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Rodrigo Gomez Ruiz on his pursuit of the marathon, how he finds himself through running, connecting through the community and the power of family
214 Plays2 years ago
The thing I love most about sport, other than the actual sport itself, is the opportunity to connect with like minded people who share the same passion. Connecting at races, practices or even community events, where acquaintances can become life long friendships.
On today’s episode of Just In Stride I touched base with marathoner, Rodrigo Gomez Ruiz.
Rodrigo found track and field at a young age but only started running later on. For him it was a way to cope with loss in his life. Then, through his local community, he found the confidence to train for and tackle big goals, such as the Boston Marathon. But what is most apparent, is his passion for the sport, how profoundly it has impacted his personal growth and his openness to learning something new with each stride he takes.
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Thanks for tuning in to the Just In Stride Podcast. I truly appreciate you taking the time to listen and I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. Please take a minute after this to rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts. With your feedback we’ll be able to make the show even better and it’ll help us reach new listeners too. You can also find us on Instagram @justinstridepod and YouTube @justinstridepod for all the latest episodes and updates. Glad you came along for the ride with Just In Stride!
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Host's Experience
00:00:06
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Justin's Drive podcast. I'm your host, Justin Puleze. If you love endurance sports, you've definitely come to the right place. On this show, we'll talk to athletes, coaches, and professionals who can help us reach our true potential. Being a student of distance running for over 10 years and interviewing people in the sport for the last five, I've learned a ton, but there's always more to discover. Everyone has a story, and I know you'll resonate with each of our guests as we embark on this new journey together.
00:00:36
Speaker
Join us at home, on the road, or while you run. Together, we'll have some fun.
Social Media and Sponsorship Notes
00:00:42
Speaker
So follow along on Instagram at justinstridepod and your favorite podcast platform and prepare to be inspired. Come along for the ride with Justin Stride.
00:00:53
Speaker
This episode is presented by our friends at Exact Nutrition, a tasty and healthy way for you to fuel your body before, during, and after a solid training session. I can't leave the house without a few fruit bars in my pocket and they never make it back home. Exact is offering you 50% off your order when you use the code justinstride. So head to exactnutrition.com and fuel your goals today.
00:01:17
Speaker
The thing I love most about sport other than the actual sport itself is the opportunity to connect with like-minded people who share the same passion. Connecting at races, practices, or even community events where acquaintances can become lifelong friendships.
Rodrigo's Running Journey and Personal Growth
00:01:32
Speaker
On today's episode of Justin Stride, I touch base with marathoner Rodrigo Gomez Ruiz. Rodrigo found track and field at a young age, but only started running later on. For him, it was a way to cope with loss in his life. Then, through his local community, he found the confidence to train for and tackle big goals, such as the Boston Marathon.
00:01:54
Speaker
But what is most apparent is his passion for the sport, how profoundly it has impacted his personal growth and his openness to learning something new with each stride he takes. Rodrigo, welcome to Just In Stride podcast. Hola, Cristino. How are you? It's great to be with you, my friend. It's always a privilege to be with you and thank you for having me. Yeah, no, I mean, we're connected to our coach, which is kind of funny, but
00:02:24
Speaker
got to meet in Berlin last year. Amongst the crowd of people, we somehow found each other in this mess in the sea of everyone trying to get to the bathrooms, trying to find the start, trying to do the backdrop, all that stuff. But that was pretty funny and got a good photo out of it too before the race started. Yeah. Yeah.
00:02:51
Speaker
Well, I believe I'm getting older, my friend. So it's like in those things that were meant to be, you know, which were the odds, as you were mentioning? We were talking about 30,000 people. You're walking around in the livestock garden, you know, it's humongous, and all of a sudden you go just... And it was like, you know, like we always...
00:03:15
Speaker
I don't know, like we were friends for a long time. So no, it's, it's, it's great to have a connection with people like you and more in that
Race Day Experiences and Cultural Interactions
00:03:24
Speaker
sense. I don't know that when it feels really natural, I don't know how to say it. Yeah. And I find, you know, we don't live in the same place at all. Well, now we live even further apart, but, uh, at the time I was in Canada and then you were in Mexico, of course, and connected to our coach John Lofrenco, which is pretty awesome. And, uh,
00:03:44
Speaker
You know, John's really good at that too. I like that he does that. He'll, he'll shoot me a message too. And he'll say so-and-so is running a race near where you are now and wanted to go check it out and, or connect with this person. And I always appreciate that. And now John is this person, which I believe is, uh, as you mentioned, a connector, but also.
00:04:09
Speaker
such a leader. I don't know how to say. He tells you what is best to you, even though he's not like 24 seven on you. I don't know if I'm making software. He's, he's, he's, hi, hi, John. He's a great person. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So did you feel like, you know, we both had our own race days that day and, um, you know, we traveled quite a ways to get there and.
00:04:38
Speaker
How was that experience for you? Was it everything that you expected and that you hoped? Well, it's been a while. It's been almost a year. For me, Berlin Marathon was such a great place to be. I don't know. Whenever you travel to a different country, obviously you get the contrast of being there, especially in a different continent.
00:05:07
Speaker
And there's always these myths about the locals, where you come, these stereotypes, let's say it that way. And it's always the German stereotype. That's the first one. Germans are so cold, you know, people that do not have feelings and blah blah. And my first impression was all the country. Germans are so warm. So when I arrived to Berlin, it was amazing how I was welcomed.
00:05:37
Speaker
We flew through Amsterdam and then we took a train from Amsterdam to Berlin. And since then, I was in this cabin with a lot of Germans, right? And we were chatting about the marathon, about Germany, about a lot of stuff. And it was like, who think these people are cold, you know? And I'm talking not,
00:06:03
Speaker
young people ask me, I'm 43, right? No, these persons were a 50 something, 60 something entrepreneurs or retired people who were so warm. So since then is when you start
00:06:22
Speaker
to realize that you are being welcomed to, that you're in the place you're supposed to be. So it started for me like that. So then we arrived to Berlin. It was my wife's first time in Berlin, so she was amazed. And then the race day, the previous race day, I don't know how was it for you, but for me, it was
00:06:47
Speaker
the calm before the storm. It has been the only marathon that I was really calm. Well, yeah, really calm before running the next day. I was really confident.
00:07:03
Speaker
of what I was supposed to do, right? I also have therapy, I have to tell you, my day before, I have this amazing coach, she's an Argentinian girl, and she is a psychologist, sorry, specialized in sports.
Mindset and Strategy for Marathon Success
00:07:24
Speaker
So, you know,
00:07:27
Speaker
We have, obviously because we are from different backgrounds in Latin America, we have different mindset. And we normally have this mindset of taking care instead of going for it. We don't want to lose what we already got.
00:07:44
Speaker
Well, at least in my case, I realized that I did not want it to lose whatever I had before, because what I had before was a sub 3 in New York. And everybody's like, wow, you did sub 3 in New York. And I was like, yes. And I was nervous of not achieving another thing like that in Berlin. And she was telling me, dude, stop focusing on not losing that sub 3.
00:08:13
Speaker
get your attention on going for that software here. Win it. That changed it. And that was, till now I can tell you Berlin has been for me a marathon in every sense that I enjoyed since the beginning. And you know, Berlin is such an amazing city.
00:08:41
Speaker
Such an amazing city. And you got time to enjoy the city before the marathon too? Did you show up to count? No, after. After, no, no, no. I learned it, you know, the first times that you, well, for instance, my first major was Chicago.
00:08:59
Speaker
And when I went to Chicago, I made the mistake of arriving before and trying to do the tour. Obviously it was, it was, it was a good race. It was a three or four, but in Chicago, my main mistake was that that I walked along to a lot and that touring, I.
00:09:23
Speaker
which obviously had something to do with my development. So in the case of Berlin, I realized that I had to arrive just with enough time for letting the jet lag to pass. Because we are in that continent, right? You are European right now.
00:09:46
Speaker
But no, we have to get used with this jet lag thing, right? At least you have to give it two days. And after the jet lag, you are ready, you know? So I arrived three days before, two days before, I believe.
00:10:04
Speaker
and then run and then spend some time in that, in your new continent. Okay. Nice. Yeah. And I know now jet lag better than I ever have. Cause I've done a few back and forth across the ocean now and in short periods of time, but it takes me a good like three, four days to kind of like find my bearings again. You're just so tired and you're like, why am I telling you? Like, of course it's the jet lag, but it's like, you want to get back to normal life, but it just doesn't happen that way.
00:10:32
Speaker
Well, in that sense, I have to tell you, I have an advantage. The French renew. I am a father. So the kids don't let you sleep. Yeah. So I like, I have this advantage, you know, like, like I can't deal with it better than you, my friend. But no, speaking, speaking frantic is horrible, just like it's horrible. Um, so you mentioned the calmness that came over you, like obviously through your sports, uh, therapy, but what went well in your build that would, uh,
00:11:02
Speaker
maybe made you believe that you were so well prepared for that race? I just realized it until I was when we were in the corrals. That is when I just realized it. Well, I believe that we, every human being, when it gets to the time that he or she has to
00:11:32
Speaker
to do whatever they've been preparing for, they are nervous, even though you are, I don't know, Michael Jordan or whoever. But it's until you're there that you realize that yes, you're ready for it. And it will be funny, but I realized that I was very well prepared for this marathon because
00:12:02
Speaker
I stopped for peeing. Not really. I have this thing that every marathon in the first 5K, I have to stop to pee. It's like this psychological thing that I have. So when I made my stop, I check on my arm and I was on time. So I was like, oh, this will not affect me that much.
00:12:27
Speaker
You know? And then I've been doing this checkup every 16 kilometers. And it was the first time I used this strategy. So in Berlin, what I say is I divided the racing to three blocks. The first one 16, the next one 16, and then it's only a 10K race. After the first 16, when I realized like, well, it has been 16 and I'm doing great. Wow. That's when I realized this is going to be good.
00:12:58
Speaker
And then say the final K, the final 2K were obviously, yeah, you're totally broken. I did not feel this faintness, you know? It's like I had enough power.
00:13:18
Speaker
to close the race. Yeah. How many have
Family Involvement and Iconic Marathon Events
00:13:24
Speaker
you done now? Like how many world majors and how many marathons have you? Well, I've been doing, I have done six marathons and I have done five majors. But the majors that I've done is I've done Boston twice. Actually my last marathon was this year's Boston. Um,
00:13:46
Speaker
Well, we can talk about Boston. You know, that's the right episode. But yeah, I've been doing five majors. I have the goal of doing the six stars at least three times. That's my personal goal. Why? Because it gives you the, well, obviously because they're amazing, but also the majors, what they have is that it's this chance to travel all around the world into amazing places, right?
00:14:18
Speaker
But I'm pretty sure that you have run marathons that are not the majors and you can always tell. Yeah, I know. I have not been there. But I'm pretty sure it's not a major. I don't know how to say it. The major is the major and actually this Boston.
00:14:39
Speaker
was the first time I decided to take my whole family because normally my wife comes with me, you know, it's like her price also because without her support, I will not be there. But this time I decided to take the whole family to Boston. So why Boston? Because it was Kipchoge's first Boston, right? It's Boston. So I wanted my kids to see
00:15:05
Speaker
this iconic race to be happening around them and to realize what running means. Imagine that your first contact with a marathon race is Boston. I believe it has an impact. But even though it was not Boston, say it was London, it was Berlin, whichever major,
00:15:28
Speaker
I think that they will have this experience that it will be amazing for them. That you're running in this race where everybody who is there has been training a lot to be there, right? Because this is what happens in any major, especially in Boston, but in any major, whoever is running a major,
00:15:53
Speaker
he or she realizes that it implies a lot of effort, it implies a lot of resources, it implies a lot of work. And well, the only race that I have run that is not a major is Mexico City's, but it's another story. I play as local, I believe you have to run your own town marathon. Right.
00:16:16
Speaker
Yeah, I ran Zurich this year. So that's my new. Oh, yeah. Well, how was it? It was fun. Yeah, it was good. Perfect weather conditions were good. Similar experience, like similar performance to Berlin, I'd say. Uh-huh. But yeah. Altimetry. Sorry? Altimetry. How was it? Is it flat? Yeah, pretty flat. Yeah, pretty flat here. So, um, yeah, it was a good day, you know, and, uh,
00:16:46
Speaker
Yeah, it was, it was fun to be amongst the people. I mean, uh, funny short story, but the backdrop was like a kilometer past the start line. And, uh, and I didn't know where it was. I assumed it would be close or we'd have somewhere we could drop and they bring them somewhere, but I had to run. I showed up because I lived so close to the start. I just, you know, we showed up, you know, not, not long before, maybe 20 minutes before, but.
00:17:15
Speaker
By the time I figured it all out, my corral had already left. So I took off in like group, you know, they, I think it was ABC, you know, and so on and so forth. But I took off in like group D or something like that. So the first like 5k was just going through the zoo. Yeah. And I had already ran like two fast kilometers, like leading to the start. So.
00:17:44
Speaker
It is what it is, but you know, serves me right for showing up last minute, but it was quite far. So yeah, you have to, you kind of had to run it. Um, because it was not, not close by, but no, it was fun to experience a different culture and race, uh, overseas, you know, and, um, you know, kind of see a bit more of what I've already been discovering around here. So yeah.
00:18:10
Speaker
I see your point. But anyways, the thing is that whenever you run a major, I always say this to people when they ask me, you run and I say, yes, what do you run in marathon?
Personal Insights and Childhood Influences
00:18:25
Speaker
I hope that every human being, I don't know if, I understand that it's impossible that every human being run a marathon, but what I hope is that everybody have the same level of experience in whichever sport, it doesn't have to be run, but in whichever sport they are practicing, that they have the same level of experience in terms of being in touch with yourself, that we experience every time that we're in marathons.
00:18:54
Speaker
That's the biggest gift in our sport. Yeah. Connecting with that, that feeling. And, uh, I mean, the process of going through the training block and everything and, um, the race itself is always, you know, it's always a challenge. Like I've ran over, I think over 10 now. Um, and it's just never the same. It just, sometimes you feel you're so well prepared and.
00:19:22
Speaker
It goes not as planned. And sometimes you're not as well prepared and it goes amazing. So it's, uh, it's really like that. And you really know, marathons alike. And do you think you're, you think you're, cause you said you brought your kids to Boston and like, I mean, for an adult, it's, uh, it's a, it's a playground. It's, uh, you don't recognize Boston as a city. Um, when you're there for race weekend, cause I actually went back when it wasn't
00:19:51
Speaker
of Austin Marathon for the first time. And I was kind of shocked. I didn't recognize the city at all because there wasn't any runners around. There wasn't any pop-ups or tents and stuff. It's crazy that the streets are bare. But do you think your kids are of age where they could really grasp that? And do you think it connects them also to what their dad is trying to accomplish?
00:20:18
Speaker
Well, it's funny. If I go to my own experience, and I don't know if it's with you also, but when I try to recall my youth, you know, like being two years old, that is the case of Elias, which is my youngest, or five years old, which is Maximilianos, which is my oldest, my recall of that period is almost none.
00:20:44
Speaker
in terms of memory. I do not have the clear memory of that, but I do have the clear feeling of that. So what my wife and I have been trying to do with the kids is we totally comprehend that we are not creating the memory in terms of
00:21:04
Speaker
I recall being in, because then we went to Montreal after, after Boston Marathon, right? So let's say we went, we went to Diodom or to Parcomella, Siparcomella. Oh, you went there, yeah. Okay. Yeah, no, no, no. Your other town is, wow. Anyways, perhaps they don't recall exactly when they saw the moose or the wolves or whatever, you know?
00:21:34
Speaker
But they do have this feeling of being there. And that's, I believe, the most important thing, or that's, I believe the things how you learn the most, right? So what I, what I believe is that, or what I was seeking is to give them this experience.
00:21:54
Speaker
of feeling the adrenaline that was flowing all the way around in Boston. Because, well, in Boston, I don't know if you have heard of them. I believe you, well, I'm pretty sure you have, the heartbreakers.
00:22:11
Speaker
I am friendly with founders with Dan Fitzgerald and Justin. I always, sorry, Justin, I forgot. It's okay. The other Justin, the other, well, the other founder, sorry, I forgot his name. We'll call them Dan and Justin. Exactly. And them, they have obviously their store at the heartbreak hill, so they hosted my family there.
00:22:39
Speaker
So imagine being there in this super important hub where this energy happens, where they are local. So every, at least every, say five minutes, a heartbreaker must pass through. So imagine the energy of the, of the cheering group, you know? So imagine that you're this kid.
00:23:01
Speaker
standing there and seeing people cheering up for someone who's running and then all of a sudden comes to your dad and makes you stop and gives you a kiss and a hug and then he goes I hope that I made an impression of them for good I hope that I made them realize and maybe not through running I obviously would love them to run but
00:23:27
Speaker
but more to get in touch with achieving what they are seeking, to get in touch with being themselves. Again, that's the biggest thing that we have here in running. We get in touch with ourselves in every training, in every small run, in every long run, in every mini jog, in after runs, you know,
00:23:54
Speaker
You know, I'm part of this team, great team, amazing team in Mexico that's called Dromo. Every time that we come in, after training, say a recovery run, but we gather together, everything that is involved in running, at least for me, makes me more Rodrigo. And I wanted to transmit them that, to be in touch with the possibility
00:24:24
Speaker
of always coming back to what they are already, because when you're a kid, you are, right? Maximiliano is Maximiliano. He doesn't give up about anybody else, right? He doesn't care who thinks what of him. You know, he wears this dinosaur shirt, like
00:24:47
Speaker
10 days in a row and he doesn't care if it's spotted with pizza sauce, you know, he just do it. But in our case, we don't. For instance, that's why I'm wearing my Metallica shirt. Elias loves Metallica. Imagine a two-year-old boy who loves Metallica. Actually, he just got his drums. He plays Metallica.
00:25:10
Speaker
What I try to transmit them is to always return to that state in where they are and which in sometimes me as an adult get lost because of living the normal life, because of being part of this world where I supposed to do blah. We're working problems out there. We're dealing with other adults there also, you know?
00:25:41
Speaker
So the whole idea of bringing them to this major, especially to Boston. And obviously, another reason is, you and I ran a Berlin with Kipchoge. And I recall that every time that when we came, when we entered, remember when we crossed the finish line, remember this sign in cardboard, new WR with the timing, and it was like,
00:26:10
Speaker
I just run with the world record, right? So this time I was thinking of doing that thing. Obviously in Boston, the possibilities of achieving a world record were not there. Boston is not for that. But these guys managed to see this superhuman in all senses passing through.
00:26:37
Speaker
And that was something I wanted to give to them, you know, to, to see these athletes going through there, you know, see that, that all the, the African American, the Mexicans elite runners, whoever runners, you know, came through and then I love kilometers. So I don't know. I believe we, we, we accomplished it. Yeah.
00:27:06
Speaker
And I think through running to you, you probably feel that you can be a kid again too, right? It takes you out of your everyday life and, um, allows you just to focus on something that's completely not connected to the, to the rest of it. And do you think like, you know, when you can look back at yourself as a kid, could you ever have projected that you'd be here?
00:27:28
Speaker
doing this, you know? No, no, no, no. If I tell you, when I was a kid, I was this kid that was overprotected by his bubble. So when I was very young, I am the oldest of three.
Running as Therapy and Personal Development
00:27:44
Speaker
My mother was very worried about me having an injury, right? So my dad was this very into sports guy. He was a national team player in Mexico, in basketball.
00:27:58
Speaker
a national team, you know, selection, although that's how we call them. But he was very good. But but it was like this kid that was kind of fragile, very, very, I don't recall, very shy kid, you know, if my dad always wanted to meet to be in sports, but my mother did not. So I was sober protected.
00:28:24
Speaker
One day I was in school, I was, I don't recall if I was 11 or 10 years old. I was doing hurdles and I was winning the race. We had this internal competition that was called the mini Olympics. So I was winning it. And in the last obstacle, I normally jumped with the right leg and pulled the left one.
00:28:53
Speaker
But the last obstacle was placed earlier, so I jumped with the left and pulled the right. But when I landed the left one, my femur broke into two pieces. Oh, wow. Uh-huh. And we did not realize it, because in those days, or even these days, people do not go into those kind of analysis. But I was born with this defect into the femur.
00:29:21
Speaker
where it was already broken. It was just a matter of time. So it was a period when I obviously recovered, got surgery and whatever. In my mind there, I realized that athletics was not anymore for me. You know, track and field for me, it was like never again. How come?
00:29:48
Speaker
And even more sports, my mother was right. That's why she was so prepared. You hate to say your mom's right, but yeah. Exactly. My mom was right, but yeah, she was right. No, you know, mothers or girls have this, I believe we all have it, but they are much more in touch with this sixth sense, you know? So she was feeling it. That's all what she was doing. Anyway, I got this injury.
00:30:18
Speaker
this injury. And I was really into sports because of whatever, you know, I was too afraid. Until my last high school year, I did again hurdles. And I would not want a medal. That was good. But then, yeah, but I was not in sports. I wasn't too, I wasn't too girls. I wasn't too partying. I wasn't too
00:30:45
Speaker
drinking because we in Mexico, unfortunately, and this I have to say in Mexico, we have this access to alcohol in a very, very, very young age. My first, say my first Boracera. I don't recall how to say Boracera. Well, you know, my first alcoholic beverage. Yeah, exactly. No, no, my first alcoholic beverage was when I was 12. No, it must.
00:31:14
Speaker
My first party where I passed out. Oh, okay. Yeah. It was when I was 13 years old. So imagine that. So we are, we are in some sense, or at least my generation was a little bit mixed up that instead of being into sports, we weren't supporting that long. So I was not thinking ever to be a runner.
00:31:37
Speaker
I was thinking to be a person not, we're sports, yes, there were, you know, I'm Mexican. We always like to play soccer, but it's like perhaps a Saturday with my friends, not in the normal basis, not training for it. Then I arrived to college and in college I became part of the college soccer team, but, you know, never as a priority. It's always like a side.
00:32:07
Speaker
And I came to run as a cure for my losses. Well, I was into this period of drinking and partying and whatever, this self-destroying period. Well, I wouldn't say destroying. I would, let me correct it. Kind of preparing for this cleanse period, you know, like going through the bottom to rise up.
00:32:34
Speaker
And then my brother died in a car accident. So that's when I started running. I stepped aside of soccer. My brother and I played at the same team. So I said, like, no more soccer for me. It's time for me to run. And I was running just, I was very proud of me because I ran a mile per day.
00:32:58
Speaker
I recall once being talking to someone like, oh, I run a marathon. Yeah. So super tough, you know? Anyways. And then I carry on running and running. I did some Spartan races. Then my father died and I did my first half marathon. And then that's when I find in running the place for, again, for curing myself for
00:33:29
Speaker
for letting things go to, it was not planned. At least for me, I was, say for instance, my oldest kid, Maximiliano, he loves running. He always says to me, and this is awful man, because say Saturday that I come back from a long road, you know, I really work out.
00:33:51
Speaker
He is like, let's do some races. And I'm like, no. Everything is painful. And obviously I do my best. I know whatever I can bring to that. But he's into running. He likes running. I was not that kid. I actually was kind of intellectual when I was a kid. I was more into getting good grades in school and that kind of stuff.
00:34:17
Speaker
but only until 12. When I broke my leg, it's like one changing point. Yeah, that's crazy. So when did you let go of the partying and did that also continue? You found running to cope with loss and with the challenges in your life, but a lot of people might resort to alcohol or something else as a vice to
00:34:47
Speaker
to get through those moments? No, you know, I am an addict. I am an alcoholic. And when I say addict, I am sitting in a good sense, not in the bad version of it. It's a good sense of it. And God gave me this gift. So I'm intense. I'm intense in everything I do. So when I was partying, I was very intense. When my brother died, I hit bottom. I got into a lot of problems.
00:35:17
Speaker
And that's when I realized I have to quit drinking, but I'm this addict. I have this gift. I have this intensity in my life. So how come that I can change it for good? So yeah, I find in running this another addition for good for my health, but also also in running,
00:35:47
Speaker
I just realized that I have this thing going on, this addiction thing. That's how I got injured right now. Because of the same thing, right? Because I don't want it to stop, even though my leg was telling, stop, man, it's time to stop. You know, I'm really in pain, man, stop. And we runners don't like to stop. You're not stopping.
00:36:19
Speaker
But anyway, to return it to your question, it's like in running, I found this new addiction where I can be not doing damage to myself on this injury. So I have just to redefine this society that I have with running. Nowadays, that's something that I have been talking to my doctor. He said to me,
00:36:47
Speaker
Well, sorry to give a little bit of context. I had been in surgery for tendinosis that I created myself that tendinosis because I trained a lot of heels, a lot. I love climbing. I don't know why. I love climbing. I don't like going down heels. I love climbing. So my doctor told me, you know what? You burned yourself. Literally, your tendon got burned by yourself.
00:37:17
Speaker
You have to rethink it. You have to, I'm not saying that you're not going to be fast. I'm not saying that you're not going to be carry on. If that's what you want breaking your, your limits, your records or whatever. No, it's not that is that you have to refine your relation with, with you. And that's what I've been doing since I discovered running.
00:37:45
Speaker
And I'm thankful for that. Because even though I got injured through this injury, I have been able to redefine myself again because of running. And that's what running gives you, I believe, or any sport. I believe that I can talk for both of us. In our case, running gives us
00:38:14
Speaker
just a chance to redefine ourselves to always be, as you mentioned, there are some races that you are very well-prepared for, at least you think so, and obviously you don't. My last Boston, for instance, or there are races that you believe that you're not that good, and then you go and break it, for instance, Berlin, until I got this conversation that I mentioned before with me.
00:38:41
Speaker
psychologist. Yeah. And this, this, the injury you're talking about is the one you're currently facing right now. Yeah. Is that correct? And so if you look at this injury, cause you were, it required, you know, you to go through surgery, what was the, the telling point?
Philosophy of Running and Injury Prevention
00:39:00
Speaker
What was the, I'm curious, like what brings you to this, this moment where, you know, now you gotta,
00:39:08
Speaker
rehabilitate, stop running and stuff. Can that be prevented? I always think about those things when people go through, you know, surgeries and whatnot. Well, I believe that every injury can be prevented. That's something I've been learning. I've got myself here because of evil, my friend.
00:39:35
Speaker
I got myself here because I was too proud enough not to stop. Because I got mixed up between pushing further and damaging myself. And that's a very thin line.
00:39:59
Speaker
that we are always facing. In this case, it was through running, but I believe it's in daily basis. Say a financial decision, say a moment where you, I am very explosive, right? So say that someone crosses me in the streets, you know, with a car and I'm like, and you don't know who's in front. So
00:40:26
Speaker
What I believe is that in my case, this injury came to me or was something I did to myself so that I can recall that, yes, I am taking myself into care through sports, but also I am, if I'm not centered,
00:40:52
Speaker
in what it is best for me, I can do that much to myself. And that's the biggest lesson here. I see this as an alcoholic. Again, we believe, well, at least me, that because of not drinking, then I am cured. Or
00:41:18
Speaker
that I am not in any risk. And that's not necessarily the truth. What this injury told me is that even though I was doing the best thing that was supposed to be doing for me, you know,
00:41:33
Speaker
Breaking boundaries, showing up all day, doing diet, go to the gym, resting. I believe they were resting. I was not for sure. You know, going to the physio, the massage. And no, my friend, I was not doing it right. And the biggest thing that I can tell you in this moment as a consequence of that,
00:42:02
Speaker
or the biggest learning right now is, I don't know the name of this book in English. I suppose, is that divine comedy? I forgot the name of the author. Anyways, in the divine comedy, when you go into the hell chapter,
00:42:30
Speaker
the guy that is Virgilio, the Roman philosopher, said to the author that, and again, sorry, I just don't recall the name, and in the interest of the hell, there's a signal, a signal I believe that reads in Spanish, el camino y fiero esta lleno de buenas intentiones, which I will literally translate, the road to hell is fulfilled with good intentions.
00:43:00
Speaker
That's a very, that's a thin line. And that's how I got into this injury. I was doing the best I believed for me. It was my best intention not to, obviously I was not running for hamming me, but I was doing that damage. So it can be prevented. Yes, you can prevent that. You can come and say,
00:43:24
Speaker
with technology, the devices need a lot of improvement. But yeah, with a good coach, rather than a good coach, with a lot of humbleness from yourself, you have to say it's time to stop. That's in the end what you have to learn to prevent yourself from harming yourself.
00:43:53
Speaker
And it can be done. And do you think you think you could have stepped back at a certain point? Like was this leading up to Boston, uh, that you were feeling this, this way? It's super funny. I have it since almost three years ago. Okay. That's why I'm telling you it's.
00:44:10
Speaker
I ran New York with this. I ran Berlin with this. I ran my first Boston with this. I ran my second Boston with this. It wasn't until this Boston that my leg was like, dude, it has been enough, right? So I came to this Boston with an injury of like 28 millimeters. When I got into surgery, I finished with an injury of four centimeters. Wow. Yeah. And I was like,
00:44:36
Speaker
Perhaps it was time not for running this Boston, for instance. But I was in this trip of, man, I have trained a lot. Because I was doing great time. I was super fit. I was whatever. And I thought, it is my time for the revenge in Boston, because my first Boston was awful. And because of this ego thing,
00:45:05
Speaker
I pushed myself a lot. But there's the flip side of the story is that I would not change this Boston for anything, just for looking to my family at the start of heartbreak here. And believe me, Justin, this injury came with me really present since kilometer number two.
00:45:32
Speaker
It was there, you know, like, like we like, okay, you wanted it? Here we are. I thought I was going to not to finish it because of the pain. But just for that moment of being there, it was worth it. But you see that that's the decisions that we have to be able to make and to change.
00:46:03
Speaker
Yeah, it was great to be with my family. Was it worth it? Yeah. But perhaps it was not this time. And then carry on running. Or perhaps it was, I've been in this idea. I'm sorry if I'm getting philosophical here. But through my life, I've been learning that even though we have free will, there is a destiny. So it's a mixture of both things, right?
00:46:33
Speaker
things have to happen the way they happen. Just how you arrived to those things is your own decision. That's, that's the way I seem like. So it's for a reason, right? Exactly. So again, it was, it is my ego saying that we can prevent injuries because it feels like that, but perhaps we can't. I don't know. I believe we have to be humble enough to prevent. Right.
00:47:01
Speaker
Where do you feel like you saw the greatest improvement in your, in your running? When I started to build base, that's, that's the biggest secret about when, when, uh, well, and another thing when I stopped running for showing up for showing up, not for showing up, uh, not for sure, not for showing up. Sorry. That word is for showing off. Uh-huh.
00:47:30
Speaker
Uh, at least in Mexico, they're running a, this is my interpretation only, but I feel that they're running a scenery has, has become this place where everybody is like, Oh yeah. See me. I am running the race. I just feel like here is my time. I can use my record and use my.
00:47:54
Speaker
with social media and with the support as friendly as running where you can achieve things too soon, right? Because you run your first K, say, in 40 minutes, your first 5K, and then you go and make it in 30 minutes, and then you go and break it to 20, I don't know, I'm just saying numbers. But that gives you a wrong idea, you know, of, oh, I'm too good, and I'm showing up,
00:48:23
Speaker
But when you cut that thing off and start focusing on the privilege of running, the things I enjoy the most is the base building base.
00:48:40
Speaker
rather than the speed race or the long run, the pace is amazing because it's the joy ride. It's just, in my case, my base is between 5.45 and six minutes per K, super slow, short, short, wide, wide.
00:49:03
Speaker
listening to podcasts like yours. Thank you. Or to your own music. Perhaps you go that day early or perhaps you go that day afternoon. I don't know, those days. And that's where you get in touch. Aside of the physical benefits, I believe that you get in touch with the joy of doing this stuff. And if you are enjoying it,
00:49:32
Speaker
The result is immediate. It's like when you, when you turn the fastest, just a quest is just in my experience, the fastest, just a consequence of how much you are enjoying yourself. Yeah. Speed comes after. Yeah. Well, obviously there are factors like, like a strength, like how much you have been hitting certain times. Training is our training is important. I'm not saying it's not, it did not, but I have experienced.
00:50:02
Speaker
that sorry to be back again, Boston, but for me, like always from December to March is a very difficult part for me of the year. I don't know why, but it's mentally difficult for me. So when it comes Boston to me, I come always like burned up because of that part.
00:50:27
Speaker
So when I go to Boston, I can say this because it has been consecutive two years that happened to me like that, that even though I have done the training, because I am burned out, because I am not into a happy place, I have not this great race which is supposed to be there. Right? Yeah. Great in every sense. Because I am not happy because I am not in touch with the base thing, you know? But if you get in touch with that,
00:50:57
Speaker
and stop coding the stuff that is not needed. That's when you get better off in running or whichever in life. I was this part of this group that then became a cult. But anyways, into the things they got, they have this module called work and play. And they,
00:51:26
Speaker
teach there that many people go and do stuff like they have to, right? You go to work because you have to. You go to train because you have to. You go and do the diet and whatever. What about realizing that you are doing it because you want to? And if you want to play with it, and if you make that change,
00:51:56
Speaker
That's the thing that gives you, at least for me, the basing building. It's where you are enjoying yourself. It's like, ah, yeah, I'm going to stretch a little. Yeah, you can do it. I'm going to stop a while and see that building that I have never seen before. Oh, it's funny because I was listening to Justin podcast and I did not realize that John said this in his podcast. I don't know. Or do you receive messages?
00:52:26
Speaker
Well, at least when I am doing speed workouts, I am so focused in doing the speed message that I do not see around, right? You're just running, running, running, running, don't, don't, don't, eight straight also. That's a different running.
00:52:38
Speaker
But in the recovery, in the base building, you have the timing for being aware of whatever is happening and which message can you find and how to reconnect with joy. How? Because doing running is, for me, and I believe for you too, is to be in touch with in this meditative state. And if you do it in the base thing,
00:53:05
Speaker
It's amazing because you are meditating, but in touch with you, but slow, but enjoying. And then the splits comes. And I believe that's the secret. I am pretty sure there are physical things that happens, like you give your body that timing or the strength to carry on for a certain time or whatever it happens. I am not a physician. I am not a coach.
00:53:34
Speaker
A, but aside of that, I believe that the great advanced advantage of that is what I just mentioned. Right. When did, when did you get the idea for Boston? Like, was that always a thing for you? Like when you started getting into running, like, cause I know it means, it means a lot to a lot of people because you got to qualify to get there. Right. I think for me, it was like, I wasn't thinking about Boston when I got into running. I was, I don't know what I was thinking about.
00:54:04
Speaker
But I kind of like discovered it through friends that had run it or who said like, Oh, maybe you can, I went to run my first marathon. Like maybe you can qualify for it. You know, you're kind of, you're kind of decent at running. And I was in triathlon at the time and, uh, we wanted to run a marathon before I did a longer distance in triathlon. So I wouldn't run my first marathon in triathlon. Um,
00:54:33
Speaker
But it was kind of like this weird thing, you know, and then like, boom, you qualify and you're like, okay, it's really cool. But I, you know, I'm just curious, like, when did it come into your mind? Well, for me, Boston came, sorry, I'm using this podcast as a therapy. Well, I have always been not self confident about me. Right. So when I.
00:55:01
Speaker
started doing the running thing in a more consistent and safe professional way. So when I entered Dromo, for instance, I saw that it was not bad for it. And obviously my teammates were like, he ran Boston and he's going to Boston and he's going to keep Boston. It was, okay, I like the Red Sox, right? I've been there. I spent the summer when I was younger in the summer camp, but
00:55:30
Speaker
What the hell with Boston? You know, what's Boston? So then they told me that now you have to qualify and then my ego burst it up. It's like, Oh, I have to, it's my first marathon. My first attempt was in Mexico city marathon. You have to come to run Mexico city. Everybody who is, everybody who is in running really, really, really, really have to come and run Mexico city. Because if you want to make a really tough race, but it's beautiful at the same time, it's Mexico city.
00:56:00
Speaker
Okay, after the commercial. Yeah, I will come and run it. I promise I will. You have your home here and you know that. But I was my first marathon, Mexico City, not the best race, not the best track. And I was in this attempt for going to Boston. I was just 25 minutes away from the goal, right?
00:56:25
Speaker
And then it became kind of a hidden obsession for me. I was not talking daily that I wanted to go to Boston, but in my back I was, Boston, Boston, Boston, Boston, Boston, Boston. And it was in 2018. So I qualified the next year in Chicago, but I did not make the cut. I got a five minute gap. Do you recall this seven minute gap that they,
00:56:54
Speaker
Yes. And it was like, how come? Yeah, it is. It does not go that way. Anyway, it's so competitive that the let's say you're qualifying times 330, like the further away or the better you can do at beating that time, the greater chance you're going to have because so many people were qualifying and then actually dropped the qualifying times by five minutes, I think, eventually. No, no, exactly that I was in the middle of all that.
00:57:24
Speaker
And I did not got selected. So came the pandemic, no running, no not marathon. And then came New York. Man, everybody told me New York is not a place for sub three. Well, not yes, it is a place for sub three. It's not a place for running your fastest or whatever. And boom, sub three and I got qualified. And since then, Boston,
00:57:53
Speaker
And I, but at least me, because I don't believe the matter has outside, I made my pieces with it. And nowadays, many people tell me, why do you always want to run Boston? And nowadays I can tell you, yes, running a major is a privilege, but running Boston is the biggest of all, because you don't know when you are going to be able to qualify.
00:58:21
Speaker
Because you can always run in the charity and it's good. I am not saying that it is bad and I respect everyone who does it, but it's not the same. It's not the same that you have the ability for qualifying. Yeah, you got to run it when you can. When you can, exactly. Yeah, don't say no, because you never know when it's going to come back, you know. I believe, well, and with every marathon, even your local, because perhaps you get injured next week.
00:58:49
Speaker
Then again, in the state I am right now, I am doing and I'm hoping that I will be fine for coming back to run. But what if not? What if not? Because there's a possibility. Right. At least I come from Boston twice. Yeah, yeah. You see? You did it when you could, yeah. Exactly. So for me, Boston, yeah, I have the drinking bottle.
00:59:19
Speaker
I have the drinking bottle, but I have the backpack, but I have the whole enchilada, right? But it's a sight of that. It's just a recall for me. It's not for sure enough. It's just thankful for me. And this is where I see the other side of, not my ego side. Congratulations, Rodrigo. You were able to achieve your goal. And this is your prize.
00:59:48
Speaker
Yeah. And that, and that whole experience, like you said, with your family, I think that's, uh, if you never, well, I'm sure you will do it again, but if never again, you know, at least you had that memory too with them and they got to see that too. Can you talk about just a little bit about the culture? You mentioned Dromo a few times and they show, they show up in, in, in droves. And I actually met, um, the sender. Yeah. I met him in, uh, in California when we were there through, uh, through Sean Hamilton.
01:00:17
Speaker
And yeah, what a great guy. Um, but yeah, you know, you travel as a family and, uh, that's the always a sense I get when I see them. And it's, I have the privilege of, I have, have, I have, have the privilege of being part of this family since 2018.
01:00:45
Speaker
And when I see the privileges, because of Cinta, we all know Cinta because he's the captain of the team. But Cinta, his wife, she's seen in all the back office of it. So because of Cinta and Cinta's effort, I have the privilege of knowing what does it mean to be part of a team, right?
01:01:15
Speaker
in every sense. I have been playing soccer. I have had friends. Those were amazing, but not as a family thing. Whenever they tell you that, you know, friends are the chosen family, Cynthia Andromo brings it to the next level.
01:01:44
Speaker
because the whole team is always there for you. If you really want to push, you can go to the guys that are pushing it. We have guys that are ultra fast. We have guys that have run Boston in 238, right? I'm like...
01:02:02
Speaker
At least for me, that's super fast. Or guys that have been dropping and dropping and dropping their times. Guys and girls. Actually, our girls, if you see our ratio, more girls have qualified to Boston than guys. So our girls are really tough. Our strong part is the girls.
01:02:25
Speaker
But that being into that culture of building up yourself continuously in a good sense, because we do not compete. You do never, never feel inside in drama, at least has never been my experience of competing against each other. It's the other way around. If we see each other say, you know that when you're on a
01:02:49
Speaker
a marathon, you can always say, say, Justin, we're going in the same car. Let's go together. And that lasts only the first kilometer, right? Because someone drops or the other goes, whatever, but, but it happens. But whenever you're in a race and you see with a friend of Dromo, a he or she, in some sense, or whoever has been before in Dromo, right? It happened to me in, in this, in this Boston.
01:03:21
Speaker
It's a connection that, that I cannot describe. I don't find the words, but it's so deep. It's like that both energies join and create this bigger energy and push you through. That's what I learned in draw. That's, that's, I don't know how is it in the other teams. I have never been in other teams.
01:03:46
Speaker
I can only speak of about my team and the greatest thing about the, and again, in Dromo, there are all sorts of runners. There are runners that are average or even slower than average like me. There are runners that are even.
01:04:04
Speaker
just starting to run. That's not, it's not about your level. It's about the connection. And that's what Cynthia and Cindy have been working a lot, the connection about around the people that are inside the team so that you feel this thing that moves you further. I don't know how to say this. It's always a privilege to be a side
01:04:32
Speaker
In running, at least for me, it's always a privilege to be aside with someone who is or has been part of the Roma in some part of my life. And that's what it gave me. The tech culture that Roma brought into, at least from my perspective, into the running in Mexico. Friends have come and gone. That's normal. People do have their periods. But then again, that's what has been built.
01:05:00
Speaker
It felt, it feels, you know, and it feels because we learned it in a certain place where we met in time. So that's for Midromo. Right. Yeah. That's a special feeling you can get with the, with the right group, you know, um, and, uh, yeah, I hope to get there one day and run with. No, you have wrong with them. Right. Well, no, I, I, I just more met, met members of the group, but have not, uh, like ran with, uh,
01:05:29
Speaker
with anyone in particular, let's say, you know, so, but I mean, coming out for a group run would be pretty cool. You know, maybe it'll be on the Mexico City marathon weekend or something. You have to come to Mexico. No, no, you have to come. Aside of that, aside of coming to Mexico to a marathon, there is this other guy who I met because of Tramo, who is Mauricio Diaz, who also I've heard of him, of Irelibre. Yes, yes, yes.
01:06:00
Speaker
He has great experiences throughout the country through running. And Mexico is a beautiful country, like yours, like Canada, or Switzerland right now. Every country is beautiful. But this guy brings you in. So think of Mexico also as that place where it's funny.
01:06:22
Speaker
I don't know, Canadians are different than Americans, but I have had right now friends right from the States that had never come to Mexico. And the last one who came, he said, and he's a 70 year old guy. He traveled a lot around the world and he has been to the country, but never to Mexico City. So he came because we're in something, we were working in something. He came and I,
01:06:52
Speaker
gave him a tour and he was like, it's amazing that we back home did not realize that we have Europe and now we're a go, I'm sorry, and now we're a flight distance. Right. That's Mexico, Mexico. You have Europe, but you have India, but you have the indigenous, I say India because we have this place called Oaxaca, which is quite similar to India in terms of food. Uh,
01:07:20
Speaker
I don't know my country. I like it very much. And I just hope that everyone can come, for instance, you just for enjoying it with running. Another friend of us, Drew, I don't know if you. Drew Hartman. Yeah. Drew just came a little like three weeks ago, four weeks ago, just came with
01:07:50
Speaker
with his girlfriend. Sorry, after COVID, I got stupid. My memory just died. Anyways, sorry, darling. Anyways, they came and they experienced what I'm telling you.
01:08:09
Speaker
They run with us, they run with other crews, they experience the Mexico city thing. And we are as, perhaps as a country, we're not having the best time, but as a city, we are. And you have to go. Yeah, definitely. Definitely on my list, we'll get back to you. I wanted to ask you, you know, what do you think that running has gave to you, to your life?
01:08:39
Speaker
or endurance sports, let's say. First of all, family. People like you, people like Thromo, you know, like Drew, like Sean, like all the, like the heartbreakers, like Hakim in, in LA, like the KRC, K
01:09:00
Speaker
see the Korean town guys in Los Angeles, the roses in New York, that super big family I have been able to build around the globe, literally, because of running, it's amazing. But most important, what running gave me as a gift and I hope
01:09:29
Speaker
that I have still the chance to get it through it. It's myself in a good term. It makes me be in touch with me. It makes me be thankful for whatever I have. It reminds me my losses. It reminds me my flaws. But it also reminds me my essence. It reminds me
01:09:59
Speaker
How great is it to be human? The luck of being human, the luck of being alive, my friend. Sorry, tears are coming out. That's what I meant with wishing everybody to have access to this.
01:10:28
Speaker
I don't know if it's through running, at least my way was through running and I hope it will carry on to be through running. But it gives me family, aside of also the family I just spoke in, my day-to-day family, my kids, they see this dad that goes and runs.
01:10:48
Speaker
I believe that that's worthy for something, you know, like, like that they at least know that they have this chance for living. I don't know. It's, it just gives me, it just gives me myself. Running gives myself. And what do you hope to give back to, to, to, you know, it's clearly a powerful, something very powerful in your life. What do you hope to, to return to, to that, that side of endurance sports?
01:11:21
Speaker
It is funny that my best results in races have been when I have put myself on the service of whoever you believed in. In my case, I believe in God, I'm a Catholic, you know, I'm Mexican. We love to be on the Guadalupe. And every time in those races, say New York and Berlin,
01:11:50
Speaker
I forgot to say this in Boston, but Berlin and New York, I always talk to God and said, let me be whatever you want me to transmit to the other ones. Whatever this message, the universe or God or whoever you believed in, wants to keep through myself, I just want to be at the level for being able to transmit it.
01:12:18
Speaker
to rip off my ego. And ego is not a bad thing. Just using it, that is what... But like everything, you don't like a mystery. Yeah, it's for sure. It's a knife, whatever. It's the same thing. I just want to be this instrument for good. And in terms of running, I don't know if when I run, I perhaps...
01:12:44
Speaker
You know, someone that is my age say, ah, if that old guy can do it, I can, you know? And perhaps I'm giving him, say, five more years of life. I don't know, Justin. I only want to serve. At the time, I also want to be happy, but what I want to give back is, I just want to serve. That's the end. That's all I want to give.
01:13:15
Speaker
Well, I think that's what I can give to running, to running and to life, you know, to serve as whatever they need me as an instrument. And to be, then again, and this is where I, where I tumble. I don't recall the name. Well, they recall the word. But anyway, this is where I, to be humble.
01:13:39
Speaker
I just need to be humble enough to understand that message. I have to give that back to humble myself so that I can give back and be that instrument. That's what I have to give back. Yeah. And people see that in you and they see how passionate you are about the sport that's giving you so much. And I certainly see that. Your energy is infectious. Your words are meaningful.
01:14:08
Speaker
you know, you're honest, humble, uh, guy. And I, and I appreciate that. And that's from the first, uh, the first moment that, uh, that I met you, you know, so thank you, but I, I, I, I believe I'm not, I have to work on that also, but thank you. No, a.
01:14:29
Speaker
Thank you for your words. But, but yes, I'm pretty sure there just been a lot of moments where I have not been humble. And that's what I mean that I have to change it. Like throw back the ego, like, uh, move away because I am running for whatever pays for, uh, move away. I have these, you know, stupid things that happen or, or I am so fucked. Sorry, I was too, I'm so angry. Right. That, oh, move away. And, and, and it happens, you know, that, that move away and you,
01:14:59
Speaker
like push someone else. That's how, that's what I have to contain. That's what I have to give back to, to know now. That's why you don't want to bring that to the court. That's not the player you want to be. That's what you have to be humble to contain yourself, to restrain that impulse to, because it's in me, I mentioned it to you. I have this impulse in me to, to, to be so intense.
01:15:26
Speaker
that sometimes I let myself go and I have to like contain and give back and be able to whoever comes and ask for whatever give it and I say not for an advice because I don't want to tell you what to do no it's I'm safer and smile
01:15:46
Speaker
You know, how, how is it that you go running and all of a sudden comes, I know this guy or this girl who is having a hell of a day. And then you just say, hi, stuff like that. Yeah. Simple stuff. That's simple stuff. Like making your day, right? That's, that's, I believe that I have to work more to, to do and to, and to give back. Right. And being aware of it is, uh,
01:16:17
Speaker
often the hardest part, which sounds you are. So that's, that's, uh, that's great. Well, thanks. Uh, you know, thank you so much for Rigo for coming on, uh, and having this conversation with me and to share some beautiful moments and some sound advice for sure. And I hope our listeners, uh, enjoy this conversation as much as I did. No, it's, it's I be with you only once in my life.
01:16:48
Speaker
but we chat a lot in different media. I just say that every moment that I spend with you is a privilege. I am honored to have you in my life. I am thankful to have you in my life.
01:17:07
Speaker
And I just want to make it more recurrent. Yeah. Yeah. Like interact more. And I want you to come to Mexico to run. Not right now, I'm not able to run. You will just have to give me two more months. But no, but I can always bike. What I'm saying is thank you for this chance. Thank you. Thank you for, it is my first podcast.
01:17:34
Speaker
that I have been invited to, it's a privilege to be in yours with a friend that in life, in real life, I have just met once, but it feels like I have met for life. And Justin, thank you for having me and for this great moment being, I don't know that everybody's, well, I have to say this,
01:17:59
Speaker
You have to realize that we started this for a year in Mexico City time. Yeah. Oh yeah. And I can hear the birds chirping now. Yeah. Yeah. They're starting like. But this thing that just happened, it was magical for me. Thank you. Thank you for this. My pleasure. I appreciate it. I appreciate you. And we'll talk against you. See?
01:18:28
Speaker
Take care. I love your mano ocuito. Bye bye. Thanks for tuning in to the Justin Stride podcast. I truly appreciate you taking the time to listen and I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. Please take a minute after this to rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts. With your feedback, we'll be able to make the show even better and it'll help us reach new listeners too. You can also find us on Instagram at JustinStridePod for all the latest episodes and updates.
01:18:58
Speaker
Of course, this show wouldn't be possible without a solid team behind me. With logo and design by Vanessa Pugliese, as well as audio, music, and editing by Forrest McKay, a huge thank you goes out to both of them. Guest outreach, social media, writing, and advertising are handled by me, your host, Justin Pugliese. Finally, we'd like to thank you, our listeners, for coming along for the ride with Justin Stradd.