February 25, 2021
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:00:00]
There was never any self doubt. Again, I don't want to sound like I'm hyping myself up or anything, but the mindset was there. Like I literally was. Focused and headstrong, and I knew it was going to happen because I didn't know how, but I knew it was going to happen so early on, just try not to focus on how many loops you have left, because there's a little box on the side as he come that start finish line, it kind of shows you which lab and how long that lap took you.
And so early on it just, you know, put the blinders on, just stick to the road, stick to the course.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:00:30]
Hello, and welcome to the RaceMob podcast, where we're all about running long, having fun and making the human connection. This is episode number 37.
I'm Kevin entrepreneur technology and fitness nerd. And I'm joined by the head coach of RaceMob and master motivator. The incomparable Bertrand Newson.
We always talk about the power of the race day experience.
And sometimes those bonds that you form end up becoming lifelong friendships. Well Nando, and Bertrand met a decade ago at a race, and now they are the closest of friends. You're going to hear that story as part of this incredible chat with nano Gonzales. You'll also learn about how this veteran continues to take on the Taji 100 challenge with a passion and how he's helped the event grow significantly over the years.
The incredible story of its 100 mile ultra marathon with fellow podcast guest, Coach Jake McCluskey, his tips on how to stay motivated, running trails and running with a dog. Plus we dive into the spirit of fishing and autos recommendations. All the show notes can be found online at RaceMob dot com slash podcast.
And without further ado, here's our conversation. Hello, RaceMob family. You are in for fantastic treat today.
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:01:47]
The one, the only Nando Gonzalez, we blame Nando for lot. One, he's an avid trail enthusiast. Who's introduced the love of trail running to so many people in jumpstart at their running journey. He served our military well in the United States Marines. A father, a husband, a man of the community, always paying it forward with his beautiful pup race.
Welcome Nando.
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:02:12]
Thank you. Pleasure to be around guys.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:02:14]
Yeah, definitely. One of those names we had on our list from the very, very start we said, yeah, we got to get Nando on the podcast. And how app that is right now at the Taji 100. We've got you on a veteran who has served our military, who has introduced Taji to, I think, a number of people and, the group, and works really hard behind the scenes to make that whole event live and to happen.
So thank you for jumping on the podcast with us. We can't wait to tell your story and help inspire the next generation of athletes. Let's get right into where you grew up. Where did you grow up? What was your introduction into running?
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:02:51]
Born and raised here in San Jose, California maybe went from, you know, the East side to the North side and South side and bounced around, but always here in San Jose.
Never moved out from there.
But as for running, never liked it never liked it. Didn't care for it. One of those things that you just avoid, you want to go for a run like, nah, I'm good. Thanks for now. Jumped into it. Probably. 2009. I think it was when I finally got into it, you know, outside of, out of the military for awhile, started packing on the lbs a little bit.
And, uh, my brother had challenged me to run the sounds like rock and roll, you know, send me a text or called, I don't remember which one it was. And he was just like, Hey, if you want to do it, I'll pay for it. So I did a quick Google search was like a hundred bucks at that point. So I tried to call his bluff and I was like, yeah, sure.
Sign me up. And then like, you know, 20 minutes later, he's like, all right, you're in here we go. Uh, I had about two months to train, to go online, try to find a little, uh, run plan, you know, literally from couch to half in two months and such to a T followed everything, you know, the rest days, the run days, you know, the cross training days, I probably lost, I want to say a good 30 pounds in those two months.
And then ran rock and roll and to was respectful time finished about 2:02. Uh, for my very first half marathon ever. Great man. And that, that was my introduction. But at that point, unfortunately, the mission was to run the rock and roll. So I ran it and then stopped running. After that, everything started to snowball.
Again, he started putting the Val bees back on again. Um, so then the following year I decided, okay, well this worked last year. Let's do it again this year. But instead of two months, I get myself an extra month in there. And then ran it, beat the time by another six minutes probably lost another 20 plus pounds again.
And at that point is when it stuck with me, like, Hey, I got to keep running. If I want to keep the weight off it work last year at work this year, that's, what's working for me. Let's just stick to running. So I've been running since then.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:04:39]
Incredible. I mean, a two month training plan to be able to run a half marathon.
What was your fitness like before then? I mean, you had some lbs on if you're able to lose 30 pounds in two months. Give us a sense of where you were at physically.
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:04:52]
I was over 200, definitely over 200 pounds. But again, at that point I was out of the Marines, nothing really keeping me active, you know, enjoying life, drinking, eating a lot.
And it just slowly started gaining from there, you know? I did a lot of kickboxing off and on from high school up till probably 30 plus. But even with that level of intense workout, but the pounds weren't falling off, you know, it was nothing like what running did for me running the actual driving force behind all the weight coming off.
So again, it was like, all right, well, I've tried that didn't work. Let me just stick to running because clearly it's working. Proof is in the pudding.
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:05:27]
How about in the military Nando? How was running? I mean, I'm sure you know, through PT, um, did you, did you find it mentally or just embrace, embrace the suck? How was that experience?
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:05:37]
The actual PT that the running behind it. I mean, we're doing three miles tops, you know, compared to what we're doing now, three miles, isn't enough, you know, maybe looking about half hour run, if that. The hikes of course were longer. You're looking 10, 15, maybe a 20 mile there, but that's just slow run with the pack behind you.
So the running wasn't enough either, you know, hit the gym every now and then you're bored clinically at the gym, but that was it. I mean, it was nothing super intense. I wasn't that jacked guy who hit the weights all crazy in the military. No, not at all.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:06:04]
Any tips for avoiding injury, if you only have a two month training time, that seems a little bit crazy for a lot of people, but.
Did you find something within the training plan that you were working with, that worked for you or any tips or thoughts on that
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:06:18]
good shoes? Absolutely. You know, early on, just like anybody else who wants to just go for a quick run. I mean, you're running a converse vans, whatever you can find, you know, and you just go out there and run.
But no, I think at that point went and got fitted at a real running shop where you don't get to choose your shoes, they kind of choose them for you, which I thought was odd, but it was good, you know? Cause I'm basing everything on looks, you know, all of these look cool. I wanna run in those. Where you go to a real run store, you know, they're going to check your foot strike and everything else and kind of recommend shoes.
So I had a good pair of running shoes, and I think that's really what helped as well, you know, is having proper shoes on your feet and your feet can take the most damage taking the most impact. So having a good pair of running shoes, I think is what kept me upright for most of the training.
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:06:56]
And then to also what I heard in there, when you originally talking about that two month training plan is that you stuck to it.
You stuck to the workouts, you did the cross training and you stuck to the rest dates, which some people, when there's a time crunch, they tend to do a little extra and sometimes a little extra can be the basis for injury. So being able to balance and trust the training, but also emphasize the importance of rest days.
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:07:20]
Yeah. I mean, it was booked in the training. So obviously it's there for a reason, this guy who posted it knew what he was doing, obviously more than I did. So if you're telling me I got a risk these days, I'm going to rest those days, you know? And at that point, getting running was hard. So I look forward to those rest days.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:07:34]
And as you mentioned, the cross training days, I think so many people look at a running calendar, running training program. They see Oh, cross training and they just, you know, make it a throwaway day and they're like, Oh, I'm not running. I'll just treat it as a rest day. Those cross training days, building up that core the strength overall, I think that actually does help improve your ability to not get injured in those cases. .
Losing 30 pounds in two months, that is a lot of weights to have come off. Where you changing your diet during that timeframe
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:08:02]
Nothing major that year? You know, I, I tried to watch what I ate, but it wasn't like a major overhaul where, okay, I'm cutting all of this out.
I'm calling out, you know, I'm never drinking for the next two months, nothing like that. I try to watch it. And what I ate, but it wasn't a major diet that I stuck to. It was literally just getting those miles in and then slowly falling off.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:08:20]
You know, oftentimes we see with our athletes, what we call the minimum effective dose, which means that, you know, when you're starting to get into fitness or you're starting to get into workout, just a little bit of exercise.
You'll see a lot of benefit right off the bat and kind of immediately. So I guess it's no surprise that you were able to lose weights relatively quickly getting right into it. And it probably also sometimes plays a role into like, just being a little bit more mindful of what you eat, because you're like, Oh man, I was out there for an hour running and do I really want to wolf down a huge burger or a bunch of fries or something like that when you put in all of that work.
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:08:59]
The answer is yes, you really want to put all the bad stuff, but you, you know, you realize I've got on a fool. What? I just did myself, but no mentally a hundred percent. Where does that double quarter pounder at? Where's the double double I'm starving. You know, I've been out here for the last hour, sweating my butt off, but no, you tend to make wiser choices as you're you want the good stuff as well.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:09:22]
Talk to us, I guess, about the second year. You said that you did another three months, you led right back into San Jose rock and roll again and that experience. When did you guys find each other? When did you guys meet up with each other? What's the story behind that?
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:09:36]
It was, I believe after the second year, or maybe even going into the third year, I had heard of Taji 100 through another Marine. It turned me on to it, you know, Hey, this is for veterans, check it out. You know, I know you're getting into running now, look into it. So signed up. And that was, I think, 2013, I believe in my first year that came in when that's a whole nother story, barely made on 28th day, the 11th hour.
But the tail end of that year, There's a sounds, a double road race. Um, they used to get put on all the time and I received an email from a gentleman by the name of Bertrand asking me to join their team. And it was good, craziest thing ever. I felt like I was being recruited to a team. You know, like someone actually was reaching out to me, asking me to join their team.
So, of course I replied like, yes, I man showed up to double road race, started looking around, seeing tall black guy. Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me where, uh, Bertrand is at? He was like, ah, that's me call me.
All right. And then just, you know, from that point on, it was, it was a match made in heaven. The motivation that he brought kept me going while beyond that run, you know, stayed in touch with the team found at that point, it was, think it was team Taji when I wasn't too legit, quite yet on the Facebook page.
And then just being engaged in Facebook page, you know, constantly seeing people active and promoting and cheering each other on, we just grew closer and closer from that point. So I wanna say it was probably about 2013 range.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:10:51]
You're correct. Right around the time. Yeah, I I've met Bertrand so, I mean, that is incredible great year.
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:10:58]
Great
###### Kevin Chang: [00:10:59]
connections. I mean, you never know when that person next to you at the starting line or, that person that you meet briefly is going to be one of your closest friends. So, , that is. Incredible to look back on and reflect on these like small moments and what they mean for us.
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:11:15]
Kevin you've heard of Nando is what you've heard me say. If I said it once I've said it a thousand times, that's the wonderful thing about the running community. And for me, it's given me some of my closest friends. I mean, it really has just the common love of getting outdoors and moving forward and great things can happen physically.
And socially, both of you are two of my closest friends. And in Nando's case, I mean, he is one of the pillars of the, one of San Jose's in the South days, largest running clubs, you know, to a fitness, he's a advisory member. He's also a board member as we talk more on Taji 100. So his impact is profound and his ability to inspire and lead by example.
Um, this dude is a bad ass. Yes. I said that everybody, um, and we'll get into some of his Herculean journeys here shortly, but, um, yeah. Good stuff.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:12:03]
Talk to us about Taji. Did you introduce it to Bertrand? Is that how that went or did you guys kind of learn about it?
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:12:10]
No, it was the other way around your Bertrand was already part of it.
Like I said, gentleman, by the name of Marco had told me about it. Cause I was in the Marines with him. I was connected to him through Facebook. So he just kind of gave me the link, told me about, Hey, check it out. You know, it's for veterans, it's a hundred miles in February, which. Seemed like a huge feat at the time.
And it still is, but just knowing everything that was behind it and what they were about, drove me to it and, you know, made me challenge myself and go for it that first year. And I believe this year going on my ninth year now, consecutively
###### Kevin Chang: [00:12:39]
As a veteran, can you reflect on what the first experience meant to you, what that Taji experience has meant to you?
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:12:45]
It was just what the organization stood for giving back to the veterans. And at that point, uh, they were partnered with the wounded warrior project, which I had heard of, and I knew they did good things as well.
So I signed up and I believe I got a couple of people to sign up that year. But every year after that, I constantly reached, you know, a wider and wider net, you know, casting out, trying to get more and more people in. And they also gravitated to it because they got referred to it by me, who they know was in the military. So it just that's what brought them in as well.
And then I knew it was gonna be a struggle. I knew it was gonna be hard, but that's kind of the mindset you have going into it is. To challenge yourself and then being in the military, you kind of get used to those, you know, those, those mental roadblocks and having to overcome challenges and, you know, getting over it.
So that kind of drew me to it and went forward. And from that point, you know, I was still in contact with Bertrand, you know, and I'd give them ideas and tips and things that I've thought about, Hey, what if we tweak this or change the wording on this? And that's what that kind of. Transition and to being part of the board came in, you know, cause I was constantly, you know, giving my feedback, not nitpicking or anything, but just like, Hey, let's try this.
Let's word it this way. What do you think about this? And it, you know, he'd reached back out like, Hey, we're thinking of this local type of deal. What tweaks would you make? And I would just constantly give the input. I felt gravitate to the event, you know, I wasn't quote unquote part of it on the back end, but I love the event so much.
I went to contribute as much as I could on the back end to make it better and better every year as well. Even though at that point I was just a participant.
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:14:05]
And look at, Taji now sold out for 2021, coming off a year, we gave nearly $75,000 to team. RWB our parent charity organization. We're going to top that.
And a lot of that has to do with your support, your vision, your energy, and being a voice for other participants as well.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:14:21]
Have you met others? During the Taji journey. And like what types of stories do you have from those experiences?
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:14:27]
I've met anybody that I didn't already know. You know, a lot of the big group comes from the fitness family who I've known from that point.
And then also the people that I've recruited from it. So I wouldn't be able to say that I've met somebody brand new that I didn't already know kind of going into it, but it was a great sense of community. Knowing that you got to go out and get some miles in and someone random is going to see your shirt and kind of just be like, Hey, you're doing it too.
Or, you know, or ask you about it, you know, Hey, what's that shirt, you know, when we go out and do these run local events, you know, we'll, we'll come deep. Well, everybody's gonna wear their Taji shirts, especially if it's coming February and everybody you're running by is asking like, who are you guys with the same shirts on, what is this event?
What is it, you know, can you tell me more about it? So again, that adds to the community as well.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:15:06]
How about transformational stories? From people that you did know, people that you brought in, any of them stick out
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:15:13]
A handful of them. I wouldn't say that I brought in on my own, you know, one right off the bat that comes to mind.
Judge Dora, huge transformation, you know, amazing, you know, before and after photos of her just getting out there, getting after it. There was one of your, my dad did it. That was great. You know, get getting my parents involved. My mom did it as well, and they kind of had a little rivalry against each other.
See, who's going to log the most miles, which is great. And apparently this year I got another cousin of mine. Who's getting into his weight loss journey as well. And I told him it's addicting. You know, it's a great event. And it's weird how much you look forward to it. I mean, you almost start feeding and trying to find hours of the day and checking your schedule.
I don't know. I can get another walk-in at this point. I can get a run at this point, found asleep. I could probably get one late night and it just snowballs and just constantly looking for that free time to go out and get some more miles in. So right now, yeah, my, my cousin out in Gillware right. And I was really getting it done. So I was super proud of him.
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:16:03]
Nando why dont you elaborate a little bit more about your cousin and who you put him in contact with as a fitness mentor recently?
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:16:09]
Oh, absolutely. He had reached out to me and we kind of started talking about his journey. And first and foremost, the podcast, you know, said, Hey, if you're going out for a walk and you listen to podcasts, here's a great one to listen to.
And it was the one that you guys did with Coach Jake. Um, and he reached out to Coach Jake directly, you know, and they'd been in contact and working with them each other, and definitely keeping him motivated. You know, Jake knows an amazing guy. He has great story is on his own. So they kind of resonated that way and you know, and built a nice little bond between them.
I think things are looking great. I'm super happy for them.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:16:38]
Talk to us about your love for trails Bertrand has mentioned that you brought this love for trails into their group. Where did it come from? Where to respond from?
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:16:48]
That started several years ago, a cousin of mine was going into the army at the point at that time. And his recruiter was out there getting him workouts in and they went to a place called Quicksilver. And at that point in time, I lived over in the Evergreen area and I was constantly just running the streets and, you know, I want to get some miles in before he left off to his boot camp.
So he invited me to silver, you know, told me to come run with him. And there was little five mile loop that I'm sure everybody's probably familiar with. And he had his time, which was his PR time. And it was my first time running trails. And I told him like, Hey, we're going to beat that by five minutes today and you can laughed it off.
Um, but sure enough, we, I pushed him off and we beat it by five minutes and it was amazing. And it was just, it was a different running experience. You know, you're not just doing that same repetitive motion you're using, you know, your core muscles and, you know, stability. You're going up, you're going down, you know, you're turning sideways.
It's just, it's a different running form, which at which I really liked. And then, you know, you don't have to worry about stoplights. Dogs coming after you or cars or anything. I ran into an occasional mountain lion, but aside from that, you know, it's, it's its own experience. It's great. You know, and then it just kind of snowball from there.
It got to one point where I want to say every weekend in an entire year I was out of Quicksilver. And I would just put the invite out. Okay. Who wants to come out? Who wants to come out? And we've gotten all the way up to about 15, 20 people at one point out there running that same five mile loop, you know, all different fitness levels.
So the slower ones, Hey, go ahead and get ahead. Start the faster ones. You can go ahead a little bit as we can. All kinds of finish around the same time, get our, our finished photo together, but it was just great. And everybody had turned on to it just started falling in love with it as well.
You know, it's so different than running your normal streets day-to-day. Being out there with nature, whether you're hearing animals, seeing animals. We get out there in the dark, which changes your whole perspective on everything. You know, now your, all of your sensories are on a high alert, you know? Cause you can't see anything, you just have your headlamp, any rustle, the bushes like, Oh, what's that over there, you know, and try and shine your light on it. And you're just so much more alert.
It's the same trail you normally run, but now it's heightened so much more running in the dark, you know, getting started at five, five 30 in the morning. I love the trails. It was just amazing. So as many people that I can turn onto it, I would turn them onto it. And. And it's a different workout.
I would have people that I would run with and you know, they're doing eight miles a day. Sweet, come run the trails with me and three, four miles in that's it they're gassed. Now you re working with elevation, now you re climbing up hills. It's not that same flatness that you're used to it. You start to realize, Hey, this is actually a better workout for me than running flat.
So, it makes you a better runner, a stronger runner. And then when it comes time to run flat line, it almost feels like you're running downhill because you don't have no elevation to work with everything that the trails do for you is just so awesome. So, you know, anybody that can turn onto it and bring them out there on the trails, I would bring them out to the trails with me.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:19:26]
Well, what are your favorite trails? You mentioned Quicksilver. Do you ever drive out to other trails? What are some that you would recommend here in the Bay area?
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:19:34]
I just stay local. Quick's over there's the front side, which is the McCabe entrance to me. That's the medium side. And you go to the backside over Hacienda side.
That's a whole lot harder. So if you want to up the intensity, you start over on that side and then Allan rock park. I love Ellen rock park, whether it's, you know, the car will loo you know, you've got the North rim in the South rim. And if you want us to do a quick, short one, you go up to Eagle rock and back.
But it's usually between those two. I don't really venture out into other ones, because again, if you don't know where you're running, you easily get lost out in the trails. Uh, but no Quicksilver I've, I've spent a lot of time out there, run from entrance to entrance from one side all the way down the side and back.
At this point, I don't know a lot of those trails, like the back of my hand, you know, I can see somebody posts a map that they ran. I know exactly where they wit and where they turn and how they came back. And, but Quicksilver is definitely a that's home court for me, you know? So once I found out they're doing a 50 K they're like, sure, I've ran all these trails before.
Now I'm just kind of linking all the different pieces I've done together into one big event. So, absolutely I was, I was all over that one.
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:20:33]
How did you go from speaking of linking races together, your very first ties to 100 where you said it was, you know, at the last hour and you got just to a hundred miles in 28 days to running 100 miles in just over 24 hours.
###### Kevin Chang: [00:20:50] What?
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:20:53]
Every year I tried to up the Taji 100, you know, I started, like I said, very first time barely made it, you know, last hour, the last day. The following year, I tried to do a little faster. It'll probably like three weeks. Got it. Down to two weeks. I think the fastest I did was probably in six days and that was with a one day rest in there,
so it was five running days, but six days overall, I finished on the sixth. So just, you know, constant, just trying to push myself. Okay. How much faster can I do it? And how much longer can I run on my 35th birthday is when I first had my first dose of ultra running. I had a friend look again, also in the Marines.
One who had went out and ran. I think he also probably did right around that 35 mile marker and had the idea of, Hey, 35 for 35. So I decided, okay, this year I'm gonna do it. And I'm turning 35. Let's run 35 miles. And mind you, I hadn't run any more than a half marathon. That rock and roll was. Was my pinnacle, as long as I've gone.
So rock and roll is in October. My birthday's in February. So I literally had, I don't know, what's that November, December, January, three months to go from 13 miles to 35 miles and just kind of train for it, kind of got my body in a nice rhythm where I knew at this pace. I can go on forever, you know, because the faster you run, the faster you're going to die out, you know?
So I found a nice, comfortable pace where I felt like, okay, at this pace, I can go long. So when I mapped it out, I figured, okay, now, where am I going to get the 35 from? You know, I don't want to do a loop. How am I going to, whether it be support? What if I need help out there?
So I went out and drove from Gilroy. I believe it was from Gilroy high, all the way to downtown San Jose. And it left me short. So I want to finish at Jack's bar so I can have a drink. It left me short, probably about three miles. And that was perfect because then everybody was going to meet me at the finish line, can do a three mile loop with me instead of being doing the full day.
You know, and these are people, whether it be family, friends who want to get out and get some miles in, but no, they're not gonna be able to do the full thing. So started zero dark 30, had a couple of friends out there with me. I had family members kind of do the eight stations, every 10 miles. They would stop pop the trunk and have, you know, food beverages and everything else we may need to kind of rehydrate finish right around Jack's bar.
Like I said, had another, another big group join us and just try it around. The neighborhood came looped back around and finished up with 35 miles. And the goal was a 10 minute pace like that was at that point in my running career. If you would say that was my comfortable pace, where I felt like I can go forever.
And we literally finished with an overall pace of 10:01 like, wow. Nailed it perfectly to a T. Wow. It was amazing. Yeah, that was, that was my first dose of, okay, let's go big. How am I going to go big? And it was at 35 miler. So the following year I was like, okay, how am I going to top that I want more, 35 was great. How am I going to top that?
So there's an event called the relay, the golden gate relay, which goes from Calistoga, California, all the way down to Santa Cruz. And that's 199 mile relay run. And generally it's done with 12 people, which is good, but again, not good enough for me, like I wanted to do more. So I reached out to the race organization and asked them, like, I know it's supposed to be 12.
Can we do it with six? They got back to me. They're like, sure. You know, if you want to do it with six. But since we're not following the quotum quote rules, we can't, we're not eligible for any trophies or medals or, you know, anything else, race specific, but he's like, if you want to do it, go out and I'm perfectly fine with that.
Again, reach out to about five friends, kind of worked out the logistics. Okay, who's doing what leg? Which van are you going to be in? And we ran. 199 miles from Calistoga over to Santa Cruz. But again, I wanted more, so I made sure that my leg was a little bit longer than everybody else's. I wanted to push myself.
And I think that when I ended up doing, I think it was 41 miles total in the span of, I think I was like maybe 24 hours. So I was 41 miles, like great. I stretch it now. What's next, you know, and that, that's that constant question. Okay. What's next? How am I going to top this? And then finally it dawned on me.
All right. I guess, I guess the next logical thing is going to be a hundred miles, which is not lot, logical by any stretch of imagination.
You dont go from 41 to 100 but... But at that point,
###### Kevin Chang: [00:24:39] What kind of math is that?
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:24:40]
Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Rest days! You followed the plan so well, the rest days,
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:24:49]
Not logical at all. But in my way of thinking it was okay, how am I going to get to that next level? So it was a a hundred mile run that I kind of started putting my eyes on and just like in before, like, okay, if I can find that comfortable pace where I can run forever, let's give it a shot and found the event here, local San Martine, the rendezvous.
And it's, it's a two mile loop that you gotta run 50 times, but I figured that'd be perfect because I don't have to carry anything with me. I don't have to carry a pack. I don't have to carry food. Cause I'm literally no more than. One loop away from my quote unquote aid station. It's a two mile loop. So if I do got to pull the plug and walk back to the car again, no more than one mile out to one mile back in wherever I'm actually doing, I don't wanna say a real event, but you know, your traditional a hundred miler and I'm tapping out.
Yeah. I may have to walk 20 miles back to somewhere. So I figured, okay, this would be a great way to test myself, but do it smartly where I'm not out in the middle of nowhere. I don't have a support. Crew with me. So put it out there to the team, let them know, you know, I'm gonna have a couple of training runs in there.
Obviously Coach Jake. He said he was gonna do it with me and they kept prolonging the, start, the sign up the registration. And then they finally opened it up. I ran into Jake and he said, Hey, I'm signing up this week. And again, try to call his bluff. All right. You sign up. I'll sign out right behind you.
And sure enough, he signed up and there, I guess I'll sign up too. So we were both in, and at that point it was like, Hey, time on feet, time on feet. Like, I just want to finish the run. It's not about trying to set a PR or anything. I had nothing to go for it just to be able to say I did a hundred miles. So I went and did a six hour run, you know, picked up Jake in the morning.
Hey, let's go out to this run. The course let's get familiar with the course. Here's what we're going to be. We went out early and ran for six hours and it wasn't, you know, how far are we going to run for six hours? How fast we're gonna run those six hours. It was let's just time on feed six hours. So we get that train.
You're running in a few weeks later, we figured, okay, well, let's double that let's get a 12 mile or 12 hour in there. So same thing. He picked him up. We probably got out there, you know, in that five, six o'clock range in the morning. And again, you know, you had dry his chest, you had your water, your Gatorade.
We had plenty of food and it was, let's just. Time on feet, 12 hours, regardless of how many miles are getting in. Let's just time on feet just to get the body acclimated, you know, the pounding of the pavement and the monotony of running around a two mile loop over and over and over. Um, so we did it. I think I ended up with maybe 55 miles that day and it was hot.
I think we're in triple digits. Cause the events and August. The hottest month of the year for us. So being able to get out there and get that 12 mile there under the belt, again, don't follow anything I say, but I feel okay if I can do 12 hours, I can do 24 hours, which again, doesn't make sense,
###### Kevin Chang: [00:27:24]
But you probably also felt like I don't want to do 75 miles. I don't want to do it, you know?
###### Nando Gonzales: [00:27:30]
Yeah. Like this is good for. Um, so yeah, a few weeks later it was the rendezvous a hundred miler. I had a signup sheet for the team, you know, cause they said the second half, you know, your back 50, you can have patients out there with you and I didn't quote, unquote, need a pacer because I knew I was going at my own pace, but I wanted that company, you know, cause you're gonna get lonely out there.
It's three o'clock in the morning, you know, you're running at midnight. So I had a sign up sheet, you know, everybody kind of put their names in there, whether it be a half hour time slot, a two hour time slot and you know, just. Everybody kind of cycled in from the team kept me motivated, took my mind off of running in circles for, you know, 29 hours.
I think I slept overall four minutes on a park bench and just kept going, you know, at that, towards the end, probably the most blisters I've ever had on my feet at one point knees were aching, but at no point. Well, they're not going to finish. It was what condition am I going to be in when I finish, you know, am I hobbling?
Am I crawling? How long is it gonna take me? But it was never okay. I'm probably not going to finish it. It's like the mindset was always there even leading into it. I knew I was going to finish. It just didn't know which condition I would be when I crossed that finish line. Those about 29 hours total.
###### Bertrand Newson: [00:28:36]
And it was great with your family out there, you know? Your wife or daughter, um, you know, brothers pops out there, you know, shoulder to shoulder, it's a great showing of community and all inspired by you. Or, you know, you took a challenge.
You jumped up huge in mileage and you know, it was a good example for a lot of people. You put your mind to something and get outside of your comfort zone and just put one foot in front of the other and how that metaphor plays out in life.
In so many areas, you know, you're going to have adversity and have challenges. But your ability just to navigate, you know, stay the course and, uh, eventually we'll get to that virtual or real life finish line.