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Speaker 1: Hey, Handler's Emily here. The last time I checked in

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Speaker 1: with you, I had just gotten back to New York

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Speaker 1: City from a few weeks at travel, and now while

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Speaker 1: I feel like I have been just as NonStop in

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Speaker 1: the city as I was on the road. Also, it

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Speaker 1: is scorching hot here, as in you can't go a

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Speaker 1: full weekend day without incorporating either a movie theater, extreme

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Speaker 1: air conditioning, a swimming pool or beach into your plans. Thankfully,

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Speaker 1: my day today involves some poolside time at the beach

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Speaker 1: at the Dream Downtown, which means, hopefully I'll be able

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Speaker 1: to avoid melting for just one more afternoon. On today's episode,

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Speaker 1: I sit down with David Seek in Los Angeles, California.

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Speaker 1: He is the creator of Precision Running at Equinox, a

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Speaker 1: wildly popular treadmill running experience out of the luxury fitness

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Speaker 1: gym which also owns fitness brands Pure Yoga, Blink Fitness,

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Speaker 1: and Soul Cycle. Now with two standalone Precision running labs

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Speaker 1: in Santa Monica and Boston, and more than two hundred

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Speaker 1: instructors certified in his method, called the Balanced Interval Training Experience.

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Speaker 1: Some days David has to pinch himself that he started

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Speaker 1: something that's become somewhat of a could favorite, but it

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Speaker 1: didn't happen overnight, as a lot of great things don't,

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Speaker 1: And in fact, David dreamed of running professionally for a

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Speaker 1: career after college. In this episode, you'll hear exactly how

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Speaker 1: he felt when he realized he had to pivot and reevaluate,

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Speaker 1: explaining that in his mind, an athlete dies twice, once

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Speaker 1: for real and once when they stop competing in their sport.

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Speaker 1: I know I have a lot of runners that listen

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Speaker 1: to the pod, so please, I want you to listen

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Speaker 1: to the end every time, but especially today, stick this

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Speaker 1: one out. David's got really smart advice for getting over

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Speaker 1: the mental hurdles a lot of us face on those

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Speaker 1: mornings we just don't think we've got it. In the take,

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Speaker 1: he also talks about the mantra that it's not important

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Speaker 1: how hard you go, It's important how you go hard.

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Speaker 1: Interesting stuff. As always, check out Hurdle on social at

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Speaker 1: Hurdle Podcast, Instagram, Twitter, email me if you need anything

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Speaker 1: just want to say hi Emily at Hurdle dot us

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Speaker 1: and check me out on Instagram at Emily A body

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Speaker 1: a B b ate. That's it. Let's get to hurdling.

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Speaker 1: Sitting here today with David c he's the creator of

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Speaker 1: precision running at Equinox. So happy to be here with

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Speaker 1: you today.

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Speaker 2: Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

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Speaker 1: Also pretty happy that we're in that beautiful Los Angeles,

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Speaker 1: A nice little shift from my usual New York grind.

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Speaker 2: I would say, it is nice.

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Speaker 1: We're at the Line Hotel and we can see the

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Speaker 1: Hollywood Sign right now, so it's not so bad.

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Speaker 2: I'm staring at her.

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Speaker 1: So thank you so much for coming in today. Before

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Speaker 1: we get going, why don't you talk to me a

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Speaker 1: little bit about what precision running is for someone who's

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Speaker 1: never been to an Equinox club.

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Speaker 2: Okay, precision running just very simply is like a track

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Speaker 2: and field type of experience that happens indoors on treadmills.

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Speaker 2: Got so it's a lot of kind of the flow

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Speaker 2: in I would say focus of track and field. So

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Speaker 2: it's a little bit more focused interval running class, but

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Speaker 2: it has that athletic edge to it, but it's still

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Speaker 2: fun and really accessible to everybody, and essentially precision running.

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Speaker 2: The reason it's call precision running is because it has

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Speaker 2: the exactness in programming that a high performance running program

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Speaker 2: would have, but it has a really unique formula and

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Speaker 2: a metric that makes it accessible to all levels, even walking,

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Speaker 2: for example. You can even walk precision running.

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Speaker 1: So there's different levels that you can tackle precision running at.

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Speaker 1: And like I could be running on the treadmill at

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Speaker 1: say like a six miles per hour, and the person

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Speaker 1: next to me could be maybe jogging at five miles

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Speaker 1: per hour, and it's the same kind of structure for

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Speaker 1: both of us.

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Speaker 2: One hundred percent. And that's actually the centerpiece of precision.

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Speaker 2: And we have this thing called the PR the one

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Speaker 2: minute Personal record, and it's a new metric. And when

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Speaker 2: I designed the program, I wanted to keep things authentic

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Speaker 2: to running, to performance running, but also I wanted to

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Speaker 2: do what was right. I wanted to do what was

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Speaker 2: emotionally right for people. And we're all runners. I mean,

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Speaker 2: there's no there I say this all the time. There's

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Speaker 2: no such thing as a bad runner. There really is,

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Speaker 2: And everyone says that I'm a terrible runner. I can't

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Speaker 2: take a treadmill class. There's no such thing as a

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Speaker 2: bad runner. There's ways to do it better. But instead

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Speaker 2: of saying beginners, intermediate or advance, which is a very

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Speaker 2: easy coaching model, which is why it exists a lot

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Speaker 2: in fitness for treadmill classes. I get it. It's it's

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Speaker 2: an easy way to coach a class, and it's a

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Speaker 2: easy way for a taker to say, Okay, I'm going

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Speaker 2: to put myself in one of these three categories. But

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Speaker 2: here's the truth. There is no such thing, and we're

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Speaker 2: all going to be quote unquote beginner someday by speed values,

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Speaker 2: but that's not true. You're not a beginner after the

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Speaker 2: moment you were a toddler and you learn how to run.

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Speaker 2: So what precision Mind does is it makes it one

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Speaker 2: hundred and ten percent focused on your potential. So everything

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Speaker 2: is based on your own personal records. So there can

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Speaker 2: be three people next to each other. One person's top

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Speaker 2: speed that they can handle is ten miles an hour,

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Speaker 2: one person's is seven point five, and one person's is six.

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Speaker 2: And if the workout says start two point zero below

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Speaker 2: your pr everyone has their own scaled version based on

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Speaker 2: their top potential. So it keeps it really safe and

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Speaker 2: it creates it sets up everybody for success.

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Speaker 1: I feel like there's this whole mystique around Equinox, and

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Speaker 1: you say Equinox, and people think like beautiful gym up

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Speaker 1: eucalyptus towels, like everyone's wearing black and looks super great.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you look super great.

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Speaker 2: I think.

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Speaker 1: So I feel like from someone that maybe doesn't live

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Speaker 1: in a big city like us, like Equinox is such

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Speaker 1: a commonplace, But do you feel that there's like some

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Speaker 1: sort of like mystique around the gym?

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Speaker 2: I do. I do, and I think there was for me,

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Speaker 2: Like the first moment I walked into an Equinox. I

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Speaker 2: lived in New York and had not a lot of money,

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Speaker 2: and Equinox was a little bit outside of what I

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Speaker 2: probably could afford at the time. But I walked in

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Speaker 2: and I had just come off of raising in college,

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Speaker 2: and I was so inspired when I walked into that space.

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Speaker 2: I had never seen anything like it. I'd seen the

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Speaker 2: YMCA with a bunch of broken equipment in my town,

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Speaker 2: and then you see that, And for me to be

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Speaker 2: inspired at the place where I'm gonna work hard, it

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Speaker 2: meant so much to me that I I was a

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Speaker 2: member for I was a member for seven years, and

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Speaker 2: that money was the best money I ever spent on myself.

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Speaker 2: Every day I showed up, it was worth it. So,

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Speaker 2: but that mystique, that part of it is there's it's

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Speaker 2: such a it's such an interesting ecosystem, Like there's really

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Speaker 2: so many layers of thoughtfulness that goes into an Equinox club.

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Speaker 2: It's not just the beautiful kind of architecture and design,

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Speaker 2: which we have such talented teams that do that, but

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Speaker 2: all the things underneath it, like the front desk, how

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Speaker 2: they manage themselves and how they treat you and stuff

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Speaker 2: like that. You put that all together, that's the mystique.

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Speaker 1: Right, and so you walk in and you feel like,

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Speaker 1: all right, I'm about to get into something really special exactly,

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Speaker 1: and that's awesome.

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Speaker 3: It makes you want to go to the gym, it

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Speaker 3: makes you want to work for the gym, and if

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Speaker 3: you want to work for the company. I'd love to

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Speaker 3: give a little background about how you got started running

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Speaker 3: when you were younger, because you've been running for quite

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Speaker 3: some time.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty much my whole life. But I really didn't

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Speaker 2: start running seriously. I mean I was little when I started.

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Speaker 2: I was like seven eight years old. But the reason

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Speaker 2: I started running is because it was the only thing

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Speaker 2: I was good at. I mean literally, I was the

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Speaker 2: worst I played football. I played basketball. I did all

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Speaker 2: the things my brothers did, but I was terrible. I

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Speaker 2: was the kid that I hit in the face of

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Speaker 2: the football. I was afraid of the baseball. I shot

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Speaker 2: the basketball at the wrong basket. I was that kid.

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Speaker 2: But I won the you know when you jump over

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Speaker 2: the milk crates, like on the football field in like

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Speaker 2: fourth grade or something. It's like one race down the

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Speaker 2: football field and I won, and I was like, oh

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Speaker 2: my gosh. I was not a cool kid when I

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Speaker 2: was little, So it was the first time I had

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Speaker 2: ever experienced being really good at something. And then, you know,

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Speaker 2: the bully stuff that a lot of kids dealt with,

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Speaker 2: it didn't exist in that place. Running for me, I

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Speaker 2: was like, Wow, no one made fun of me. I won,

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Speaker 2: somebody pat me on the back. It was the first

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Speaker 2: time I really felt like that was my thing, and

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Speaker 2: so I latched onto it and I became obsessed, obsessed

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Speaker 2: with obsessed, And I mean I was the kid in

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Speaker 2: northern Michigan. The up of Michigan is first of all,

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Speaker 2: it's a very special place with special people, and I

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Speaker 2: mean that with humor. But we have like nine months

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Speaker 2: of winter. We have this horrific winter We're the only

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Speaker 2: state actually in the US that has different high school

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Speaker 2: track finals because our winters are so long. Wow. So

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Speaker 2: but I used to train myself when I was like

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Speaker 2: eight or nine years old with broomstick. I would set

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Speaker 2: up broomsticks across my dad's like shop like sawhorses for work,

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Speaker 2: and I would just practice hurtling. And I had no videos.

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Speaker 2: This is back in the day, no videos, no personal coaches.

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Speaker 2: I just had a picture of a hurdler and I

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Speaker 2: had to figure out on my own how that person

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Speaker 2: got over the hurdle.

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Speaker 1: Can you give me a little time sense here? What

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Speaker 1: is back in the day to find back in the day?

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Speaker 1: Back in the day, so this would be this would

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Speaker 1: be late eighties. Okay, yeah, you're just hurdling. I'm just

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Speaker 1: hurtling in my alley behind my house.

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Speaker 2: And so my brothers like, of course, I couldn't get

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Speaker 2: any weirder to my brothers, who were, you know, busy

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Speaker 2: practicing basketball for for whatever else. But yeah, there was

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Speaker 2: David in the back alley and all my neighbors knew

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Speaker 2: me jumping over broomsticks, like starting to figure out how

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Speaker 2: to be a hurdler based on a picture I tore

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Speaker 2: out of a magazine. It just looked really cool to me.

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Speaker 2: But I also ran. I was the kid that I was,

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Speaker 2: the little four st gump that ran all over my

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Speaker 2: little town of Nagani and and just I just worked

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Speaker 2: really hard. And like I said, I when you're from

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Speaker 2: a small town like that, you don't have access. Like

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Speaker 2: I meet kids now who have personal running coaches in

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Speaker 2: high school, and I think to myself, I had nothing,

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Speaker 2: you know, I just had to figure it out and

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Speaker 2: I had to work hard, and that's all I could

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Speaker 2: figure out.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so we've talked about how you got into running.

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Speaker 1: You kept running throughout high school, and then you went

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Speaker 1: to college and you did it there as well. Correct, yes,

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Speaker 1: all right, so what were your races?

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Speaker 2: So I started as a hurdler. I was known in

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Speaker 2: high school as a hurdler and four hundred meters basically,

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Speaker 2: and that was my thing is I did really well

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Speaker 2: in high school and I won. I was like, I

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Speaker 2: was the up state champion. So a lot of people

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Speaker 2: make fun of that because we have a Lower Peninsula

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Speaker 2: Michigan state champion and an Upper the only state that

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Speaker 2: does that.

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Speaker 1: I was going to ask you what up stood for

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Speaker 1: an hour on the same page the Upper Peninsula.

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Speaker 2: So there was like dueling victors in the state of Michigan.

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Speaker 2: So but I did well enough that I was convinced

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Speaker 2: that this was my ticket. I was going to go

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Speaker 2: really far with running. And so I put it in

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Speaker 2: my heart and I put it out there in the world,

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Speaker 2: and I was going after it. So I chose a

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Speaker 2: college that had really good science and had a really

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Speaker 2: strong athletic program that I wouldn't get lost in the shuffle.

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Speaker 1: So did you have an interest in science from growing

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Speaker 1: up as well?

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Speaker 2: Always? Yeah, and the science of running too. Like I said,

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Speaker 2: I was mostly self coach. I had a great high

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Speaker 2: school coach, but I was mostly self taught, and I

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Speaker 2: was really into how the body moves and how you recover.

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Speaker 2: And I started to figure that stuff out very young,

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Speaker 2: and so I naturally gravitated toward running science and things

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Speaker 2: like that. So I went to Grandville State, which I

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Speaker 2: know is super biased, but is it is literally the

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Speaker 2: best kept secret in the US universities. It's a big school.

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Speaker 2: Actually a lot of people don't know. They have close

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Speaker 2: to thirty thousand students.

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Speaker 1: That's a lot. I did not expect you to say that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's huge and it's so beautiful. Yeah, this campus

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Speaker 2: is just incredible, but they have a really top notch

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Speaker 2: athletic program.

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Speaker 1: So when you were running in college, and I guess

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Speaker 1: in high school, when was like the moment that you

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Speaker 1: realized that you weren't just enjoying yourself running, but you

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Speaker 1: were actually really, really good at it.

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Speaker 2: Well, my first year of college was not easy for

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Speaker 2: me because I came in as a hurdler and I

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Speaker 2: wasn't cutting it as I wasn't excelling as quickly as

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Speaker 2: I needed to do. The hurdles get higher in college

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Speaker 2: and I struggled with that, and then my coach I

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Speaker 2: made the one colossal mistake a track and field athlete

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Speaker 2: makes is I was convinced to run the eight hundred

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Speaker 2: meters the half mile, which is like, I think it's

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Speaker 2: the dragon of track and field. It is a horrific race.

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Speaker 1: Why is it a horrific race?

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Speaker 2: It's on average, it's the maximum distance I think a

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Speaker 2: person can can endure, almost sprinting. Before you go into shop,

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Speaker 2: you go into oxy data stress, you start to really struggle.

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Speaker 2: And anyone who's ever raced the half mile, they've had

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Speaker 2: that feeling of like it is so difficult. It's such

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Speaker 2: a tough race because it's eighty percent speed and eighty

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Speaker 2: percent endoorans and you have to train for both. So

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Speaker 2: half wils often have the longest training seasons. And so

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Speaker 2: I was convinced to race the eight hundred meters one time,

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Speaker 2: and I made the mistake of doing a good job,

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Speaker 2: and the rest of my running career was the eight

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Speaker 2: hundred meters because of that. But I did well enough

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Speaker 2: out of nowhere that I was like, maybe this is

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Speaker 2: really truly going to be a career choice for me.

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Speaker 1: This is interesting. So what you're saying is typically a

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Speaker 1: runner either is really good at quick things or they're

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Speaker 1: really good at endurance things, and this particular race combines

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Speaker 1: the both of them exactly.

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Speaker 2: And that's a lot of people forget that. Everybody in

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Speaker 2: track and field knows the sprinting category and the distance category,

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Speaker 2: but if you're not in the track world, you might

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Speaker 2: not know that there's a third genre that not any

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Speaker 2: people talk about, which is middle distance, and middle distance

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Speaker 2: is an actual category. It's the eight hundred meters is

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Speaker 2: kind of the iconic race, but there's a few other

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Speaker 2: like the fifteen hundred meters, the mile that are considered

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Speaker 2: mid distance, but it's a it's a really interesting category

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Speaker 2: that not a lot of runners choose to run. They're

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Speaker 2: either they're just built for them and they accelerate at them.

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Speaker 2: And that's what happened to me.

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Speaker 1: So what give me a sense of how fast you're running?

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Speaker 1: The s eight hundred meters.

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Speaker 2: So in like for college, you want to raise, I

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Speaker 2: would say, and again there's different divisions, but you're racing

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Speaker 2: under two minutes for sure.

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Speaker 1: Oh my god, Yeah, it's this crazy. I actually recently

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Speaker 1: had Dina Castor on the podcast and Dina was telling me,

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Speaker 1: I think her mile split for a marathon is it's

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Speaker 1: like five fifteen.

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Speaker 2: That would be really fast, but she is, she's quite

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Speaker 2: the ass.

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Speaker 1: I know it's underd I want to say that Dina's

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Speaker 1: mile split, it's definitely under six minutes. She told me that,

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Speaker 1: and I feel like I was staring at her and

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Speaker 1: my mouth dropped. And I'm re experiencing that with you

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Speaker 1: right now because that means, I mean, obviously you can't

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Speaker 1: sustain under two minutes for the full mile, because that

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Speaker 1: would be a four minute mile, and that is mind

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Speaker 1: blowing to people who run a four minute mile.

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Speaker 2: Under four minutes. Now, oh my god, I know it's

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Speaker 2: gotten insane. Human beings are just like such interesting creatures.

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Speaker 2: We keep getting better.

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Speaker 1: And it's also, I mean the technology that I feel

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Speaker 1: like we have assists that as well.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's technology, it's also culture and attitude and things

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Speaker 2: like that. It's very very competitive, totally yeah so but yeah,

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Speaker 2: but honestly, under two minutes is there's high school kids

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Speaker 2: that run under two minutes. Wow, they're really good. Ones.

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Speaker 2: In college you have to run nder two minutes basically,

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Speaker 2: But the low fifties are considered good. In the high

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Speaker 2: forties like a minute forty five to a minute fifty,

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Speaker 2: And I was in the higher end of the one fifty.

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Speaker 2: But that's the category that's considered good. And then you

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Speaker 2: got the professionals who are running under one forty five. Wow,

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Speaker 2: those are really fast.

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Speaker 1: Butos so you're running sub to eight hundred meters and

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Speaker 1: you're loving it and you truly feel that this is

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Speaker 1: this is your m O, this is your mission. These

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Speaker 1: science classes are great, but what you want to do

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Speaker 1: is run professional.

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Speaker 2: Right, Yeah. And I my thing is I was like

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Speaker 2: I was like a closet athlete, Like I went to

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Speaker 2: a Division two school, and there's that nostalgia of a

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Speaker 2: Division I athlete is your best chances of getting sponsored

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Speaker 2: or becoming a professional athlete. There are quite a few

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Speaker 2: Division two runners that become professional athletes, So it wasn't

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Speaker 2: completely unrealistic, but it was I could never have told

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Speaker 2: my friends and my family that, hey, I really want

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Speaker 2: to be like I really want to run for a career.

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Speaker 1: Or that's so interesting that you felt like you couldn't

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Speaker 1: be candid with them about that. Did you think they

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Speaker 1: weren't going to be supportive of that type of path.

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Speaker 2: I think they would have been supportive. But in my head,

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Speaker 2: I being a doctor was so much, so much more

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Speaker 2: impressive and in my like I said earlier, I've known

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Speaker 2: for for a long time that I could I could

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Speaker 2: be a doctor. The running thing would be a really

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Speaker 2: serious challenge for me. Just there's a limit of talent

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Speaker 2: that you that you have or don't have. And I

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Speaker 2: think because I knew that there was going to be

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Speaker 2: that limit, I was I was doing the easy out,

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Speaker 2: like I may not make it, So I don't want

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Speaker 2: to tell anybody. I don't want to confess that I

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Speaker 2: want to like make it. Sevent date to the Olympic Trials,

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Speaker 2: like I wanted to run a one forty five eight

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Speaker 2: hundred meters row, right, I believe that I could do it.

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Speaker 1: When I sat down with Liz Poster, she's the editor

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Speaker 1: in chief of Woman's Health magazine, and she was telling

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Speaker 1: me that when she goes into a race, she has

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Speaker 1: like three goals, one like she talks about publicly, one

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Speaker 1: she talks about with like only her close friends, and

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Speaker 1: then one she doesn't tell anyone. And usually like that

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Speaker 1: one that she doesn't tell anyone is what she's really

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Speaker 1: aiming for when she runs a race. I think that's

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Speaker 1: so funny. It's like what you're talking about here, with

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Speaker 1: what you wanted to do with your career aspirations, It's like,

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Speaker 1: maybe subconsciously, I'm just going to be really phenomenal and

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Speaker 1: you're all going to be so blown away.

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Speaker 2: That's exactly it. It's surprised. But I also think it's

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Speaker 2: a personality trait. I think that some people are just

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Speaker 2: by nature are cautious about overstating things and kind of

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Speaker 2: and that was for me for sure, because I wasn't sure.

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Speaker 2: I wasn't confident that I was going to be able

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Speaker 2: to make it, and so the last thing I wanted

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Speaker 2: was to say, hey, everybody, watch me make it, and

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Speaker 2: then you fall short.

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Speaker 1: Right, I totally hear you. So you're nearing the end

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Speaker 1: of your senior year and you've been running in college

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Speaker 1: all four years, and you have this idea that you

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Speaker 1: want to continue. When does it either come to fruition

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Speaker 1: or not come to fruition?

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Speaker 2: Started it started to happen right kind of at the

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Speaker 2: beginning of my senior year. I had a good ending

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Speaker 2: to my junior year. A lot of college runners will

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Speaker 2: peak or meet their potential during their junior year, even

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Speaker 2: sometimes their sophomore year. Not a lot of seniors get

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Speaker 2: better and better and better toward graduation. So I fell

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Speaker 2: into that smaller category where it just started to click

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Speaker 2: for me. I just started to take time started to

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Speaker 2: melt off, and then I remember I raised our conference

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Speaker 2: championship in our region and I broke our school record,

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Speaker 2: which was the oldest school record that we had left

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Speaker 2: and it was a goal of mine, and so when

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Speaker 2: I broke it, it was a big change in my speed,

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Speaker 2: my time. So I was I was like, WHOA, the

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Speaker 2: time's just coming off really quickly, and I qualified for

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Speaker 2: nationals all of a sudden, and then I was going

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Speaker 2: to go to Nationals and I was ranked, and all

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Speaker 2: these things happened really quickly at the end of my

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Speaker 2: senior year, which is really rare. So that momentum was

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Speaker 2: building into my senior and then that kind of dream

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Speaker 2: kind of became a little bit more real at the

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Speaker 2: probably the worst possible time, which is right when you're

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Speaker 2: about to graduate college and have to live a life.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, that's that's the moment where I thought, sure

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Speaker 2: that I.

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Speaker 1: Can continue to but you're getting better and better, so

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Speaker 1: what stops you from going on with it?

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Speaker 2: There was a moment my last race. Basically there was

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Speaker 2: the pressure building up to the National Championships. That was

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Speaker 2: to be my last race in college, right, but I

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Speaker 2: had expectations for myself, and I think my coach had

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Speaker 2: expected I know that my coach had big expectations. Right

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Speaker 2: when somebody takes off time like I was, you you

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Speaker 2: can almost be that Rudy story, like you have that

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Speaker 2: potential that you're going to show up at the National

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Speaker 2: Championships and you can be rank seventh where you could

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Speaker 2: break the national record. You could all of a sudden

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Speaker 2: keep taking me. If I took off two more seconds,

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Speaker 2: I would have won Nationals, and it would just that

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Speaker 2: little change would have made a big difference. So I

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Speaker 2: went into that last race at the National Championships expecting

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Speaker 2: to shock the world. And I was feeling tired before

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Speaker 2: the race, and I was maybe emotionally spent. I was

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Speaker 2: emotionally spent. I was so nerve and so scared. And

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Speaker 2: the gun went off, I've got two laps to finish

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Speaker 2: the race, and I do what I always did. I ran,

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Speaker 2: and then something around the three hundred meter mark left

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Speaker 2: of the eight hundred meters is where that's where I

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Speaker 2: would make my move. That's runners make different moves, but

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Speaker 2: mine was always right there, and I remember making my move.

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Speaker 2: I was like, here it comes, I'm going to blow

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Speaker 2: everyone away, and I made my move. I shift my

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Speaker 2: gears like I always did. But something was off. And

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Speaker 2: it wasn't just one race. I was racing against the

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Speaker 2: fastest kids in the country, and it hit me that, like, Okay, normally,

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Speaker 2: I'm like rocket fuel right now, but guess what, everyone

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Speaker 2: else has the rocket fuel too. And I struggled to

436
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,760
Speaker 2: pass the people like I normally did, and then I

437
00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,080
Speaker 2: remember going into the home stretch and honestly, it wasn't

438
00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:55,640
Speaker 2: even about winning. It wasn't about a record, it wasn't

439
00:21:55,720 --> 00:22:00,879
Speaker 2: about it wasn't about anything other than I realized that

440
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:05,320
Speaker 2: I may have reached my greatest potential. And I thought

441
00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:08,359
Speaker 2: to myself in that last fifty meters, I started crying

442
00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:11,040
Speaker 2: before I crossed the finish line. And some runners do this,

443
00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:13,840
Speaker 2: they know, they just know it that it's their last race,

444
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,560
Speaker 2: even if they did try to do more afterward. And

445
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,520
Speaker 2: I crossed that finish line, and I remember, I'm a

446
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,359
Speaker 2: very sensitive guy. I'm like the most emotional guy ever

447
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,320
Speaker 2: to begin with. But I went down to my knees

448
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:27,680
Speaker 2: and I just I started crying. And it wasn't because

449
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:31,240
Speaker 2: I lost the race. It was because from those moments

450
00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,760
Speaker 2: of running over broomsticks in the alley. So I'm gonna

451
00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:37,760
Speaker 2: cry right now. Oh goodness, nobody can see me. But

452
00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:42,399
Speaker 2: I remember. You know, when in that moment you remember

453
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:47,840
Speaker 2: everything you remember eighteen years or you know, fifteen years

454
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,879
Speaker 2: of going after a dream, you remember every minute. In

455
00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,560
Speaker 2: five seconds, you flash through everything you've ever done to

456
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,400
Speaker 2: get there. I mean, I remember crossing the finish line

457
00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:01,320
Speaker 2: and just collapsing, went down on my knee and had

458
00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:03,040
Speaker 2: my cry. I had my good cry, and I remember

459
00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:04,840
Speaker 2: looking up at my head coach and I had the

460
00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,399
Speaker 2: such a privilege of having one of the best college

461
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,360
Speaker 2: track coaches in the country, and I remember looking at him.

462
00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:12,520
Speaker 2: The name is Jerry Baltus. He's still the head track

463
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,679
Speaker 2: and field coach there, and it was that look of like,

464
00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,160
Speaker 2: ye gave it your all, but you know it didn't happen,

465
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:20,920
Speaker 2: and it was just so defeating that that was my

466
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,240
Speaker 2: last race. It wasn't my best race. I didn't get

467
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,520
Speaker 2: better in that last race, and that was supposed to

468
00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:30,680
Speaker 2: be the big one, and everything you were for in

469
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,000
Speaker 2: this is like this is the nature of running and

470
00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:35,040
Speaker 2: trying to run professionally. Is that, like I said, your

471
00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:39,760
Speaker 2: careers are defined by tenths of a second, not just

472
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:43,199
Speaker 2: winning actually making a team or getting a sponsorship or

473
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,199
Speaker 2: the performances are seconds. It's not how many layups or

474
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:51,240
Speaker 2: how many points you scored. It's literally time, which is

475
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:56,960
Speaker 2: such a specific thing that anyway, So I it just

476
00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:01,280
Speaker 2: hit me like everything you work for comes down to

477
00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,359
Speaker 2: a few seconds, and so that's what it was for me,

478
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:06,879
Speaker 2: and I wasn't prepared for it. And a lot of

479
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:10,200
Speaker 2: college and I have such compassion for college athletes, because

480
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:14,200
Speaker 2: if you go to that level of discipline and working.

481
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,199
Speaker 2: My closest friend told me he was a Division one

482
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,760
Speaker 2: basketball player for the Navy. He played for Navy, he said,

483
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,480
Speaker 2: he said to me, you know, an athlete dies twice,

484
00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,359
Speaker 2: once when they actually die, and first when they play

485
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 2: their last game or they run their last race. And

486
00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,679
Speaker 2: it's so true of every single college athlete. That last event,

487
00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:40,800
Speaker 2: that last race, that last game. You'll never forget it.

488
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,320
Speaker 2: I still remember the back of the guy that was

489
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,360
Speaker 2: in front of me and how I couldn't catch him,

490
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:48,960
Speaker 2: and I hold on to that for years, that what

491
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:50,679
Speaker 2: what did I not do right? What could I have

492
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:55,880
Speaker 2: done better? And and so that moment just I wasn't

493
00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,080
Speaker 2: prepared for it. I was in denial. And then that

494
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,280
Speaker 2: that was a as simply as I can say it, it

495
00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:04,680
Speaker 2: was a wake up call that nope, David, you did

496
00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:06,920
Speaker 2: not run one minute in forty five seconds.

497
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:13,199
Speaker 1: And so so this is affectionately your hurdle moment, so

498
00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:18,000
Speaker 1: to speak. Totally you you start to understand that you're

499
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,000
Speaker 1: not going to leave college and keep running. You have

500
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:27,400
Speaker 1: this death of sorts, and how does that feel? It's devastating.

501
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 1: I mean you you.

502
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,600
Speaker 2: Walk around moments after that and I and you know,

503
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:34,600
Speaker 2: track is several days, so I had to sit and

504
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:38,040
Speaker 2: support the rest of my teammates for day two. It's hard,

505
00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:42,280
Speaker 2: I mean it's and I really put a lot of

506
00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:45,639
Speaker 2: belief in I was going to be able to continue.

507
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:49,240
Speaker 2: I was gonna do something special. So you're stunned. I

508
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,160
Speaker 2: think every athlete is stunned. No one is fully prepared

509
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,280
Speaker 2: to finish something that they've worked so hard for for

510
00:25:55,320 --> 00:26:01,320
Speaker 2: so long. And so I was a stunned. I was upset,

511
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,560
Speaker 2: I was I was angry. I was really angry. I

512
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:06,840
Speaker 2: was mad at myself. I tried to think of what

513
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,920
Speaker 2: didn't I do right over the years, and I looked

514
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:15,560
Speaker 2: the part, you know, I was a really lean, very fit,

515
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,800
Speaker 2: very well trained runner. I looked the part classically, I

516
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,680
Speaker 2: had great running form. I didn't have anything other than

517
00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:27,960
Speaker 2: a potential. And that's that's what you know, and that's okay.

518
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:33,639
Speaker 2: All the years later, I realized that reaching your greatest

519
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:37,040
Speaker 2: potential is actually a beautiful thing, even if it's not

520
00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:40,679
Speaker 2: the potential that other people have. And that was the

521
00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,720
Speaker 2: hard part for me, is that I was comparing myself

522
00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:46,399
Speaker 2: to everyone else, like why my potential is not as

523
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,480
Speaker 2: good as other people's potential. But as time went by,

524
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:53,359
Speaker 2: I realized that at least I knew what my potential was,

525
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:56,560
Speaker 2: and I will all and I sit here now, and

526
00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:00,719
Speaker 2: I feel so satisfied because I did know what my

527
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:02,600
Speaker 2: potential was. I left it all on the track.

528
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:05,960
Speaker 1: So what happens then? What happens do you decide you're

529
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,720
Speaker 1: going to be some sort of scientist? Do you use

530
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,159
Speaker 1: the college degree?

531
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,000
Speaker 2: I went to full rebellion mode. Yeah I did, Yeah,

532
00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:18,119
Speaker 2: I You know. The thing is, I had told everybody

533
00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:19,680
Speaker 2: I was going to be a doctor because I thought

534
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,200
Speaker 2: it was impressive and I love science and I love school,

535
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,840
Speaker 2: I love academics, but I never really it was never

536
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:26,760
Speaker 2: in my heart, and I didn't. I felt I would

537
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,080
Speaker 2: be a bad doctor if it wasn't in my heart.

538
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:32,919
Speaker 2: So I took my amcats, I deferred my results, and

539
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,640
Speaker 2: I say, forget it. I'm going to do something outrageous

540
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:37,560
Speaker 2: I never had in my whole life. I was so

541
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:40,520
Speaker 2: disciplined since I was young for my running, and so

542
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,080
Speaker 2: for me, the most outrageous thing for me to do,

543
00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:45,439
Speaker 2: coming from a small town and then going to a

544
00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:48,359
Speaker 2: Michigan school is I'm going to go to New York City,

545
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 2: and I'd never been, never traveled, never just postcards and

546
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:56,119
Speaker 2: a couple flashes on TV. So I did it. I

547
00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:58,200
Speaker 2: couldn't even afford a plane a ticket.

548
00:27:58,320 --> 00:27:58,960
Speaker 1: How'd you get there?

549
00:27:59,080 --> 00:27:59,320
Speaker 2: Train?

550
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:01,760
Speaker 1: Oh? Oh, that's a long train ride.

551
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,439
Speaker 2: I had somebody drive me to Ohio because I couldn't

552
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:07,439
Speaker 2: even afford a train out of Michigan because it was

553
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:10,719
Speaker 2: like thirty dollars cheaper or something. So I had it

554
00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,320
Speaker 2: was so so poor, and I had all my bags

555
00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:18,320
Speaker 2: completely so naive on what New York City was, way

556
00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,560
Speaker 2: too many bags. Can't hardly carry them.

557
00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:22,239
Speaker 1: You can't even go to the grocery store and come

558
00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:23,320
Speaker 1: back with more than two bags.

559
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,960
Speaker 2: Ye, it's true. So I got on the train and

560
00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:32,119
Speaker 2: I was excited. I needed an adventure to kind of

561
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,959
Speaker 2: help soften the blow. And part of me was still like,

562
00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:38,640
Speaker 2: I could have a re emergency running. I'm only twenty

563
00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:42,360
Speaker 2: what twenty two? I can still go after this? So

564
00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:44,360
Speaker 2: I thought I need a fresh start, I need to

565
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:47,040
Speaker 2: have an adventure, and so I moved to New York

566
00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:50,080
Speaker 2: with no money and no expectations. I just was not

567
00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:54,280
Speaker 2: going to use my degree. That's the only expectation that

568
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:56,959
Speaker 2: was my only expectation. It was. It was because I

569
00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 2: didn't want I was still holding on to find if

570
00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 2: running wasn't going to be my passion. I didn't know

571
00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,600
Speaker 2: what it was, and I didn't want to. I'm not

572
00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 2: the type of person. I'm a creative person, So I'm

573
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:09,200
Speaker 2: not the type of person who can just commit to

574
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,720
Speaker 2: something and just keep doing it. Because I said I

575
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,000
Speaker 2: was going to do it, and that was my literally

576
00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 2: get on or get off the medical school train. And

577
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:20,520
Speaker 2: so I went to New York and had my typical

578
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:22,880
Speaker 2: New York adventure where you're poor and homeless and you

579
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:23,480
Speaker 2: know all of that.

580
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:26,240
Speaker 1: So I don't know if being homeless is actually typical

581
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,680
Speaker 1: of the New York adventure, I personally did not experience that.

582
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:33,360
Speaker 2: It was awesome. I live to find homeless. Well, I

583
00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,640
Speaker 2: wasn't homeless. I was. I had nowhere to live for

584
00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:41,600
Speaker 2: about three days long Beach Long Island. Oh my gosh,

585
00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:45,760
Speaker 2: I had found an apartment. And this is, you know, again,

586
00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,560
Speaker 2: back in the day, So two thousand and probably two

587
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 2: thousand and three.

588
00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:52,240
Speaker 1: I just threw some air quotes. Yeah right about back

589
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:52,680
Speaker 1: in the day.

590
00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:55,840
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, age is catching up to everyone, right, You're

591
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,880
Speaker 2: telling me, so, yeah, I did. I had I found

592
00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:03,040
Speaker 2: it apartment online. The girl, this girl and I think

593
00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:05,680
Speaker 2: Jersey City. She was going to rent out her her

594
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:07,960
Speaker 2: other room and I was so ready to go. And

595
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:13,000
Speaker 2: I showed up at Penn Station and she had met

596
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:15,720
Speaker 2: me there. I didn't have a cell phone. So she's like,

597
00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:16,640
Speaker 2: I tried to call you.

598
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:18,080
Speaker 1: This really is back in the day.

599
00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:19,960
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I didn't have a sell Well, people had

600
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,480
Speaker 2: cell phones, but I just like Zach Morri's cell phones

601
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 2: close like the Nokia you had to It was that

602
00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:28,880
Speaker 2: it was the unlimited weekends, like people saved up their

603
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:31,560
Speaker 2: minutes for the weekends. That was that was back in

604
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:35,120
Speaker 2: the day. So I she's like, I'm so sorry. I

605
00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:38,600
Speaker 2: tried to call you but couldn't. Obviously my landlord said

606
00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:40,440
Speaker 2: I can't rent out the room. I'm so sorry, so

607
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:43,640
Speaker 2: good luck. And here was like a boy from a

608
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,640
Speaker 2: dirt road town who's like, literally like, oh boy, what

609
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:49,800
Speaker 2: do I do now? So I called all the places

610
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:52,440
Speaker 2: I had written down in long story short there was

611
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,920
Speaker 2: a place in Long Beach, but I couldn't. It was

612
00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:57,680
Speaker 2: like I could stay there short term, but I couldn't

613
00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:00,800
Speaker 2: move in yet. So and I never and told the

614
00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:02,680
Speaker 2: guy who rented me the place in Long Beach because

615
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:04,040
Speaker 2: I just didn't want to scare him that I was

616
00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:07,040
Speaker 2: like crazy or something. So I went a Long Beach,

617
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:11,680
Speaker 2: found it on a map and went there. And it

618
00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:13,480
Speaker 2: was the wea. It was. It was the fall to me,

619
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,680
Speaker 2: coming from like Michigan, which is always so cold in

620
00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:18,600
Speaker 2: the upright, it was nothing.

621
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:22,320
Speaker 1: I love this, like colloquial up usage. This is like

622
00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:23,240
Speaker 1: so Michigan.

623
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:25,440
Speaker 2: It is, it really is. So you go to Long

624
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:28,200
Speaker 2: Beach and I hang out. I'm like, this is so

625
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,440
Speaker 2: nice the ocean, and so I slept on the under

626
00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:34,400
Speaker 2: the boardwalk. It was clean and it was safe, and

627
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:36,840
Speaker 2: it was and I ate Ramen noodles. As soon as

628
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:38,600
Speaker 2: I moved into the place, I did. I did what

629
00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:42,640
Speaker 2: you do when you're when you're broken, And I remember

630
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:44,520
Speaker 2: the first thing I spent. I spent most of my

631
00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:46,760
Speaker 2: money on my stupid train ticket ticket in and out

632
00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:48,400
Speaker 2: of the city, and I was trying to find a

633
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,959
Speaker 2: waiting job right just to get something started.

634
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,480
Speaker 1: So squiler Alert David tells me that he gets a

635
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 1: waiting job at none other than car Mines in Times Square,

636
00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,520
Speaker 1: and that you get back in contact with a modeling

637
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:03,640
Speaker 1: agency that had reached out to you. Is that correct?

638
00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:04,160
Speaker 2: Yeah?

639
00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:07,040
Speaker 1: Okay, so talk to me about the modeling agency. And

640
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:09,760
Speaker 1: I'm guessing that was kind of what gave you a

641
00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:12,280
Speaker 1: little bit of money to really get things rolling. Yeah,

642
00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:14,400
Speaker 1: that's that's where things change a little bit for me.

643
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: But I had do you have to say at car Mines,

644
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,720
Speaker 1: I didn't deserve the job. I mean, you have to

645
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,400
Speaker 1: be a professional waiter to work at Carmines in Times Square.

646
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:26,360
Speaker 1: It's a serious job and no experience. But they had

647
00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:28,520
Speaker 1: a job. Part of the waiting job was to be

648
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,200
Speaker 1: a runner, and I was like, oh, I can do that.

649
00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:34,200
Speaker 1: I was like, what's a runner? And they're like, you

650
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,520
Speaker 1: carry really heavy dishes of pasta up and downstairs all

651
00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:38,000
Speaker 1: day long.

652
00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:40,680
Speaker 2: I was like, please give me the job. I need

653
00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,080
Speaker 2: money so bad and I'm so hungry. I will run

654
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:45,600
Speaker 2: food all day long. And I was like, I'm a

655
00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:48,280
Speaker 2: really good runner, like literally, and so they gave me

656
00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:51,000
Speaker 2: the job based on so little segue there. I actually

657
00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:53,800
Speaker 2: got the car Mines job because I was a runner.

658
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,720
Speaker 2: I'm not kidding. But then I was I was a

659
00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:01,840
Speaker 2: terrible waiter blah blah blah, and I had gotten scouted oh,

660
00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:04,000
Speaker 2: when I was a little bit younger in college, when

661
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:08,040
Speaker 2: I was in Chicago, and I wasn't interested in doing it,

662
00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:09,840
Speaker 2: but I thought I was in New York and so

663
00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:11,920
Speaker 2: I reached out to that agent at the time and

664
00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:15,120
Speaker 2: went in and met with Ford Models, and I was

665
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:20,120
Speaker 2: very fortunate that an agent there saw something, and that

666
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,720
Speaker 2: day I went on my first casting And I've technically

667
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:26,200
Speaker 2: been with Ford for sixteen years now, so it's been

668
00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:29,400
Speaker 2: really really magical. But it's really really cool. But I

669
00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:32,960
Speaker 2: started to book jobs after about three or four months,

670
00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:35,239
Speaker 2: and I had never made money like that. I mean,

671
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:37,000
Speaker 2: I'm in New York City, I'm a model, I'm with

672
00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:39,360
Speaker 2: a great agency, and all of a sudden, it's like

673
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:41,760
Speaker 2: you can go to these parties and you can do

674
00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:44,000
Speaker 2: all this stuff and you make this amount of money

675
00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:47,520
Speaker 2: for doing what for just standing there and like look

676
00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:49,960
Speaker 2: showing off a pair of jeans. I was like, dang.

677
00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:54,480
Speaker 2: And I remember the first Ford paycheck I got. I

678
00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:56,560
Speaker 2: walked into car Miones with my check in my hand

679
00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:00,280
Speaker 2: and I gave them a two week notice was to

680
00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:02,840
Speaker 2: be a model. Now I don't need to run food anymore.

681
00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,520
Speaker 2: So that was I was very lucky, and I had

682
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:11,560
Speaker 2: a Really, I had a good modeling career where I

683
00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:13,440
Speaker 2: lived in New York and was really living the life there,

684
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:14,399
Speaker 2: and I was able to run.

685
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:18,480
Speaker 1: And this is about the time that you actually went

686
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:20,520
Speaker 1: into your first Equinox, Is that right?

687
00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:21,000
Speaker 2: Yeah?

688
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:24,359
Speaker 1: All right, So tell me about Tell me about what

689
00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,520
Speaker 1: you thought about Equinox at first, and then how this

690
00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:32,360
Speaker 1: kind of segued into what would eventually become precision running.

691
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:36,600
Speaker 2: First of all, I equinox. Really, my introduction to Equinox

692
00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:39,680
Speaker 2: came because I was searching. I was looking for I

693
00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:41,279
Speaker 2: had been training, I had running. I was just in

694
00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:43,840
Speaker 2: New York for not even a year, eight months, nine months,

695
00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,080
Speaker 2: and I was trying to find a way to train

696
00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:48,640
Speaker 2: still because I still had it in the back of

697
00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:51,040
Speaker 2: my head. I still believed somehow that I was going

698
00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:55,080
Speaker 2: to have a rebirth in the running and racing world.

699
00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:58,160
Speaker 2: And so I was still training. But it gets hard

700
00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:01,760
Speaker 2: in New York. I learned very quick. It's a concrete jungle.

701
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:04,640
Speaker 2: There's Central Park, but that Central Park it's awfully cold

702
00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:07,280
Speaker 2: and slippery in the winter. So I started to struggle

703
00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:10,440
Speaker 2: to find places to train, and I couldn't. I couldn't

704
00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:12,360
Speaker 2: make any of the clubs or teams at the armory,

705
00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:15,520
Speaker 2: which a lot of developmental runners will make. So I

706
00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:18,319
Speaker 2: was lost, and I started to shop around and I

707
00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,160
Speaker 2: heard of this equinox Ford Models. Actually was like, Hey,

708
00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:25,799
Speaker 2: there's this really great club and univited to go check

709
00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:27,600
Speaker 2: it out. So I went and I walked into It

710
00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:30,799
Speaker 2: was Columbus Circle in New York. And I walked in

711
00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:33,839
Speaker 2: and I had never seen anything like it. I'd never

712
00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:37,560
Speaker 2: seen people like that either, that were truly living like

713
00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:41,640
Speaker 2: their best life like I was, just so I was

714
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:45,360
Speaker 2: inspired by every single detail of the club, the design

715
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:47,319
Speaker 2: of it, the feel of it, and then I took

716
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:49,880
Speaker 2: a little tour of it, and then I was obsessed

717
00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:52,959
Speaker 2: with the people working out and the personal trainers there

718
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:55,720
Speaker 2: and everything in there was so inspiring. And like I said,

719
00:35:55,800 --> 00:36:00,160
Speaker 2: I had never seen a place so well set up

720
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:02,920
Speaker 2: for a person to be successful, and I felt that

721
00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:06,439
Speaker 2: right away. I thought, if this could be my thing

722
00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:09,400
Speaker 2: to help me get back into focusing on, you know,

723
00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:12,000
Speaker 2: my fitness level, my running and racing and training and

724
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:15,640
Speaker 2: stuff like that. And so I signed up right there

725
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:19,000
Speaker 2: and I became a member, and it was every month

726
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:21,160
Speaker 2: that money came out of my paycheck, out of my

727
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:23,799
Speaker 2: bank account and I was like, I never felt bad

728
00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:27,520
Speaker 2: about it once. I made some other sacrifices, you know,

729
00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:29,920
Speaker 2: I was young and just starting to make money, but

730
00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:35,400
Speaker 2: I never one time considered my my membership like really

731
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:39,080
Speaker 2: truly a sacrifice. It was. It was an investment, right, And.

732
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:42,120
Speaker 1: So at Equinox, you're spending a lot of time kind

733
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:44,239
Speaker 1: of gauging your fitness and getting back into it a

734
00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,319
Speaker 1: little bit, and you have this kind of thought when

735
00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:48,600
Speaker 1: you're on the treadmill one day.

736
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:51,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, well it was actually like just the second, probably

737
00:36:51,719 --> 00:36:53,520
Speaker 2: the second time I'd ever been on a treadmill, to

738
00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:54,000
Speaker 2: be honest.

739
00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:54,840
Speaker 1: Wow.

740
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:55,879
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a thing.

741
00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:57,799
Speaker 1: So how do you feel about running in the rain?

742
00:36:58,239 --> 00:36:59,279
Speaker 2: I love running in the rain.

743
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,680
Speaker 1: That's why you never go onto treadmill. I actually hate

744
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:07,319
Speaker 1: running in the rain, which is great. I actually hate

745
00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:10,680
Speaker 1: running in the rain. I think I have PTSD from

746
00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:14,520
Speaker 1: running Boston, especially now, so I'm all set with that

747
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:17,560
Speaker 1: for quite some time. But because I don't like running

748
00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:21,240
Speaker 1: in the rain whatsoever, I have come to like running

749
00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:23,560
Speaker 1: on the treadmill. But if you like running in the rain,

750
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:24,920
Speaker 1: I love running the rain.

751
00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:27,520
Speaker 2: I'm an outdoors guy, yeah, I mean, I grew up

752
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:31,040
Speaker 2: on the shoreline of Lake Superior, which is biased is

753
00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:33,560
Speaker 2: one of the most beautiful lakes the way right and

754
00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:36,359
Speaker 2: so but a lot of it. There's a thing that

755
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:40,160
Speaker 2: not a lot of people know that competitive runners and

756
00:37:40,239 --> 00:37:43,359
Speaker 2: outdoor runners, there's this thing about the treadmill. It has

757
00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,000
Speaker 2: a stink on it. It's like, oh, this is not

758
00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:49,080
Speaker 2: real running. There's a there's a I will not do that.

759
00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:52,880
Speaker 2: It's embarrassing for a lot of quote unquote serious runners

760
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:56,040
Speaker 2: I had. I had the same attitude about it. I

761
00:37:56,040 --> 00:38:00,160
Speaker 2: couldn't be caught dead on a treadmill. So my first

762
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:02,359
Speaker 2: time on treadmill at Equinox, I remember I went late

763
00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:04,759
Speaker 2: at night and I just didn't want anybody to see me.

764
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:06,680
Speaker 2: I didn't want to like I was the one racing

765
00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:09,040
Speaker 2: in Central Park going crazy and I'd run back to

766
00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:12,920
Speaker 2: the club and do my strength training. But I was

767
00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:16,000
Speaker 2: struggling to find time to run outside and stuff like that.

768
00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:18,200
Speaker 2: So I got in that treadmill and it wasn't that

769
00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:20,360
Speaker 2: bad of an experience. This is not that bad. So

770
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:22,799
Speaker 2: I started to use it a little bit more, and

771
00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:24,799
Speaker 2: about the third time on it, and I was right

772
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,680
Speaker 2: away creating workouts for myself because that's how I'm wired.

773
00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:29,279
Speaker 2: I've been doing it since I was a little kid.

774
00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:33,399
Speaker 2: And I remember one day I was looking out over

775
00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:38,160
Speaker 2: the cardio area and this is before like Netflix on

776
00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:41,040
Speaker 2: the treadmills, this is before we had things to distract

777
00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:45,319
Speaker 2: us that much. It was I felt so sad, this

778
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:48,000
Speaker 2: like sadness came over me. I was like, I love

779
00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:50,279
Speaker 2: running more than anything, and I couldn't see any of it.

780
00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:52,320
Speaker 2: People just were like stomping away at the treadmill. And

781
00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:55,200
Speaker 2: I thought, oh my gosh, this is like the most miserable.

782
00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:58,560
Speaker 2: Everyone is so miserable on these treadmills. Yeah, that's not

783
00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:04,359
Speaker 2: Equinox's fault, that's the treadmill's fault. It's just that up

784
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:06,560
Speaker 2: until that point, and this is gosh, what is this

785
00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:14,279
Speaker 2: like fifteen probably sixteen years ago or longer, running on

786
00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:18,480
Speaker 2: a treadmill was misunderstood. And I realized it right there

787
00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:24,439
Speaker 2: that moment that somebody should probably help. Somebody should create

788
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:27,600
Speaker 2: programming or at least like create a better experience, because

789
00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:30,680
Speaker 2: it's still running. It's not that different. It doesn't change

790
00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:34,400
Speaker 2: your form very much. And if people are already trying

791
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:36,919
Speaker 2: to do it but they're just not happy doing it,

792
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:39,680
Speaker 2: something's wrong. Something was broken, and I saw it.

793
00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:42,480
Speaker 1: So how does one go from having these thoughts to

794
00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:46,040
Speaker 1: actually getting in touch with someone at Equinox that would

795
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:49,759
Speaker 1: have the power to be like, huh, yeah, you've got

796
00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:50,400
Speaker 1: something here.

797
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:53,600
Speaker 2: Well, it took a while. Actually. I had no intentions

798
00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:56,560
Speaker 2: of working in the health and wellness business ever, no

799
00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,000
Speaker 2: intentions at all. I was creating a little bit of

800
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:00,960
Speaker 2: a program for myself to kind of keep me training

801
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:04,160
Speaker 2: during the winter. But what happened is I love writing,

802
00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:06,320
Speaker 2: It's a hobby of mine, and so I wanted to

803
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:08,359
Speaker 2: write a running book. And I realized right there there

804
00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:11,799
Speaker 2: was probably a great need for an indoor running book

805
00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,840
Speaker 2: or how do you balance the treadmill and outside? So

806
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:16,840
Speaker 2: I started to do really early research. Took me a

807
00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:18,880
Speaker 2: long time to write the book, by the way, but

808
00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:23,320
Speaker 2: that's how it started. The development of the class itself,

809
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:25,920
Speaker 2: or the kind of program as it is today, took

810
00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:30,520
Speaker 2: a while. Basically, after a few years, I started to

811
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,040
Speaker 2: teach treadmill classes. I started to become a coach. And

812
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:35,759
Speaker 2: where were you doing that? That's right when I moved

813
00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:37,839
Speaker 2: to Los Angeles, I was teaching it, and I was

814
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:41,040
Speaker 2: exploring all the other options out there. What's going on

815
00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:44,759
Speaker 2: with the treadmill market indoor running in group classes right now.

816
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,600
Speaker 2: And first of all, I knew that the next ten, fifteen,

817
00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,160
Speaker 2: twenty years, this is a category, this is going to

818
00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:53,520
Speaker 2: continue to grow. I felt it, I observed it, I

819
00:40:53,560 --> 00:40:58,360
Speaker 2: saw it, but I couldn't find the right thing, something

820
00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:01,480
Speaker 2: that I could authentic as a runner and a lover

821
00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:04,840
Speaker 2: of science, say that this is the best vehicle to

822
00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:08,239
Speaker 2: give somebody the benefits of running, make it enjoyable, and

823
00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:11,480
Speaker 2: most importantly, give them the long term benefits that come

824
00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:14,160
Speaker 2: from running. And so I thought, you know what, I

825
00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:17,719
Speaker 2: can't find it, so maybe I should try creating it.

826
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:20,959
Speaker 2: Maybe I should take that observation I saw years ago,

827
00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:24,399
Speaker 2: and because it didn't dawn on me until five years,

828
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,279
Speaker 2: five or six years later, that maybe I do have

829
00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:31,520
Speaker 2: the confidence of creating a program. Maybe I can, maybe

830
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:34,520
Speaker 2: I can become a running coach in a different way.

831
00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,840
Speaker 2: So what I did is, and this is really funny,

832
00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:42,080
Speaker 2: because I was gonna open my own treadmill studio. I

833
00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:45,080
Speaker 2: couldn't find a treadmill studio, a dedicated running studio. There

834
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:47,640
Speaker 2: weren't any at the time. These different versions of boot

835
00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:49,880
Speaker 2: camps and things like that, but there was no dedicated

836
00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:52,680
Speaker 2: running facility at the time. So I came up with

837
00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:56,960
Speaker 2: Tread's LLC. It was gonna blow everyone's mind. It was

838
00:41:57,000 --> 00:42:00,560
Speaker 2: going to be the studio of the future. And I

839
00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:02,680
Speaker 2: worked so hard on this, and I had a lot

840
00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:04,360
Speaker 2: of people that wanted to invest, but I wanted to

841
00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:06,959
Speaker 2: work with a big company. I wanted to to bring

842
00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:09,759
Speaker 2: this to the urban market, which is where I think

843
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:13,640
Speaker 2: treadmill running does really well. And I even I went

844
00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:17,239
Speaker 2: to Equinox and I can't remember, I was teaching a

845
00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:19,760
Speaker 2: couple of classes at Equinox in West Hollywood. That's where

846
00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:24,840
Speaker 2: I first started. I was my last year my membership.

847
00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:27,680
Speaker 2: I became a treadmill coach, teaching like a tread and

848
00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:31,200
Speaker 2: shred class, but I even tread and shread. Yeah. But

849
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:33,880
Speaker 2: I even managed to wiggle my way into a meeting

850
00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:39,440
Speaker 2: and I presented my Treads LLC business plan to Equinox

851
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:43,000
Speaker 2: and to Equinox credit. They're very open to ideas and

852
00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:45,799
Speaker 2: they love to hear and listen. That's one thing I

853
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:49,399
Speaker 2: love about the company. Did they give everyone a shot?

854
00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:52,120
Speaker 2: I love that they really do. And so I had

855
00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:54,040
Speaker 2: my shot. I presented it and I had like my

856
00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:58,080
Speaker 2: fake staples briefcase, like I remember I got my shoes

857
00:42:58,080 --> 00:43:01,000
Speaker 2: cleaned up, and I was like, I was trying to

858
00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:03,400
Speaker 2: be super professional, but I had no experience in the

859
00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:07,600
Speaker 2: professional field. So but I presented it and I was

860
00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:11,240
Speaker 2: again so sure of myself. I was so confident that

861
00:43:11,239 --> 00:43:16,359
Speaker 2: that this running facility is the future. And they were

862
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:19,400
Speaker 2: very kind and they're very polite, and they're like, maybe not,

863
00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:21,359
Speaker 2: it's now not the right time for us to do it.

864
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:24,480
Speaker 2: And I remember I like, grab my business plan and

865
00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:27,200
Speaker 2: I was very nice, but I remember like looking across

866
00:43:27,239 --> 00:43:28,600
Speaker 2: the table and I was like, you guys are going

867
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:32,240
Speaker 2: to be sorry. Big mistake. It was like the pretty

868
00:43:32,239 --> 00:43:35,600
Speaker 2: woman moment, like big mistake, you guys. So I laughed

869
00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:37,560
Speaker 2: and I was like, yeah, I forget it. So I

870
00:43:37,600 --> 00:43:40,319
Speaker 2: just taught my classes and I felt defeated. I was like,

871
00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:42,319
Speaker 2: I loved Equinox so much, so I thought, well, if

872
00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:44,400
Speaker 2: they don't see it quite yet, then maybe it's not time.

873
00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:48,319
Speaker 2: And Equinox was right at at the moment, I think

874
00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:50,680
Speaker 2: it would have been early to do it. But then

875
00:43:50,719 --> 00:43:53,680
Speaker 2: fast forward, I was I started teaching the member I said,

876
00:43:53,719 --> 00:43:56,040
Speaker 2: I was working on the programming for a while. I

877
00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:59,840
Speaker 2: started to teach that personal method that I had worked

878
00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:02,279
Speaker 2: on in my tread and shread class or in my

879
00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:04,880
Speaker 2: treadmill class, and it started to catch on and people

880
00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:08,360
Speaker 2: started to notice the difference. A group fitness manager, Keith Iras,

881
00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:11,040
Speaker 2: who is now our vice president of group Fitness, so

882
00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:14,920
Speaker 2: he has skyrocketed to being our fearless leader in group fitness.

883
00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:18,760
Speaker 2: But he was like the very first one who said, David,

884
00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:21,080
Speaker 2: this is a really great program. You should take a

885
00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:25,280
Speaker 2: next step. And he supported me so that the question

886
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:28,920
Speaker 2: on who really kind of helped be that conduit to

887
00:44:29,040 --> 00:44:32,520
Speaker 2: something more was Keith, who's now a mentor to so

888
00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:35,160
Speaker 2: many of us, but he's our leader in group fitness.

889
00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:37,320
Speaker 2: So he gave me that shot and said, go ahead,

890
00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:41,480
Speaker 2: teach your method and start developing the program like an

891
00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:45,040
Speaker 2: actual we call them signature format, said Equinox. And we

892
00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:47,920
Speaker 2: put a lot of time into the science, tremendous amount

893
00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:50,319
Speaker 2: of time in developing our signature format. So I got

894
00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:53,800
Speaker 2: the opportunity to do that, and that's really how it started.

895
00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:58,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, and so fast forward to now there are two

896
00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:02,719
Speaker 1: precision running labs. Is that correct? Yes, one is in

897
00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:04,960
Speaker 1: Santa Monica and one is in Boston.

898
00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:05,399
Speaker 2: Yeah.

899
00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:08,400
Speaker 1: How did it feel when the first one opened? Because

900
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:11,359
Speaker 1: now these are just dedicated treadmill studios. This isn't an

901
00:45:11,480 --> 00:45:13,880
Speaker 1: entire Equinox facility.

902
00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:17,600
Speaker 2: Honestly, it's still pinching myself, like I'm going to go

903
00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:21,200
Speaker 2: teach there tonight, Like it's it's a dream land for

904
00:45:21,200 --> 00:45:23,719
Speaker 2: a running coach. It's so I still it's surreal to me,

905
00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:25,879
Speaker 2: and I mean it was surreal to me to see

906
00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:29,279
Speaker 2: precision running just on our schedule and we now have

907
00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:31,799
Speaker 2: we have like two hundred I would say around two

908
00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:34,759
Speaker 2: hundred and thirty plus coaches that are certified to teach it.

909
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:36,960
Speaker 2: We have over five hundred classes a week in all

910
00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:39,440
Speaker 2: of our clubs. Where did the name come from? I

911
00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:41,399
Speaker 2: came up with it. I came up with a list

912
00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:42,839
Speaker 2: of potential names that I liked.

913
00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:45,440
Speaker 1: That's the hardest thing when you're an entrepreneur. It's so

914
00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:48,160
Speaker 1: hard coming up with the hurdle name took me literally

915
00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:50,719
Speaker 1: over a year, and then one day it just hits you.

916
00:45:51,320 --> 00:45:53,040
Speaker 1: It just it just you say it out loud and

917
00:45:53,040 --> 00:45:54,440
Speaker 1: you're like, that's exactly what this is.

918
00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:57,560
Speaker 2: It's perfect, right, Yeah, But it's hard. It is really

919
00:45:57,560 --> 00:45:59,320
Speaker 2: hard because you sometimes think you have a great idea

920
00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:02,480
Speaker 2: for a name, and you think it's so great, and

921
00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:05,000
Speaker 2: you sometimes are not willing to listen to other people's opinions.

922
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:08,080
Speaker 2: But precision running. I remember I was working with the

923
00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:10,560
Speaker 2: group fitness team and I was listing off the names

924
00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:13,200
Speaker 2: and I said precision running, and everyone stopped.

925
00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:16,400
Speaker 1: What I'm curious to know is obviously such a hard

926
00:46:16,440 --> 00:46:20,160
Speaker 1: focus on the programming for someone who quote unquote is

927
00:46:20,200 --> 00:46:22,920
Speaker 1: that person that says they're not a runner, What is

928
00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:25,080
Speaker 1: like one tip you would give to them from the

929
00:46:25,120 --> 00:46:28,480
Speaker 1: get go if they knew that they could do it.

930
00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:29,960
Speaker 2: It's the number one thing I hear. I hear it

931
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:32,160
Speaker 2: every time somebody comes to Precision Run the first time

932
00:46:32,160 --> 00:46:34,560
Speaker 2: they say, by the way, David, I'm not a runner,

933
00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:38,160
Speaker 2: And I always say back, well can you run? And

934
00:46:38,200 --> 00:46:41,719
Speaker 2: they said, yes, you're a runner. It's that simple. But

935
00:46:42,520 --> 00:46:46,239
Speaker 2: everyone is afraid to take an interval class. It's very

936
00:46:46,239 --> 00:46:48,680
Speaker 2: intimidating no matter where you go. But I would tell

937
00:46:48,719 --> 00:46:52,799
Speaker 2: everybody you have to start somewhere and you have to

938
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:56,560
Speaker 2: make that leap. Nobody can help you make that first step.

939
00:46:56,960 --> 00:46:59,840
Speaker 2: But definitely the great thing about a treadmill class is

940
00:46:59,840 --> 00:47:03,000
Speaker 2: that you have an instructor. It's different than apps, it's

941
00:47:03,040 --> 00:47:05,879
Speaker 2: different than all the kind of digital revolution that's going

942
00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:08,279
Speaker 2: on right now. The in person experience with a coach

943
00:47:08,480 --> 00:47:11,520
Speaker 2: is safe no matter what. No matter how hard that

944
00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:14,799
Speaker 2: class is, having a coach and other people around you

945
00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:18,600
Speaker 2: will soften it. So I would tell you take away

946
00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:20,760
Speaker 2: all the pressure in needing to do a good job.

947
00:47:21,480 --> 00:47:24,000
Speaker 2: Nobody should do a good job in their first class.

948
00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:27,720
Speaker 2: That first class should be an introduction. Ease yourself into it,

949
00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:31,640
Speaker 2: but definitely shake off all that pressure that you put

950
00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:34,080
Speaker 2: on yourself to be as good as everyone else. Because

951
00:47:34,120 --> 00:47:37,560
Speaker 2: there's one reality about running that is true for me

952
00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:41,960
Speaker 2: and for you and for everybody of every level. Running

953
00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:46,759
Speaker 2: is not easy for anyone nobody, no matter how fast

954
00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:51,160
Speaker 2: you are, how slow you are, it's not easy. It's

955
00:47:51,200 --> 00:47:54,560
Speaker 2: a bit overly poetic. But like running, to me, is

956
00:47:54,560 --> 00:47:58,839
Speaker 2: the most It's the one thread that binds humanity. If

957
00:47:58,880 --> 00:48:02,440
Speaker 2: you strip away every thing we do in movement, walking

958
00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:05,920
Speaker 2: and running is the foundation of how we move as

959
00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:09,200
Speaker 2: human beings. It doesn't matter what religion you are, what

960
00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:12,279
Speaker 2: race you are, what gender you are, what your beliefs are.

961
00:48:12,840 --> 00:48:15,920
Speaker 2: You watch the New York City Marathon or the Boston Marathon,

962
00:48:17,200 --> 00:48:20,200
Speaker 2: I would argue it's probably the largest gathering in the

963
00:48:20,239 --> 00:48:26,359
Speaker 2: world where nobody cares. It's not political, there's no it is.

964
00:48:26,440 --> 00:48:28,960
Speaker 2: So it's one of the most unifying things that we

965
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:31,319
Speaker 2: have as a human race. Remember that when you go

966
00:48:31,360 --> 00:48:33,799
Speaker 2: into a running class that everybody else that's showing up

967
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:37,359
Speaker 2: there that day they started somewhere. But start make that

968
00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:41,560
Speaker 2: commitment because running, undeniably is so good for you when

969
00:48:41,600 --> 00:48:42,200
Speaker 2: you do it right.

970
00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:46,520
Speaker 1: For someone who does enjoy running and wants to get faster,

971
00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:50,399
Speaker 1: what is one tip that you would offer them as

972
00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:53,319
Speaker 1: someone who for so long wanted to get to that.

973
00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:58,480
Speaker 2: One, I would say stay committed. A lot of runners

974
00:48:58,560 --> 00:49:01,240
Speaker 2: nowadays because everything is quick. Everyone wants a quick fix

975
00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:05,319
Speaker 2: for everything, instant gratification. Running will never work that way

976
00:49:05,680 --> 00:49:08,879
Speaker 2: running anything that is natural science. I believe this by

977
00:49:08,920 --> 00:49:12,040
Speaker 2: the way that there's ways to do it efficiently, but

978
00:49:12,120 --> 00:49:14,680
Speaker 2: there is no shortcuts in running. There's just ways to

979
00:49:14,680 --> 00:49:17,160
Speaker 2: do it more efficiently. So the most important thing is

980
00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:19,040
Speaker 2: not how hard you go. And this is a motto

981
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:22,560
Speaker 2: in precision running. We don't believe in precision running that

982
00:49:22,640 --> 00:49:25,640
Speaker 2: it's it's not important how hard you go, it's how

983
00:49:25,719 --> 00:49:30,160
Speaker 2: you go hard. It's very important. It's got to feel right,

984
00:49:30,239 --> 00:49:32,160
Speaker 2: and you know, you really know if you go to

985
00:49:32,200 --> 00:49:34,879
Speaker 2: a running class and it's just it's chaos and it's

986
00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:37,600
Speaker 2: way too hard for the sake of being hard. If

987
00:49:37,600 --> 00:49:40,360
Speaker 2: it feels hard but with a purpose, you're on the

988
00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:44,680
Speaker 2: right track. You're part of a performance program. But in

989
00:49:44,719 --> 00:49:49,040
Speaker 2: that same message, you have to have consistency. Runners have

990
00:49:49,160 --> 00:49:52,520
Speaker 2: to have consistency. Whether it's distance running or speed work,

991
00:49:52,640 --> 00:49:55,040
Speaker 2: you have to have consistency. You can't show up to

992
00:49:55,080 --> 00:49:58,160
Speaker 2: a you can't be a weekend warrior runner. That does

993
00:49:58,200 --> 00:50:00,040
Speaker 2: not work. If you want to get faster, you I

994
00:50:00,040 --> 00:50:02,920
Speaker 2: want to get faster, commit to your three training days

995
00:50:02,960 --> 00:50:05,839
Speaker 2: of speedwork a week and commit to them, and you

996
00:50:05,920 --> 00:50:06,800
Speaker 2: will get faster.

997
00:50:07,640 --> 00:50:11,680
Speaker 1: What is the best piece of advice you have been

998
00:50:11,719 --> 00:50:12,880
Speaker 1: given in your career?

999
00:50:13,560 --> 00:50:19,920
Speaker 2: The best piece of advice? You know what it was

1000
00:50:19,960 --> 00:50:22,560
Speaker 2: my It was my college track coach. I remember I

1001
00:50:23,360 --> 00:50:28,960
Speaker 2: fell asleep during track practice once. I was basically a

1002
00:50:28,960 --> 00:50:32,239
Speaker 2: double major. I had a job I you know, one

1003
00:50:32,280 --> 00:50:34,360
Speaker 2: of those stories. So I was really tired and I

1004
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:37,120
Speaker 2: was hard on myself. I was training hard and I

1005
00:50:37,160 --> 00:50:40,080
Speaker 2: did way too much. I was on every council at

1006
00:50:40,080 --> 00:50:42,480
Speaker 2: my university. I was in the symphony at my university.

1007
00:50:42,520 --> 00:50:44,840
Speaker 2: I played the bass in the symphony for many many years.

1008
00:50:45,200 --> 00:50:48,160
Speaker 2: So I did all these things, and my coach said

1009
00:50:48,160 --> 00:50:50,799
Speaker 2: to me, he was so mad at me. He kicked

1010
00:50:50,800 --> 00:50:53,879
Speaker 2: me out of practice. I can't say it here, you'll

1011
00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:57,920
Speaker 2: have to beep it out, but seek go home. And

1012
00:50:57,960 --> 00:51:00,600
Speaker 2: I was kicked out of practice. I had a moment

1013
00:51:00,640 --> 00:51:03,640
Speaker 2: after some of our intervals. I was just really struggling,

1014
00:51:04,320 --> 00:51:09,759
Speaker 2: and he said to me. He said, David, you can

1015
00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:12,200
Speaker 2: do a lot of things good in your life, but

1016
00:51:12,280 --> 00:51:14,919
Speaker 2: if you try to do too many things good, you'll

1017
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:19,080
Speaker 2: never do one thing great. And it took me a

1018
00:51:19,080 --> 00:51:21,600
Speaker 2: minute to realize what he was saying, but it was

1019
00:51:21,640 --> 00:51:24,480
Speaker 2: so true. If you don't focus on your passion and

1020
00:51:24,520 --> 00:51:29,840
Speaker 2: focus on the things that are authentically, that are authentic

1021
00:51:29,880 --> 00:51:33,680
Speaker 2: to you and what your goals are, you'll never really

1022
00:51:33,719 --> 00:51:36,719
Speaker 2: reach a potential and never feel that you're great at that.

1023
00:51:36,760 --> 00:51:39,839
Speaker 2: So that advice I actually still apply that to because

1024
00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:42,480
Speaker 2: I'm a go getter. I love to be involved and

1025
00:51:42,520 --> 00:51:44,799
Speaker 2: do a lot of things. But every once in a while,

1026
00:51:44,880 --> 00:51:47,680
Speaker 2: I hear that voice in the back of my head saying, David,

1027
00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:49,720
Speaker 2: you don't have to be good at everything.

1028
00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:57,160
Speaker 1: One precision running was up and running It's good. Did

1029
00:51:57,200 --> 00:51:59,640
Speaker 1: you kind of feel like you finally found your purpose.

1030
00:52:00,440 --> 00:52:05,720
Speaker 2: Yes, when I took my first class with another coach

1031
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:08,960
Speaker 2: and had a coach coach me and feel what it

1032
00:52:09,000 --> 00:52:12,839
Speaker 2: felt like, and I was amongst our members experiencing it.

1033
00:52:14,280 --> 00:52:17,080
Speaker 2: I from that moment on, I never doubted for a

1034
00:52:17,120 --> 00:52:22,640
Speaker 2: minute that I was going to be spending my future

1035
00:52:23,120 --> 00:52:24,960
Speaker 2: building out this type of program because there was a

1036
00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:27,239
Speaker 2: need for it. And you know, people talk a lot

1037
00:52:27,280 --> 00:52:30,279
Speaker 2: about wanting to help people, and I love that when

1038
00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:32,040
Speaker 2: people say that and they want to do it, But

1039
00:52:32,080 --> 00:52:34,560
Speaker 2: I always wonder sometimes, like what does that mean? Like

1040
00:52:34,640 --> 00:52:37,960
Speaker 2: I want to help people, but you can want to

1041
00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:41,840
Speaker 2: help somebody. But I really believe that you have to

1042
00:52:41,880 --> 00:52:44,000
Speaker 2: pick the things that you're really good at and you're

1043
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:46,600
Speaker 2: passionate about in helping people, because then you will make

1044
00:52:46,640 --> 00:52:49,560
Speaker 2: such an enormous impact. And I realized that one precise

1045
00:52:49,680 --> 00:52:53,720
Speaker 2: running got off the ground that that's what I'm passionate about.

1046
00:52:53,800 --> 00:52:56,440
Speaker 2: And it's so funny how running came full circle for

1047
00:52:56,520 --> 00:52:58,799
Speaker 2: me because of that. And again we hear this all

1048
00:52:58,840 --> 00:53:02,560
Speaker 2: the time, don't lose your passion, find your passion and

1049
00:53:02,600 --> 00:53:05,400
Speaker 2: find ways to reinvent it. That's what I had to do.

1050
00:53:05,480 --> 00:53:12,200
Speaker 2: My colossal hurdle was the hurt that the running life

1051
00:53:12,600 --> 00:53:17,040
Speaker 2: that I expected to have didn't happen. But it didn't

1052
00:53:17,080 --> 00:53:19,239
Speaker 2: mean that I had to lose my love and my

1053
00:53:19,400 --> 00:53:22,759
Speaker 2: passion for running. I just had to reinvent it. And

1054
00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:25,400
Speaker 2: that's what precision Running did for me at Equinoxes. It

1055
00:53:25,440 --> 00:53:26,920
Speaker 2: allowed me to have a rebirth.

1056
00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:30,440
Speaker 1: That's so special. It's so interesting, this idea of like

1057
00:53:30,520 --> 00:53:33,920
Speaker 1: loving what you do. I think I was at a

1058
00:53:33,960 --> 00:53:37,080
Speaker 1: CrossFit gym last year, lying on the ground after a

1059
00:53:37,200 --> 00:53:40,399
Speaker 1: workout with this guy and he says to me, out

1060
00:53:40,440 --> 00:53:43,080
Speaker 1: of the blue, you really love what you do? And

1061
00:53:43,120 --> 00:53:45,319
Speaker 1: I looked at him and I was like, yeah, like

1062
00:53:45,360 --> 00:53:48,319
Speaker 1: I love getting up and writing and talking to all

1063
00:53:48,320 --> 00:53:50,960
Speaker 1: of these experts and being so integrated into the health

1064
00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:53,680
Speaker 1: and wellness community. He just looks at me blankly and

1065
00:53:53,680 --> 00:53:56,120
Speaker 1: he says, I don't like what I do. And I

1066
00:53:56,160 --> 00:53:59,000
Speaker 1: said to him instinctively, do you make a lot of money?

1067
00:53:59,320 --> 00:54:02,200
Speaker 1: And he looks an says no. And I'm like, so

1068
00:54:02,280 --> 00:54:04,640
Speaker 1: why you can do it? Like what are you doing?

1069
00:54:04,680 --> 00:54:08,200
Speaker 1: And it's so true. Life is only so long, So

1070
00:54:08,239 --> 00:54:10,200
Speaker 1: why are you gonna sit around and hate what you.

1071
00:54:10,120 --> 00:54:12,879
Speaker 2: Do every day? One hundred percent? And but this we've

1072
00:54:12,880 --> 00:54:14,879
Speaker 2: been saying, people have been saying this for so long,

1073
00:54:15,160 --> 00:54:18,560
Speaker 2: But you know what, I think it's actually because of

1074
00:54:18,600 --> 00:54:21,359
Speaker 2: the way society is right now. We have we're so

1075
00:54:21,360 --> 00:54:25,319
Speaker 2: socially connected now that everyone thinks that they can be

1076
00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:28,200
Speaker 2: a well everybody. They set their sights on being a

1077
00:54:28,239 --> 00:54:31,400
Speaker 2: celebrity or a professional singer or all of these things

1078
00:54:31,400 --> 00:54:35,600
Speaker 2: that they like doing. I always tell people young coaches

1079
00:54:35,640 --> 00:54:37,600
Speaker 2: who are coming up and trying to find their thing

1080
00:54:37,600 --> 00:54:39,760
Speaker 2: and running, I always tell them to do this because

1081
00:54:39,840 --> 00:54:42,680
Speaker 2: I'm a really humble person. I have a I'm overly

1082
00:54:42,760 --> 00:54:45,120
Speaker 2: humble sometimes and it gets me in trouble because I

1083
00:54:45,480 --> 00:54:47,680
Speaker 2: don't I'm not as forceful as I need to be sometimes.

1084
00:54:47,719 --> 00:54:50,600
Speaker 2: But a lot of coaches tend to be that way,

1085
00:54:51,080 --> 00:54:53,799
Speaker 2: and so I always tell coaches go home, as hard

1086
00:54:53,840 --> 00:54:56,160
Speaker 2: as it is for you, go in your bathroom, look

1087
00:54:56,160 --> 00:54:59,040
Speaker 2: in the mirror, close the door, and say out loud,

1088
00:54:59,280 --> 00:55:02,200
Speaker 2: what is the what are you better at than anything

1089
00:55:02,239 --> 00:55:04,359
Speaker 2: else in your life? What is the best thing you're

1090
00:55:04,400 --> 00:55:08,080
Speaker 2: at that you can do. Everyone has an answer, everybody

1091
00:55:08,120 --> 00:55:10,320
Speaker 2: has an answer, they just most people don't want to

1092
00:55:10,360 --> 00:55:13,960
Speaker 2: admit it. And for me that was the thing. I realize,

1093
00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:15,560
Speaker 2: you know what, what do I know more than anything?

1094
00:55:15,719 --> 00:55:18,279
Speaker 2: Running I've been obsessed with it since I was like

1095
00:55:18,360 --> 00:55:22,360
Speaker 2: seven years old. So would I Why would I hide

1096
00:55:22,400 --> 00:55:24,280
Speaker 2: that or why would I not let that flourish?

1097
00:55:24,320 --> 00:55:27,400
Speaker 1: So I love the saying that success is how you

1098
00:55:27,440 --> 00:55:29,400
Speaker 1: feel about yourself when you're by yourself.

1099
00:55:30,120 --> 00:55:32,920
Speaker 2: That's so good. Oh, I'm gonna steal that use it

1100
00:55:32,920 --> 00:55:34,440
Speaker 2: in class tonight. I'm going to use it tonight.

1101
00:55:34,520 --> 00:55:36,040
Speaker 1: I talk about it in my classes too.

1102
00:55:36,080 --> 00:55:36,680
Speaker 2: Oh that's good.

1103
00:55:37,560 --> 00:55:43,960
Speaker 1: Last question, if you had the opportunity to give senior

1104
00:55:44,040 --> 00:55:48,720
Speaker 1: year David one piece of advice, what would you give him?

1105
00:55:48,760 --> 00:55:49,560
Speaker 1: Looking back on.

1106
00:55:49,520 --> 00:55:57,600
Speaker 2: It now, Oh, that is such a good question. I

1107
00:55:57,640 --> 00:56:05,000
Speaker 2: would tell senior year David that I would tell him

1108
00:56:05,000 --> 00:56:06,839
Speaker 2: that no matter what happens, I would tell him right

1109
00:56:06,840 --> 00:56:09,279
Speaker 2: before the last race too. I would say, David, no

1110
00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:12,520
Speaker 2: matter what happens today, you are going to love running

1111
00:56:12,520 --> 00:56:13,600
Speaker 2: for the rest of your life.

1112
00:56:15,040 --> 00:56:16,480
Speaker 1: I love it. I'm so happy that we got to

1113
00:56:16,520 --> 00:56:16,879
Speaker 1: sit down.

1114
00:56:16,960 --> 00:56:18,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, this was so fun.

1115
00:56:19,160 --> 00:56:21,680
Speaker 1: Please take a moment and leave a quick review by

1116
00:56:21,719 --> 00:56:24,960
Speaker 1: clicking the link with the description to this episode. We

1117
00:56:25,040 --> 00:56:27,719
Speaker 1: all face multiple hurdles in life. I want to hear

1118
00:56:27,760 --> 00:56:30,480
Speaker 1: about yours. Reach out to me at Emily at hurdle

1119
00:56:30,520 --> 00:56:34,000
Speaker 1: dot Us. Connect with the podcast on Instagram and Twitter

1120
00:56:34,080 --> 00:56:38,200
Speaker 1: at Hurdle Podcast David. Where can they find you? Aside

1121
00:56:38,200 --> 00:56:40,280
Speaker 1: from the Precision Running Lab in San Monica.

1122
00:56:40,280 --> 00:56:43,080
Speaker 2: Aside from that Precision running you can find me on Instagram.

1123
00:56:43,680 --> 00:56:46,040
Speaker 2: I'm definitely on there. I use Facebook. Still.

1124
00:56:46,680 --> 00:56:47,759
Speaker 1: Is it just at David C.

1125
00:56:48,080 --> 00:56:50,839
Speaker 2: It's at David C. Yes, all of my handles are

1126
00:56:50,880 --> 00:56:53,279
Speaker 2: just at David seeke And it's two Eyes. Everyone thinks

1127
00:56:53,280 --> 00:56:57,800
Speaker 2: my last name is Silk. Thanks, it's two Eyes, I promise, Si,

1128
00:56:58,200 --> 00:56:59,600
Speaker 2: I kay, that's right.

1129
00:56:59,680 --> 00:57:03,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, I am at Emily a body, another hurdle conquered.

1130
00:57:04,160 --> 00:57:08,319
Speaker 1: Catch you guys next time. M hm