Mark and I go way back to our days on the professional triathlon circuit where Mark was the greatest triathlete on the planet and an absolute master of one of the most difficult and grueling sports imaginable.
Mark had an evolved approach that was based on intuition, leading a balanced lifestyle, and competing with tremendous focus and intensity. He rocked two nicknames: the first, Zen Master, was for his thoughtful approach and injection of spirituality into the art of triathlon training and competition. His second nickname was Grip, short for โgrip of deathโ which was what happened when you would take a bicycle training ride with him. You had to hold on to your handlebars for dear life because this guy routinely would open up the throttle and keep it open for as long as necessary to break the mightiest of men.
Mark also knew how to disappear from the high-energy training scene in San Diego or Boulder when he detected his training and recovery energies to be even slightly out of balance. He was one of the earliest athletes to stress the importance of an intuitive and balanced approach rather than a straight-ahead macho approach that is more prevalent in sports involving suffering. Mark has a tremendous amount of raw athletic talent for swimming, biking, and running, but it was his thoughtful approach that set him apart from other big machines on the circuit.
That said, itโs important not to sensationalize the zen mastery story too much, which seems to have happened frequently in endurance folklore. Mark did not use voodoo magic and incense meditation to win races. He won because he worked extremely hard, was smart in the way he trained, and pushed himself beyond the normal thresholds of pain that limit humans and into a higher dimension of intense suffering. Personally, I learned a lot from observing how Mark conducted himself as a professional, and how one could alternatively be an absolute beast of a competitor, but also a calm, centered, thoughtfully chill dude when he was off the racecourse.
Yes, the complete package of Zen Master and Grip was virtually unbeatable. Mark won all over the world at all distances. He dominated the World Long Course Championships in Nice, France, winning in 10 of 10 visits and regaling the crowd at the awards ceremony by accepting in French. He raced much less than the typical pro on the circuit, but when he showed up, you knew it was going to be a tough race.
Alas, Markโs career was not without disappointment and raw failure. Despite being one of the very top guys since his first pro race in 1982, he was cursed again and again at the sportโs biggest race, the Hawaii Ironman. Six-time champ Dave Scott had his number; Dave had the uncanny ability to peak for Hawaii despite inconsistent results and numerous injuries at other times of those seasons when he won in Hawaii. In Hawaii, Markโs first six tries involved lots of valiant efforts, podium finishes, big leads and breakdowns, but never victory. Pressure was mounting over his career accordingly, like a golfer anointed โbest player never to win a major.โ Mark even graced the cover of Kellogโs Ironman cereal but couldnโt close the deal.
Alas, the stars aligned for Mark in 1989 where he narrowly beat Dave Scott in the legendary Ironwarโthe greatest triathlon competition of all time where these two guys, at the peak of their careers, battled side by side for eight hours, destroyed the course record and beat third place by several milesโliterally. Listen to the great show with both Mark Allen and Dave Scott as they reflect on the great battle of 1989 and offer never before told behind the scenes observations about what itโs like to deal with the pressures and expectations at the highest level of professional sports.
Markโs inaugural Hawaii victory launched him into beast mode and he won in his next five tries before retiring on top in 2005, becoming the oldest Hawaii Ironman winner at age 38 and beating his own record time. Today, Mark has a thriving multisport coaching business, hosts Fit Soul Fit Body retreats with spiritual leader Brant Secunda (based on the life lessons of the Huichol Indians), and likes to shred the local surf break near his home in Santa Cruz, CA. You will not find a more thoughtful athlete than Mark, and this show is sure to entertain and inspire.
Mark has been on a ton of podcasts talking about his triathlon exploits (including my own Primal Endurance show a few years back), so this show is a little different. Actually it was a syndicated production destined for both the Get Over Yourself podcast as well as Markโs clever new YouTube program called Shed Talks. Yep, I cruised down to Santa Cruz and went into his shed filled with nine surfboards, a bunch of old-time magazine covers and ironman souvenirs, and a makeshift studio with perfect lighting to record with Mark. You can watch us interview each other on Mark Allen Shed Talks, or enjoy the recording on this podcast. I tried to unplug a bit from the talking point template in order to really help you get to know one of the most amazing and evolved athletes in any sport, ever.
TIMESTAMPS:
It is important to have your own space where you can have good personal experience. [04:42]
The training for speed golf is different from many other sports like triathlon. [06:49]
Mark talks about how you need to keep your brain quiet in order to access your focus. [10:28]
Participating in sport teaches valuable lessons that should make your life better.ย More than just the competitive sport. [12:14]
If you are doing something that is not your passion or calling, itโs going to be a big mistake. [15:42]
How you do something is how you do everything. [17:43]
Good sleep habits and disconnecting to tech are some of the things Brad focuses on in hopes of an amazing life and longevity in years ahead.ย [19:52]
Having a morning routine to get your day started is very important. [24:47]
Mark talks about the incredible strength of the Huichol people and how he applies it.ย [28:13]
What have Brad and Mark learned from racing that helps in their current careers? [33:34]
Brad explains why podcasting is such a good way to connect with people. [41:46]
Brad is going to try to break another Guinness World record. [52:13]
It is so easy to be a participant if you find your passion. [57:56]
LINKS:ย
- Shed Talks
- Brad Kearns Morning Routine
- Bradโs podcast with Elisha Goldstein
- Brant Secunda
- Brad podcast with Dr. John Gray
- The Story 1989
- Brad Kearns Guinness Record
- Mark Allen Coaching
- Fit Soul, Fit Body
LISTEN:
Get Over Yourself Podcast
Brad (00:00:00):
Welcome to the Get Over Yourself podcast. This is author, an athlete, Brad Kearns, discovering ways to be healthy, fit and happy in hectic, high-stress, modern life. So let’s slow down and take a deep breath. Take a cold plunge and expertly balance that competitive intensity with an appreciation of the journey. That’s the theme of the show. Here we go.
Mark (00:03:00):
Welcome to Shed Talks. Mark Allen. This is a historic day. I’m here with Brad Kearns. We are doing the first live interview. Live interview two people, not just me talking to you, but the two of us talking to each other. Brad is somebody I’ve known for years. We raced against each other for many years and triathlon our, our, our lives have run parallel to each other now. We do a lot of stuff that’s talking about health and lifestyle and fitness and turning and turning sport into something that actually can enrich your life and help you live a longer life. Brad does the Get Over Yourself podcast and so he is actually going to be, he’s going to be the guy today. He’s going to be heading this. It’s going to be his first live. Get Over Yourself podcast video thing coming to you from the shed in Santa Cruz. So ladies and gentlemen, Brad Kearns.
Brad (00:03:53):
Yeah, great intro. Oh my gosh. This is the first, uh, Get Over Yourself live interview on Shed Talks. So look up Shed Talks. If you’re listening on the Get Over Yourself podcast as they syndicated event here, historic and you can see Mark in his shed on YouTube killing it. I just enjoyed your previous recap of the Kona Hawaii Ironman world championships and all the other great stuff on Shed Talks. I’m glad to be in the shed. What an honor.
Mark (00:04:23):
You know, I put this together about a year ago because I love having the opportunity to actually talk to people and have it on video. It’s, you know, you’re not reading something. It’s kind of hopefully entertaining. Set up my shed. So all I have to do is turn on the lights, put on the microphone, and away I go. I love it.
Brad (00:04:42):
Um, I, it’s a nice place for one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine surfboards, people. Maybe you can pan over there with your, your B roll skills, your editing skills.
Mark (00:04:53):
Yeah, you’re going to see those surfboards. You know, your shad is where, where you store all your stuff that you like to use to have great experiences in life. Whether it’s your, your, your, your bikes, your surfboards, maybe you’re a creative person and you have all your art supplies set up and it’s where, where you can go into your space and you can just get something that helps you create a really good experience of yourself, of life. And so I have my surfboards. I don’t know what you have in your shed these days. I heard, uh, you got a lot of golf clubs.
Brad (00:05:24):
Uh, not as many as the average golfer since I play speed golf and it’s the greatest sport in the world. You just teed me up. So we’re going to talk about it then listeners of Get Over Yourself. Podcasts maybe are well versed by now. Uh, but we, we, we have a time and a score and you add those together. So you’re actually running through the course. It’s a fitness activity rather than regular golf. And so I only take half the clubs that, uh, a pro might carry. And by the way, if you’re not a pro, you don’t need that many clubs cause you’re not that good at hitting any of them. So that’s another good thing about speed golf is we have five or six clubs. It’s plenty. Yeah. Like I’m around.
Mark (00:06:01):
How did you go from a triathlete endurance athlete to two speed golf? I mean, that seems like opposite sides of the universe.
Brad (00:06:10):
Yeah, I mean the, the triathlon thing was pretty much, uh, it was like flooring the gas pedal and seeing how fast your car could go. And there wasn’t a lot of nuance to it in terms of the technique and even the mental part of, uh, of golf where you have to, you know, uh, let go of, uh, you know, failures in the moment and then try to hit a good shot next and try not to, you know, get your emotions out of control. And I, I don’t know, maybe you’ll offer different, uh, uh, commentary, but like in triathlon, if you were falling behind or you had a crappy swim, you just for the gas pedal and you just get that competitive intensity riled up and that was kind of the main, that was kinda the main thing. We had, the main power that we had.
Brad (00:06:49):
Training, big different story. I love, I’m going to get you talking about all the, all the nuances of training and um, having the proper perspective about longterm progress in the sport. But I think on race day, it’s like, it’s not the guy whose, whose bike pedaling technique is superior to the other guy’s pedaling technique more or less. It’s just who can hit it hard. Oh my gosh. But speed golf is, it’s the ultimate Zen sport. Talking here to the Zen master, you would love it man. Cause you’re, you’re, you’re forced to get out of the uh, analytical mind and just react to what’s in front of you. And a golfer is the opposite. You’re sitting there waiting to hit your shot. People are talking crap into your brain. It’s pretty windy today. I notice maybe you’ll want to take a, it’s kinda uphill, you know, and all these ideas are coming in, getting away from that natural intuitive athletic instinct where you grab a club, like a kid would maybe grab a club and swing and try to aim it at the target.
Brad (00:07:42):
And so the great professional teachers of golf want you to tone down all that busy brain and just be there in the moment and hit the shot and then, uh, control your emotions in case you hit a bad shot or a good shot. Even sometimes that’ll derail you. So we’re going so fast and speed golf, you don’t even remember the last shot. You’re just there. Here’s the shot, here’s my target. I might not have the right club, but this is the closest one. So I take less than the full hard swing. And so it’s, it’s very flowing experience where you’re just, you know, moving through a golf course unlike you’ve ever done in regular time. And guess what happens to almost every participant in these tournaments? They play as good or better than when they’re spending five hours out there with all their clubs and their caddy, giving them all the information. And now they have the GPS things where you look through the scope and it says 147 yards. Like, you know, it matters to the pros on TV. Tiger’s got 147, there’s a slight right to left tail. So he’s going to curve that shot into the back pin position. But most people, it’s like, grab the fricking club, hurry up and hit it. So that’s what I like about it is that, uh, that, that chance to tap into your, your natural athletic ability, your intuition, and then the fitness component. You’ve gotta be in shape, otherwise you’re going to get tired and worn out. The bag’s going to feel really heavy. You’re going to hit bad shots at the end. So you’ve got to stay strong and run. And it’s like 5.5 miles, let’s say a regular 18 hole golf course and then hit good scores cause a minute and a stroke are the same. And so if you carelessly miss a short putt, you know that’s a minute of running and I can run an entire hole and 350 yard, part four in a minute. So it’s very much golf oriented. And then you’ve gotta be in shape.
Mark (00:09:24):
So what pace you running?
Brad (00:09:25):
For me, like anaerobic threshold, I am there, my heart’s in my throat, I’m heaving. And then some of the better players because I’m not, I’m not a subpar player anyway. So for me to hurry up a little faster and I have the conditioning, I just do it. But some of these guys will, will, we’ll stay calm, they’ll catch their breath and then they’ll knock it close to the pin. But I’m like, you know, I got to keep up. Plus I’m, you know, I’m old guy now. So these young bucks. We have the national NCAA division three champion Mack McClain out there running. Bernard Megad has played a long time and Nick Willis is one of the top speed golfers in the world who’s one of the fastest man in the world. The oldest, uh, medalist in the history of the 1500 in the Olympics. He got the bronze in 2016 in Rio is still going strong. You’ve won the fifth Avenue mile for the fifth time, I think. So. He does this as a diversion, but he’s a good player. He can shoot in the 80s and he’s running pretty fast compared to a retired triathletes out there just trying to try to keep, keep two feet in the air in case the pictures are taken. You know,
Mark (00:10:28):
That’s the reason why I don’t do it because pictures could be taken and I don’t, I just don’t have that eye hand coordination. I can, I could keep my brain as quiet as the best of them, but it just doesn’t, it doesn’t work for me. But it’s interesting what you said about, you know, when you have to be quiet, when you’re doing that as a way to access that, that subtlety or that nuance that you need. It was actually the same thing for me when I raced, you know, when, when things weren’t going right. Of course, you know, my brain was saying it’s too hot, it’s too windy, you know, Dave Scott is pulling away or whatever it is. I had to get my mind to be quiet and then the answer would come of what I had to do next. And sometimes it was to just relax, get into that flow and then I was able to go harder.
Mark (00:11:14):
So I think the space you have to get into is the same, but what you will be able to do with that space is going to be very sports-specific. You know, in golf, clearly you have to be able to nuance. You can’t just hit it harder and harder otherwise, you know, FORE you know, uh, and in triathlon you, yeah, you can, you can work, you can work a little bit, bring your mechanics back. But it might be something where you have to really just rededicate your, your commitment to doing something that in the moment can sound completely impossible to accomplish. You know, that dream you said after. So you find that quiet space and then something happens, you start to flow, your rhythm comes back, your energy comes back and then you know, your hope comes back of, of actually experiencing something great out there on race day. And I know that this is something that you’ve talked a lot about on, on your podcast is turning sport from sport into something that’s really a great experience. Maybe you can talk a little bit about that.
Brad (00:12:14):
Oh you mean outside of sport and taking those, those valuable lessons and doing something with them. Yeah, it’s a favorite topic I think should be of any athlete to see, you know, what you know, how you can make your life better from, especially in like we did dedicating so much time and energy to training so hard and you know there wasn’t a huge payoff. Like some guy in the NBA who has got a really good reason to keep working on his jumper cause he’s going to sign a $72 million contract. But you know, we are sort of in this grassroots sport, we’re doing it for the passion of competition and personal betterment and gee, I mean I think the same for kids then they’re competing in high school sports and bashing their brains out in football, I’m, I’m thumbs down on the sport, sorry observers. But uh, we’re, it’s going to have to go away pretty soon because the pay, the price to pay at NFL level and all the levels below is too much.
Brad (00:13:07):
We were like watching gladiators were, we’ve gone back 2000 years in our culture. So we’ve got to figure out a new sport or a modified sport so people aren’t smashing their brains out. But everyone talks about the high school football experiences, the shaping character of the life. And yeah, my, my coach was super tough, but he made me, you know, learn about discipline and all those things and that’s, you know, if you can pull something like that out of it, then it’s can can count as a positive experience. We see a lot of athletes struggle with that, right? They just get self-absorbed. They go through life thinking that they’re a something, something special because they are on the athletic field but they can’t cope with real life. So they’re not making that connection very well. Um, so what I’ve tried to do, and that’s why I named my podcast, Get Over Yourself is cause when I was racing, that was like my number one objective to where I could access what you just described and when I was too self important, too serious, too driven to competitive, too emotional about a whether I got the cover shot or Mark Allen got it again and got it again.
Brad (00:14:14):
Uh, these kinds of things throw you so far off from not only being the best you could be competing, but also that you’re not, you’re not learning the lesson you’re supposed to learn. It’s like a, uh, a college student stressing about grades cause they’re going to apply to law school and so they have to grab every single grade instead of sitting back and enjoying the class and studying for the pure passion of studying instead of angling for what extra credit can I do and just turn it in and not really connect to it. That was me. As a matter of fact, I was going through UCSB and I thought I was going to go go to law school next. Wow. Yeah. And so looking back and I majored business econ with accounting emphasis cause if you get a CPA and a law degree together, you make the most money of any attorney, the tax attorney.
Brad (00:14:59):
Oh, okay. Well I guess I better do that. And um, Oh yeah, it came time to apply for law school and I had pretty good grades and I took the test and I did well. And then the application came from UCLA and said, uh, please provide to a professor recommendations with your application. And I had never met or spoken to any professor in three years at UCSB. I just went in the back and I read the notes really well, but I was not engaged and I’m like, crap, what am I going to do? I got a dead end here. So I went over to professor Morgan’s office and I said, I know you don’t know me, but here’s my transcript and I got an A plus in econ too, and also an AA in business law. Would you like write me a letter of recommendation for for UCLA law school?
Brad (00:15:42):
He goes, UCLA. That’s where I went. He goes, I’d be happy to write you a glowing recommendation. He goes, but I want to ask you one question. Take your time. Don’t answer right away. Okay, come back tomorrow. Take your time. Here’s the question. Are you passionate about the law? And I go, well, uh, and he’s like, don’t answer now. Take your time. Take your time. He goes, if you’re passionate about the law, I will write you a glowing recommendation. You’ll be in there. I see your numbers, you’re looking good. He goes, if you’re not, you’re going to get your ass kicked in law school and it’s going to suck in whatever words you use. And I walked out of that room, went back to my apartment, took the application, threw it in the garbage can. And that was like a beautiful turning point in life for me. Cause it’s like, you know, if you’re doing something for a reason other than passion, and that’s your calling and the highest expression of your talents, you might be able to punch through for 10 years, 20 years or whatever. But it’s, it’s going to be a big mistake. I mean, what else can, hopefully our children will be watching this video. I know my son watches everything I put out. Right Jack. Uh Oh, mats, huh? Oh, but what else can you share with your kid besides that and that
Mark (00:16:52):
passion? You know, when I, when I raised clearly that was, that was a passion. At the same time, it wasn’t my whole identity, you know? And so I think it, it helped keep that in balance in the sense that once, once the racing was over, it wasn’t like I fell off a cliff and went into, uh, into obsolescence. And, you know, because I saw that life is about sports for me, for sure. I put a lot of energy into it, you know, 15 years as a triathlete. It was very important to me. I, I tried to give it everything I could, but ultimately for me, sport was just a way to learn about life in a very intense way. Of course, you know, I mean, the day to day training taught me those things like, you know, just being willing to do the, the small, simple Inglorious things over and over and over and over that lead to two great experiences or, or, or great results.
Mark (00:17:43):
But they also become like a practice of just perfecting how you do that thing. And you know, this, I heard this great, great quote a little bit ago. It was, it said how you do one, how you do something is how you do everything, you know. And so even as simple as like, okay, do you just leave the dishes half done in the sink or do you actually put them all on dishwasher or put them all away or whatever it is. And it’s like you can’t go from one way of operating that’s maybe not quite fully complete and then all of a sudden get into a situation where you need to be complete with your, with your application of yourself and find that ability. You know, it’s even as simple as being happy. I mean, it’s good to practice being happy, right? You know, be with family and friends and community members and training partners and surf buddies and your children and your parents and your grandparents and just have a good time, you know, and enjoy life and put all the worries and troubles aside and laugh and joke and, and the more we do that, I think that’s more our go-to default way that we are.
Mark (00:18:51):
And the same with, um, whether it’s athletic performance, you know, succeeding in business. It’s like just stepping back and being, being willing to surrender to doing those simple small things over and over. And over that build the foundation of something great that eventually transform our lives. Like I mean think about running. It does not get any more simple than that. You put one foot in front of the other, in front of the other, in front of the other.
Brad (00:19:22):
and balance over your center of gravity with a nice explosive dorsiflexed foot when you take off the ground of course.
Mark (00:19:29):
But over time if you do that thousands and thousands of times, it will completely transform your physical health, how you relate to being outside and running on trails, how you know, it’ll give you clarity of mind, longevity, all those things. And so, you know, for me that was one of the simple foundational blocks of if you want to call it success, but more just having a great experience.
Mark (00:19:52):
I love that. Doing that over and over and over, thing of swimming, cycling, running. And each time you do it, you don’t see breakthroughs. But every now and then something comes. It’s like, Oh yeah, that was good. Now it clicked a little bit more and you’re on a different level and you keep going. Like that year after year, hopefully year after year, you know, you’ve, you’ve really, um, sort of dedicated yourself to helping people be healthier as they go through life. You’re 54 at this point, right. Which is like that’s good. You’d better give it up way chase. So maybe you can just, uh, you know, give us a, a synopsis of, you know, what are some of the things you do now that are, you know, are going to help you have amazing years and your sixties amazing years and your seventies and beyond that hopefully,
Brad (00:20:41):
well, we sleep a lot as we were talking about off camera, my inspiration, cause I don’t know if it was like an interview or something and you put it out there, like I sleep nine to 10 hours a night and I’m like, I feel so like guilty or, or insufficient because I just always required so much sleep. And Jeez. when I was, when I was trained in racing, I was sleeping 10 every night and I’d take an afternoon nap for two hours and then I’m, you get a pen and paper out and go, well shit, that’s, that’s 12 hours. And that’s, that was so my, my career of nine years, half my life I was asleep. Yeah. Yeah. And then it came back, you know, when you have little kids running around. So I got that severely cut back. But, um, the, you know, the importance of having that foundation is, is so big. And then, geez, I’ll pull something out of that nice uh, account you just gave me like that practice of, of being happy where, you know, you put yourself into happiness promoting situations.
Brad (00:21:40):
Um, one of my biggest concerns for health these days, like almost my obsession now is this, how this hyperconnectivity is destroying, uh, our potential for happiness, our potential for productivity and all those things. Because you see people disengaged constantly. And um, it’s, it’s now, now the devices right here, we can disengage anytime, any place from what’s going on around us, whether it’s standing in line at the bank or uh, being in an airplane. I remember used to, I used to fly home from the races with the number still pinned on my arm and there would be usually a conversation like, what’s that? You know, did you escape from jail? Ha ha. Or something. And I say, Oh, I did this triathlon thing where we’re swimming and we have our number. And you end up having, you know, long conversations with humans on the planet. And now it’s like everybody’s, everybody’s dialed in and you know, we know those stats about social media and the destructive effects of comparison and artificially created lives.
Brad (00:22:35):
And you know, it just sets you up for sadness instead of, uh, enjoying the, the simpleness of life. So, I mean, that’s, that’s a big one. So I mentioned sleep and then trying to manage this, uh, pension for hyper-connectivity. Whew. It’s tough. I mean, I talk about it on the podcast a lot. I do a whole show dedicated to it, and then I’m sitting down trying to write a book and my email window is still open and my inbox and you know, there’s research that when we see something fresh and novel in our environment, we get a dopamine hit. So when the text message dings and it’s sitting there, you’re going to reach for it. You know, I talked to this mindfulness expert, Dr Elisha Goldstein in LA on the show, and he was talking about how, um, you know, the ding. And, um, while he’s talking, I’m like forming this thought of how, how proud I am that I’ve turned off every single notification or ding on my phone. I just, I can’t deal, I just, you know, except for ringing phone. So text nothing, no update on the score of the game cause I don’t want to know cause I taped it, you know, none of them. And he goes, yeah, he goes, yeah. And those people that turn off all their notifications, he goes, that be really bad because they’re constantly reaching for it. Cause maybe someone texted them, you know, and I’m like, well shit dude, what you got me, you know. And I realized, um, well the stats are the average person reaches for their phone 150 times per day. I’m way above average then I am way above average. Yeah. And um, 84% of us reach for the phone first thing in the morning.
Brad (00:24:09):
Uh, this doctor, doctor, uh, I forgot her last name. She’s, you know, and behavior psychologists. And she says, once you reach for that phone, you’re putting your brain into reactive mode because you’re reacting to something rather than that peak performance state of, uh, uh, proactive, uh, mindful, uh, strategic, high level reasoning and planning, which is a great thing maybe to do at the start of your day. Like, what’s my to do list today? What are my priorities? Let’s see. But as soon as you grab that, you’re, you’re baking your brain in another direction. And she said, quote, it’s impossible to recover from reactive mode because it’s such a compelling pull. And then we’re down that road.
Brad (00:24:47):
So one of the things I do, it’s my, I got a video. It’s um, Brad Kearns morning routine and I’m doing my leg stretches and hamstring raises and core exercises. And I just make a point of doing that as soon as I wake up. So I had the video filming me on the ground next to my bed before I get up and go anywhere, do anything else, reach for my phone. I do this thing, I thought it was five minutes. I go, I do this five minute routine. Try, it’s only five minutes. And we filmed the whole thing and it was 12. Oh. I’m like, wow man, it’s 12 okay, so you want to start with five minutes, just do something. It could be the sun salute, you know, raise lower, compress, do this, do that. And that means that you’re in control of your life and it has a profound impact. Even if you think it’s silly. There was a bestselling book, Make Your Bed by the general and the army. He says, if you make your bed, just like you said, you do everything, how you do some things and um, I don’t know. I could, you could probably discount stuff like that. But if it’s, if it adds up and accumulate and you realize like with the dishes, yeah. What this guy does is he does two thirds of them and then he makes an excuse. And so how does that play out into all other areas of your life? It’s big. Yeah.
Mark (00:25:54):
Yeah. You know, when, when I get up in the morning, I, as many of you know, I have studied shamanism with Brant Secunda for actually 30 years now and uh, he has a foundation Dance at a Deer. I didn’t know was that old. Yeah. Amazing. Huh. So anyway, um, you know, I in the very first thing when I get out of bed are some of the, the we till practices, just, we chose the Indians and the native people there, they’re from central Mexico. They have a very rich spiritual tradition that is based in, in connecting with nature, connecting with community, learning to quiet your mind. And they have, they do beautiful ceremonies for all the seasons. They, they live a very traditional lifestyle. You know, for them, the, we chose, if you don’t live to be 80 or 90, they think you did something wrong, you know, and they have so many people who are 90, a hundred, a hundred years old. Brant’s a teacher. His grandfather Don Jose live to be 110 years old. And he was really good up until the last of Kaiser or a good plan. He had, he was connected to the source, you know, and that really kept him strong. He was a great, and also, anyway, so I just do these very simple practices that, like you said, they take five, 10, 15 minutes, however much time I put into it.
Mark (00:27:11):
And it feels like it just brings me into the day in a way that’s, it’s, it’s almost, um, that is, that is centering in the sense that when I do then go to my computer and my phone, I am reactive, but it’s, I’m a little, it’s like I’ve got a, uh, a little filter there, so, you know, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll look through stuff and I’ll take care of it and then I’ll go surf or I’ll go run or do something physical. And then that’s a second disconnect from the reactivity. Uh, but it’s interesting that, uh, that, you know, there’s a whole science behind it. It’s, I guess it’s kind of like how a lot of the stuff in my career came about. I just sort of stumbled into doing things a certain way. And now I’m seeing, you know, through science and everything that it was actually pretty smart, I guess. I dunno,
Brad (00:27:58):
you’re talking about your training or your racing career or.
Mark (00:28:00):
yeah, training, career racing, career and, and even something as simple like I do like you do in the morning to not become a reactive human from the first breath of life every day. It’s crazy.
Brad (00:28:13):
Uh, so, so back then, I mean we were, we were starting before the age of technology. Um, the heart rate monitor came in probably halfway through our careers before that there was, I don’t think anything, maybe a speedometer on the bike stopwatch, right. For the track. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So tell me about that. Like how, how did you adopt some of those early technologies? I know the heart rate was a huge thing for you and, and thankfully you shared with me how important that was. Remember when I cornered you in 1988 and, um, Desert Princess in the transition area. So I had been pushing my body so hard and training with my heart and soul and wanting so bad to cross that finish line as fast as possible. Maybe beg some winds and just be up there with the top guys. And I had another race where I was just behind what I expected to be and like I’m like near tears, you know, just wondering like I try so hard what’s going on? And I like got you into the corner where there was a fence and the flexi couldn’t leave. And I’m like, Mark, what the hell is going on? Like what do you do to, you know, to get to that next level? Cause I’m trying everything and I’m a good athlete and I’m, I’m willing to do whatever. And you said, slow the F down and get yourself a heart rate monitor and listen to this Maffetone guy.
Brad (00:29:27):
And you know, that’s the kind of thing where you turn the corner and realize like if you slow down you will actually go faster on the racecourse. You explained it very, very compellingly in that time and that, you know, that kind of Pigg says the same thing. It added five years to his career or something. And I feel like my breakthrough occurred when I just quit destroying my body with these high stress workouts thinking that was the path to success. But there’s a lot of balance there, right? I mean, um, how do you, how do you manage it all?
Mark (00:29:56):
You know,
Brad (00:29:57):
the secret to training, winning triathlon Mark out here, he goes, it’s going to take about two minutes. Okay. Yeah, it’s really simple. Just be smart.
Mark (00:30:04):
I mean, I mean human beings are the, are the best endurance athletes on the planet. You know, we can run farther at a steady pace at a quicker pace than any other other animal. I mean, look at you. If you look at the record for the Western States, 100 for people and then for horses, the people time is actually faster. I mean there might be some logistical reasons for that, but clearly we’re meant to just be slow and steady. However, we also have that physiology that that can go fast. Like to get out of the way of danger or to really utilize just every muscle in our body when we’re lifting and carrying, you know, loads of stuff. I mean, I, I’ve been down to the, the Veto village a number of times with Brant, and you know, here’s these people who are living a very traditional lifestyle. They don’t have all of the things that can get in the way of happiness. Right? They’re very happy. They’re very strong, physically strong people. Even though they’re small, they walk up and down their hillsides for growing their corn to get gather water at the Springs.
Mark (00:31:07):
They carry loads of wood for the fire that they cook on it, that that’s their ceremonial fire. So they’re always moving. They’re steadily moving, you know, they’re carrying heavy loads. So they’re working, their muscles are working their core. They, they have this absolutely incredible posture. You know, they, they wear flat sandals at best. You know, a lot of them just, you know, they don’t like that. They just want their feet on the ground. And, uh, so anyway, so everything that I tried it tried to do in my training and that I try to do now is to sort of mimic that natural rhythm of things. You know, doing most of my stuff fairly steady, not pushing myself too hard. Once in a while I will do something hard doing something that engages, you know, a lot of muscles all at one time, lifting something, getting enough sleep, uh, disconnecting because when I’m connected, it’s like you said, you get this dopamine response, your brain, it’s like, you know, social media is like crack for your brain. You know, you just want more and more and more and more and more
Brad (00:32:13):
simple as that. Drop the mic. Oh, sorry. Yeah, take a quick nap. Yeah. Oh, that’s work. No, the, the girl that won the, um, the big endurance race in, uh, Utah, like 140 mile championship ultra event and she’d killed everybody by hours. I forget her name. Um, but she won, uh, largely because she didn’t stop. She didn’t need to sleep. And her pacer. She reported after she took a one minute nap and she woke up and she felt like, she said, how long was I asleep? And the Pacers like one minute and she thought it was like, um, you know, she slept for an hour or something and then just kept going. She felt great. Wow. Yeah. I think if you’re sleep deprived, boy, that one minute or five minute or 20 minute, you take naps as well as your long evening sleep patterns.
Mark (00:32:58):
Oh yeah. I’m a, I’m the King of the NAB. I mean I can, I can just lay down, be in bed for maybe 20 minutes, maybe I’m asleep for five, 10 15 of that. But it’s just time to let my brain go like this. And then I have a like a real quick dream and then I’m awake and I’m like, yeah. second part of the day, let’s go. You know, dolphins, I think they have some weird thing where they can put half their brain to sleep and they sleep at like three or four seconds at a time. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Wow. They’re happy. Dolphins are happy. I’ve seen him out in the ocean [inaudible]
Brad (00:33:30):
they follow the go and follow the surfer and they’re very smart.
Mark (00:33:35):
Yeah. Yeah. And they’re way better on the waves than we are. Right, right. Amazing. No problem. So I’ve always wanted to ask you, you know, you have, you’ve really done a lot of amazing things in business, working with nutrition and working with diet, working with companies on their health, working now with your podcast that we are on today. Get Over Yourself podcast. Um, what are some of the things that, that you, what are those nuggets that you learned from racing that have really helped you become who you are, Brad Kearns in the world of business, in the world of health and fitness today? What are some of those things that just keep you on the, keep you on the map, keep you going, inspire you.
Brad (00:34:18):
Yeah. Um, you didn’t learn anything, basically forgot all that and had to just start over. Yeah. Uh, well I think you become so resilient from being in the athletic arena and the lessons of success and failure are so graphic and you know, uh, that was a huge compliment. You paid me at the start of the show cause you said we raced against each other and I think really we’ve raced in the same races but um, you know, I wasn’t there battling you too much. Colona one time we were in a pack on the run. That was fun. Yeah. I tried to hang. So when you are, you know, brought to uh, your knees and you know, forced to reckon with exactly who you are is the guy who got seventh place or the guy who got first place or whatever. Um, there’s no, there’s no like nuance or BS to it and then the corporate environment or anywhere else where you’re pitching something and you think this is the greatest book idea ever and nobody wants it and you get rejected or you make a mistake and you get you, you choose this job because it pays more than this one.
Brad (00:35:24):
That sounds, all those kinds of things are just so muddled. But when you step out of the athletic experience and go into the real world, I think we have a really strong sense of, uh, of self. Hopefully not an arrogance because if you’re, if you’re arrogant, that means that, um, you know, you’re disconnected from the reality that you know, just cause even if you won every single race and retired and no one ever beat you, it’s still just one little thing. And um, Laird Hamilton is a better surfer than you and so on down the line. So I had that humility I think that I came out with. And luckily for me, like you, you know, you retired on top and went out with a bang setting your fastest time right at your last Ironman and then you just, then you just walked.
Mark (00:36:07):
Well, the time was slow. It was a horrendous day. But it was, I think my best race because it was right. Have the guy, the most difficult one for me personally. But yeah,
Brad (00:36:16):
the guy was 13 minutes ahead and he just mowed them down. Reason why I didn’t quite exactly mom, but I did catch a gradual thing. That’s probably the only, I mean the only way to catch the one 13 minutes ahead is to go 30 seconds a mile and take it out of him. Right flew after him and took a minute at mile. Yeah. You blow. Yeah. So good for me was that I had some really good heights where I was racing really well and winning the races and doing everything I dreamed and then I was also getting my ass kicked. And so the, the getting the ass kicked kind of coincided with, with my decision to retire. So that worked out really well cause I didn’t have any unfinished business or notions that I was uh, Mr. Hot Shit that, you know, was immune to failure.
Brad (00:37:02):
And then if you have that, you know, resilience, then you go through life and real life’s tough. I mean, you know, I had to start over at age 30 when my peers had been going to, uh, you know, professional schools and getting advanced degrees and progressing with their careers and now I’m out bumming for a job. And so, um, it’s, I think that’s for anybody to have, um, you know, struggles and challenges and then have to start over and recalibrate. I think that’s what makes you, you know, that’s what makes life rich experience. Yeah. Yeah.
Mark (00:37:35):
You know, right before I retired, I, I was sponsored by Nike during my whole career and so of course Nike’s had a lot of world-class folks in their stable and I asked my, my, my main contact at Nike, I said, what’s, what’s the biggest thing you saw as a challenge for those people who were, you know, really good at this sport when they leave? And he said the single biggest challenge is that when they go from the top of the world into the next thing, they are never starting at the top. You’re going to start somewhere way down at the bottom. You’re going to be in the middle room, you know, you’re going to be in the basement, you’re going to be the box, the guy taping the box is not creating the, the nicotine and neck. It’s that go inside of it. And so I was mentally, I was personally, I felt like I was really prepared to just be okay. Whatever’s next, especially when I start out, I’m not going to be good at it. And so, and, but even with that, it was hard, you know, it was, it was really hard, not, not because I felt like I was owed being good. It’s just that I like to feel a certain proficiency, something, you know? And so it, it took, it also took me a number of years to kind of get my rhythm with my coach and get my rhythm with, with corporate speaking, get my rhythm with how do I stay connected with the sport actually that I was such a big part of for many years. And um, you know, it all, eventually it all kind of distilled back to, uh, you know, two things. I, I, I kind of tried to place sort of that vision of
Mark (00:39:04):
where do I want to go with this? Whether it’s my coaching or my speaking. That’s sort of like the goal part and that’s sort of a little more concrete. But the real thing that kept me going through all the years and even today is to ask myself, what is the purpose of this in my life? Why am I doing this? Why am I showing up at the office every day? You know, a goal and a purpose are two different things. So it’s like, I want to win the Ironman, but what’s, what am I trying to get out of those day to day experiences of swimming, biking, and running? What am I trying to hell? How am I, how can my life be enriched by coaching day after day after day or going and giving these talks over and over and over and over of what, what is it about me?
Mark (00:39:48):
And, and uh, you know, I just, I saw that it’s, it’s just a great way to just like you said, let go. Surrender. Don’t be a big shot. Every time you do something, just do it as innocent as a child, you know, and just say, okay, maybe today’s not the best day in the world, but let me see if I can get 100% out of this mediocre day. It’s like, okay, start up mediocre, but it got a little better than mediocre by the end. And that is, that’s like empowering, I dunno if it is for you, but you know those little small successes that nobody sees yeah, those are some of the greatest ones.
Brad (00:40:25):
Joe Rogan said a cure for depression is to find something you suck at and try to get better. Yeah. And I think, um, those, those challenges, I was really impressed how you took on this speaking challenge cause it’s so difficult. I don’t know if I saw you speak, Oh, I saw you speak when you were an athlete, which is, you know, a different realm than when you, you really got, uh, into that, into that focus and prepared a, a corporate type of message to, to go out there and hit the street and you know, you’re, you’re a great victories on the race course had no relevance or preparation for that. It was just like, you know, you weren’t up there showing highlights of how far ahead you were off the bike. It was like a whole other realm that you had to start from scratch really.
Brad (00:41:10):
And then be able to leverage, you know, I mean, you had some story to tell, so I think it, you know, it made a bigger contribution then the guy who crosses the line takes the home the first place check and goes home and then goes and trains for another race. You know, in many ways that triathlon is a pretty selfish sport because it’s so time consuming and it’s an individual sport. It’s not a team sport. And so, you know, what do you do with that? It’s like was that was a positive direction, I think same with coaching, right?
Mark (00:41:36):
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You know, Get Over Yourself. Podcasts, you’ve had a lot of cool people on who, who, who’ve been some of your favorites aside for, you know, uh,
Brad (00:41:46):
Just kidding. Yeah. So far, Mark Allen and Dave Scott that just aired, uh, just before we’re recording this one.
Brad (00:41:53):
And that was cool because, uh, like I said, off camera, like in real time when you guys were racers, when I was a racer with you at the same time, it was just, um, there wasn’t a lot of nuance. We didn’t really understand deeply what you were all about or what was going on. The challenge is going through your mind. It was just like, what’s this guy’s time going to be? Is he going to win again or is it going to come second? And um, same with Dave. Like he shared a lot of personal things where, you know, he said quote “basket case” during his racing career. And it’s like, wait a second, Dave Scott said he was a basket case during his racing career. He was, his nickname was the man, the man was a basket case. That doesn’t make sense to me, you know, but to be vulnerable, okay it’s 30 years later, it’s time to dust off the dust off the man and see what’s really underneath that.
Brad (00:42:39):
That’s cool. And so that was a, that was a great show and I think, I think zag Marino for setting that up. But um, you know, now you can connect with all the current racers and people that are interested at a much deeper level. And um, so those kinds of things is what’s great about podcasts. Cause in the old days, an important person would go on the Today Show and here’s Michael Phillips. Just want a bunch of gold medals, not like Michael Phelps is struggling with alcohol addiction and he was in rehab and reevaluating his whole life and his relationship with his coach and his, you know, it’s just like, how was it? Well it’s freaking awesome, man. 23 world records, I can’t even believe it. And that’s always done then. Then the segment’s over, it’s gone. That was our whole life until the internet started to explode. And you can start to, you know, read and get to know these people.
Brad (00:43:25):
So especially with podcasting where you know, you’re trying to take it in a different direction, digging a little deeper. And for me, like the privilege is just sitting with my guests and I, I, I forced this in at gunpoint to sit down for one of the early shows and I said, Oh, by the way, this is going to be the ultimate Mark Sisson interview. Don’t know Mark Sisson. He is my longtime sidekick and leader of the primal paleo movement. And, um, he’s talked, you can probably find him on 300 podcasts talking about don’t eat grains, don’t eat sugar, uh, get more sleep. But we sat down and we went through his childhood and his entrepreneurial journey and all the fits and starts and you know, got to know him in a way that no one ever had before at any other podcast where he’s hitting his talking points.
Brad (00:44:08):
So that was cool. And then this guy John Gray, the number one bestselling relationship author of all time Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. He wrote that 26 years ago and he’s had a run of more relationship advice than anyone ever. And he graciously gave his time to, you know, a a nobody like me. I hit him up with an impassioned plea and he’s like, sure, yeah, let’s talk. So I got this guy on Skype and like he has a windup key on the back and I just wound this guy up and he was awesome. And he gave these insights that are just life changing when it comes to like how to be in a partnership and the hormonal underpinnings behind relationship dynamics. So the male is like biologically wired to be a certain way. Male wants to solve problems, be the hero, take care of everything, uh, you know, be strong and uh, and cool under pressure and the females wired for love, connection, nurturing, all these different things.
Brad (00:45:01):
And now the roles are all blended together and we want the males to be honest and vulnerable and sensitive. And we want the female to go kick ass in the workplace and then come home and beat nurturing and all these things. And so relationships are blown up accordingly per his theory. And so he gave these, uh, I’ll, I’ll keep it short, but he, like, he gave the assignment to today’s male and today’s female in a relationship and for the mail. She’s like, we don’t need your soft, sensitive, you know, spewing bitchy boy commentary. He goes, if you got a negative emotional charge, shut the F up and go off and do testosterone boosting activities. Cause when you’re feeling cranky, emotional and out of sorts, that’s your sign of depleted testosterone, depleted male essence. You need to go catch some fricking waves and come back to the house feeling calm and chill or watch the Raiders on TV or tinker with your motorcycle, whatever it is, but don’t engage with the female saying, well my feelings were hurt at the party when you and Darren were over there for so long.
Brad (00:46:01):
He goes, that will kill a relationship. But we’ve been socialized differently. Like there’s a lot of voices out there saying like, speak your tooth, share your feelings. But this guy’s point made so much sense to me because it’s you never feel better. Maybe, I don’t know. Some guys do, but you don’t feel better when you like break it down and get emotional and get down draining conversations. You just have to be, he wants the male to be the Bruce Lee in the story. The Kung Fu master where you just, your emotions are level. You’re taking control. The female, the males primary biological drive is to protect the female from danger dating back to ancient times. And he goes, the number one danger for the female today is the male’s anger. Not that, not the saber tooth cat. Yeah. And so you sit back and you’re like, wow, yeah.
Brad (00:46:47):
And um, then he’s describing, you know, the ideal female role in the relationship. And like at the end of the show, I, I was just overcome. Like he, he’d cracked at one point, cause you know, he’s talking about, so the female and the male, you know, a lot of these arguments can end well in the bedroom and he’s going on and then he, and he starts like cracking. And I’m like, I’m watching them on the Skype camera. I’m like, you okay? He goes, you know, some of this stuff’s hard to talk about cause I lost my wife Bonnie to cancer 33 years and last year. So it’s pretty tough. Ask me a different question. I’m like, well, John has you say in the household chores, you know, uh, but to, to hear this guy who’s been America’s relationship expert and if you read his books, there’s always the theme like Bonnie, I this and Bonnie and I that and now you know, she’s gone and I have this wonderful partner, Mia Moore is her nickname.
Brad (00:47:35):
She’s on my show. There’s a few shows of that. And like, uh, I was so taken by the interview, I proposed to her the next night at the airport baggage claim because I think he was describing the ideal female partner. And I’m like, wow, you know, what am I waiting for? It was great. So that was one of my favorite shows. Oh, we forgot the female assignment. Yeah.
Mark (00:47:53):
What was it?
Brad (00:47:54):
The female assignment is to never express anything as a complaint because even the most minor complaint or nitpicking like, Hey, done with this, you want me to wash it? You know, even then my most minor thing will drain the male of his desire to be the hero in the story. And so you can go do the gardening and landscaping for three hours and work your butt off and then come in and leave a dirty plate and the female goes, so you’re gonna put that plate in the dishwasher and it’ll like deplete all the significance of you trying to be the hero and get credit for the other thing. So if the female expresses everything as a preference, that is your key to getting this guy willing to do anything, to be the hero in the story. It was like, Oh my God, I love when you couldn’t have the kitchen you rocked. It’s perfect. Thank you so much. It’s the best feeling in the morning when you clean up at night, that guy’s like, sure. Anytime, you know, and then you, you go down that path instead of the constant conflict that we’re so familiar with. Yeah.
Mark (00:48:53):
Yeah. You know, Brant has often said to me that, um, uh, there’s a Holy man, he who has passed Sai Baba and he said that marriage is the most difficult spiritual path of all. Wow. You know, it’s kind of Holy man says that. Yeah. It’s kind of an interesting, interesting concept. You know, that relationships, I’ll, I’ll have to watch that when I’ve, or listen to that one that I just listened to. The one he did with Scott Zagarino. Uh, actually a couple of nights ago. Great stuff. I mean I just love how you take whatever you know, core concept that you’re, you know, this person is good at and what they’re talking about and what they want and you’re interested in finding out. But then you end up in all these other different areas that are really about about life and how, and eventually everything gets pulled full circle.
Mark (00:49:37):
I mean, Scott Zagarino was somebody that, he was in the sport for many years. He’s my business partner in coaching Mark Allen coaching.
Brad (00:49:44):
We raced together with him.
Mark (00:49:46):
Yeah, you were awesome, Zag, and he actually, he’s the one who got Dave and I together to really share our stories of the 1989 race. It’s the 30 year anniversary this year. Um, as, as you know, as you highlighted on the podcast, we wrote, uh, 10 stories, 1989, Thestory.com is where you can see them. And it’s really both of us, like you said, just dusting off the armor and just, you know, bearing it, you know, bearing it all and showing, you know, telling it what it took for us to get there that year and what the challenges that we had. I mean, we have real lives, you know, we have challenges.
Brad (00:50:26):
We pray too many trail.
Mark (00:50:28):
You know, people think, Oh, we just programmed in these training sessions and we showed up and we just kicked ass. And you know, we, we both had amazing moments in training. We’ve had both had times where we completely struggled and it’s like, can I do this? Do I want to keep going? Is it worth it? You know, and really struggling with not only ourselves, but our relationship with sports, how sports fit into life, you know, all of those things. And, and that’s, you know, that the canvas is sport for Dave and I in 1989. But it’s, it’s the same for anybody. Whether it’s their work that’s giving them the challenge or something in their personal life, you know, the, we all have to deal with those kinds of things. Nobody gets a hall pass from birth to death. Right. You know what I mean? And so anyway, I love the, uh, cause you guys really hit some amazing points and I’m gonna actually go back and listen to it because both you and Scott gave a couple of just absolute nugget quotes and it’s like, ah, Oh my God, I’m going to write them down and I’ll send them to you and you can clean it up.
Mark (00:51:29):
But anyway, that, that was a great one. He has so many great podcasts. Get Over Yourself. Podcast, Brad Kearns, which he might share something here. I think he records it in his closet. I’m not sure. So maybe it should be the Brad Kearns closet podcast.
Brad (00:51:46):
closet. Slash. Studio.
Mark (00:51:47):
It’s awesome. You know, this shed that we’re in here, it’s, it’s a tiny little thing. It’s almost a record breaking heat day here in Santa Cruz. So we actually have the door open because otherwise we would look like we’re in a sauna and we, you know, we have so much makeup on, we want to look pretty good throughout the whole thing. So anyway, I am, this has been amazing Brad. Thank you.
Brad (00:52:09):
Fun stuff.
Mark (00:52:11):
Yeah. What’s next?
Brad (00:52:14):
Uh, trying to break the world record in speed golf. Uh, and I broke it in 2018 they have a special record for the fastest single hole golf ever played. So it’s an offshoot of the sport where you’re playing a tournament, you’re playing 18 holes, you’re keeping score. So this is like who can do a par five, has to be 500 yards. It can’t be some little hole, so minimum 500 yards, uh, and it doesn’t matter even your score, it’s just how can, how fast can you get in the hole? And I was just playing around YouTube one day and this dude in England had the Guinness world record for the fastest hole in golf. And I watched it. I’m like, this is awesome. Look at this guy and his family and like dog piled him on the green. It’s like this viral video, you can find it Steve Jeff’s setting the world record and so, um, you know, I went out the next night on the golf course and I’m like, you know, I can sprint.
Brad (00:53:00):
I still sprint, that’s my main, you know, athletic outlet and, and golf. So I’m like, I can, I can bust this up right now. So I started my watch and I ran pretty hard and played a really good hole and I looked at my watch and I was 22 seconds, slow it, his record was one 50 and I did it to 12 when I tried it. And so I realized that it was a really respectable performance and I emailed him and he was super nice. I’m like, are you like an Olympic sprinter? Like how did you do that hole that fast? I just went, it went forward and I was way behind. He goes, I practice that whole at least a thousand times. And I knew where to hit each shot. And I knew the green and where to put my ball. So I’d have an easy putt instead of a hard putt.
Brad (00:53:40):
He goes, good luck to you mate. You know? And so I applied as this rigorous process with Guinness. They’re super stuffy and you have to do this and you have a 15 week approval period before you’re allowed to try. And so I finally got the note like, Hey, go for it. Good luck. And I’d been practicing and practicing and practicing. And so the journey was so fun because it brought me back into that, you know, that high intensity period of our lives where you’re just, you know, dedicated. It wasn’t like I was spending all day on it, so it was a beautiful fit into my normal everyday life of a 50 plus dude. But I still had something that was burning that, that fire in me, that I had a chance to break the Guinness world record. So, um, you know, it was a great experience.
Brad (00:54:19):
I broke it. I had like what I consider to be a perfect hole, why I used the three would only, so I didn’t have a bag. So that save me a lot of time and I just taught myself to play every shot with a three wood, including putting, including chipping, which is really tough. Took months of practice and I got a birdie on this hole, I just hit four perfect shots. Stop the clock. It was a minute 38. So I busted the record and you know, I’m making a big deal of it, of course, as much as I can. Now some guy on the European PGA tour broken. He, you know, I hit the ball three miles and did, did, did. And so now I have, now I have a goal to go reclaim that record, but I think that uh, he broke it by, uh, eight seconds or something.
Brad (00:54:59):
Yeah. But I think, um, if I find a nice downhill hole, I mean, I noticed this whole like how did he do that fast? And so I studied the video and the splits. I mean, I’m breaking this thing down and I’m like, Hmm. So he hit his drive three 35 which is really good, you know, like the best in the world. And then the next shot, you know, so I’m going to find the perfect hole. Perfect day. But I think the reason I mentioned it is like it just, it’s you gotta have something to do in life. You know, you’re going to go out and charge the big waves this winter. And it’s an important thing cause it’s not falling out there. It’s not the wave park in, in Tucson and Santa Cruz steamer, lane, cold, dangerous sport. But it gives you, brings you to, you know, all of your peak performance senses.
Brad (00:55:46):
And if you, if you don’t keep doing that through life, which I think is a big thing that we see today is dudes watching the NFL for nine hours every weekend. And you know, talking stories about how they were back in the day like us, which we just did for an hour. So if every, if my message can be like go find something that’s cool to do and it can be silly, it doesn’t matter. And I didn’t have a huge check when I broke the record. I got a, I got a kiss from Mia Moore and my mom was cheering and my cousin and my son and my best friends from childhood. It was a great day. There’s a YouTube video of it. Uh, but just something that gets you going and it means a lot to you. I think that’s one of the secrets to life.
Brad (00:56:24):
And then going back to that first question, like what do you take away from that racing thing is it was pretty fantastic to be on the, on the starting line of something that intense. And I want to just recapture that in little ways for forever. You know, my dad was a golfer until he was, uh, at the very end of his life. He was shooting in the 70s when he was 93. 92. We shot a 76 at age 92. He was the best golfer in the world over 90. And um, he ended in uh, uh, may of this year. He made it 97 years, had a great life, no pain, no suffering, peak performer all the way to the very end and then a nice quick decline and it’s over. And so to like model something like that where I remember when he was about to quit because he was getting tired, he was sleeping all day, he was old man. He was 95 and he played around the last round every played with them and he shot a 43, which if you don’t know golf for nine holes, it’s pretty freaking good. It’s in the top two percentile of America to shoot, you know, in the 80s. And he’s driving home and he’s like,
Brad (00:57:24):
I have no damn good anymore. I’m going to quit the damn game. And I’m like, yeah, you shot a 40, you know, you’re shooting bogeys on a golf course at this age. I go, that’s absolutely fantastic. But to him he was so, you know, it’s such high standards and such competitiveness, a quiet competitive, this like you went on triathlon scene and you weren’t out there blabbing like some people at the press conference. But, um, it was neat to see that, you know, it’s okay to have that intensity and have that little flame and you know, he’s, he’s, he wanted to shoot better than that.
Mark (00:57:56):
That’s pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I, when I thought the whole speed golf thing, I thought it was like random. Now it makes sense dad, the frigging best over 90 year old. Oh my gosh, that’s, that’s a great story. You know, I, I, I also hope that there’s always something that sparks me to do something that just completely engages every aspect of me physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. You know, those, I think those moments are really what the help your whole life gel into these small pockets that really are, are rich. Whether whether you end up with the result you want or not, to just get into that zone where everything that you are, is required to be in it is really, it’s a cool thing and it’s, it gives you that experience that you’re never going to get if you’re just hanging on the couch, drinking another cold and watching them guys bash each other up.
Brad (00:58:51):
And it’s easy. Now, I mean, what’s so bombarded with entertainment options to be a spectator in life instead of go do something. It’s like you gotta like make plans and book it. I’m going to go surf this morning. Otherwise seven weeks go by and you haven’t been in. Yeah.
Mark (00:59:08):
So we would like to dedicate this podcast to being a participant. Okay for you. We want you to be a participant. Uh, look to all of Brad’s. Get Over Yourself podcast. He’s, he’s got a book in the works, a lot of great stuff coming up. If you want to engage me in anything that will help you be a participant. Mark Allen, coaching.com for triathlon training, a fit soul fit body where you can see information about workshops that Brant [inaudible] and I teach together where we talk about the nine keys to a healthier, happier you. If you’re interested in his workshops specifically that are more, you know, real, real deep intensive into shamanism, you can go to shamanism.com go to upcoming programs and see all the great programs that he does all over the world throughout the year. I just want to say thank you man. I’m shaking the hand, I’m shaking the hand of the next guy’s going to be the fastest speed golfer on this planet and you’re going to see it in Guinness Book of World Records. Yeah, from the Shed piece out.
Brad (01:00:12):
Thank you for listening to the show. We would love your feedback at getoveryourselfpodcast@gmail.com and we would also love if you could leave a rating and a review on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. I know it’s a hassle. You have to go to desktop, iTunes, click on the tab that says ratings and reviews, and then click to rate the show anywhere from five to five stars. And it really helps spread the word so more people can find the show and get over themselves cause they need to. Thanks for doing it.
