Miles & Mountains
Join Nick, a social worker and coach by day, as he unravels the inspiring stories of athletes and the public, uncovering the motivations behind their actions, from conquering mountains to participating in ultra-endurance races and competing in rodeos. Get ready for heartwarming tales of community support, acts of kindness, and the revelation that everyone has a deeper story to tell. Whether it's running, climbing, or participating in rodeos, these stories will inspire and uplift. #Running, #Climbing, #EverydayAthletes, #Rodeo
Miles & Mountains
Cross Country and Health Challenges with Kyle Paulson
Kyle visits the Teacup Studio “Raw and Uncut” to discuss his amazing Cross Country season. We go from the adrenaline-fueled world of cross country running to the quieter challenge of facing “the C word.” He takes the time to share his love for the game and then paved the way for the host to share his recent health problems. This episode promises insights into both the world of young athletes striving for excellence and the internal strength required when life throws you a curveball.
As we wrap up, we touch on the poignant and oftentimes humorous aspects of living with a serious health condition. The host opens up about his journey from diagnosis to treatment, using creative ways to communicate with his six-year-old daughter and the community around him. This episode is a heartfelt reminder of the resilience required to face life's challenges head-on, whether on the XC course or in the doctor's office.
*Huge shoutout to Kyle for taking this opportunity for me to share my journey through tough times. He didn’t have to do it. He wanted to do it. Thank you brother.
Kyle Paulson
Instagram:
@kj_paulson
https://www.instagram.com/kj_paulson?igsh=bGF2dm1waTlkYnJq
Shoutout to:
Kyle Paulson
The Paulson Family
MCC coaches.
Alter Ego Ambassador: https://alteregorunning.com/
Miles & Mountains Promo Code: Milesmountainsyr3
Kyle Paulson. How are you, man hey, doing? Well, how about yourself?
Speaker 2:Doing good man. Welcome back. Yeah, good to be back. Good to be back in the Teacup Studios, yeah, it's good to have somebody back.
Speaker 1:The last time I had somebody in it was in August. But man, so much has changed and so much has gone on and so much to talk about. Man, you know, we got last week the election. You know pros and cons, but there, you know, if you go on social media there's a lot of cons. No pun intended, you know. But yeah, dude, it's just a lot has happened. I'm sitting on four. This will be my fifth. So guess what? Because this is my fifth and you're in the teacup studio, we're going raw and uncut.
Speaker 1:Uncut, as you said. Yes, unedited because.
Speaker 2:I'm going to put this out, man.
Speaker 1:I think once we are done, I'm going to put this out and just do a Rogan, but not really a rogan. So yeah, there's no, jamie here no, because a lot of people want to know, like, where's nick? Where's nick? I got a message from uh, from an old uh fan who went uh, who lived in tri-cities and then moved to mexico. She knows you, michelada, miss, dude, I'm gonna murder name she's listening, yeah, yeah she's going to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, trinidad, last name trinidad yeah, yeah, uh, like michaela mckay. But when you look at it, yeah, it looks like michaela. Yeah, yeah, it looks like michelada actually like. But I know you're talking about trin. Great runner dude, yeah, great runner man.
Speaker 1:You know, I know that. And she comes up like the day that you just happen to be on the podcast, hey, you know, just give me a lot of encouraging words and you know I just mentioned like, hey, this is what's going on. She's like, wow, you do have a lot of stuff going on. So, with that, said podcast is still there. So, with that said podcast is still there, like I put on the post on Instagram, but also been dealing with health issue.
Speaker 1:Pretty big one man, pretty big one, major, definitely dealt with some death this year, which has been hard. We don't really want to talk about that, but do want to talk about cross country season, man.
Speaker 2:Congrats, Thank you. Thank you. It was a good, a solid year for both of our teams, more or less. I know there are things that could you look back hindsight's always 2020 or 2024.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:And I could always wish you may change a thing or two here or there. But yeah, man, end of the day.
Speaker 1:I always wish you may change a thing or two here or there. But yeah, man, end of the day, I specifically work with the jv kids. Man and the jv kids brought it dude, I don't know man, they brought it, they had that oomph, they had that, that, that drive dude, that that pushed the varsity kids, you know a bit, and got them a little worried, you know. But what's cool is um to see majority of those kids go from barely sub 25 to 20, you know what I mean and then fight to 19.
Speaker 1:And it's just like all right. So got a lot of kids in that area that just need to believe in themselves, man, and the kids that you know from last year that were the same way, they have that drive and then they were stuck and then this year to be on varsity, dude, and tear it up and get those other boys scared, it's a good feeling, man. There's a shift. There's a shift. I see it, I feel it, I want it, I want those boys to have it. You know, and it just feels good and you know we can. We'll talk about your team, but the JV team and like I've told those kids, dude, they are just a step behind you guys, dude, not going to say, like you know, when it comes varsity, we're going to blow you guys out of the water. You guys are the best in the nation.
Speaker 1:Not this year out of the water. You guys are the best in the nation not this year. Well, you guys, you guys what, let's say, perspective wise, if you're looking at top 25 in football or basketball, right of college basketball football, whatever you guys will be mentioned, like maybe top 30, yeah, the honorable mention yeah, honorable mention you mention. I mean that's pretty damn good with all the other high schools in the nation, right, oh what?
Speaker 2:over 2,500 schools or whatever, across the country. But going back to your team, where before we started recording you were talking about, you were with your C team.
Speaker 1:You were second behind Moses Lake. Moses Lake, which man they?
Speaker 2:connell, they qualified for state. Yeah, so the only team that beat your c team was a team that made it to state. Yes, yes, not a small invite either. No, no, connell.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's different, it's different it's different, will I go there again? Yeah, absolutely. Just because you get to see those kids uh, grow blossom, start believing in themselves. Because you know it's those kids grow blossom, start believing in themselves. Because you know, it's not too big of an invite, it's just right.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:And you know that hill. That hill. It's like people are like oh man, this hill is terrible, but then those kids kill the hill man. I'm like where did that come from? They're like I don't know. I was just doubt myself and then I just went up here.
Speaker 1:I'm like, yeah that's how you do it but um, I I pay attention to the jv across the board. It's uh, kamiakin hamford man. It's like a one, two, one two punch or two three punch of us in hamford. You know the guys that give you the run for your money. Man is Hermiston, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Hermiston is just like elite dude.
Speaker 1:But their JV, you know a little questionable. They're not that big because their best runners are with you.
Speaker 2:guys Are already up there dude Super good. Weird how that works.
Speaker 1:Troy does a great job with them, yeah dude, troy's one of the best man, but no one could compete with you guys but hermiston. Yeah, it's. Thank goodness they're 3a.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank goodness they're 3a you know that's what I really love seeing. You know we're consistently for that. The last few years we've been at a fairly high level and I love seeing teams like Hermiston. You know what is the term? High tide raises all ships, so I'd love to see a team like Hermiston come up, get in the mix, beat us Now. Show the Kenwicks, the Richlands, the Hanfords hey, these guys are unbeatable. Hermiston can do it. Why?
Speaker 1:can't we do it?
Speaker 2:yeah, and they start going at that next level and they're now in the mix and they're talking about state titles, that's great, that's what I'd really love to see, see with that.
Speaker 1:You know, it's kind of yeah, and then walla walla had a good team yeah, yeah with ian.
Speaker 2:Oh, what's that? People can look it up. I think, yeah, they've got great individuals up front, which really helps lower that team score lash, is it?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, man, that boy's bad oh yeah, that boy's bad, you're fast. And your boy, man, your boys, uh, dude, I don't know man I to watch them, it I'll, I'll let you, I'll let you know it gets old to watch them because, dude, you guys are just dominant. Well, luckily they're seniors, so you don't need to watch them. Because, dude, you guys are just dominant. Well, luckily they're seniors, so you don't need to watch too much. No, it's just like okay, man, when you guys are healthy and I know you guys are healthy and have been healthy even if you have a bad day, a wrong week, a bad week, you guys still dominate. And seeing you guys, man, it's like man, this is what I want my team to be. You know, and I tell Matt all the time, like dude, the way your kids top three, top five, top seven runners, you know, encourage the younger kids, the JV kids. Your team, your b and c team, it's in, it's incredible, man, it feels good. And I was like man, you guys set the tone.
Speaker 1:And yeah, man, I, I try to set the tone and kibosh you know, and but but it's, it's really good that you guys have that environment, man, that winning mentality and and strive off of in those kids love it. And man, I never see a kamaican kid do his own thing, never see a kid, you know, not cheering on another fellow teammate.
Speaker 1:You know I mean even top seven, you know oh, yeah, I mean, you see the big dog in there, you know teeps, you know? No, it's just, it's. It's incredible. And I tell matt all the time what you guys have is, uh, a winning, a winning team dude front to back. I'm just saying so it's just building team culture.
Speaker 2:What it really takes is just one class to go. Okay, here's the way things are going to be done. We're going to make sure, before we graduate, the guys below us know, and they're going to make sure the guys below them know, and then so that when that senior class graduates, they've already got the expectations down for three grades and then they teach it, they teach it. They've already got the expectations down for three grades and then they teach it, they teach it, they teach it, so that you can still keep talking about how good you were this 10 years later and the team's still still just at that point or higher. So it's just being lucky with having kids that listen and yeah.
Speaker 2:Want to better themselves and better their teammates and their, their boy scouts. They they leave a bed in the than when they found it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, set an example. Oh yeah, that's the one you should get on the pod. Is is Matt I think he'd really I've, I've, I've mentioned it. I really like it. But yeah, I really haven't approached him and then that you should, he did a podcast with some random sports reporter, I don't even.
Speaker 2:It just randomly came up. I didn't even realize he had done it and you know what's? Great about that I think it was local. It's like Yakima, like ESPN Southeastern Washington. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah so it's like local in the sense that it's ESPN, but it's like, I guess, centralized to Southeastern Washington.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's something really small, some small outfit. But yeah, yeah, but but he's really big.
Speaker 2:He's like a little short guy, right. Oh yeah. Yeah, it's hard to hard to see rex in a crowd. You got to really kind of not rex the the guy.
Speaker 1:Oh no, no, it's a gal. Oh, it's a gal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a gal, some random gal, okay, all right so she just like went to the school and it's out there. Um, if you look up, like matt rex's mike and interview yeah, it's somewhere on there. But okay, what's great. I mean talk about setting the culture for the boys. I mean talk interview is just like with rex talking. I'm like, okay, that's something he said five years ago, ten years ago.
Speaker 1:You know, it's like nothing really changes, it's just uh if it ain't broke, don't fix it exactly, but you guys, you guys have it, you guys have this method and sticking to it, and you guys are winning man. So my question to you is, dude, how much longer does matt have?
Speaker 2:that's not. That's not for me to say. I know, and he loves coaching, so there's a lot I think you can do that up until you're really old, but he can retire from teaching and just keep going. So I think, he really enjoys it and it's easy. I mean he talks about it all the time. He goes from teaching a classroom to going to practice and just being motivated himself, because the kids that are there are the ones who really want to be there.
Speaker 1:Keeps you young, exactly there. Keeps you young exactly keeps you young, exactly.
Speaker 2:So I asked that question, because how long do you have it in you, man? You know, what's really been hard for me is just with my own two young kids I've got a three-year-old, who's gonna be four in December.
Speaker 1:The ex-25 in front of or behind a camera. Yeah, exactly, he's always with me, cameraman. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I took him to practice one time and we're recording to get splits and he like runs out right in the middle of one of the athletes and he like dives over him. It's just this great video.
Speaker 2:Oh man, it's over him. It's just this great video. Oh man, it's hard to. I'll just show you one day. But, um, he really wanted to hit the split. So he like grabbed his head kind of, pushed him to the side and leaned at the line because he really wanted this interval split. So, and, uh, give him a hard time for that every now and then it's like, hey, if we want, if we want noah to dive at the line, I'm gonna put my son right, yeah, right at the line for him to dive so he can make sure he can beat the next guy.
Speaker 2:But, um, no, james, james loves going to practice, my little little boy yeah, but it's hard you know, and with any coach, with anything really, you know, it's weekends away, or a week and one day of the week away when it's a beautiful day, and maybe you think, oh, I could be at the, the playground with my son, not, uh, yelling Splits in Spokane or something like that.
Speaker 1:But it seems like he does a good job, though he knows, Even though at Max Jensen he was like I'm going to go to the car, Dad, I'm going to go to the car.
Speaker 2:I want to go to the car. He's like I want to go home. We've already said that a hundred different times. He's like oh, I want to go with you. And then we get there. He's like I want to go home.
Speaker 1:You just need to tell him we're going far, far away so you won't have that mentality, that attitude Like hey, I know, we're just down the road.
Speaker 2:I'm going to go to the car. We're going to go back or even go to the tents. I like, I like seeing that kid around man. Oh yeah, keep bringing them. You know, it's like religion. I figure, if I keep doing it and keep bringing them, eventually I'll brainwash them into being my own little runner uh, brainwash it's like religion. It's better when when you start them young any commitments yet.
Speaker 2:Your runners um, not yet. I know a couple of them are torn up on a couple decisions where they're. I think they'll finish it up soon now that the season's over. They're just waiting on on some things. But I know like a couple d1 schools for ezra and our number two guy, he's looking at a couple d3 schools which is really cool.
Speaker 2:That's really good for him, because there's we had runners that really good and tried D1 teams and maybe they got burned out or, you know, didn't really want to keep doing it. So I'm D3 just has this whole mentality around it, which I really think is cool because it's you know, there's no athletic scholarship.
Speaker 1:So you're just doing it because you love it. Yeah, like high school. Like high school, exactly, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2:So you know, you go on like message boards or forums and you see there's a lot more discussions around like D3 cross country than D1 or D2, because it's just the guys are just passionate about it. Yeah, still care about their alma mater's or how their conference does.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, Because, yeah, really trying to get that mindset too. And the team like hey guys, like for real that mindset too. And the team like hey guys, you're like for real, it's probably two, three people that can make it d1 in this, the, this league. It's like you might want to bring it down to juco, or you know, division two, division three in a ia. You know that kind of thing you want you're talking about. You know guys like BYU NAU, you know Montana State, you know I watched them closely.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, yeah, but you know it's D1 or go home, man, or bust, and it's a lot of bust, a lot of bust.
Speaker 2:Especially with some of the roster restrictions. I don't know if you saw for the SEC. Sec, man You're cutting everything down Like 15 roster no, was it 15? No, it was like 10 roster spots, yeah, which is like that's not even a full team, because you get one guy that's out, two guys that are out you barely got in. But they've also this last year brought in a bunch of like a 28-year-old. So this last year brought in a bunch of like a 28 year old, I don't know if you saw this.
Speaker 2:It's like Texas A&M, I think it was. They have a 28 year old.
Speaker 1:Was it Texas? It was either that or Oklahoma State.
Speaker 2:So Oklahoma State has a bunch but Texas A&M got a guy who is 20 years old. He's on a half marathon faster than the American record.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and he has the eligibility of a freshman as a. He has the eligibility of a 18 year old american kid. All right, how does that make sense in any world?
Speaker 1:so, so funny man. It's funny how you ask, because when that happened I talked to uh, one of my buddies who's from uh entiat kenya and I asked him. I was like how is this? Is this? A lot of those kids, believe it or not, grow up poor, oh yeah. They either go in a private Christian school, you know, catholic school, whatever, and if they don't have money, right, the ones that don't have money are just trying to bust their butt to make it. And that time is him busting his butt to make it.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:And the reason why they're 28 is they're finally getting the recognition, yeah, that I guess they earned and deserve, and it makes sense, like at first I hated that that man, I'm like 28 years old man, you know, but I I feel, after he explained it, that you know majority of them were impoverished, uh, okay yeah, I mean I know they're coming here.
Speaker 2:They're searching for a better life they want opportunities which I think is fantastic. More you know use the, the greatness that you have within you to to get here, but you have to be 28 yeah, yeah, I don't care where you're from. It could be a 20 year old australian same thing right do you really need to be competing in the ncaa?
Speaker 1:true, true, but I I feel that's his way of getting recognition and what he deserves, compared to the people who had money in his town that were already brought up at 18, 19, 20. You know making it that way, so I I do get it. Oh yeah, it sucks in a way, but I also see it's empowering them as well like, as long as it leads to american citizenship.
Speaker 2:So that's the new american right. He can get the new american record then I'm all for it, but yeah yeah, no, it's, yeah, I, I see it.
Speaker 1:I used to be like what the heck you know this is? This sucks. But um, after he explained it, man, he has it's. You're either really rich in that game over there or really really poor and the majority of them are yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So after he said that, it was like okay, put things in perspective. So third in the state Yep Team did.
Speaker 2:They did well. They did well. You know we're. I think if you get rex's on he'd do a better job explaining it, but you know he's talking to one of the coaches there. We're missing a few guys, but when you're at the start line the gun goes off. No one cares if you're missing your whole varsity or just one guy in the varsity, it's just you got to race with what you got.
Speaker 1:So third, third is really really good with everything we had going on.
Speaker 2:Third is great 22 teams Is it 22? I think it was 18 teams, 18, 18 teams. This weekend in Boise is 22 teams in the okay, that's, that's where I was getting.
Speaker 1:Are you guys are going? Yeah, we're going nice in idaho, oh yeah, there's some.
Speaker 2:The northwest has really stepped up this last year, so there's like cordelaine, rocky mountain, jesuit crater yeah, yeah, man, yeah, idaho is better running than washington my theory, especially at cordelaine, yeah, my little conspiracy theory is uh, during covid a lot of those california people moved up north.
Speaker 2:I think there's because california is known for mecca of running and they've gone down the last year or two in their terms of their depth and quality, yeah, and now teams like idaho have really stepped up. It's like, it's crazy. That's my, that's my theory. I'm they, I've got no idea. But valid valid every now and then. I'm sure that, like anything, you have just a few good grades of people that build a tradition and keep pushing each other. I mean who would think a team from Kenwick Washington would be known as a good school for running.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:People drive through here all the time ago. How are you guys that good?
Speaker 1:Why do you guys?
Speaker 2:run. It's the water. It's exactly. It's the water, exactly, exactly. It's the coaching we glow in the dark. It's the coaching. It's the nuclear waste we feed our kids.
Speaker 1:Speaking of way of coaching man Lewis and Clark, dude, shocked the state. Oh yeah, they did fantastic.
Speaker 2:Shocked the region man Five in the top 30. Yeah, and they did fantastic. Shocked the region man Five in the top 30. Yeah, and that's. They don't really have much of a front runner, but when there's like maybe six teams deep in terms of deep competition, they did fantastic.
Speaker 1:The cluster. And that's something that a lot of the JV boys are understanding. The JV boys are, uh, understanding. You know, the varsity boys got an understanding but they need to want it. But seeing how these boys, when you, when you coach them and they do what they're supposed to, and see the outcome, you end up like Lewis and Clark, dude, and that team is what I've been trying to. You know, um, get the team to do and it's just like oh god man, you know it's let's go, let's go.
Speaker 1:So, uh, you know, along with you guys, I I called it. I was like, you know, your top guy is gonna win it, lc kamaikan top two. I knew lc essequa and uh kamaikan were gonna be top three and stay, you know. So was it a good day there, though?
Speaker 2:oh yeah, I would say I mean there's obviously you know I would love for um I won number one guy to have won the whole thing.
Speaker 1:But he did, last year he did last year, but they were smart.
Speaker 2:I mean, last year was the rain and the mud, oh, that was bad. Everyone was being a little cautious. So when you're cautious and it's not crazy fast, that plays into his. He's got a crazy finish. But crazy they had those top four guys. Top three guys had a kid from sunny side lead it for the first mile and quarter and he took it out hard. Yeah, they opened up like a 440 which if you're gonna beat our guy, it's gonna yeah you need to go super hard at the beginning and, you know, take it out of him.
Speaker 2:So unfortunately not his best day, but yeah, you know, still super proud of him. Just a great career. He's not done, he's still got track. So yeah, he's got redemption there you can, he's a returning state champ in the the 1600 so again still plenty, plenty of left to go, yeah this is incredible to watch him dude it's just, he's just when we count him out, dude, he ends up winning by like half a half a track man you know,
Speaker 2:that's what we thought when at uh early in the season that Fort still a comb invite he had, he dived at the line and beat the eventual state champion from. Tahoma and he was the only guy all season who had beaten them.
Speaker 1:but you know it was by the hair of his chinny chin chin, yeah, I said that guy, he's got a good chance.
Speaker 2:He's the only one that's beating them. The other kid went to big invites and raised everybody else. Yeah, didn't get them at the end, but they just ran Smart race. So you got to do what you got to do sometimes, okay.
Speaker 1:I bring up that day because I wanted to go. I wanted to go but I couldn't, couldn't. So should we talk about what happened last week or should we talk about what's been going on? I think what's been going on, it's been going on the big c word the big c, the big c that the, not the australian c word. Yeah, yeah, yeah not that I you know I hate that word, man but every now and then it'll come out when somebody deserves it, male, female, whomever that's good, I almost said it so I'm glad I didn't say yeah is it australia?
Speaker 1:it's, it's australian and it's also uh uk too man, they say that it's like they say it almost like f-u-c-k, you know oh yeah, exactly, yeah, all right. So cancer, cancer, all right.
Speaker 2:God, it's been a hell of a year though yeah, I mean that's the fact that it was a hectic year for you was, I think. And what kind of drawed this process out you were talking about, where you had so much going on? Doctors thought it was something else, something else, and then eventually somebody took you seriously and got you tested. Is that right?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, yeah, um, yeah, uh. So january, back in january I I noticed a lump. I noticed a lump in my armpit and, uh, I was just like something's not right. But as I was, as I noticed it, I was at work and um had a hint of vertigo or something. It felt.
Speaker 1:You know when you're like fully inebriated, like fully trashed out out of your mind and trying to walk. But to me I can be trashed out of my mind and still maintain walk, right, yeah. And so I'm at work and I'm like whoa, I totally could not, even I couldn't maintain my bearing man. I'm like whoa, I'm in somebody's office that I don't want to be acting like this the head honcho and I'm like something's not right. So I went and they gave me some vertigo medicine. They were like, oh, they checked out the bump. They couldn't find anything, but they noticed the bump. I was like, dude, this is painful, it's, it's something's going on. So, oh, it's all in your head. And so I don't have a pcp, the only pcp that I have primary care provider is the va, and I see them maybe once a year. So I go to urgent care or nothing at all.
Speaker 1:And so a couple days later I go see my dad who was dying in his deathbed and go visit him. You know, don't sweep this under the rug. You know my issue and still, you know, maintain, help my dad do this, help my brother do that, and still dealing with vertigo. That went away and then the bump was still there. I was doing the compressions, did everything that they told me to Cold, hot shower bath. Whatever they told me to do, I did that. It still didn't go away. Uh, I was going to urgent care again. Then I was like you know what, let's just. I know, april May I go from my yearly routine checkup for the VA. I was like, let's just do the let's, let's, let's see the blood workout. Well, I'll come to find out blood workup. If you're not looking for certain things, it's not going to show up. It will show up, but there are special tests.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you get it. I'm learning.
Speaker 1:I know I might seem a little stupid talking about this, but there are certain tests and so normal blood work, normal urine, everything else. And I showed the doctor and he's like, uh, I showed the doctor and he's like, yeah, I see something, is it hurt, painful? I'm like, yeah, to an extent. You know, in certain areas and how I sleep or you know, rub a different way. It's like a shooting, numbing pain like throughout the arm, um, even when I'm sleeping. And and so I just tried to sleep with a pillow, you know, just, you know, cuddle a pillow, just so I can have that extra room there. And so he did some more blood work. Um, nothing came up. But he, he was. We were trying to find certain doctors that would say, yes, well, a lot of doctors said no, I did the ultrasound. Still, you know, did the ultrasound, something came up there's reactive, as they call it, reactive lymph nodes, and they were like we need to do more. So they wanted me to do a mammogram, dude, and the guy you know, and I volunteered.
Speaker 2:Huh, I volunteered. Can you volunteer? He gave me a call, I came over.
Speaker 1:So yeah, there's the stigma, man, there's that stigma. You know, guys, mammogram and everything else, and you know I don't have breasts, i-ups and whatever, so I'm not offended by me being a male doing mammogram, so but it is. There's a stigma like, oh, dude, breast cancer. You're like fuck, I can't, I can't have breast cancer.
Speaker 1:You know like damn so with that the va. The va was saying no, they're not going to do it, they're not going to pay for the mammogram. The place that was going to do the mammogram said we can't work with you further. So I was going back and forth from April, may to September. So I'm at limbo and I'm all like, okay, this is going on, I'm still running, still doing my best. I end up tearing my plantar fascia, dude shitty year, man shitty year, so so I'm dealing with the injury.
Speaker 1:I'm dealing with the unknown of my, my health. And then september comes, I lose my father-in-law and as I lose my father-in-law, I got a doctor to approve the biopsy. To, basically, the VA said, you know, I'm going to, since we said yes, they said yes, the doctor said yes, we're going to put all rights to her. And so she just did everything, did the biopsy and to the biopsy mid-October. It supposed to get the results three to five days. I didn't get it back until two, uh, uh, in two weeks. I didn't. I didn't get back after like two weeks. And so November 1st or 2nd I found out that the biopsy came, um, you know. And I found out that the biopsy came, you know, positive with Hodgkin's lymphoma. And yeah, I've just been playing the waiting game this whole time. And when you don't hear anything for two weeks you're like something's up. But then people are like no news is good news.
Speaker 2:I'm like man not, lately Not lately, not when you're expecting news.
Speaker 1:I'm like man, not lately, not lately, not lately. So now when you're expecting news, I called their bluff man, and so I'm like.
Speaker 1:I don't know, man. And so Friday, that Friday the first or second, I don't have a calendar they called me and said I know you've been waiting, just want you to know that you came up with cancer. I was like shit. And you know, to that day I'm still at shock. It's kind of settled, but I'm in the shock of, okay, what stage? Okay, what, what's going on? What's, what's this, what's the next move?
Speaker 1:And you know and she's not an oncologist, she's a general surgeon, and so she's she's mostly breast cancer um patients, so she's really known inologist. She's a general surgeon, and so she's she's mostly breast cancer patients, so she's really known in that. But she's never had Hodgkin's lymphoma. So she just put me down the rabbit hole, their rabbit hole of knowing, you know numbers and how they stage it. And when she was pointing your finger it seemed like, uh, you know two, three, possibly other. But she was all okay, well, let's do the biopsy.
Speaker 1:And the biopsy I wasn't going to have until like the 25th of this month, and so I got it early. And so not the biopsy, it was the PET scan. Pet scan I wasn't supposed to have that until the 25th and so the PET scan I got it Veterans Day. I was fasting Veterans Day. Normally a lot of veterans like to take advantage of that and get free food or whatever. But here I am fasting just trying to maintain my bearing and worried about the PET scan. So I did the PET scan and come to find out an hour later I mean, they were on their A game.
Speaker 1:An hour after I was done I saw the write-up and that in itself is a wild world man. And that in itself is a wild world man because when I was dealing with a lot of stuff in the military, we didn't know our charts right away. We didn't get our charts until, like, maybe the next visit or whatever. So hopefully I'm not rambling, but I'm just giving play by play, oh yeah. And so like, uh, after an hour after I got my charts, I saw, I saw the results and come to find out not only is it in my armpits and my throat and um, that that took me, uh, by surprise.
Speaker 1:So still at shocked and I'm like, okay, well, there's some other things that I I question and some concerning things that I question, and it's just like, all right, um, hurry up with the stage, hurry up with you know, uh, what's next? I go see the oncologist the the real uh cancer doctor, um on the 25th and go from there but a lot of uncertainty and a lot of like holy crap, dude, like you grow up thinking that you're going to be strong as hell, strong as an ox, and and not have anything wrong with you, whether it's you know cancer or you know you know something that big.
Speaker 2:you know, never thought of that and so here I am, man.
Speaker 1:I'm just. I go to work, do my best, think about it sometimes, think about it all the time, but then I'm thinking about it. I was like man to be young and not have this happen. It I don't know, man. It's like surreal, something that I would never have thought of and I was trying to think about it. It's like a dream that you can't wake up from.
Speaker 1:Yeah, to to be honest with you, man, and hopefully I didn't ramble too much, but I was just trying to give a play by play and uh, you know, just trying to explain, like my, my thoughts and feelings, dude, and I appreciate you, you know, let me throw you a curveball on this. On your podcast, you know your episode and uh, nah, man, I just I don't really talk about it. People at work know a lot of kids, don't? They're going to find out, you know. But uh, I just what scares me the most, and I tell you what man dealing with the army stuff and whatnot that I haven't talked about on the podcast at all.
Speaker 1:I thought about it during this time of my absence. This is scary as shit, man, this scares me more than anything in my lifetime, just because it's like, oh, my god, here I am a male, you know, a father of three, you know, married for 18 with her for 21, almost, you know, and it's just like I'm supposed to be strong. But here, here I am in, uh, I, I can't, I can't maintain, you know, being uh, upright, I can't. I sleep all the time. I've never been a sleeper, have no energy whatsoever, yeah, you know. And uh, knowing what's to come, that's the scary part. And, man, it's just like depending on my kids or my wife, um, that's, that's tough to even think about right now. But you know it's just holy crap. It's gonna be a long road, man. I know it's not gonna be the end of the road. You know I'm gonna fight the shit out of it, like I told my wife. You know, um, but, dude, it's going to be hell to come soon. Yeah, because Kilo is not.
Speaker 2:It can really take it out of you. Yeah, do you have a battle? Is there like a battle plan yet, like have they told, okay, you know you're going to come in, we're going to prescribe you this and then, yeah, we have treatment this day, or?
Speaker 1:No. And then, yeah, we have treatment this day or no. So so before, before the PET scan, which was Monday, they, they told me the plan of action was just chemo radiation, it's not going to be surgery. But now that it's in my neck or my throat and stuff like that, you know, my, my, my wife's a dental hygienist and she was like, you know, to even have treatment in your throat, you have a clean. You have to have a clean bill of health from the dentist for for them to go on, you know, and they got to have a dentist approval, dude shit, I didn't know about that either.
Speaker 1:And so she, she told me, she's like that's good that you know you're I work for, and they, they got you. But then she was like not not mumbled, but say, stated something like there was a guy that just recently got approval through, um, their office and she's like man, the worst thing is people having throat cancer. I'm like thanks. And then she was telling me, you know, she was telling me, uh, some things. And she stopped and I was like you're just going to stop like that, leave you guessing, that's going to be the worst.
Speaker 2:That's the worst is the not knowing.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So what was it? I was at the banquet last night and said, hey, how are you doing? I was like I'm doing all right, treatment wise, if I don't end up like Val Kilmer, I'll be good. And that was a low blow, dude. That was too soon, too soon, man. You know, you think about it. But yeah, man, that's that's, that's, that's the the real world and that's.
Speaker 1:You know, I didn't want to, didn't want to share, but I knew there was a lot of people, man, a lot of people dm you like, hey, where's the podcast? You still doing the podcast, the podcast, you know, and you know you, you, you know a bit a lot of people, don't? I know Jason Rutherford, shout out to him, he's been very helpful. John Millett, um, you know you, uh, there's, there's only. And no man, I appreciate you guys shouting out and checking in, because it's tough, it's like you're on your own island, man, Not just with this, but just with, like, the two deaths, yeah, and it's just like all right. Well, here I am, I'm facing, not that, but I'm facing the C word and I wish I could say the C-U-N-T you know, not that one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but yeah yeah, but I don't say that. But you know that I would say that cancer is a cunt, so, um, scary one, but uh, no, I appreciate you, you know, wanting to do this podcast. I know we wanted to do it uh, week ago, last weekend, and just been just been scared.
Speaker 2:What's really important, like when we were talking before. Throughout. This is the way you advocated for yourself, like you were talking about. You knew there was something wrong and you'd been.
Speaker 1:You know yeah, Shoved one way the other.
Speaker 2:So no, it's just in your head, no, it's just this. And he's like, no, there's something not right here. And I think people, if that's a big takeaway is, you need to be a big advocate for yourself or a big advocate for people in your family. It's like, hey, if something's not right, yeah, keep getting it looked at.
Speaker 1:And treatable? Maybe it's, maybe it wasn't in your neck, you know, at the beginning of the year, yeah, they just caught it. So you know who knows. Yeah, so the more I go down the rabbit hole of like, holy shit, I'm not an oncologist or stuff, but you can read the, you know the report and everything else and you know, you see that a certain score is supposed to be one to three and not a five, and then lesions somewhere else. You know, you're like okay, hurry up, just give me the damn stage man seriously.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's why I hate that whole my chart thing.
Speaker 2:My wife wanted me to have the my chart I don't want the my chart and that's just like a website you can go to where they give you like updates, like if you go to uh, the nearby hospital, dude after you're done going to the ER right there, dude, you get it. The minute you're done.
Speaker 1:If you're going for a follow-up or x-ray results, right there, dude.
Speaker 2:It's crazy man.
Speaker 1:It's nuts. Yeah, I'm not used to that. So now, I'm not used to it. I'm dealing with the C word. I'm getting it the moment I'm done and I'm like holy shit, guys hurry up, hurry up, hurry up. So I'm actually checking and making you know, checking my email too, because I have it on my update. I have updates on my work email, so I will pop up in the moment. I thought I had a message today and it was. It was an old one, but uh, I was like.
Speaker 2:I thought I was going to know, I didn't see it so it was a new one. So it's like come on, please.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, and that email like you're looking, it's going to tell you the stage, yeah, and and uh with with that score, with the score and uh, the other spot, it doesn't. It adds up, but not to my favor. Yeah yeah, because it's weird how they do it, man, that's it's. It's so weird, it's a chart, and so if it's like centralized, okay. If it's centralized in another area, all right, there's another stage.
Speaker 2:If the centralized another area in another place, you know like an organ, uh, and then yeah, yeah, dude, yeah, the fact that it seems to be growing is not because you only felt it in the armpit, and then it now it's.
Speaker 1:They're finding it in the neck so, yeah, that was a growing blow, that was a huge blow. That was a huge blow because I thought it was just, you know, I caught it early, I believe Well, you did, they just didn't take it seriously.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you had to fight for yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm like early, I mean January's early January would be my consideration of early but they're early is like, oh, it's not that bad, it's only three centimeters. Hey, that three centimeters freaking hurts man, it puts you down. But but like before the pet scan, before I even knew I had neck issue or you know it was in my neck, I told tracy, uh, I was like you know it's weird, it's my neck. My neck has been killing me like it hurts it. You know, because I have a. Uh, I have a, you know I do it on the regular. I like clench my teeth, not clean I thought you just mad at me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that too my jaw right, so it didn't feel like that, but it was more like under and to the side, and I'm like some days I can just feel it. And lo and behold, monday that was friday when I talked to her man. I was just having fun doing karaoke, because now that you know I've been sick, I just do karaoke or comedy, and so we're doing karaoke and I was just like you know, something's not right with my neck.
Speaker 1:And then that monday bam yeah, the song sucks, man sucks. But um, yeah, if if didn't want to, like you know, just disclose everything and just give you guys diarrhea of the mouth. I wanted everybody to know, like I'd said in the video, that, dude, if you guys see foreign anything that's not there, hasn't been there your whole life and it automatically appears, get checked out and that's that's one thing I want everybody to take out. Not, you know what I've been through, what I've been dealing with. I want them to know, like, dude, if you see something, say something.
Speaker 1:I know the cliche as it sounds at the airport or in a public place, you know, take that and put it in body perspective, you know, per se. So yeah, definitely get checked out. I'm glad I did. Um, it wasn't embarrassing, you know, even with people talking about mammogram and having. You know, I have kids and a little six-year-old and then I didn't tell her, but just thinking of her word, you know booby gram, you know, like for real, like dad's having a booby gram.
Speaker 1:Why is dad having a booby gram? You know so, and that's another. That's another story dude the six-year-old.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, I didn't tell her until after I bought some books. Yeah, man, I didn't tell her until after I bought some books. So bought some books to help her understand, like, what's to come, what dad is. Uh, you know dealing with and and you know, six years old they're, they're just in la la land, you know, just enjoying life, watching youtube shorts which she shouldn't be doing but she does and she thinks she knows everything, but you know she brings up dad. Are you gonna die? And you know it's like dad? You're not gonna die like pop pop, because father-in-law died of, uh, bone cancer. Bone cancer, yeah, yeah, yeah, for three years, dude, he was battling, yeah yeah and yeah I was like no, I'm not going to do that.
Speaker 2:Are you pop-pop?
Speaker 1:No, I'm not pop-pop, I'm good, but it's like damn it. So I eased it up, you know, with the books, and still she's understanding that dad's battling a dragon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like that, I like that, yep.
Speaker 1:Sometimes you won't see it. Sometimes that will be irritable, you know, yeah, yeah, it's part of the book, but no, I think uh. I think I did a pretty good job.
Speaker 2:I like the idea of using the book. I wouldn't even think about that, I would just sit them down and talk about it, but the book is a good way to like. Even like an illustrated kids book is a good way to like.
Speaker 1:An illustrated kid's book is a great way to show. So I bought three illustrated kid's books and each one is different. So smart I never would have thought of that, dude. I tell you what man Saying the C word to a grown adult is bad, it's tough. You're like what kind?
Speaker 2:Like what, what kind Are you okay?
Speaker 1:You think they're going to know about Hodgkin's lymphoma?
Speaker 2:No lymphoma.
Speaker 1:No, it's a, it's okay. I think you're gonna look great bald, don't worry. Don't worry serious, what you think they're gonna know. Like a lot of people, I had to teach myself what's the difference between non-hodgkins and hodgkins lymphoma do you know the difference?
Speaker 2:I don't know the difference. You want to know the difference.
Speaker 1:I'd love to know the difference non-hodgkins below, below the chest, anything below the chest. Uh, hodgkin's lymphoma which I have is above the chest above so yeah and then, uh, there's, there's, that's the big one. There's also different cells. It uh, the cancer is. It builds different cells and everything else. Man, this is the. The more you look into it, you're like dude, cancer is a bitch man or a c-u-n-t.
Speaker 2:Yeah the other c word, the the other c word it's something you gotta like, even if you know the chemotherapy works, you go through that battle yeah it's something you have to be battling with, the rest of your life just getting checkups. Is it back? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, do I have something else now, from maybe some drug or the treatment.
Speaker 1:Tell me about it, man, and I think about that too. I'm like I tell my wife, I'm like I just hope this doesn't come back and she's like nope, you know what? What's cool is that you got a primary care provider with all me advocating for myself. That nice lady shout out to McManus at Lord's.
Speaker 2:I no longer seeing her because you know I moved up in the room. You got promoted, Not the promotion you wanted.
Speaker 1:Yes, got promoted, moving up, you, you know, to regular oncologist. But I asked her because, basically over my life and, you know, for believing in me and and spearheading this whole thing, um, I asked her if there's any way possible she can, um be mine. I knew she couldn't but I was like, do you know of a person? She's like, yes, I'll be glad to refer you to it like sweet. So not only will I have va, I will have an actual um pcp. So, which is uplifting to know, because, um, if I have, you know, running issues, I'd go to see a foot doctor for that you know, and pay out of pocket or or you know whatever, and go from there.
Speaker 1:But just knowing that I gained that person who was, like you know, spearheading, and then I get a PCP along with it. Dude, it's coming out positive, man, it comes out positive.
Speaker 2:So, whew, that felt good, man. I just you know myself, you know you're talking about when you were younger and cancer was just this other thing I'm thinking like for myself. You know, looking at you, cancer is this thing that happens to other people around me that we talk about. It's a major issue, yeah, dude, and now I can't even imagine whether it be like, you know, with kids, with a wife, what that, what you even thinking, yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 1:It's crazy man and I, you know, I haven't even talked about like a will or advanced directive. I mean they, they won't get much because college day. But you know, I haven't thought of that and I'm not going to at the moment. But just just knowing you know what's to come is dude, scares the shit out of me man.
Speaker 2:Well, treatment I mean that is chemo is something that can really. I mean it's good for you because it's going to help battle cancer, but you hear people all the time talking about just it just hurts even when you're done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yep, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm still going to try to work as is find out, like you know how often and whatever. And if there's, you know that first bout, if I know I'm sick at a certain day, then you know I'll take those days off and then try to go to work afterward. You know it's still up in the air, I'm still trying to figure it out, but, um, I was reading. You know, the guy from full house, the guy that does the voice dave coulier.
Speaker 1:Um, he was, uh, just uh. It's weird man. It's on yahoo I saw today. He was just diagnosed with stage three and reading it all what I went through. But it's not hotkins. Um, so it's below the waist. He had it in his growing area, bro, if that shit oh my god, if I had something like that, especially something like uh, you know, lance armstrong did dude I definitely not sit on that one for a while I have to do?
Speaker 1:you know, definitely have to. Um, you know, go to gunpoint and be like dude. There's something wrong. Yeah, but he had that and it sounded like a third one yeah and uh.
Speaker 1:He's been to treatment every, I think 21 days every 21 days yeah yeah, so it's gonna be another uphill battle, but you know that, oh, I have advocating um. So the advocating part, uh, just the reason why I got in the field that I am, I'm in today, um, the whole military, you know, I found out that know, a lot of the people didn't have a voice, and so I utilize my voice to help the others, and so it's nice that you acknowledge that whole advocating and speaking up and knowing not to give up. You know, I used my skill that I've uh utilized ever since I was in the army, and to to help myself out and it feels pretty good, and that's what I want everybody to know, not telling everybody like, hey, I got cancer, hear me out.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:I want you guys to hear me out and not understanding.
Speaker 2:So your goodbyes.
Speaker 1:Now something something is wrong, something doesn't feel right, something doesn't look right. To get someone to look at it, whether it's your partner, wife, husband, aunt, uncle, as weird as it sounds, man, if you see something that doesn't look right, go get it checked out exactly yeah exactly yeah, because I mean, think about it.
Speaker 2:How many people doctors see on a regular basis. They go, hey, this is so weird, and they look at it and say you gotta zit yeah, you know. So they see the worst case scenario. I mean, they see worst case scenario, but they also just see the guy who's right just over exaggerating it, so they a lot of times they'll probably lump you with that, so you gotta like let them know this is not pun oddly enough, pun not intended that one was not intended.
Speaker 1:Usually they are oh yeah, but I mean, I learned with like my daughter.
Speaker 2:She had a health crisis, a health scare, when she was born with some seizures, and that was something like the when we took her to cadillac. I didn't, I mean, you go in there, hey, my baby's got seizures and then they stare at you for, like you know, three hours what are you sure? Are you sure? Yeah, are you positive? Like they didn't have one just a minute ago, did they? No, yeah, exactly, it's like we need you to record the seizure and holder and hit this button and then we'll believe you like ah, I'm looking at my baby.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm not pushing the button, you stay here with me.
Speaker 1:You know it's just like I can't.
Speaker 2:You got to advocate because if you know something is not right, even if, yeah, you gotta, you gotta report it.
Speaker 1:You gotta, you gotta be diligent and you gotta stay on your toes and look out for you and your family, because it you gotta, you gotta be diligent and you gotta stay on your toes and look out for you and your family, because it's, yeah, it's tough man it's tough the, the baby, safe and sound, oh yeah she's fine now.
Speaker 2:She just it was an issue for like, uh, the first month and kept her on like anti-seizure medication for the first um year and a half of her life and now she's seizure-free. Thankfully it's a rare genetic disorder KCNQ2.
Speaker 1:So she's going to end up dealing with this all her life.
Speaker 2:It should be. From what I've read, it should be good for now. It may come up again when she hits puberty. It may come back because it's like a developmental thing in the brain. Okay, there's something not firing right with um like a potassium in the brain crazy right yeah this. So it should be fun to tell about puberty and then it may come back and later and like stay and then something she's always got to deal with, or it'll go away on its own.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, who would have thought you know somebody? You know, just not cracking jokes. But potassium banana, eat more bananas, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:That's what we've been doing. We always have bananas in my house. We always have bananas.
Speaker 1:See, and now here I am, thinking like Maybe you should try a banana Right.
Speaker 2:Rub some banana on that armpit, rub it down, right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then come to find out you know they do that blood test, the CBC, not the college here in town, the CBC Co-ops. I'm not even on the radar, so it's like it doesn't even acknowledge, like my white blood cell count and whatnot. So it's wild, but when you look at it, what it means CBC flag right, and it's Not traceable or whatever. If you see, if you Google it which I've actually stayed away from Google, believe it or not, yeah, I imagine.
Speaker 1:All the symptoms of you know, fatigue and everything else oh okay, makes sense, because I've never been able to sleep. I've been sleeping like shit my whole life. But dude, lately, man, after I'm done here, just go on one side of the bed or one side of my body and crash out. It's crazy. Body fighting something that's gotta be what it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but here, I am, man, thinking that, dude, I feel like a little, you know, a little bitch Cause, man, I'm always a go getter bitch, because, man, I'm always a go-getter, I'm always on the run, I want to run, but I do run, but, dude, I could only do so much. Um, but yeah, that that's. That was another thing that really got to me, but I've accepted, like I can only do so much.
Speaker 2:Do you feel like not being able to run? You mentioned the plantar fasciitis issue. Is that, like with the whole coping and feeling so unrealistic? Do you feel like not being able to go out there is affecting the process? Because I mean, for me running is a huge stress reliever that I gotta get done oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So. So I I got the clear and that's when I was going out. I I had, I've had the clear, even when, um, coaching, um, but people started noticing like, like you're not, so you're not running back and forward like yeah, I got sprinted at the last one.
Speaker 2:What's that? I had sprinted at the last one, something not right. Prescott, yeah, even prescott got you yeah prescott of all people he's like nick, you're not.
Speaker 1:You're not running like you used to. Come on, get with him like dude plantar fascia, but knowing you know I forgot the clear it's something else.
Speaker 2:So yeah, yeah, yeah but yeah, man, yeah, are you going to be able to train around it all through that whole chemo? I mean, probably. I imagine not, depending on how the. When there's a window, I'll do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when there's a window, um I'm not going to be, uh, you know, on the bed or on the couch 24-7. I will be doing my best to stay active, because the more you're active, the better chances of fighting it. You know, I read and been learning about myself just on how other people got through it, and I'll probably do a lot of weights, more so because I don't want to like be running somewhere and not be able to get out yeah, I'm going at badger and something happens at the top or something.
Speaker 1:You go to rattlesnake yeah, even you know from from here to claybill, like I really like um just between here and clay clay bell. It's a little wishy-washy and I don't want anybody to search for me. Oh, yeah, yeah. So, um, you know, people's mom probably be there, but on that path.
Speaker 2:That's a great path that used to be so much nicer. How long have you lived here now? Uh, since 15, 15, okay. So you saw how it used to be back in its glory days before they put that suburb in there yep at least one twice a week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I loved it I did so, yeah, but now I have to do the other trails that they just take dirt bikes on, you know, and that's gonna go, that's gonna get ripped out too oh, really oh yeah, they, they're going to build a road right through it.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, that makes me so sad so that people won't go down the roundabout there. That's so sad. They used to be so nice yeah.
Speaker 1:The area used to be nice, but now look at the sky, man, the ridgelines around here, dude, oh my gosh, it's taken by nasty houses billion houses, million houses. It's awful yeah, speaking of ridgeline, guess what I'm gonna do on sunday with john millet dylan rattlesnake don't say it out loud we're live yeah, waking up early, man. Nice, you guys go to the complete top Going to the complete top. Nice have you.
Speaker 2:I've never gone to the top, yet I've gotten close. Did you check the road? Well, when I got close, it was during the Runners of the Sage run, the La Lique.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, they have that 25K or whatever.
Speaker 2:They have that turnaround.
Speaker 1:It's pretty close to the top. Oh, is that not close to the top to me? It fell close to the top because that's a lot of climbing for me bro you'll say a different sound. You'll sing a different song when you get on there, because, because that turnaround, I know that turnaround, because I did, I did lalique the first couple years it started and, uh, that road, if you take that road, the road's the the clearest way to go but, it's steep.
Speaker 2:It is real steep. Are you talking the 11 K or the 25 K? Cause he has that 25 K one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it goes a little bit further you can't, you can't go, you go by the boundary. Yeah, you can't go anywhere the boundary is you're not even close bro, no one's close, man, no one's close. And when you're on that road, that road was what made in 1930s, 1940s, and it's still good. But, dude, I don't know how they had that grade system back then. That grade system is crazy.
Speaker 1:But no man, it's curvy, windy, curvy up, and you just keep going up and up and you don't see that road from a distance up and you're just keep going up and up and you don't see that road from the distance but you feel and see that road for at least two more miles up there, dude, and the rest of the week on your legs. It's crazy, it's a, it's a different world man. I would say, out of all the, all the, the hills here, the mountains, whatever rattlesnake, is the worst, one man just because of it's intense, not only are you worried about somebody coming up?
Speaker 1:you know the feds or something, but that, that, that there's nothing like that. Um, just the continuation of curves and uphill. And you're like, dude, I'm still going uphill. Oh my gosh, yeah, there's. Yeah, it's a different, it's a different one. Um, mcbee has nothing on it's the goat, um, the goat hill near, uh, rattlesnake, nothing on it, not jump, jump off. Joe, nothing like a rattlesnake is his own little world and when you go up there past the boundary, you'll see it takes people by surprise and if you go in there a hot day, you're blunt for punishment.
Speaker 1:And if you go in there on a windy day you're blunt for punishment. Because, that's one of the fastest, that's one of the windiest places in the States, minus minus. Uh, the vermont, new hampshire. What is it white mountain? Is it white mountain?
Speaker 2:I'm not sure yeah, that's the second windiest uh place in the states well, the tallest treeless mountain in all of united states is rattlesnake, so it's it's not treeless. It's not treeless. If you google tallest treeless, if you Google tallest tree of this mountain, rattlesnake comes up. But you're trying to avoid Google, so don't look.
Speaker 1:You see the tree when you're up there.
Speaker 2:Is there really a tree? There's a tree.
Speaker 1:I've got to go cut it down.
Speaker 2:It's proven Google wrong. Yeah, you've got to get up there with an axe the beaver.
Speaker 1:So it's not on the ranch side, uh-huh, you know when you're going to vantage and you know you're passing by horn rapids and everything else, and you see it, you know. You see rattlesnake. It's in a little like a cluster, maybe five little trees in a crevice but not on the top, though, maybe that's what it is, but you can see it when you're on the top.
Speaker 2:See, that's it. No one goes to the top. That's why Google puts it on the top.
Speaker 1:It's crazy, and it's nuts too, because, uh, on the ranch side, uh, it's a gradual hill. Like dude cows can be right there, but then you're on the other side, the Hanford side, bro cliff. It's a straight cliff. It's out of this world, man it doesn't look like it from a distance.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's, it's, it's, that's a perfect peace spot.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, claim the mountain. But yeah, it's pretty cool, man, what they thought, what they thought. They can bring that mountain back in the 40s, you know, yeah, there's a lot of history there. There there's plaques and whatnot. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they keep saying that they're going to make it like public land so you can just go willy-nilly worrying about the feds, but there's that military base underneath it that I don't think they want people finding inside the mountain. That's what they say.
Speaker 1:That's what they say. Damn conspiracies these days, conspiracy theories, theories. But hey, how's a conspiracy theory when it's been true?
Speaker 2:exactly. The difference between the truth and a conspiracy theory is about six months these days anyways, yeah yeah, or or it's.
Speaker 1:Uh, you know, they say something, but they're the ones actually doing it.
Speaker 2:Well, we won't go down there, we won't go. I'm curious with the cancer, are you gonna change your diet at all? I've heard like fads where you know people cut some things out or they do a couple things Like they go just carnivore and that helps fight it because it like starves the cancer or something like that. Have you looked into that at all?
Speaker 1:You know, I've heard of it but I never looked too deeply into it because I haven't stared down that barrel. I've looked at, uh, some things you know eat more greens or something like that.
Speaker 2:But then um I go, I'm gonna go as is.
Speaker 1:You know, I'm definitely gonna take a beer out for a bit maybe some uh, everclear, it will help you know wash that shit off, yeah no, I'll, definitely. I've been taking that, I've been taking that in consideration. Definitely, that will be out, which would, which is good, maybe it'll help. Um, you know, just mindset and whatnot, um whatnot um food.
Speaker 2:I mean food's so expensive. Now, yeah right, you can't go on a carnivore diet. You're gonna go bankrupt eating greens. You're gonna be eating your wallet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll probably give it a year things will go down, yeah yeah, for sure, but you know I might take up other proteins. You know it's a buddy of mine or a co-worker of mine. Um, was talking about a turkey tail.
Speaker 2:Turkey tail yeah, turkey tail, that's how the kids are calling it these days.
Speaker 1:Yeah right, it's like a mushroom but it's like the most uh um scientific you know, looked at uh mushroom that helps, you know, cancer patients, inflammation and stuff like that. So I might look into that. I was like is that safe to look at at work?
Speaker 2:He's like yeah, yeah, so all it is is like a supplement Can you grow it or do you have to find you don't have to go foraging for it or you can get it at the store?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can get it off Amazon and whatnot. It's not like you can have mushroom bites, for you can get at the store. Yeah, you can. You can get it off amazon and whatnot. It's not like you can have mushroom bites. You can have it in capsules and man with the whole throat thing. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to put down some capsules. You know it just so maybe try to nibble on it. I'm not sure there's that cannabis. No.
Speaker 2:I never heard of cannabis helping with cancer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, it gets you. I mean, it's probably not safer. Well, I mean edibles, but probably a little safer than drinking alcohol. Yeah.
Speaker 2:During those times, I'm looking for a buzz. Yeah, we need to feel better.
Speaker 1:It's a joke, guys. It's a joke, guys. It's a joke, yeah. But nah, I looked in. I looked at that supplement. That looked really promising and probably pick up a couple of those and see how it goes um.
Speaker 1:But food wise, dude, you know with the economy and everything, I just go as is man, you know. And uh, with the economy and everything, I just go as is man, you know, and we'll see what I can take down, what I can't Hope for the best, and maybe yogurt is going to be my number one friend. You can get down Smoothies, but probably more greens and you know chicken and stuff like that. But yeah, I mean I can't afford elk. I don't think anybody can.
Speaker 2:You can go get it yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the most nutrients.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you'll be a rattlesnake. There might be something out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but not that right there. I've looked into it, not much the supplements part is more of my alley, but because I know I'm gonna have trouble after talking to my wife, I know I'm gonna have trouble just debating on eating or not, because a lot of sickness, man.
Speaker 2:A lot of sickness, yeah, I don't want to throw up.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so supplements are more like it Going to the gym. But with this man, like, seriously, I'll let you know this when just growing up, I never liked germs. I don't like hands around my face, I don't, you know, I don't like hands around my face. I don't, you know, I don't like. Very cautious about that, Dude. I'm going to tell you this man, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Working at a high school, working at a school, working with kids, working with my own kids, dude, full steam ahead. I'm a germaphobe to the max. I dab somebody up, up, I have hand sanitizer right then, and there you know. And I don't wear hats anymore. I've been wearing, uh, beanies now, just so the air won't seep into my ears when I get up in the morning because I don't know, I don't want to get sick man, make things worse. So, dude, germs have been stopping, germs stopping that. I know it sounds unhealthy, but, dude, it's my way of saying. Dude, I'm healthy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Start working from home. Homeschool the kids Nobody leaves. I wondered why you had a bar at the door. Yeah right, making sure no one comes in, no one goes out. Yeah, dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that, yeah, right, making sure no one comes in, no one goes out. Yeah, yeah, dude, yeah, that that's, that's a must, and I try not to make it too obvious at school. But after I dab somebody up, man, I do um, wash my hands or hand sanitize and don't touch my face, and I always have a tissue with me. But then, like, if I have to touch my face, I have a tissue for that dude.
Speaker 1:It sounds weird no, but it's what you gotta do, but the last thing I want is like pink eye or something other mess to make things worse. You know, last thing I want is pneumonia, exactly well the weird.
Speaker 2:The chemotherapy is gonna destroy your immune system. So if you're developing those habits now, you don't have to think too much about it's just an instinct when I know when that starts happening yeah, it makes me sound like howard hughes is just bringing it up, you know it's serious man it's been forefront dude.
Speaker 1:It's been like my mission, like it's. It sounds nuts but dude, I think in the long run it's going to help me out and has been because I've always, you know, don't like touching doors, but every time I do it's like, all right, yeah, sounds weird. You're like it's time to go, nick, yep, time to go.
Speaker 2:I wonder why you never shake my hand.
Speaker 1:Right Nah.
Speaker 2:I give hugs, give hugs man, let's do this.
Speaker 1:Man, let's meet again. But I want to meet again when everything is said and done, or in the middle of it, whatever you choose do a little recap, see how things are going. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, but definitely for sure when everything's up and up. I want to talk about upcoming whatever's coming up races. Whatnot Sound good?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it sounds good. Good, so I guess for you there's no upcoming races at all. For enough, the next bit no, I'm doing rattlesnake, and that's it I had dude shout out to aravipa man running.
Speaker 1:Who's that? Aravipa the, the big, uh big company down in arizona they do all those races near flagstaff and phoenix. And what I was doing I was going to do across the years and, uh, this, this went, uh 28th I was going to do the two day, the 48 hour one. They have like hours a day, two days, three days a week, and I signed up for the two hours so I can just work my way up to a week and on a fixed course. And uh, I was like guys, don't want to be that person. But, um, just got diagnosed, dude, they were so warming and loving dude yeah they, they said, because normally it's not, they don't refund.
Speaker 1:So what they did was um, you know, put me off the list and basically say you got until 2026 to to use that those funds.
Speaker 2:Um, so all right so you can do it. 26 no, probably 2025 2025 I'm hoping this shit's over with yeah, I hope it's done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because it's all weird. It's all about the staging dude. It's so weird. Man, the doctor, the oncologist, dude, the oncologist, did you know? They're like the highest paying doctors besides brain surgeons and shit. Really yeah, they're the top dogs, man, what they do? They see those numbers, they see the digits and they're like you know what, okay, chemo this, you know doing this, doing that, six sessions every of their week, every, you know, every dude, it's crazy. And then they're good, well, they, they got it down. Dude, they're like rain man. The more I learn about this dude, it's crazy yeah, tri-cities has to have some.
Speaker 2:With all the nuclear radiation we have, we've got to have some oncologists that are top of the game as soon as what they see they see a guy coming out with a cancerous third arm from right. Been a hand for the last 40 years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, this, this, I got the top dog in tri-cities. I'm thankful a lot of people have that top dog man. She's had a lot of reviews. She has like 2 000 something reviews of 4.8 rating dude. Yeah, that's awesome. I mean, that's how cancer is now dude you go on ratings.
Speaker 2:You're on yelp dude, oh yeah she's one destroying the ridgeline we're talking about earlier. She's got that house on the top of the hill yeah, yeah, but no, it's, it's.
Speaker 1:It's incredible, man, what science has brought you, know, and uh, just learning, and then learning more as I go, and it's just like it's incredible man. It's. Yeah, I don't know. Different world, different world. So, speaking of different world, when are you gonna bite the bullet and get your heels fixed, man? When I'm old and decrepit? Yeah, because gustavo and I were talking about you yesterday.
Speaker 1:We were telling how incredible of a runner you are, believe it or not, and then I was like yeah, you know this guy, he's young, he's really fast, but he heals like a 70-year-old, you know, and he takes a minute to warm up. But, dude, when he's on there he is fast. And, gustavo, we're telling the other coaches how you are and everything else. And yeah, he said that, yeah, we're doing a half marathon together, and you just blew him out of the water or something like that.
Speaker 2:He could blow me out of the water right now he's killing me?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So my question is when are you going to bite the bullet and finally get fixed?
Speaker 2:is is when are you gonna bite the bullet and finally get fixed?
Speaker 2:okay, you know, I have this silly thing where once a month, every month, I'll run three miles under 18 minutes yeah, yeah, that's yeah yeah, my little sub-18 project, as I call it, I got last month was number 100, and one of the reasons I haven't done it is because I really don't want to end the streak, because if I got that surgery that's like six months off or whatever and uh, I don't like surgery and as long as I do my pt stuff it's fine it doesn't hurt too bad you know. But yeah, I gotta warm up like if I when I get up here. It might be a little stiff because I ran this morning and because I didn't do my exercises.
Speaker 1:I usually do them before uh, before bed, but uh because, dude, obviously you're, you're a great runner, you know, know, you're not below average, you're above average and you kill the, you know the local scene and whatnot. But watching you even cheer on the kids, it hurts me.
Speaker 2:These kids keep me young.
Speaker 1:That's what helps me, but man you make me cringe sometimes when you start warming up. I'm like dude, how's?
Speaker 2:I'm like how is it that noticeable? Yeah, dude, yeah, I don't, I don't feel it. You don't feel it. You should look it. I should record myself. You should record me being I should I'm?
Speaker 1:you know, maybe I should, because that's how we get some of these kids to understand like hey, dude, you're overextending, don't overextend. Like no, oh snap, I am, yeah, no, what coach is just here, man? You guys coach me they can't believe it.
Speaker 2:Not, I know something right. So that's a hard part convincing kids dude.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so teenagers but no, it is noticeable. I'm not. I'm not knocking you, man, because you are a great runner, but, dude, to continue on running, coaching and everything you're going to have to end up taking care of yourself.
Speaker 2:Eventually, yeah, probably when I'm older, when it really becomes unbearable. So, now that I'm only 31,. So I can kind of bear it. But there are times now, especially with kids, they want to get up and do something. I get up in the dinner table and I start waddling around.
Speaker 2:I'm like okay, I probably should really get this looked at, cause this probably isn't normal. I watched my wife get up and she doesn't hobble like this. Something's got to get. I think if I stopped running it wouldn't be an issue, but the fact that I'm still trying to run fast it probably.
Speaker 1:The thing is.
Speaker 2:The thing is is in order to get that fixed, they have to snap both of them right I think right now, you know, because it's just like calcium buildup along the, where the achilles connects like the heel yeah, it's like you know, cringing as we're, just so they talk about cancer and shit.
Speaker 2:Cut it open, take that out and prop. That's probably. I think they just need to take it out and then stitch it up, because but to get to it they would have to oh, they had to cut me open. I've seen some photos of stuff. And that's why you're like nope, it's like not for me. I will just do PT that my brother gets me my incredible brother who just graduated from Eastern Washington.
Speaker 1:Yeah, shout out, shout out, Kevin Paulson Shout out the therapeutic associates off of Costco. Oh, not until late, maybe right before bedtime.
Speaker 2:All right. Yeah, shout that guy out, Just graduated, just graduated, from Eastern with a doctorate in physical therapy. Yeah, dr Paulson, dr Paulson, which is great. Now people confuse me for a doctor all the time because he's my identical twin brother.
Speaker 2:I'd rather be the coach over doc any day, though well, he was, uh coaching before he went and finished up. Um, he was an assistant along with the rest of us from like 2016 to 2020, when he left to finish up college. So he was there for the big, the glory years ultimate goal coaching taking over kamayaka I mean taking over and not screwing it up.
Speaker 2:No, you guys, that's a big thing. That's my. My issue is a lot of you know. I'm working in the family business and my dad's done a great job building his thing. So if I take that over, yeah, I'm taking over from somebody else, and then if, if simultaneously, I take over the head coaching job, I'm taking over somebody else who built something like oh man, eventually I need to build something on my own.
Speaker 2:I tried to do that last year and I things came kind of crumbling down on me, so it's like it's a lot, a lot of pressure but yeah, you know, live and learn right.
Speaker 1:You live and you learn life.
Speaker 2:That's what life is all about is is you're going to have some screw ups and they're not really screw ups If you can learn something from them. Right, right, correct. But you know, I think that helps. I'm a I body, so if I, if I take over something that's already going, the calcium, exactly that calcium is all me. Well, actually, no, believe it. My twin brother does have it too. What, yeah, damn, I don't think it's. I think he only has on one foot, not both. I have it on both, okay, but yeah, now he doesn't want to do surgery either.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, well, that's awesome he's a pt so he can get it like looked at whenever he wants.
Speaker 1:Okay, right, shout, shout out Dr Paulson, dr Kevin Paulson. Therapy Associates by Costco Therapy. Okay, okay, nice, now I know where to go.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, when it comes to running stuff, he really knows what he's talking about. Yeah, he's, I mean, obviously, because he was a runner and he was an assistant coach and that's something he dealt with a lot. But yeah, All right.
Speaker 1:Closing up Greatest takeaway this season, man, this past season.
Speaker 2:Takeaway is you know, take care of yourself. If you feel like there's something nagging at you, listen to the niggles and um, don't be afraid to take things easy and cross train for a week or two so that your issues don't become worse. So you're, maybe you miss a week or two of hard running, but you get to run for the season so tough, especially, it says, the guy who's running with the Achilles issue.
Speaker 2:But you know, I cross trained for like three months before, when I was really working on it, to get it strong again. But you know, take care of yourself. And the big thing is, you know, we've got some great, great young kids and some great seniors who taught them the ropes. Yeah, and with COVID, we lost a lot of momentum going into the 2021 and 2022 years that these last you know, 2023 and 2024, we've really, really established, and that's just because the seniors we have right now really took the younger kids under their wings and so just keep the ball rolling and yeah, rock on rock on.
Speaker 2:What about you?
Speaker 1:mine overall, dude, hands down, watching those kids grow, understand the game, believe in themselves, take in what we all say to them and just have that that moment, moment of clarity, like I got what it takes and then they them believing it and continue to do it and then build off of it.
Speaker 1:Seeing that is, I think, hands down, the best moment for a call, uh, for a coach, you know, or just just being able to tell their parents how far they've gone and what, what you know, what they bring to you and you know, just as a coach, and have them understand how much they've changed and how, what they look at at home and the product that they you know, that they they are seeing firsthand in the races, is just the most uplifting part of the job and what I continue to do and strive for. So, whether it's continuing on there or anywhere, I'm going to continue to coach something, doing that running, yeah, but overall it's the kids believing in themselves and going from there, because you can't do anything if they don't believe in themselves Exactly. And when they have that moment, dude, they just like PR one second, dude, and they're happy about it, you know, and I'm busting happy too, dude I'm like just wow, that's great, you know, but you know our young self like one second one second.
Speaker 1:You know, like in high school, like dude, I wish I can do it, but for them to understand that one second really, really matters and it's pretty cool, you're doing your job Exactly that's the one takeaway.
Speaker 2:I mean that's the best part about it, is it? Cross country is not a sport people do because they want the glamor or, you know, maybe a state standoff, but that's about it, maybe if you're in that your school, yeah Me I was going to say maybe there's a state standoff if you go to state, but there's no, and it's not like it's a fun sport either.
Speaker 2:You're not. It's not like tennis or soccer, you can just pick it, the sport that other sports use for their punishment. So the kids who come out and do it and excel, and really the kids who really enjoy it, are the ones, like you mentioned, where they're motivated and they see that progression that even one second PR, and they're like, oh, yeah. Or they get that one second PR and they're like, oh, if I had just gone out a little slower, if I was a little bit more aggressive at the start.
Speaker 1:It could have been a 10 second pr or, if I listen to you coach a little bit more, yeah, five seconds, hey, exactly. Hey. You did what you did. Let's celebrate, exactly celebrate. That's what makes it worth it.
Speaker 2:That's what keeps that's what keeps bringing me out so great guys like you out. So I'm glad. What I really love about our our league is just there's so many just great coaches, guys I just love to hang out with and oh yeah, you know, like we're talking about prescott and troy. Um, I don't coach pete from, uh, from hanford. You know, I'm not gonna list all the coaches out there yeah, but you know they're all great.
Speaker 2:I I see them around town. I you know talk. I want to talk to him. I don't go. Oh gosh, there's the richland coach. I'm gonna go to aisle five and pick up something else in 19th aisle at the grocery store.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's avoid him. Prescott tries to avoid me sometimes. I don't blame him Right, all right, kyle.
Speaker 2:Until next time, dude, until next time. All right, man, hasta luego, all right. Thank you, Kyle, ciao, thank you.