When I first met Andrew Glaze, I was astonished by his extraordinary tale of endurance and transformation. As a fire captain and ultra runner with over 30,000 miles to his name, Andrew's insights on life, resilience, and the pursuit of extreme goals are nothing short of inspiring. He candidly recounts his journey from personal struggles to becoming a figure of hope and determination, reminding us that we all carry the potential for remarkable change within us. His empathetic nature resonates deeply as he shares how he uses his social media influence to uplift and support others, rather than simply for self-promotion.
Andrew embraces positivity to keep himself going, maintaining a 100+ mile / week streak for over 4 years! This includes competing in some of the world's most grueling endurance events including Moab 240, Cocadona 250, Badwater 135, and many others.
Favorite Quotes
"Smile, or you're doing it wrong."
"You'll never meet a hater in life that's doing more than you..."
Connect With Andrew!
IG
Thank you for tuning in! If you feel led, please subscribe & share the show to others who you believe would benefit from it.
Keep in touch below!
When I first met Andrew Glaze, I was astonished by his extraordinary tale of endurance and transformation. As a fire captain and ultra runner with over 30,000 miles to his name, Andrew's insights on life, resilience, and the pursuit of extreme goals are nothing short of inspiring. He candidly recounts his journey from personal struggles to becoming a figure of hope and determination, reminding us that we all carry the potential for remarkable change within us. His empathetic nature resonates deeply as he shares how he uses his social media influence to uplift and support others, rather than simply for self-promotion.
Andrew embraces positivity to keep himself going, maintaining a 100+ mile / week streak for over 4 years! This includes competing in some of the world's most grueling endurance events including Moab 240, Cocadona 250, Badwater 135, and many others.
Favorite Quotes
"Smile, or you're doing it wrong."
"You'll never meet a hater in life that's doing more than you..."
Connect With Andrew!
IG
Thank you for tuning in! If you feel led, please subscribe & share the show to others who you believe would benefit from it.
Keep in touch below!
I ran for probably over 10 years. Before I started I even knew what an ultra was. Nobody really talked about ultra running back then. I was pretty fringe and I wasn't in the circles that even knew. I didn't even know about trail running. For the longest time I just ran road and I did 5Ks, 10ks, half marathons, things like that.
Speaker 2:I didn't even really know that a trail scene existed or anything like that welcome to the win today podcast, a weekly tool intentionally crafted to help people enhance performance, feel inspired and conquer life. Our commitment is that you will learn from some of the most disciplined, heartwarming and inspiring people on the globe, in addition to receiving a piece of a winning, by developing systems that will enable you to accomplish your goals, break systemic trends of adversity and chart a desirable course for life. Thank you so much for tuning in. Please help us achieve our vision of becoming one of the top podcasts in the world by subscribing to the show, sharing it with somebody who you believe will benefit from it and leaving a review. Let's connect with our guest.
Speaker 2:Most humans over an 80-year lifespan will cover roughly 20,000 miles on their feet, and the gentleman that we have on today has circumnavigated the entire globe on his feet in a matter of just under four years.
Speaker 2:We have Andrew Glaze with us, who is a fire captain, an inspiring ultra runner who currently carries a streak of over 200 weeks running 100 plus miles per week. He has covered over 30,000 miles of ground, inspiration to the running world and folks that don't even run, but just to show us that he's here, to show us that, hey, here's what's possible when you're consistent and you dedicate your mind and body towards something in this world. Andrew, honored to have you. Brother, thanks for having me. So we can read about you and people would be quick to find out by looking at your instagram or your strava or on google, and there's countless articles written about you and your streak that you've covered over 30 000 miles in four years. Just shy of that and they might think, dude, this glaze guy just isn't human like he's. He came from another planet, which could be believable. But my favorite question to ask is what is it that that makes you human?
Speaker 1:um, I think like I have a very intense empathetic side to me where I really care about other people and want to help them, and I think that's a really good human trait to have. It's one of the reasons why I'm a firefighter paramedic and it's one of the reasons why I do this. My social media is to help people. I could easily make lots and lots of money off of it, but I don't. I just literally use it as a platform to help people At work. I save people's lives and I'm on a team that does that. I could easily do a job that makes more money and I don't. I do what I do because I want to help. So I think you know they're in service to others.
Speaker 2:Even with your social media pages. I really see that as a service to someone else. It's not hey, look at me and look at all the miles I've run. I believe. At least from what I see is hey, this is what you can do and you can actually make hard things fun. This is what you can do and you can actually make hard things fun. I love that you always say at the end of your do hard things post, smile or you're doing it wrong, and I really just see you as this beacon of positivity and light. And doing some research on you, I learned that this hasn't always been the case for you and didn't board. You weren't born a runner or grew up a runner. This wasn't something that you've always done. You actually had some difficulties with drugs and alcohol and then got into running. So I would love to hear about your journey pre-running and, ultimately, what got you down this path yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1:So I I definitely did sports growing up, so I was athletic but I played football and in football running is the punishment, you know. So it's like if we got in trouble we would have to run. So I I would definitely say that running was not something I enjoyed. And then, as I got older, yeah, I got into like drugs and alcohol and then sort of fell out of sports, you know, ran away from home, got caught. My parents sent me off to various programs that I was in until I was 18. Luckily, one of the programs was they're like, it was just sort of it was a school that was dedicated to taking challenged kids and getting them into college. So I was able to get into a good college from that program and then went all through college no exercise, just smoked cigarettes and, you know, was super unhealthy.
Speaker 1:Left college continued that that route. And I think around when I was like 20, maybe like 23 ish, I started just really having like terrible anxiety and depression and whatnot and didn't really know what to do. And so somebody suggested to me like, hey, you should probably try working out, you know. And so I was kind of at the end of my rope because I didn't like how I felt and was pretty much willing to try anything um, outside of. You know, I didn't. I wasn't a big fan of the idea of, like taking a pill to solve a problem. Um, that, that was something like that.
Speaker 1:That school I went to like really harped against was, uh, like medication and so, um, yeah, so I tried exercise and, uh know, I got a personal trainer and I started lifting weights and I started doing elliptical training and, like you know, a little cardio, a little weights, and that was, like you know, it fixed the problem. The anxiety and depression went away, been really, really fun. And I just keep going down different rabbit holes when it comes to exercise and right now that one is, you know, ultra running, and I really enjoy it ultra running and I really enjoy it.
Speaker 2:It's interesting how you had that formative experience with the I'll call it the prep school if you will and how that played a pivotal role in your life. And I remember sports too, at times where running was punishment. It makes me think back to playing baseball where we'd run poles back and forth and it was the worst thing ever. And you know, there were days where I remember going to practice with one of my best friends and we're like man, we are going to run like a hundred poles today because we absolutely sucked last game and yeah.
Speaker 2:And then with the things that were going on in my life, which I shared with you off camera but I talk about a lot on the podcast like I found running to be this outlet and it's like the one thing that I do on a regular basis now that when I'm out there I can either think about absolutely nothing or if I'm thinking about something, then I'm painting a picture in my head of what I want the future to look like, like, for instance, this podcast. You know this was a vision that got formed over a lot of runs and then here we are today. So I'm curious now with your streak at over, you know, 200 plus weeks running, 100 miles a week you get into running. At what point do you then do you have this idea, like huh, I want to see what 100 mile week is. And then you do it and you keep going, or what really started the streak and what keeps it going now?
Speaker 1:I mean, I ran for probably over 10 years before I started. I even knew what an ultra was. Nobody really talked about ultra running back then. It was pretty, pretty fringe and I wasn't in the circles that even knew. I didn't even know about trail running for the longest time. You know I just ran road and you know I did 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons, things like that. I didn't even really know that like a trail scene existed or anything like that.
Speaker 1:So, um, but you know it's like when you're a runner there's always like the idea of a hundred mile week. You know it's like people talk about it like oh, because it's like really hard to do. And so I mean I remember getting my first hundred mile week, you know, three or four years into running, and I remember just being so hard, how to accomplish that and then getting it and feeling wow, I did something really, really hard. That was probably my first. One was way, way back in the day. One was like way, way back in the day, um. And then you know you, in challenging yourself, and like when you start running ultras and you start like building up your volume to to run like these really long, big races, I think 100 mile week probably seems less challenging because when you're training for like 100 mile race, you start putting in a lot longer volume days, like longer hours, and so it's easier to build up those miles in a week, but you don't necessarily do it every week. You know, it's like it's more of like a you're building volume to run a hundred mile race. So it's like you know you do a 75 and then you do an 80, and then maybe a 90, and then you maybe do 200 mile weeks and then you've taper a couple of weeks and you run your hundred mile race. And so I definitely did things like that for a while, where I would build to this point and then taper off and then run my hundred mile race. Um, and so you know I've, I've, I've probably done many, many hundred mile weeks in my life, um, outside of a streak. And then I think in 2018, I did 28 weeks straight. I don't know why I just you know you start doing something and then next thing, you know it's like well, I'm going to do another week and then another week, and you know the challenge becomes part of the fun.
Speaker 1:Um, I also like, although I race a lot like I didn't used to race quite as much as I do now, and so it was a little bit easier to accomplish like a hundred mile week streak because I wasn't racing like once a month, you know, maybe I did. You know one or two hundred miles, a hundred mile races the whole year. You know, maybe I did you know one or two hundred miles, hundred mile races the whole year. You know, sometimes like I just do one and then do like a couple of smaller races. So yeah, it was, it was a little easier to accomplish.
Speaker 1:And then, you know, COVID happened and we basically lost all our races and lost all our ability to like sort of challenge ourselves.
Speaker 1:And then they developed all these virtual races where it was like, oh, how far can you run virtually?
Speaker 1:And um, so yeah, I was like, well, I can, I can run far like virtually and like you know, with Strava and everything you can log it. So I, you know, you can prove it all and it you know it actually like the a hundred mile week street kind of started. And then I decided that I wanted to be number one on Strava and so I I ended up doing like a 200 mile week streak for, I think, 18 weeks and I got number one in the world on Strava, like twice in a row, running like over a thousand miles in a month, which was pretty insane, Cause you're running like I think I was running like 36 miles a day and something like that, but even more, cause I'd only run a certain amount at work and then when I get off work, I was running like a 30, like I think a 30 miler or 36 miler in the morning and then I'd go out and run like another like 12 in the evening. I was doing that for 18 weeks, so that got pretty intense.
Speaker 1:Um, that I I think I think I cocodona happened for the first year, and then I after that I was like, okay, I'm gonna drop down off these 200 mile weeks because that got a little insane.
Speaker 1:So, um, and now and now it's like, I mean, I it's just kind of like my lifestyle now I think it's. It's like kind of like almost like a mental health thing for me is gives me something to focus on, but not in like a bad way, and it lets me, like, keep my mental health problems like sort of in check, because you know, running is really nice, um, for mental health problems. So, um, now it's like, I think, with all the you know, the firefighting stuff that I've been doing for years and years and years, like you know, I have a significant amount of PTSD and, um, running really helps me with that. So I just sort of embrace it and and and use it as a form of therapy, um, to help me with that. So I just sort of embrace it and use it as a form of therapy to help me with that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Now, as you say that, and another thing I really admire about you and going back to the intro is that Andrew is a full-time fire captain at Laverne Fire. It's almost like I have your Laverne Fire Running Club with Dave. Yeah, with Dave.
Speaker 1:With.
Speaker 2:Dave, but Laverne Fire.
Speaker 1:Dave's super famous and he's not even really on social media. But yeah, he's my sidekick for sure.
Speaker 2:We love Dave, but I feel like the buzzword this day and age is let's talk about balance. And how do you balance this? But talk through. How do you rather integrate your running into your work? And I suppose this may be a good time to introduce the Laverne Fire Running Club and the fire station loops, because I am curious, how does one maintain this amount of mileage? That takes several hours a week. Plus, you're responding to calls. You never know when a call is going to come in or what type of call is going to come in, but no matter what, you still find a way to get it done. So what does that look like for you?
Speaker 1:I think you know I look at work miles as just like it's just a nicety, like if I can get them, it's great, and if I can't, I don't. I used to stress about it, but I don't stress about it anymore. Like I think, let's see, thursday, I think Monday, I got nine miles and we just had a super busy day at work, and we just had a super busy day at work and I just I couldn't get more than that without, you know, dipping into my my any sort of sleep or anything like that that I would need to, you know, to like survive. I, you know you still have to be like response ready and everything. So I just look at it as something like that's like nice that I can do, but if I can't do it, I don't stress about it.
Speaker 1:Because worse came to worse. Like when I'm off work I can run more, you know I can. I can get my miles in like off work, but I mean I mean basically all my days are are essentially the same, and the fact that, like my balance is that I wake up early and I tried to get miles in while people are sleeping. So even at work, like we are allowed to sleep until 7am and then we have to get up. So I get up earlier than that and I try to get several miles in while all the guys are sleeping. Same at home, you know, my family is sleeping and I'm trying to get miles in while they're sleeping. That way I'm not necessarily taking away from my family time and I'm not taking away from my work time. Now, at work it's obviously a balance, like you said, because you never know when someone's going to call 911. So some mornings I get zero miles and some mornings I get 10 miles. You never know what you're going to get, which is obviously challenging. Know what you're going to get, which is obviously challenging, but at the same time, as long as you like are mentally like prepared for it, it's not that big a deal. And then we are allowed to work out at work from like roughly like 830 to 10.
Speaker 1:So we do a very like a variety of things, like I'm sure you've seen, like I do like a lot of stairs and turnouts and breathing air and stuff like that. We have like a five-story building across the street. So we do like doing that, you know, working out in your full gear, because it weighs like probably about 75 pounds. So you know you want to be pretty comfortable doing hard physical like um, exercise in in those, like in your turnout, so that you know when you have a real fire or something like that, you feel comfortable in it. Um, but, yeah, I do, I'll run with the guys. Like you know, I I've been doing it way before social media, but we, we, we just call it the Laverne fire running club, but it's just, it's just a joke.
Speaker 1:You know it's like it's a joke that now, because I have, you know, like 600,000 followers, that like it's everybody thinks it's like, you know, like some sort of serious thing where it was like I have, like the mayor of Laverne and, like you know, council members coming up to me like wanting to like join the liver and fire running club. And it's like I'm like it's literally just Dave and I are just running like a couple of miles every day. But, um, regardless, it's, it's, it's fun. And you know Dave is, he's turning 58 this week. So you know he's old and he's super fit and he's been my partner for a long time and you know he attributes a lot of like his youthfulness to the fact that he's, you know, stayed in shape and, um, I think that's it's an important lesson to look at that, even as you get older, as long as you keep moving and keep working out like you know you will, you'll stay strong and you'll stay skinny, and or, you know, skinny, you're not not skinny in the sense of like like skinny, but you won't be like overweight, which is it gets. It gets harder when you get older. I don't know how old you are, but as soon as you hit your forties, it's always a struggle to uh, to keep the weight off, um, even when you run a hundred miles a week. So, um, yeah, it's just, I don't know, I enjoy it.
Speaker 1:It's a fun little thing to do at work and then again at night we're allowed to work out After 5 pm.
Speaker 1:It's kind of considered like our time, and so, you know, a lot of times I'll get more miles in the evening, if I can, depending on the work schedule at home.
Speaker 1:Normally, like when the kids are like kind of winding down to go to bed or like doing homework or something like that, I'll go out and grab like a quick, like five mile run, um, which I call my dinner miles, which I, you know, I, I, uh, I run before dinner to feed my legs before I feed my stomach.
Speaker 1:So, um, when, um, when you double dip every day, it makes like high volume streaks easier to accomplish. So, um, and I think it's, it's a little bit easier on the body too. Like if you had to run 15 miles a day and you ran like seven in the morning and eight at night, or eight in the morning and seven at night, like you might not feel as accomplished as running a 15 mile straight run, but as far as longevity and fatigue on the body, you're getting like the same sort of workout, but it's like it's, it's a little easier on the body. So, yeah, I recommend breaking up your mileage into two smaller chunks rather than. I mean, I love a good long run, but for me I'm accomplishing a different goal when I'm doing it.
Speaker 2:I think it's better to break it up Can definitely feel it a little more. My girlfriend and I last year did a half marathon a day every day for the month of August challenge through Jackie Hunt Browersma. That name may ring a bell, yeah.
Speaker 1:I know who she is. Yeah yeah, I think she ran Javelina with me. I think, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and she's yeah, that checks and she's getting ready for Boston. But she had that challenge out there and Christina and I are like that sounds fun, let's do it. And some days like it was nice to for a decent bit of them, like to work and then get your 4.1 after, or or more, some days did a little bit extra.
Speaker 1:but you know you and you're like well, I have two legs, so I don't really have any excuses, exactly yeah no, it's, it's amazing, like that's just I love, that's just another thing that I love about.
Speaker 2:You love about like the Jackie's of the world. And for folks that don't know, jackie, jackie is an adaptive athlete. She is actually on a 250 plus day streak right now, running at least a half marathon a day and has one leg. And I just look at that like what's your excuse? And even with you, you're going out there, you're putting in, you're finding the time, you're creating the space. Even in the midst of your calls, which are unpredictable, you find a way to get it done where you could easily justify oh man, we had a tough day at work, we had a lot of calls, maybe this is the week that the streak ends, because it was just really hard.
Speaker 2:Talk through, because one thing I can just imagine, you know, having run off you know, some hundred mile weeks and a few hundred milers myself, it hurts the body. Even being well-trained and maintaining the fitness, it still hurts when you go out and do that 100-mile-at-a-time, that race effort. Talk through the weeks where I wouldn't be surprised, andrew, even though you've done this so many times that there's weeks where you're like man, this is the last thing I want to do. You're like man, this is the last thing I want to do, and maybe the streak is at risk or I don't know how the heck I'm going to make this happen. But got to get it done. Like, talk through the tough weeks, talk through that and what's your, what's your process, mentally, as you, as you're in that, in that space.
Speaker 1:I think the toughest weeks, where I feel like the streak might end, is normally when I'm like sick. You know, if I get like really sick, there's been a couple injuries too that I've sort of had where I didn't know if I was going to be able to like figure out how to get the miles. But I just look at it as like a challenge. You know, I guess, like I'm in my brain, I'm always trying to take the negatives and turn them into positives, so like, for instance, like so I just worked 72 hours straight and got very little sleep for like three days. I got sleep, you know, 20 minutes here, maybe an hour here or there, and like, but not anything like substantial that like a normal human being needs. Or, yeah, like what you need for, like like recovery. You know mental health, all that stuff like not enough sleep, and you know anybody that follows. You know the podcast scene or anything like. The science of sleep is, like you know, very hot topic. Uh, even in the fire service I just went to like a whole lecture on the importance of sleep, and you know all the things that you know if you don't get of sleep and you know all the things that you know, if you don't get enough sleep, what? What it can you know cause from cardiovascular disease to, like you know, like all sorts of stuff. So, um. So here I am. It's like I get off work, I'm exhausted, like all I want to do is like take a nap and I like force myself to go run like eight miles. So it's like in my brain what I'm telling myself is like okay, like I know you're tired and I know you just want to like get off work and just like crash out, but you're going to force yourself to do this and you're going to do it because this is what mile 200 feels like, or this is what mile 80 feels like. And for me, since I'm like always training for ultras, that's like my goal, and so I'm turning that like negative of being like so tired and so exhausted to like how do you, how do you simulate mile 200? Like you really can't do it. You're not going to go run 200 miles to train for a 200 mile race, right, and in a 200 mile race, the hard points are like where you're so tired and you just you can barely function, but you have to keep moving forward. So I'm like you're a mile 200, you have 40 miles to go. You know, and this is what you're going to do. And so, um, and then when I'm in the race and I'm 80 miles in or 150 miles in, or whatever, um, and I start to feel that feeling I'll be like, okay, you know what this feels like. You know this is. You've just been at work for three days and, like you know, you're going to, you're going to get through, you're going to get to the next aid station. If you need to take a 10 minute nap, then take a 10 minute nap and then we're going to keep moving.
Speaker 1:So, um, and I that's what I try to do in life in general is like I just try to find the positive aspect of the negative, negative thing that's going on and and then try to flip that in my brain. Um, I mean, it doesn't always work, but, like you know, if, if you think about long enough, you can normally figure out a way to make it a little bit more palatable. Um, plus, it's like you know, I like hard things. So, you know, when I'm sick and I don't feel like running and I go out and it's like terrible, sometimes I'm like, well, this is even a better challenge. Now I'm like having to fight this virus. It's like trying to stop me and I won't let it and I'm gonna like push through, even though it's trying to take me out, and like you know, yeah, I'll just look at it as something like that too. Um, yeah, I mean I, I like I like the suffering and I like the misery, not necessarily when I'm in the middle of it, but like after the fact. I like to be able to like reflect back on how I got through those low points and um, and continue on.
Speaker 1:So, and even in like an ultra, like when I'm really suffering and I'm really like, not like I want to quit, but like you get to these points where you're like just in a lot of pain and like nothing seems to be going right, and you know, and I'll just be like, well, isn't this what you wanted? Like this, is this? The only way to get to this point right here is to suffer for 80 miles. Now we're here. This is what you wanted. So like let's just embrace it and keep, keep going. Like you worked hard to get to this point and yeah, it sucks going. Like you worked hard to get to this point and yeah, it sucks, but like the only way to get to this point is to run 80 miles. You can't fake it any other way. You can't like there's, there's no way to to emulate it, to simulate it like no other way. The only way to get to right here is what we did, and it's hard, and now we're here. So let's just like embrace that we're here and just keep moving forward.
Speaker 1:So you know, sometimes you have to have a little talk with yourself when you're, when you're in the deep suffering of of life. And you know, I I saw a lot. I talk a lot about races because I see ultras as like life in a day, you know, and it's like I'm only out there for a day or two or whatever, but like all the ups and downs and everything like that that you experience in that race is just like life, like you have all these ups and downs and like low points and hard points and easy points and good points. And you know you just have to figure out ways to to navigate all of them and embrace the good times and then, when it gets hard, like you don't remember the good times and then, when it gets hard, like you know, remember the good times, but you know, figure out ways through it. So yeah, it's, I use the lessons I learned in running, like these long races, to like to get through the hard points in life.
Speaker 2:It absolutely is a training ground for life and absolutely is a training ground for life. And I feel, after speaking to so many talented people around the world and folks like you, especially in the endurance space, that one of the most powerful skills or attributes someone can have is the ability to flip the script and look at the opportunity that we have in the moment that many can look at holy smokes. You are in an absolute shit storm right now, and that could be the case, but what's the good that can come from that when? What's the good that's on the other side of that? You just have to keep pushing a little bit more.
Speaker 2:I remember my first hundred miler at mile 31. It felt like every knee injury I had over the last five years just returned all at once and I'm thinking, and I'm thinking andy, holy shit, man I'm. I guess I'm gonna limp for the next 69 miles, but I sure as hell ain't quitting. And you keep going, you keep going. You get past that voice, that devil on your shoulder, and I really believe it comes down to sometimes like you just need to be 1% louder than that voice and it eventually is going to go away. And I remember miles 85 through 100 of that race were actually my fastest miles, but it very well could have been. Uh, very well could have talked myself out of just quitting right there at 31 and all right, good, maybe next time we'll wait for better conditions. So I appreciate you sharing that, and I'm curious if part of why you do this is or rather, do you believe that you have a breaking point, or is it something that you're attempting to discover?
Speaker 1:I mean, I think anytime I do anything hard, there's always the like huge chance of failure. Yeah, and I like that. I mean I don't want to do things where I'm not like scared to do them, and I've failed at lots and lots of ultras and so I still have an extreme respect for like long distance, because I know all the things that can go wrong, because they've lots of those things have already happened to me. So, you know, I try to take them as learning points but, like you know, some things are always out of your control. Um, you know, you can always like sprain an ankle or, like you know, have a bad fall or, you know, do all sorts of things. And you know like, uh, you know, moab, I was in like top 10, I was having the best race of my life and I like fell off a cliff and landed on my back and my back swelled up and I couldn't throw my legs and I only had like 35 miles to go but I like couldn't like walk. So, um, you know, that's, that's just the way it goes. I just took the DNF. You know, it was like what are you going to do? I still made it like 205 miles. It's still pretty bad ass, but I didn't finish the race. So I'll just go back this year and, uh, you know, and and try to finish it this year.
Speaker 1:But I like that aspects of you know hard and scary things is, you know I tell people all the time, stay scared. You know, you want to be, you want to be scared, you want to, you want to be intimidated, you want to be nervous and you want to feel anxiety. That you know, because you know, if you're comfortable and you're not scared of failure, then it's probably not, you know, challenging enough for you, um, and and when I say failure, I mean failure in the sense of, like you know the traditional, like you didn't finish the race, like you're still going to learn a lot about yourself, you're still going to, like, take away life lessons and all those things which you'll turn into a positive if, if you have the right mental like aspects. But, um, just failure in the fact that you didn't complete it. Like I I learned a lot during Moab that I'm going to now take and I'm going to, uh, you know, apply it to Cocodona and see if I can have a little bit better um experience at Cocodona this year. Um, and other races. I I've used, you know, lessons I learned at Moab. So you know we'll, we'll see Um, and if it, if it doesn't work out, then I'll try something else.
Speaker 1:But for me it's always like this, like a self-discovery thing, where I'm always learning more about myself. I'm trying to just be an expert in Andy Glaze and um, I do that. Through all these trials and tribulations that I put myself through, um, I, I, I learned a lot about myself and then by doing that, I think it makes me a better person, it makes me a better father, it makes me a better husband, a better like leader at work. Um, and yeah, and I'll just keep doing that, and I've done it for so long, I'll just keep doing that until until I die, I guess. So, um, which I will eventually happen, so, um, and hopefully I'll have the opportunity to like, inspire and help people throughout the way, and then maybe they'll take some of my lessons and incorporate that into their lives. And then, you know, the cycle continues.
Speaker 2:I appreciate your humility, brother, because you're already doing that now and in large scale, and I would argue that you're, you know, zooming out a little bit. You're really, I'd say, just getting started, man Like you've got so much more of this ahead of you and you've inspired tens of thousands, if not more, all over the world, and myself included, and I love incorporating pieces of your playbook into mine now, and people that listen to this, I believe, are going to be getting a gift just getting to experience you and how you approach life, and not just the races, but really life 250. Some folks don't know what that is. It's a 250 mile race, arguably one of the toughest in the world. What do you look forward to most when you're going through these efforts? I would envision that it's more than just the finish, like part of me thinks you actually are most excited about those times where you're feeling the worst. Is that accurate?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, so I do, cocodona, I've done it. This will be my fourth year and I've done it all four years completely solo, unsupported. So I don't have any crew, I don't have any pacers, and so I have to be completely self-reliant and I really I do love that aspect of it, because it's very challenging to cover 250 miles without any help. I mean, you have aid stations, you know, which have food and water, but beyond that, like everything, all the planning, and both physical planning and mental planning, are pretty extensive. And you know, it's one of those things where people only see me running the race but they don't understand all the work that goes into beforehand getting ready, like all the drop bags and all the like, logistics and understanding the course and, and you know, navigating through trail systems at night, um, with, with limited course markings, and, and all those sorts of things that you have to like, do by yourself. I, I, I really enjoy it. I like, I like having to be relying on myself and um, yeah, I'll go a little slower than the like you know we were talking earlier about, like Sally, and you know her amazing accomplishment. She had like a huge team behind her, you know, and, and when you have a whole team behind you, it does make life a little easier.
Speaker 1:Um, when then, when you're just out there by yourself, like making it happen, so, um, I don't know I, I, I, yeah, I mean I'm, I'm looking forward to the, you know, day three. You know, when I'm like delirious and having to like figure things out still, um, but, uh, it's just so beautiful out there and you meet so many cool people. I mean, I've done it since year one and when it was like a little teeny race and now it's sold out and, um, you know it's, it's, it's going to be wild this year, cause there's like hundreds of people doing it. Um, so that's going to be kind of crazy too. It's going to be a lot bigger this year. Um, and yeah, it's just the whole experience. I always meet like a lot of really cool people.
Speaker 1:And if you meet me in a race, I'm a talker, uh, as, as I have done a lot of podcasts, and people are like, why do you do so many podcasts? Like I love talking about running. So you know it's same as at a race, like if, if somebody like runs up on me, like I will chat your ear off until you either pass me or I pass you or, like you know, we lose touch at an aid station or something Like I love learning about people. You know where are you from, what do you do? Do you have a family? What are your kids' names? Like, I'll get into it, I mean, the only unfortunate thing is I won't remember any of it. But when I'm living in the moment, I really enjoy talking to people. So, but mentally I won't remember because my brain is, like you know, it's mushed out there, Right, right, but in the moment it's going to be great. And then, like, you'll have to remind me later that we met and, uh, you know that we talked, or something like that.
Speaker 2:So, I feel like you'd be some of the best company to have, especially as people get deeper and deeper into that pain cave Like I would want to run into you at about mile, anywhere from mile 150 and on. If I'm in that, two Cocodona 250 and maybe even before that, you know, knowing that hell, we both might even not remember it, but it may give us just a little bit of juice and a jolt, you know, in that positive experience. Andy, you're all about positivity and one thing that blows my mind is, or rather are the amount of people that love to comment and throw some, throw some shade and throw some hate at you every week, because and what I believe is simply because they can't envision doing what you're doing, or they're not capable of even coming close to it. And you put it out there and you make fun of it and you say what are my haters, what am I troll saying this week? And and you spin it around.
Speaker 2:So talk through the, the role that these, these people, uh, play in your, in your life, and do you ever think about them? Mid-race and just use that kind of like? What Goggins talks about a lot is the cookie jar. I go, I remember this person. They made this comment. Now I'm gonna you know, I'm gonna show them, or what? What's the role that these weekly haters and trolls play?
Speaker 1:I mean, it's honestly, for me it's just mostly just humor. I think it's like pretty funny. You know, I grew up at a time I'm generation X when everybody talks shit to everybody, and so it doesn't I have like really thick skin. It doesn't like really affect me at all. I have the like thought, like if you don't know my phone number, I don't really thick skin, it doesn't like really affect me at all. I, I have the like thought, like if you don't know my phone number, I don't really care what you think you know. I mean um, because, like, you're obviously not important to me enough if you don't have my phone number. So, um, it's not like it's any of my friends or anything talking shit. And if my friends want to talk shit to me, then they'll just like do it in person. So it's, it's it to me. It's literally.
Speaker 1:That's why I always say, like what did my troll say this week? Let's laugh together because it's funny. You know, it's like here are these people that are holding a mirror up to themselves and they don't even realize it, you know, and they're, you know, saying these like horrible things and they're like serious about it. They're like really like, like they're like they get really upset and um it's, it's kind of, yeah, I feel bad for them, but I also think it's really funny. So, um it's, I do that segment, I mean, because it's kind of like, uh, like, the mean tweets was it like jimmy kimmel or?
Speaker 1:something that used to make, like the famous people read mean tweets. It's, it's similar on that like ground where it's just like the things that these people say are like the same things that we hear from everybody oh, it's bad for your knees, oh, I feel sorry for you. When you get older, it's like I'm already old, like you know. Oh, you know you're going to be in a walker, like, ok, well, I think we all are eventually. Like, when you get old, that's what happens. Like it doesn't matter how athletic you were. Like if you hit 80, like it's, it's, it's hard, you know. I mean, life gets just harder. It's like it's not running. That's bad for your knees. It's like life is bad for your knees. Right, you get older and like you know that's what happens. So, um, yeah, I don't know what these people are saving themselves for. They think that by not moving and wrapping themselves in bubble wrap, that when they're 80, they're going to be happy because, oh, I saved my body for when I was 80. It's like you got to use your body while you're young and strong and able. I run on 911 calls all day and people in their eighties and you know they're definitely not young and spry and moving around and like enjoying life as much as, like I am in my forties or you are in your thirties, you know. So there's nothing to save for and life isn't even guaranteed for tomorrow. So you could get in a car accident tonight and die, and you know, oh, you saved your knees. Well, great. And you know, you know you're dead and you know it doesn't matter if you had healthy knees or not. So, but yeah, it's, I do get a lot of hate. That's what happens.
Speaker 1:Like, you know, if you want to get, um, large followings on social media, it means it's like I have like a running circle and my videos go to the running circle and it's like, you know, I get like 100,000 views. If it breaks outside of 100,000 views, now it's going to everybody. So there's a lot of people out there that aren't runners. So now they're watching my video about running content and they're not runners. So those people are the ones that are going to like start talking shit.
Speaker 1:It's the runners. Like well, I mean, occasionally you get some weird runners, but it's, it's normally just like the weird, normal person. And then when the algorithm spins the video out into like you know, to that I mean I have, like on tiktok. I have I don't even know how many videos that have. You know 10 to 20 million views, and you know, when 20 million people see your video, then it's like you're getting a lot of people that don't understand what you're doing. So and then you're going to get a lot of hateful comments and you know stuff like that, which, again, it's just fun.
Speaker 2:What's been your, your favorite one or the one that's either made you laugh or scratch your head the most like? How the heck does someone even come up with what they just said?
Speaker 1:well, I last week I had one where the guy said I bet this guy jerks off and looks in the mirror I was laughing my ass off yeah, I figured that was a good one. I was like you win the internet today, sir, like yes, but I mean I would like you're shaking your hand. Yeah, I have a guy and I don't even talk about it.
Speaker 1:But it's like every video I do, every single one he comments on it like something about me jogging and it's like he doesn't follow me. I don't even know if he's she, I don't know what it is, but like it's just funny to me that this guy is like so obsessed with me that every video I post and I post how many videos a day, like so many he has to comment that I'm a joggy and that I'm not running. I'm like, how much time do you dedicate to like writing this narrative every day? It's like it's. I mean, those are some weird things where it's just like I. I just can't even imagine.
Speaker 1:Like you know, those are some weird things where it's just like I. I just can't even imagine, like you know what this person is. It's probably like my, probably my wife's, ex-husband or something like that. You know, it's like probably something like that, or like an ex-girlfriend that hates me, I don't know. But, like you know, it's just funny how much time people spend on this sort of thing, or the people that keep coming back and they have to continue the narrative of, like you know, they're so angry.
Speaker 2:But I just hate buddy, so you do offer, I do love the encouragement that you offer at the end of each video and you're the rather reminder that you'll never meet a hater that's in life. That's doing more than you are Right, which is Goggins, you know.
Speaker 1:I've totally, you know, taken it that you'll never meet a hater that's in life that's doing more than you are right, which is, you know, I've totally, you know, taken it, but it's like it's true, it's you know, it's, it's a it's a very true comment that the people that talk shit like probably aren't accomplishing anything.
Speaker 1:Because I, I accomplish a lot in my life and I have friends that accomplish a lot in their lives and maybe I accomplished more than them, but I would never talk shit on their accomplishments, you know, and like I would never talk shit about people that are like doing more than me either. So it's always, you know it's, it's the person that like, like you said earlier, like sort of you know, for whatever reasons, they're not accomplishing the things they want and so it's easier for them to throw stones, you know, at the person that is, but that's on them, that's you know that's their whole thing and it's, you know I feel bad for them at the same time. It's like you know it's entertainment and on some level too, I'm like entertaining people. So you know it's, it's a funny segment that, like I tried out and it became so popular that now it's like I try to do it like at least once a week or once every two weeks and you know it's, it's funny.
Speaker 2:I look forward to it. Just seeing it it's like I mean it, it makes me laugh. One Cause some of them, as you mentioned the, the comment that the, the, that the one guy made about this guy looks at himself in the mirror jerking off like that's freaking classic.
Speaker 1:But you know it's like it's funny.
Speaker 2:But then I'm also like goodness, gracious man, it's like, yeah, you feel for the people that are doing that, because some of them actually mean it and it's unfortunate. And I'm curious, like, have you ever thought about, like, if that's, if I'm you, I'm like, okay, how about one of you guys an open invite? Whoever wants to go for a 10 miler like come join me, like, and I'm sure nobody would. But have you ever thought like, or even doing that, or hey, who's got a contest for dumbest comment or any anything like anything ever run through your mind about how you can, how you can like get back at these folks, not get back?
Speaker 1:out. I mean, I think it's just the internet, because any, any race, I go to any any like where I'm like a public, like figure or whatever, like, all I get is love and positivity. So I think it's just people, you know, and the world's big, you know I'm international and so you know, I next week, I think my, my weekly one, is like it's literally gonna all just be videos where it's like hate from italy, like someone like, wrote that like hate from france, you know where.
Speaker 1:It's just like all these people just writing like that they hate my shit, and then where they're from, uh, you know, it's just like. I'm like, oh, that's, that's funny. You know like hate. You know hate from italy, hate from. You know, it's like hate from ireland. I'm like, okay, cool, you know so. You know, and I think internationally sometimes people don't don't get my humor or don't get my. You know what I'm doing. But yeah, I think in general, like anytime I go anywhere, like even like the whole prime thing, god people got so. But yeah, I think, in general, like anytime I go anywhere, like even like the whole prime thing, god people got so upset that I ran in that prime suit.
Speaker 1:And but when at the la marathon, when I did it, it I was like the biggest hit at the la marathon, like oh, I got yeah I got more love and like encouragement and everyone wanted to take pictures and videos and everything with me than anything I've ever done in the running, like, like space. But then on the internet you would think that I'd, like, you know, killed puppies, you know, with my bare hands, or something like that, like I had literally done something like so evil, I sold my soul. Everyone said it's like, how did what sold my soul? Like I ran a marathon in a prime suit, you know it was like four hours of my life, you know, and it's just, it's, it's, it's funny, it's like, but like in real life, like nobody said anything negative to me in real life, it's just all on the internet. So that's, that's all fake.
Speaker 2:So what are some additional words of encouragement, if there's anything present for you that you may offer to somebody that's tuned in right now that struggles with criticism or maybe they're afraid to put themselves out there a little bit more and share their passion because of seeing people like the folks that comment on your things every week Like damn, I don't want to share, that I'm passionate about my goals and podcasting Cause then I'm going to it could go viral and then people could shut me down or attempt to shut me down, like they do on Andy's posts every week, like what encouragement would you offer someone there?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I think I mean the only time you're going to get that negative stuff is if it goes viral. And if it goes viral, that's probably a good thing for you. So just focus on the like positive aspect of like you have a viral video and not necessarily that like a bunch of random people that'll never meet you or don't even like really care what you're doing or writing negative shit You're going to touch. If it goes viral, you're going to touch a lot more people than you would have like not done if it hadn't gotten viral. So um and and those people might not write anything. So you know, like just focus on that.
Speaker 1:I mean, if you want to do things on the internet space, you have to just get comfortable with the idea that, like there's a lot of assholes out there and yeah and it and you're just gonna have to embrace that and and, like you know, they're gonna say really hateful things and they're gonna try to cut you like super low and um, and just try not to like let it get to you. I, I know that's like easier said than done, but, um, it's part of going viral, unfortunately on the internet and unfortunately because of the way the algorithms are written. You know, negativity is what makes videos go viral. So the fact that people will be fighting in your comments and you'll have people saying shitty things and then other people defending you and this and that and back and forth, that's that's where the like it goes viral, because then the algorithm goes oh, all these people are engaging and all these people are watching the whole video and you know all that stuff, um, but you know, at the end of the day, you can always look at your statistics and, like most viral videos like bring you more followers and you know, um, you will get like more DMS and all that sort of stuff and at the end of the day, it's it's, it's a net win, even though you are going to get like some loss, but, like you know, the win is still greater than the loss when it comes to those types of things.
Speaker 1:So, and if a viral video goes viral, then it's going to bump up all your other videos. So you know the people that are watching it and are getting introduced to you for the first time now they're going to see your other stuff that they wouldn't have previously seen. So you're exposing more people to like who you are in general. And the people that are talking shit. You know they're just going to skip your stuff anyway. So who really cares?
Speaker 2:Right, right. Do you ever feel like now, because you are so public, and especially with the streak, that there is some sort of pressure to either A maintain the streak or, b to put yourself out there, even when you don't want to now, because so many folks are waiting for what you got to put out every day, every week, every month?
Speaker 1:I mean not really, because I just think about my page is it's like literally just me. I don't have to do any acting or any. You know, I'm not like really I'm not offering any coaching advice, I'm not like not putting content out about how to run faster or do this or do that. It's just literally like, if you follow my page, it's just like my journey and um. So I mean it's just like I just do what I do and I, if I feel like shooting a video while I'm doing it and I just put it up, but it's like very little. I don't have a team, I don't have it's just literally me and my phone and I just, you know, do whatever I do and I don't feel pressure and being myself. You know, it's just authentically me. And if I, if I was having to like act or like worry about how I looked or you know anything like that, then yeah it would probably be bad, but I don't have any of that.
Speaker 1:I just it's like what you see online is just who I am and you know I run a bunch and then you know the only thing I don't put on my page a whole lot is just like, you know, family stuff because, you know, on some level, I think you know, I'm raising young kids and like they get super embarrassed, I'm like dad, you can't put this picture, you can't do that, cause they'll get teased at school, you know. So, um, that's the only thing I I I tried not to share a ton about, although, you know, occasionally I like posting pictures of my family because I'm, you know, I love my family. But, um, that aspect of my life I don't post as much. But everything else is just like, just who I am, you know, and if you don't, if you don't like it, don't watch it, like I don't, I'm not, I'm not making money off of it. So it doesn't, it doesn't matter if I have, you know, a thousand followers or a million followers, it's, you know, it's. I'm still reaching somebody.
Speaker 2:So Yep, and you're inspiring and when it comes down to what I say often, is that focus on helping or impacting one person, because we'll never understand the true impact of all of our efforts. For, for all you know, there's thousands of people out there now that are running more because are running at all because of you, and some of them, I'm sure, reach out to you, but a lot of them probably don't.
Speaker 1:yeah, and I mean they don't yeah 50 people at the la marathon told me that they were running the marathon because of watching my videos and I guarantee you one of them have messaged me, you know. So keep keep doing you. Yeah, they, they just watch my videos and like, get inspired and, like you know, people, they don't feel like running and then they turn on Instagram and they're up. There's Andy running again, you know, fuck, for the second time today and, like you know, it's pouring rain and he's not making excuses. It's like you know, hopefully that gets them out the door or hopefully that, you know, motivates them. A lot of people say like hey, you know, I don't feel like running, I just go to your page and just watch your story and then I put on my shoes and go run.
Speaker 2:So you, you got, you got 25 miles in this morning. You're getting ready for Cocodona. Are you going to get some more in tonight?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, dinner. This podcast I've. I'm in my, got my running shorts on here.
Speaker 2:I'm ready to go.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I love it those are.
Speaker 2:Are those the BOA running shorts? Yeah, I've got a bunch. I've got a bunch of those. I used to wear them a lot for the trail ultras, just because I figured, hey, to wear them a lot for the trail ultras. Just because I figured, hey, one, if this sucks, at least I've got something to look down to and laugh at. And two, as I'm passing people, or if people are passing me, then maybe it gives them something to smile about yeah, it's all about a little flair.
Speaker 1:You know, we don't need to take ourselves too seriously. You know, and I do like to dress wild and be silly, you know it it's just running, it's not? It's not. There's nothing that serious about it. You know. We're just out here having fun. Let's go, man.
Speaker 2:Andy, it's customary to wrap up the podcast with a rapid fire session, and I call this one gem, one step, one book. And the way it works is pretend we're going up a three-story building, three elevator floors, to go grab lunch somewhere or talk about running, or we just finished up a run, rather, and we're going to grab a coffee, and one person gets on the elevator. They're going up one floor, they ask you a question, so the amount of time you have to answer each question is the amount of time it takes to go up one elevator floor so someone gets someone so someone gets on.
Speaker 2:Someone gets on. They recognize you, they follow your videos like andy. What's one step that I can take today to just embrace doing hard shit?
Speaker 1:well, I mean, I would just tell them that, like everybody has different, like hard things, you're going to have to figure out what you don't want to do, and then that's what you're going to have to focus on doing. And if it's, you know, if it's running, then run. If it's cycling, it's cycling. If it's taking a cold plunge, it's that.
Speaker 2:Whatever you don't want to do, that's what you need to focus on doing now. Next person gets on andy. What's one gem that you have, whether it be a, a quote or a mantra or just a value that you live your life by?
Speaker 1:that I can put in my back pocket and live my life by as well well, I mean, my, my mantra is always smile or you're doing it wrong, and you know. It's, uh, inspired by just positivity and like just remembering how grateful you are to to be able to do the things that you're doing. You know, not everybody can run, not everybody can, you know, have a full-time job or a family or whatever it is, and just remember how lucky you are in life. Um, even in the hard points, like many people would would kill to have the opportunities that we have, so embrace it I tell people a lot that someone would love to have your biggest problem, quote, unquote, or your worst day, or your worst day, so last person gets on andy.
Speaker 2:What's one book that we can read to sharpen our mindsets in 2024?
Speaker 1:I you know I always my I love Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. I think that everybody should read that. It's not the happiest read, but I think it's. It's something that will, like really make you grateful and make you a better person by reading it. That, and I always like to reread Animal Farm every year because you know I always tell people like reread books because the book stays the same but you change, so when you read it you're going to see different things. Uh, you know about yourself in the book, so if you find something you really like it's, it's good to reread it uh yeah, it can speak to you differently at different points in time, and how do we keep?
Speaker 2:how do we, how do we keep up with you and all the amazing things that you're doing in this world?
Speaker 1:see instagram. I'm am glaze, like am glaze. Uh, tiktok. I'm glaze runs and strava. I am andrew glaze, so love it. I think I'm on youtube here, but I don't know what youtube's. Probably glaze runs as well. It's not as youtube's, youtube's hard to like, grow on, so it's like that's a whole other thing.
Speaker 2:Everything will be linked folks. Andy, thanks so much, man, for the opportunity, thanks for being the inspiration you are in this world and thanks for your commitment to service in so many ways Service to your community, service to keeping people safe, to saving lives, to inspiring us, showing people what they really have inside themselves when they push past that voice that's telling you to stop or to go. Be comfortable. You are, as I said before, a beacon of positivity and I truly appreciate you and am rooting for you here in South Carolina, sending all the love. Folks, keep up with Andy and do hard things and embrace that and smile, or you're doing it wrong, and that will allow you to win today. Thanks so much for tuning in, thank you.