This Past Weekend - E318 Iron Man Chris Nikic

Episode Date: January 22, 2021

Theo sits down with Chris Nikic, the first person with Down Syndrome to complete the Ironman Triathlon. They discuss the challenges Chris faces during his training, what he uses to motivate himself & others, and what he's looking for in the perfect woman.   New Merch https://theovonstore.com https://bit.ly/theo-von This episode is brought to you by: Headspace: https://headspace.com/theo BlueChew: https://bluechew.com and use promo code THEO ShipStation: Try for free for 60 days at https://shipstation.com/ and use promo code Theo Magic Mind: https://magicmind.co and use promo code THEO for 10% off Skillz: https://skillz.com/theo and use promo code THEO for double the cash BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/theo for 10% OFF your First Month     Music: “Shine” - Bishop Gunn http://bit.ly/Shine_BishopGunn     Hit the Hotline [phone]     Video Hotline for Theo Upload here: http://bit.ly/TPW_VideoHotline     Find Theo: Website: https://theovon.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/theovon Facebook: https://facebook.com/theovon Facebook Group: https://facebook.com/groups/thispastweekend Twitter: https://twitter.com/theovon YouTube: https://youtube.com/theovon Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiEKV_MOhwZ7OEcgFyLKilw     Producer: Nick Davis https://instagram.com/realnickdavis   Producer: Sean Dugan https://www.instagram.com/SeanDugan/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I think it's making me feel, let me just try to think what I'm feeling right now, so just give me just a second. It made me feel like I can be a, it made me feel like I can be a part of something better. Is that what it made me feel? It made me feel it made me feel like there is something bigger going on out there that I'm not in control of and that whatever that bigger thing is that it has good intentions. I think honestly, that's what it made me feel. You're going to love today's episode. Today's guest is Chris

Nickach. He is the first Down syndrome human ever to finish an Iron Man marathon. He's here today, gracing us with his presence. Him and his father, Nick Nickach are here today and I hope you will enjoy this episode. Be patient. There's some communication that takes some time to kind of build, but this was one of the best hour or so amount of times I'd ever spent in my life. People complain about everything. Yeah, but I'm telling them, look, you guys, you guys stop talking like that. Yeah. That's bullcrap. Yeah. There's excuses. Yeah, no excuses. You guys do this to go fight back. You got to work hard. You got to work hard. If you work hard, you succeed in life. Who taught you that? Yeah. And your dad's here today. Yes. What's his name?

Nick Nick. Yes. Nick Nick. Is he a role model? Yes. What's another role model that you have? Perseverance. Perseverance is a role model. Oh, interesting. Can when you're competing, do you feel like you're competing against yourself to make yourself better or do you feel like you're competing against the other competitors? What is it like for you to compete in Iron Man? Is it feel like you're competing against yourself or against other people? I'm competing against myself and other peers as well. I was better the next day. I want to stay active. To you straightforward. To stay, keep going forward. Yeah. When you're, what is the toughest part,

when you're doing the Iron Man, what is the toughest part? Like, was there a moment that you felt like you couldn't go anymore? Was there a moment that felt like maybe you wouldn't be able to do it? What were some tough moments like? Um, one of my tough moments was the pain. The pain where? Where was the pain? Like the butt, the lower back. I had to sit upward. But uh, when the people at the oil became soft, they're making the bike so I could lean forward. Oh, you got a new bike that helps you lean forward? Yeah. And does that make it easier to compete? Yeah. When you were doing the Iron Man, was there a certain mile where you wanted to give up maybe?

So, at some point, I was on mile 13, and then here go on. At mile 13? Yeah. Wow, that's early in the race, right? No, that's in the marathon. Oh, that's in the marathon only? Um, I knew that the pain's coming. The pain's coming? I knew that my dad had come and hugged me. He came and hugged you? Yeah. And what did he say? He said, let's go to the pain of the dream, and the sad between. And then you just kept going? And I found my way through. When you're competing, do you know that you have, do you know that you have a disability or do you

can, does it feel on the inside like you have a disability or it doesn't feel like it? Uh, I have a disability. It's called um, Down syndrome, connect disorder when I was born. Does it feel like you have it or, or does it feel different inside of you or does it feel normal inside of you? Um, I have it now. It feels bad. Dad, I need someone to kiss my heart and I could be my woman. Oh, you need someone to touch your heart, huh? Yeah. That might cure it, huh? Yeah. Yeah. Can you stir my soul? Yeah.

Um, have you had, uh, have you been in love in your life? Once, um, when I crashed my bike, I saw, I saw her as a smoking hot. A smoking hot person, smoking hot woman. She came and helped you? She did. Oh yeah. Dad, are you buying this one? I don't buy this. No, I'm not buying it. You're just making stuff up. I remember, I'll tell you my story for, I'll tell you a story for me, Chris. I remember Chris kicked his dad just now. I'll tell you a story for me, Chris.

When I was young, I remember I was maybe like seven years old and I was in Texas and I went outside and there was a girl by a stream and she was getting like, um, she was just getting like a bucket of water out of the river or stream. And that was the first time in my life I ever felt like I was in love with a girl. I just remembered. I never had felt that before and then I saw her and something about her made me think that I loved her and I felt like, oh, I'm in love with her. Did you, do you remember the first time you had a moment like that where you felt like attracted to a woman like that? Yeah, um, I was at the Magic Game with my dad.

The Orlando Magic Game? Yeah. And I saw a pretty dancer and she's in my photos and, um, and she was, um, attractive. She was, um, smokin' hot. Yeah. Um, cute, um, I would definitely say she's the most absolute best foot woman. Oh, so she really took your heart away, huh? She did take my heart. Yeah.

What did you ask her? The anxiety of falling with me. Yeah. And what did you ask her? I fell back. Yeah, baby boy. You actually asked her something, didn't you? And while I was on, I said, what go I did?

Nice. And her response was like, sir, in a, in a few moments, I knelt in the eyes of a beautiful woman, still right there. Yeah. And from there, I said, will you marry me? Oh, while you went straight to marriage, huh? Yeah. Strong move.

And, um, what is she saying? She's like, sir, right there at the magic age. Right there, when I got home tonight, I said to my mom, mom, I found a woman. Yeah. And she's like, see myself, um, she's quite older. I'm like, I don't care. I don't care how age, I don't care how old she is. And I said, mom, I asked her on a date, and she's like, for real, I'm like, I'm dead serious. And then she said, what makes you want to make a move on this woman?

Good question. And then I said, mom, I've got your clothes, but take my woman now. And then right there, I said, mom, I actually made me. And then my mom said, um, where did she come from? I'm like, her family. And then her family told her that when they confront her father, her father gave me a present to make his daughter. Her father, what?

I wanted to get a present. Oh, a present? A blessing. A blessing. Oh, you had to get a blessing from the father? From her father, so it could make his daughter. So did you do it? Yeah.

No, you didn't. And now you're making stuff up. Everything was true up to that point. Oh, no. At some point, the mom noticed me, and she said, are you the man who said, I made my daughter? Who's a freaking magic dancer? Okay, now let's stop, because now you're making stuff up. So he's going to cut this out.

But it was a good story, though. He'll tell you a story. So that was the first moment that you felt like you really fell for, huh? Yeah. Yeah. I've been there. Tell them what you said when you saw Rachel on Instagram. I'm going to tell her that.

Tell him. He wants to know that stuff. Oh, okay. So you saw Rachel on Instagram. What did you say to me? I saw Rachel. And who is Rachel? A girl?

Yeah. Okay. She lives in Tampa. Oh, nice. She's the Miss Runners Florida. She's what? Miss Runners Florida. Runner Up Miss Florida.

Oh, she's Miss Runner Up Miss Florida. Wow, beautiful. And what did you say when you saw her? I said, that's the one. That's the one. Yeah. But I figured she's got autism, which basically says difficult. She has autism, so it makes things difficult?

Yeah. Is she able to communicate? She is. Oh, she's amazing. She sounds really cool. Yeah. But she says working hard. Yeah.

But she doesn't understand the true meaning of love. That's because she has autism. So she's, you got to teach her how to get more social. Social. Social. Well, I bet she, do you guys have plans to maybe go out sometime? Not enough. Nothing, you know?

Well, you guys get together all the time. We always get together. Do stuff. She was at your house for two days this week. She's in my house. Okay. So there's definitely a possibility there. Not a chance. Does it take time?

Okay. You got to give her time. What is, what's harder for you to compete with, to compete physically or to compete with women trying to meet women? What's a tougher obstacle in the world, do you think? I would say I would compete against women. It's hard, huh? You know, it's not hard, but

it's called easy, simple, favor. If a woman who enters into my world, she must be the one. Oh, I love it. I like your attitude. I'm the same way. If I see a woman, I fall in love with her. And when I do see a woman, she must be smoking hot. Oh, yeah.

That's a good, that's a good attribute, man. I like it. It was a crash, a bike, I knew they were smoking hot blood, where the record comes to me. Oh, I see. It's almost like a story out of like a A.S.U.P.s fable or something. Yeah. Yeah, I like that. She poured her sword out.

She pulled a sword out? Sore. Sore? What? What, pulled one out? She poured out. Her soul. Oh, she poured out her soul on your guy.

Yeah, there's some. In your mind. I think we all, I think as men, we all have that. Like, it's hard with women. It's hard. But it's not for me. Oh, okay. I'm keeping asking multiple women to be my date.

Hey, look, and if, and what did dad say whenever you were having trouble at that, at the halfway point of the marathon? What was the options? The fake pain or the dream is basically a dream. It's the dream, baby. And he said, okay, there's time to get a wife. Yeah, that's the next obstacle, huh? Yeah.

I love that. But you must feel pretty confident in yourself if you're able to, to, to take on an iron man and finish. And then if you have the next obstacle in your life, maybe is to meet a woman and, and settle down. I bet you feel very confident. Do you? Yeah.

Um, in my 20 years on my life, I knew that the next time, if I do the next iron man, if I come in on time, then I'll be finishing on because be a smoking hot one. I love it, yeah. My dad, and in that instance, I'm going to grab my mario and then basically my stuff could be at her hotel. Oh, I can, I see. And then my woman could take me back to the hotel. I like it.

You got a whole plan. Basically sour, safe, good dress. And then basically like, there's no way any woman would put under an army. But I definitely put my own under an army. But after you put on my pants and then the belt, then she's going to help me with the dresser. Oh, she's going to help you with your dress shirt. Yeah.

Oh, that's romantic. Yeah. I like that's because you can't do your own buttons. Oh, you can't do your own buttons. No. Wow. Doesn't have the fine motor skills. But you can do an iron man.

Yeah, but he can't tie his own shoes. Good thing they don't have any buttons on the iron man. Oh, no, right. And I put on the dresser. She buttons and she puts her tie on. She puts her jacket on. And then she might say, then where are you going off, honey? Where are you going, honey?

And where are you guys going to go? I'm going to a nightclub. To a nightclub? Yeah. Okay, I like that. And then all the family, the coaches, the peers, repeat the nightclub. Oh, I love that. By the time I arrive.

Yeah. And then when I arrive, the doors could be closed. The nights are off. And then we're going to have a Papa and Spinoons. I'm probably DK. Yeah. We're going to have drinks. We're going to get paint.

Yeah. Skies, whiskey. Appetizers. Wine. Beer. Snacks. Appetizers. Yes.

Dinner. Yes. Dancing. Yes. Want to dance for. Yeah. I'm going to serve a table only for two. Oh.

So don't distract me. Yeah. And so your dad won't be at that table with me. I know. He's going to dance with me because he's going to be with my mom. Yeah. He's going to be with your mom and you're going to be with your lady. Yeah, all day.

This is a fairy tale. I love it though. And you can make, I believe you can make it happen to you. Yeah. I love that. I love your confidence. If you sell stuff online, if you're a salesman, a person that sells, you know, a seller, sales seller selling,

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Mm-hmm. He's a friend of mine. So next time you go to a game, we will have to have him come over and tell you hello. All right. He's a really special guy. Who are some athletes that you look up to? I look up to Intercompo. Who is it?

Intercompo. I'm not playing. Giannis MVP last year from Milwaukee. Oh, and how do you say his name again? Intercompo. Intercompo. Yeah, I never knew how to pronounce it. I've seen it written and it's a hard name.

Giannis Intercompo. Yeah, he's exceptional. And who's better than him? Who's the boy from Dallas that's your favorite? Lucas Dantes. Yeah, Lucas Dantes is dope. And every time Lucas Dantes crosses Intercompo, Intercompo gets a tanker. It just kicks out.

Tell him what you want to do with Luca. I'll beat him. I am massive hoppy. I love that. I look, I'll be a cheerleader. If you beat him, I'll be the cheerleader. Nope. There must be a woman.

Yeah, okay. And that woman is going to be smoking hot. Yeah, of course she is, man. And when I do beat Lucas Dantes, I take my woman. But if he beats me, I'm just taking my woman out. Okay, I love it, man. Wow, you really, you're such a, do you know how your parents met each other, like their first date?

Yeah, 34 years. 34 years. What farm, Minnesota. And they met in Minnesota? Yeah. What was your, what was the first date that your dad took your mom on? Do you know? Yeah.

He took my mom by the hand. And he said, first you made her. The reason I left my woman. On a first date, Nick, is that true? So I met my wife in a nightclub in Minnesota. Ah. Yeah. Right there.

On a Saturday night, we talked a little bit. I went home. Next day I called her from New York. That's where I lived. And she told me she was going to marry me. Wow. So I see where this fairy tale really hits close to home. Yeah, like I need my wife by the end of my reign.

You ready? I am. You think so? Yeah. I'm freaking ready. Look, I'm going to be trying to next year. I'm going to say this. Dad, did you mess with my life?

I'm going to give you a woman. You stop it. Yeah. When I give my woman, I'm going to see my dad. I'm going to say this is my best friend's life. You're going to tell dad to step aside, huh? Yeah, step aside. Stop hitting me.

Do you, what are some things in your life that are tough? What are some things about the disability you have that are tough that people wouldn't know are tough? They can know what I'm capable of. Ah. Um, they thought I couldn't do much, but I told them, you need to stop telling me what I can't do. And then I told them to effectively take the lid off.

Take the what off? Yes. Take the lid off. And you need to stop treating kids with the disabilities. Wow. If you want to succeed in life, then I can do it. If you're willing to work hard, I can work hard too. Wow, that's so amazing to hear.

Um, a lot of people with disabilities don't have the same mindset as you. Do you think people don't give them an opportunity? Do you think people look at you and think you can't do it? Well, okay. So people think I can do it, but I say to them, look, you have the basic reasons. The first reason is if they can do it, I can do it. If they're willing to work hard, I can work hard. If they succeed, I can succeed.

I can be a bell father, bell husband with a wife. I love it. What are some things that, like you mentioned earlier, like buttons are hard to do, right? Yeah. What are some regular tasks that are tough for you? Obviously you're an Ironman champion, so you can do anything in the world. I believe that. And so do you.

But what are some basic little tasks that might be tough? Okay. So for instance, after my wife, but it's African, she basically like Thomas Hughes. Okay. So tying your shoes is tough? Yeah. So let's talk about other stuff, but he wants to know what is unique about Down syndrome that makes everything hard for you.

What are, give him three or four things that make Down syndrome hard? I definitely say poor balance. Poor balance? Oh, poor balance? Yeah. Interesting. Why, why do you think? Can you, do you know why poor balance?

Because we don't know why, right? But tell them, tell them like, you know, how hard it is to learn how to ride a bike. How long did it take you to learn how to ride a bike? 18,000, six years. Wow. I'm not freaking nice. What else is hard about Down syndrome? Um, I've got low tone.

Low tone? Low tone when you talk? No, low tone muscles. Oh, really? So what do you have to do to build muscles? I think there's 12. How much harder do you have to work to build the same muscles as him? Five to ten times.

Five to ten times harder? No way. Just to build the same muscles as you? Freaking hell, yeah. What else is hard for Down syndrome? Um, delayed reactions. Delayed reaction? When I cross my bike, I see it's working on.

So reactions time is slow. Okay. So when you're riding your bike? You need quick reactions on a bike? Quick reaction. So took a long time to learn how to react fast enough. Like when you're, right now he can ride 28 miles an hour. You got to have fast reactions to when stuff pops up in front of you.

That took a long time to learn how to do. Wow. And did you do it, did you learn by actually riding a bike or did you take a simulator? No, actually riding. Actually riding. Thousands of times around the neighborhood. Thousands. Thousands and thousands.

One time I was riding in my neighborhood and there was a car. A car that was driving and I was freaking fast. You were faster than the car? No, he was going fast. Car was coming. So the car was coming and then basically I was on the side and the car came. And when I saw the car I knew I should react fast. And I started speeding down the whole time freaking neighborhood.

I passed the freaking sign limit. And what happened? And I passed a freaking car. And then? And a freaking car blew a horn and the person was like, what the hell? Is that when you crashed? And when I got to the other side, I saw that it was a fucking hard one. Yeah.

Distracted. Yeah, she distracted me. She crashed my bike. Did you crash your bike? Yeah, when I crashed my bike, she heard a boom on the street. Oh, they ruined everything. I mean, why? Yeah, they ruined everything, man.

He just ruined everything, but then she crashed. She's beautiful though, huh? Yeah, beautiful. Smoking hard. Yeah. See you forced with a biker, refer. I follow that. I can relate, man.

I think about, I always think about girls. Girls make, girls are, girls influence a lot of my behaviors. I think most guys are that way. Oh, no. Yeah, you know. But not me. Oh, not you, huh? No, I'm a humor.

I've got a great taste of humor. That's true. And I'm another, I'm a servant of God who is sensitive to women. Who is sensitive to women. I like that. And smoking hot nays, they nearly come up to me, one by one. And they'll say, Chris, walk with me. I like that.

I like that. You're just like me, man. I think you and I are very similar. I was all right. Well, when I was born, they thought I had Down syndrome when I was born. And so I can really relate to, I don't know. I think I just feel, sometimes I feel almost trapped inside of myself. And I don't know if that's what your life is like.

But sometimes I feel like, I don't know. I just feel like trapped inside of myself. What are, now that you've completed an Iron Man, is there a new goal? Or is it, will you continue to compete in Iron Man? Or do you want to do professional bowling? Is there something new? I want to be a professional golfer. Really?

And I'll get married. I'll get there freaking married. Oh, yeah. Golfers always get married. They always have chicks. Yeah, he just started his golf program. Really? Goal three years from now to be a par golfer.

Wow. You're competing than Iron Man and Triathlon. Because Iron Man is harder. And I don't take the risk of getting injured. I would stick to golf and marry my woman. Is golf easier? Yeah. Golf is easy.

Because when I get a fight in tournaments, I've got to take my woman. She'll be right there. She could be your caddy. And your wife. And wife. And a mother. If I could find a woman that could be all three of those, I want that woman too.

Whenever I make a good sign, she kisses me. Oh, I like that. And when I make a darkest part, everything goes in for a boy. She kisses me. Oh, I like that. She sounds like a nice lady, whoever she is. There's no such thing as nice.

Yes. I would point out, she's quite smokin' hot. She's smokin' hot, baby. I say smokin' hot. Smokin' nothing. Whenever I make a darker sign, smokin' hot kisses me.

Yeah, I love that. That's her nickname, smokin' hot, huh? Yeah. I say, you're my smokin' hot. You're my smokin' hot woman. There are those. Now, if you get married, where would you have

the, what's the dinner called before a marriage? Nick, the night before, what is that? The rehearsal dinner. What would be a restaurant you would have it at? I definitely have it in Hawaii. Oh.

Where it's pre-fancy. Yeah, it's nice. Pre-fancy for a smokin' hot woman. You feel in love with. Yeah. Hawaii is a good place to fall in love. Yeah. What does love feel like to you?

Do you have like, when you think about love, what does it feel like? Love is like hard woman, kind, nothing. A person who cares for me.

A person who loves me. Must we be a bad husband? A person who wants me to be a bad father? Nick, when I have my own woman, then

my woman could say, honey, how can we start doing what we're doing? And we make out. Oh, yeah. And, you know, I would say

wifey, when you can't make out, does make out rhymes with sex? Stop it. Stop it. It's normal, man. Don't go there.

I know. Hormones, man. They're wild. What does it feel like when you were about to start a race, when you were about to start the Iron Man, do you feel at peace or do you feel

aggression? What do you feel like if you're at a starting line? How do you feel? I feel like I'm in Korea. I feel like I'm a part of a family. What is it? I'm sorry, can you say it again for me?

It's included. Included in part of the family. Oh, wow. I'm in Korea and be part of the family. That's what you feel like at the starting line? Yeah. Wow, so there's a big sense of inclusion

for him in being in those races. That's number one out of everything is the inclusion. Number one of everything. Those people there feel like your brothers and sisters, huh? And when you're going through the Iron Man, do you ever have to

help people up that have fallen? I have. And what does that feel like? So, when a person who falls down I got backfired. I picked him up and said, keep going.

You're on my field. You're on my Iron Man. And keep going. And maybe you keep going. Then you get down where I'm saying

whether it's up or down to my hero. If it's up and down to the spider. Um, I just got put here. I got a studio.

I got one record. And thus far I've been living a happy happy place. I like your attitude, man.

It's so goal oriented. Um, do you do you feel tired? Like when I feel tired, I feel like kind of weak and I feel exhausted and I feel thirsty and I feel

like I need a break. Those are things that I feel like when I feel tired. What do you feel like when you feel tired? So, when I feel tired I quit. Um,

when I'm exhausted I can say suck it up finish it. Um, this is a, I have a question for your dad. Can I ask your dad a question? Sure. Okay. Nick, so do you, uh,

is it hard to know when to push Chris and motivate him and know when to is it hard to know what his capabilities truly are? Is it hard to know when he's being earnest about if he's had, if he's too tired or not?

Like, I could imagine that might be tough to kind of know. Has that been interesting to learn? Great question because he has learned how to manipulate all of us. My man. He has learned when he wants something how to actually

put on an act. And so at first, when he hit that wall, I would think, oh, he's done. But then I started to test him a little bit. And I realized that that was an act and that he could keep going. And so it was a learning experience.

Um, and I've learned how to help him mentally overcome a lot of what's going on in order to help him build a strong mental attitude that helps him fight through. Um, because as you can imagine, everything I've been told, Iron Man

is 90% mental. The body can handle so much more than the mind can handle. So a lot of the training was mental. It was teaching him how to overcome that mental pain that hits you. Um, and so

for him, tired is pain. And so, um, I had to learn how to figure out when that was real, when it was, and how to deal with it. And it's been a fascinating journey last year. Uh, teaching him mental toughness. Um, he is as mentally tough as anybody you're ever

going to meet now. Wow. Uh, what he had to go through to do that Iron Man. Um, you know, he essentially went from a 14-mile sprint, which is, you know, what a lot of people start out with, to a 140-mile Iron Man in about 10 months, which is unbelievable. And he did it

with all kinds of obstacles, including that he can't ride aero, right, which is in a downward position, which is about 30% more efficient than the average person. He can't ride with clip-ons on his feet. He has to ride with flat, which is another

30%. Um, and then he crashed his bike in the middle of the race. So he had to, like, stand up with the blood and the pain. He got bit by fire ants, and so he, his legs were all swollen up throughout the whole thing. All of that is about mental toughness.

Physically, he was beat up in bruise and everything. And when he wanted to quit at every stage, he got tougher and tougher. And at mile 13, as he said, when every bone in his body, every muscle ached, everything told him to quit,

he just toughened up. And mentally, the whole year was about teaching him mentally how to overcome those obstacles. And now I know that he can handle anything in life, because mentally, doesn't matter what hits him, he's not never going to quit. He knows how to fight through it.

Was he always like that, or it's definitely something that's been learned in the last year. He was never like that. And that's the good news, right? For anybody is that you can learn mental toughness. He learned mental toughness in the last year. You must be so proud of him, huh?

I think he's amazing. Every day, he just surprises me by how tough he is, how resilient he is, how much he learns, you know, and what a great attitude he has in terms of what he does. And what I've noticed,

the greatest thing of all is the impact he's having on other people. Love you, baby. He's changing lives, man. He's showing people like me and my wife who were devastated when he was first diagnosed with Down syndrome. For 20 years,

we thought he couldn't do anything. Now, what he's showing the world is that there's a whole world of possibilities out there. So yeah, I'm proud of him, but I'm just so excited about the mission he has to make a difference in the world and to help others like him and like us.

I said we're missing Chris right there. Which ones we'd be? When I was on the bike. When you were on the bike? Oh, they were everywhere. They came to see you because they had kids with Down syndrome and they wanted to see it. Wow.

People came from everywhere with their kids with Down syndrome and they wanted to see if this was real. Do you feel like I notice even just in my own life I had to work so hard and just in comedy to get

a foothold of my own. Then at certain point you feel like God has, he wants you to be a part of a mission. It's natural, I think, to have those thoughts. It's normal because you're like, why has so much been, and it's not a ton, but why have I been focused on?

Why is the light of the world or a journey of the world been attached to me in some way? I can only imagine that a lot of that happens with Chris. Chris, do you feel like God has a special plan for you? Yeah.

That's pretty cool, huh? Here I pray to make sure that I don't get a woman. I think that's going to happen easy. So, Chris, I know, so what about all of those social media posts

from all the moms and dads with kids with Down syndrome that you read all the time? What are they saying? Those moms with Down syndrome they're saying I'm the hero to the kids

in other countries. Does that make you, how does that make you feel? It feels like I'm aspiring to record about 10 times harder.

That's interesting, man. Yeah, you're definitely an inspiration. Yeah, I can't imagine what it's like to feel like you're then part of this bigger journey, this bigger picture journey of inspiring people. Well, I'll tell you, we believe that God has his hand

on this one for Chris. And he's using Chris as a way to give hope to a lot of others like him and create a community of inclusion. And one, because what Chris is doing is not just for Down syndrome, he's actually creating a whole community around him

who people are volunteering and helping, and they're seeing how wonderful it is to be part of a community like that. And I tell people if you don't believe that God had his hand on this one, before November 7th in 2020, every full Iron Man in the world was canceled.

Right, buddy? After November 7th, everyone was canceled. But November 7th, when Chris was doing it, it was the only one that was on. Really? The only one in the world. You guys had already booked that in advance. We booked it a year in advance, and we told everybody

God's not going to let this one get canceled. People said, you're crazy. They're all canceled. I said, yes, except this one. God wants Chris to do something special in this one. So he's going to make sure this one doesn't get canceled. And it didn't get canceled, and Chris shocked the world. So the only one Chris was registered for

is the only one that happened. Wow. That's powerful. And then everybody told us he's not going to handle the water because the waves are so big and wild. I said, don't worry, God's going to calm the water that day. And then he said, well, he's going to this. I said, don't worry, God's going to take care of it.

Were you scared, Chris? Were you scared or not? At first, I knew that there's toppy but kept going. And how close is your dad, when you're actually racing, do you have someone that, like,

are racers allowed to have an assistant with them? Yeah. For Special Olympics, there's a guide, someone who's with him the whole time. Okay. So he had a guide, Dan Grebe, who's been an angel sent to us to help him through this. Right. And Dan was like the perfect person brought into his life. And then, you know, you had Carlos

who's also helped him. Carlos is a Dan's a business person in Orlando. Carlos is a federal judge. Jennifer is an executive at Disney. These are all people who came around him who got brought to him who are the perfect personality, the perfect people,

and the perfect person to guide him through this journey and to help him do something, something big. So God had his hand in this the whole time. You know all that time that you've been spending looking for things, you've been maybe looking for it, you lost a contact lens, or you lost

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slash Theo. And now back to the episode. I feel, I think when I hear about your story it makes me feel, can I tell you how it makes me feel? It makes me feel when I hear about your story it makes me feel like

like I can do things that maybe I'm afraid to do, you know? And it makes me feel like there is a bigger that there is a bigger purpose in the world than just my own purposes and it makes me feel excited. That's how you make me feel when I hear about your story.

So thank you. We bought a couple of shirts earlier today one for myself and one for my producer, Nick. Can you tell us about the 1% better? Sure. It's really the concept of working hard to be successful

and to start small. My advice for kids is that stay small, stay fit use positive words be in the moment and

in this pain I can't tell them that it's a deep pain and I know that there could be a nightmare. Yeah. You're like Martin Luther Chris, man, I feel like. So golf is next, huh? Yeah.

Who should be worried out there? Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, who should be scared? I would say everyone. Yeah, good. And my wife would say why should I get scared in this golf course? I'm like because

you're my wife and we're not making our life good size. Kiss me. Kiss me. We all want love, man. It won't be enough. Yeah, we all do.

And she said she's still a doctor and we kissed. Hey, look, that's not a bad... Look, a kiss is a good start. A kiss is a good start. Hey, on the lips, it's a good place for a kiss, man. Are there any

actresses that you see on television that you think are cute? Yeah, I've seen actresses cute. I've seen actresses smoking hot. Which ones? Any show in particular or movie in particular?

Yeah. I would say LA. In LA? NCISLA. Which one? Which one do you like? For that. Kenzie.

For that. What about Chicago PD? Chicago PD. Which one do you like? Haley. She's smoking hot. Yeah, dude. A lot of beautiful ladies out there. Yeah.

She's looking down towards me saying when you kiss that I'm in Hawaii you gotta come up because I've got a podcast. Yeah. Only woman and man, no one knows. No one else, huh?

Nope. Just you and her in a podcast, huh? Yeah, that's her and I baby. I love it. Look, she's my woman and she's my pure love and no one would know. We should go on a double date sometime.

Definitely. We'll get two ladies and take them somewhere fun. Aye. Maybe I'm thinking like have you ever been to a water park before? I have. Maybe we could do a water park or...

Ooh, go-karts, do you like? Yeah. Yeah, bumper cars. That would be fun. I love bumping on people. Oh, on the go-karts? Yeah. Yeah, it's fun. What else could we do on our double date, you think?

Where could we go to eat? I think we should go to a fancy restaurant. It'd be romantic. Yes, get some candlelight. Afterall. Maybe a couple roses on the table for the ladies. Yeah. A little bit of champagne.

The champagne, the scotch. Yeah, a little scotch, damn, okay. Dang, bro. If I have too much scotch, I'll have down ten or five too much, man. Some dancing and some fun kissing. Yeah, finish with some kissing, man.

Dad gets nervous when you say it. Awesome. I'm trying to think of any other message that you want to leave our listeners with, Chris. Okay. Any positive message you want to leave our listeners with?

Sure. And the message is simple. For kids by saying start 3-4-9, man. Uh, it's hard, but

good. Whatever your Iron Man is, start training for it, huh? Yeah. Man, well, I just feel so lucky, Chris, that you came here today. Can we be friends from now on? Is that okay? Yeah. Okay, cool, man.

I want you to meet my friend Terrence Ross, who plays for the Orlando Magic. He will love you. Okay. Will you probably beat him? I will. That's cool. That'll be a lot of fun. And if I beat him,

then I'll be going to like, if like, if I beat him, I go to the NBA or Star Game. I'm in. I believe that. But if he beats me,

then I'm not going. I'm here. He's gone. I'm going. All right, Chris, let's close it out with there's one thing that's kept him motivated and on task for a year working hard. And it's his dream.

Yeah. Chris, because he's referring back to it. So, Chris, tell him your dream, the one you talk about every day that you see on your board every day. Tell him your dream and why you work so hard. And first, tell me what is your board? Tell him about your board.

So, the board has goals. The board has the dreams. The board has other workouts that I'm doing. And where is the board? In my bedroom. So, you see it every day? Yeah.

And do you have to wake up at a different time each day? Do you like to wake up at the same time? What do you like to do? I usually wake up in the morning in my dream. In my dream, we'd say hard on task,

buy a house, buy a car, maybe smoke and hop on, be a perk offer. Give your dreams right there. Every day. So, you wake up and see your dreams. Yeah. And then you go get them.

I can't tell my dad. Dad. You can't make this easy for me. I've got my own decision. So, please dad, give me the right right now. And he said, why? You're too young.

I'm like, first of all dad, I'm not young. Second of all, I'm a man. The reason if you don't become a woman, I'm moving out.

You're not moving out. So, start messing with me about life. You remind me of a professional wrestler. It's so funny Chris, because I will often just go off and tell stories that I like to tell.

So, it's so funny sitting here with you and watching somebody else do it. It's so refreshing to not have to be the one to do it. But I love the idea of having a dream board. I love the idea of seeing your dreams every day. It's so important because otherwise they're just in our heads, you know?

It was the single most critical part of his success, is seeing his dreams and his goals and his plan every single day. There was no getting away from it. And when things got hard, he always went back to his dreams. And that's where I think most people fall short.

They don't have a clear goal. They don't have a clear dream. And they don't have a plan. And then they just wander with him. 2020. He had three dreams. His own house, his own car and smoking hot blonde like his mom. Yeah.

And the rest was just, you know, every day 1%. And that's it. That's his whole plan. A big dream, a big goal and 1% a day. Is that it, Chris? Yeah. And before I go back home, I'm going to downtown Nashville

to have lunch and grab a smoking hot board woman. Yeah. Oh, look, there's a lot of there's a lot of beautiful women in this city. Yeah. Oh, yeah. What could happen? We're all looking for a man.

Chris and Nick, Nick itch. Sorry, it's one of those names. It's okay. It scares you every time I start it. Thank you guys for letting me be a part of your life today. Thank you for inviting us. This has been amazing. This is cool, man. This is really inspiring.

I honestly just feel grateful to have been in you guys' presence. Thank you so much. It's our pleasure. Thank you for inviting us and giving Chris this opportunity to share with your fans. It's fun. Chris is a cool guy. Yeah, he is. He's a cool guy.

You are a cool guy, aren't you, buddy? Yeah. I love being around you. I'm the most sassy, classical, and I love it. Yeah.

I'm the most popular sexist. So, I'm the most popperist sexy man on this earth. You don't even know what that means.

I like your attitude, brother. You'll figure it out. You know what it means. I know what you mean, baby. Sexy man. He wants to have a sexy woman. We all want it, man. Maybe he'll teach you something. You stop it.

Can he be like a big brother and teach you stuff? What do you think? You want a big brother who can teach you stuff? We'll connect. You got it, man. We'll connect. Chris, thank you so much for being with me. And left myself on one.

I've been moving way too fast on the runaway train with a heavy load of my past. And these girls that I've been robbing on, they want something that they're now they just weren't built to last.