:31
know kids who grow up in that atmosphere
01:06:33
then come here definitely aren't used to
01:06:35
the like Mom and Dad doing everything
01:06:37
for you sometimes we've got we call her
01:06:39
mama mia sometimes so she'll just be
01:06:41
doing all the mom things like you don't
01:06:44
have to be mom right now we got this I
01:06:46
love that I love that hey thanks so much
01:06:48
for your time today it's been fantastic
01:06:50
to sit down with you and pick your
01:06:52
brains and share some of these stories
01:06:54
um yeah we talked about your life before
01:06:55
being in chapters like the running
01:06:57
chapter and the weightlifting chapter
01:06:58
and I suppose a shorter chapter better
01:07:00
chapter nonetheless the dead chapter
01:07:02
um what do you think's next well you
01:07:04
just don't know I don't know and I like
01:07:06
not knowing actually you know like I
01:07:08
think that's what makes I'm learning to
01:07:10
embrace the Beautiful Mystery of Life
01:07:13
you know like it's I don't know what's
01:07:16
coming down the line and I love that and
01:07:17
I know it's going to change and evolve
01:07:19
you know so I'm just trying to get
01:07:21
better at like adapting as I go and just
01:07:23
embracing things for what they are you
01:07:25
know it's like even for Sarah in this
01:07:26
marathon it's like we have no idea how
01:07:28
Monday is going to play out you know but
01:07:30
if you're going through it looking for
01:07:32
things to be grateful for and looking
01:07:34
for the blessings you're gonna find them
01:07:36
but if you're going through it like this
01:07:38
has to happen for me to be happy I have
01:07:40
to hit this time I have to hit this goal
01:07:42
I have to beat this person and a lot of
01:07:45
these things are outside your control
01:07:46
like that it makes it hard to be happy
01:07:49
in life when you're living like that so
01:07:51
it's trying to kind of like change how I
01:07:54
navigate life and be more like the
01:07:56
stream that can just roll it flow like
01:07:58
the water it just rolls with anything
01:07:59
you just roll down anything yeah well
01:08:02
that's not quite on Instagram it said
01:08:03
something like um happiness happiness
01:08:05
needs to be where you are now it can't
01:08:06
be something you're chasing because if
01:08:07
you're chasing it you're never going to
01:08:08
get it no never gonna get there pot of
01:08:11
gold Ryan Hall the fastest American man
01:08:14
ever over half by the way will you be
01:08:16
sad if a win those records are broken
01:08:18
how will that feel no I'm hoping I can
01:08:20
coach one of my athletes to break it I
01:08:21
have this guy BS Ambassador who I'm
01:08:23
coaching right now American guy
01:08:25
um he's already run 60 minutes for the
01:08:26
half and I'm like dude when are we gonna
01:08:28
break this thing let's go I'm ready so
01:08:30
I'm excited you know we need to take
01:08:32
this thing to the next level it's always
01:08:33
you know my ceiling is meant to be other
01:08:36
people's floors we're meant to take this
01:08:38
thing higher so no I'm I'm ready to kiss
01:08:40
that record goodbye and if he does it in
01:08:43
the new shoes you can go well
01:08:49
foreign
01:08:56
Hall I know you're itching to get to the
01:08:58
gym right now by the way what is it
01:09:00
today what are you doing so today's uh
01:09:02
I'm changing up my splits a little bit
01:09:03
so today's a push day so let's go push
01:09:05
pull push pull right it's a little bit
01:09:06
upper body a little bit lower but
01:09:08
today's actually yeah pushed it so I'll
01:09:10
do a little chest do a little tricep
01:09:12
shoulder something with my quad
01:09:14
something with my calves but honestly
01:09:16
how I like to do now I just walk into
01:09:18
the gym and I'm gonna do all pushy
01:09:20
movements but I'm like what am I craving
01:09:21
today what sounds like fun what do I
01:09:23
have available because I'll be in this
01:09:24
hotel gym We'll see what they got up
01:09:26
there I actually already know what they
01:09:28
got because I've used it a bunch but
01:09:30
um that's good though you know being
01:09:31
creative again being water being able to
01:09:33
flow with what you have I mean because
01:09:34
it makes it more fun I love it hey so
01:09:37
good to meet you thank you so much for
01:09:38
your time really appreciate you being on
01:09:39
the podcast Runners only with dom Harvey
01:09:41
Ryan Hall thanks Don
01:09:43
[Music]
01:09:57
thank you
