Latest / The People Run Podcast / #64 A Brain Aneurysm Nearly Took His Life. Now He’s Running NYC | Polow Lynn

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#64 A Brain Aneurysm Nearly Took His Life. Now He’s Running NYC | Polow Lynn · The People Run Podcast

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_05: Paulo, after a ruptured brain aneurysm, you had to learn how to walk again.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_05: You had a scary moment, but you a few days ago ran 13.1 again in Vancouver.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_05: How man, God.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: God is the greatest, bro.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, man, God and and training and just uh my family, my my my close friends around me, um, some of them anyway, because I did have some family saying, like, bro, you sure you want to do that?
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: You sure you wanna like you just almost lost your life with a brain aneurysm and you was running when it happened.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you sure you want to do that?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_02: So um I did get some some pullback from some of my friends and family, but um just man, I had a few that was like, you can do it, you know what I'm saying, and encouraged me and and just a lot of you know cool conversations with the most high, bro.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: And man, and when he said it was I could do it, I was like, all right, we're gonna do it.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: Let's go.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, man.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_05: What was going through your head as you about to go do this 13.1 in Vancouver?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_05: Were you like scared, fearful of it?
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_05: Like, all right, I'm going for it.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_05: I already got the support and everyone in my corner over here, but I still gotta go run this.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right, right.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely a little nervous, man, because ignorance, it's so many feelings.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: Nervous, excitement, you know what I'm saying?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: I probably pee like a hundred times before we took off just running back and forth to the porta potty.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: Nerves.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: That's all it really was, because it wasn't nothing coming out, right?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: But um, man, just super, super big nerves.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, even to this day, bro, when I go run, it's always um, you know, you always got that thought in the back of your mind, like, oh, is this gonna happen again?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: The brain aneurysm happened in 2023.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I had multiple surgeries after that.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: And eventually, when the doctor released me to run, first it was you can swim, you can walk, and then eventually, as time went by, he said, You can you can run now.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: So when I got out there and started running again, it really mentally, more than physically, it just took a lot uh mentally to get back.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: I would do runs, bro, and just be in tears, you know what I'm saying?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like just ball in tears and just say, forget it and walk back to the car, you know what I'm saying?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: And then try again the next day.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: But every day I just showed up, bro.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: Whether I ran or walked, I showed up on that trail or or the track and did something, you know what I'm saying?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: And in the beginning, a lot of times it ended up in like tears and fear, and you know what I'm saying?
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: And the doctor would tell me, like, bro, you're gonna have some PTSD.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you boy, you almost lost your life.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like, that's normal.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: Because I was being a little hard on myself for a minute, but but you know, just through time, it just took time and just showed up every day.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_05: Walk me through that.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_05: This happened in 2023, like you mentioned.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_05: Like, what happened?
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_05: Like, do you remember the day before it happened, like the lead up to it?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely remember the day of it.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: It was a busy day at work.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: I own a uh Cobress juice company in a gym here in Atlanta.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: We had um, I work with the Atlanta Braves, I make all the juices and stuff for the boys.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: We had like um big orders, like 300 bottles for just this one location.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: Plus, it's like orders coming in and it's a gym, so we're serving people in the gym as well.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: So it was just one of those busy days, 16, 17 hours on your feet, just working.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm also training for a race at the same time.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: So um I just remember it being like a super busy day.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: I called the wife, like, hey, I gotta get this training in.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: Did you do your workout for the day?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: Come meet me on the trail and like let's get some miles in.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: And she's like, Oh, I already did my thing.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm like, okay, well, bring the dog out there and just walk the dog while I run.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: I just wanted some company, you know what I'm saying?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: It was a long day, so I'm like, just come back out.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm running back and forth past her a million times, and it was July 11th, so it was hot.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, sun getting ready to go down, you know what I'm saying?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: And um man, I was out there having a good time, like, you know, on my phone, like uh, you know, talking on Instagram, no symptoms, no nothing, bro.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: And and I like to sprint up the hills.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I sprinted up this hill and I felt this wiggle in my head.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, oh man, what was that?
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: So I it it kind of scared me, and it's and it was like a pop.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: It was like a wiggle pop.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, damn, what was that?
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I started walking back down the hill, and as I'm walking down the hill, my eyes are like trying to close on me.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, why are my eyes?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm trying to stay awake, but I'm having this moment of like passing out.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like I didn't know my head was filling up with blood, you know what I'm saying?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: So um, I had this whole out-of-body experience, bro.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: I swear to you, it was so crazy.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: Came out of my body, and I was sitting there looking at myself, and I told myself, hey man, if you don't get in that grass, this concrete gonna hurt pretty bad.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: So I walked over to the grass and boom.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: And next thing I remember, I was like waking up in the hospital like two days later with tubes all in me.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I thank God it was this guy walking by from New York, from New York, um, who just so happened to be at the park that day because he missed his flight to New York.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: His Airbnb was across the street.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: So he just he was like frustrated.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: So he just went to the park to take a walk.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't know about you, but me, usually I wave at everybody I pass by when I'm running.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember waving at him, you know what I'm saying?
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: And thank God he came around the corner and saw my feet hanging, you know what I'm saying, uh sticking out.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: And he was like, Oh, dang, that's bro that just waved at me, you know what I'm saying?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: And he starts shaking me.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't wake up, my phone started ringing.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: It was the wife.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, he picks the phone up, like, hey, I found this guy on the ground.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what's wrong with him.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: He won't wake up.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: And she rushed over there.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: He had already called the ambulance, you know what I'm saying?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, man, yeah, and I woke up in the hospital.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_05: Man, that is uh wild.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_05: Shout out to the mango getting it ready.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: Man, absolutely.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_05: Did you know right away when you woke up?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_05: What was that like when you woke up?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_05: Were you freaking out?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_05: Where am I?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_05: What's going on?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, so what's interesting is they had me handcuffed to the bed because they said I was doing like weird stuff in my sleep.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: So it took me like a day to wake up from the surgery.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I didn't wake up until the next day.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, my mom had flew in town, she was in Chicago, um, and my dad was in Chicago, but they drove with some of his brothers.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: So he drove back with them.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: She got on the first plane smoking.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: So what I was told was that they were like standing over me, like rubbing on my hands, um, and you know, just talking to me, and they were saying that my eyes were rolling.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: So eventually I do remember waking up, seeing my mom and my wife at my bed at the head of the bed, and the doctor standing behind them, Dr.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: Shroudy.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: And he was like, Um, I remember him saying, 'Good morning, beautiful brains,' you know what I'm saying?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, Some humor.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: My throat was hurting because they had pulled, had taken the thing out of my throat.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, What, you know, what happened, or whatever?
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: What happened?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, Can y'all unhandcuff me from the bed?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_02: They was like, Man, you were swinging in your sleep, and just so we had to handcuff you because you was you was doing a lot of motion.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: You must have been having some crazy dreams while you was out.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: And um, but I that's the really the only thing I remember.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember this is what I really remember is like, I was like, oh yeah, okay, I gotta get like, man, I gotta get back in the kitchen.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I got things to do, I gotta get back to the gym.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember old boy looking at me saying, uh, sir, that's over.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you're gonna be here for a month at least.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, A month?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: And he was like, Yeah, like we you can't leave this facility.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you have to stay here in the ICU.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: He was like, Do you see the tubes and all the things connected to you?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: We have to hold you here for that.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: So I remember him saying that, and man, I the sadness that just came over me was like, because that was my whole life was came to a halt.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like, no, can't make no money, can't run, can't do nothing.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_02: You just gotta lay right here in this bed, you know what I'm saying?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: And that part I remember very vaguely because oh man, it crushed me, bro.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like, that was that was tough to hear that I was gonna have to lay in this bed for a month.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: That sucked.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm very active person, you know what I'm saying?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_05: So I've seen you share footage on you on a walker during that time.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_05: Like, what was it like when the goal was just walking and you want to get back to work, but you gotta figure out how to walk.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I I don't okay, I can't let you bring me to tears.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_02: This has been a very bro, this is man, I swear to God, like, this is like so super duper, like the most emotional thing.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: I've ever since this happened to me, bro.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_02: I just like overly emotional, bro.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: Like, just yeah, I cry like a baby about about everything, but it's just really just gratefulness when I think back to everything that happened.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: But um, did you did you see um Jamie Foxx's special?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: That new special, that latest special he came out with when he went into the hospital.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: So on the special, you gotta go watch that.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: So uh because it's it's hilarious.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: Number one, I watched it and I was in full tears.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: So um now that all this is over, I can really talk about it because it was like shh, don't say nothing type of thing, right?
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: So as Jamie's leaving the hospital, I'm coming into the hospital.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: Same hospital, same doctors, same nurses, same bed, everything he had, they just moved me into his room right after my surgery.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: He was leaving.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: So on the special, he talks about this one doctor or one nurse that was like a drill sergeant.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: So when you talk about like what it was like, I was in there being a big ass baby, bro.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: Just being a baby.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: But it it was it was difficult though, because it's like when you go from being running marathons, half marathons, to now you got to have somebody in the bathroom with you to help you wipe yourself and take showers and get right back into bed.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: And to go back to your to your question, um, the first day that they got me out the bed to try to walk, I was, it was, it was, bro, uh, it was, it was, it was, it's hard to explain.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like it crushed me, bro.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'm somebody that can go run 13 miles with my eyes closed.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: So to have to have a walker and to have to have people, if you see one of the videos, the girl holding me by my shirt, um, because after we kind of got the legs going a little bit, they kind of like let me go in the hallway and like do the walking, but I would have to have like one person here, one person here, and I would have to hold on to the walker.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: And um I it was hard because of the the brain injury, your equilibrium is off.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: So, like if you look this way, you going down.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: If you look this way, it's like you going down.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: So, bro, it it was it was tough, bro.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: It was heartbreaking for a minute there, you know what I'm saying?
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: But this drill sergeant that Jamie talks about on that special, she did me the same way she did him.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna be in here crying, and you're gonna get your ass up, and you're gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna be better, you're gonna get better.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna let you.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I just wanna be in the bed.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, leave me alone, lady.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even yeah.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I I appreciate that lady so much, man, because she really like kicked my ass back into shape and made me, gave me the confidence that I could like do it again.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: Cause I'm telling you, I was probably right here with like quitting, you know what I'm saying, and just saying, forget it, you know what I'm saying?
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't even want to try no more.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: Frustrating, very frustrating, bro.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_05: To try to walk and and be falling over is running 13.1 easy before all this.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_05: Did you ever think you'd run back in those moments?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_05: Like, okay, I'm gonna go back to running at some point.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_05: You were like, I'm done.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's funny.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um I always had in my mind that I wanted to like get back to everything, get back to my life.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: I want to go back to work, I want to get back to making money, I want to get back to running.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_02: I'm training.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm in my mind during this time, I was gonna do this like one more race, and then I was gonna start training for Iron Man.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like that was the goal.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, so yeah, I was gonna go Iron Man after this.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_02: I was gonna like, because I've done about eight, seven or eight marathons, right?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm just like, I wanna, I wanna like a different challenge, you know what I'm saying?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, Yeah, I wanted to change it up and go Iron Man, and um, and then that happened.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: But uh I all yeah, I definitely was like my mindset was like, we gonna make this comeback, boy.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: You're gonna get your butt up and we're gonna get it done.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: But in the moment, being in that bed, I wasn't really thinking like that.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: But as time went by, you know what I'm saying, the mental got better.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: But that's because I had my family around me and you know, they was they was pumping me up, you know what I'm saying?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: What was that first run back like?
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't even finish it.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: I ain't even finished it, bro.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: I ain't even finished it, I was in full tears, bro.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like I probably got a mile out, and that mile was like 0.5 run and then some walking and then trying to run again and just not being able to run a mile, and it just broke me down, bro.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: Like I was my probably my next five runs trying to be out there was like tears and walking back to the car.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, and there was always this like voice in my head, just like I even had uh somebody tell me that too.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: Like, Polo, you know you could just like be regular, right?
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have to do this stuff, you know.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: Running is a choice, like you could just chill, you could, you know, you don't have to do this, you know what I'm saying?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't understand why you're putting yourself through that, you know what I'm saying?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like, just chill, bro.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you don't have to do that, you know what I'm saying?
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like, just be regular, bro.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: Go for walks and you know, just you know, enjoy your family, right?
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, nah, bruh, I can't, I can't do that.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like, it's not in me, it's not in my blood to do that, you know what I'm saying?
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like, but it was tough though to answer your question, like a lot of crying, bro, a lot of tears.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I had lost a few people um since I had got out the hospital.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: So that survivor's remorse was kind of crazy with me.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like, so I had to like jump in therapy and everything, bro, to like get my mind to where it needed to be, you know what I'm saying?
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_02: And one of my one of my partners died from a brain aneurysm.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: So, and the other one had like a uh it was like a heart issue.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: And um that's rough, man.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_02: Just thinking about those guys while I'm running, and it's just like, well, why did I make it, guy?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like, why you kept me here?
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: And and took them, you know what I'm saying?
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just all these different things that be going through your mind.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, those first few runs was like, it took a minute, bro.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_02: It took a minute to get back.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I really spent like 2025 just crying, like a lot of tears, going through it and getting back to it.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: Man, yeah, and then having like little panic attacks, like, oh my god, is it happening again?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, like am I okay?
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: Am I okay?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's just like ah, this sucks.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_05: How was it the feeling?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_05: You mentioned the remorse, but also I'm sure there's an element to Am I ever gonna get back to where I was before this?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_05: You go from 13.1 to like, all right, I'm running all year, I'm getting back to it, but like, when am I gonna get back to the old me?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: Man, um, it's crazy that you say that because I was just telling um somebody just kind of asked me a similar question.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: When did you know you was felt like you was back to the old you?
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, man, it didn't even kick in until like 2026, like this year, the top of this year, it kind of like kicked in.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I'm finna train for a marathon.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I got out, man, and I started running and no tears, and I've I was feeling strong, got back in the gym.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: So uh and it was it felt amazing.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: I I told a couple of my friends that I'm close to, it was just like, bro, like at the beginning of the year, I was like, bro, I went for a run today, I ain't even cried.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like, it was amazing, like I felt good out there, bro.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: I did like two miles, it was like perfect, you know what I'm saying?
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: So, but yeah.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_05: Deep question here What did almost losing your life teach you mentally about running and just life in general?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Mmm, that's a great question, bro.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: It taught me that I've already I've always had the mindset that we have we we should always be like thankful and grateful, right?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: But it just took my thankful and gratefulness for my life and the life that I live like to a whole nother level, you know what I'm saying?
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it also taught me too, like, and what I try to tell other people is that the doctor told me like, because of your lifestyle, not the non-sleeping part of it, you know what I'm saying, but the healthy, you taking care of yourself, you working out and running, like that's what gave you enough time to get to the hospital for us to go into your head to really because a lot of times he was like, Your blood was so nice and thin, you know what I'm saying, because of like the way you eat.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm I'm in the kitchen all the time making juices, so I'm constantly drinking them and tasting them.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm getting a lot of ginger and turmeric and all kinds of things in my body consistently.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: He was like, Your blood was so perfect that it gave more time for it to like, because he said a lot of times people come and their blood is real thick and gooey, which makes the makes their hate make it swell up very fast.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: And that right there is what causes like that brain damage and for people to like even pass away.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: So um I think one of the biggest things I learned that I guess you could say I was doing the right things, you know what I'm saying?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: Somewhat, because I was definitely missing the mark in in a lot of places, and that's why I ended up in that situation.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: But some of the things that I was doing, I was were the right things to be doing.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: And man, it just it just gave me another level of appreciation for life, bro.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: It really did, and just people.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I think we live in a world right now where everything is just so fast and moving, you know what I'm saying?
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: And we don't um appreciate people, you know what I'm saying?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I like people.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's why when we first got on here before we started, I'm asking you.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: That's just a natural thing.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: I want to know about people, I want to know about you.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I just it just give me a better appreciation for people.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I see people walking out like, I wonder what he's thinking about, I wonder what she's doing, I wonder what's going on with you know I'm saying, like, it just gave me a better appreciation.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I get you, I'm with you.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_05: It just opened up my heart, man.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_05: Real big share this that recovery is part of the training now versus something you do occasionally.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_05: Like, what's that mean?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_05: How do you implement the recovery now?
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I like to say this phrase is um I work from a place of rest now.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I work from a place of rest.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um non-negotiable, I'm getting seven, eight hours.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes nine, sometimes ten.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know what I'm saying, just depends, you know what I'm saying.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_02: But if my if my world um can agree with me getting 10, and I'm gonna get I'll get that, you know, sometimes it's very rare, right?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: But uh eight and a seven, I'm getting that regardless.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't care what's going on, I'm about to get that sleep, you know what I'm saying?
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: I'm about to get that rest.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um because that is really what kind of took me down, you know what I'm saying?
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like just not taking care of myself in that way because I come from such a like I come from hustle culture, you know what I'm saying?
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: Sleep is for suckers.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: We, you know, we'll sleep when we when we die, and not sleeping almost killed me, you know what I'm saying?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, man, just um working from a place of rest, bro, and just like I just make that mandatory for myself and these other things that I do for myself that are healthy, like the way I eat and drinking my water and like all those things work too.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: But what I learned is like man, and you can be doing all of those things, but if you're not sleeping and resting and cutting all of this stuff off for a minute, you can end up in a bad place.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm I'm I'm a witness that yeah, it it can tear you down, you know what I'm saying?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_05: Polo, if I put the athlete before all this happened next to the athlete you today, who's the better athlete?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Today's athlete, absolutely.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: Because today's athlete is not going to get six mile run, seven mile run, not even.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: A three-mile run if he's if the rest is not there.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not I'm not about to do it.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: I don't have to prove anything, you know what I'm saying?
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_02: But that other person um had a very big ego.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: So even to the point where, like, if I'm going out for a zone two run or zone one run and people start passing me, I'm you know, that ego is like, wait a minute.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like, hold on, I gotta catch up.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: I can't let that let them pass me and just think, you know, just that that mindset.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_02: So this runner today is um definitely taking care of himself in a better way, stretching more.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, just even when I wake up, I just think about like a dogs or cats when they get up in the morning, the dog is like shaking it all out.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of times, human beings, we just get up and we gone, you know what I'm saying?
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: And that used to be me, but I just had to start putting myself in a position to take care of myself better, you know what I'm saying?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_02: So today's runner is definitely the better athlete, the better runner.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: I I'll smoke, old boy, from back in the day.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: There we go.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: I'm way I got more rest than he does, you know what I'm saying?
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: So he couldn't touch me, you know what I'm saying, at all.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_05: Paul, you talked about like loving people, you know, and um you're in the community in ATL, right?
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_05: You got juice ATL, but you also got uh running brunch.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_05: Where'd that come from?
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah interesting.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: So run and brunch definitely came from my love of people.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: The way Run and Brunch started is um just being in the gym and uh doing my runs and recording them, and people would put on lock, put um DM me all the time and say, Hey, I see you out there running.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um but it was always this thing of like, I'm gonna run at home first and do my own thing, and when I get up to par, then I'm gonna come run with you.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I hated that.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_02: And people used to come in the gym and see some of the other people that work out in the gym, and they would be um, they would look and they would DM me and say, bro, I came to the gym, or it man, them people in there, like everybody's body is like it's like a like models in there.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, But everybody that looks the way they look in this gym is because they're consistent and they just been coming.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_02: They didn't everybody in here didn't always look like this, so you have to start somewhere.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I would just see that people were nervous about getting started or being around other people.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: So it was this thing like, how running brunch came from like, how do I take these so-called cool kids and get them in the same room with the people who feel like they're not the cool kids?
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_02: And that's kind of what running brunch was.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: So when I started it, I was like, you know what?
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: They're scared of the miles that I'm running.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: So we're only gonna run a mile, right?
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_02: And we're only gonna run a mile.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_02: You can walk it or you can run it, and then we're gonna come back.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_02: And instead of everybody just dispersing and leaving, I'm gonna get with some dope chefs in Atlanta and we're gonna create a brunch, and I'm gonna bring these so-called cool kids in the same room with these other people who feel like they're not that, and let's conversate and let's sit down and eat and break bread together, and let's and and let you see that these people are we're all the same, bro.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: We all just had to start somewhere, you know what I'm saying?
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: And bro, I've had last year, I probably had 10 people run their first marathon, um, six or seven people run their first half marathon, and I can't even tell you how many people just ran their first cake, you know what I'm saying?
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I put it all on that concept, you know what I'm saying, of bringing these people around, people that they feel like they're not good enough to be around.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_02: But when they get around them, they realize that we all starting from somewhere, and it made them that that confidence is built up.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: Now I'm signing up for a race too.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like I could, you know what I'm saying, because they're hearing these stories, you know what I'm saying?
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like I just heard your story about how our stories are similar, you know what I'm saying?
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like, oh yeah, you was overweight, I was overweight too.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like, oh, you got to that?
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm signing up for this 5K, you know what I'm saying?
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like, and bro, I last year I gave out 60, 60 certificates with gold seals on them for people that ran their first races last year.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: So that's where running brunch came from.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: It was a concept of like, we're not gonna run far, we're gonna bring people together to mingle.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: We are gonna run though, and we're just going to um do more community than running.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I I knew that it would do what it did.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: I guess I knew.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: I thought I knew.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_02: It worked out, you know what I'm saying?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: It ended up working out.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_05: Well, how'd you know that?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, obviously, you got some real success from there.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_05: That's pretty cool with certificates.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_05: You got people running, community getting fit.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_05: Like, when'd you know, like, all right, this is getting really big in a good way?
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um when Lululemon was like, we like what you're doing, you know what I'm saying?
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_02: And and just hearing people's stories, like people, hey, you know, I just ran my first this and that, you know what I'm saying?
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: So the stories and then brands wanting to partner and do things together.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, that's kind of when I knew, like, oh, this is this is something real.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: This this is real, like it's and it's working.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm all about the I'm all about the slow runner, bro.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: Even at the run club with Runner Brunch, like when we do our every Tuesday, we got a every Tuesday run we do.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I take everybody's keys, put them in a little lemon bag, put that bag in my truck, and I don't let nobody leave until the last person comes in.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: And they be like, boy, let me get my keys, I gotta go.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, yeah, as soon as the last person gets here, we're gonna clap them in.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_02: We always clap for the last person that comes in, and then I get the keys, we do a stretch, and then we all go home.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, it's all about like I'm all for the um, because I noticed too, bro, like going to some of the other clubs, no disrespect to any of the other clubs, but like I used to be the new guy at the run club, you know what I'm saying, with the basketball shorts on and the in the and the shoes that weren't running shoes and the big old t-shirt full of sweat, heavy, you know what I'm saying?
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that was last or second to last, or maybe fourth to, you know what I'm saying?
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember coming back, and that damn parking lot would be ghosts and crickets.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, everyone go home, yeah.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I would hear the people that would be with my crew of the slow people back in the day, and I feel like that made people um feel a little uncomfortable.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe everybody don't got my mindset, you know what I'm saying?
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: My father's in the military, so I grew up very like, you know what I'm saying?
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so that I think I get a lot of that from him, but um, everybody don't have that push through.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: So if you come back and ain't nobody out there waiting to mingle and talk, and by the time we get back, everybody already at the bar drinking a beer, having some fries and kicking it, you feel left out.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I just wanted to create a community where people didn't feel left out.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: So that's that's where that kind of came from.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'm for the I'm from the people, I'm for the people in the back, bro.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_05: Why do you bring the military?
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_05: As many as you were saying that, I was like, that's kind of a military mindset.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_05: Every man gotta come home, you know.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_05: Uh yeah before we wrap up and leave, you know?
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I play football too, so you know, like football practice.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: If if if if if you messed up, you know what I'm saying, if this mess up, we gotta do push-ups too, you know what I'm saying?
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's like everybody gotta pay, you know what I'm saying?
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: Plus my dad, you know, was just military too, you know what I'm saying?
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so talking about Lulu, we we started with this a little bit.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_05: You ran Sea Wiz in 2019.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, ran it again a few days ago, very recently.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it's such a beautiful time big time.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_05: What was different this time?
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_03: Bro, this time there was less ego, even though I I had um I had an ideal of what I wanted to do.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_02: I wanted to be like 46, 50, anywhere in between that.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_02: 150, 146.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, that'd be cool.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: Because Vancouver is like beautiful, just running through that city, being on that seawall.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's the most gorgeous place in the world, one of the most gorgeous places in the world, right?
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so really just like enjoying the run.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's what was different.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'ma just enjoy it.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'ma um make sure I keep up with my pacer.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you know Matt James, but I had Matt James, he's a uh global ambassador for Lululemon.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_05: I do.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, super cool dude, man.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: Super cool.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: And um, he was 150.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, oh, I'm gonna stay with Matt because that's where I want to be at in that.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: And him, he just made the run so fun, you know what I'm saying?
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: Going back and forth.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: You know, he's very popular, so he's stopping, taking pictures, and then he'll catch back up with us.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: But I just like just no ego, uh running my own race, like, you know what I'm saying?
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_02: I had an idea of what I wanted to do in my mind, and I stuck with that instead of trying to like beat everybody in front of me, you know what I'm saying?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I just ran my own race and I trained for it, and I had an ideal of what I wanted to do, and I just stuck to that and didn't try to go, you know, beyond that, and didn't let the ego of people passing me mess up my timing because I'm like trying to chase people down now.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: I'm super tired because I didn't got off the the routine that I'm on to try to, you know, complete this in a certain time, you know what I'm saying?
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_02: I just enjoyed it and just had a good time.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I would just say probably less ego, less ego.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_05: No, for sure.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_05: One of the best ways to enjoy a race, have fun sometimes.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_05: You know, they don't always gotta be the big hoorah.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right, right, right.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's a fact.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: And in a place like that, you know what I'm saying?
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_02: Even with New York coming up, like I want to do well in that.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_02: But like we were talking before we got started, and you were just talking about how fun that is, and that's all I keep hearing, like, yo, it's such a vibe, you know what I'm saying?
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you're gonna have so much fun.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_02: So now I'm kind of like, I want to do a certain time, but I know just running through them boroughs is probably so cool, you know what I'm saying?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know, we'll see.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_05: After everything you went through, you know, two, three years ago now.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_05: You ever imagine finishing that line again for Sea Wiz?
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_02: Not really.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_02: One reason was um because you know, they moved it, they they they changed it and they start doing the tours around the United States.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_02: So they came to Atlanta, LA, I think they went to Arizona, then they did Miami.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: And I actually did Miami for fun.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_02: I walked it and you know, high five and everybody, and just had fun with the Lululemon team, um, because it was a lot of the ambassadors out there, so we're just having fun.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I honestly, when they start talking about bringing it back to Vancouver, I was like, man, that would be so dope.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_02: That would be so full circle.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_02: And um, but they hadn't made a decision, and then one day my guy, yeah, I want to go to Vancouver.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, what's going on?
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_02: He was like, it's official.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: We're bringing back seaweeds.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, oh my god, let's do it.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it was super dope, man.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but no, I I didn't even know if they were gonna bring it back.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_02: And they're doing, and then when they announced it, they said it's gonna be a lottery.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_02: So I was like, which I feel like a lot of races are becoming lotteries now because running is so popular and it's like everybody wants to get in, so they had to do a lottery.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, um, so yeah, when they called me about that, I was like, Oh yeah, and I think they're bringing it back next year again.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, yeah, so you should jump in that lottery, man.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_02: Come out there and hang out because I'm I'm gonna try to do it again next year.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's so fun, man.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's a dope run.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_05: Kind of lines up if they do it around the same time this year.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_05: I think they are.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_05: I think they will.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, okay.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_05: We'll we'll have to t tune in, tap in for that.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_05: Absolutely.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_05: New York, we just talked about it.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_05: So now 13.1 done.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_05: We doubling it up 26.2.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_05: Oof.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_05: How you feeling about 26.2 coming in New York?
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: Honestly, bro, I'm nervous.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm kind of nervous about it.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um in my training, I haven't hit 20 miles yet.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_02: I got I got some big miles coming up in the training block that I'm in right now, coming up.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_02: I think once I hit those mile, that mileage inside of the training block, I'll I'll my confidence will be there.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I I'm nervous and excited at the same time.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like, man, I haven't ran a marathon in years.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I've been laying down, getting surgery, like, and here we are, man.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, God has blessed me with the opportunity to run again.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm just I'm excited, bro.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, it's always those nerves, you know.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: But we'll take it out on the port of potty, you know what I'm saying?
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_02: Keep it moving.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm excited though.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_05: But when you start, man, and it's gonna turn into a vibe real quick.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_05: I'll I'll explain this.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_05: But when you start, man, and you on Staten Island and you about to start, and that chopper is going off.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_05: What tell me about the chopper?
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_05: It's just the news chopper, but like it's so quiet, it's early in the morning.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_05: You just rode a bus for like an hour into Staten Island, and you're gonna see the news.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_04: I heard about that.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_05: Man, you're gonna be like, oh crap, what is going on?
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_05: So the nerves will hit, but then they're gonna play Frank Sinatra, man, and you're just gonna be like, which song?
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_02: Which Frank Sinatra?
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_02: Which one?
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_05: Man, um trying to remember now.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_05: See, you put me on spot now.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_05: It's it's the go-to, and I shouldn't know this on New Yorkers.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_05: So I'm being shameful right now by not knowing this out the top of my head.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_05: It's it's definitely the one where he's like, go New York.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_05: Um here, you'll recognize immediately because there's some speakers, by the way, on top of the bridge.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_05: And bro, go time is gonna kick in.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_05: You're gonna go over that bridge.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_05: And the minute you cross over that bridge, I'm gonna leave it there because you gotta enjoy the race for yourself.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_05: It's gonna be a blast.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_05: You're gonna have amazing time.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_02: Super exciting.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_05: No, we just talked about it.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_05: So many lotteries out there right now, so many races, man.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_05: Running as crazy as it is right now.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_05: Like, why New York?
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because I've never done a worlds.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_02: I've done several marathons, but I've never done a world marathon.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I used to live in New York.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_02: I love New York City.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's one of the dopest places to visit or even live.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_02: If you can, if you have the opportunity to live there, I think it's like dope.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, I don't know if I could live there like forever, but I I just love like it.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm from the South, right?
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_02: So if I go to New York, I always come back here feeling like I could do anything if I go to New York.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_02: For some reason, it just pumps me up like that, being around the people, the vibe.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_02: I come back, I'm like, what we doing?
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like, let's get it.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_02: That New York mentality is feels like that to me.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_02: So I really love that place.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I just always wanted to do a world marathon.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, the brain aneurysm situation happened, and I always get these emails from the Brain Aneurism Foundation and from the B Foundation, which is another um foundation that I've been tapped in with since this happened to me to kind of like help bring awareness to what happened to me, um, for other people to know the symptoms and know the things that could happen, you know what I'm saying?
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and they announced it like uh they announced something about running New York because they they do all kinds of runs at the Brain Henry Foundation, and it just popped up in my email, but it's something I was already thinking about, so I kind of felt like I manifested it, you know what I'm saying?
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, I was just talking to my wife about that, you know what I'm saying?
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_02: And like, boom, it's right there in my so I felt like because I was just talking about it and I seen it, I feel like that was God saying, bro, go for it.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: I got you, you know what I'm saying?
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_05: How different is training right now for this?
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_05: No, I won't.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_05: Not intentionally, yeah, yeah.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_02: Man, um so much better.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm I'm so all my other marathons, I've just trained myself.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: Me and some of the friends, some of the homies, we get together.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_02: We say we're gonna run a marathon, we come up with the plan and off of like Nike app or Adidas app or something like that, and then we go for it.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, this time around, I said, you know what?
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna hire a coach.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_02: So I hired a coach, Coach Daniels, Coach Tommy, um, which is which is actually one of my guys, he runs with um black men run here in Atlanta, and he is a runner runner, bro.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like this dude be killing him, you know what I'm saying?
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_02: Killing marathons and have marathons.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_02: He's he's one of he's one of them, you know what I'm saying?
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I just be like, man, Tommy be going crazy out there.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_02: And then when he announced that he was a coach, you know what I'm saying?
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_02: Bro, the way all of this happened is just divine, you know what I'm saying?
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's like yeah, it was like email, boom.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_02: I reached out to um the Brain Aneurism Foundation, they was like, we would love to have you, Polo.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, we're gonna da da da da da same thing.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_02: Boom, got the bill.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_02: Tommy became a coach.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, bro, I always admire what you did, you know what I'm saying, in the running community, and we've been cool for a long time, but he was somebody that would always go out there and do killer on races, you know what I'm saying?
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, man, how he does that time.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_02: So he was he's really into the science of running, even before he became a coach.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm like, I'm gonna hire Tommy as a coach, you know what I'm saying?
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_02: When he announced that he was gonna be a coach, and man, yeah, I've been rocking with him ever since, and he put together an amazing plan for me, uh, nutrition-wise and just uh running wise.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and man, we just got back from Vancouver doing the um the um half marathon.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_02: And we have yeah, we just so we just revamped today, actually, we got together and revamped uh the rest of the time.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I think I got like 12 weeks or something like that into New York, and we just revamped the whole plan to like um knock out the rest of these miles and then start tapering down um towards the end.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, so yeah, that's the difference.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm leaning on a coach this time instead of just being out here like I got this, you know what I'm saying?
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_05: What does NYC mean to you before you run that first step?
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_05: Before you get on that start line, what's it all mean to you?
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, hold on, fence.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: Let me put my glasses on for this one.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: He pulled out the glass man.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_03: What does it mean?
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_01: It means that is such a good question.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's what kind of brought tears to my eyes, bro.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um it means I made it.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_01: It means that God is the greatest.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_01: First, it means that.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_03: And then it means I made it.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um it just means God is the greatest.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_02: I can't really think of like I'm just thankful, bro.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm just thankful to be able to freaking walk again, bro.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_02: And just be able to like wake up and like I can move my arms and you know what I'm saying?
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like what happened to me?
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_02: Some people are paralyzed on one side of their body, you know what I'm saying?
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_02: Some people can't hold a full conversation without saying, what you say?
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_02: Can you repeat that again?
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like, because they forgot it, you know what I'm saying?
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't have no symptoms, bro.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_02: Nothing except for like I already needed glasses, but I just need these a little bit more, you know what I'm saying?
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's about it.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_02: That's it, bro.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't have what you say.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_05: We all need the glasses at this point in age, you know.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_05: We ain't gonna say no.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_05: Right, right, right, right.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_05: I received that.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_05: Um, that's a blessing, man.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_05: That's awesome.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's it just means I'm blessed and highly favored, bro.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_02: And um, and it means that um God's not through with me and He got something for me to do.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it means um that hopefully somebody can see my story.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: And get up and know that it's possible to do it, you know what I'm saying?
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_05: You got me crying then Hey, happy tears, man.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_05: You're at New York.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_05: You're on mile 26.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_05: You're on that final central Central Park.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_05: What you gonna be thinking about?
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_03: My family just be smiling, bro.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_03: Just smiling and just saying thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_03: Take your time, man.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_03: You get it.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm gonna be saying thank you, bro.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_02: I'ma just be just thankful, man, and just smiling.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_02: And just looking for the fam.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_02: Looking for my wife, looking for my mom.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_02: Hopefully if my parents can make it out there, but you know what I'm saying?
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like the goal is to try to take everybody because this is this means a lot to me, you know what I'm saying?
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_02: To just be able to go out here and compete again and and just get be able to race and you know what I'm saying, and and have fun running.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, man.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's just gonna be all thankfulness, bro.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: Just thankfulness.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_02: Even if I got a cramp or something going crazy, hopefully it won't, because we're gonna make sure the nutrition is on point and everything is on point.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_02: But um, I'm gonna just be thankful, bro.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_02: Just super excited, and just just saying thank you a million times as I cross.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_05: Man, I'm excited for you, man.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_05: Knowing the race and you know everything you just shared, that's gonna be a beautiful thing, man.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because it was a moment where I just felt like this might not ever happen again, you know what I'm saying?
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like, yeah, there were definitely a lot of moments from walking, being in that hospital, feeling that pain that came.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_02: It was very painful.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_02: I know we didn't really get into that, but I never felt no pain like that in my life, bruh.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_02: The pain, so crazy.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so there were definitely moments, even trying to walk up and down that hallway and just get my legs to like act right again.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, there were moments where I definitely was thinking, like, bro, this might this might not pan out, you know what I'm saying, the way you think it's about to pan out.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_02: Because in my mind, I'm like, I'm gonna get out of this bed, I'm gonna, you know what I'm saying, like I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_02: But it was definitely moments when you, even though you feel like you can do it, but your body won't do it, you know what I'm saying?
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_02: So it's very frustrating, you know what I'm saying?
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_02: But we here now, though, you know what I'm saying?
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm talking to you, you know what I'm saying?
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so well, to use one of your lines, and sorry, I'm gonna borrow here, stay in motion.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_02: No, stay in motion.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_02: It's that's what saved my life, just being in motion, but but know how to rest, know how to recover, know how to rest.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_02: Make that, you know what I'm saying?
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like resting is being in motion too, because that shit is gonna keep you alive longer, you know what I'm saying?
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta replenish the tank, bro, at all times.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_01: So important, so important.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_05: Polo, you say you're gonna be thankful on the race.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_05: I wanna thank you for coming on the podcast and sharing this, man.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_05: I'm I'm hell inspired and looking forward to your race.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_05: I appreciate you for coming on the podcast, man.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_05: For everyone listening.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_05: Thank Paulo out there, tuning in, and uh, this has been the People Run podcast.