Latest / The People Run Podcast / #37 He Thought Running Was Over… Then Started Again at 74 | David Krygier

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#37 He Thought Running Was Over… Then Started Again at 74 | David Krygier · The People Run Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Precisely because I know it's temporary, it's it's more precious.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: David, welcome to the People Run Podcast.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how are you doing out there today?
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm great.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much for having me.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's a pleasure to be here.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to delve into your story here and jumping right in, you know.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: So you're 74 now and you've jumped on this journey.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: He's been pretty much running consistently.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think we're off there day 481 counting today.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: 481 days straight.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: And counting.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: And counting.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: And counting with a goal of 1,000.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, you're almost at 500 just a couple weeks ago.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: What keeps you showing up running every day, now at 74, every single day with a goal of a thousand days straight?
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: What keeps me running?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a few elements to this.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, I've been a runner my whole life.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: When I say my whole life, it as long as I can remember, you know, I enjoyed the the gift of running, and I ran a couple of marathons, uh, you know, but uh a lot of 10Ks, you know, I I just loved it.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh never won any real medals.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, of course, you get a medal in the in the marathons, but but um I just loved it.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: But I had to give running up because I developed back problems in my 50s and 60s that caused me to sideline for a few years.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so this journey is a journey of modification.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: My running looks nothing like the way it used to, the way I used to run, but I've recaptured that joy.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: And when you when you let go of something that you care about, that you love, that you're passionate about, and you, you know, you're getting older and there are things you can't do anymore, and it's only it's inevitable that I won't be able to do even this, um, the joy is exponential.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: So that's kind of the background.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's amazing.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, for those of us, and I'm sure we can all relate that love and joy for running, it's it's a beautiful feeling.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad you got it back.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, now that you're on this journey, first off, you run 2.7 miles was kind of the goal.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: How did you come up with 2.7 miles?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I I didn't I didn't conceive of 2.7 miles.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: It it, you know, it's um, and I don't know if I have a real answer to that question.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: It yeah, this whole thing has been a journey of experimentation.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: How do I find a way to, you know, I walk with my wife every day for half an hour.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I don't have to recover from walking a mile with my wife.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I, through experimentation and modification, I started this experiment and I I would run for a mile, I would rest a couple of days, you know, I would see if my back was feeling good.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: It just sort of evolved into this route near my house that is about 1.5 miles, you know.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: I turn around at 1.5 and I kind of head back, and I will tell you that it was 2.7 for the longest time, and then I'm making these turns that are a little wider, and now it's kind of 2.85.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm thinking maybe I should go to three because it's close enough to three.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just a work in progress.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: And as far as the thousand days, if you don't mind, I want to go back to that.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: I I will blow right by that if you know it's I want to get to a thousand, but um, you know, I'm gonna keep running for as long as I can.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's sort of an arbitrary goal.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, well, first off, that's amazing.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, almost at 5k, it sounds like soon.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna change this to 5k uh 3.11.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh that'll be fun.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like the back is holding up.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yes.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Are you able to do it like daily?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I know you said you experienced some pain and stuff, but now you do it daily, like it's every day.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so that's a great question.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I'm so glad you asked it because if I was in pain, or if my body was telling me you can't do this, you've got to rest, I wouldn't be the streak would end today.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: It would end today.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, now I I also want everybody to know here that I'm doing other things than running.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm a cyclist, I I do Pilates.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: Pilates is really important for my running, stretching, because I have um tight hamstrings.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: So, and that was the root cause of a lot of the back problems I had before.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: So there's all of those elements.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: Now, and I swim in the summer, which really stretches me out and allows me to do this.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that these elements in terms of my fitness and my training and my preparation are all an integral part of this.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but the technique is also one that is on my toe.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'm running on the balls of my feet, okay?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: And it's really close to the ground.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: It looks kind of funny.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um and but it's very quick steps.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: I call it slow but quick.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: Slow miles, about 17, 18 minute miles, but quick feet, 185 uh steps per minute is my cadence.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: I've gotten over 190.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's like a machine gun.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: And um, it feels like a dance to me.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just like prancing.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of like prancing.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's amazing.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: 190 quick steps that um to do it at 75 is another amazing thing.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: So you're ahead of the game in what we all aspire to be.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely want to be running at that age.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: I wish it, I wish it for you because it's there's nothing like it.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: There's nothing like it.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Did you have any fear coming back?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: I know you said you had a break and then you came back to the running, like any fears of oh, my back was hurting.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: I want to come back to this love of running, but I'm afraid this might happen.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I I definitely did.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um I was very cautious.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, uh, because the back pain that I experienced when when when it rears its ugly head, it's very painful.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: So about two or three years ago, I started running again with some friends who invited me to run around a golf course that's near here, and we were running slow and it was social and it was wonderful, and we had breakfast.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: But about two months into that, it was like once a week only, but it was the way I used to run.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I had another episode of back problems.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: So then I put running on the shelf until 2024, and then I I just started to play with it.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: It was just like a kid trying to figure it out, you know?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, um, I if you don't feel pain and you allow your body to respond and to recover, and I waited a few days in between runs, and then I would increase the distance.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: It was just a kind of a dynamic process, and here I am.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: And and now I don't have any fear.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I will tell you, there were a couple of runs where I uh getting close to home, I felt a little bit of tightness in my hamstrings.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but but because uh there's no real stride, um I would just slow down and just you know, stretch a second and then get back to my run.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: So you gotta listen to your body.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, yep.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: That that's a hard-learned lesson, as I'm sure you know, for runners, listening to the body.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: We always want to hit a certain pace, a certain style of running feel for them.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: How do you feel now, now that you've been in it, you know, over a year at this point and you're back into the love for running?
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: How's the body feel?
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: What are the doctors telling you?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: My doctor's telling me, what are you doing?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, my doctor, he's he's like, Whatever you're doing, just keep doing.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: And he knows about the running now, but yeah, but um I, you know, he he's amazed.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: He's he's amazed, and uh, I have no pain, no joint pain, no knee pain, no anything.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: There's another huge element to this in terms of how am I doing?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh because it's how am I doing?
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think the question is physically, I'm doing great.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: But mentally, I am on a cloud because and this is the unexpected benefit of this journey.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's uh consistency has created um something magical where I'm showing up for myself day in and day out.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: This is my meditation, it's my time to listen to the birds.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: My most creative thinking comes out of doing this.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not just the physical benefits, and it by the way, it's it's a hilly course.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: I'm running, you know, up and down hills, it's not, it's not flat, um, it's rigorous, but um the real benefits are that I have discovered something about myself uh and my inner strength.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I I just am totally addicted to it.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's just and I'm I'm crazy, I'm a little bit crazy.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: Someone in my office said, you're nuts.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: And I've I've been thinking about that for the last week because by the way, he said it, you know, it was a compliment.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: It wasn't to put me down.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: He was saying you're crazy in a good way.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: And then I realized that my craziness is connected to a little bit of defiance.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'll be dishonest if I were to tell you that um I'm gonna be fighting old age, tooth and nail.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna get me.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: This is a losing battle, but it's a losing battle.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_02: But I am defiant.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: I am defiant.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I've got that fight in me.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds like an amazing discovery, also on the mental side.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, where does your mind go to when you're being present, you're running, you're watching the birds, the hilly view.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm sure some of them are tiring on the hills.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yeah.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: I um it's just a beautiful thing.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's a ritual, it's my meditation, it's my time to just be qu for my mind to settle, for me to be quiet.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: And uh yeah, it's a gift.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's a gift.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: For sure, yeah.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Do you ever have days where you don't want to go?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know, now that you're doing the streak?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I will say that, you know, because life gets in the way sometimes, there have been days where um I didn't run until the evening.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: And and and on top of it, I may have had some a longer bike ride or done something where physically I was just a little tired.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, I I have been there, and um I there's a lot of, you know, kind of intention behind my running because I know that if I haven't run, I still need to have preserved myself enough to run that day, you know.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: So so I there's a lot of mindfulness here.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'll tell you one story.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's not a funny story, but it's a true story.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: I um I was doing something, I was I was cleaning my gutters, I was on a ladder.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I I fell off the ladder.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: I I was like hanging from my roof.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: I had a like a three-foot jump, but the ladder had tipped over.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: By the way, I'm no longer getting on ladders.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna pay for a roofer, or someone cleaned my gutters.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: I I got I fired myself, but I came down uh on the hinge of the ladder and I bruised my knee.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: And it was a contusion, it swelled up.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: I I wish I had taken pictures of it, but my wife uh said, You're not running, are you?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, you know, let me go and test this.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: I actually ran through that incident.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: That was as close as I came to not running.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, um, what can I say?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, uh anything can happen on a run.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: You can twist your ankle, whatever.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, my I can pick up my grandchild, you know, and hurt my back.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: Who knows?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's uh and every day that I can do it is a gift.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's all.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing, you know, being able to pick up the grandchildren and still getting after it even after falling.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um I got five of those and one on the way.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: So uh it's it's a group, let me tell you.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, early congrats on the new one.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: You've also been through this before.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: So you kind of know what what to expect there.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: What does the family think of all this?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the the kids, the wife.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know, um I'm getting a lot of encouragement.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I uh I think that they're seeing some some new things that they haven't seen.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: They they know I I will tell you that my wife uh jokes about this a little bit because you know, I'll tell her, I'm going for a bike ride today.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_02: She goes, bike ride, run, you know, do you have time to walk?
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you gotta fit it all in.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but but I have to say that uh it's uh they know how joyful it is for me.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I I do make a lot of time for for family, and it's you know really important to me as well.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: So everything in life is balance, and uh, I'm getting nothing but encouragement for my family.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: How did you and when did you start saying, you know what, I'm gonna share this journey on social media, which is you know how we met.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's on social media, and you're getting a lot of people seeing your story.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how did that come about?
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so um, you know, I've got a I I don't have a quick answer for you.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: I um was obviously into the journey, and then there was uh I I'm a I'm a real estate agent, and there was a young lady who um we have at my company we have amazing marketing support, and you know, there was a young lady who who left the company uh who I was working with, and she she went on, she decided to go on her own.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: And she's a she's a surfer and you know, someone who enjoys the outdoors and sports.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: And there was there was there was something about I just decided to have a meeting with her and tell her about my journey.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: And um, of course, I ended up hiring her to help me with my social media because I have I have no presence on social media.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I do through my company, but I'm I'm not consistent in posting, you know, uh uh as I'm kind of on my I'm kind of semi-retired, to be honest with you.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: So so um she was just very excited about the journey, and we talked about it.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: We said, let's, you know, just let's just begin.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: We began that process.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I was I was posting about two or three times a week, and it didn't come naturally to me at first to post and to get on camera and what am I gonna say?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I will tell you that at some point in the last few months, uh, we decided to post every day.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm running every day, and now I'm posting every day, which means that I'm thinking about what it is I want to say because I want the content to be relevant, I want it to be genuine, I want it to be authentic.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just posting for the sake of posting, but as this thing is growing in my heart, right?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: I uh, and and by the way, the the longer we're going to 500 days, you know, uh, you know, it looks like I'm gonna blow through that.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, God willing.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think that there are a lot of life lessons here that I want to share with the world.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: This is this is meant to be shared.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: This is meant to inspire.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: By the way, I'm hoping it'll share it'll inspire people who don't run.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I'm I'm making no representations of my running technique as something that is for everybody.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_02: It works for me great.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: But if there's something, if this will inspire people to do something that they enjoy every day, I think, you know, it's cool.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: All of a sudden, though, I've got 600 followers plus and it's growing, and you know, it's it seems to be resonating.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, share it if you if you like what you hear.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: A couple things to touch on there.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I do love you share a message, uh, some insight of reflections or stuff you're thinking about daily on the run there, you know, 470, 471, 480 now.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um how do you come up with those reflections?
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Are those just in the moment and you're running?
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: And what are some of those reflections you've had most through so far the first 480 days?
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_02: You know, um I would encourage if anybody's following me to go into my social media and go back, go back and check out the messages because you know there are a lot of new things, but I will I will answer your question by talking about that young man who said you're crazy, because there was you know, there was something about what he said that resonated with me, because um maybe I am this crazy guy, 75, doing this every day, thinking I can continue doing this, you know, uh a thousand days or two thousand, who knows what what it's gonna be.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but what happened was that on my runs, there was something that resonated with me about this word defiance, which I talked about earlier.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_02: So, defiance, you know, I'm I'm not willing to just um sit on the sidelines and let the world pass me by.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm the the fact that I'm showing up and running every day is my way of saying I'm holding on to fitness, to the best version of myself every day.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: And it's not just physical fitness, it's mental, it's spiritual, it's mind, body, and spirit.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel all of a sudden, I'm feeling this alignment.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_02: And there was another there was another uh post about that, by the way, alignment, because alignment is a very interesting word, it can be your posture, okay, how your orientation to the world, and that's really important in my running technique is to have proper posture.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um but there's also you know kind of how you look at the world, right?
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: And um so all of these things are bubbling up and connecting with each other, all these dots are starting to, and so what I'm realizing is that this defiance, so there's this craziness, there's this defiance, and then then there's this um consciousness of knowing that it's all temporary, okay?
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: And there's some people my age, many people my age or even younger than me, that are sitting on the sidelines, they're no longer doing this or no longer that.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't think that old getting old has to be about diminishing how you live, either physically or mentally.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: It it it on the contrary, it's about opening your heart to more possibilities.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's the bigger message.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: Does that make sense?
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: That does that make total sense.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I I think also for runners, alignment is something that we just when you're in the groove, it happens.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you just feel everything just come together from running.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: Somehow running just makes everything else work, uh, especially since we always do it early or after something.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's so true.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: And and and uh I would even use another word, which is there's something primal about it.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: I I I said in one of my videos, uh, and I truly believe this, that I was meant to move in this way.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm in movement every day, and it's just a joy.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: How did you come up with your form?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, you you mentioned it a little bit, but how did you come up with that when you came back to running?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: How what was your process?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: So so um so it did evolve, but because there's different nuances of the technique when I'm running uphill, um, I'm I I have very short strides.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: So when I'm running uphill, um I kind of shorten the stride so so that I'm sort of keeping it um consistent in terms of effort.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_02: And by the way, there are different ways within the technique.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I can run with consistent effort, I can run with um you know sustained sustained cadence, okay, which is which is really hard because uphill you're not pulling back.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: But to answer your question about how I developed the technique, what I what I started with is, I mean, the simple answer is I started with kind of prancing in in place, like like you know, just sort of staying in place.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: And then I I I started to put one foot slightly in front of the other, again on the balls of my feet.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: Now, why the balls of your feet is that you're able to use your calves to diminish the impact uh if that makes sense on the road.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm running on concrete, so I was trying to figure out a way to run without pounding.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: That that was kind of how I got inspired to experiment with the toe, I mean the balls of my running on the balls of my feet.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's not it's not toe running, it's balls of the feet running or whatever.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: But I hope that gives you a little insight into how that's sure, yeah.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Minimizing the impact.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I think it's a smart way too as well.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Just put it on the calf.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: You have more muscle in the calf than you are gonna have like the opposite will also impact a negative way.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: So totally get that.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm using I'm using my arms, you know, uh, sometimes more than others.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes when I'm descending, um, I'm just letting my body just really relax.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, sometimes I'm going from uphill to a short transition that is slightly flat and then going downhill.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'll use those transitions, mid-run, to just kind of shake things off and get ready to change the technique a little bit for the descent.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I like feeling gravity and letting letting um nature you know help me through the run.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um another thing that's been going on is um interesting.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: I talk a lot about in in my posts about consistency over intensity.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: Consistency over intensity.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_02: So, but I will tell you that I have my days where I feel so good that intensity finds me.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll just, you know, and again, I have to be mindful of the fact that I don't want to, I have to run tomorrow, so I don't want to go too much.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: But sometimes I'm on the edge, the just that very little, you know, razor's edge between moderate and hard.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: Because I'm in shape, you know, so I I enjoy that.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: I enjoy pushing myself a little bit sometimes, and then there'll be more recovery days, you know, where I'm you know, recovering if I'm a little easier, yeah.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: I have to admit, yes.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: That makes me think of something because you you mentioned it earlier in a good way, like um running on essentially listening to your body, and you you know, you're talking about the consistency.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Some days you feel good, you want to go really good, hard, you know, a little faster, and then some days you know, hey, I gotta run tomorrow and pull it back.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: How do you juggle that balance um yourself?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I I I don't know that I juggle it.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: I I run with um a lot of self-awareness.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean and maybe maybe maybe that has to do with the fact that I've been as consistent as I have.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I've really I'm getting to know me.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and and and by the way, I run the same course every day.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I know every crack, you know, every place and in in and you know, and and what is ahead.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that the most important thing is to, besides being aware, I mean just you know, just being self-aware, is to be in the moment.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: That's a that's another huge lesson for me.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_02: Because when you're in the because I'm not going for the finish line.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm I am running to finish my run, but I'm I'm running kind of uh in a way that is the only goal is to run tomorrow.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: So so I don't have it's it's not a race, it's it's just being in the moment.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_02: And as long as I'm in the moment, um things like running up that hill again today, right?
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: There's always that last hill, which is a hill that I've run every day.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, I was running up that hill uh a few weeks ago, and a neighbor who knows me was walking her dog.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: She was walking down as I was walking up, and uh I said something just off the cuff like, you know, it doesn't, it never gets any easier.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we we've all been there, you know, with that hill that we have to face every day.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: It never gets any easier.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_02: Because it was just something to say.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: And she said to me, Yeah, you know, this hill is terrible.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_02: I thought about that all day long, I swear, because I thought the hill is neither terrible nor good.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's the same hill every day.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's just the it's just in your it's what how you choose to look at it.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: So knowing that let's say I'm tired one day and I still have to get up that hill, what I do is I get in the moment of, you know, here I am.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_02: I'm good, I'm good.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: And and before you know it, you're at the top of the hill, and there's nothing to worry about.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: As long as you're staying in the moment.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: And by the way, that's a huge lesson in life.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: Don't worry about that, whatever that challenge is that's ahead of you.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: Keep going.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: Just keep going, just do what you're doing, keep going, keep moving one foot in front of the other.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's uh it sounds like a metaphor, but I'm telling you, I it's absolutely true.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_02: I I live it every day.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's awesome.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Does the same course get ever boring, or you just really love your neighborhood and that hill?
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it's a beautiful course.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm running under, you know, oak tree canopies, and it's a beautiful neighborhood, and and I'm very lucky that way.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_02: I will tell you that I also travel at my age, so when I travel, you know, uh I will run because I'm I've got the street going, uh, but it may not be as hilly, it may be, and some sometimes because I don't know the neighborhood or wherever I am, uh, you know, I'll run on a treadmill, which is my least favorite because part of the beauty here is to be outdoors.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I do what I have to do to keep this going.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: And um back to your question about every day, doesn't it get boring?
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know, because I'm trying to keep this going and I'm preserving myself, the part of it is also that I don't want to injure myself.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_02: So if I change the course every day, I'm trying to limit the variables, right?
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_02: And because I know this course, I can just think about the running and being in the moment, and you know, I there's less things to worry or think about.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: And so do I get bored?
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_02: I really don't.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_02: I, you know, I I really I it's like I when I when I lace up, I'm in gratitude.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: And uh other than if I, you know, did a long bike ride or I, you know, was I'm I'm tired, um, but I'm still in gratitude.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_02: I'm still in gratitude.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's great.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: David, you bike ride Pilates, you got your your shriek going running.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: How do you feel all this now at 74, like food-wise and nutrition?
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I I will say that I'm on no particular diet.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: I I I I will say that I um I eat less red meat than I used to.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh as protein is important.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm poultry, fish, vegetables, fruit.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um I like it all.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I occasionally have something sweet, but uh, you know, I I uh I kind of have to watch that a little bit.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um I just love food.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: I mean it's a passion to cook.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: I yeah, I I part of my thing is going out to new restaurants and you know, and and I'm guilty as charged.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_02: But I I will because I because I'm so rigorous in my exercise, it works out, you know.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: I burn it off.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: Works out.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: But my metabolism, my metabolism is is not what it used to be.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: Less food, but you know, if you enjoy food, that's also a a negative.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: I don't and I don't I don't really snack a lot.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I dr I drink a lot of water, especially, you know, I'm hydrating a lot, and uh I eat three solid meals a day, and I'm good.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: Less at night.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_02: I don't I don't eat big meals at night.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: Meals at night, okay.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: David, what's a community response been like, you know, now that you've been sharing your story, neighbors, uh, online, the internet, anything stand out?
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: So uh it's funny that you say this.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_02: I'm uh there are people who know me and know about this journey.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: And they're they're the they're the regulars that walk their dogs, that see me every day.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I I say hi to everybody on my rides.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: There's these security patrol, you know, that know me, that follow me.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I've made so many friends from this.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's great.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the other day, I was almost home.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: I was feeling really loose, and and I was just going, I, you know, I it was hot out, I had my shirt off, and this guy pulls up to me in this car, and I I swear I don't know if I know this guy.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't recognize him.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_02: He goes, You're awesome! You know, it's just one of these things.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: So um, and as more people are following and asking me about this and curious about this, you know, I I think it's I'm a little bit of a celebrity in my little neighborhood.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_02: That's pretty cool.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's good.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's good.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'm enjoying it.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I I love people, you know, it's it's great to say hello to people.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes I even stop.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'll pause, I'll pause my my uh so F by the way, all my stats are on Strava.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, I I kind of share my daily runs with people.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if it's that's too much information, you know, in terms of uh stories or whatever, but um yeah, my data is so I wear you know the Apple Watch and I and I and I, you know, I it's the outdoor run, and then it goes to my fitness app um and gets shared with Strava.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_02: So it's all that data is there.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: I I wasn't doing that from day one in terms of Strava.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_02: Strava's the last few months, but I thought that as I'm doing this, you know, social media thing that I should, you know, be public with the data and course.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: But I will tell you that another thing that I've done from day one is I've kept spreadsheets.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: I have, you know, I I have all of that data documented, and it's part of my daily ritual.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_02: I come home and I, you know, I I put that in in in in in on my spreadsheets.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: No, I actually love that.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna touch on that for our data-driven people.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what goes on the spreadsheet?
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, so um I can I can tell you, I've got um day 481.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: I've got I've got the date.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_02: I I'm gonna miss something here.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_02: I've got the date, I've got the uh time, I've got the time of day that I started the run.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: I've got the distance, I've got the average uh cadence, the pace, um, which are minutes, you know, so many minutes and so many seconds per mile.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, then there's calories, you know, average calories and total calories, there's elevation.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um there's I'm missing something here.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, so it's it's a lot of data.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: Very in-depth.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, it's good.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I will tell you, I it's really interesting.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: Numbers, numbers are really interesting because it's not just the act of documenting this, it's that sometimes I'll notice that the numbers are really consistent, you know, the like cadence.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's within two or three steps per minute, you know, at one 185, 187.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes I can almost guess, you know, where I'm gonna come in at because you know, I'm doing my thing, you know, it's just it's just it becomes part of you.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: Looking at the data now, 481 days in, what what stands out to you the most?
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: What what do you like?
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's a story there, I'm sure, after so much data.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_02: You know, the biggest story for me is I actually look it's it's kind of a reward to put in your data.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I I don't know if you can see this, but but in addition to the spreadsheets, I mean it looks a little bit like this.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, okay.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, and it's I've got pages and pages of it, okay?
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's crazy.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: But um what what it does more than anything for me, because I I I don't have a coach.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_02: This is this is like totally coming from me, which is you know, I I I must be nuts.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, so so nobody's telling me what to do, how to do it, etc.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_02: But um I and maybe I'll go back and look at it at some point.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, maybe that's why I'm doing it.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't even have to write it down in this book, but I do it anyway, because now it's on um, I'll show you.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_02: Now it's on uh my fitness app.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, so I can go to any date.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, look at it.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_02: I can look it up and say, what did I do that day?
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's all there anyway.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_02: But I like writing it down.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_02: I like typing it into my laptop.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_02: I like writing it in my book.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm crazy.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm just like the duplication is crazy.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_02: But we have fires here, maybe my laptop.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_02: I don't have to find stuff on the cloud.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: Uh who knows?
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_02: I just uh I just want that evidence.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: You used to run, I I think you mentioned you ran LA Marathon at one point.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: Is this something you did back in the days?
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: You would run marathons, track all this data down, see where it's at.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: No, absolutely not.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_02: No, absolutely not.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_02: I I I mean I trained with a friend.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I was consistent in terms of my training and intentional how I wanted to train for the marathon and show up.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_02: But um no, I was not that data guy.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_02: I I definitely yeah, and um you know, while we're talking about consistency, uh I will tell you that, and I've said this before, but good habits beget good habits.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_02: And by the way, the opposite is also true.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: Bad habits beget bad habits.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: So the act of running every day and logging every day has allowed me to incorporate other great habits into my daily life.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm journaling every day at the end of the day.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_02: I wake up in the morning and I I'm writing about my personal constitution, and I'm learning, you know, I'm I'm I'm writing this stuff down, and I'm I'm you know, I'm facing my day with with intention, and uh it's all it's all kind of part of my process.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's process is really important, and and I was never good at it until this.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_02: Never I wasn't that guy.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's so cool.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: Would you say your relationship with running has improved more now than before?
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_02: My relation, it's a it's it's a love that grows.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_02: I I would say that I loved uh running the marathon and you know doing triathlons and and uh because I love swimming too and biking.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I I just love it all.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_02: I I you know I it feels like it's bigger now than ever because I lost it.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_02: I thought I couldn't do it anymore, and now here I am doing it again.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_02: So what I'm what I'm trying to say is that precisely because I know it's temporary, it's more precious.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: Got it.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: What's it feel like to have it back though?
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: I can't even put it on.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_00: I love it already.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know what?
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_02: It's the it's the it's the it's it's such a gift, which is kind of why I I I realized I this is too big not to share.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_02: It's too it's too big not to share.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um if there's someone out there, you know, that lets something go because they thought they couldn't do it.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_02: Look, I can't run the way I used to run.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I am not running the way I used to run.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, rather than decide I can't do that, maybe through some modification you can bring it back.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_02: Something.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_02: Even if it's two minutes a day, it doesn't matter.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't have to be running.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um that's the that's the biggest gift of all.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: David, if someone's out there struggling and feel like it's too late to get back into running, what would you tell them?
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_02: I would say, you know, I have to be real.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_02: It may be too late, and it may not be too late.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_02: So um, if it's that important to you, try doing it a different way if you were hurt doing it the way you did before.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_02: But go for a minute.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have to run for 45 or 50 minutes.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_02: You could do it for a minute and just be, you know, just do it gently and see if it works for you.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_02: And if you start to feel that it's hey, I'm okay, then maybe that will increase to two minutes.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I would just say, I was thinking about the word steps this morning because running is all about steps, right?
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so so why not just take the step of trying it a different way and and and and just play, just have fun.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_02: And and it may not work out for you, you know, it may not work out, but maybe find something that you did enjoy that you left behind that you can do and pick that up, you know.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_00: David, I love that.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is David.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: David's story is amazing.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, thousand days and probably more coming soon.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, David, thanks for sharing and sharing your story.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, guys.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning in.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_00: David, appreciate it.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: Much love, much love.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: Take care.