What Running Every Single Day for 3,350 Days Does to a Human - Hellah Sidibe

I ran this morning. Uh, it was day 3,349 consecutive run. >> Hella is a New Jersey based YouTuber >> known as hella good to his massive YouTube following. >> Run from LA to New York in just 84 days. >> My number one run streak rule. It has to be outside no matter the circumstances. Treadmill doesn't count. I have run 2 miles outside when I had oral surgery and I had implant and a wisdom teeth removed all at once. So within one mile, my mouth was [clears throat] full of blood. When I went to Australia in 2019, took four flights just to keep my streak alive. When you start telling your brain [music] I'm good enough, eventually you're going to prove to yourself that you were right about it. What do you think is the biggest thing that people misunderstand about you and this run streak and what you're doing? >> Okay. So, all right everybody, your favorite run influencer runner is here. The guy who ran across America, the guy who is on year nine of his >> run streak, the Hello my beautiful people man himself, Hela Citbe is in the house. How are you my friend? >> Thank you. Thank you for your kind word. I'm excited to be back. It's been five years since >> almost exactly like I checked I checked the date it was July of uh 2021 when you did the show. Uh so lots to catch up on. The run streak is intact. You look good. You have a smile on your face as you always do. >> You look great as well. You look great. Good to see you. >> How are you doing? What's been going on? >> I'm doing incredible. That's all I can say because I'm still doing what I love, which is running. And [laughter] there's nothing to it. Sometime you think about how the future might look like and then you have the way you envision the future. But the biggest thing for me was I want to keep running forever and we're still here 5 years later and that's why I can't complain. So you just in May you you're you eclipsed your eighth year and you're into your ninth year. >> Yeah, I know. I I did nine years. You did nine years into your decade. I'm in my 10th year. It'll be a decade next year. >> That's insane. So how many days is that? >> So today I ran this morning. Uh it was day 3,349 consecutive run. And so by the time we hit what another 7 uh 365 days will be >> what more than 3,700 800 something days if I do math. >> Well 10 years wouldn't that be uh 3,650 days? >> Yeah I think I think that's what it is if I'm correct. I hope >> I mean I could do like b that kind of math. 365 >> 365 exactly. >> Is there ever I know the answer to this but I want to hear you say it out loud. What do you do when you wake up and you just don't want to do it? >> I've never had that. >> See, I have never 100% rich. I'm telling you, >> there's never been a day in the last nine years where you woke up >> and you didn't want to go running. >> No, there's never been and what how >> this is what happens. >> Okay, so there's been time where I'm injured. Well, there's an injury ling around and I hate the run because I'm in so much pain. I can't enjoy what the run gives me because you're just in pain. When you're in pain, your mind goes to the pain. And I can't even enjoy my scenery. When I run, I daydream. So, I look forward to every single run because I'm talking to myself. I used to ask my grandfather, I used to ask my dad, so why does grandpa's always talking to himself? Is he crazy? Cuz he just s mumble. And then now I find myself talking to myself. So when I go running, I'm talking to myself. I'm daydreaming. I'm pretending I'm in a race. I'm pretending that I'm envisioning what my future will look like or what's going to happen when I get home or what I'm about to do or when I'm angry, I I talk to myself out of it. Look at life in a different light so I'm not feeling the same way when I get home. So, I look forward to those moments when I go running. And when I do feel like I don't run, there's something wrong. So, we came up with this term and you're going to hear it first time in the ritual podcast. I've mentioned it in one other podcast, but no one's ever heard this and I'm patting this word. You know, you get hangry. I get rangry. >> Meaning you get angry. >> I get mad if I don't run because and I don't even know that I'm mad until Lex calls me out. >> She'll be like, "Did you run today?" And I'll be like, "You know what? I did not run today." And then she'll be like, "Go run." And as soon as I'm out there, I just feel so bubbly as a kid. And I come home complete different energy. >> I have a hard time uh imagining you angry. >> And then the angry is not as angry as you think. I'm just like in a bad mood. I just look like I have no I'm my energy is down. I'm quiet. It's like something is wrong with me and I don't know what it is. It's not like I'm like angry screaming type of angry. Something my mood is not it's not exciting. I just I'm too quiet which I'm never quiet and >> but you're oozing positivity out of every single pore in your body. Like is this is this always been you? Like were you born this way or is this something that has developed and evolved? >> I think I definitely was born in a scenario where that transpired into my life and then it got better as I got older seeing life differently. So where I grew up in Mali, West Africa, we don't have much. And one of the thing I learned right away when I went back home and I got older, I see these kids playing with these piece of stick. I might have talked about it before where they're so happy. And I've asked one of them, "What's this?" And they're like, "This is a toy. They're naming a toy, but it's a piece of stick in my eyes. They're imagining what it is." And I started thinking to myself, "Wow, this is crazy. This is making them happy." And I didn't know that I I was missing anything till I came to the US. Came to the US, now I'm seeing kids with video game, PlayStation. But when I was back home, we could have a little ball. We're happy with it. And now that I came to see something else, I never knew I was missing something till I saw something. So that I always had that happiness in the back of my mind. And we talked about when soccer didn't work out for me. Then I lost that because I started being uh being really mad about how the world is happening to me and being jealous. That's the the word to use when I see my peers are going on to live their dream and I can't because I have zero control. So I didn't like that feeling. And then I got sick of being uh mad. I got sick of being jealous. I have sick of being making excuses. And you're just sick of it. You just feel not good. You feel disgusted about yourself. And then I try to find ways now to go back to how I used to be. And I I always used to smile. I always have a good time. Uh one of the thing that I grew up in Maui that we always did, we didn't have much when we're hanging out outside. We laugh about our misfortune. People would be like, "Well, at least we have this right now cuz if we don't have that, that's something else that we could lose." So if you don't have something, we look at it, you have this at least cuz it's better than nothing. So I always have that mindset. And as you get older, you try to see life from a different light. It could always be worse. Whenever things get tough, I look back home. >> How do you stay present with that though? Because I think a lot of, you know, a lot of us, if not most people, we have our fleeting experiences with that where we're like, "Oh my god, you know, I should be grateful for what I have." And and we can kind of hold on to that temporarily, but it fades. And then, you know, we adapt to our environment and then we look around and we're like, how come I don't have that or why isn't this working out for me because it's working out for that person? Like we adjust our expectations >> based upon our environment. >> Yes. >> So to be able to maintain like that perspective and you know connection to where you came from as a means of like always maintaining this like positive disposition. like >> that's a like it's a gift but it's also work I imagine to be able to you know kind of maintain that stay present that >> you have to work at it so one of the thing that helps me a lot you know you said you can do perspective like oh at least I have this and then that can last a short amount of time so one of the best example that happened to me in life was in 2015 I just got my first lease on a car my credit score was 500 and I just I just delusionally saw this car. It was a Mustang. Went to the dealership that Lex's dad um recommended cuz he's bought his car there and just showed up. I want to get this Mustang. And they're like, "Do you have a good credit score?" I was like, "I don't know." Um I was cutting grass at the time. All I got paid was actually cash. I didn't even have a credit score going on. And then they ran my credit. The guy said, "Your credit score is 540." And he goes, "You know what? You look like a good kid. If I get you approved, would you make sure you make your car payment on time?" I said, "I promise." He said, "Once you make this car payment on time, you're going to build a relationship with Ford Credit. So the next time you get a loan from us, it's going to be easier and easier." So I said, "Copy. I'm going to I love cars so much. I'm going to make sure I don't mess this one up." >> Yeah. >> So I love this car. I'm obsessed with this car. I remember one time I was so mad something happened. I can't remember it. I was actually mad and I was complaining and I said, "I'm going to go sit in my Mustang. Like I don't care. Like like my my Mustang is going to be the best thing. I'm going to go on a drive." I go sit in this car, Rich. I turned it on and I couldn't leave the the driveway and I'm looking at the car. I'm like, I don't even want this piece of crap because I was so mad. I couldn't even enjoy the car. Right away, something a bell hit my head. It was like, oh, materials can't make you happy. So, I started thinking it's not what you have that that's going to make you happy cuz I couldn't get out of this anger that I was in. And I realized you can't be happy because of things. When I keep hearing people material, money, all of that doesn't make you happy. I really didn't experience that until I was in that moment. So that's when I found out how I can keep get my happiness back from what I used to have back home. So it was moments that I created with people. So happiness to me comes from moments that you have with people and moments that you create with people. You know you reminisce all you talk about remember that back in the day we used to all kick around and then you get happy you smile because it brings you back to that time. So I started registering in my mind you got to create moments in in your life for the present moment and then in the future that becomes the happiness because you think about these moments how it makes you feel and you feel good. So happiness to me comes from moments that I create with people even being here friends uh you know your partners everything like that. So when it comes down to it when it's really really bad you got to think about the people and everything to me it's about the people. without the people. Life is really what do we do it for? We We get excited because we get to share moments with people. >> Beautifully stated. You're you're my new guru. >> Thank you. >> I know you love cars. I know you love that Mustang. >> Oh, I love that Mustang. I always made me happier though uh than seeing that video of you picking up your 911. >> Yes. >> Cuz I know how much you love cars. >> Oh, I love cars. >> And and I just I was like, I can't imagine how much this means to this guy. >> Yes. Um, but also knowing that you have it in proper perspective, like this is not the answer. You know, this is not gonna make you happy, >> but it's kind of awesome that you were able to go get this crazy car. Like, how old are you? >> I I'm 35. >> 35. Like, driving this beautiful silver Porsche 911. And then I was reflecting on the relationship between your love of cars and your love of running because your run streak only happened because >> you were obsessed with a certain car channel on YouTube where the host >> was talking about trying to take care of himself and starting this streak for himself and that gave you the idea. So it all it's all a piece. It's all a piece. All a piece. >> Yeah. His name is Paul Wallace. Shout out to Paul Wallace. super cause of London. In fact, when I started the run streak and then I went to a year, I DM'd him. He didn't see it for years until two years ago. He goes, "Oh my gosh, I've seen your TikTok before." I said, "Paul, I want to let you know you're one of the reason where I'm at here today." Now we're friends. I'm so happy that he heard about that in London. Remember that? Yeah, he's in London. >> So, you're going to the London Marathon, right? With Apple. >> I did that. Oh, that was that was last April. Okay. I was gonna say, did you meet him? You should go make a video with him. >> I would love to. and I'm I'm going to go back to London, but it was you're in such a tight time frame cuz you're doing a lot of stuff with the partners that you're with. It was hard to do something extra outside of that. >> And the goal was to help pace my blind friend. That was the biggest thing for me. So, I didn't get to do too much of the stuff. So, but I'll go back. >> Yeah. >> Do you have a uh anything in mind to celebrate the the decade? Yes. assuming you're you'll make it >> and whoever is listening to this but hopefully I mean my my my biggest sponsor my favorite brand to work with uh Hoka um I talked to them about what I want 10 years to look like and one of the thing I want to do is like a almost like a a festival day like a hella good day everybody not being me necessarily but everybody's going to have a hella good you know California they say hella yeah >> so a hella good day so basically it's going to be a whole day where you are eating you're running So, let's say you, for example, want to come to this 10 year celebration. You can't come in at 10:00 in the morning, but you can come in at 1:00 p.m. because I want this to be continued like a whole day where you come in and run at any time you want. You can just come in, hang out, eat a lot of fun stuff, a lot of giveaway, my favorite things that I like to use throughout this run streak, my favorite shoes, my favorite watch, my favorite supplement. So, that's the envision almost like a a carnival type of mindset I'm thinking about to celebrate the 10 years. >> Would you do that in New York City? >> It has to be New York City. It has to be New York City. Yes. Well, that could be an annual event also like the hella good day like May, what is it? May 11th, 17 May May uh May 15th. >> May 15th, >> but I've done every year I'll do like a a group run. So, for the first time ever, actually since I started doing this celebration, I did in New Jersey this year, but um I would come in New York City, we've done Central Park, Westside Highway, we've done the Hoka store before. So, we went to New Jersey this um past May just to cuz everybody in New Jersey would message me, "How come you never done it in in their home state?" So, I did that which was pretty fun. Let's break this down. So, I want to understand the the rules of the run streak because there is uh some some like kind of tenets to all of this. Uh first of all, >> you travel a lot. >> Travel a lot. >> So, this is added complication. The more well-known you become, the more in demand you, you know, you are, you're on planes all the time. This is now making it a little trickier than when you started. >> Yes. Okay. My number one run streak rule, it has to be outside no matter the circumstances. Treadmill doesn't count as a run for me, but treadmill could be extra miles. And I'll tell you an example how I utilize treadmill yesterday. Uh it has to be outside. And then um I had a minimum requirement in the first year. You have to average 7 miles a day because that happened to be by default. But my minimum miles is 5K, 3.1 miles or just 3 miles flat. And I've had scenario where I have run two miles outside when I had oral surgery and I had implant and a wisdom teeth remove all at once. So I still want to run but I did two miles out those days and but even after >> while you were on pain meds and stuff? >> No pain med. My doc my my surgeon told me the orthos surgeon said hey you it looks like you have high pain tolerance. I'm just going to give you a higher dose of Tylenol. That was it. That's all I got for that. >> And you ran after how how many hours after dental surgery? >> I ran 6:00 in the morning. Surgery was at 8:00. So I took care of that day. Uh-huh. >> So, the next day, I waited till 8:00 p.m. And when I went out there, he warned me, "I don't care. I'm not really worried about your pain tolerance. I'm worried about the stitch coming, the stitching coming out. With the blood pressure, you're going to have your mouth full of blood." And I went out to run. So, within one mile, my mouth was full of blood and I can feel with my tongue a little of the stitch. >> This is where uh the run streak uh is it crossurposes with [laughter] your you know, your hella well-being. >> Yes. So, I said to myself, "One more mile and you're done." So, I cut it at two miles and the following day it got better. But um those are some of the rules. And also because it has to be outside, it doesn't mean that I can't use the treadmill. So we've been having this smoke happening in New York City in New Jersey. I don't know if you've noticed. You go out, you can smell it. Terrible. Yesterday was awful. So I looked at the the AQI looking at the air quality and it was the least amount like bad air in the morning. It was still bad. You can still smell it. So I wore a mask to go run 2 miles outside cuz the run streak has to be outside. I had a 8 mile run, but I put on my mask. I went out there two miles and I came home, took off the mask, and as soon as I took off the mask, Max actually I said, "I'm so happy I did this because it was actually that bad. Imagine even being out there for that long >> breathing that air in." And I'm looking at longevity for my health. It's so I went on the treadmill and did an extra six miles. So, I took care of the business outside. >> So, now I want to do the rest. >> 5K minimum, but not all of that has to be outside. >> No, it doesn't have to be outside. But if I end up doing a 5k minimum, I'll 100% of the time, >> I'll be outside until this scenario where because of the smoke, I was smart about it. I told even Lex was like, "I don't think you're going to only do two outside the way you were." I said, "You know what? I'm thinking about my lungs and my future and running. I'll do two outside and then do the rest on the treadmill." So this morning I went to do two outside and the air quality is much better, but it still wasn't great. And then when I go home later today, I'm going to hop on a treadmill and do four extra to get my six total in. >> What about international travel? Okay. So, the crazy thing about me, if you ever see me anywhere in the world, my phone is always going to be at East Coast Standard Time. My watch, it never updates. So, I have mine set up as manual. So, it, you [clears throat] know, when you land on a flight, you turn on your phone and it it updates to whatever time. Mine never changes. It's East Coast. >> The run streak started in New Jersey. So, I don't when I go to LA, I don't get an extra 3 hours. So, when it's when it's 9:00 p.m. in LA, that's midnight New Jersey. If I don't run by then, the run streak is over. So, I have to run within that 24 hour. That's my own rule. When I went to Australia in 2019, took four flights to keep my streak alive, >> right? Because you if you flew direct from New York to Australia, it would have blown it. You would have been on the plane too long, right? So, you purposely >> purposely planned it. >> Created stops on route so that you could maintain the streak. So, what did you like to Okinawa or something like? >> I flew from Hawaii. >> Uh, I flew from uh New Jersey to LA. Got off the flight in LA. Made sure I ran there. So when it hit midnight already, I ran in LA. So I got on a flight to Brisbane, got off the flight to run and then when I went from Brisbane to Broom, got off the flight and ran in Broom to get to my destination. [laughter] And it was designed because big shout out to GoPro because GoPro offered me this trip. I told him no because I don't want to ruin my run streak. [laughter] I said I really appreciate it. And I told them the reason that I have this opportunity to even go on this trip is because of this run and the run is really important to me. I would have to kindly decline. and they said, "What if we connect you to a travel agent, we figure it out?" And that's what happened. >> Yeah. >> What's the closest that you've ever come to the streak getting broken? >> So, there hasn't been. This is why, you know, it says if it's important to you, you'll find a way. When I even if I have to catch a flight, I will never risk anything. I've had a 6 a.m. flight going to California. I was out running 3:00 in the morning because I know that I'm in control of that time frame. But if I get stuck in a plane, what am I supposed to do? And I've gotten stuck in a plane for a couple hours, few hours before. >> Yeah. What happens if you're, you know, they don't let you off and >> the run would be taken care of. You probably [laughter] get on that flight. I would like you're in a situation where you have no agency over like your freedom. >> I'm going to say if if that's the case, but that will never be the case cuz I'll never get on a flight before I run. >> Uhhuh. >> I've I've never done that. I would [laughter] I've never done that, Rich. I avoid at all cost. you have to avoid getting arrested like you know like there's certain situations >> I be like hey officer surgeries you know little question around you uh perpetuating the run streak through injury you know like this is like as you get older like there's the risk you know calculus gets a little bit more >> I also tell people too the run streak is is not as important as recovery because if I'm not recovery I can't run the next day so >> how do you do this and not be neurotic about it though >> I as soon as I feel something I attend to the professionals Cuz back in the day, I used to be like, "Oh, I'm I'm a super trooper. I can fight this." And it will be 3 months long of pain. So this time when I feel something, I back off the pace. I back off the distance and I go to PT right away or man manual therapist right away. So I pay attention to my body very well. Now to me right now, it's not about ego anymore. It used to be very ego-driven when I started. I'm like, I can do this. Nothing can stop me. Now it's being smart as things uh happen unfolds. >> If you're vibing on Hela, I'm talking to the audience. Uh, you should check out our first podcast from five years ago because we kind of tell your whole backstory. So, I'm not going to do that today, but I did write down just some fun questions that I thought I could ask you. What are the polyarket odds on how long this streak is going to go? >> So, I love that question cuz I have no idea. And I always say the only answer I have to this is if I pick a date, let's just say 10 years, >> Mhm. I would settle do the bare minimum to get to 10 years. It'll allow me to just, you know, your body will your mind gets to this situation where you're just going to do what it takes to get to that point because you already calculated in your head. >> Yeah. >> So, I don't want to have a date. I'm just going to let it go. >> So, you don't think about >> No, I don't think about it at all. >> Day. I mean, this is a very >> AA thing. One day at a time. Like, all you can do is like, okay, I'm going to do my run today. The only way to perpetuate a streak is to focus on what you're doing today. >> Yes. Absolutely. So, if I do wake up tomorrow and I absolutely hated the run and I'm as miserable how I used to be before I started, I always said to everybody, I'll be the first one to pick up my phone. What's up, my beautiful people? The shriek is over today and I'll be happy about it because I know the fact that I found this run streak. I can find something else. So, I have to be open about that. You can't hold on to it. >> Will you be relieved? Will it be cathartic like a burden being lifted off of you or do you not feel like the pressure of that? >> There's zero pressure. And when I when someone asked me how do I start a run streak, one of the first thing I said, you got to do a pressure free. You got to do a pressure free and you got to do something attainable and you got to do it because you love it. Those are the three things I always talk about. And the pressure free came from when I played soccer. >> Coaches are always on you when you're in the back of the line when you're doing fitness test. There's some kind of pressure. You can't be last. You got to pick it up. You're too slow. So there's zero pressure there. So I won in that section. And then you got to do something attainable. I started 10 minutes a day cuz I didn't know how my body would react. 10 minutes was definitely attainable. I could have done more than that, but I didn't know how long I could keep that up. So, as that time went on, 10 minutes started feeling like nothing, so I added more. And then the last was because I was like, "Wow, this is not bad. I actually like this. I love it." Now, it doesn't seem like a chore. >> Is there somebody else who has a longer run streak than you? Like, who has the record? >> So, there's a record of this gentleman 52 or 55 years. People ask me that. Do you want to do that? I said >> 5. >> That I can answer to you. No, that I >> legit like verified this. There's some guy out there who >> I think it's legit because like you got to take his words and you got to trust him. And back in the day, I wear multiple watches. All you had when you run is a notebook >> and you write it down. So 50ome years ago, that's what he was doing. And to me, I guess if you ask someone who has it from day one on a record, I can be the one to prove that to you 100%. So I have mine because of the digital age that I grew up in. So you can say maybe something on the record to show, but I don't I don't have the record. I'm far away from the record. And I never thought about that. And I'm glad I didn't know that was a thing before I started cuz then again, guess what you start doing? Start comparing yourself to others. >> So ignorance is a bliss. >> That's the many path to suffering. >> Uh-huh. [music] >> So years ago, before any of this, I needed a website. So I did what you did back then. I hired a designer. I waited months. I paid a small fortune and ended up with something I couldn't change a word of without calling them, paying again, waiting again because [music] it was impossible to do any of this stuff yourself. I think about this all the time, especially when I use Squarespace because [music] it's kind of insane how completely that is flipped. Squarespace is the all-in-one platform for building a beautiful professional website, and you're the one who's driving it. You start with Blueprint, their AI design partner, or [music] one of their award-winning templates, and you shape the whole thing yourself with drag and drop. No code, no designer on retainer, no experience required. And it doesn't look DIY. It looks like you meant it. Squarespace makes claiming your name simple. One fair all-inclusive price, [music] privacy, and security built in. None of the hidden add-on nonsense. The barrier I paid through the nose to get past, it basically doesn't exist anymore. So, there's really no reason to wait. Head to squarespace.com/richroll for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use offer code richroll to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Autonomy wasn't something I was thinking much about when I recently got behind the wheel of a Rivian R2 with founder and CEO R.J. Scrange. [music] But when R.J. started talking about where Rivian is headed with it, I couldn't stop thinking about it after. What's your latest thinking on the short and long-term future of autonomous driving? >> I think shortterm it's going to continue to get better. For us, we get to a place by the end of this year where we'll do [music] hands-off pointto-oint navigation. So, meaning you could plug the address in, say, tell it to go and it'll drive there on its own. Today, we have hands off, what we call universal hands fur. You can take your hands off, it can drive, but it essentially stays on the path it's on. >> Yeah. But the next step is to integrate that into navigation. So it it navigates through turns, obviously, stop lights, stop signs, everything. And that's this year. And then next year, we get to that plus eyes off. So we'll start with eyes off on highway. So you can be completely remove it doesn't beep. It doesn't handle. >> Yeah, you can do whatever you'd like. Yeah, you can do whatever you'd like. >> Wow. The autonomy and assisted driving features on the R2 today and the ones on the horizon are just part of what makes it such a compelling vehicle. You can learn all about the Rivian R2, watch the rest of our conversation, and even book a demo drive at stories. Richroll, >> if you could speak to young Hela when he was a little kid in Mali, what are you what are you telling this kid? Everything will be all right. Everything will be all right >> if >> you just have to be stay happy. Just don't lose that joy. Everything will be all right. And I tell my sister, my sister had three kids now. Uh two boys and a a girl. Um my niece is one years old now. And I was like, she's my favorite. I can't I can't let my niece my nephews hear that. But >> do they live in the States or >> Yeah, they live in in Illinois deciling. And I said to my sister, I said, "Fatima, can you do everything in your absolute power to not let her lose that joy?" She's like, "What do you mean?" I was like, "You see that innocence right there? She's just happy. We don't know why. We don't know what she's thinking in her head." Like, can I don't know if we can do that. And I wish every kid could just keep that joy because I had it and I lost it. >> What about every person, you know, like like we're all just trying to get home, you know? Just be more childlike in our life. Like life just wears us down. >> Absolutely. >> I see it as a parent, you know? Absolutely. >> You you like you know you know on your phone like it it put the little photo thing like memories you know it's like it's always like pictures of the kids when they're really young and it's like oh look how happy they are like life is hard you know life is hard and it [clears throat] like >> and all the incentives of our culture it like squeezes all of that out of us you know >> and it's really difficult to like hold on to that >> and [clears throat] for for me to tell her and she said how am I going to do when she grew up I can't control that I said yeah you can't control certain aspect of life but The point is to always remind her what makes her happy to keep doing that. Cuz when I grow up, my parents and I I love my parents. Um my dad, he's going to hear his name a lot. He wanted me to do life his way. So now that was taking my joy away cuz now I was forced to do something I don't like. So when I was telling that to my sister more of like let her be her cuz if you let somebody be themsself, yeah, there's going to be ups and down, but it ultimately even that down when that happened, it will not outweigh the joy cuz you'll find your way back to the joy. You've been with your partner like 16 years. >> 14 years. >> Kids? >> No kids? >> Nope. I I know you. No, but are you thinking of >> Okay, the answer is sometime we're like >> this run streak's too easy. You need to complicate [laughter] it. You need to have a child which will then the degree of difficulty. >> Sometime thinking [laughter] to myself, I would love kids. I would be a great parent. We talk about we would be awesome parents or we're not afraid to have kids and there's sometime we just we're like maybe we don't want kids cuz you think about so many things and some of them is definitely selfish and I like my freedom. I said with kids you're probably not going to have the same freedom but I can make it work you know and then also you think about the world that we're in. You're like do I want to bring a kid into this world? Do I want to have something else to worry about? Do I want to put a kid in a situation where they can't control what happens to the world? You can bring your kids into a world, but you can't control what the world is going to expose itself to your kid, even if you do whatever you can. So, I think about I go back and forth. We go back and forth. So, we're like, we want kids sometime. We're like, we don't know what to do. So, it's just back and forth. So, I have no idea. >> This is the portal into the darkness that I've been looking for. I'm like, where's the darkness? Like, it's it's all smiles. I'm like, oh, okay. So he has a he has an he has a a worldview like the world isn't such a great place like >> yeah the the world isn't but you can make it a great place in your situation in your mindset cuz I always say the the happiness come from a a mindset. It comes from a state of mind. I feel abundant. I feel happy. I feel rich. And somebody said to me um the other day I was at a party friends party. There was another person I met and he goes, "You should have played soccer. You would have been super rich." That's what he said to me. Didn't I play soccer? And I said, "Actually, I am rich." I said that to him and he looked at me. I was like, "It's not the rich that you're thinking, though. I'm not talking about material at all. I don't care about those. I feel so rich because of how my life is." Like, look, I'm hanging out with awesome people. I have friends that I'm here with. I am rich because I'm just enjoying what I do. And I said, "It's not what you think." And he's like, "Oh, so you're not talking about money?" I was like, "No, no, no." I said, "That can only make you so happy to a certain point cuz you're always going to want more. you're going to always want to try to figure out the next thing. So, you can be happy within your own state of mind creating moments and stuff, but also it doesn't neglect the fact that you can also see what's going on in the world and to see to see that what it is and to see what you can do with your best effort to make it better one day at a time. Like for us, for example, we can't change everything in the world. My my way of giving back to the world is leading eating not eating meat. So, to me, being vegan, being plant-based is catering to a different way. So if we all do a little bit by a little bit it comes together as a collective big power then the world could be this beautiful place we imagine it to be. >> If you want the world to be a compassionate place you have to uh act with compassion. >> Compassion 100%. >> You're an incredibly charismatic person. Uh your energy is infectious. Uh you're beloved. People want to be in your orbit because of your energy. Like when you see it, you're like, "Oh, like if you can comport yourself this way, >> uh the abundance is a consequence of like this mindset." Like the way that you walk the earth make you you draw people towards you and then that creates opportunities like people want to do stuff with you. >> But for the person who struggles with this, who has a a negative affect or is like well nothing ever works out or like why even try? Like you can say to that person, well you need to shift your mindset or you need to this and that. Like how do you like what is like how do you like reprogram that person or how do you speak to that person to try to reconfigure that like default setting in their brain that they're not capable or that you know those good things only happen to other people. Oh, >> I love that you said that Rich. I always say I said to to Lex when I went to your podcast I said Rich is so good at interviewing. is so good at asking question cuz you were posing some question to me where I've had my typical podcast and interviews where it's like you're a run trigger this and that but you made me open up in ways where I was like this is really cool no one really asked me these things and then you did it again over here so I just want to highlight that >> yeah you're just buying time while you're trying to figure out how to answer this question >> no but not have the answer so I'm going to answer this question but I'm going to start with this area so I got the Porsche 911 >> and in my caption when I posted I didn't even You could have told that guy too like with the guy who you said I'm rich like I'm not rich because of this but I do have a 911. [laughter] >> Yeah. And I thought about do I even want to post it on social media but I wanted to post it to show people what's possible. And even in the caption I said happiness doesn't come from material. It's who you get to spend it with. So I put this on my Tik Tok. I had two people who who had different perspective in life. One of them said was, "Oh man, you're just going to rub this on our face and while you're giving people a reason to resent you." >> And then someone said, "The future is bright." And then I love that because he saw it in a way where he said, "My future is bright." He saw it in a way where like I want to can have something that I want whether it's a 911 or I don't know what he's thinking about, but the fact that he said my future is bright. I commented. I was like, "Yes." So the other person was like, "You're just trying to rub this on people's face." And I commented kindly because I'm trying to not I don't want to come off because he said something because I don't agree with you can disagree with people and still be respectful. So I said where I grew up, where I come from, I didn't think this was a possibility until I came to a world where you get opportunities. I love the US because I it gave me so many opportunities. And I said because when I saw that it's possible, I didn't know how I was going to do it. I just knew it was possible and I just kept doing what I love and it became pass possible. So those are the two things people seeing stuff from different light. So to your question, how people can find this way to see how they can be somebody or be hopeful or get the things that they want. I think it comes down to just self-realization and just talking to yourself and see how far you've come. So you know, we've all had challenge in our life. I feel like all of us in this room, we can name moments or if not at least one moment where things were tough in life and you didn't even know how you're going to survive it and we're sitting here today. So you have to remind yourself, you know what, I survived this battle in life. So I made that happen. So there is a possibility where I can uh come up to be something. Not saying I'm nobody, I'm nothing. I can't make this thing happen. So it made me think about the car. It's all about the mindset. So me giving advice to somebody that's thinking like that. I'm never going to be somebody. I'm never going to make it. I'm never going to be this. And I said, you are correct. First of all, I'm going to say that because you said it already. But if you change your mindset, you are going to be somebody and you don't know how. You're just going to keep working hard and keep your head down. And then hard work doesn't come to me as like, oh, how hard I work, it comes from passion. You know, sometime we do something where like I'm working really hard. To me, hard work is passion. Because if you're passionate about enough, you're going to work hard. If you are super passionate about you're passionate about this podcast, you work really hard. I'm passionate about running. I work really hard to make my running goals a reality. But if you don't have passion for it, hard work is only going to last to a certain degree and then it's just you're going to do enough just to get by enough to just get to to you where you feel comfortable mentally. So everything always start in the head and it doesn't mean it's guaranteed. It just like I heard something from uh Steve Harvey's show. He was saying if I do something today, this is paraphrasing it. There's an a chance that it's going to happen. But if I don't do anything, it's guaranteed that nothing is going to happen. So to me, life is risky. When you do something, there's a risk factor that something could happen. If you don't do something, there's a risk that nothing is going to happen. So, I want to pick the risk of possibilities versus not something happening. So, I just live by that. >> The person with the negative affect or the lack mindset will respond to what you just said by saying, "Well, >> that's all well and good, but like you're different from me. Like, you're living a charmed life. Like, it's easy for you. You don't understand how hard it is for me. It must be nice >> to have a career and a life where you wake up excited about what you do, but my relationship with work isn't like that. I hate my job and I'm in a [clears throat] cubicle and I don't really have any skills and when I look around I don't see a lot of opportunity and I'm just sort of resigned to have to, you know, kind of accept my life on the terms that have been given to me. >> I guess two things with that. First one, uh I would say I grew up in West Africa, Mali. People make less than a dollar a day. Now it's about $2 a day. Um I the reason I came to the US was because of tragedy. I was left with my mom's sister and she died. We were left homeless. Somehow we got to the US. So by the grace of the universe or God, whatever you believe in, came to the US. And then when soccer didn't work out, I was cutting grass making $250 a week. And I actually, in fact, cutting that grass, the person who was writing me the check, you know, when you get a check written to you, you get deposited. Back in the day, you'll get like certain amount of the check back. until it clears, you get both. So, whatever amount I was getting before it clears, I was using that. And then two being negative $900 because her check never cleared. So, I owe the bank $900 and they actually shut my bank account. So, I was in a a area where I couldn't even open up a bank with Bank of America. I couldn't open a bank with TD. I was put in a file where like cuz I I had a delinquency with the bank. So, the only bank that would accept me at the time was PNC. And so, naming all these thing, I'm saying like if they're saying like you love the life that you you have this life is easy, you love this. I didn't start at that point. So I can only say I started from where I had no option but to try it away to get up and when I was doing those things now I see that it worked. I didn't know it was going to work to be honest. I have no idea. Now that you see something happening you can say if you do this and that but before that I had no idea. But second I think it's good to talk to a professional therapist. I think mental health is very important speaking to someone who understand how our mind work and then let them know how you feel and I think it should be normalize that we go talk to somebody >> with our mind and I don't know how I was able to talk to myself but I said to you in our previous conversation I think I was depressed I didn't know but looking at it back now I think I was depressed even though I'm not a medical professional cuz all those signs of depression were there so maybe if I did talk to somebody I would have gotten out of that rut quicker than I But it still happened because I eventually stopped pointing fingers and took responsibility. But there's so many ways we can start from the bottom. It doesn't mean you can't be successful. And somebody who starts from the top doesn't mean they'll stay there. So there's a saying in my in my language that says be Masai Shin join. Today's king is could be tomorrow's peasant. And then be join Masai. Today's peasant could be tomorrow's king. So you just have to stay the course. You never know what will happen in life. >> And everything is impermanent. Mhm. And none of this exactly. >> It's all It's all Maya. It's all illusion. >> It It is. It is. Like sometime I sit there I'm like, "Well, I'm enjoying this while I while I can because >> you're here today and then tomorrow you're gone." >> Yeah. >> Are you in therapy now? >> I'm in this field therapeutic Peter because speaking your mind is important and I'm speaking how I feel and I think that's important. One of the thing I learned from Lex that's huge. She said to me one time and I never forget it. This is years ago. Your feeling is never wrong. The way you feel is never wrong. To somebody it might look weird, but you're feeling it. It's never wrong. You can have somebody understand how you're feeling could could be like you understand in a way where like, oh, okay, maybe I shouldn't think it that way because I'm actually but you can never say that somebody's feeling is wrong because that's something they're actually feeling. That's what it's called a feeling. So when I started thinking that to myself, hello, your feeling is valid. It's okay. Attend to it and then find a way to move on. that has helped me. And one of the things that helped me with that was the book Four Agreements. >> Uhhuh. >> Four Agreements is is the best book. And I have to go back and read it again cuz sometime I forget about your goto. >> It's my go-to. Even my sister was telling me about it the other day. She's like, "That changed my life because I made her read it cuz we take so many things um personal. We we we make assumptions. We're we're not we're impeccable with your words." And we're not always trying our best. And your best is different every day. I said that. So >> your feelings are never wrong. It's your body and your intuition trying to communicate something to you. Uh where we get in our own way is the story that we create around the feelings and then the actions that we take in response to those feelings. >> And I think it's important to see if somebody can call you out cuz so many time I go to Lex, can you tell me if I'm crazy or if I'm wrong? Like if if I'm am I thinking too much about this? And she'll tell me how she feels about it from her perspective, her lenses, and I'll be like, you know what, you're right. I'm done with this. Because I need somebody to tell me because sometime you just think you you you're good. You got it. You got it. But I need and I know I don't really got if I'm asking that question. >> I knew something about it is not 100% true. Yeah. I already know. But I just needed her to tell me am I crazy or >> what are the what are the issues that come up in your relationship? >> Yeah. >> Where are the problems? The flash points >> in in relationship. >> Yeah. >> Like with with Lex and everything. >> Yeah. >> I not I'm trying to think like >> what would she say? What was she said about this whole thing? >> What's her What's her What's her primary beef with you? >> Primary beef with me? I think I'm pretty pretty perfect. No, I'm kidding. [laughter] >> This is the beef. This is probably the beef. >> No. What was she saying? >> This guy thinks he walks on water. >> No. To me, the only thing she she knows when I don't have >> You can't be in a relationship with somebody for 14 years without like there being stuff. Like relationships are hard even. And it's not perfect, but we communicate so well, >> you know. We communicate so well. If anything bothers me, I feel so confident and comfortable that I can speak about it and it doesn't make me scared. Oh, what if >> I hurt her feelings, but she knows it's my feeling and vice versa. I think we communicate really well. Uh, but she taught me that, by the way. >> I think I didn't grow up with that because I didn't see my parents do that. I never did. I've never seen my parents like solve stuff in front of me and I've I've heard both side of the stories but I've never seen them actually do that. So I don't I didn't know that. >> You have a model for healthy communication. >> I didn't know that and I saw my sister we're changing or they call it generational curse. I said we're changing everything and it's a blessing that we learn it that way because we know what not to do now. I always said that but one of the thing that she always whether it's around with her or anybody she always say >> speak how you feel and don't wait do not wait till days later >> because that mean you're holding on to it and then you're you're blowing up not days later if it happened in that moment even if it's not exactly you kind of check out the scenario where oh maybe I can't say it now let me wait speak about it and even me she gave me a voice back in the day when I used to trend people soccer people used to ask me rich and I was a little shy and I was a little I felt a little embarrassed because I thought people didn't look at it as a career. Hey Hela, what do you do for work? Uh, I coach here and there. I'm like a little calm and a little like scared or a little shy. Lex called me out one day. She goes, just own it. Just tell them what you do. Like be proud about it. And since that day happened, what do you do, Hela? I'm a coach. I coach kids. I love it. And I used to play soccer and now I'm teaching kids and I make a living off of it. But she had to tell me that. And I knew she was right cuz every time I'm like I felt embarrassed to tell people cuz what I was taught by the world was that's not a career. How does that >> it's not it's nothing guaranteed cuz the only way I was guaranteed to be paid if that kid comes to training if they don't. So they didn't see it as a career. You went to college for 4 years and this is what you're doing. So I had all of that because of society that I was telling you about the world we live in. But she has taught me that. So yeah sometime you you can step on each other still but it's nothing crazy. nothing like >> oh what it's so bad that you know >> so you're 35 >> yes >> you have quite a presence on social media Tik Tok Instagram always posting this positive content uh and you are a very positive role model for all kinds of people but particularly >> young men and you know I think a lot about the young man who is confused and is looking around and maybe doesn't see a lot of opportunity and the vulnerability that that creates online that then funnels them towards some not so great influences out there like this whole manosphere sort of situation. >> Do you think about that at all? because there's so much energy around the kind of grifter personalities out there who are taking advantage of these vulnerable young men. You're >> presenting an alternative, a positive alternative, and it's super powerful. >> The algorithms tend to favor the negative and the controversial and the contrarian and the conspiracy adult, etc. Uh, so you're you're kind of >> swimming upstream against the current of culture. Uh, but what you're doing is important and it's impactful and it's meaningful and we need more people like you because there are a lot of people in need of your kind of influence. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, I think it's it's a tough situation to be in. Uh, one of the thing that I noticed right away was within the first year of my run streak, I had this young, he was 12 years old, DM me about that he was having issue of wanting to be staying in this world. And I kind of panicked a little bit. I'm like, shoot, I got to figure out how to help this kid. So, we did some digging and found um his uh sister-in-law and on social media. And then they had no idea. And then they communicated with him. So, like since that day, I've been thinking about the youth, the people who were watching me. And I also let them know anything you see flashy on social media, take it with a grain of salt because it's a world that we're in where people >> in front of the private plane. >> People are selling stuff and if you don't see it as a a source of motivation, leave it alone. If you see it, if it's putting you down, leave it alone. If it's motivating you, then that's great. You're like, you know, I too one day could be like that. Whether that guy's doing it for real or they're just doing it for social media, you got to come in in that way. Also, the people who are who don't know anything, they're they're vulnerable. Buy this package. Buy this thing. >> Yeah. And it's just getting people into the top of some funnel to sell them courses and a bunch of nonsense. >> And one of the reason I love uh if I work with a sponsor and they have to understand this and I love Hookah for that BPN also that allows me to do this. If I'm working with you, you just let me live my life because my goal is not to sell a product to somebody. My goal is to share my Joe with someone. Hela, what's your favorite running shoes right now? Racing CLX1 3.0. Why do you love it? I tell you why I love it. Do you recommend it? Absolutely. But what kind of running shoes are you looking for? Ooh, the CL won't work for you. I think you should try this kind because the kind of way that you explained to me might work. That's my only way. But I will never be like, "Hey, you need to get this." cuz you know I don't build trust between you and I and then trying to sell something to you based on the trust. So I just sell to you. >> You don't have a transactional relationship. >> Yeah. Mine is just sharing joy. So like you can you can talk to the team RXR. I'm always tell whenever we do something I'm not trying to sell anything. I don't want to do any links or anything because then it it doesn't seem right. It's not me. I feel awkward. And you can even tell in my body language and I try to stay out of that 100% of the time. So these young kids >> you're just modeling an aspirational life. >> Yeah. the these young people when they see flashy stuff with me and I actually met somebody. Do you know you know you you know Dylan Efron? >> Yeah. >> So Dylan Fran is a friend of mine. We hang out last week in New York City and I met some younger kids. They're just graduating college. And I was talking to them >> and one of the thing I made them realize they keep asking me the the number one question. I'm not kidding you. Dylan, you're the man. How are you a friend with Dylan? How did you guys become friend? Every time they come and talk to me. And one of the thing I made them realize is that you see me. I'm a normal person cuz I'm not as I'm not big or anything in my mind. So I'm regular to you, right? I I said this to this kid, his name is Tai. He's like, yeah. I said, think about everybody just like that. We're all human. We all have capability. Yes, we all have level of what we're at in profession, but we're all human at the end of the day. You see this big person, this big CEO or this big celebrity or this big person, that could be you. They're human. If you sit down and talk to them, they're human like you. So don't feel inferior. Yeah, you can respect people. I respect levels. I know there's level to the sports that I do. I respect the elite level. I never I respect the coaches. Just because I run every single day, I don't tell somebody this is how you should run. I share with him this is how I run. Maybe you can use that. But always remember you being that young person that you are somebody. It's just that we're in just different avenue, different lane of life right now. And you find your own road. And if you want to use us as an example, as a blueprint, go for it. But you'll find your way as you go. So, I always let the younger generation uh know that like you have to be okay with who you are and don't think you're not enough because of what you don't have and show that you can actually have all of this. Cuz I didn't think I have all of this. I have it. You can have that and more. When somebody say, "I want to be like you." I always say, "I want you to be more than me cuz I'm already happy with what I am." So, it's not even a competition. I want you to win. I want you to >> I want you to be bigger than me. I literally want you to be bigger than me because I I'm not going to miss out on anything because I'm already enjoying what I have. Yeah. You have an abundance mindset. >> Yeah. >> It's not a zero sum game. >> No, it's not. We can all win. I always tell people too, can we can all win in life sometime. Actually, I used to get so sad, rich, I'm not an emotional guy. I used to get so sad. We're like, not crying, but like I'm so sad because I'm looking at people, I'm like, I feel this happiness and I feel guilty. And I look at somebody and I'm just assuming sometime how they're looking. They look sad. They're sitting. I want them to be happy like I am. Like, how do I make that happen? And I don't know how to make it happen cuz I I feel like there's this happiness that we're not far away from. We can all get to. But I've discovered and I need this person next to me to discover it. Cuz when they do, nothing matters. It doesn't matter if if somebody come and just smack them in the face and walk by. They're just going to look at them. You know what? I feel bad for you. Maybe you're crazy or something. I hope you get better. And I used to get sad about when I see people. I get sad when I see people sitting. They can't move physically. I still do. Uh because I'm thinking that we can all have this joy. We can all have this win within our own right. And a win for me is doing what I love. A win for somebody if it's like I want to be a multi-millionaire. If that's what makes you truly happy, like deep down, not because of money. You love that that hustle. I want that to be for you, you know. >> Yeah. But most people who want that think that it's going to answer all of life's questions, you know, and you have to go on that journey to realize that it won't. >> Yeah. But >> but you're a deeply empathetic, sensitive person. I mean you you know to feel that to feel that pain and want something better. Yeah. >> For that person. >> Yes. >> Is a is a beautiful like it's a beautiful emotion to have. >> Thank you. >> You know >> thank you. >> And if you can unlock that for people >> that would be amazing. >> You know what is the answer? Yes. You know, that was really my question like how do you help that person who's suffering uh see a different way and start to take contrary action to, you know, build a different life, a new >> hanging out with people and then doing what they like doing cuz what I noticed when I do like what is your favorite activity? >> I mean, I have lots of different >> If you have to pick one thing or like I can do this all day or I can do this every day. Well, running, swimming, or cycling like like physical movement things, but there's also nothing better than being around your kids when they're when they're happy and laughing, you know, like there's different types of >> Yeah. >> joyful. Let's go to physical >> and doing what I'm doing right now. Like this is my happy place as well. >> So, I want to be So, if I know that like let's even just pick cycling or swimming or even running >> and I know you enjoy that and I see that you're really struggling a little bit. We know each other enough where I can see something is not right. Hey Rich, you want to go on a bike ride today? I would go cycling with you because I know that's what you like. And then now it makes it easier because you have somebody to go cycle with. So me helping with that is like I want to do the activity you enjoy doing. I already do the activity I enjoy, but let me go do your activity with you. Swimming I want to do cuz I can't swim. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> No, we got to go we got to go to the pool. I'm going to give you a swim lesson. >> I'll go sit by the pool and say, "Hey, show me how to backstroke." >> But that's something that I would do. And I I noticed like certain things that I do now that I see that people that I'm getting into that people really love. I reach out to them. So I'm in this car world and then I the one of the reason I met this guy gentleman. He's the reason I got a good deal on my car cuz he advocated for me. He's a Porsche enthusiast. He has so many 911s and cars. And I realized that this guy when he gets his car, he wants to share it with somebody. He picked up a brand new Porsche literally less than a month from when I got mine and he wanted to come to my house right away. And I didn't want to shut him down, say, "Come over." Because he he knew that I appreciate he wanted to share. And when he showed up, he was so happy that he got to share that with someone. I was happy that I was able to let him come share his joy with me. So he feels some type of way about himself and his life, whether whatever that may be cuz I can just tell he loved that. So he always whenever something he call me, hey, hell, are you around? Cuz I I feel like I want to be that friend to him, you know? So I think that for to to answer that question, I would go do something an activity with someone because to me it doesn't take much energy. I don't feel like I have to do this. I just feel like I love being active anywhere. I love cars. I'll just go share your moment with you because it doesn't hurt me but it helps you. So I get joy out of that. [music] This episode is brought to you by Whoop, the wearable health and fitness coach that for five and a half uninterrupted years has delivered me tremendously valuable, highly personalized insights [music] into how my habits impact my sleep, impact my recovery and stress levels. So I can uplevel those habits and make more informed decisions about the strain I impose upon myself. It keeps me on an optimal growth trajectory and sets me up to show up as my best self more consistently, which is even more urgent for me these days as I rebuild my body in the aftermath of spinal fusion surgery. And one of the key lessons Whoop has helped me learn is that pushing harder isn't the answer. It's knowing when not to and humbling myself to hold back when my instinct is to hit it like I always used to when I was 23 or even 43. All of which is a long way of saying that Whoop saves me from myself by decoding my body's reactions to my decisions. [music] Now, I adjust my training and my work output to ensure I don't exceed what my body can absorb. By knowing when a hard day is the right call and when the right call is rest. By doing that, I've actually accelerated my recovery because I'm not breaking down [music] and that's really priceless. So, try it for yourself. Go to join.woop.com/roll woop.com/roll for one month free of Whoop. When we first spoke, you talked a lot about some goals that you had set for yourself. You [clears throat] have achieved most of those goals. You've run Western States, you've run the Havalina, you've run Leadville 100. >> Do you think about goals? Do you have goals now? >> Yes. >> What are you looking forward to? What do you want to achieve? Where are you taking all of this? I love goals and I love achieving the goals and I am currently working on a goal and I want to run. I'm going to run, not want to. I'm going to run 2 hour 45 minutes at the 2026 Chicago Marathon. So that's what I'm training for. >> Your current PR is >> 255. So we're taking 10 minutes off. >> 10 minute drop. >> You know the thing is Rich, that 255 was supposed to be a 245 for me. Something didn't click and I think I'm going to figure it out cuz I was I was I was fitter. Most people thought I could have run a 240 that race. Um, I either went into the race with too much miles on my leg, close to 40 miles, or something didn't work out. Maybe I need to incorporate a little bit of hill, even though it was a flatter race. So, I'm trying to figure that out. So, a coach is helping me with that. But, that's one of my goals right now. And I haven't raced a marathon in two years. So, I'm very hungry and very motivated and so excited. And I'm changing everything. I'm cycling. I love cycling. I'm cycling so much more. Cycling is part of the prep. I have to cycle. Like I cycle twice a week, sometimes three times in the prep. So I have to cycle uh I have to cycle on on Wednesday, I have to cycle on Sunday. It's a must. A one hour spin. And my coach will tell me how crazy to go with with the the cycle. Who's >> your coach? >> Uh his name is Mario. >> Oh, Mario. >> Yeah. You know Mario? >> No, I know Mario. His name came up. Who are we talk? Oh, we had Malcolm Gladwell on the here the other day. Chris, >> was it Chris Chavez? I think Yeah, I think Chris Chavez like brought him up as his coach, too. Yeah. >> Oh, yeah. Mario and I just started working with him and I've been on his podcast 2022. So, I didn't know. So, this is the funny thing. I'm at Western State. I'm shopping for coaches, looking for coaches. And I'm speaking to I talked to Tim Tolson and I talked to a hookah u engineer and they both mentioned Mario. I'm like, I need this Mario's number. Didn't put two and two together that I knew who he was. >> You and then they're like, it's Vincan uh Vincan who won the Western State 100 race coach. I was like, I want Vince's coach. Vince broke Jim Wsley's record 13 hour 46 and I need a coach that's helping that maybe I'll be a Vins on a marathon course. So to find out was Mario and I was like oh my gosh small world. So we talked and we have the prep going on. So we're a full weekend. So that's one of the goal I'm working on and he believe I can do it. I believe I can do it. Uh so I'm excited and hungry to be back at the marathon cuz it's been too long. >> Cool. I know you have some other exciting things that are cooking right now you can't talk about. >> Yeah. We'll tease it. It's going to be something that no one's ever seen. Yeah. >> And I'm super excited about it. Yeah. Once it's ready, >> I want to talk about it. >> We'll come back. I have Should we do a a trifecta a third once that gets through? >> Dude, you're meant You can come on whenever you want. Thank you. >> Yeah, we could I could podcast with you weekly, dude. >> Yeah, let's do it. [laughter] >> Um, that's exciting. >> Super excited about it. >> A fast marathon. >> Uhhuh. What do you think is the biggest thing that people misunderstand about you and this run streak and what you're doing? >> Oh, you don't ever get sick or injured? Every time I post like a run streak like uh 5 years, 10 year uh 9 years or for 3,000 something days, they comment like, "So, you never get injured or sick?" I'm like, "I'm not Bionic Man or Robocop. I do get injured and I rarely do get sick." And one of the biggest thing that happened to me when I get sick is like my headache will be pressure but as soon as I feel pressure anywhere I go running the pressure literally released. So I use running as a medicine >> to get rid of headache and I've talked to my doctor about it. She's like just getting the blood circulating you're getting rid of the pressure by moving your body. The body works in beautiful way. So the injured part I do get injured. Am I smart about the injury? 100%. So don't do what I do. I don't recommend anybody running every single day. It is possible, but uh I get injured and I minimize it as much as possible cuz it's just bound to happen. You're pounding your body every single day and it sometime it doesn't have to be that. It could be you step on the wrong rock and then you tweak something a little bit. So I just make sure I'm on top of it right away. I back off like I was saying earlier recovery PT. So people think that I never get injured or sick because I run every single day. You've also become a running correspondent of sorts, like you were doing the the Western States live stream. So, so you're you're you're kind of a uh commentator at large. Like that's a different role also. >> Yes. That's so fun because you know I love the sports so much. I love talking about all the participant in the sports and I love highlighting them and I think that's really important to see what they're doing and we we tend to see podium finishes but it's cool to know a little background of these athletes as they're racing and you know when you love you love intervening talking to people you can talk all day I love being in this sport I can talk about the sports all day I can talk about running all day shoes all day cars and bikes and I mean getting into bikes which is really dangerous crazy >> I can go I can go there with you And I' I bang this drum all the time, but I think more runners should do more cycling. I think cycling is an incredible >> uh tool to develop your aerobic capacity without the pounding, you know, like you can go out and ride your bike for hours and hours and hours. Like you can't run as much as you can ride and you can be in that zone 2 state and and build that engine over time without exhausting yourself and setting yourself up for injury and also strengthening the stability muscles that make you more injury resistant as a runner. >> My glutes I feel my glutes activated getting used and Lex always laugh at me. I would do something two times like oh my god I feel I feel the difference I'm already fit >> cycling for this week I feel like I feel the difference in endurance. You don't have to run as much >> and you can go eat which people forget about the social side. I rode with my friend 50 mi one day. We stop at a coffee shop 25 mi in got these vegan delicious muffins and I stuff myself with it and drink coffee and we hop on the bike again for another 25 nothing. I said running there's no way I could do that. So the social part I was getting a good workout. We were averaging like 16 um miles per hour. That was work on me cuz I don't cycle. I really felt that. But I was able to do that while enjoying the social aspect and while enjoying the food and I still got good work because my legs were shot the next day. But I got the work 9W like where do you ride in Jersey? >> So we've gotten we parked at Fort Lee rode across the George Washington Bridge and then stay on the Hudson and then went up toward Yoners and you can this little path can go all the way to Canada. I heard if you want to >> also have a local park where I live. >> Everybody in Manhattan is crossing the bridge to go to Jersey to ride and you're coming the other way. Yeah, I've done that. And then also I have a beautiful park in my neighborhood that's 18 mile long. You can get in with water stop and bathroom which is pretty fun, but it just gets crowded in the weekend with people. >> Mhm. >> So I know when you started the run streak every year had a sort of theme. The first year it was uh self-discovery. The second year because you were injured it was about mental toughness. Going into your third year it was about joy. uh >> have you labeled each year with a different theme that you've tried to live up to? What are the themes in those subsequent years and what is the theme for uh this 10th year? >> So every year had to have a theme because as I'm going through it you already live you already the first year it was joying I'm like I mean I'm self-discovery I'm like discovering myself I'm like this is happening this is cool but then again now you know what's going to happen. So the next one being mental toughness, I'm getting injured now because I'm pushing a lot more. And I know exactly what to expect. That high that was coming in is now so new anymore. And then the year of joy and I had to go back and bring that feeling back from the first year working on it purposefully and not caring about the distance anymore. Not caring about if I hit seven miles in a day, I can just go run three miles and be fine. So keep going. And I had even racing theme. I had the Renaissance year. So the renaissance year was rebirth for me. So, a rebirth is coming as another person, as another runner. This is why I wanted to run so much faster because I didn't care about racing much. But now, I want to see how fast I can really go. And I didn't want to use runick as an excuse cuz you can technically on paper say, "Hello, if you took a couple days off and allow your body to heal with your cardiovascular, you'll be a fast runner." But that's not a priority to me. But I want to use running every single day, this is why you're going to be a fast runner versus have it the other way cuz I could easily have an excuse why you didn't hit the 245. So that was the renaissance year. I wanted to rebirth myself. And then now the the 10th year is going to be literally like the glory. The glory meaning like almost like I want to put it away where everybody come together. I got to find the right word for it. Like a community thing where it's all about the people. The people year cuz the people got me to where I'm at. So this is the year of the people. So the year of the people. Yeah. We're celebrating my 10th year, but it's all of us coming together as a community because you guys been part of the hella good family, the hella good community. And it's not only me that have done it. Uh you know Nathan uh from the team. >> Sure. >> So Nathan was at my house on Monday. And one of the thing I said to Nathan right away >> cuz he's so smart. He makes me understand stuff in a way. I said, Nathan, it's crazy when people always say to me, and I said this to Lex, I said this to many people. Oh, I did it on my own. I said, how far on your own did you do it on your own? Yeah, you have to take action. You have to move. But if you look at the bigger picture, there's so many people that have come to help me. If it wasn't for Lex, there's no hella good cuz she told me we need to put videos out and she edits videos. She do everything to this day. >> She's still doing that. >> Rich, I don't know how to edit a YouTube video. [laughter] I don't. And I tried. It's so hard. >> I do my Instagram stories 100%. The feed, Tik Tok, YouTube, 100% has been here since day one. And then I say without you, Nathan, you help me with certain things. Without the team, RXO, without my my sponsors, there's no like it's a it's a village thing. We always say it's a village thing in in my country. It's literally a village thing. So I want this year 10 to be like it's about the people. I got to find the right word for it. But we have a few months still till we get into that. >> You have great partners. You've worked with Hoka for a number of years. You've done some stuff with Apple. You've been with BPN >> the hybrid athlete pros. >> I'm not so Have you been to the ranch? Like what's that's a whole scene? >> I haven't been to the ranch, but I will. How come you like I've seen those video, you know, like those guys Dan Churchill, Max Joliff. >> Yeah, I might have to host cuz I did talk to Nick about going to the ranch to do like a a training camp for my marathon prep and they said you can do that. So, I might have to actually set that up. >> And you haven't done a backyard race. >> No, I haven't either. >> And I I I went to Nick cuz I said, "Huh, if you sign up 2027, I'm there, but I need you to sign up." I said that to his face cuz I said, >> "Oh, for Nick to sign up." >> Yeah. I said, "I don't want you to just be sitting there. You need to feel what everybody's feeling. I'll sign up if you do. But I did get the answer. If you are the race owner by the backyard rule, you cannot participate. So that one he can't do. >> Uh-huh. >> Yeah. So, but the backyard, it it doesn't interest me, but I also want to do it just to say I know I can do it. That's ego speaking cuz I know the thing about the backyard. I've done a 100 mile race. I can get to 100 mile easy in my head. I think I can. And I get to sit down for a few minutes. And I know it gets harder as you go because like you sit down and you go, it gets harder and harder, you go slower. But anyone that has done 100 miles, I think this is from the helis perspective, you know what that feels like on the body. And that's continuous. There's no sitting. And if you sit it for a minute or two just to change something and go, the first few lap, the first 50 mile, you're probably sitting, you're getting yourself 15 to 20 minutes. >> Yeah, but you're getting into Harvey Lewis territory. You're 300 350 miles. >> Oh, no. I'm not getting that territory. I think me if I do this my goal to get was to get to 150 miles. 150. >> That's it. Harvey Lewis is another level. I wouldn't even nail myself in that breath. He's insane. Harvey is insane. >> Speaking of another vegan uh runner, do do people give you grief around the vegan stuff? >> No. You know, the thing is I actually vegan, you know, I never talk about veganism on my social media like that, but if you ask for my diet, I go into it. But some of the things that people love to say about vegan, your protein, I'm sure you had that conversation. Where do you get your protein? Where do you get your protein? And I said, if I had protein issue, the fact that I run across America, I would have been 10 years across America and done and done all of these things. And I start photosynthesis, you know, you know how photosynthesis work. And I said, you know, how animals eating plants and how they get their protein. And they're like, oh, okay. I didn't know all of that. So they think that because I'm not eating meat, I'm deficient. >> I'm still working for you. Yeah. And I still do blood tests. I I'm always making sure >> you're must be the only vegan on the BPN >> 100%. >> Uh Nick Bear team. >> Mhm. And I told Nick Bear, you got to hold on to that vegan protein. And I think I won't say I'm the reason. I'm definitely one of the reason where that protein started cuz when I first met him back in 2021 uh and I the company was still on the come up. It's not where it is today. We talked about it. I said there's nothing really for me to want to use from the brand. and they didn't really have they had electrolytes but they didn't have gels say I'm a runner we need protein. So when that started coming around I was actually buying the product myself cuz I liked it. So when they asked me to be an athletes with him that was easy for me to decide because I like the product. Uh so the fact that they have vegan protein they have the electrolytes and stuff that's really nice. I said Nick would you ever go plant-based go vegan? He said you know what I would love to eat the vegan food but I don't think I can do it. I said he's like I'll come to you. You take me to your favorite restaurant. I'll be down to eat it. So, that's what I used to say, too, a decade ago, but look where we at right now. >> Yeah. Well, if you could get Nick Bear to dip his toe into the plant-based lifestyle like that, that's no small feat. >> That'd be a nice challenge to try. >> There you go. Do it for the views. You know, >> I'm gonna I'm gonna [laughter] try try to get him. Yeah. >> Is there a brand out there like what's the brand you're not working with right now that you were like, "Oh, that's my dream brand to work [sighs] with these guys." >> There's two brand. One of them you already work with, Rivian. >> There you go. >> And the reason Rivian, I'll tell you the whole background. I knew Riven before Rivian became popular by the general public. You have to be a car enthusiast to know what Rivian was. The history Jonathan told me more about the history cuz years ago, four years, five years ago, I went to Jonathan's house to I drove his Riv. >> Jonathan is our manager for people that >> Yes. pickup truck. The Riven. He let me drive it. I'm like, "Oh my gosh, this is insane." So, when Rivian came out, all the auto the car enthusiasts, like auto um news people, they were just doing the reviews and I'm watching this car. I'm like, this is interesting. This is something we've never seen and I thought it was really cool. So, I got into digging into the car and I learned about the history and I learned about what it's about and I'm like, this would be a really cool car to have. And I knew they were one of the first people to even have their own network in terms of charging. It started, the first one was in Colorado. They put the first charging. It wasn't Electrify America. It wasn't like the other uh chargers. It wasn't Charge Point. They started their own and I was wishing Ford started their own, but we have to rely on a third party. I do have an EV. It's not a Rivian, it's Lexus car. Uh, it's the Ford Maki. But I've been so interested in the Rivian because Eevee once you drive an EV, you can never go back. Once you drive a Rivian and the practicality because of the pickup truck and and I saw they came out with a little smaller one. I saw >> the R2. >> Yeah, the R2. It looks really cool. >> I'm watching right now. >> Uh, and it's fully dialed. It's like the evolution. I mean, it's a little bit smaller than the R1, but it feels like a more mature product. Like, they've worked out whatever kinks and like everything is super tight and it drives amazing. It's super fast. >> You don't feel like you're in a truck. Uh, it's a unique experience. And R.J. is just one of the most impressive people I've ever met. and the obstacles that he has had to overcome to realize this vision and to see, >> you know, how this brand is being embraced by people and he's just got this premium product that's a wonderful, you know, it's just wonderful and uh and he's just one of those guys that you want to win, you know? Absolutely. >> And the experience of driving this car is incredible. Like, yeah, you should you you should be working with Rivian. >> That'd be sick. And if >> you need a car I mean, being a car guy, come on. you either that or like you need to you need a Porsche sponsorship you need to train for lemons and you know you and Michael vendor get into a or something EV I have I love my Porsche Porsche would be also sick but also I need an EV I know Porsches also make EVs but I have the 911 if I have Rivian as an EV that'd be pretty cool and I think the thing about you know we see ourselves I trail run I don't run as much as that then I have on the road but how cool it is we're talking about like being environmental friendly. You know, we don't have to go all into the detail, but bring a zero emission car onto the trail, park it, you have enough range, you pop the trunk, you take your trail shoes out, you take your mountain bike out, you go on a ride, you cruise, you come back and you have that car sitting there. That's not You don't have to worry. You can have it on while you're taking a nap in there. You don't have to worry about exhaust, none of that. I think that's pretty cool. And we talk about having preserving nature. So, if you like being in nature and you need to get up to nature, having something that's zero emission in terms of letting go of CO2 exhaust, I think the best ways to go is EV. >> 100%. >> It really is. >> All right. Well, let's let's end this with a few inspirational words for the person who is still struggling, the person who's on the couch, is hearing you or watching you, and is thinking, I'd like a little bit of that energy. I just don't I don't know what to do first. How do I interrupt this pattern that I'm in? How do I get out of my negative uh cycling thoughts, my inner monologue that's defeating me while I sit here and eat Cheetos and watch you on YouTube? >> Okay. So, if you watch stuff, even reading books, if you don't take action, it's just like a movie to me. You're just watching to be entertained and you put it away. So, the first thing I would say is it's the simplest thing we hear about it all the time. Gratitude. You know, you're eating Cheeto. Oh man, I'm so happy and grateful that I'm sitting on a couch actually because I have a couch to sit on. I'm so happy and grateful that I actually even though it may not be my favorite food if I if I have to eat Cheeto to survive. I'm so happy and grateful that I have a Cheeto. So even my thing is when I see I love doing dishes, it's my favorite thing to do. It's a sports to me. I compete doing dishes. I look at the time at the stove when I'm but when I see a sink full my mindset is man how lucky are you to to be able to eat so much food that your sink is full. So coming from a place of gratitude if that person's sitting in there right now just trying to revive yourself like you know what things are really bad right now but there's little lights at the end of the tunnel. Some of the little lights is I have a roof over my head or if you sadly don't have a roof over my head because homelessness is a thing. um I'm happy and grateful that I can have a friend to talk to or somebody who's next to you on the street. And then now you make little steps and you're going to get to a point where you need a professional because we all need pros. Even the reason I have a a running coach, it's not that I can't do it, but I need somebody to take me to that level. So you're going to get to a point where you need somebody, but before you get to that level, you got to pick yourself up a little bit. Picking yourself up is um self-t talk, um self motivation. It's really hard. It's easier said than done but once you start talking to yourself you you start believing because I I reading books I believe or brains are brain believe anything you tell it you really can trick your brain when you start telling your brain I'm good enough I do this eventually you're going to see yourself trying to do stuff to prove to yourself that you were right about it and you make the efforts to show that you are right about because you're tricking yourself I do it all the time it almost work 100% unless if I get into my conscious like oh you're just trying to trick yourself right now but when I let go of that I can trick myself to believe things. So, selft talk, gratitude to get yourself going and you're going to have to get to a point professional. I tell people to reach out to me. I hope I can see your DM and answer. And if I can't do it, I'm not a pro. I'll say go see a professional. Somebody asked me this hurt on my body. Oh, I've experienced that. This is what I do. But you should go see a physical therapist also because there's people who are in line with that. Oh, you don't have access to physical therapist. Let me see if I can talk to my physical therapist if he can give me some advice and I can give it to you. I've done that so many times. If you can't afford a physical therapist, I'll go talk to my physical therapist for you and your issue and then they can tell me something that I can bring to you. >> You're the best, man. >> I I mean, I think we're all great, but we're all just trying. I think we're all trying. I think that's what's important. >> We have to realize that when you see somebody on the street, they're trying, too. You may not see it, but they're trying. >> You just have to remember that you're trying. They're trying. We're all trying. >> Everybody's just trying. >> And if you have something nothing nice to say, just walk away. Just you just got to walk away. That's the best solution. and you you'll be happy you walk away. I it just made me remember one thing that I have to say. I've had a situation where like I come to a stoplight. This is before the four agreement and after the four agreements where like somebody's standing at the light or you get caught off and I just hit the hunk. Like I'll be like, "What are you doing? You're about to hit me cuz you you're scared you're going to get hit." And then I feel really bad after it. I'll look at Lex. I'm like, "I feel bad. I don't know why I [laughter] did that. That's so embarrassing." I'm like, "I feel really bad. I just did that to that person." Cuz I come to my senses. And then next time Lex will be like, "Okay, before you react, remember how you're going to feel after." >> Mhm. >> So that's when I say, "You have nothing nice to say, walk away." Because I know how I'm going to feel after. I'm going to feel bad. Especially like somebody's at the light and then I try to do the baby honks to let them know it's green. Would I be like, you trying to sometime you over hit it cuz the baby hunk you're not giving enough pressure. You end up overhitting the honk. >> So, and then you see you get to the light. It's an old lady. You're like, "Oh my gosh, why did you do that to her?" Hell, why did you [laughter] honk? So I always say don't act because you're going to regret it. So that's why I say you have nothing nice to do or say just go just go about your your day. >> It's a good policy. You keep mentioning the four agreements like what is your media diet? Like what are the books that you return to? What are the things you consume? What kind of information I love asking those question. Okay. The four agreement. >> Okay. By uh Don Miguel Ruiz. Yes. Um you are the Joe Despensza. You are the placebo and you I learned about the history of the placebo, how the sugar pill happened and you are the placebo. That's why I always say the mind you can trick yourself of believing what you want to see. Uh you are the placebo and then also uh I think I'm trying to this is a tough one. Um is it you you were born you were born rich? Maybe it might have been that one. Uh I think it's a Napoleon is it Napoleon Hill? Napoleon, one of those old Napoleon Hill books that >> or think and grow rich is also a good one. Think and grow rich. >> Sometime when people hear the word rich, it scares them. I see richness not material, not money. I just see richness of peace of mind and happiness. Because when you read these books, it kind of shows you everything starts about having good energy. You don't have good energy, you're going to find things that makes you feel the way you're thinking. uh if you have negative thought, you're going to find things that's going to en enforce that cuz you you look you find what you're looking for. So these books allow me to change. I like self-help books. I love those books. The secret, have you heard of that? [laughter] The secret is so great. >> I read all the secret. Secret love. >> The secret. Um >> you're a manifesttor. >> Yeah, I'm a big manifesttor. You're a big manifesttor. I'm a big manifest. >> I'm too cynical. >> Why? I want to elaborate on that actually. I'm interviewing you. Elaborate real quick. you know, like we'll go down like I you know, like we'll hit some weird uh you know, kind of uh trajectory down a dark alley, >> but like all of my like spidey senses kind of get alerted when we when we start to tiptoe too close to some of the more >> like mystical self-help. >> Yeah, I see. I see. I see. I understand that. >> Like the idea the reductive idea that uh all you have to do is like, you know, manifest your dreams and they happen. >> No, it's not all that kind of idea. It's more than just that. Yeah, it's not just that. I guess that's the way of putting myself in a positive mindset >> that it can be good. >> So that's a good way to to put it like it can be good. You can change your mind and change your life cuz if you don't take action, nothing's going to change. >> You know, you're not just sitting there and be like >> sure >> like or what is it? Wizard of Oz clicked your heel three times and then wish something happened. But I guess putting you in an area where your mind is not at fight or flight like mode all the time like okay something's stress stress level stress level thinking like you know what it could be good I saw something about um uh Alexis Papy oh Alexi Papy >> Alexi Papy yeah Alexi Papy >> and this was years ago she goes you know what I'm having a bad day I go take a nap and get up and it's a brand new day and I'm like up good morning she posted this I'm like this is genius [laughter] this is genius genius. And I want to give her credit. She's part of the on the podcast. >> She's got a million of these. Yeah. Like little things like that. Yeah. No, she's in the family. >> Yes. So, I had to I'm giving her a shout out for this cuz when I >> You guys, have you ever met her? >> I met her multiple multiple times. Especially we've seen each other on raceourse. She's guiding. I'm guiding. We'll say hello to each other. But she said this. When I'm having a bad day, I just go to sleep and I wake up. I pretend it's a new day. I'm like, >> I like that. But also that stuff of like all these book I'm saying it's about changing the mind shift >> your mind creates your reality what you're saying and >> you know your brain >> comes up with all of these stories and we buy into them and assume that they're true and not >> not understanding that we can rewrite those stories and tell different ones that are going to move our lives in a better direction. Exactly. >> And that is something I can buy into and I feel 10% less cynical. >> Yeah. There you go. [laughter] See, I'm getting him, too. >> Yeah. Uh, this was amazing. >> Thank you. This is awesome. This is fun. >> I meant it when I said it. Like, I I literally could do this with you every week. Let's do more of this kind of stuff. And anytime you have any news you want to share, I'm going to be spending more time in New York. Uh, and so, uh, it could be easy, both of us, man. >> Yeah. And I have to let you know more when I'm in the LA area cuz I travel there a lot. And see, if you're not busy, go for a bike ride. >> Yeah. I'm here. I think I'll be in a situation where I actually could run with you and at a minimum I would love to go on a ride with you. I'm going to take you up on that, my friend. >> And I need to know all your crazy bike advice. >> I'm getting some sick bike now. >> But I will get you in a pool. I'm going to make you get in a pool. >> It' be great fitness for me. Perfect. It's a deal. >> Um I'm already going to do that with Dan Churchill. So maybe you can join and we can do a we can do a double team on that. >> Perfect. Perfect. >> Um you're the best. I love you. >> Thank you. We need more Hela energy in the world. >> Appreciate it. Thank you for having me. >> Help amplify it a little bit. >> Always an honor. Always fun to be here. We're always laughing and having a good time. This is fun. >> Uh, where should people go to find you? Instagram, YouTube, Tik Tok. >> Everything hella good. >> Yeah, everything is hella good. >> Everything is ha unified brand. >> It's a unified brand. It's a hella good group. >> Thanks to Lex. >> Thank you. Thank you to Lex. Yeah, absolutely. She definitely made this life happen. Sometimes sit there, I'm like, "Thank goodness I listened to her cuz I was fighting it." I was like, I don't want to do a video. She's like, come on. This is really cool. You got to share with people you're doing a run streak >> and the world is a better place. >> Yes. >> All right. Peace, my friend. >> Thanks, dude. Appreciate it. Cheers. [music]