Dr. Matt Parker's inaugural appearance on our podcast unveils the harrowing experience he endured following his first 100-mile race at the Canal Corridor. After completing the grueling event, he faced an unexpected and severe health crisis, resulting in a six-day hospitalization due to complications, including rhabdomyolysis. Throughout this episode, he candidly shares the pivotal moments leading up to his hospitalization, emphasizing the critical importance of proper hydration and nutrition during ultramarathons. Our host, Dr. Leo Kormanik, along with co-hosts Dr. Matt Pisanelli and Zach Goulet, engage in a deep discussion about the lessons learned from this ordeal and the implications for both seasoned and aspiring ultrarunners. This episode serves not only as a personal narrative but also as a cautionary tale, highlighting the delicate balance required in endurance racing and the necessity of prioritizing one's health above all else. Dr. Matt Parker, in his inaugural appearance on the Mind Body Marathon podcast, shares a profoundly personal narrative about his harrowing experience during and after the Canal Corridor 100-mile race. As he recounts the grueling details of his preparation and the race itself, he elucidates the critical missteps and the subsequent consequences that ensued. Within the context of ultramarathon running, Matt emphasizes the importance of proper hydration and nutrition—a lesson learned the hard way. Early on during the race, he felt an unusual soreness, which he initially attributed to the rigors of long-distance running. However, as he pushed through the miles, the reality of his under-fueling became painfully evident, leading to severe dehydration and ultimately, hospitalization for rhabdomyolysis. This experience serves as a cautionary tale for all athletes, particularly those venturing into the realm of ultramarathons, highlighting the necessity of careful preparation and the adherence to fueling strategies that ensure safety and health during such extreme physical endeavors.

Takeaways:

• Dr. Matt Parker recounts the harrowing experience of being hospitalized for six days following his first 100-mile race, highlighting the serious nature of his condition.
• The discussion emphasizes the importance of proper hydration and nutrition during long-distance running to prevent severe health complications.
• Dr. Parker's experience serves as a cautionary tale for ultra-marathon runners, stressing the need for adequate preparation before undertaking such strenuous events.
• The podcast explores the physical and mental challenges faced during ultra-marathons, including the phenomenon of brain fog experienced post-race.

Foreign.

Here we are on the Mind Body marathon.

Back in studio.

Finally got a newbie in in today, so let's go with the old hats.

I'm your host, Dr. Leo Cormanic.

And then.

Nope.

To my right is Zach Gule, and to my left is Matt Pisanelli.

Dr. Matt.

And then to the far right is Dr. Parker.

Dr. Parker.

Yeah.

You sound like a Spider man villain.

Let's confuse him.

What's your first name also?

Matt.

Yeah.

Yeah, squared.

So we just have to call him Parker.

Yep.

Makes it easy.

Dr. Parker sounds too Monopoly for me.

Yeah, no.

I felt so weird this past week introducing myself as Dr. Parker to Patience.

Do you.

It.

Does it make you feel uncomfortable to say Dr. Parker?

It honestly does.

Yeah.

I very much prefer Dr. Matt.

So I'm trying to figure out work around here.

Yeah, I don't think anybody has ever attempted to call me Dr. Cormanic.

They just say Dr. Leo.

Yeah, yeah.

When I do see your patients, they.

They'll say your last name.

Oh, that's sad.

But I thought it was out of that.

I don't think a single patient knows my last name.

So.

Yeah.

Parker, you're here, man.

You're a pt, so you're kind of independent contracting the clinic here and having fun.

So tell us how the PT world is going.

Yeah.

How does it work?

So lots of moving pieces and parts, but no, it's.

It's been going well so far.

I've been here about month now, and most of my focus pretty much is a lot of like, movement screening.

We go through a little bit of gate analysis, and I'll do some modalities as well between like dry needling, cupping, scraping, all that stuff.

But, you know, really with a lot of runners and athletes just kind of figuring out, you know, what's limited, what needs work, and just kind of putting together the pieces of the puzzle to figure out, you know, how to keep from coming back.

It's been going well.

Nerd.

No.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

So you're a runner as well.

And, you know, I've been wanting to get you on the show just mainly because we just wanted to get back in the studio and just kind of get.

Get back at it.

But you have to tell us the story about how you almost died.

Oh, yeah.

Y.

Because we're all runners, so we.

We kind of, you know, obviously know about this.

And also it's something that, you know, I think could help others out.

It's a great educational.

It's a great education.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I got into Ultramarathons.

Pretty much, like right in the middle of physical therapy school and decided to, you know, do my first 100k, all that stuff.

And that went well.

It was all good.

Was that your first one?

Yeah, at least, like, first, like, true one was 100k over at a eagle up.

So I did that.

Didn't have any issues.

And later, if you guys are familiar with Jeremy Pope, he kind of pushed me into doing the canal corridor and do my first hundred similar course, you know, pretty flat.

And I was like, all right, you know, I'll train all summer and go for it.

End up doing it.

And very quickly realized that the difference between running a hundred miles and running 100k are.

Yeah, a lot.

Vastly different.

Yeah, I. Yeah, just made the mistake of not properly fueling or hydrating during the race.

So it got to a point where pretty early on, Even at like 30 miles, I noticed my legs were way more sore than they should have been.

I just felt really out of it.

And the hell did you sustain that pace then, dude?

I. I have no idea.

It's not like.

Yeah.

You know, that's just shocking to me, being young.

Yeah.

I think it's just.

Yeah.

Me being young and dumb.

Yeah.

I ended up getting to a point where I came back into the lead right around 50.

And I don't know if it just kind of flipped a switch for me, but I just kind of was like, all right, like, I have a chance to possibly win this.

At 50 miles and you had 50 more to go.

Yeah.

Oh, I was.

It's insane.

I will say.

My buddy Lucas, he paced me from are right around like the 100k to just around, like 85.

So for like those 20 some miles, I think we spoke maybe five minutes of dialogue to each other the entire time.

Yeah, I was.

I was pretty down bad.

And yeah, by the time I got to 85, that's where then Jeremy jumped in to pace me and he noticed.

He's like, you haven't used any of your bottles in your vest.

I was only using my handheld.

And I was like, yeah, yeah, I'm good.

And he's like, when's the last time you went to the bathroom?

And I'm like, mile 20.

He was like, that was so long ago.

And I'm like, yeah, but, like, I'm probably just sweating out, like, a lot of this.

Like, I think I'm okay.

And he just like, I think he kind of knew at that point, like, this isn't good.

But I was so close to the finish that he's like, all right, let's just, you know, get you through, and if we need to hook you up to smite these or something, you know, we'll get it.

And, yeah, just kind of don't exactly remember the last, you know, 10, 15, even up to, like, almost 20, like, bits and pieces.

I remember.

And, yeah, was pretty cool.

Like, I mean, finishing and everything.

So Connie Gardner was there, and between her, some of the people that were helping with my coaching and then friends and family, it was just, like, you know, a big celebration.

But then five minutes after crossing the line and, like, taking pictures of the trophy, I instantly was like, I'm super nauseous.

I need to sit down.

I thought I was gonna throw up and thought it was, you know, just adrenaline.

And I was glad I sat, because then the next thing I know, people are, like, shaking me, trying to wake me up, but, like, hey, you know you passed out, right?

Oh, yeah.

I, like, dropped like that.

So it freaked me out because I'd never had that ever happen before, like, with training, with racing, any of it.

So, yeah, basically, like, 30 minutes later, we tried to get myself into the brewery that it finished at, and it was like, the same.

Just get him some beers.

I know.

I was like, yeah, give me a pizza and a beer.

Like, I think I'll be fine.

And, yeah, no, then they're like, all right, we need to go to the er, like, get some tests run.

And, you know, from there, they were like, yeah, your CK levels are, if I remember, like, off top, man.

It's 72, 000, which is just way, way, way higher than it ever should be.

What is that for the layman, man?

Oh, so it's, like, for, like, creatine kinase.

So it's just like, basically, like, one of, like, the markers they use for, like.

Like, stuff with your heart, but then also, too, with, like, your, like, muscle and, like, breakdown and everything.

So, yeah, the doctor is like, yeah, it's like, you.

We have rhabdomyolysis.

Yeah.

It's, like, in a metabolite within the cell, and once the cells rupture in mass, then there's a high level in the bloodstream.

Yeah.

So from there, that ended up going to Cleveland Clinic, Medina, because that's where pretty much.

Of course, that was when they had the hurricane.

So there was, like, no fluids at, like, any of, like, the hospitals in downtown.

Oh, my gosh.

So they sent me there, and thankfully, they had bed space, they had some fluids, and, yeah.

Ended up being there for about a week.

And.

And you Know, thankfully, things started to turn around, but it took.

I thought it was gonna be two days, but, you know, my like gfr, so it's like the rate of filtration for my kidneys was like below like 15 for like, I think it was two, maybe going to three days and like basically end stage renal failure.

And I was like right around like that.

That level.

So I didn't realize how bad it was until seeing that.

And yeah, was would not do it again.

I.

Next time I do 100, I will definitely make sure that I fuel.

Yeah.

What were some.

I mean, like, was it painful?

Yeah, it.

And that's what was so hard.

Like, was your, like, was your like consciousness.

Was your awareness just off the whole time too?

Like, what.

What were some of those surrounding symptoms of this?

For sure.

I mean, I was super foggy.

I mean, even like in like the months like after, like getting over everything and being discharged, I still just had like a lot of brain fog going on.

Same thing during the race, but pain wise too.

I just figured it was going to hurt because it was my first hundred and like, you know, it's not going to feel good, especially after 50 miles.

But yeah, I'll never forget, like, being in the hospital.

Of course they put like a fall risk bracelet on me.

You know, I put the bed alarm because they knew that I was probably.

You instantly turned into an 80 year old dude.

I had to walk and everything.

I was like, all I wanted to.

Do is like, get up and go to the bathroom.

You bet you didn't have a spouse to wipe your butt and everything too, dude.

Wearing no underwear or anything.

Just butt crack hanging out.

It was rough.

Like, I ended up.

And that's the worst part is, like, you go to take a step, man, it's like you can't even control your legs.

Like, I mean, the best way I can describe it is it almost just feels like your leg wants to like, explode.

Yeah.

And that's.

Yeah.

I mean, I had a small case of Rabdo after R3.

Oh, you guys got something coming.

Yeah.

And I didn't even know I had it.

And then Aaliyah, the.

The MD that used to work here, she was like, yeah, you look terrible.

What's wrong?

And then I started telling her my symptoms.

She's like, oh, no, you have rhabdo.

You need to, like, take iv.

And so, like, I started taking fluids.

And then I remember I couldn't wake up from a nap.

Like, I.

My eyes would not open.

They're like, just rest right now.

And I was just me, like four hours of like, I took like a four hour nap with IVs.

It was crazy.

It's amazing too because, like we went to Vegas after R3 and we were like drinking fashions and like trying to have a day.

Yeah.

And you're just in survival mode.

Like not even know.

Well, you know, what did me in though?

Because it's not even like the effort itself.

It's how you just manage things after the effort.

Yeah.

I mean, that's also part of it.

And for me, what happened was I took a red eye back.

Remember, I've left early.

Yeah, we took it back and took the red eye and then didn't sleep, obviously wasn't hydrated and was just like.

And then it just kind of all came to a head.

Well, you would like initially be hungry and then you would get a bunch of food and then you wouldn't eat.

Yeah.

And you pawn it off on us.

Yeah.

It's great for us.

And you know, I. I mean, R3 did it to me because I just wasn't really all that prepared at all to be able to handle something like that.

I'm like, so did you.

It's not bad swelling in your legs and everything with it?

Thankfully not.

Not too much.

They didn't have to do like a fasciotomy or anything like that.

But that's definitely something that I was getting like, pretty concerned.

Concerned about.

Especially in like my calves.

That's where I felt like so much pressure.

But yeah, thankfully was able to avoid that.

The scariest thing I remember them telling me was if that GFR didn't start improving, that then they brought up that dialysis might be a potential intervention.

And yeah, after most of my rotations when I was in pt, score all outpatient, ortho or sports med, but I had like one where I was in an acute care center and I remember seeing people like fresh, like off of dialysis, getting them up and moving and I was like, I don't want to do that.

Yeah, like walk us through that.

Like, but they just.

Really out of it.

Yeah.

So it.

They're just.

Yeah.

Very out of it.

And I mean, it's just like, I mean, your whole body just everything hurts.

And on top of that, I mean, just like you're groggy, so it's like the last thing you know, you want to have is, you know, some 23 year old kid walking into your room being like, all right, let's get up and move.

Yeah.

So I. I remember talking to Alec after our Client.

After we interviewed Vinnie last time, and he was talking about after Cocodona, he said it took him about a week before he wanted to do anything other than stare at a wall.

He's like, dude, the brain fog was crazy.

He's like, I was just like.

Alec was.

Yeah.

And that dude went back to running that Monday.

Yeah.

He's just like.

I just.

Yeah, it was the hardest thing to do to just get me to motivate anything.

He's in that mode.

Well, that is crazy.

Yeah.

So just the.

The brain fog side of it is so fascinating.

So long term wise, what's.

What's the damage?

Yeah.

Any permanent stuff?

Yeah.

So thankfully, after, like talking to the nephrologist and everything, when I was in the hospital, they said I should be okay just with me being younger already, being like active prior.

Of course.

Then they told me, don't ever do another ultra again.

And.

New kids.

Yeah, I was like.

I nodded my head.

I was like, stupid kids, for sure.

How soon did you sign?

Just buy a car.

Oh, dude, I. I probably signed up for something at least like within like six months after.

So quick turnaround.

But yeah, I.

Funny enough though, that's when I started kind of getting a little bit closer with you.

Yeah, Zach, because I remember reaching out to you.

It was after you did R3, and I think you heard through the grapevine that I was dealing with that stuff.

So.

So I came and saw you guys and I mean, probably like a week after that, I was like, wow, I can actually, like, run again.

I think you went out to Colorado for your rotation.

Yeah.

Yep.

Yeah, so I, like, was going out to Springs.

I'm like, well, I'm gonna be at elevation, so like, that's already gonna make this harder.

I already don't feel good running in Ohio right now still.

And yeah, no, thankfully, yeah, I got on some supplements, got some treatment, and, you know, didn't look back.

So speaking of that, what were some of the supplements you.

You got on?

Oh, dude, this was.

I mean, one of the big ones, I mean, was like, even like, just vitamin C, vitamin D were huge.

Even like, iron was another one.

Creatine.

I remember you, like, really talking to me about there was another one.

And I took it briefly because it was for like three months.

And I feel bad that I don't remember what it was, because I didn't.

I don't.

It was like glutathione or NAD or something.

That's glutathione?

Yeah.

And that's an intracellular antioxidant so it's like, it's basically, you know, there's obviously you can have extracellular antioxidant.

So it like protects the blood and anything outside of the, the cell.

And then an intracellular antioxidant basically is when it's inside the cell, it like protects the DNA and some of the mitochondria and applies reticulum and stuff.

So that's what glutathione's all about.

Yeah, it's, it's pretty phenomenal actually.

Glutathione is one of those things you want to do like when you're flying and you're like concerned about like radiation or something like that, or if you have to get like X rays or you're flying, you're going to get a vaccine or something that might be a threat to the actual DNA.

Like you definitely want to like be up on your glutathione.

Gotcha.

Yeah, no, it was definitely, I mean, game changer for me.

I felt great after that.

I got to spend a lot of time running out in Colorado doing, you know, 20 mile runs in the mountains.

So to go from, you know, struggling to do three miles in Ohio on flat ground to that, that definitely says something.

Yeah.

That's cool.

That's cool.

Awesome.

Yeah.

So you're doing R3 next week?

I am, yeah.

Girlfriend Kaylee.

Yeah.

Now.

So what, so what time it like walk us through the kind of the itinerary of that approach.

Yeah, so I think we're planning on starting, I mean, as early as we can.

Better choose your words wisely right now.

Oh, I know.

Yeah.

Oh yeah, she might hear this, this episode.

Yeah, she might be tuned in on this one.

Oh yeah, I'm not.

I hope I don't mess up, but I think we're gonna start somewhere around like quick three in the morning.

Like try to start really early.

We plan to just, you know, try to hike down, just like save our legs as much as we can going down.

Good work on that.

And then, yeah, in the flat section, like we'll probably stop by.

I also think it's wise to go down in the dark because you have no idea.

How about you're, you're like an inch away from death.

Yeah.

Okay.

That's.

Yeah.

Because we didn't realize that when we were going, we were just willy nilly tripping over rocks and just scooting down and like, dude, the clips are ridiculous.

Yeah.

Because you can't even comprehend me out.

Yeah, you can't, you can't comprehend it.

I would even Say too, depending on how dry it is.

There was those, like, steps that you had, like the illusion that it was going to be much shorter of a step.

And then you would just go into this big dusk, like, cloud.

Okay.

Yeah.

And think about that.

Rocks under that and everything.

So.

And I'd like to do the math on how many steps are actually there that you're doing.

Well, we can probably look that up like, like actual, like footsteps or step steps.

Yeah, like, like literally steps.

Not even just like an upgrade, like getting your stairs because there's so many.

Yeah, no, that is.

I'm excited for it.

And I know that, you know, I'm going to be much happier, I guess, like when I'm probably down in the canyon where it's flat, because I'm still getting a lot more used to the, you know, vertical and all that kind of stuff.

Yeah.

But it's the hot box.

Yeah.

So then you have to battle the heat down there.

And I, I, it.

You can cruise.

You can absolutely cruise.

We were going at times, we were going under a minute pace pretty comfortably.

Okay.

And even late before I fell and all that, we were going like 7:30 pace, like miles.

What.

What would you say, like 25 to, like 35.

We were cranking like, halfway down north.

Rim, we started to really kind of like, feel good.

Yeah.

There was that one water stop we were at, and then basically cutting wood.

And then we just started cranking after that.

But.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

That's gonna be a blast.

Yeah.

I'm excited.

I know it's gonna.

I'm gonna be sore for a few days after, I'm sure.

But you'll be good training.

You'll be all right.

Just take all those vitamins that you were talking about.

What's the fuel plan?

This guy.

This guy.

He's being the adult in the room.

Yep.

Well, I'm gonna bring it up, but because you said the biggest thing that you hated was you didn't have, like, a really, like, real food food.

So.

Yeah.

The farthest I've actually run was that was only the 50 miles of the R3.

That's right.

And so, like, I always joke, like, long is the new fast.

Like, since I'm still kind of trying to run a little fast in the marathon, it's like I'm not dedicated yet to the.

To the true ultra scene.

And so because of that, it wasn't even.

I was just like, oh, I just goo my way through it.

But no, I don't.

My.

If when I get into Ultras, I will absolutely have to lean on real food because, like, that.

That for sure was the thing for me.

That was the difference.

Yeah, I know.

Fueling wise, I mean, that's gotten so much better, you know, since the canal experience and from taking none.

Yeah, I mean, yeah, I was basically like, oh, dude, it was so bad.

Zero plus zero.

Zero.

Oh, it was like one gel, like an hour and.

Oh, yeah, it's.

This is perfect.

Perfect.

But no, Kaylee's been super helpful with that.

And also, you know, she's got a Morton sponsorship as well, so a lot of free Morton.

So beautiful.

Yeah, definitely bumming off of that some.

But yeah, I think too, like some real food because I remember you guys talked about the.

Your R3 experience on the podcast and just like even being able to have like a sandwich or something.

Oh, yeah, that was huge.

That was clutch.

And salt vinegar chips.

Yeah, you're welcome.

Oh, yeah, for Cheeky Monkey.

Those things saved me.

Salt.

Salt or salt vinegar chips.

They're the best.

The hardest part with.

With that was like, I made so much food.

I made like pasta and everything, but all the goo and stuff are so acidic that, like, when I went to go eat pasta with the pasta sauce, I was like, I can't do it.

It just was burning my stomach.

So now with like, triathlon training, Pop Tarts are like, where it's at because it's enough crunchiness for it.

Pop turds.

Pop turds, dude.

I think middle school lunches are the way to go.

That's all I kept thinking about on Earth 3.

Yeah.

Just PB and J and chips, Kool Aid, Capri Sun.

This is like, I just want to go back to eighth grade right now.

Yeah.

And I think too, if I'm not mistaken, we're gonna have at like, the other end of the rim.

So like, basically the halfway point.

Family friend is going to be able to kind of give us like, you know, a little bit of, like, assistance to get, you know, food or refuel up on, like, water and all that stuff.

So that'll be kind of nice.

Won't feel like just straight solo or anything like that.

Yeah.

What a great.

What a great experience that's gonna be.

So.

So north room's open now, I believe.

So it is good.

Sweet.

Gotta start playing and going back and do it again.

Yeah.

So what are the races you training for?

Yeah, so right now I've kind of got like a weird little structure going on to where I've got the Pikes Peak ascent, which I kind of do just to do.

It's 13 miles, and you just go straight up.

That'll be like, late September.

Like, September 19th or something.

Now, when you do that, do you start on the incline or do you start above the incline?

You start.

So you start a little bit below it.

You actually start in, like, downtown Manitou Springs.

Oh, you actually go that route.

Okay.

Yeah, but do you hit the incline, or do you run the road up to the trail?

Yeah, so you hit the road.

Okay.

Trail.

Then you hit bar trail.

Got it.

Yeah.

Go up from there.

Okay.

So.

Yeah, so we'll do that.

And then Kaylee's doing the mammoth 200, and so I'm gonna pace her for that a little bit.

And then outside of that, I'm really eyeing up, like, Tunnel Hill, which is in November.

So did you actually go out to me Myth?

I did a few times, yeah.

You were able to go with.

With Malone.

That's cool.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I'm really looking forward to going back.

Oh, no, I. I haven't been back since the.

Probably 2006.

Since the training camps back when I went.

Yeah, dude.

No, it's.

It's such a cool experience.

And especially, like, just.

I mean, all the history between, like, Mammoth Track Club and then, I mean, with.

Yeah.

Coach Hayes and just having all the connections he does.

That was, like, such an awesome experience to have in college.

Yeah.

Do they do a marathon out there?

I don't know.

It's all trail stuff now.

I don't know if they do.

Maybe that's what we do as a.

What.

For what Jared was throwing out there.

Yeah, I know.

I feel like they've got to have.

Because there's.

I know there's the trail series, so I would imagine there might be, like, even a 50k.

Yeah, I would do that.

Just go out to.

Man, that'd be fun.

Yeah.

No, it's.

It's completely beautiful out there.

I love it.

I miss this here in Nevada.

Okay, Zach, what are you up to?

You just got back from Ireland.

Blast.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Had a blast.

Yeah, it was fun.

Yeah.

We got there for 10 days.

Kind of did a mix of everything.

So did.

Did some nature hiking.

Saw some cliffs.

Cliffs more and then sleeve league and then Hornhead and the reverse of that order was my favorite.

So Hornhead was my favorite.

Sleeve league, cliffs and more you can probably pass on if you go there, to be honest.

And just go to those two and go to some other ones that are cooler.

Yeah.

Very touristy, but.

Yeah.

Yeah, we had a blast, though.

Drove on the wrong side of the road is that freaky at first it was.

Yeah, it was.

It probably is it.

Both North Ireland and Ireland both do it.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

So it was.

The first day was probably like.

Honestly, out of all of our driving was probably the hardest day.

Like, it was the most narrow roads that first day.

Not thinking that it was going to be that way.

And then like, by the end of the week, I was like one arm on the steering wheel, just.

Just whipping it.

Yeah.

Leaning back.

Yeah.

Dude, I didn't care.

What kind of car did you have?

We had a Cupra.

Yeah.

So if you're nice to the enterprise people and don't give them stress about when they don't have cars at the rental car place.

So we didn't have.

We got there at 10 in the morning in Galway and they didn't have rental cars, so they were all in Dublin.

So they.

So they have to drive them back to Galway.

And me and Jacqueline had probably one too many the night before with some Irishmen.

And so we were kind of happy about it and we were like, no problem.

It's all good.

And we think because of.

We were so, like, kind and courteous that they gave us.

They definitely.

I mean, they gave us an upgrade because we.

We were supposed to have a Kia Sport and.

Yeah, they gave us a really nice car.

Yes.

Yeah, that's awesome.

But yeah, you guys gotta go.

Just go.

The Guinness is different.

It is.

It's creamier.

I. Whoever.

If you ever heard, like, they say they serve it warm, it's BS.

That.

Yeah, I've heard that a couple of times.

They're like, they serve it warm.

But they don't.

It's just.

But it is different.

They have a technique.

Like, we don't do it right.

We don't pour Guinness right here at all.

We don't.

We don't take our time.

Do tell.

So it should be a four minute process.

Roughly.

What?

Yeah, so you fill it up until you're like, I don't know, close to the top.

Then you let it sit for at least two to three minutes.

And then they like reverse tap it.

So they like take.

Instead of going this way with the tap, they go the other way.

And then they basically do it like a.

Like a soft serve.

Like a soft serve.

And then.

And then you.

And then you get it.

And then you're supposed to wait another like, minute to two and then you chug it and then you just hammer it.

So I'm curious because, you know, we.

Have you ever seen like the nitro cans that they have, like, do they have any opinions on those at all?

So the opinion is that you 45° your glass.

This makes me sound like I know a lot about alcohol.

Maybe you do.

Yeah.

No, but then you pour it, but you don't.

You don't stop.

You just keep pouring it because the nitro can, like, the little thing inside does whatever it needs to do.

So you just pour it all the way.

You don't.

You don't let it sit or whatever.

Isn't it for preservation, like, because technically it doesn't come with, like preserves in.

It with the nitro.

Yeah, I don't know.

I thought I heard.

I mean, I know with caffeine, when you have nitro, caffeine, it.

It hits harder.

It like, it like, makes it much more bioavailable.

Yeah, but I don't know about alcohol.

Yeah.

I don't know.

I just thought that naturally, like, they didn't put preservatives in it.

So that's a good reason.

Supposed to help with.

Yeah, I would imagine so.

I mean, we met this Scottish guy and he normally doesn't drink and he lives in Glasgow and he said that he doesn't really drink Guinness when he's back home because he goes.

He goes.

It tastes like.

Tastes like back home.

It doesn't travel well because I only drink it when I'm in Ireland, which I can kind of.

I can kind of agree with now.

Yeah.

So it was worth going.

Not gluten free there.

Oh, a thousand percent.

Well, I mean, like the other thing too.

So I think, like the highlight of the trip was we went to this small little, like, village town called Dunlooie, which is in County Donegal.

And that's where my wife's family came from.

And so we met or.

So her family started a pub back I think in the.

I think her second cousin once removed back in the 60s.

And this is actually kind of cool.

So his grandfather started this pub and then also was running the post office there.

And then on top of that, he was also doing grocery delivery services.

So ahead of his time.

And then grocery stores started.

That was Amazon, literally.

Seriously.

But third, Third generation run pub.

Just like as traditional and classic as it comes.

It was.

Yeah, that was the highlight of the trip for me.

Yeah, no question.

It was so cool.

That had to be cool.

But was it cool going in and being like, for your wife, Like, I'm an ancestor of this.

Yeah, yeah, it was really cool because they, like.

So she got a picture with them and like they shook hands.

He's like, yeah, I guess you're my.

It's like a second cousin.

Nice to meet you.

And then, like.

And then, like, the rest of the family started coming.

So, like, his daughter came in, his two brothers came in.

I think his son came in as well.

And it was just.

It just felt really special.

And you're like, drinks on those guys.

Well, what's interesting is, like, they don't get up because it's basically like.

Like, they're the only, like, social thing there besides a hostel.

And so they get people that come.

So they're.

Their.

Their pub sits at the base of Mount Aragal.

And so a lot of people will just come in after climbing it and just, like, grab a drink or whatever and.

Yeah.

So, like, even the family had to pay for their Guinness.

Yeah.

Or their drinks.

What a bum place.

Dude, Matt, you're rocking your Australian shirt.

Tell us about your experience at Worlds.

So Worlds was pretty sweet.

We were in Eugene.

Uh, Leo and I and Jared were there working the Cairo U20.

Yep.

So under 20 world championships.

Uh, I.

You were gone for, like, three years.

It felt like I was.

I've been gone.

Like, this is literally my, like, third week back all summer.

It feels like.

So.

So a little bit different because we didn't work with USA Track and field.

It was world athletics.

So we got to treat pretty much all the foreign entities.

So there's 142 countries there.

No.

Well, that's like 178.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

Oh, shoot.

Well, that's not.

Yeah.

Dave Watkins was the guy that was working with the Homeland Security Department.

Okay.

And he said they got more visas approved for more countries to come in for this meet than any sporting event ever in the U.S. so, like, that's shocking considering, like, what you might think about the current, like, federal government.

But, like, they definitely approve the most countries, which is shocking.

So sweet.

I mean, there's a lot of countries I've never heard of.

Oh, yeah, 100.

I'm like.

As I'm working on somebody, I'm like, googling where they are in the world.

What was the most obscure country?

I don't even know, man.

Like, probably Botswana or something.

No, well, Botswana is pretty famous, I'm.

Saying, from an injury side of things, I guess.

Yeah.

I don't know.

Canada.

Canada.

Yeah.

Where the heck are those guys from?

Florida.

Now there was a Taipei.

I feel like China.

Taipei was like, one.

I was like, really?

Yeah.

There was definitely two or three, like, different Chinese teams.

Yeah.

They had, like, China.

It literally said Republic of China.

Hong Kong.

Republic of China.

Taiwan Republic of China, Taipei.

And then in the Republic of China.

Yeah.

Holy.

So you're like, I have no idea, like, what the difference between any of that is, so.

But it was.

It was a.

It was a great, great event.

It was put on.

Really?

So how'd you get that shirt, dude?

So at the very, very end, Yeah, I. I traded some of my gear with some of the other team's medical providers.

So, yeah, that's the cool thing about.

Yeah.

Especially if you have u. S. Gear.

Everybody wins your gear.

Yeah, we didn't get any gear because we weren't part of USA track and field at that time.

But I have a whole bunch of old shirts that I brought purposely for it.

So I wanted.

I wanted team Italy, but they wanted nothing to do with trading.

I went up to him.

They just, like, were like, get out of here.

And I was like, oh, okay.

It was the last day.

They were, like, starting to take.

Take down, and I was just like, I got it because I'm Italian.

Did you take your shirt off and show them your Italian tattoo?

Yeah, I did.

I, like, no, I showed him my credentials.

I was like, I'm.

I'm a paison.

Same thing.

I. I, like, was, like, thinking I had a little in with the Brazilian crew, and I'm like, oh, my wife's Brazilian.

They're like, yeah, like an American man taking a Brazilian woman.

Like, what's new?

Like, it's pretty common, and move along.

I was like, okay, dude.

All right.

As we kind of round third in the episode here, let's go through.

Let's.

Let's do kind of a what's new on the running horizon and kind of what.

What people are, like, tinkering with.

With running right now.

I'll start.

So I'm training for Chicago, and then I got Florence coming up, and Florence is, like, late November, and Chicago is mid October, and then after that, I got club nationals.

So I've been tinkering with.

Actually trying to legitimately run.

Cram?

Yeah, well, you know, 20 miles a week, although I hit 30 something last week.

Whoa, that's big.

That's big time, actually trying to cram as many carbs into an hour as I can, which I've never tried to do that.

How's your stomach feeling?

It's.

It's handling it okay.

Why do you think that is?

I don't know, actually.

Why do I think I'm responding well to it?

Yeah.

I don't know, actually.

I mean, I think that the Products have gotten so good that I don't think it's the game like it used to be back where you like good.

Gut health and all that stuff.

Yeah, yeah.

But like, I think, you know, just really genuinely trying to cram it up way over a hundred, like just getting a lot in.

And that's not something I've ever really been tinkered with.

Even when I was running at elite level and running 218.

So kind of a couple different things, but I just ordered this, this kind of like trial pack from the feed just to kind of try a bunch of different ones.

But literally I've just been doing.

For me, I've always done well with like, well, Morton's good, but I've always done well with even like blocks and some chewable stuff.

So like, that's kind of one of the ways I'm getting it in.

And.

And then just some.

Some liquid fueling as well with.

With Morton and tailwind.

Nice, nice, nice.

That's awesome.

Zach, are you running at all?

What's your.

What's in your running world?

Not nothing really.

So my Achilles has gotten flared up.

What?

Yeah, been dealing it.

Been dealing with.

It's getting better, dude.

Do the Wolverine shot.

Just pull the trigger.

What's that?

Get treatment too.

You got a treatment from us?

Matt did Shock wave on it.

Oh, cool.

But it, it is getting better.

So.

Yeah, I.

So my thing is consistently throughout the years, my summers have not gone the way that I envisioned them to go.

Like, I just get too lax.

I get too much in like summer vacation mode type type of mindset.

And this year I've kind of had enough of it.

So believe it or not, eating consistently throughout the day actually helps you out.

Oh, cool.

Yeah.

So like having breakfast and having like a lunch actually does a whole.

A whole lot good for the body, which is like something I think we can all be kind of like reminded of.

Like, I think we all kind of lose sight of that when we kind of get into the grind of life.

And I'm supposed to do Akron marathon, but the problem that I've always run into is that I fill my life with too much extracurricular that I end up not being to where I want to be for those races.

And then on the back end of that, I feel like it's taken me forever to recover from those.

And so I'm up in the air if I'm going to do it or not.

I'm probably going to do it, but I'm up in the air because I just Want to keep building foundation and take it slow and just kind of be ready for next year.

Because I do want to, like.

I do want to try to run a little bit faster or get into some more races and more challenges and stuff, but, yeah, that's kind of where.

I'm at right now.

Eating.

Eating and running.

Yeah.

And also, like, weightlifting, too.

Yeah.

I want to get.

I want to get into that more.

I've never really, like, got into, like, a dedicated weightlifting routine.

You're gonna start looking like McCoy probably.

Yeah.

Dude, where are you at?

All right.

So I'm just coming right off of a stress fracture.

I. I got bummed up right at the end of my training for my iron.

You got a stress fracture on your butt?

On my butt.

So.

Right on the sacrum.

So those.

Those are.

Those are pesky because they can come back pretty.

Pretty hard, dude.

I know.

And why are they on the ride?

I think because we just had to diagnose, man.

Well, we just had to diagnose this.

That's pretty prominent.

High school kid with it, and, yeah, he doesn't wear super shoes.

Yeah.

Which is really weird because I. I.

Switched it a ton.

I switched to a.

A stiffer shoe specifically for that, like, a.

More.

That would be like a traditional, like, old, like, early 2000s, kind of, like, hard.

I think, for me, just as I've been really neglectful on my mobility, like, my hips have just tightened up, I think, partially from my hamstring tear.

I. I've got the strength back, but I haven't got the flexibility.

And so I just shortened my stride to compensate for it.

So.

And then also just doing a lot of bricks, like, coming right off of the bike, and your hips are just so stiff and just training, you know, multiple weeks or weekends on longer runs with that.

So that was a big thing.

So coming up, all of September is dedicated to just really getting through, like, my gut health again.

So I'm gonna be doing my.

My typical standard process, cleanse the cleanse that I do every once in a while just to kind of flush that out, because I just.

Once I got injured, I knew that I need to really just focus on, like, food intake, because I was probably undereating a little bit, even though it's probably taking in close to 4,000 calories.

When I was talking with one of the nutritionalists at outdoor champs, she's like, you got to be feeling at least a thousand calories extra a day when you have a stress fracture.

Yeah.

Like, in order to adequately repair bone, it's got to be close to a thousand.

And I'm like.

And so we were going through and she's like, you probably needed to be close to 4800 calories a day with your training.

And I was like, I'm lucky if I get, you know, 3,500 calories.

So just so much of that was just not allowing my body to repair.

So focus on good gut.

Gut health and flexibility.

So every day I'm dedicating, you know,.

Do the presidential test.

Oh, dude.

I.

The sit and reach would screw me hamstring.

Get cement mixers for hips over here.

But so that's.

That's my first thing.

And then October 1st, I'll start building back up.

I want to have two.

Two months of base before.

Are you gonna do an iron man?

I'm gonna.

I'm.

Yeah.

I'm not scared of it.

So.

Dude, Tim Foil, man, you need to,.

Like, just get to the line healthy.

Like, you and Zach both, like, you.

Guys just gotta be consistent.

Yeah.

And.

But the thing is, like, you don't even.

Yeah.

Consistency for sure.

But don't sacrifice consistency because you were trying to get too fit.

You know, just do it.

Well, I.

Because, like, I have thing.

You know, like, I just get lazy.

True.

Like, it's not about, like being faster for me because, like, I've.

I've learned to take it easy.

Like, I've talked about it before with R3.

It's more just like I get behind the eight ball with like, I get up in the morning, I have coffee.

I'm not like.

And then when we go for those runs, I'm like, just feeling like crap.

And then I know that.

So for me, it's more like I. I know what I have to do.

It's just doing it and not.

Motivation's always been a thing for you.

Remember we had to have you sign contracts.

Yeah.

Like, you're not allowed to talk about a race again unless you sign this contract.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's my problem.

I just.

I. Yeah, I like having a social.

I think that's my problem is I just.

I have such high expectations.

Yeah.

Just stop that.

Just.

You gotta just.

Yeah.

Finish.

Because.

And then you can start chipping away at how you can tackle it.

Not everybody can be Parker over here and like freaking run like 6/ fastest hundred of the year or something like that in his first one.

Jerk.

Oh, yeah.

I was reading something where, like, if you've never done a half iron man before and you just jump to the first, the chance of actually getting to the starting line.

Is less than 10.

Oh, dude, that's gonna be me.

I want to do that.

And then on top of it, trying to break the.

The hours that I was trying to break your first time, like, most everybody's like, yeah, just try and finish.

And I was like, nope, I'm gonna try and, like, get close to 10.

Or, oh, come on, don't do that.

Because I'm just.

I'm so powerful on the bike that, like, that's the thing that usually helds holds people up.

And traditionally, you know, I have a 20 year, you know, career of running, so I'm like, okay, I should be able to be around three, you know, three hours for that.

And then the swim's just the death of me.

I'll just drown out there.

And then you realize that you're 40 years old.

Yeah.

You got, like, last swim in your.

Oh, I mean, like, legitimately.

My first.

My first try, I was like, eighth to last coming out of it, because I was.

I'd never practiced swimming.

I was like, I can swim.

Yeah, you can doggy paddle around a pool.

But then, like, actually doing it.

So I can do that, you know, I mean, you know, I've been swimming up to, you know, a mile, you know, three to four times.

Matt, we get in our own way.

This is what the moral of the story is.

We get in our own way and we can't do it.

We got to keep ourselves accountable.

Yeah, yeah, you guys should keep yourselves accountable.

Yeah, I. I mean, I want to see you get, like, this is the thing.

Like, you know, this year I was at Boston, and I'm like, traveling to start.

I'm like, is this will be so easy for you guys to just qualify and make it, like, a fun thing,.

Like doing NYC half.

It was fun, and it was like, I see the appeal.

And you go there.

Yeah, you just go there.

You hang out, you have a good time, you run and.

Yeah.

And, yeah, it's playtime out there.

And then, you know, don't let yourself, like, not be on the playground because you just are, like, trying to, like, do everything perfect, you know, like, just get to the playground.

Like, get to the race.

My mindset now is not so much about the competitive nature of athletics.

It's more about the longevity of.

This is a healthy thing to do as I age.

Yeah.

Because it's like, keeping the building blocks to where you want to so you age gracefully.

And I've realized, especially in this summer, like, it's like, all right, I'm going to fall into the same routine Like I did last summer, I fell in the same routine like I fell in the summer before that.

It's like, I'm don't want that because I want to be able to age.

Nice Parker.

What are you tinkering with?

Yeah, you already told us.

Well, yeah, I mean, kind of similar to really, I guess, what like, you guys are doing a lot with, like, fueling.

My big thing recently is I'm really good about fueling during, like, long runs or workouts and that kind of stuff.

But I definitely slack when it comes to my easy runs.

So even if I have like a 10/12 mile day, just going out for easy miles, that's, you know, still hour and a half or so on feet.

And that's definitely been a change to where at least taking, like, one gel at some point during that.

For me, I've noticed that it's easier to then recover after.

This is.

This is an important concept, like, and this is something that I.

Some prominent nutritionists that we know maybe didn't understand this vantage point.

But if you were born into the marathon world, like in the 2000s, like I was in that era, there wasn't great products to get a lot of carbohydrates in.

So to run well and even think of how worse it would be, like, how much worse it would be in, like, the 70s and 80s.

Right.

So, like, to run well, you had to consistently strip your glycogen stores down so you can build them back up.

Strip them down, build them back up.

That was the game of just trying to completely learn how to top out your glycogen stores.

So that's markedly different experience than now.

And then you had to also, in that process, have to train a backup fueling system of beta oxidation so that you would utilize fat earlier in the race to stave off carbohydrate usage.

Yeah, that was the game.

Yep.

So when I ran 218, it was just literally a conversation about fueling lots of beta oxidation runs where you ran fasted trying to strip your glycogen stores.

90 Minutes was about that, and then.

Well, and then 90 minutes was about that.

So it's just basically, you know, like, you did a lot of runs, like I said, fasted a lot of runs without fuel, and you kind of just played that game on purpose.

Now that you know carbohydrate technology is markedly better, there's a lot of brands that are in the market that have gotten really good with this kind of stuff.

Then all of a sudden, you don't even have to think about glycogen stores the same way you used to.

Like, for instance, if I'm pounding, you know, 150 grams an hour or whatever, like, you don't even have to think about anything.

You don't.

You don't have to think about fat oxidation.

You don't have to think about glycogen storage.

Like, you literally are just, like, creating the steady stream of.

Of fuel.

And so now all of a sudden, it behooves people like you that are in this world to train the system in that way.

So there's a lot of this, like, people I don't adequately under, think, understand, like, why some of the other coaches and things like that maybe think that way because they were born into that environment.

But the game has just consistently changed, and you have to change with it.

Oh, yeah.

And I feel like that's what's really, like, made just so many of these, like, ultra runners that are just, like, you know, popping off at these crazy times now.

And like, why, like, times just, I think, across the board from, like, you know, the half, the full, and anything above.

Well, that's what gotten better.

When Zach and I did that podcast, we kind of came to the conclusion that when after the world record was set, after they went sub two, we said, yeah, it's about 75.

Training theory, sure.

Like, just create traction on lactate threshold.

Just isolate that.

And 20ish percent on fueling measures, which have obviously gotten really good.

And then the extra 5% on shoes, you know, maybe there's some, you know, numbers you can tinker with there, maybe even kicking that up a couple more percent points.

But you, you kind of get the point.

It's like fueling does matter a lot.

And I'm training theory is the heavy kind of emphasis of that.

But I. I definitely agree.

Just being able to pack that much more carbs in is just the obvious solution.

Yeah, totally cool.

All right, any other last points in the podcast here?

I think this was a kind of a fun, fun one to get old Parker introduced.

And then also, yeah, also kind of.

To get back on the cobwebs, literally,.

We had to freaking clean this room.

That's why it took us so long to kind of get going, because we haven't been in here in a while.

Been busy.

Yeah.

All right.

Till another time.

Thanks for listening.

Later,.

Skater.

It.