YogiTriathlete (00:01.292)
Welcome back to the Yogi True Athlete Podcast. I'm Jess. I'm here with BJ, and this is episode 467. Today's a really special one for us. Our guest is the legendary voice of Iron Man, Mike Riley. Mike has spent decades standing at finish lines around the world, calling hundreds of thousands of athletes home and delivering four words that have become iconic in endurance sport. You are an Iron Man. He's been inducted into the Iron Man Hall of Fame.
The USA Triathlon Hall of Fame, the running USA Hall of Champions. But what makes Mike so special to us isn't really his resume, is the fact that Mike's been a part of our story. Mike was our 100th guest on this podcast, which was such a huge moment for Yogi Triathlete. And over the years, he has called us both across some pretty meaningful finish lines. I still remember my first Iron Man in 2008 in Court d'Alene.
And my coach telling me before the race, it's astonishing how far out on the course you can hear Mike Riley at the finish line. And he was right. It was pitch dark. I was at the top of a hill, about to drop down into the neighborhoods, to head down to one of those iconic finish lines. And I remember hearing that voice as I was coming toward the finish and just being completely pinned with the biggest smile because I knew that's Mike.
And then Mike called BJ across his first Iron Man World Championship finish line in Kona, which happened to be Mike's final Kona. So there's a lot of history here and a lot of love and appreciation for this guy. Mike is also the host of Find Your Finish Line, where he has spent years having conversations about the stories behind the accomplishments, the setbacks, the courage, the resilience, the purpose, and the people behind the athlete.
And now he's brought many of those lessons together in his new book, Finding Your Finish Line: Lessons on Discovering Hope, Heart, and Yourself in Life's Toughest Miles. And we really love the premise of this book because after a lifetime of watching people cross literal finish lines, Mike has come to understand that some of the most important finish lines in our life have nothing to do with a race. The book is about resilience, purpose, courage, hope.
YogiTriathlete (02:24.459)
And what happens when we realize that we're not built to arrive and stay? Every finish line is the beginning of your next chapter. And that idea feels so deeply aligned. That idea feels so deeply aligned with what we believe here at Yogi Triathlete. Because the finish line has never really been the point. The race is the vehicle. The question is: who are you becoming through those miles? And who do you and what do you do?
with who you've become when you get to the other side. So today we want to go beyond the microphone, beyond the metal, beyond the words, you are an Iron Man. We want to talk about the finish lines that don't have a race number attached to them. Mike, it is always such a joy to have you with us. Welcome back to the show.
Mike Reilly (03:13.288)
my goodness, Jess, that introduction. I I I don't know if I've spoken that long at an Iron Man. That is pretty that was that was beautiful. Thank you very much. It's great to be on, guys. I I I'm honored. And I do remember that 100th episode that we we were together. I came to your place. I was at the house with with the dog and and you guys. And and I do remember that. And that was kind of the start of
YogiTriathlete (03:21.196)
Ha ha.
YogiTriathlete (03:33.677)
Mm-hmm.
Mike Reilly (03:43.326)
Me doing podcasts all over the place and then me wanting to do my own. So thank you and thank you for what you guys do. You you're amazing. You put out a lot of great positive energy out there. It's beautiful.
YogiTriathlete (03:56.323)
Thank you, Mike. And I can't I gotta say, you know, reading reading your book, like I'm just shaking my head every chapter, like, uh-huh, uh-huh. Like this so resonates with that very that very thing, like putting positivity into the world, putting the the inspiration, the possible out there and telling s best way to teach it is to tell stories, like real life stories that you've got to witness. And so before we get there, like
Mike Reilly (04:04.384)
Yeah.
YogiTriathlete (04:21.228)
You've seen so many like finish lines and you've you've seen so many people cross finish line probably more than anyone in the whole world. The transformation between what you first saw and what you what your definition of an a finish line was to what it is today and and maybe through this book, like how has that how has that changed or how has that morphed over the over the years or decades?
Mike Reilly (04:44.598)
Well, originally when I was calling the races, you know, in the late eighties and then through the nineties and and I was going to try to my goal was to do the best job possible, you know, to to to do the best job for the athletes and the organizers and the sponsors and the community. And I just saw that as something that I needed to do. And and my goal was always when I left an event, I'd say to myself, Okay, the next one
We gotta raise the level a little more. Let's, you know, that that was my goal. I wanted to raise the level a little more. And then about eight, nine years in, people started saying things to me that almost at first was a little uncomfortable. you know, Mike, you did this for me. And Mike, you did and I'm I'm thinking, wait, wait a minute. But then I started realizing transformation is a part of everybody's life.
At certain stages of life. It could happen big time at twenty-five or sixty-five or in between. And and something happens to someone or that they have to deal with and they've got to go out and find another finish line. And it wasn't always at a race or an event. And I started realizing that after talking to more and more athletes. And I go, you know, this isn't this isn't a job. This is something that I think was placed into my hands for s for reasons I don't know. But
I I wanted to take it and give it everything I could. And that's why when people would say to me, How the heck do you say that 2,500 times a race? Doesn't it get bored? You know, especially friends and people I'm close to. Riley, that's gotta be so boring after a while. That's gotta be over and over and saying the same thing. Doesn't it get mundane? Doesn't it get like really you tired of it? I said, No, I every person out there.
Has a backstory. I don't know them all. I don't know everybody's backstory. And I realized that I needed to have a one-on-one conversation with that athlete coming on in. Just like we're having a one-on-one conversation. We're into this. And I wanted to make sure that athlete knew that the accolades being thrown their thrown their way was well deserved. And I wanted to have that in my voice and my passion, what I said to them.
Mike Reilly (07:08.008)
And the next one came and I wanted to have another one-on-one conversation. Because to be up and more excited for one than over another, I would I I that's unfathomable to me. I I would never want to do that. And so that's where it came from i BJ and progressed through the years of the realization that these weren't just four words, they were they were
Something that would change in people's lives, sometimes in an instant at the finish line or sometimes over a period of time.
YogiTriathlete (07:47.075)
And sometimes we cross the finish line. I mean, I've crossed the finish line and looked at the time and like, you know, like being disappointed. But through many years of, you know, experience, 20 plus years in the sport, crossing lots of finish lines, doing deep inner work about, you know, who who is this this woman in this life and and what is her purpose here? I have lessened that attachment to the disappointment with the time and the disappointment with myself.
Mike Reilly (07:52.682)
Ha ha ha.
YogiTriathlete (08:16.618)
And so it's like every finish line is such an incredible accomplishment. In fact, we always say like getting to the starting line is such an incredible accomplishment that sometimes the human ego or the mind can dim that down and say, Yeah, but I didn't get my time. So, what would you say to the athlete who's, you know, about this discernment between being disappointed with maybe the time of the finish line?
But not being disappointed in themselves, that that achievement is still there.
Mike Reilly (08:50.494)
Yeah, that's a that's sometimes when I talk to athletes, it's a touchy, touchy subject because especially if someone let's I'm just pulling a timeout. Let's say he or she has gone 13 hours or 1330, and all of a sudden they go 1430. And they just they can't comprehend what what happened, what happened. And I say to them, you know what? That time may mean something to you, but it doesn't mean anything.
Anything to the world around you. It doesn't mean anything to your supporters and the ones that love you. It really doesn't mean anything to me. And sometimes I've said that to people face to face, and they look at me, I go, You're you came across the finish line. You're a champion for the rest of your life. And that time will be forgotten. Maybe the number of times you came across, you'll remember that more and not know what the times were. Because
And and that's why I wanted to write the book, because w we have to find finish lines in life every day. And when when something happens in your life to where, my gosh, this just created a new finish line for me. I've got to do this. And most of the time in life is just crossing it. It's not getting there on a time. If you lost a loved one, nobody's saying to you, you you gotta cross that finish line in 30 days. Could you imagine? What no one would ever say that.
Or 60 days. And if you don't, my gosh, it's the same in the event. So you you you want to make sure that you correlate to the the life events that are in your life and the race events that are part of your life. And you you the the time thing is really something that I just I I address in some ways and other ways when I talk to people about it, they go, yeah, I know. Okay, thank you.
I think they just have to be, you know, sometimes I feel like I'm a dad talking to somebody's, you know, a fifty year old complaining to me. I go, Well, you just bone it up a little bit. okay, Mike, okay. And I'm just like you know, so and I'm glad you mentioned that about the start line because as many times as I could when everybody was getting in the water or when we had mass starts and they were all in the water, I would tell everybody, guess what? You're a champion today.
Mike Reilly (11:14.25)
You're a champion in your heart, in your soul. You're a champion in the eyes of all your loved ones. And the you know, the cheers would come up and and and from the spectators. I never like to say, let's give them a round of applause. I just like to tell them what they're about, who they are. And then people realize that and they they they applaud it. So the time thing is while while it's great to set a personal record and a P B and and and I've been there.
it it fantastic. Your hard effort and your work. Okay, I did it. But if you don't get that time, everything's still worth it.
YogiTriathlete (11:55.406)
Yeah, I I really get the the the time thing. I was so attached to it. And I and I get that feedback a lot where you're like, Yeah, yeah, I understand. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's it's bigger journey and it's all that yeah, I understand. But you don't get it. Like I needed to hit this time, and I feel like our connection, our tie to our identity is is so closely knit there. And I think these stories that you provided in this book really like give some space between
What you're attached to, and maybe some perspective where it's like, man, this journey is is so much more than what we're experiencing here. And these these stories are people who are just fighting to get to to movement again or to to overcome a loss or an emotion that you were talking about. And then they find that finish line and it's like things shift and change. And it's almost like the new starting line for that next version of who they are, who they became by crossing that finish line. So I feel like these stories are really helpful.
Mike, and I know you had to probably pull from just some of them, a sampling of them. I'm sure you have thousands of stories to share, but these really painted that picture and created space between, man, I'm gritting so hard to hit a time when in reality, man, I'm just trying to get there. I'm just trying to get it done.
Mike Reilly (13:09.556)
Yeah, we we we go through life always wondering, you know, what's next, what can I do? I did this. You have to remember the finish line tells you, you know, w what you how you did. But what it really speaks to you is what's on the horizon. It it it shows you what you're capable of and what you can do next. And it it it it's interesting because when you
Do something in your life that you set a goal to do. You set a finish line. Hey, I want to do this. And and you do it. There's always that little come down period. Even after people finish a race. my gosh, I've got this little lull, or I'm a little depressed, or I went home and ate 32 bonbons, or, you know, I mean, it just and I hear that all the time. I go, wait a minute. That finish line just told you, you know, what you did. It's also telling you.
What you can do next. That's what you have to start looking at. Don't think about the past. what am I going to do now? Just start figuring it out. And I I said in the book, you know, no matter what time in your life, if you're standing still, you're moving backwards. That's absolutely 100% true. Sure, you can stand still and adjust and all right, let's reassess what I did and how can I do it better? But the moving forward is what.
gains you that confidence and gains you that that right to go find another finish line. you know, Shannon Crone in my book, who lost her husband to pancreatic cancer, and her, you know, her story is just amazing and what she pushed through. And but she started falling deeper and deeper into, you know, depression, a year, two years, three years, four years. And then a friend just gave her something simple, a candle.
On the side of it said, I am positive. I actually put that picture of the candle in the book. And something switched for her. Joy didn't come back instantly, but she just saw this vision of herself that of how she used to be. And at the six-year mark, she finally took off the wedding ring. And she goes, That was it. And I mean, six years. So it it it's interesting when we always
Mike Reilly (15:35.114)
Try to push to our next finish line and you wanna get there as fast as you can. But you know, p to to try to find perfection is not something you wanna do. Find progress, that's what you wanna do. Perfection's not gonna come. Progress will come and that'll get you where you wanna go.
YogiTriathlete (15:54.787)
And we can't we can't control these timelines. I love that that story. I mean, there's no difference between that six years when she was ready and and someone who's going after their fastest Iron Man like myself. It you do you can't control the timeline. You gotta keep taking the next step forward. These are just these are just points along the way. And we we have to sort of lean heavily into like what's possible and a little bit of the uncertainty of what's next, as long as we keep moving forward, because in due time everything comes around.
We're we we don't have we're not powerful enough to control all the all the circumstances around us. And I I I love that about the the two stories. And so if you can really lean heavily into it, timeline is really irrelevant. It's really irrelevant. It's about this what experience and what's happening right now where I can keep moving forward.
Mike Reilly (16:24.384)
Yep.
Mike Reilly (16:46.624)
You know, you you you talk about experience. I mean, one of the biggest themes in the book is and I I tell this to people all the time when I give speeches, you're the cause of your own experience. And i I'll have a room full of I could have a room full of you know, tech nerds and they're looking at me like, What are you talking about? And I tell people, I don't mean getting a flat tire, even getting rear-ended in a car or the job market or the weather. You don't have control over that.
But if you believe you have control over your experiences, you will be the one that takes responsibility for everything you do, everything you say, how you act, and how you react to situations or to other people. That's what I mean about you are the cause of your own experience. And so those types of people do not make excuses. Those types of people keep moving forward no matter what happened in their life.
And they weren't a cause of that happening. But they are 100% the cause of the experience afterwards. They can go into the doldrums, they can do what you know, anything to push themselves into a hole and not bring themselves out of it. So I I firmly believe in you're the cause of your own experience. And those people are always pursuing new finish lines. And you know, they're the people you want to work with, they're the friends you want to have, they're the
the the the partners you wanna be with a hundred percent of the time, they're the cause of their own experience. They realize things happen, but how they react to them and how they treat other people and how they take responsibility for everything they they say and do. That's that's who I want to be around. That's you know, and that's that's a big reason I wrote the book because I I've seen it so many times of excuses are invalid. And
But people use them in little ways. And even even a loved one who you tell them, I I I think I want to do an Iron Man, Dad. What do you what are you, crazy? Why would you want to do that? Even that negativity, if that person took that to heart, well, well, maybe I'm a look. No, I'm not. No, this experience is mine. I'm gonna do it. It's hard to push through some of that stuff when a loved one says something to you to you like that. But if you live by that every day, I think you're gonna get through it.
YogiTriathlete (19:15.088)
And that story that you shared about the woman and her friend gave her the candle, I think that really I can't stop thinking about this, about how life can change in an instant. And it can change, and when we think about that, we think about like maybe something bad's gonna happen, but it also can change the entire trajectory of our life in a very positive way. You know, that those things can change in an instant. That it can be, well, I've experienced this on the Iron Man Lake Placid course, end of days weather coming down that descent, like.
Mike Reilly (19:24.512)
No.
YogiTriathlete (19:42.278)
Thunder, lightning in the middle of the Adirondacks. And then all of a sudden looking up and seeing a crack in the clouds and bright blue sky, like anything can change in an instant. And that was actually my mantra that day at that race. And BJ, you shared something this morning from Iron Man, Wisconsin, 2017. But you had already been racing Iron Man for 11 years. That's that Mike said at the start that really resonated and like and it hit you. And it's like,
Keep going because you never know when the thing that maybe you're silently ignoring in life just hits you in this new way and everything begins to shift in a beautiful trajectory upward. so share that, Beach. Well, it's just his I use I'm starting to use it a lot now, but you have one thing that you control and that's your attitude, right? And it's really about ownership of what you're talking about, your decisions, your experiences, your choices. Like when you truly take ownership of that.
Mike Reilly (20:31.893)
Yeah.
YogiTriathlete (20:38.747)
You're gonna have a successful day. And you said that in you probably well, you did say it earlier because you mentioned in the book in 2006. But in 2017, I clearly remember you saying it when I was on the start line. I remember hearing your voice say that. And I was like, Yes, I get that. Okay. And now it really like rings true to this place where now, you know, I'm a coach now and work with athletes, but I also have goals myself where every choice that I make in the conversations with the athletes and with myself.
Mike Reilly (20:51.146)
Mm-hmm.
Mike Reilly (21:03.093)
Right.
YogiTriathlete (21:06.681)
I I have I own that. Like that is me. If I try to place it outside, I'm gonna be disgruntled. I'm gonna be annoyed. I'm gonna be dissatisfied. I'm gonna be upset. So you can have instant peace, instant peace by accepting your choices, by be the by being there for those decisions. So yeah, I think that rang so true, Mike, and you probably said it a thousand times before, but that's just it's an important message.
Mike Reilly (21:31.103)
Yeah, you know, it it would that was a tough day. And and it two thousand and six in my diary, it was it was a terrible. It rained seventeen I put seventeen hours. So I thought that was the first year I said it, which I think it was, but I remember saying it again in seventeen because that weather matched six, let me tell you. And so I I actually said that as much for me as anybody else because I started listening to the negative negative talk.
around me of athletes walking by, even of the Ironman crew working the race, and everybody I'm, you know, my brothers and sisters I work with alongside the Carnies and they all got their heads down. And I'm thinking, my God, we're never I remember saying to myself, we're never getting through this. And and and and then I caught myself, what what are you an idiot? What do you mean we're not getting we gotta get through this? Volunteers gotta be safe out there to take care of the athletes.
All this started ripping through my head, and that's when I asked the sound crew, Hey Dave, can you turn down the music for a second? And that's when I said told everybody, We we got no control over this around us. Absolutely not. It's crap. We understand that. But you got control of one thing and one thing only, and that's your attitude. And then I yelled out pretty loud, I think if you keep that positive, you'll find the finish line. You'll get there. And everybody erupted, even the sound crew and all the volunteers and
I'm going, okay, we're gonna be okay, we're gonna be okay today. so it was a much for me as anybody else, especially when you get up in the morning and the weather forecast I saw called for 17 hours of rain. How friggin' fateful is that? I'm going, that's nice. They know we're here. You know, he knows we're here. He's giving us 17 hours of this stuff.
YogiTriathlete (23:18.949)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
YogiTriathlete (23:25.295)
I think it really speaks to who we become along the way. And I had a conversation with an athlete today, and I'm sure he's going to be listening to this, and he'll probably say, like, she's talking about me right now. And and he I I believe on the call today we set a really big goal for January. And I said, How do you wanna feel when you're it's a it's a long distance swim? How do you wanna feel as you're stepping out of the water?
Mike Reilly (23:37.514)
Ha ha ha.
YogiTriathlete (23:53.882)
And he said immense, like, like immense self like satisfaction and gratitude. And I said, okay, now that's our goal every day. Like this is what we this is what we celebrate along the way. Because so many times, once I get to the finish line, once I get the raise, once we get on vacation, then I'll be happy, then I'll be peaceful.
And when you show up to a starting line and you have a 17 hours to finish the race and the forecast says 17 hours of rain, right? You you really need to dig in deep there to even begin the day. But also along the way, that it is these hundreds, thousands of small wins that equal.
Mike Reilly (24:24.384)
Mm-hmm.
YogiTriathlete (24:40.751)
That big finish line. We don't change, we don't transform through huge aha moments. We've all had wake-up moments in our lives, like, my God, like that just really woke me or shook me. But it's these little small wins. And who you are on that starting line was built with every early alarm, every completed workout, every workout that you said, you know what, I'm on the edge, I'm gonna pull back, I'm gonna tend to myself, or I'm gonna be with my family today.
owning all of those decisions that the finish line is not doesn't change who we are. It's every day leading up to that we've become something more. And I love this idea of like we're we s we so resonate with this, like we're not made to just find the finish line and then stay there. That finish line is readying us for that next chapter. But why do you think so often
Mike Reilly (25:20.32)
Mm-hmm.
YogiTriathlete (25:37.541)
That we get stuck in that. Like once I cross the finish line, then I'll be this person. And we lose the magic of every day that's driving us to become that person that can finish the race.
Mike Reilly (25:50.409)
I I even wrote about it in the book called The Rival Fallacy, where we build into our lives and our goals and our aspirations that if I if I just get that job, if I just get that promotion, I'll be good. If I just get this good relationship, I'll be great. If I get to this finish line, I'll be fantastic. If I make this much money, it'll be all good. And you can attain every one of those things.
And if you're not working from the inside out, they don't mean anything. You still have that feeling of w where's my gratitude? Where's my joy? I don't get it. And I think what we do in the world that's surrounding us today, and always has, there's a lot of external influences that we take to heart because someone said it who's supposed to be an expert or an authority. I I've always told people, you know, you can read all the
Motivational books you want, you can listen to people speak, you can you can read the self-help e-book, you know, you can do whatever you want to do in that arena. I I I think you should. But at the end of the day, you are your biggest motivator. And if you do that from the inside out, if if your athlete comes out of that water and didn't have that time or just felt bad or got sick, you still want.
He or she to have that great moment because they finished. And if they're living from the inside out, they will. They go, All right, I gave it everything I had and I got it done. so I I think I think people and I I I I even said in the book, you know, don't get down on yourself. We're human. And things come our way that well, why'd this happen to me? How many times have we said that? Why why the heck did that happen to me? And
That's not living as the cause of your own experience. It may have happened to you, but you gotta move on. And I i i it it's an interesting deal with finish lines because we've all been at them. we've all seen people's joy and happiness at the finish line. And for some reason, sometimes that doesn't follow But if they're living from the inside out for all the right reasons, they're keeping a strong balanced life.
Mike Reilly (28:16.618)
Then that finish line travels with them to the next one.
YogiTriathlete (28:22.924)
yeah, I mean it it I mean that's why I'm in the sport for twenty two years and I keep doing keep doing races because I love I love the journey. I love what I'm experiencing along the way. And and yes, I'm a sucker for stories. Like it inspires me. Like reading what you had put in there was so was so reassuring. It's like, yeah, keep going, keep going, because I'm not done yet. You know, so many people are out there, they're pushing their limits. But there was a story you shared about you, which I
Mike Reilly (28:29.024)
Yeah.
YogiTriathlete (28:51.846)
which I really took to was when you were first commentating in Kona and you didn't get the lead spot and you had a choice there. I mean, you could have easily gone down the road of like, err, err, err, right. Or you can sw switch that around. And so what did you do? I I think that's a really like pivotal story for someone who who may not get what they are expecting to get.
Mike Reilly (29:16.512)
Yeah, that was a you know, there's a always a time in your life you wanna attain a new not status for yourself, but a new level. And announcing the race in eighty-nine and ninety, and then my dear friend Mike Plant leaving. He was the lead announcer, I just thought naturally I'd get it. And I didn't. And it was a whole different crew that came in. I had never worked with them and here it was me and and them and
And I felt that. And you know, I had a conversation walking to the venue in the morning at 4 30. I called my wife here at home. And she gave me her two cents, and you can read it in the book, which woke me up. So you know, here I'm at a payphone at 4 30 calling her and god, I hope she's up. 4 30, 5 36, so she bet, yeah, 7 30. And she was, thank goodness. but she heard it in my voice.
And she just simply said, You know what? You you you you are all you got. Just be Mike Riley. People love hearing what you say. Because you say it from the heart. Just go do that and don't worry about the rest. I didn't put it in the butt. Don't worry about the rest of the shit. You just take care of you. Just be who you are and take care of the athletes and you'll be good. And she almost just like hung up. And I go, Okay, I love you. See ya. Bye. And then I'm walking down to the pier, you know, that 10 minute walk thinking,
All right. I'm just gonna do what I do. And you know, funny enough, that was the first year I ever said those four words. They came out of me that year. They came out of me. I didn't think about I didn't stay up at night. what can I say? You know, like a baseball announcer when a guy hits a home run, gone, gone, gone. You know, everybody's got their own little thing. Well, I I didn't
I would I wasn't even thinking about a thing. I but that was the year that those four words started for the first time.
YogiTriathlete (31:22.065)
Yeah. Like anything can change just in an instant. And just by being your best, just by being who you are, right? Not trying to be anybody else. And I think, you know, as yoga teachers, that's what we're first taught in our teacher training is don't be the yoga teacher with the yoga boys like, yeah, just be yourself. Be you. And people will gravitate to you. And it's it seems quite simple, but yet we trip on it quite often for sure. Yeah, and and
Mike Reilly (31:25.074)
In an instant.
Mike Reilly (31:37.512)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Reilly (31:46.741)
You know, in one of my eight, I'm sorry, in one of my aid stations at the end of each chapter, I can't remember which chapter it was, but I said, yeah, choose yoga over television. I I hope you guys I did. There was a few things I said, choose this over this, you know, choose yoga over television, which I like doing.
YogiTriathlete (32:08.399)
There's so many principles from yoga, you know, as we talk about the finish line or you know, why me? And and showing up after, you know, whatever, 30 weeks of training to 17 hours of rain, it goes back to this principle of yoga, which is detachment, doing the work for the sake of the work, not for the fruits, you know, not like I deserve this. But do it because it feels purposeful. Do it because you can.
Mike Reilly (32:28.566)
Yeah.
YogiTriathlete (32:37.969)
And do it with gratitude. You know, like the I had my last big workout session this weekend. And I'm my body is carrying some compounded fatigue, like had trouble hitting the paces, just felt really, you know, the heat in the body and all of that. And I just was so grateful that this body kept showing up that, you know, I was able to bounce and hit the bike the next day without, you know.
anything severe happening. And so looking back, it just like I'm so grateful. And by not being so attached to, you know, I didn't hit this pace. Whereas in years past, that would have meant something about me. It was just, hey, this is the situation. Keep going. Trust your coach. rest and, you know, we'll see what happens on race day. But what has come over the years is like less of those quantitative goals and more of like quality, like just graceful
Mike Reilly (33:33.782)
Mm-hmm.
YogiTriathlete (33:35.454)
performance, like being grateful for the volunteers, and you know, out there racing to my absolute, like where there's nothing left in the tank. But I think that you can bring these, obviously Yogi Triathlet, you can bring these things together and really create these, this life where it's not where it's not why me, but it's why not me.
Mike Reilly (33:57.847)
Mm-hmm.
YogiTriathlete (33:58.152)
Like, why not me that this thing happened to me? But also, why not me that I can win my age group and go to the world championship? Why not me? And it's just a such a much more open mindset and perspective that I think gets us to those finish lines and allows us to say, okay, and what's next? I'm ready for it.
Mike Reilly (34:18.088)
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You know, the story it's been written about obviously as you guys know, the Mark Allen, Dave Scott Iron War in nineteen eighty nine, my first year there, and everybody's interviewed him a thousand times. But I I wanted to have I want I w came at a different angle with Mark about courage and not about the race and when did you what was your pace and that that
didn't make any difference to me. But he said something that I I I'd never heard him say before because of the six times he lost to Dave, he was racing against Dave Scott. He was he I I I gotta beat him, I gotta I gotta race against him. And then in eighty nine, it it he switched it. You know, what what am I doing, Chasen? I just gotta do the best I can do.
I I I put in the time, I put in the mileage, I put in the effort, keep a positive attitude and just go out there and race. It was the first year he didn't worry about his nemesis, Dave Scott, and it's when he won the race. He was only worrying about Mark Allen and and just do what he could do. You know, he had to push hard, he pushed hard, he was gonna push harder, and and he just raced within himself.
And you know, the look on his face, Mark and I always kid when we're together giving a talk or something, he'll go, who is the first person Mike Riley ever called across the finish line at an Iron Man? And nobody answers it. It's like, and it was Mark, because he was the first person that came across when I in 89. So and he he he just he just realized that I I just have to be me. And and he was.
YogiTriathlete (36:05.566)
Yeah.
Mike Reilly (36:14.952)
All day long and then he won. I had never heard him talk about that before.
YogiTriathlete (36:21.204)
I think I think in this book you you give people permission to be themselves. like not that not that we aren't always challenged with that, but if we if we can see that it's okay to just be us and and falter and and stumble a little bit in in the way that we find ourselves forward, and it's okay. It's okay. And I think one of the chapters I really loved was the finding and facing your fears.
Because when we step into ourselves, sometimes it's uncomfortable because we haven't been it for so long. But if we if we are willing to venture into the unknown, not knowing exactly how each step is gonna go, then we may just uncover just this amazing, miraculous life that we've been maybe pushed to the side for a while because we're trying to appease, trying to appease others. And I think that Mark story is perfect. Just be go within. Go within, just be who you've always meant to be and watch.
Watch what could potentially happen, not what potentially could go wrong.
Mike Reilly (37:19.892)
Right, exactly.
YogiTriathlete (37:22.697)
Yeah.
So one thing in the in the book that we didn't know about was that you and Rose a long time ago left your roots and came out to San Diego without like much of a much of a plan or really knowing where it was all gonna lead. and I I think anytime somebody signs up for like an Iron Man or something big like that, it's like
We're taking a leap into something. We don't really know how it's all gonna pan out, but we just kind of feel something that's pulling us towards it. Can you tell us just a little bit about that story? And like you guys were, I think you were in your early twenties, heading out to the Great West.
Mike Reilly (38:03.91)
God, yeah, we were well well, I I got I arrived in San Diego on August thirtieth, which was what, yesterday, which was our one year wedding anniversary. But she had to stay in Ohio. She was a nurse, she had two more weeks. So I came out get an apartment and do all that stuff. And I had two buddies out here. She her two. We all went to high school. One was in the Navy, the other one came out and was working out here. So the
That helped. And I it's a wonder she came. I just because it was really a leap of faith, leaving family and friends and we had a good friend network, you know, playing cards on Friday night and going out and and you know, I was riding a bike back then in Ohio and I kept thinking, I can ride in December. Well I I gotta do that. You know, so and and
YogiTriathlete (38:57.3)
Ha ha ha.
Mike Reilly (39:02.164)
Instead of being in the gym just pumping iron all the time. so yeah, we did. We we and she came out and it was a struggle for her because she couldn't find a job right away. I got a teaching job right away and that helped. And then I managed we managed an apartment building, so the whole evictions thing and the management and we're twenty-two years old. It was it was it was tough at first, but but it was still
We go to the beach on the weekends and and then I ran into these crazy guys who ran at Balboa Park. So I'd go running with them. And I I go, These guys they're killing me. This is something else. And you know, I got into the endurance thing and then Rose started running. So it it was really a leap of faith and th that finding that finish line of moving out here.
Set up the rest of our lives. Certainly set up my life in endurance sports for God's sakes. I mean, I didn't know I could I could do this and produce income. Wait, wait, what do you mean? You know, I had run three running shoe stores in San Diego with my brother. then we sold those and I became a rep and traveling the west of selling power bar and sockany and whatever I had in my bag. And it it just
catapult us into the endurance space. So it it was you know, it's funny. I had a good friend here in San Diego say, what do you think you'd be doing if you stayed in Ohio? I go, I know exactly what I've been doing. I wrestled in college. Before we left for San Diego, I was offered a head wrestling coach job at a high school in in mid part of Ohio in a small town and it was appealing. Head coach
High school, wrestling, that's what I did. San Diego. and I go, nah, I'm gonna I'm gonna go out west. And people told me I was crazy. Well what are you going out there for? People don't know what the heck's going on. You know you gotta stay in Ohio. No, I'm not gonna do it. So I'd I'd I'd have been a retired school teacher.
YogiTriathlete (41:15.957)
Mm-hmm.
Mike Reilly (41:21.428)
Not saying teachers, you know, I'd probably weigh two hundred and fifty pounds. Who knows what I would have done? I would who knows what I would have done there.
YogiTriathlete (41:30.025)
What does that speak to like taking taking those leaps of faith? I th I think that's this is such an important piece. I think a lot of people I know, I work so much with the mind that a lot of people really they're like, I I want this or I feel called to this. I don't know why, but it just keeps showing up in my life. but then there's all of those things, like you had a nice secure job, you had a wonderful wife, you had a nice safe environment that you could have stayed in.
Mike Reilly (41:30.378)
So
YogiTriathlete (41:59.156)
What you did did not make sense on paper. And then here you are, people outside of you, I obviously you were already living from the inside because people outside of you are telling you you're crazy. We heard the same thing when we left everything that made sense on the East Coast to come out here. Well what would you say to someone who's like, right, that leap of faith is right there, but the paralysis of like staying safe and doing what makes sense is is is holding them.
Mike Reilly (42:25.046)
I I I y you know what I tell I regrets suck. And I have friends back in Ohio who I've been in contact with all these years 'cause they're buddy, we've seen each other if they come out there and we go out there and couples and and every one of says to me, I should have gone with you. Why didn't I go out? Why didn't I move to Florida like I wanted to? Why didn't I I have conversations with
People my age like all the time. And so I say to you, if you're thinking about making and taking a leap of faith, I I'm not saying you should take it. Like I don't say you should do an Iron Man. You know, that's not who I am. Or but if you've got a deep desire to make a move in your life that is stretching the start line, like, my gosh.
Think about the regrets you'll have if you don't. And you will. Sure, you have a great life. You could have had, you know, a few kids and everybody's healthy and happy and the whole deal. But in the back of your mind, would you have y had any regrets? And that's why you to look at it. I I I didn't wanna I I saw a lot of I worked on a trucking dock back in Toledo and I saw the lifers that were in there. They were
50 years old and they look like they were 70, 80, beat up. Well, I go, I I can't do I'm not gonna do that to myself. I gotta I gotta do something else. So that was it was a heck of a leap. Yeah, that's right. You guys did move from the east too. I know it's it's it's not the norm in Ohio is everybody was going to Florida. And as a matter of fact, my wife's family went down there. He he started a construction company.
YogiTriathlete (44:11.274)
Yeah. It's not the norm. It's not the
Mike Reilly (44:23.712)
The my wife's brothers went down there. Even her twin sister moved to Florida with them. And they're all going, Mike, come on, we got a job for you here. I go, uh-uh. For some reason, some said, I'm going west. I'm going to San Diego. So and it's funny, my brother-in-law, my brother-in-law, who I've been together with sec since second grade, Fred Rismick, he's an icon in triathlon in Florida. Icon. He's put on thousands of events, race director, had his own clothing line.
YogiTriathlete (44:38.987)
Yes.
Mike Reilly (44:53.878)
and and so he became he what he wanted to become down in Florida with Triathlon. We kind of started it together and it it it's funny how that worked out. I always said I always said there wasn't room for two of us in Florida, there wasn't room for both of us in California, so we went.
YogiTriathlete (45:05.556)
Yeah, it's it's not
Divide and conquer. Yeah, because it's not, it's not about not going to Florida and it's not about not staying in Ohio. It's about what feels what feels meaningful to you, what feels what is calling you, what feels purposeful. Do you feel aligned in your life or misaligned in your life? Like our meditation teacher always says, like, if you if you know the answer, take the action. If you don't know the answer, find the answer and then take the action.
Mike Reilly (45:19.338)
No.
YogiTriathlete (45:38.037)
You know, it's just like the answer's right there. If you're not clear, get clear. And so it's it's not maybe staying in Ohio is the dream. Maybe coming out to San Diego is the dream. You don't know, but if you feel something that pulls you, like living on the other side of it, it's not easy. I mean, we were two miles away from home going, What did we just do? Like we just walked away from a lot of money. We walked away from family. Like, okay, let's just keep going. Like this car does not go east, it only goes west.
Mike Reilly (45:42.474)
Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Reilly (46:08.79)
Crazy story. It's a wonder Rose didn't. I'm out with Gary and Bernie, my best buddies, for two weeks here before she comes out. I already knew I had the teaching job, but it was August. We did nothing but go out and party every night. It was it was insane. The night she's coming in, she's coming into San Diego on like a ten o'clock flight, a late flight, or eleven o'clock. And we get back to my apartment and we all fall asleep.
And the phone's ringing, ringing. I pick it up. Where are you at? I'm the only one left at the airport with a janitor. I'm going back home. I'm going, fuck, are you kidding me? I got in the car. I was about, you know, 20 minutes from the airport. That's a wonder. I was doing 90 all the way there and she's standing on the curb. I'm going, I just this this may not work out. This may not. But thank God. Thank God it did.
I've been married we've been married fifty one years and every once in a while she goes, You didn't even pick me up. You know in front of you. my God, I'm never gonna Yeah, I know I I I messed up.
YogiTriathlete (47:20.182)
So that's classic. I think I think like we need to we need to give Rose some kudos here because something when we s when we commit to an Iron Man or any endurance event, right, like it's a commitment. And a lot of people are navigating family, young kids, teenagers, you know, spouses at home, partners.
what have you, and whether, you know, it's it's the wife or the partner, like whoever's doing the thing. And then the one at home, you know, it it really is holding down the fort. Let's be honest. Like it it requires a lot. Your job and and this dream that you fell into that you didn't even know you had required a lot of you. And a lot of people required you. I needed you to be at that finish line in 2008.
And 2012 and 2014 and 2050. I needed you there, right? You didn't even know me. Now that times thousands and thousands. So you had young kids along the way there, you know, throughout all of this. And so I'm assuming at some times this was tough. Like to be a to be a dad, to be a husband, and to be somebody that was so much to so many people. And I think.
A lot of people with their training, let's say for Iron Man and their emplo their employees or their co-workers or their friends are so inspired by them, right? It creates this like sense of responsibility, but it can also be hard to balance all of this. And how did you guys how did you guys do that to ask you a huge question? Like, what did you find was helpful in success in that as we see many couples struggling in this in this area?
Mike Reilly (49:12.522)
We did it right. We did it wrong. Usually I was the wrong part. We did it together. We did it separated. not separated, but different up different opinions about it. And it's interesting. I I was not going to Sarah Wasner Flynn drew it out of me. She says, You gotta write about kind of why you left. You know, you you've never really and so that chapter
YogiTriathlete (49:17.367)
Ha ha ha.
Mike Reilly (49:41.495)
I really I said some things in there I've never even said publicly, and very few people in my life know. And it w it was a difficult, it was difficult at times. I I never regret going to events, but it was very hard for me to say no because of what people would say and please and be there and all that good stuff. And but the good part about when I was home, I was
home and with the kids and raising the whole deal. But Rose was taking the burden. She was had her own business and raising the kids and and the whole deal when I was gone for that week. I never people would say, hey you gotta come to the race earlier, like be here ten days. I gotta not gonna happen. I will. If the race is Sunday, I'll I'll get on Tuesday, Wednesday and be out of there, you know, Monday. they would always say
Even if I was in New Zealand, don't you want to stay and see the country? No, I want to go home and see my family. You know, if they were with me, it'd be a different story. So it is a very tough juggling act. That the the theme I talk about in the book is it's got to be all inclusive. You have to have those conversations with your loved ones. You've got to show them your schedule. Talk to them about the schedule. Find out what's going on on the other end of your life that sometimes as athletes, you don't think about.
Because honestly, a lot of times it's just me, me, me. And you've got to break out of that and know that even though that accomplishment you are gonna go get, you did it. But the journey wasn't all yours. It was c combined with everybody around you. And you've got to share in that. You've got to make sure they write off on it. Because I you know, I I do remember getting on a plane, leaving, going, this is not good.
This is not good. That was that was tough and you know, didn't want me to leave and yeah, that was very difficult. The only thing I knew I could do was try to do better the next time. But when I hit the site, the race site, I had to click into that mode. at times, which was difficult. But then I'd see the athletes and I, all right, I'm I'm into it. And let let's go do it. Then I'll get back home and figure things out.
Mike Reilly (52:09.084)
It it's it's a juggling. It's tough. It's really tough. And it was tougher in my thirties when the kids were younger and forties, the fifties things started to flow because, you know, kids were older and she sold her business and she'd travel with me to more races and things like that. but but she'd always ask, Is it gonna rain there? I don't wanna be sitting inside all day, you know.
First year at Iron Man, no, at Gall in Galway, that is 70 point three. And I went in, that's the first time I met Joanne Murphy, who I help mentor. Now she's on the microphone. And and it is just it is just Mike, it's a soft day, Mike. It's not so bad. I go, What are you talking about, Joanne? It is no, it's a soft day. She's looking up, I see nothing but clouds, and I see Rose as a hotel right there in the picture glass window, looking out, reading a book.
She goes, I ain't coming out there. I go, I don't I don't blame ya. God. Yeah, it's a it's a juggle. And I I don't know if I gave anybody any advice, but you've just got to have others involved in the process. Always. You know, I even said something in my book. It's like coming home from work and being asked by a loved one, How was your day? And all you say is, Okay.
YogiTriathlete (53:17.793)
Mm.
YogiTriathlete (53:36.441)
Mm, mm-hmm.
Mike Reilly (53:36.705)
Y you you you're excluding them, not including them with your answer. What do you what you just did? Are you kidding me? They wanted to know, did you have a decent day or a crappy day? Or they just wanna know. And sometimes when we're in that training mode and in that mode for just me, that's how we talk to people and mostly of the loved ones, and you can't do that.
YogiTriathlete (54:01.815)
Yeah, I think the biggest thing that you just gave everyone is permission that you did it right, you did it wrong, you did it with differing opinions, like, but in the end, you guys did it. And it's this this like this mission of of of perfection, it it doesn't exist. And so I think communication is huge. Like having the awkward conversations and
probably one of the questions that our athletes like roll their eyes to is when we say, like, how's this going? They good and we go, What's good? Yeah, what's good about it? What is what's good? Describe good. We want to hear good. What give me the details? I want, I want the I want the fine details of what good is. and I love that. Like if it's it was okay. Training was it was all right, but it's like look beyond yourself. They're they're interested. They wanna that this is them wanting to become a part of this world, let them in.
Mike Reilly (54:38.73)
Yeah.
Mike Reilly (54:47.338)
Mm-hmm.
YogiTriathlete (54:56.718)
and I think that's how we bridge the gap and realize like I'm gonna do this Iron Man, it's gonna be tough. I'm not gonna pretend it's not gonna be tough. It's probably gonna be tough sometimes and sometimes it's gonna be amazing and it's gonna be easy and it's gonna flow. And I don't know how it's gonna go, but like I'm in, are you in? Let's do this. and bringing people in.
Mike Reilly (55:13.022)
I had I I was at a book signing for my first book and at an Iron Man event. And a couple came up to me and he goes, Mike, I want to get your book. You've called me three times. And and his I assumed his wife, his partner were standing there just rolling her eyes, like, get me out of here. And I felt so bad. I just knew where she was coming from. And I said,
All I said to her, I said, you know what? I I wrote this book for you too. She goes, What do you what do you mean? It's an Iron Man book. No, no, I I think do yourself a favor and read just some of it. I I think it might it might explain a few things. And maybe some things he should have explained to her or had communication about. About a month later, I got an email and this one's telling me.
my God, your book and da da. And I got a lot like that, which was very nice. But then I go, my gosh, that's that woman that was and I'm reading it. It was with the guy. She goes, You you cleared it. Now I understand him. I understand what he's doing. And then she goes, I don't always agree with it, but at least I understand it. And and we're talking about it. I'm going, my gosh, I didn't think it was gonna be a therapy book, but the way she looked, the way she looked and
it just in some of those things that were in that book maybe he should have had the conversation with her about. But I and I I saw that with a spouse or a mom or dad or a brother or sister more than once.
YogiTriathlete (56:55.628)
Yeah, I think, you know, what what we're seeing here, and I don't know if you remember the first podcast, we labeled you as the connector. Like you were bringing a bunch of communities and people together. I think with this podcast, not that we need to label it, but I think you're giving permission to for people to be themselves, to walk the path less traveled, to it's okay to be fearful and not know all the answers and the steps that are leading you to where you want to go. And I think you're
Your rawness and honesty in the book allows and telling the stories gives those people permission that you too can achieve what you want. It's gonna be a little messy, it's not gonna be perfect. And what you're gonna experience on the other side is is something you can never have scripted in real life. It's something that is so experiential. You have to step into it. So I think, I think, I think you're given permission for people.
Mike Reilly (57:46.913)
Well, you know, it it it's funny. Exactly. I have in my epilogue on the second to last paragraph and I didn't even want to write this because I felt it felt too forward. It felt too like anyway, I I I I talked about, you know, you've got to start your your path to being healthier, have those hard conversations with people, start the training programs.
Start loving yourself more. you start the path, the balance. And most of all, you be you and only you. Anyone else is a fake. And I kind of hated, I don't know, it was really harsh. But sometimes the truth hurts. And and but then I said in my four decades of finish lines on the microphone, I witnessed the raw-sided triumphs of everyday people discovering hope, heart, and themselves in life's toughest miles.
And if it's taught me one thing, it's that people are the cause of their own experience. And I almost didn't want to, when you said that about being yourself, and it it it just seemed harsh to me. If you don't, if you're not yourself, you're a fake. Which you kind of are. And sometimes we have to have those hard conversations with ourselves. Yeah, what what who am I fooling? Who am I kidding here? There's only one person, it's me. I'm the one losing here, not.
People I'm saying things to, I'm losing here. So
YogiTriathlete (59:20.375)
I love that. Yeah, that's it's so true. I I like to take it to the the phrase of you be yourself, be the best version of yourself or second best version of somebody else. because you'll never be like Jan Ferdino, you'll never be Mike Riley or Jess, like just be you, be you. but yeah, otherwise what?
Mike Reilly (59:32.374)
Yeah.
Mike Reilly (59:40.107)
Yeah, but you know what? The the the the last year Jan won in Kona. Was that my last year, 2022? It might have been 2021. 2022. Yeah, it's last year. He set the course record. And he's back at the finish line, like all the the winners come back putting the medals on the athletes and the whole deal. And we're about 1630, 1640 into the race, and people are struggling and coming across. And we had a little gap, and I'm standing there next to him.
YogiTriathlete (59:49.017)
Twenty twenty two.
Mike Reilly (01:00:09.92)
We're not saying anything to each other at the time. And he he goes, Hey, Riley. He goes, How do they do it? I go, what do you mean? And the music's going, I I'm looking at him taller than me. I go, what you mean? He he says, how how are they doing this? I could never in a million years be on my feet for sixteen and a half, seventeen hours. How can they keep how can they they're still standing? How can they do that? And I I'm looking at
The goat. I'm looking at a guy that's won the race three times, set the course record. He's in awe of what those athletes are doing. So no matter who you are, if you find that finish line, people are gonna be in awe of you, and it could even be the greatest in the world, the greatest in the sport. And I just found that to be so refreshing. I mean, I it was refreshing.
YogiTriathlete (01:00:41.363)
Yeah.
Mike Reilly (01:01:07.862)
To have him say that.
YogiTriathlete (01:01:10.873)
All right, well where can where can people get the book? where are you gonna be where people can see you in person? What what do we got here?
Mike Reilly (01:01:18.302)
Well, Amazon, the hardcover and soft cover available. The ebook is also available. The audio book's gonna come out probably more towards October because it takes a few weeks for that to load. And I did record the audiobook as I did the first one. So that'll all be out. So you can go to Amazon just finding your finish line, Mike Riley, and it'll be big and bold in your face and
If you do read the book and you like it, please give me a review on Amazon. I I'd certainly appreciate I read every one. I answer a lot of them and thank you for that. So that's where. And I may be going to Kona. there's a good chance I might be there and I'll be taking books to the World Championship as the Iron Man Ambassador. so more news on that to come.
YogiTriathlete (01:02:15.0)
The first year back with the men and the women racing on the island, on the big island. So I know that's a dream of BJ's to get back there. And Yeah. Yeah. We're someday soon. Yeah, someday soon. Release the timeline. Just keep moving forward. Keep moving forward. That's all I that's all I gotta do. also you got a podcast.
Mike Reilly (01:02:29.856)
Some day soon.
Mike Reilly (01:02:34.154)
Hey, you're a you're a young you're you remember you're a young dude. BJ. Yeah, I I brought 80 year olds across that look like, you know, so you got all kinds of time. Don't don't worry about it.
YogiTriathlete (01:02:47.194)
Good. Thank you for the permission. And you also have a podcast, right? You got a podcast going, you still doing that?
Mike Reilly (01:02:50.704)
Yeah, there you go.
Yeah, I I put it on hiatus for the last month or so getting the book completed 'cause it was just so much work and but I am going to do a Kona preview show with Mark Allen and Laura Sittle. That'll be out before Kona. you know, assessing the men and women's race. And then that that that's you know, then I'll do a couple more this year. But the book was kind of the priority. And then now speaking engagements are coming along and I you know I
YogiTriathlete (01:03:08.257)
cool.
Mike Reilly (01:03:23.444)
I don't wanna travel all over the place again, so I I'm picking and choosing on that.
YogiTriathlete (01:03:29.284)
Love it. Well, happy anniversary to you and Rose. Fifty one years is most certainly staying the course. just so incredible.
Mike Reilly (01:03:33.398)
Thank you.
Mike Reilly (01:03:37.152)
She tells every she tells everybody I married her when she was twelve. She like okay, honey. That's good.
YogiTriathlete (01:03:43.179)
Ha ha.
YogiTriathlete (01:03:47.022)
Okay.
YogiTriathlete (01:03:51.771)
Well, thank you so much for being on the show again, Mike. it's just, you know, I think this podcast here is like a testament to just keep following what calls you because, you know, crossing that finish line in 2008 or BJ in two thousand and six and then having you in our home and running into you here and and then having you on our show again. It's just like it's so incredible what taking those leaps of faith will will bring you in your life and you know, just
Going out there and really just being your authentic self, which is can feel so daunting sometimes, but it's it truly is your most effortless way of being and just be you because everyone is unique and we need everyone to be more of who they are because that's what makes this world so so rich and and so beautiful. And I think that Iron Man brings us these finish lines bring us into that rawness of who we are, and we really get to see who we are and we.
really get to see, you know, how we're moving with what gets thrown at us. So thank you for being such an instrumental part of so many people's lives and and ours as well and being here for our community. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
Mike Reilly (01:05:02.9)
Well, thank you. I I appreciate you two immensely. I love following you, seeing what you're doing and the goals and the finish lines you're trying to find and and for what you do for others. You know, they say we should try to make someone else's life a little bit happier. Find someone make their lives, you know, a little bit happier, a little more motivation, influence. Send them on their way and and my goodness I got to do that twenty five hundred times a race. So
I've always told people I'm the luckiest person in the world.
