Digital Social Hour - Surviving the Beer Mile: My Record-Breaking Experience | Nick Symmonds DSH #810

Episode Date: October 19, 2024

🏃‍♂️🍺 Surviving the Beer Mile: My Record-Breaking Experience 🍺🏃‍♂️ Join us on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly as we dive into an epic tale of endurance, nostalgia, and adventure with Olympian Nick Symmonds! From his nostalgic reflections on the '08 and '12 Olympics to his jaw-dropping Beer Mile experience, Nick shares his journey of breaking records and pushing limits. 🎖️ Get ready to be inspired by Nick's relentless pursuit of new challenges, including his ambitious mountaineering goals! 🏔️ Whether it's running, climbing, or creating, Nick's stories are packed with valuable insights and thrilling adventures. Don't miss out on this engaging conversation! 🌟 Tune in now and join the conversation. 📺 Watch now and subscribe for more insider secrets on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and beyond. Hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more eye-opening stories on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! 🚀 #nbcsports #noahlyles #k2 #beermilechallenge #beermiletips CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - Nick's 6 Month Break 02:00 - Upcoming Mountaineering Project 04:30 - Nick's Injuries and Health 06:40 - Nick's 2012 Olympic Race 08:45 - 2008 vs 2012 Olympics Comparison 09:33 - Best Running Events 11:36 - Olympic Medal Expectations 13:36 - Value of a Gold Medal 14:39 - Track and Financial Motivation 17:07 - Haunting Race Memories 18:20 - Olympic Training Insights 22:00 - The Beer Mile Explained 23:18 - Drinking on Mountains 24:38 - Mike Posner's Everest Climb 29:58 - Genetics vs Hard Work in Running 31:51 - Running Pace Discussion 32:40 - Training Alone vs Team Dynamics 33:25 - Running Your Own Business 34:15 - Retirement in Sports 35:25 - Where to Find Nick APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] GUEST: Nick Symmonds https://www.instagram.com/nicksymmonds/ https://www.tiktok.com/@nicksymmonds www.youtube.com/@nicksymmonds https://www.youtube.com/c/NickSymmondsToo LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. Must be 19 years of age or older. Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem? For free assistance, call the Connex Ontario helpline at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. I'll always look at 08 really like with huge nostalgia because it was my first games.

That's the moment that makes you an Olympian, which in track and field. Then 12, I knew what I was doing. Like I wasn't as nervous. I was prepared. I'm so proud because it was like the pinnacle of my career. Like I ran the fastest I ever ran at the highest level in sport. I really proved who I was an athlete in that moment. Wherever you guys are watching this show, I would truly appreciate it.

If you follow or subscribe, it helps a lot with the algorithm. It helps us get bigger and better guests and it helps us grow the team. Truly means a lot. Thank you guys for supporting. And here's the episode. Ladies and gentlemen, Nick Simmons, AKA the bison in the building, man. What's up? Coming off a break on YouTube. Yeah, I'm in the middle of a six the building, man. What's up? A break on YouTube.

Yeah. I'm in the middle of a six month break. Okay. So you set that timeframe. Yeah. I guess publicly I said, I don't know how long this is going to be, but in the back of my mind, I had this big event that was six months away and I was like, it'd be pretty cool if I just took a six month break. I needed it. And, um, three, four months in and it's exactly what I needed. Nice. So you had some burnout. I keep going back in my mind. Like, do I want to use the term burnout? And I don't, I don't think it's what I had.

I've been burnt out before as a, as a pro runner. And I ran pro for 12 years. I know burnout real well. This was boredom, which I think there's a, there's a part of burnout that can be boredom. This was just pure boredom. I just made a video every week for seven years. And for six and a half, I just loved it. I think I told you I was on other podcasts and I'm like, I would do this for free.

I love this so much. And then it got to a point where I just wasn't, I wasn't like laying in bed. I used to lay in bed and I would just dream about video ideas. Like I couldn't shut my mind off. I was so excited about the next video. And then I made all the videos that I wanted to make. And then I was laying in bed like, oh gosh, I have to think of another video idea. So I just kind of got, I just kind of got bored with it. Like I'd made all the stuff I wanted to make. Yeah. I still love the idea of YouTube and I still have some huge concepts that I want to make, but like the, the niche we were in, I, I did that and I like put a bow on it and then I needed to just take

a break before I could come back and start creating again. I feel that there's only so much running you could do, right? It was running and it was lifting and it was challenges and it was so much fun, but like I did it, you know? And, and I've always been this way. Once I feel like I've accomplished what I set out to accomplish, then I'm over, and I've always been this way. Once I feel like I've accomplished what I set out to accomplish, then I'm over it. And I can't be bothered to continue with it. It doesn't say, it doesn't mean I don't want to make YouTube videos anymore.

It's just, I don't want to make that kind of YouTube video anymore. So that six month break is just a mental reset. Do you have a plan when you come back? Yeah. And I'm already working on it. I just announced on YouTube and the community feature. I was like, guys, I'm not just slacking off. I'm working really hard.

Next video drops July one. And in some ways, this is a video I've been working on for 10 years. Wow. Yeah. It's a project I've been working on for 10 full years and it all culminates in June. So I'll be filming it and dropping it July one. Is it running related? No, it's mountaineering. So we talked a little bit about that. When I retired from running, I knew I had to throw myself into something else physical. Like I couldn't just stop. And so I set out two kind of simultaneous projects. One to climb to the top of all 50 states and another to climb to the top of all continents. It's called the Seven Summits.

And I've got two of the seven. And there's this kind of like interlapping point on Denali, the tallest mountain in Alaska. It happens to be, you know, the end of the 50 state high points challenge, but also one of the seven summits. So that's what I've been training for. I'm going to bang out both, you know, tick off two different lists. And, uh, I don't know if I can climb this thing. It's a big mountain. That one sounds tough just because it's in Alaska too. Yeah. And it was super weather dependent. Like it's half the time you get to like 14,000 or 17,000 feet and a storm rolls in and you just sit in a tent for seven

days and then you've got to pack yourself out days yeah or longer wow um it'll be three weeks on the mountain and it's a long time i just always wanted to climb it and i i you know i just turned 40 and i had this moment it's like 39 and a. And I'm like, I'm getting kind of old. A little midlife crisis. I think it was more a realization of there are so many things that I want to do in my life. Yeah. And some are going to be harder than others as I get older. Right.

You know, like I can make money when I'm 50, 60, 70. But I can only climb some of these mountains like now. True. It's going to get, I could climb Denali at 50, but it's going to be harder than climbing it at 40. Cause you're at the tail end of your athletic peak, right? I think I,

I think I'm on the back end of that curve. Yeah. I'm telling you, I have a lot of tread, of a tread worn on these tires. You know, so many miles that I think, I think I've peaked and now just hanging on for dear life.

Yeah. You said you don't even run anymore, right? I can't man. I would, I would give anything to go out and just hammer an hour. So you physically can't do it? No.

Well, I could, but I wouldn't be able to walk for a week. My ankles and knees are so shot from 20 years of pro running. 20 years of competitive running, 12 as a pro. And have you looked into STEM? Kick off an exciting football season with BetMGM, an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League. Yard after yard, down after down, the sportsbook, born in Vegas,

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call the Connex Ontario helpline at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. So, is there anything weird like that? No, I'm like, I won't even take Tylenol. Really? I won't even take a

multivitamin. I hate medicine. No supplements? I hate supplements. Nothing. What? Yeah, because there's got to be a ton of athletes on supplements yeah i mean i was i was taking supplements when i was a pro i took you know caffeine is the best performance enhancing drug is it for running for anything oh no no yeah for for weight lifting for maybe not for target shooting they don't touch caffeine but like for explosive or endurance athletics caffeine's a phenomenally effective performance enhancing drug and it happens to be one of the ones that's legal. But as far as supplements goes, I took a multivitamin. I took some vitamin D protein, you know, carbohydrates, that kind of stuff, but nothing beyond that.

Interesting. But I've always been really opposed to like medicine, not opposed to it. Like I believe in western medicine yeah i just think we overdo it for sure i'm always really like do i really need to be taking that um and i almost i mean i don't take any medicine don't have any prescriptions don't take any supplements wow but something in your case i don't know if that can heal naturally right i think that there will need to be a surgery on my left ankle at some point and i probably have to get my knees done at some point. Damn.

Have you had surgeries before? Yeah. I had a double knee surgery in college to fix some plaque ectomies. And I shot my left ankle full of PRP in 2016, trying to get ready for the games, but wasn't able to, it was just, Oh,

that was a trial. You didn't qualify for it. That was the, I was qualified for the trials, but I pulled out at the trials because this left ankle wouldn't, it was just, it was just done. And you were fast enough to make it. So that must've been really disappointing, right? Yeah.

I mean, I, you know, I was always good about calling things as I saw it. I'm like, Hey guys, I'm just not in shape for this one. Or I'd say, guys, I have no reason not to win this race. I'm in great shape. Yeah. I was in such good shape, shape in 2016. And then this ankle just gave out on me like two days before the trials. And you killed it in 12.

I know. Man. I was bummed. You could have medaled in 16 probably, right? Who knows? You know, like it's track and field. I could just as easily have gotten tripped up and not even made it. But so I was working pretty closely with a therapist at the time.

And I'm like, how am I going to get past this? And he's like, how incredible that your body gave you two Olympic games. He's like, yeah, you didn't get the third. But your body held up for 12 freaking years. You needed it to hold up for 12 years and two more months, but for 12 years, it allowed you to do what you wanted to do and made it possible for me to see the world and race in 34 different countries. So, you know, as, as today's theme seems to be gratitude, I was just just like gratitude i'm so grateful for everything this body gave me and everything else that i'll be able to do with it but no rio is not in the cards apparently yeah that's a good mindset to have yeah because some don't even get to one

olympics so the fact you got two and almost a third is yeah i was i was lucky pretty good spot i was durable that was my special gift i wasn't the fastest by any means not the genetically most gifted i mean people looked at me and they're, how in the world is this kid running that fast? But I was super durable. So I could bang out 10 miles a day every day. And I did so for 20 years. Dude, your races were so fun to watch. I still remember the first time I saw you and I was like, who is that guy? You just come the last 100 meters. Everybody always thought that because I was always in dead last and then I'd turn it on in the last 200 meters. It made it exciting for people, I guess.

That fifth place finish at the 12 Olympics, you were in last, right? For the entire race. The entire race. in the last 200 meters. It made it exciting for people, I guess. That fifth place finish at the 12 Olympics. You were in last, right? For the entire race. The entire race. For the last 100 meters, yeah. By a good amount, too. It wasn't even like you were right on them. No, I was like, this is incredible.

I hope I can not finish dead last. I just wanted to pick off one person in the last 100 meters. And I was able to pick off a couple. The race plan was to ultimately do a Dave Waddle like he did in 72 and pick off everybody. But, you know, in the world record race, no one was going to beat david radisha was that the race he said it in yeah oh so to be part of that race you know again being grateful yeah i didn't get a medal but i got to be

part of the world record race yeah pretty pretty big honor insane you think 140 will ever be broken in the 800 oh yeah at this point i don't ever question anything. Like humans and technology and everything are just coming so far. Like someone will break 140 in my lifetime. A hundred percent sure. I thought David was going to do it. I thought so too. But he's done now. Yeah.

I mean, time gets us all right. A lot of time. Yeah. Can't beat him. Yeah. Did you like the 08 Olympics better or 12? It's a great question. I think I'll always, I'll always look at 08 really like with huge nostalgia

because it was my first games. And like, that's the moment that makes you an Olympian, which in track and field, it's like you're either an Olympian or no one's ever heard of you and you don't get paid anything. Um, then 12, I knew what I was doing. Like I'd already been through the games. Like I wasn't as nervous. I was prepared and I'm proud. I'm so proud because it was like the pinnacle of my career. Like I, I ran the fastest I ever ran at the highest level in sport, you know,

like I really proved who I was an athlete in that moment to myself. Yeah. But they both mean, mean different things to me, I guess, you know, one, one,

I stamped myself as Olympian and the other one I proved to myself who I can be as an athlete. Yeah. You peaked at the perfect time. What was your best event? Uh, 800. Yeah. But not as fast as you, man. They say it's the hardest race.

Do you agree with that? Yes. Maybe not physically, although it is incredibly challenging physically, but like strategically, it's the fastest event that breaks from lanes, you know? So the, the way that you're pushing and shoving and jostling and positioning, it is a chess match. And it's why veterans tend to do better because they they've seen so much. It's why I bombed out of the semifinals in Beijing and, you know, made it to the finals and finished fifth in London. It just takes time to learn how to run that race. It is a physical race. So what are the legal things you could do? Can you elbow people? Oh yeah. Oh, you got it. The only thing you can do is like grab someone's

or shove them. Okay. But I'd be elbowing people. The Kenyans used to hate it. Cause they, you know, I was a big guy, like as far as runners go, the bison, I was 165 pounds out there while my competitors were running to like 120, 130. I just shove them all over the place. If I, if I was boxed in and I need to move, i'd just give somebody a big shove wow and they'd move and i'd make room if you go back and watch the 2008 olympic trials yeah that's how i got free was just giving elbow and people elbow yeah but like i was a soccer player i was a hockey player yeah um if i need to get somewhere i'm gonna bump you and just be ready for that people say track isn't physical sport man but the The 800 especially. Here you are.

Because you're just eight guys moving around the track. You never got boxed in because you're 6'5". I was, yeah. But if you're 5'9", 5'10", you're tucked into the rail. I got guys like you that are like, there's no way I'm going to get around you unless I kind of make space for myself. Yeah, damn.

You ever watch Andrew Weeding? He's 6'5". Yeah, he's a tall runner. He had to run the entire race in lane two. I saw that because he, he's so big. He can't tuck into the rail. Yeah. Like there's no rain. There's no room for him, you know, get boxed in and tripped up. And how much time do you think that adds? If you ran it in lane two, it adds two meters per lap, two meters per lap. So times two laps. So before, uh, four meters, quarter of a second. Okay. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but. In an 800. But it would have gotten me a medal if I had gotten that quarter of a second. Yeah, that's true, man.

Did you think you were going to medal at any point in either Olympics? Not Beijing. Okay. Beijing, I was just like, I remember I was so nervous. I was talking to my sports psychologist and I'm like,

how am I going to walk into the bird's nest? Like look up and there's a hundred thousand people in the stadium. And I know there's 1.5 billion people at home watching. He said, just put your head down, look at the track and remember that that tracks 400 meters around made of rubber,

like every track you've ever run on. And that's your home. Right. And then I was like, yeah, I'm just, I'm home. Like I'm just doing what I do every single day.

Good advice. Yeah. It was really a good way of just reminding myself that like I had earned the right to be there. Right. And that this was my home and that I'm comfortable on a 400 meter flat track. Yeah. No matter what, no matter all the other stuff that doesn't matter. Like just put it out of your head.

Just do what you do. Go to your office. So that helped a lot. But I really thought I would, I was going to medal in London. Right before the race, my coach came up to me and he's this kind of like straight shooting British guy, Mark Rowan. And he said, fella, you're not going to win the gold medal today. He said, no one is going to beat David. David is going to be not only the, uh, the gold medalist, but he's also going to run the world record. So just get that out of your head, but you're going

to be the silver medalist. And let me tell you how you're going to do it. And so we kind of walked through the race and how everyone was going to go out too hard chasing David. And then they would blow up in the last lap and I would run my race perfect plus two second differential and reel in everybody on that last 200 meters. But nobody died. I got only two people died. So I was only able to go from eighth to fifth instead of eighth to second. The adrenaline for people. Yeah. And that's why you know superhuman things are done in the olympic games the amount of money that's on the line the noise the pressure like people who have shown that they rise to the occasion i mean they're the ones standing on

the line there's eight guys that have all shown that they can rise to the occasion right um and the adrenaline just pumping through your veins causes you to do crazy things. You said money on the line. So how much money is on the line when you win? Millions. Really? Oh, yeah.

When you consider what your federation's going to pay you, because, I mean, America doesn't get paid. I think they get like 25 grand for a gold medal. But some federations pay out a million dollars for a gold medal. Your sponsors, I'll bet you Nike. I mean, I can't speak to their contracts but i know some medals are worth million a million dollars holy crap in track and field and then you're talking about um potential sponsorship on the back end you're talking about the appearance

fees that you're gonna get right i mean some of these athletes are getting 25 50 100 000 appearance fees to show up to uh zur Diamond League after the Olympics. So all said and done, a gold medal is worth, I mean, conservatively a million dollars. I didn't know that because the Olympics themselves don't pay anything, right? It's a really good question. I never won an Olympic medal. I think they do. I think they do have some money associated with them. But you just add it up, especially over the course of a lifetime know especially if you get that medal while you're young it could be worth millions and millions during the course of your career interesting but you didn't do track for for money right that wasn't the main yes and no i didn't do it up until about the age of 30

and i always said this i would do this job for free just because i want to see how fast I can get. Right. Um, but then there came a point where I kind of like reached my peak 28, 29. I really peaked around my fastest time in the mile ran my fastest time in the 800. And then I could see each season just getting a little bit slower. And, and at that point I was kind of over it. You know, I talked about putting a bow on it and I'm like, yeah, I saw what I could do. Um, and then after that it was a job, but because in, in track and field, especially you get paid on like, you know, your resume on your portfolio. Like I was cashing checks at the age of 31, 32, that were 10 times what I cashed at 22 or 23, even though I was running faster at 22 or 23, I had built up this resume and, and, you know, it was getting much bigger appearance fees. And so I felt I owed it to my younger self for having

done the work, having come through the process to finally cash those checks. And, uh, and so I still trained hard. I mean, I really wanted to make her the Rio team, but it was a job at that point more than like something I would have done for free. So it sounds similar to tennis where only the top like one percent may actually make good money very similar it's exponential you could be the fastest guy in the world and you're making millions you could be the eighth fastest guy and you're living below the poverty line damn yeah that's crazy to me yeah because other sports you get like a minimum guaranteed contract nothing like that in track wow and it's so individualized it's not like you have anyone to hold you accountable right and the the events are different so if you're the one, you could be the number 20 fastest

guy in the hundred and still making good money. And you could be the number one women's hammer thrower and living below the poverty line. So like there's, there's events that get paid really well. And there's events that don't get paid as well. Which ones get paid the most? You think a hundred mile marathon. That's where the money where the marathon yeah that's where the big money is okay there's still money in the 400 and the 800 the 5k but the big big money is in 100 mile marathon interesting i wasn't good at any of those i guess the marathon has a lot of sponsors it's because you can only run like two um a year really maybe three okay and uh so they're training really hard and they're going for the appearance fees right so like if

you're one of the best marathoners in the world you're getting a quarter million dollars just to show up damn just to show up just to show up you have to finish sometimes he's gonna start new york marathon if you're watching this yeah i'm in exactly any races you still think about to this day that haunt you no i'm like content you've come to there were when i retired races that haunt me and i still couldn't go back and watch some races damn i was like i can't watch that race just because of the tactical error or just like like the the 12 games like what could have been i know i did everything possible i have everything possible did you felt like you had energy left no nothing i gave everything i had in that race and it was a personal best by almost a full second like it was everything i had yeah so i i was at

least at peace with that but it still hurt to watch um no i mean i look back on it i'm just like what a great chapter in my life you know like i got to see the world i made some money i made some friends um i just had such an incredible time doing it. Again, how lucky for anyone out there, no matter what you're doing, whether it's sport or building a business or even your career, whatever it may be, to wake up and say, like, I look forward to my job on Monday. Or I would do this for free. I love it so much. If you can find that, it's the holy grail in life. Absolutely.

To get paid to do something you would do for free. It's like getting struck by lightning. And I feel like I've been struck twice now, once with running. And then again with YouTubing. Nice. So I just, I feel very, very lucky. I love that. So you even like the training aspect of like the long 10 mile, 20 mile days. It's an acquired taste, you know, like as you probably remember, like it's an acquired taste. I hated it in high school. Yes. i'm like this sucks so bad like why am i doing this i did it because i was good at it but i hated the training then in college it got a little bit better it's like okay i've been in class for eight hours it's

nice to go blow off some steam with the guys you know running through oregon was beautiful and then as a pro when i had nothing else to do it was amazing it's like wait a minute you mean that in today's waking day from 8am to whenever I go to bed, all I have to do is get my workout in and you're going to pay me to do it. Like it was incredible. I feel that. And your first couple of years you were talking earlier, you, you only made 25,000 a year. Uh, my first contract with Nike was right around there. Wow. You were stoked. I was so happy. That's crazy. Cause coming out of college, I was like, you know, how am I going to pay my bills?

I really want to train. And I kind of made this decision. I am going to train for the 08 Olympic Games, even if I have to work at McDonald's to pay my bills. But I had a great senior season. And coming out of college, Nike picked me up on a small contract. And I was so ecstatic because I was like,

I can train full time now. I still had to live very simply. It was a very small contract. But I didn't care about money. All I cared was that I could put every ounce of my energy into trying to make the team. Yeah. Sigma Chi fraternity, man. Yeah. How'd you balance that with running? Uh, not well, that was actually due to an injury. So I'd never thought about joining a fraternity, but my sophomore year I had to have double knee surgery. Okay. Cost me my cross country season cost me like six months of training. Damn. And I realized that year that all the friends that I had made were just runners. Yeah.

Are you interested in coming on the digital social hour podcast as a guest? We'll click the application link below in the description of this video. We are always looking for cool stories, cool entrepreneurs to talk to you about business and life. Click the application link below and here's the episode guys and i didn't want to hang out with them right then because i was you know going through it real low and didn't want to even talk running and uh someone was like well you know join join a fraternity like you'll have have a bunch of instant friends and you can just like not think about running so i did that it was a blast uh i had fun with it again my junior year but you could kind of tell it was like getting in

the way yeah of my recovery uh uh, physically, you know, shoot, I'd put 20 pounds on just drinking beer and lifting weights. Right. So I had to lose all that weight. And then going from my junior to senior year was when I was like, okay, I got nine months to figure out how I'm going to make a living. And, and, you know, I'd like it to be pro running. Um, I'm gonna have to go all in on this idea. So the summer between my junior and senior year, I moved to central Mexico, trained for three months with a bunch of Kenyans, pro Kenyans at altitude, learned everything about pro running, came down 20 pounds lighter. And just every, every time I touched the track, new PR, new PR, new PR. And that's when Nike picked me up. Wow. So training at altitude, you'd credit that to helping you a lot, right? Still to this day, like altitude, I just, weight will melt off me.

Like if I ever have a problem with my weight, I'll just go live at altitude for two or three months and it melts off me. I didn't know that. Yeah. So I'd train at like 168 during the year, but then I'd go to Flagstaff, Arizona every April for four weeks and I'd come down 10 pounds lighter. Holy crap. That makes sense. When, uh, NBA teams go to Denver to play there, they're out of breath. Oh yeah. And that's, and that's only 5,000 feet, right? I mean, we were training at Flagstaff at seven and I would, I would train at Toluca at nine.

Holy no. Like the higher, the better for me. And it's hard. I mean, you feel like you're out of breath the whole time and your time suck, but you're building red blood cells. The weight's melting off you. You come down to sea level and you can almost like taste the air. It's like, it's like breathing syrup. You're like, there's so many oxygen molecules. It's incredible. And then you just crush workouts. I feel that when I go to Jersey, it feels like so different. The air out there, cause out here in the desert, there's no trees. Yeah. And it's thinner. It's thinner air. It's definitely thinner.

You mentioned beers in college. You ran the beer mile. Yeah. I like the beer mile. So for those that don't know what the beer mile is, you drink a beer from an unmodified 12-ounce can or bottle. Then you run a lap. And you got to do that four times. So four beers, four laps.

My best, I did it like two weeks after the Olympic Games in 12. And I ran 519. Crazy. Which at the time was an American record, which has gone and been destroyed since then. Someone beat it? Oh, yeah. There are people doing like 430, 420 miles now. Beer miles.

Oh, my gosh. Did you throw up? I didn't. You get disqualified if you throw up. Really? And you're just wasting good beers. It's a fun buzz because not recommending that anyone do this. Yeah. But as the adrenaline wears off, the alcohol in your system goes up. And so like you

have this like, yeah. Did you feel drunk by the third lap? No, you don't feel it at all. Oh, really? Yeah. Cause it's not enough time, you know, and you're just full of adrenaline. Okay. Don't feel the alcohol at all. Even when you finish, you're like, oh man, that's crazy. You don't feel it after. You don't feel the alcohol. What? 10 minutes after you're like oh man that's crazy you don't feel it after you don't feel the alcohol what 10 minutes after you're spinning oh just spinning four beers yeah in 10 minutes is in under 10 yeah i haven't done it since i don't know when the last one was i don't know a few years back they're not fun they're miserable don't do them yeah it sounds fun on paper you're like oh let's do this guys but then you do it and i did it in high school with my track team and we all threw up and you're like burping and foam

everywhere. It's nasty. Um, are you drinking when you hike, when you climb the mountains? Never. Yeah. I, I mean, I am 40 years old. Like I enjoy whiskey, enjoy gin and tonic here and there. I still drink beer when I'm on a mountain and like in a different zone. I like, and some of these, these aren't, these aren't like, you know, afternoon hikes, which I do. I love those too. And I might have a beer on one of those. But when you're climbing one of these big mountains, it's not just like, it's not just out hiking. You're surviving.

So on Denali, when I go to Denali, a plane will fly me into the glacier and I'll have three or four weeks worth of supplies that are in my backpack and on a sled behind me. Damn. And that pilot's not coming back for three or four weeks. So're alone no i'll be with i'll be with a crew okay i'm gonna climb with a guide and a couple other climbers um but the plane's not coming back to get you for three or four weeks so you've got to survive so you can't even back out there's no way there's not like a like please like come pick me up there's no like there's no service there's no service there's not like come get me we carry sat with us. So like if something went really bad,

they'd helicopter in and get you. Wow. But yeah, for the most part, you're on your own out there. Dude, that's nuts. You know, and so you're really thinking about more as like survival than you're thinking about like out having a good time.

So you're a little adrenaline junkie. Yeah, it's like, I don't, I suppose someone would call it that. Yeah. I'm an adventure junkie. Feel that. My friend. I'm hopelessly addicted to like adventures,, someone would call it that. Yeah. I'm an, I'm an adventure junkie. Feel that. My friend. I'm hopelessly addicted to like adventures, big and small.

Love it. Yeah. My friend, Mike Posner, he's a music artist. Yeah, I know Mike. Oh, you know Mike? He climbed Everest. Yeah. Yeah.

I went on a retreat with him to Poland to see Wim Hof about three or four years ago. Sick. Yeah. He said it took two months, I think. Yeah. I was like, holy. Everest takes, next year if I do it, it'll be two months door to door. Crazy.

It's like April one to June one. Yeah. And he said there was an avalanche one day, and he almost died. Yeah. Crazy. Yeah, and he's incredible. Man, what a story.

And he walked across the country. Yeah. That's what kind of got him into mountaineering a little bit. It was like, I just love walking. I actually want to climb a mountain now. You're inspiring me. What do you want to climb? I got to start small.

So for those listening, this 50-state high point thing is the most incredible way to dip your toes in because everyone in America at least lives next to one. Because there's 50 states and you live in one of those states and that state has a high point. And you could go to Florida right now and just drive to it. You could go to Mount Sunflower. I think, was that Kansas? And just drive to it. So a lot of these you can just drive up.

But that's an adventure in and of itself. Just driving. Just driving and seeing the country. And then if you wanted to like branch out a little bit, you know, like Mount Rogers, I think is Virginia. That's a great hike.

Mount Marcy up in New York is a great hike. And then if you really want to push yourself, Mount hood, Mount Whitney, boundary peak here in Nevada, Rainier, I mean, Rainier is a three day,

like glaciated mountain. That's very, very tough. Which one was the hardest for you so far? Hood took three tries. Which state is that in? That's Oregon. Oregon, okay.

Hood took three tries because I was really a novice. And I was like, oh, just go hike it. You can't hike Hood. You got to like know what you're doing. It's super steep. Super steep. And like you can only climb it for like a couple months out of the year. And I was off season.

Like these rocks were raining down. I'm i'm gonna freaking die here so i had to like actually start learning about the mountains and researching them and best practices and i took a mountaineering course and so like as you get better and better you like kind of know how to predict the mountains um montana uh was granite peak that was brutal montana sometimes i make them more difficult than they need to be like i did red deer in 24 hours no one should ever do that you should like take time and also these take days some of them yeah i did whitney in 24 hours too that was horrible wow just straight no sleep yeah just wow you're an animal well that that was how i used to be now i'm like slow and steady wins this race yeah you should climb though i mean if you want if you wanted to like just go out and climb uh boundary peaks not

far from you that's a nice one that's nevada's highest i'll try it out man i've been to red rock red rocks yeah i ran i ran around there oh yeah you ran there jesus well when you're a pro runner and the coach gives you a run like you got to get it done even if you're in vegas yeah you got to go out any crazy running stories because i i've got a couple actually i want to hear yours i mean not as crazy as yours but i rolled my ankle so bad once and i was seven miles out so i had to limp seven miles back to my high school training facility brutal crazy no cell phone no cell phone yeah any stories like that for you well one at red rocks yeah so i was out here i can't remember what it was for some meeting but i was still pro runner and coach was like, Hey, you need to get your long run in. And he's like, I want you to do 10,

no more, no more than 10. And so someone was like, Oh, go to red rocks. It's beautiful. So I went out there and like, I'm kind of like eyeballing it on the map and I'm like, okay, from here to there is like 10 mile loop. Yeah. And so I just turn my GPS watch on, I start running for my car and I get to 10 miles and I'm still a long ways away from my car. And I'm like, coach said no more than 10, like 12 isn't that much more. So I ran another two miles and my car is still nowhere to be seen. And I'm like, if I, if I don't like this could end up being an 18 mile run, I can injure myself. I'm not careful. Yeah. And, uh, so I just start hitchhiking. I used to hitchhike a lot when I was a kid.

So I'm not, I'm like kind of used to it.ike a lot when i was a kid so i'm not i'm like kind of used to it and um but i'm just like i'm literally just in little shorty shorts like we run in they don't have a shirt on i'm just in shorty shorts freezing off in like the nevada winter out there and i'm holding my thumb up and this prius rolls up and they're like are you okay i'm like i'm parked just on the other side of the loop. Like I've already run 12. I don't think I can get to my car. And I hop in and they start driving me and they're like, it's really dangerous. You shouldn't be doing this. And I'm like, oh, I used to do it all the time when I was a kid in Idaho. And they're like, Idaho, we're from Boise. And turns out that the guy driving the car had worked for my dad. So it was like a super small, super small world. Yeah. What are

the odds? And that was in Vegas. It was just outside Vegas. Yeah. They're like, oh yeah, we just drove down here for the week to like, to climb a little bit. Wow. So they got me to my car and they're like, please don't hitchhike anymore. Damn. Don't tell my dad. That's crazy. You ever get hit by a car running?

No, thank God. Because I know some people that have. Yeah. I know some cyclists too. Oh yeah? People just texting and driving. Oh yeah. These days.

Yeah. It's got to be. I think I always say this. They're like, because I'm a pilot and a mountain climber. And they're like, aren't you worried about the risks that you take? I'm like, not even close to the risk that I take when I'm road biking. Really? I think road bike, and I'm a super safe road biker.

I think road cycling might be the most dangerous thing that I do. Not because, if I was just doing it on a green belt, that'd be fine. But if you do it on a road with drivers who aren't paying attention, statistically, that is a very, very dangerous thing to do. Right. My coach always made us run towards the traffic traffic. Yes. You can see him coming and you can kind of like tell if they're.

Yeah. He would get pissed if he ever saw us like running with traffic. Yeah. You miss it. I do miss running. But like you said, a lot of damage on the joints. Yeah. So I don't know.

Especially your size, man. Yeah. I got injured all the time running, dude.'re running ruckers i ran in high school i could have ran in ruckers but i i liked partying a bit too much yeah my sister was a state champion soccer and cross country and track damn and she everybody wanted to recruit her and she's like no i think i'm just gonna go enjoy college because she saw how much work i was doing yeah she's my little sister and she's like yeah i don't know if I want to do that. And I'm like, you're so smart.

So how much of that is genetics versus hard work in your family? I mean, genetics obviously plays a role. Everyone always asks me that. Can I become an Olympian just with hard work? I'm like, probably not. Probably not.

You have to have some genetic gift. So your parents were pretty solid. They were great athletes. Yeah. Not like Olympians, but they, you know, good athletes. But then I know a lot of people who were genetically more gifted than me that just wouldn't do the work.

So you have to have both parts to reach that upper level. You have to be genetically gifted and then you have to work off to, as I called it, like realize the gift. Yeah. I used to say I was born with a lottery ticket, but the only way I can cash it in is by running 10 miles every day. Yeah. That's how I viewed it. So how many days did you do that straight? 10 miles?

I mean, I averaged 10 miles a day for 15, 20 years. Holy crap. No days off. Uh, we took two weeks off every year and I, I would take out days off occasion.

So I say we average 10 miles a day, but like, you know, sometimes I'd call coach up and be like, coach, I can't, I'm like, I physically can't get out of bed after yesterday's workout. Like I'm spent.

Yeah. And he'd like, okay, go Aqua jog for an hour instead. Or sometimes, sometimes he would say you can take a day off, but I really don't believe in scheduling days off at that level. Because what if you feel great, you know, save the days for when you really need them. Got it. Um, the only time we'd really schedule time off is at the end of a season. Season would run through mid-September. And then if you were trying to get yourself ready for another 50-week cycle,

you'd just take two weeks totally off. Damn. And I would just drink beer and go fishing. For two weeks? Then I'd be like, okay, I think I'm ready to turn again. Right back to it. And what mile per minute pace for the 10 miles were you running at? If it was a long run like a progression run might start at like

seven minute miles work your way down to like six minute miles yeah um but sometimes you know like an evening run because i i would do doubles a lot run in the morning and the evening sometimes in the evenings i'd do four miles just listening to music at like eight mile eight minute per mile oh that's it yeah Just time on your feet. That sounds pretty doable. It's doable. Yeah. So a lot of times I'd invite people.

No, I was dating that into my twenties and I'd be like, yeah, let's go for a run. They're like, uh, I'm going to run with you. I'm like,

I'm serious. Like you'll like this. And we would just go out and go for like, you know, 30 minutes stroll around priest trail at eight minute pace. It was really easy. And they didn't get invited to like the track the next day, but like yeah you know it's i had a lot of friends that were just casual runners that i'd run with in the evenings and did you train alone or do you did you have

somebody to keep up okay yeah i was lucky for eight years with nike i had the oregon track club elite and eugene and then i moved to seattle when i uh started running for brooks and i ran with the brooks beast and i always felt i didn't mind training on my own i was one of those people that like i can train on my own i just loved having a team around me there's so much more energy and more support and it's easier fun when i go to the gym alone and lift it's it feels longer yeah same with the sauna yeah like when i have people to talk to it just goes by quicker just have fun you know like what could be more fun than being outdoors with with your with your friends like especially as runners on those easy runs you you're running slow enough. We called it conversational pace. Yeah. So if

you're going to go run for an hour, it'd be more fun to run with the guys and talk about anything you want to talk about. Just chill. I want to end off with run gum, man. You built quite an empire there. Yeah, it was great. Um, I was a founder and CEO for seven years, six, seven years. And then, uh, I kind of woke up one day and I was like, I don't want to be the CEO anymore. So I hired my replacement. Yeah. And he's still the CEO

and I just am a silent investor basically. Nice. I loved it. Again, kind of like talk about just like laying awake at night, like dreaming about things. Yeah. There was a time there as my running career was winding down and I'd just be like,

I want to create a business so bad. But after leading it for six years, I just want to go do something else. And that's been really like the story of my career is like, I get really into something and I go all in and I find, because I, because I go all in, I find success and I just love it and hammer it to death until I'm over it.

And then I move on to the next thing. And I've kind of done that for 20 years now. That's how I am. I think it's a new era. I think with our parents, they had the same job their whole lives and some of them didn't like it, but they didn't want to just grind it because of the benefits or whatever. But now we're in an age where you can just do a bunch of different things.

Well, and you also have to think about living for like a hundred years, right? So like the, the Japanese have this term, I'm going to mess it up. It could guy, which is like your,

your reason for being. And they don't have the word retirement. Wow. Which I love there shouldn't be. I think we should just get this, this idea of retirement out of our vernacular. Like we shouldn't even use the word. It's like, what are you going to go to next? You don't have to like, you could quit your nine to five, but don't retire. Just move into the next thing. It doesn't necessarily have to be making money. It could be volunteering. It could be growing vegetables. I don't know. Like I don't ever want to retire. I just want to move on to the next thing. So I'm going to keep making YouTube videos, but when the day comes that I don't want to make a YouTube video, I'll need to move into the next thing. And I just want to keep pursuing

my passions until I die. A hundred percent agree. I'll feel like that was a great life, right? You're obviously living the same lifestyle. Dude, I'll never retire because this is fun to me. Just having conversations with the people that are the best at what they do. You got struck by lightning. Yeah, dude. It's one of the best jobs ever, in my opinion, being a content creator. You're a great one. Yeah.

Thank you so much, man. Where can people find out what you're up to, man? You know, I plugged things for 20 years. I plugged shoes. I plugged RunGum. I plugged my YouTube channel. Uh, I'm on a break. So like you can go check me out on Instagram or Nick Simmons.com, but you're not going to see anything for a few months. If you do want to follow along this story, uh, of the mountaineering,

you know, and trying to climb to Nolly, that video will drop, uh, early July. Right now we're scheduling it for July one. Nice. And, um, it'll be, it'll be cinematic. It'll be stunning. Um, and you'll find out if I have what it takes to get to the top of the tallest mountain in North America. I don't think I do.

I'm just going to say that right now. I don't think I have what it takes to get to the top of this mountain. I've struggled at altitude. I'm working my butt off, dude. I'm training seven days a week. I'm going to do everything possible

to find success on that mountain and then, you know, it is there, it isn't there. I think with the cameras on, it adds more pressure to you. Yeah, and I respond well to pressure. I that mountain. Wow. And then, you know, it is there, it isn't there. I think with the cameras on, it adds more pressure to you, so. Yeah. And I respond well to pressure. I love it, man.

Thanks so much for coming on. Thank you, guys. Yeah. Thanks for watching, guys. See you tomorrow.