Episode 13: Chris Jones - We're the Lucky Ones

Episodes

Jun 30

A heart murmur kept Chris Jones out of the Army. Years later, after open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic, he ran the Boston Marathon as his very first marathon in 3:41.

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About this episode

Chris Jones grew up in Kokomo, studied journalism at Ball State, and had his plans to join the Army stopped by a final physical that found hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. At 24, while working as a reporter in Columbus, Indiana, he learned the thickening in his heart had become severe and ended up having a septal myectomy, open heart surgery, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Chris and I met through a mutual friend and found out we share the same running coach, Rachel. We talk about his recovery, his career change into electrical and solar work, and how his brother's heart attack finally pushed him to get healthy. Then we get into his first marathon: Boston 2023 with Team Big Heart, his finish time of 3:41, and his next goal of running Chicago for the Dave McGillivray Finish Strong Foundation.

In this episode, we discuss

How a mutual friend connected us and how we discovered we have the same coach
Growing up a military kid and landing in Kokomo
Ball State, marching band, and a rough start to college
The Army physical that revealed a heart murmur and a thickened septum
Reporting in Stevens Point, Wisconsin and Columbus, Indiana
The phone call saying his echocardiogram had been read wrong
Getting into the Mayo Clinic in four weeks and having open heart surgery days later
Recovery, mall walking, cardiac rehab, and an unsupportive workplace
How surgery rewired his outlook and led to a career in electrical and solar work
His brother's heart attack as the turning point for his health
Chasing his daughter Harper at Cool Creek Park and buying a treadmill
Knee trouble, physical therapy, and starting with coach Rachel
Raising $10,000 with Team Big Heart to run Boston as his first marathon
The accidental shot of Fireball before Heartbreak Hill and meeting young Jack on the course
Training for Chicago and the mantra "We're the lucky ones"

Chapters

Intro
How we met and our shared coach
Growing up and Ball State
The Army physical and a heart diagnosis
The phone call about abnormal results
Open heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic
Recovery and a new outlook
Finding a career in electrical and solar
His brother's heart attack and starting to run
Injury and finding a coach
Boston Marathon weekend
Race day in Boston
Next up: Chicago
Mantra and hype song

Mentioned in this episode

Races: Boston Marathon, Chicago Marathon, Mill Race Marathon, Drumstick Dash, Indy Mini-Marathon, Carmel Marathon, Indianapolis Monumental 5K, Monumental Mile
Organizations and charities: Mayo Clinic, Team Big Heart Foundation, Dave McGillivray Finish Strong Foundation, Carmel Running Club, Ball State University, Beyond Monumental
Other: Tracksmith Eliot shoes, "A Head Full of Dreams" by Coldplay, Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator speech, Monon Trail, Eagle Creek Park, Cool Creek Park

Previous guests mentioned

Related episodes

Frequently asked

Who ran the Boston Marathon after open heart surgery?

Chris Jones of Carmel, Indiana ran the 2023 Boston Marathon as his first marathon, finishing in 3:41, years after having a septal myectomy at the Mayo Clinic for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

What charity did Chris Jones run Boston for?

Chris Jones raised $10,000 for Team Big Heart, a charity team that raises money for cardiomyopathy research, to run the Boston Marathon.

How did Chris Jones start running?

Chris Jones started running after his older brother had a heart attack, beginning with hiking, then a treadmill in his basement, then 5Ks, 10Ks and half marathons before training for Boston.

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Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically, so it may contain errors.

Welcome to finish lines and Milestones with Ali, Brett knocker, incredible stories and tales of Triumph with everyday people achieving their goals and fitness. This podcast brought to you by athlete, bouquets celebrate, Finish Line's and Milestones are the people that you love by visiting athlete bouquets.com. Hello there. This is Allie. Brettnacher, your host. And before we get into today's episode, I wanted to say thank you to be on Monumental this last Saturday. We had our inaugural Indianapolis 5K and our 10th Annual Monumental Mile. And this is the third year that my family and I have gone and done the mile. And I volunteered this year, bright and early at packet, pickup and was able to sneak in the 5K as as well.

Figured somebody on the board should check it out. Make sure the course was good, and it was awesome. Highly recommend this race for anybody. Local 2nd or anybody coming here over the summer. I imagine will do something similar with the set up next year. It was on a Saturday this year in the morning which is really nice. So thank you to our team of such a fun event. Our five year old Sidney ran for her third year and we did a 1208 minute mile and it's just so fun to see. I do it, I just am in awe of watching her and it's cute. Having my husband Zach.

Tell her to say thank you to the police officers and all that good stuff. So it was really fun. So thank you and this episode of Finish Lines and Milestones is really good. It's a little longer but not by much, then in typical episode, but there was a lot that we needed a cover with my guest, Chris Jones. So Chris, and I, you'll hear how we met. We met through a mutual friend, And and his story is nuts. He didn't start running all that long ago and when you hear how he got into running and what he's overcome, you will be in all. Like I was so we talked about, I don't want to give too much away, but a lot of, you know, the first half of this episode is about his medical journey, and then kind of the second half we talked about running and we talked about this little race.

He did earlier this year. So be sure in the show notes. You check out his fundraising link for Chicago this year. I will put it there. Would love to support him in his efforts for his second Marathon. So, I hope you enjoyed this conversation with my new friend, Chris Jones, hello, and welcome to episode number 13 of Finish Lines and Milestones. I am here with Chris Jones. Hello. We are in person together. We are We are Chris's from Carmel as well. And we were just talking about how weird we feel with this very professional setup. Yes. Yeah. Feel strange. It's fun though. We'll get feel like we'll get used to it as we talked.

I don't know. Ever get used to it when I start. Yeah. Yeah I think you know I think this is going to be second nature and like a month from now you're going to look back at this and just think what was the deal? I'm okay, yeah I know. Yeah, maybe we'll see so Chris and I actually we met through your Tim. Yeah, one of my guests posted on LinkedIn about his episode and then Tim reached out to me and said, oh my gosh, I saw your podcast. You have to have my friend Chris on. I'm like, okay, so we exchanged information. I was like, okay.

Let's let's do it at some point and then you're like, hey, let's just. Can we get coffee? Hmm. Absolutely. So we get coffee. And now, the rest is history. And then we found out that we both have the same running coach, which is crazy that we just didn't even know each other. Yeah, yeah. It's well, what do you call it? Like, like big city and a small, Big Town. Yes, small, big town for sure, because then it's not even like, just you and Rachel. I feel like I've come across other people that have used Rachel to, and I'm constantly, like, Rachel so-and-so knows who you are as well, and they were talking about you.

And it's, yeah, it's crazy. Small world. Well, first, I have to call you out for making me look bad, because you got Rachel, amazing gift recently. I did, I, I got her a pair of Elliott's from Jack Smith. They were we I got both of us, a pair of tracks meth Elliott's and I'm wearing mine today. Actually, they are very they are beautiful shoes but they both came in and they were both not true to size. So my descent hers back and mine back and then I decided to go with like the one that wear the sash just Blends in instead of being blue on the side.

And now Rachel has the one with the blue on the side. So I hope she likes them. How could she not? I didn't even know what those were until you told me. Yeah. Like, I look at him and I Because I wanted some casual shoes and like if you look at some all birds, yeah it's about the same price and I much rather have tracks in with shoes and then like all birds. So that was kind of. Yeah. They're pretty. They are pretty. Yeah. I like him. Yeah nobody can see them except for you and me right now but they're like this cream color yatch.

Also seems pretty brave for being a dad, I don't care. I'm like you should see my style these days I'm wearing like tank tops all the time and stuff. People are just now. Keep them clean. Yeah. Well, you know, the verdicts out there, they're still pretty fresh and yeah, I feel like these are only when I'm doing nice things like today. So other than that I'm wearing like my old like Brooks from four years ago or something like that, but this is a special occasion. Well we will certainly get into your shoe nerdiness a shirt more. Okay. Perhaps you'll have to just give some quick feedback on all the things you've bought recently.

Okay. We have so much more to talk about today. Yeah, I think so. So where do we even start? Yeah, I mean you tell me I like to let you steer this ship. Well, I think first just give a little background on who you are sure you're from your fam. Yeah. Well and then we'll start the running. Cool, cool. Well, I'm Chris Jones and I grew up in Kokomo. So north of Westfield. I'm a military brat. So we moved around a lot when I was I was born in New York and then To Missouri, and then Alaska and then moved to Indiana and then to Kokomo.

So, I graduated Kokomo 2008, I have a brother and a mom, and a dad shocker. And after high school, I went to Ball State University, went there for music education. And after, about a year of that, I switched to journalism and college is pretty tricky for me to start out. If we if we get into that we can get into that a little bit. So didn't really know what I wanted to do for a few years. I was kind of heavy into the partying and not heavy into the studying. Yeah. I was that was me. Yeah and It's Tricky. I remember vividly going to Miami of Ohio for a football game and just having a good time.

Yeah, it's hard. Not to their. Yeah so we won though. It was the year that Ball State went undefeated and football and like that was our away game that I In the marching band. That was the game that we traveled to, and we may or may not have had flasks in our marching band uniforms. Yeah, this is Ruby and I've heard is hard work though. It's how are you drinking on the job? Pass out carefully? I think. Yeah, it was it. Well, you know, like college and it, you do, you know, life finds a way when it comes to alcohol. So, anyways, I was at Ball State, kind of trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

I was studying journalism. Um wasn't really taking it that seriously and I was like kind of was going to class but it's not doing a very good job and I think like on my junior year I was kind of like living by myself at that point in an apartment by myself and not taking care of myself and still drinking a lot kind of talk to Larry one of your previous guests about about this a little bit. He can kind of relate to the whole drinking by yourself thing. Mmm. So I called my dad one day and I'm like, Dad, I'm not get anything done. I need to come home.

Like I need to stop spending money on College until I know what I want to do. And so I came home and after a few months of trying to figure out what was next, I decided I wanted to join the Army like my dad and so that's kind of where this my life changed. I was getting into shape, just working out and I was ready to do the likes. We're in, that's kind of where You've you pass all the physicals and you go down and you like take an oath to join the Army and during my physical like my final physical the last thing I had to do.

The the doctor said he thought my heart sounded kind of like noisy and I thought because it was like that the last step that he was kind of messing with me. Just just, you know, set me off and he's like, no, I'm serious. Like, it's a little loud. You need to have that looked at before, we can approve you to join the military. So I didn't think much of it. It, I went and saw a cardiologist. I saw, my dad's cardiologist, my dad has had heart issues, he had a massive heart attack and I was in high or college, but and they said, I had a slight murmur and that the septum, which is the muscle that divides.

The two chambers of your heart was thicker than normal, which is usually a genetic issue. And so because of that, the Army said, well, sorry, you can't join and at that point I have three weeks left until the spring semester started at Ball State. And I was, you know, my mindset was that I was going to be going into the army and start this new adventure and life and I'd kind of put, you know, journalism and ball stay on the shelf and I had to just pull it all together real quick and so I went back to Ball State, finish my my time there got really serious about journalism and the Heart thing wasn't really.

An issue at that point it just they told me I had allowed heart but I didn't have any symptoms and I didn't even know that something was wrong with me. They just told me so. So I went back to Ball State, finished moved to Wisconsin, this is in 2014 and was a reporter at the Stevens Point Journal and Wisconsin. It's right on the Wisconsin River to gorgeous little community. And while I was up there, my dad had another heart attack. And so I moved back home to be closer to family. Lee and got a job in Columbus, Indiana at the Republic newspaper and started dating who's now my wife, Sarah, that she was my editor in college, too.

So, we knew each other that way. And while I was in Columbus, my wife, Sarah was training for a 5k, which is part of the Mill, Race Marathon event that they have. They have like a 5k 10K, half and full and I was she asked me to do it with her and I was like, well I was in not Not in good shape at the time but I was like, yeah, alright, let me give it a the old College try and and I just could not get comfortable trying that I just realized like I would try to go on a run. I would just be like extremely winded extremely overwhelmed with, it's kind of hard to explain.

It was just, I was very uncomfortable and very tired immediately on any kind of. And then I sort of Noticing things like going upstairs was difficult for me like I would get winded and exhausted or if I was crossing the street too fast and I really just thought it was because I was out of shape. I was not in good shape at the time and but I also knew in the back of my head. Well I was diagnosed with this thing called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and it's been awhile. I should probably go see a cardiologist to see how I'm doing and so that's what I did.

I went and saw a cardiologist and:. Yes. And whenever you if you have a condition like this and you go see a cardiologist, they order like a stress test and echocardiogram and EKG all these different tests it's just what they have to do. And so we did all that like I was supposed to like the doctor wanted to and at that point, they had said that everything looked fine and that I could go ahead and keep trying to train for this 5K, which was not, it was not going well. And so yeah, I thought that point I just chalked it up to being out of shape because I'm 56 at that time I probably weighed like.

I don't know 195, which that's a lot for someone who's short. Yeah. And I think I mean, I don't know what I weigh in high school, but I probably weighed like 125, 130, something like that. So anyways, like a week had gone by and I remember I was working on some election coverage in The Newsroom and I got a call From my cardiologist office. And it was like, I remember it so well and they called and they were like, Hey, we're so sorry like we, you know, we read your tests wrong and we actually need you to come in because they were abnormal the results of your echo or abnormal at work.

Yeah. Yep. And I think it was like 3:30, it was like a Thursday in the fall. I remember the the U2 album that I ITunes, like, made everybody have like that that had come out like that day. I think. And so I remember because I'm a YouTube fan and I'm like, oh that's checking that out. And I got this call and they're like, your doctor who is on vacation at that time like out-of-country. He's going to fly back to see you like as soon as possible and we'll talk then and I kind of, yeah. I I can't. Yeah. And you've told me this story before.

Yeah. So I'm hearing this for the second time. Yeah. But it's still. Feels like what? What yeah. How do you read a test wrong? Who they give and you felt terrible because you're thinking like, you're thinking, when I hear something like that. I mean, I was thinking I'm a lot of things. But but yeah, I was thinking like, well wait what? It was. I mean, how did it go from normal to abnormal? And I do think that maybe whoever had taken the tests, they just didn't, they're very complicated tests to read, you know. I've tried to be like a Monday. Earning quarterback and like read Echoes on my own.

You know, like that. I don't know what I'm looking at. Looks like a stoner. Like, like, it looks like I won't make a Titanic joke, it's too soon. But, yeah. So I remember hanging up the phone and kind of just sitting back in my chair and just kind of staring off into the the room in front of me and looking at the ceiling and trying to dislike you, immediately start thinking what could this mean, like, what it, what could it possibly be E if they're calling me and telling me like, you know, so and so is flying home and we're so sorry. And they're abnormal and you need to come in as soon as you can.

So I was and I'm 24 at that time. And so, I remember I called my mom. I like, I told my editor, I'm like, I need to step outside for a minute, make a phone call. And I called my mom, and I sat down on this bag of like they were redoing the flower bed in front of The Newsroom. So there were bags of mulch outside and we were sitting on the bag of mulch and calling my mom and Is telling her I was scared. I was and I just started crying. And I was like this 24 year old like, dude sitting outside crying because I didn't know I just was thinking like this.

What? This can't be good, whatever. They're going to tell me this can't be like, hey, we've got some great news for you. We wanted to wait, and have you come in and think about it for a week. So, so I kind of collected myself. And, and then I called my girlfriend at the time and let her know. And I, I think People didn't really know what like, what to say you know. There's like, she responded. She like start crying too. No. I mean, I think that she was kind of like, oh, okay. Like well, let's see what that's about, you know, and a lot of people were just very calm about it, which I just think it people sometimes don't know how to react, especially, like, when you're young and you find out that maybe something's wrong.

So, so yeah, that was like a long three or four day period. I think like they were able to He was able to come see me like that following Monday. I think so is a couple days later, he came back and his name is dr. Gabriel and provola. And he is an amazing man for doing that for coming back to talk to me. Do you remember where he was on vacation? I think he was in like Puerto Rico, he was like South America somewhere and he's from South America and and he was actually like, like an adjunct practicing cardiologist at the time to, he was filling and to help out that office.

And and he Just happened to take me on and then he gave it. Like he I mean he gave me so much of his time and attention. It was unbelievable. He's a great guy and I just found him on LinkedIn. A couple will like a month after Boston and I let him know. I sent my picture of the metal and I said, this this is you know, couldn't have done this without you, you know, probably would earlier. But yes, spoiler alert, we can cut that out. So I went and saw him and he immediately was like, I'm going to talk to you. Like you're my brother and I'm just like, oh my God, what does that mean?

You know, like my brother and he's like the thickening in your heart has gotten pretty severe to the point where any medication that you could take which, I take to this day actually. But the medication that they immediately put me on that. I should have been taking, but I had wean myself off of because I didn't I didn't feel bad for such a long time. So But it's called a beta blocker and it blocks adrenaline from entering your bloodstream and that keeps your heart rate low and that you're, you know, your heart is a muscle and the harder it's beating the bigger, the muscle gets him, the bigger than muscle gets the harder, your hearts beating, and it's kind of a vicious cycle.

So, beta blockers, are there to try to keep your heart rate down, and he decided, you know, we can give you these medications but you're not going to get any better. He wasn't worried about like a sudden death accident, but he just said your quality of life. At 24 is only going to get worse if you don't do anything about this and we can't do anything about it here. And so he had said, I had I've already talked to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota and I've already submitted all of your files over there and they can get you in and like four weeks, which four weeks to get into the Mayo Clinic like from a cold call to getting in is insane.

Like, I don't know how he pulled that off. I think most of the time, even if you're in rough shape, the way is a lot longer than that. Buddy's. Like these are the scenarios that you could be looking at. Maybe you do go there and they just say hey you just you know medication. He's like I don't think that's what they're going to say. You might be looking at some simple procedure, simple is in like a minute minimally invasive, and then you could be looking at open heart surgery and you could be looking at an automatic defibrillator. You could be looking at a pacemaker. You could be looking at a heart transplant.

Jesus Christ. Yeah, this is like within the course of like a few days. Yeah, this is from like, Thursday, working on this story, getting a call saying we're so sorry. We read those wrong to. Hey, your this is what we're seeing and they could tell off of the results that like the septum that muscle had gotten extremely thick that it was no longer pumping blood. But squirting, blood from chamber to chamber and you could you could audibly hear it with just a telescope. Oh my God. So he was like, I'm going to show you this. So. Remember, we like crouched down on the ground in his office and he's like, now, listen, and it was like a squirting sound and it was scary.

I mean I was like, oh my God that's inside my chest that's happening. And and he's like you know I had symptoms like I could hear my heart beating if I if it was quiet and if I was trying to sleep and I got startled I could hear it beating. I could feel it beating and I really just thought man I'm out of shape. Like I really got to get this under control but that's what that was. It was just getting to the point. Where it was beating so hard to the point. That one of my valves was being forced open when like it's called mitral regurgitation and it's in the blood is not flowing and it's pulling and pushing and ways that it shouldn't be doing.

And so you know what, I want to say one thing to about the phone call it would have been nice if they would have just said something along the lines of like here's what happened. Yeah, I don't we're not worried about a sudden death. Yeah. Because that information was finally relayed to you by the doctor. Perhaps they just couldn't tell you, I don't know, but it just seems like I'm like, terrified could you just give me like one little like okay, we're not, I don't know, like for 4 days or however, long sitting there wondering. What the hell is wrong. Yeah, yeah. And I do remember them, I'm a pressing them a little bit like what can you, you know, give me and they just said all we can say is the test were abnormal and I'm really bad at the pressing part especially if I'm in shock.

Yeah, I think that's where I was two. I was like, okay, yeah, hang up the phone. I probably would have called back and I don't I yeah, I think it was Justin. I mean, just shocked. I was just yeah. I was almost like numb and yeah, I mean it was pretty pretty crazy. Yeah. And and so he you know he decided I'm going to get you in there. They're going to see you, it'll be four weeks until then like we're just going to stay on the medication and really just try to relax. You're not going. I'm not worried that you're going to die or anything like that.

But it is serious enough that you need to go to the Mayo Clinic and I'm thinking in my mind, I'm like, I'm going to the Mayo Clinic like this can't be good you know as awesome as a Mayo Clinic is and it is this can't be good if I'm going to the Mayo Clinic and he got me in so quick so kind of just for hard stuff. No, no, like Mayo Clinic is? Yes, the Mayo Clinic is, there's one in, I believe it's Arizona and Nevada son. Somewhere Out West, okay. And then in Florida, and then in Rochester, the original campus and the Mayo Clinic is, where like kings and presidents and celebrities like, they go their covertly to have to, you know, have their health checked and things like that.

That's if there was anywhere, I could go in the world. The Mayo Clinic was the place to go and so this was like a late October mid-october and they were getting me in and like mid-november, okay? And so it was pretty amazing and they send you like, you get this out. Enter Airy like a few weeks before that tells you exactly where to be at what time on. Like afford a stent. So, I had like, afford a nice Pond. Yeah. Yes. Stand by to get you guys, get that. Hey could help ya. Yes stent. Anyways, there's I got in and I had this like four day schedule.

And I remember like, leading up to it being a journalist being someone who's very curious about everything. I was researching. Seeing who I was going to meet. Like I knew the doctor is based off of the agenda, dr. Steve Omen, dr. Joseph durani like all these doctors and so I was Googling and youtubing and started finding all these like professionally done videos with these guys, and at that point, they're like celebrities to me. And so I remember meeting them in person and just being like Starstruck and they're like, they come to me. They've already read my file. They're talking about me and I'm like, oh my God, Steve almonds in front of me and my wife's next to me and she can see me geeking out.

So were you And so we were just dating we weren't even engaged. So we have been dating for maybe I think at that point like five or six months that is intense. And yeah, I mean she she was just let I don't remember her ever being like this is too much and in fact, her family booked our hotels and everything and in Minnesota like they it was unbelievable. So I went up there to do the the testing to figure out. What was exactly wrong to go through all these tests and meet everybody and figure out what the options were. And I think we were halfway through the second day of testing when they were, like, we've seen enough, like we know what's going on.

You need, if you want to feel any better, you need to have a septal myectomy, which is when they go into your heart and they reduce the size of the septum, the muscle that separates. The two Chambers, the part that was getting thick and was causing every all this destruction. And we can do it on Friday and this is like Tuesday. And so I remember being. I knew that it was a possibility, I had researched what it was and what it might be like if I have it how to change things. And so I was kind of prepared for it and I was kind of honestly hoping for it a little bit because I knew that the outcomes were generally great.

And so I was like yeah like let's do it and I remember calling my can my family who, I don't think we're thinking That's what was going to happen. When I went up there, I think they thought we were going to figure some stuff out and then come up with some options. I feel like your mom would have, are your parents would have come with you, had? They thought. Yeah, you were absolutely. And I think they're like, you know, keep us posted. You know, like, and so I remember yeah, like getting out of Steve almonds office dr. Allman and, and we were like, okay, I guess we're doing this.

I think I remember Sarah being a little scared after that meeting, but yeah, but I think she could also tell that I was I hate to say excited, but just I just at that point, I had answers and I knew what was next. There weren't these like unknowns ahead of me that point, which is nice. So, so, yeah, I called my family called my friends, you know, call everybody, and just let them know, like, on Friday. I'm going to have open heart surgery. I had to be interesting in and of itself. Yeah. Calling Peta. And they'd be like, I'm sorry. Yeah, what? Yeah, yeah, I mean, A lot of people were like, you know, my close family were like, okay, all right, well, we're gonna let me get ahold of who I need to, and we'll start making our way.

And I come from like a pretty like middle class family. So like, you know, this means taking off work. We don't we're not really Flyers because it's, it's expensive. So they were all, they all drove up. That was my mom, my dad, my brother, my grandparents, So and then Sarah was there with me and yeah, we just geared up, I remember so that was on a Tuesday. So on Wednesday, we went to the Mall of America and road roller coasters and yeah, and just try to enjoy the time there as much as possible and just kind of mentally try to gear up for that. We went out to eat one night, like the Mayo Clinic is like this medical spa.

It's not Like a hospital that you've ever been to. It's a place where when you have a test done minutes later, you have the results and they're yours. You have them. Yeah. And whenever you have results, they get put into a file that all doctors can see it all time. So, like decisions are made, like, as soon as the test is done, I wouldn't it be nice if I call her. Oh my gosh. It was difficult coming back to reality after that. So yeah, I remember I had the surgery and we had Sarah met your family at the, yeah. Yeah. So like five. - I mean today.

Yeah, I think it's common to meet families a little sooner. Yeah, she had fear, definitely, definitely met my, my family, I'd met her family. Everybody knew kind of what was going on, but I don't think anybody thought, like, on Friday, your have this done. I think I knew in the back of my head, like, if I could, I would write like, if they, if they had the availability, but I fully expected them to like, schedule something out, and make like a flame on site. Yeah. Yeah. Something like that. And this is like two weeks before Thanksgiving Right? So we got ready. I remember the morning of it was like kind of calm and everyone, you know, got together in the the room where I had to like change into, you know, gown and and Say Goodbye, you know, like hey, I'll see you guys at how the other side that was kind of odd because there was, obviously a slight window of, you know.

Hey, I hope I see you on the other. Yeah, like what if what if yeah maybe this is all Heart surgery, it is even though I'm in the best hands possible. Like maybe this this isn't, you know. So and I remember my brother took a picture of me like waving as a rolling me away and I was a goofy. Look at my face, like, here we go. Like yeah, let's do it and some other older or younger. He's 11 months older than me. Okay, that's right. Yes, that's nuts. And yeah, oh my gosh, am I? Yeah, I know that he was planned. I was not okay.

Yeah, yeah. So So so I get, you know, rolled in, they have to do all this prep like shaving and stuff like that. Get you ready for all these things that are about to hook up to you? And then I got this like, Ivy to like calm me down and then I get rolled into the theater, which is like this white porcelain beautiful, like massive, circular room that has like, like 1270 inch flat screen TVs that are all showing some sort of Idle. And some of them are just cameras and all around me are these tools. They're like, shiny and gorgeous and sharp. And there were these like hydraulic hoses with, you know, like saws on the end.

And it's like, man, this is about to happen. Like we're about to do this and they have nuns in there because it was the Mayo Clinic was started by nuns. So that so they have like, milk and stand by. That's not that I don't expect. Yeah. And I'm not a spiritual person but I was Like that's cool. Glad to hear ya, sister. And I remember, they like the doctors are having a good time. They came in there, like, hey we're just gonna have, you do the whole count backwards thing and and then, you know, you'll probably you'll probably fall asleep before 10:00 and I'm like, no, that's not possible.

So I counted backwards till like 3:00 and I was out and when I woke up it was like a I don't know if it was the next day, I die. Don't really know. But I do remember waking up and at that point I was still intubated. So I couldn't talk and, you know, a hose down my throat and and I was hooked up to like, all these machines and I was in this, you know, this bed I had all these like hoses attached to different parts of my body and drains, and am I. My legs are in, like, their like, hyper ice boots, but they're all fairly, you know, they were really keeping blood clots from forming, and I had a little white dry erase board.

I think, and I could, my family. All standing around me and they were all like you know the saying hi. And I couldn't say hi back but I could see them and I could like wave and things like that. Yeah, and so I knew I was alive. You know, they made it on the other end, but I was in and out at that point and then and then the next thing I remember is waking up in the ICU with a, I had like a 24-hour a day nurse, they would stay in the room with me. No matter what. For like the first day as I woke up and there's this guy in the room and it's at night and I don't have my glasses.

Glasses on. So I can't see what time it is. And I just keep talking to him about, like, sports and movies. And, and every time I stop talking, I close my eyes and go back to sleep, and it was like every 10 minutes. He said, so I thought I was like going to sleep for a few hours. Yeah. He was like, no. You're like waking up every 10 minutes and you wanted to talk and the more you wanted to talk, the more water you had to drink and and so the next day after that, they were like we got to stand you up. And so I stood up and all of that water went down into my stomach and I immediately got sick and it is one of the most painful things in my life because I had you write with the just had just been opened and but at that point I could talk and my family came in and I got to talk to them and it was the beginning of the recovery process.

It was remember they're like we're going to have you walk down the hall and back and they're like how about you walk with your girlfriend? And so, Sarah walk next to me, and my mom was behind me, and when we were walking down, this Hall, there were all these other heart patients that had just had procedures. A lot of them were little kids. Some were babies somewhere older, but that was kind of the beginning of the process. I was in the hospital for like a week. I think just, you know, slowly walking slowly healing. I had to get like slowly have tubes and things removed.

I had this hose. My chest that that was kind of weird having that taken out as size of a garden hose that was inside my underneath my rib cage and they would they just take it out. So I had a hole in my chest when I went home and then yeah this is like it was wild like you leave and one state? Yeah, come back in another. But I will say though when I when I woke up and I could kind of feel everything I could tell right away that they had fixed it. I knew right away that I felt just better. Yeah. Yeah. That there was no obstruction.

I didn't know how bad I felt until it was fixed. It's really cool. They tell you, you should feel that way. I had like done my own research and found that a lot of people. I could tell that I was really curious and I asked the Mayo photographer to take photos of the of the surgery and of what they took out. And so I have those, I have these professional eight-by-ten, like surgery, photos fear Yeah, that's great. My chest open. It's because I was just curious, you know? And then all the things they took out, it was shocking. How much came out? And so yeah, I went back to Indiana after that, two weeks before, Thanksgiving and started like the recovery process, my parents had separated a couple years before that so they didn't have like a place for me to kind of come home too.

So I stayed with my grandparents Who are in there like gosh, you know, late 60s, at that point. They're taking care of this 24 year old and has had open, heart surgery and I remember my wife, who at the time worked downtown Indianapolis. She drove up every night after work for like probably three or four weeks after work to spend a little time with me, and I couldn't drive for like five weeks because you're not allowed to hold the steering wheel, and I couldn't pick like milk up. I could couldn't do all these crazy things. Like, I mean, you know and I like I went Mall walking all the time after a while.

I remember grandma. Yeah. Well she would drop me off. She dropped me off at the mall and I just walk around and try to get some cardio in and it was getting to be around the holidays. So it was like really busy. So I was kind of nervous. We were talking about the alley on their own podcast and how she was nervous about being bumped into and that's what it was like. It was just really, you know, and I remember doing cardiac rehab I moved back to Columbus where I was living at the you know, put the newspaper and it was like with the whole bunch of like eight-year-olds and yeah, you know.

Interesting. It was like, yeah, how did work like how did work deal with? Yeah we've Unfortunately, they weren't great about it. Yeah, it was very stressful so which kind of informed A lot of decisions after that, right to. So they were, they were very much like, well, you only have so much vacation and I'm like, okay, you know, right? All right, I guess I'm taking an unpaid. So I can, you know, live and then I came back to work and they were like immediately kind of thrown me to the lions giving me really hard stories and stuff. And I'm like, I can't do this. Like, I'm just not there.

And I, and I mean immediately after having open heart surgery, I My I was completely rewired, to after that, everything looked different after that still does. And, you know, I still think about, okay, how much longer do I have? Now that I've had this done, you know, I technically have heart failure after you do something like that it's categorized as heart failure. So like I have heart failure after that. I worked at the newspaper for a couple more months and just realize that I couldn't do it anymore and I also didn't know what I wanted to do either though. I mean, I mean it's all at All I knew how to do but also I you have this experience, it kind of reminds you that you're human and you have a finite amount of time on this planet with the people you love doing the things, you love discovering the things.

You love, you only have so much time and I felt like I was wasting my time there and I wasn't doing something I loved. And I had this like, you know, YOLO mentality, at that point where I was like, if I don't want to do this anymore, than why am I doing this? And I'm just, I'm done and that's a good thing. Bad thing. Yeah, so I told my wife I'm like I don't think I want to work here anymore and I don't think I want to live in Columbus anymore. Let's move. Let's do Indianapolis. That's where you live. We have a lot of friends there.

And so I got this job like from a friend has like a customer service, like something over the phone, and I did that for a while and we moved downtown and that was fun. And, and I started like dabbling my foot and Sighs. But I really wasn't, I still wasn't taking care of myself. At that point at that point, I was being very careful and I was still very afraid of like, okay, am I fully healed? Like is there. I always had this, like, fear that if I tried too hard, like, my heart would like, bust open at a seam or something, which is not a thing.

But, but I, that's what I, that's what I thought. And so, I was still not living in an amazing life being very. Yeah, I spent a lot of time in the Watching TV and I didn't like the first job I got. And then I got another job and I didn't like that job. I had a really hard time for a while after surgery and I think it was because yeah, I just was very like confused about what it was like to what it meant for me, after that. Like what am I, how much more time do I have in my, in my really making the most of it and I and every time I felt like I wasn't I felt entitled to just pull the plug and and do something else and that was tricky and my wife.

We did get married somewhere in between there and she saw me. She supported me every time which is unbelievable. So that was like six years ago and I met Tim, the guy we had timorous, I met him at the last job in which I was like, not happy. He was there too. He's not there anymore. Venture to say that he might have arrived at the same conclusion but Yeah. Well before it before you move on from there. Yeah I just want to say that. I have certainly not had open. Heart surgery. Yeah. If you listen to my first episode you'll know that I almost died giving birth to.

Yeah. First girls Sydney and I remember having some similar feelings after coming back to work. My work was really nice. Yeah, they were, they actually didn't really know what happened. Frankly, they are nice about maternity leave. I was the first woman to leave on maternity leave. This company. So it was so they did a good job. They didn't really know what had happened because I didn't know how to really share it. Yeah like hey by the way in case you want to know right birth experience like you know that's detail details but it was weird going back to work because I felt like I didn't really love it but I was good at it and I but I did have this change that.

Yeah there and I feel like that's why I kept this Perpetual like of looking for ya. What's going to make me happy and I always Still to this day self-conscious about my job hopping. Yeah. And some of it occurred. But actually before even but I'm like life is too short, not to. Yeah, baby life is too short, not to be happy at work, especially because you're there all the time. Yeah, yeah. You do so and I know that not everybody's can just do what they want. I know and it's like if I mean, It's tricky because you're, you're like, I know what's responsible. I know what the right decision is here, but it doesn't feel right in my bones.

Yeah, you know, like so. So it's part of you is like, well, that's just how life is you just got to do stuff that you don't want to do. Sometimes that's how it works. That's the world. But I disagree with that, you know, I don't think that you have to do what everybody expects you to do. Amen. And I think that's if there's anything that I'm sure about its that, you know, that you like you forge your own path and you choose your own future and you make your own decisions and you have to deal with your decisions to. So you know, I I mean no one told me I had to go.

Have this open heart surgery? No one said you have to have it or you're going to die. I could have said. I don't know. No, thanks. Like, I'm just gonna I guess I'll just chill out for the rest of my life. I could have done that but I don't think I wouldn't be who I am today, you know, and so, and it was, it's yeah, it's still tough. Sometimes I get I'm a very emotional guy now compared to what I used to be too. I mean, I remember like, you know, during that I was off. For I think three months after the surgery and like a Tide commercial would come on and I would be moved, you know?

And I was like, what is wrong with me? And I would like, you know, ask my doctor Mike. I'm like really emotional now, you know, I mean just get I just get so torn up about so many things not in a bad way like I'm just so happy and so and it just does that. I think. So like six years ago, that last job, I did not care about that came to an end and I was like, I don't know what I'm doing, you know? Like Yeah, we had bought a house, we wanted to have children and I have still just searching for what's next.

And at that point I started like re rehabbing part of the house we bought and had an unfinished business basement and I decided I was going to finish it. And so while doing that I got really into remodel work and like electrical work and an old college professor, John Strauss, shout out. He used to work at the Indy star and pretty cool guy. He had said, hey you seem to be really good at this electrical thing. Have you thought about maybe going into the trade world? And I was like, I don't know, maybe like, well, I guess what, what do I have to lose at this point?

Yeah, and that was six years ago and I still work for the company now, and we do, you know, normal electrical work, but we specialize to and solar and electric vehicle and battery storage. And that's a pretty cool technology. So, and that was six years ago, I've held on for six years. So I, you know, I think I finally found something that then I'm good at, I think after Heart surgery, I've dealt with imposter syndrome, a lot. There's a lot of things or in like, I feel like I've just been a gold my way into certain situations and that's kind of tricky to. But yeah, that's kind of my professional life.

That's where I'm at today, we can kind of start. We can try could nerd out on solar bound. We don't have time because we got to talk about it. Talk about running. Yeah, talk about running. Yeah. So about two and a half years ago. My older brother. He had a heart attack so my dad had two heart attacks. My older brother had a heart attack. I had open-heart surgery and I was terrified when that happened. I was like first of all he's my best friend so I was really, really scared. And then secondly, I'm like, you know, it's coming from all angles. Now, like, what I have to make a change because I was not living healthy at that point.

And so that day I remember going to the hospital to see him and I told him, I'm like, I'm Can eat red meat anymore. I'm not going to drink sodas or anything like that anymore. Well, it's I'm going to make some baby steps and make some changes here. And at that point, like I said, I'd probably wait around like 190 and I was a pretty big guy, and I did do anything physically, like, not not healthy at all. Did Sarah ever nags? Probably, not the right word, but like, it's like, hey, dude, like you? Hello? I know which is surprising, I would. Yeah. And no, I mean, I certainly don't hold it.

Against her. If anything, I'm like you, you loved me before all this you love me like, before surgery. You love me after surgery. You love me when I was lost and I didn't know what I was doing. You still do that, you know, sometimes she's, I think she's still like, what are you doing? But, but she's she's, I mean, if an encyclopedia if it said like spousal support, it would just be a picture of Sarah. I mean, she's like, she just is in my corner. 100% of the So amazing it is and I do take it for granted all the time and I have to get better at that but she is she's a rock star she's definitely I would not be here without her.

So my brother had his heart attack. I decided hey regardless of what anybody else wants to do, it's time for me to start making better decisions so that I can be around. I don't know why. That didn't happen. Right after open heart surgery, it's a very strange but it, but finally, it did like this Bell. Rang in the back of my head and it just I did edit it's weird, it was a switch. And I think like, what I started doing right after that was like I started hiking at Eagle Creek, a lot and it's listening to podcasts and he s just trying to get, get my feet under me and stay vertical and try to get a little bit of cardio in.

And I remember, we had just moved to Carmel and we were at Cool Creek and my daughter Harper. She kind of got away from us at the park. She's like running away, and I started running after And I fully expected to like, Keel over after that, but I did. And I'm like that that wasn't that bad? Like I've never ran like that before. I've now I do not come from a running family. I did not run in high school. I didn't run ever, I'm that's not I don't have sports really. I did like competitive marching band how and I was a tube tube of section leader, so the to, but ways it's the to was not a sousaphone.

It's not the thing that wraps around your body, a tuba looks like a rocket launcher and it sits on your shoulder and weighs like Five pounds. What's the thing that wraps around your body? That's called a sousaphone. You see that? Like college a lot but you don't think that was a tuba. They call it a tuba. It's not the same thing. And like all the band nerds listening right now are like, yes. What he knows. So anyways, there, so I that was a tough work to like to be that kept me in shape and really good shape. And it was hard work and I did that, but I did not have like this athletic background and I know for a fact I don't have fast-twitch muscles.

I was recently tested so anyways. That means anyway. Okay okay you'll find. Yeah I'm sure it'll come up. So I got a treadmill after that incident at Cool Creek because I'm like, this is interesting. Maybe I'm on the something. Maybe I can start running, I would be cool and I got a treadmill so I could run and privacy in my basement by myself. So no one can see me and I started down there and started doing a little bit at a time and I was getting longer and longer and then I'm like, I'm going to do a 5k. Like let's Do a 5k Sarah, my wife who had been doing 5K is no problem.

And I started running a little bit more in a little bit more and we started doing 5Ks and then it did a few 10ks and then like, oh, let's do a half together. We had attempted a half earlier and it like, I finished, but if you look at the like Marathon photos of that, I was dying and it was like, I think I finished it in like two and two, almost three hours. Yeah, and I was like I had no business being out there, but I was like, I'm going Do this because I'm alive, you know, that's and so that was I don't even remember when that was, it was not good but after we did the I think it was a drumstick Dash a couple of years ago.

And I remember like Crossing that finish line and feeling good like not being tired, feeling strong and I was like I'm on to something here. Like this is, this is awesome. I like this and that's when I started running outside amongst the people of Indiana to because I was like I think I've earned the right. Right to be in be able to pay out there. Yeah. And and just started making Running part of my everyday routine, running way too fast and way too much all the time for a long time. What I? Yeah, and and I did the caramel half and then a few weeks after that, I did the Monumental Marathon and I started having the issues.

Wait, you mean the indeed many that you I did one in Dior, in your right. That's right, that's right. I did I did the and e-mini and the caramel half very close to each other thinking like yeah, this is awesome. Look at me and I did pretty well like, I felt good during those races, but I remember going on a run up, towards Clay, Terrace on the Monon and like passing a certain tree and feeling something happened, in my knee, and I'm like, oh that doesn't feel good and but I just kept running anyways and then we went to Chicago and I ran a next to the lake.

And this could and it was throbbing, I'm like, oh no. What have I done? And that's when I think it's the first time I reached out to Rachel, okay? Possibly. And I told her like, yeah, I'm having these knee issues. I want you. I want, I've heard that you're a great coach. Like, I want you to be my coach and she recommended that. I go see a physical like yeah. Yeah, yeah. And who is what Cindy, what's it called, Tempo? Yeah, at this tempo, right? Tipo Sports. Yeah, it's a sports bar. He was awesome. Yeah, like I mean and the stuff he gave me I do every night like religiously because well I remember how miserable I was?

I couldn't run and I was like holy crap. This is like depression that I can't run right now and I started cycling at that time so nice like oh and I can't but but after I met after I figured out my knee, I got a hold of Rachel because I had I have to back up. I'm See, I'm getting ahead of myself here. I remember after doing that the second half marathon. I decided I wanted to do a full marathon and I for whatever reason decided that I wanted, that Marathon to be the Boston Marathon. So I had never run a marathon before. Didn't know what it took.

Didn't know what I was going to feel, like didn't know a whole lot about Boston, other than it was a big deal and a lot of people get really excited about It's so, I better II. Remember, I think I was doing a run a knife it and like that. It was like, at the Boston Marathon and I'm like, I want to run Boston. Like I need, I need to do Boston big for me and for like, to remind myself that I'm still alive, you know, that was really kind of the goal and to prove to my daughter that regardless of what had happened that I was still alive.

And and I was going to I do everything I could to be here as long as possible for her. And so that's when I started your trainings. And I signed up with the charity team that team big heart foundation, they raise money for research towards cardiomyopathy, which is what I had. So it's like a perfect fit and and so, I signed up for that. Got a hold of Rachel. She started training me and and got like, really serious right around that. Went from like 20 to 30 miles a week on my own running whatever I wanted. And the same pair of shoes with like crazy oversized clothes and all this stuff running on the Monon and the wintertime to for whatever reason.

Like switching it into gear, becoming very serious about this and and having a coach that reinforce that joining the caramel running club to, I mean, that help big time and that was, you know, it was over a year. A year ago, but I feel like I'm going to hand the Baton back to you to focus this up a little bit. No idea. Well tangent. Here you are. The one that said embrace the longer yeah conversation yes will be a longer one because we it's just going to have to be. Yeah. There's nothing that you've said that I don't want people to hear. So yeah, with Boston.

You literally like I remember meeting you for coffee and you look like a runner, I've had, it's so weird that you say that because I've had people say that to me and I'm just I don't know what that exactly is and I don't mean that to sound like, I'm an asshole, you know? Because I know, everybody know Runner. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, a whole, you know, body positivity. Yes. Yeah. What I'm saying is that, you know, sometimes you look at somebody and the way that they're built, you're like, oh and you've got the gutters and you've now you got pretty track Smith. Yeah, I know.

But when I met you and had no idea really what your story was. Yeah, timid actually sent me an article and I don't think I'd run it okay. The way. Yeah. And all of us I had. Yeah I realized to when we were having Copy that I brought up open heart surgery and you were like, wait, what? Yeah, yeah. I didn't you. And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Which was kind of cool actually because I got to hear it. Yes. The first pressure idea and and so it. Yeah. And then it surprised me that you had been overweight. Yeah, you just look. And you have embraced, like, you guys, you are being really.

You have all the things you have all the shoes. Now, you have a coach, you are done the, I don't know, it's not the biggest but it's like the most prestigious. I Yeah, with on in the world. Yeah, and yeah, yes not. It was really important to me when I said I'm gonna do this that I do it and that I give it 100% And I didn't want to just finish there. I mean, Rachel, made it very clear like, hey, like you might feel like you're, you're ready to go win it and that's great but just, you know, enjoy it. Be conservative, you know, be smart and, and have fun and Those weren't definitely always my like at the top of the list of things to remember and I had to remember those but I mean it was so weird like you you get into Boston.

So I've never been to Boston anyways, but I remember like oh geez gosh, it was just knowing that it was going to happen. I had to raise ten thousand dollars for my charity team so that was very stressful but yeah, this city of Carmel, my family, my friends strangers, they got me there and I remember Getting to Boston and like, coming up to the city and we did at Harper and Sarah were with me. And I'm like, say, you know, Harper look at those tall buildings and like Harper. That's the Citgo sign Harper. That's the Citgo sign and she's like, you're weird. Yeah, like okay, it's a sign and they I carded them around Boston all weekend and they were there the whole time and they never complained and Harper had fun, and Sarah, let me walk them up and down Newbury, Street, which is like The street that has all the shops all day.

One day. Like, all we did was shop all day and and then we did like I got to do a demo run with puma and I got to meet like my YouTube Idol. Just get fousey, he's out of Chicago and it was so cool meeting him and he'll like message me on Instagram every now and then I get like all torn up about it. Yeah. It's super cool. And so I remember going to the Expo and getting up to the Place where you like tell them your name, which is just a normal thing you do for races, like that's this normal. But when you get to Boston and you're like, yeah, my name is Chris Jones.

I'm here to pick up my Bim for the race and one day at the Boston Marathon, you know, like, it's a yeah, you know, and and they pull it out and give it to you. It's got your name on it and it's like, it's real, you know, and you and you're going to do it and you're going to, you're going to line up in a few days. With, I mean, people from all over the world with all these different Situations and circumstances and you're going to have to go run the Boston Marathon like and you deserve to be there, you know? And so I was just I remember him handing it to me and I was just like pretty emotional, you know, I mean I remember holding in thinking like I told myself that I was going to do this and it's happening, we're doing it, you know.

And and I hope that people understand that like that sometimes maybe that seems like a pie in the sky notion to do say I'm going to go do something and you just do it because You want to do it? Yeah, I don't know how I mean it's it's it's real. Like if you want something bad enough, just go get it this. Go take it. There are ways. There were doctors. I'm remember a doctor specifically told me like this is not a good idea and I was being irresponsible. And and then I had another doctor tell me it was unbelievable. And she was so happy for me, which is my current card.

Yeah, I was gonna say how would it? Yeah. Yeah, it was. And so it, so I At my bib. And we went back to the hotel. And then we went down to the start/finish line, not the start Finish Line, the Finish Line. It's a point-to-point race. So there's this startling. Yeah. And it was gorgeous, it was like 80 and 90 and then the day of the race is not, but that's okay. And and we went down that day, we saw the memorials because this is the 10 year anniversary of the Boston bombing. As you've, you've covered with some of your other guests. And then I do remember swinging around and seeing the Dick's Sporting Goods sign where it says and you've covered this to so Austin changes you.

I think it's Boston changes you and it really does. I mean, I think like it seriously was like a closed one door and I opened another when I left Boston, that race was. So I don't even know how to describe what that what happened out there. I mean, I remember, you know, getting The start line and be like, yo, I'm about to run the Boston Marathon, this is going to happen and I'm looking at that people around me and they don't know me and I don't know them and they don't know my circumstances, they don't know where I came from and what what I you know, what has happened and how I got here and I'm not the only person out there that had open heart surgery.

It was running that race for sure but being amongst all those people having their support having fans support, I mean I can't tell you how many times I had to like collect myself. Of because it was just so emotional out there and it was so there's so much energy and and I was hitting these paces and I knew I was having a really good race to I was like this is my first marathon and and this is going so well. And I remember getting the Heartbreak Hill and I accidentally had a shot of Fireball there. I'm so glad you mentioned that because he told me that and I hit was the worst.

There was this table off to the side right before you hit heartbreak and they were advertising like a muscle relaxer to get You ready for the hurt? You were about to face, you know? And it was like they were wearing like sponsored like jerseys and coats. And the it looked really nice. Like it didn't look like somebody threw it together. So I'm like, oh, this looks legit. And they weren't like, like red Solo cups or anything there, in these, like, clinical like dishes. Yeah, I was like, all right, this sounds good. I do this because I wouldn't, I mean, like, one of the rules is like, do not try anything new the day of the race.

Nothing stick to your, you know, your gun, stick to your fuel and and use what the baa put out there, right? But I was like, that looks like a great idea. Heartbreaks right there. I could see it. Let's do this. You know, it's like grab it. I'm feeling great. I've got a big grin on my face, and I took it, and I knew immediately like, oh no, and I've started panicking, I'm like, I just sabotaged the whole race like, right? Well, yeah, that would be, yeah. I was like, I just ruined everything because I broke the rule. Like, don't do it. Yeah. Oh, I've eaten all.

Josh, but this is Boston and I was like, what are you doing? You know, I was thinking, oh my gosh, and so, and I had just taken a gel before that. Yeah, like just taking one and I'm like, I got it. I got to get this taste out of my mouth. So I went ahead and like, made myself had another gel and then started apart break and it was, it was heartbreaking, but but it was, it was amazing. And then I get at the very end of heartbreak, I came across my team, they had a tent Sidewalk. Yeah, and their son jack, he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

He has had a heart transplant and I had not met him yet because he wasn't at the. The yeah, I wasn't at the breakfast, the day before, so when I got up there, I stopped which is fine. I mean a lot of people are like, what are you doing? But I had not met him yet and I pulled my jersey down to show him. I my incision and I just told him I'm like you can do this to, you know, like look like you can do this too and there's a cool picture of him and And he was he was so sweet as his parents Scott and Kate like you know their son Joe is who passed away and who they started this team for and so it was it was so cool to be able to be to represent them to run a good race to be someone who's had open heart surgery for the same condition it was just a neat experience for that.

Cool and and and then you I went past heartbreak and got down to. I mean, once you get to like mile 20, everything starts to her Pretty bad. And again, I'd never run a marathon before and I had really run past 20 before. Yeah. Seems like, you know, Uncharted Territory and I wasn't sure if the wheels are falling off or if I was just hurting. Yeah, but the crowds were getting better and better and I didn't have any music, which really sucked like my headphones didn't work right at the beginning of the race. Oh, really to start the race because everyone was roaming like and so I, I usually stream music from my watch it.

Because it was Romi I could never connect and get sound and so I just took them off and I ran the whole thing with a z. So tip is to download your place. Yeah. Because you never know that shit but you know I will say and I've heard you talk about trying practicing without it, that's it, I don't know that I would have ran as strong if I wasn't listening to the people around me and hollering and screaming like with the girls that Wesley College like that. That was like unbelievable. So I remember getting to like MI Or and there was a guy next to me, and I think his coach, and he was younger than me and in much better shape.

But he was bonking Hardcore. Like, you haven't really looked Delirious almost and, and I remember coming up to him and and saying, like, hey, because I was going to pass him and I had to said, hey, you know, keep it up. Like I've had open, heart surgery, you know, and you can do this, if I can do this, you can do this. And he, you know, I saw this and he kind of came back to life a little bit and it was doing that as much as possible for myself because I was strucken telling yourself Yeah. I will say that I do that a lot.

Yeah. Like if I if anybody ever hears me say anything to you if you See ya. It's because I'm saying that to myself. Yeah, yeah. So like everyone, I saw that look like they needed something. I made sure that I reached out and said, like, good job, you're doing a great job and then and then my, my Paces would get a little better. It was like this because the energy out there is this like fluid and then you get up to you get into downtown and you're about to make that right turn and you see like Boylston and it's it's pretty emotional. So I remember King like about just everything that happened too much to me before that and my life you know just thinking about the fact that I would not be here if I didn't have open heart surgery.

Like if I would have never had open heart surgery at this would have never entered my mind. Yeah. And is thinking about like all the people that helped me get there, you know, and I knew that around the corner where my wife and my daughter. Like I knew that they were going to be I didn't know if I was gonna be able to see them because you're talking like Like Super Bowl level crowds, it was pretty crazy but you turn onto Boylston and there it is. And it's like, heaven. I mean, it's just like, it's just this the sound that you thought it would be the the look that you thought it would be the feeling it's hard to describe.

And and I immediately thought about everybody that was going to be coming after me too. And those people that were really that deserve this just as much and it was it was just confirmation. I was still alive, you know, that I still had a lot to get in life that that you can do anything, you set your mind to and that anything is possible regardless of your circumstances, you know? And it was this confirmation when I cross that finish line and I had a Bostonian put the metal around you and say you're a Boston finisher, you know, and I just cried. Yeah. You know, and it was yeah, it was pretty cool.

Cool. I was pretty sure it was. This kind of I can't even I can't put words to him the way it felt and I'd like one of the first people. I mean I saw my wife and my daughter to right right before the end and so I got to see them wave at them. They saw me, my daughter saw me, they had the cowbell you know and so they got to see that and then it was cool afterwards. I did my, since my watch died I had no way to communicate with anybody so I don't run with a phone. You don't like it. So, and, and here in Carmel, like, my watch is cellular.

So I can call people textile all that. But again, in Boston, there was no service. And so, I was kind of walking around with my space blanket on and freezing at that point because I had stopped and it was raining. Yeah. And and I remember, like, as soon as I got near my phone, I got a text. I think it was from Rachel, and she was like, I'm crying right now because she saw the how I did. And she's like that, I think she's just thinking in her head. Like that doesn't make sense and I'm just so happy for you. So I ran the 341 for my first marathon, which was more than I could have asked for.

And I don't know if I knew your finish time. Yeah, 3341. Yeah. For the first in, for your first marathon in Boston. Yeah. Which is not an easy course. No. And I got that's awesome and after having open heart surgery as yeah. And so I Like it was more than I could have asked for but I'm not now I'm even more hungry, you know than I was before that. Now I'm like, okay. Like that was, that was number one right now. Yeah. Yeah. It's so. So now I'm just now my, my number one goal is I want to get to Boston, on my own. Yeah, you know that's kind of like my new.

I want what I want to do all the majors but but that's, you know, that's, I want to get back there for sure. Like, I mean, I just felt so at home there that community and that energy was like so familiar and in a weird way. And I've never been there before. And I've never been around that many people like that before, but I just felt like this is where I'm supposed to be. These are, these are my people. Yeah. This, which is so strange, like, I think about all my friends that were like, track stars and cross country stars, and they're probably, like, who, what are you doing?

You know, like, I don't, you weren't like that in high school. You were like that college. And You weren't like that two years ago. Yeah, two years ago. You were not like that at all because I mean I know people he took up running. I do it's all this is why I love this so much is because everybody's I mean everybody's stories are so drastically different But somehow, we were just all United. Yeah, this crazy thing that we love to do. Yeah, it doesn't have to be running marathons and be running any distance, right? But like burning, but whoever wonders like, why the hell do you guys run marathons is like, well, you just heard it?

It's just like to prove to myself that I'm still alive. Yep. In a lot of ways that kind of sums it up, I think. Yeah. I mean, it's just to let me know. Hey, you've got more time. Yeah, time is not up yet. There are 34. While be 34 in August I feel like I was just 24. It's so it's like it, you know, the times tickin by. But my goal is to you know the make the most of the time I have here and try to do it in those communal experiences like Boston. Yeah. Like the Indy mini which is so much fun. I wish more people knew that and and so now I just want to it's kind of all I think about to.

I'm sure you can relate to that. It's really hard sometimes. All I think about is running. Yeah. And the running community and people and events, choose and exercises, the tracks and places. And what is your, what is your Instagram? I don't know if it's Chris underscored Jonesy Jo + Ze y. Yes. So now if you want because we've run out of time to do all the shoe nerding. Yeah, that's fine. But check it out. Yeah. People to go follow you on Instagram because yeah, you've really started. You've got all these ideas to that. We've talked to, yeah. Yeah, so I feel like you're on the cusp of really starting to find more than just your running group.

Yeah. Like, hopefully my groove group, hopefully, like that the beginning of the rest of my life. You know. And so that's yeah, that's kind of where I'm at and I'm training for Chicago. That was gonna be my next question because I know that you are in your raising money for this. Yeah, ization. Know, different organizations. So this is David McGill. It's a run strong Foundation but I feel like the official title is a little different and David McGee over. He's the the racing director of the Boston Marathon and he's run it like dozens of time. He's also had open-heart surgery, really? Yeah, so he's he has a documentary about him.

Let's see. You're right, it's the Dave mcgilvery finish. Strong found it. Okay? Yeah, and I met him at Boston. He was at our charity. T breakfast, the Night Before the Race, So he organizes the race. And then after the race has started and most of everybody's taken off, he goes back to the start line and runs it himself and he's done this for decades so cool. And yeah, I and I had like watched it. Yeah. I had watched a few documentaries about him prior to even getting to Boston and not realizing zones. Like, do you want to meet Dave? And when I was at the breakfast, I was like sure things, Dave, and he came up and I'm like, oh I'm like absolutely and I talked to him for a few That said, then after that, I reached out to our like, charity groups coordinator, and they got me a bit bossy, Chicago, and I'm raising two thousand dollars, not 10,000 seems so easy compared to.

Oh my gosh. Yeah, but it's still, It's Tricky. It's hard to ask people for their support like that. So so soon, I mean it was tough asking people for that kind of money and it still is, but I feel confident that I can raise that by race day. Well in certainly, Anybody who's listening to this? I hope feels. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a great. Yeah, I mean they're and their, their cause is to to raise awareness about staying active as youth being literate as Youth and just being kind as Youth and spreading that message and communities about just. Yeah, and that's kind of that fits right with how I feel about about being active.

Yeah, I think it's really important in life to be active. I hate that I waited so long to do this. This is something that Free to anybody, you know, running and very, very well. Let's go free. But but I mean like it was always there, right? And and I waited so long to discover it so glad that I did. But man it makes me wonder what kind of Runner I'd be today if I would have started a while ago about that a lot. Yeah but it's okay because I am a runner today that I'm happy to be and I'm going to be a better Runner tomorrow and better Runner next week.

Yeah, so actually with the help of Rachel we love you. Rachel Rachel's like, yeah, I mean, it's hilarious. I was asking Rachel, like, hey, I kind of want to add a run here and around here. Is that a good idea? And she's just like, no, no, it's not like you don't do that. Like, I've got a plan and it's it. Trust me what? I trust, the process. Some people hate to hear that, but man, is she right? And she's good at that, so, so, yeah. Okay. So we know what the next Finish Line is already. Yeah, she come and mantra for you. Is there like or song?

There's Couple. So a mantra that I really like is we're the lucky ones. So I think about that whenever it's tough. So whenever I'm out running and something hurts and I'm struggling, I just remind myself that we are the lucky ones to be out here, especially having open heart surgery. I think about that all the time. You get to do this. Yeah, you get to do this. This is, you know, it's not that I have to run today, I guess. Bring it today but I do feel like lucky we're looking. I left. Yeah, the song that I listened to to get amped up it's kind of like, I feel like you need an explanation for a little, but it's, it's a head full of Dreams by Coldplay, but it's the live version from Windows Eros, and it's because it opens with a speech from the movie, The Dictator by Charlie Chaplin.

Okay? So it has this, like, when the song starts, like, on Spotify or iTunes, Here this the Roar of the crowd because it's alive. Yeah. And then the speech plays, it's like 40, 30 seconds long, but it ends with you. The people have the power to make this life, free and beautiful to make this life, a wonderful adventure and then the song starts and the crowd loses their minds. And if you think that you're about to Bonk, I swear if you put that on you like, you'll take off. Oh, I'm so interested. Oh my gosh. Like I and I usually cry when I put it onto.

I'm being honest. Like I put it on. I get super emotional. But it's like I saw that show live. I've seen them live, a handful of times Coldplay. They're more like a pop bin now but that song Live hearing the Roar of the people. So it's one way to get going for sure. Everybody should like stop at they're doing right now as well. You better believe me. I'm already thinking about I'm going to put that on my car with like try it just crank it and listen to that. Oh my gosh, it's fantastic. Oh Chris, this has been so fun. Yeah, we there's so much that we could, I mean, I there's so much more that I want to ask and talk to you about.

I think what's cool is, this doesn't have to be our last time you doing, I'm sure, but I hope everybody listening really loved that conversation with Chris. I mean, how could you not? This guy is amazing. Amazing. So I think this, this episode's coming out right before the Fourth of July. So if you're listening to this, maybe during a fourth of Ron, I don't know. Barbecue with family. I hope everybody has the best Fourth of July and happy running. Happy running.

Ally Brettnacher