Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening
everybody and welcome to today's episode of the
never peak project podcast I'm your host coach
Ranger and in today's episode. I'm gonna be talking
a little bit about what my body's been going
through pre during post my walk across the United
States of America My intention really with this
episode is just to kind of give an overview of
what I did to prepare for the walk What my body
went through during the walk? and what's been
going on since I finished last August. It is
now March 23rd at the time of recording this
episode, and I think that the biggest thing is
just how things have been over the last year.
You know, I started my walk on March 10th, 2024.
Again, it's now March 23rd, 2025, so just over
a year since I started. And it's about six months
or so since I ended the walk. So I've gotten
the questions a lot about what my body went through,
what's been happening since then. So again, just
want to give a quick overview. So really, the
first thing that I want to go through is what
I was doing before. my walk across the country.
As some of you may know, I hit my peak weight
of about 300 pounds in 2018, and that was around
the time that I decided to really start taking
my fitness and body seriously. I was going through
a lot of mental health issues. I wouldn't say
anything, what is it, diagnosable by any means,
but I would say that it was definitely frustrating
it was a lot of self -worth and other issues
especially around school and college about what
i wanted to do with my life and career i went
to school originally for animal science to be
a veterinarian learned very quickly that it was
a lot more science than animal in the major which
makes sense because i wanted to be a doctor but
that was kind of a kick in the throat my first
year of college especially And then, you know,
drinking and eating like absolute garbage and
a lot of stress eating happens. So that definitely
didn't help anything. And I went from about,
I would say about 220 or so to about 300 pounds
throughout my college career. I didn't super
look it, but I definitely felt it. And, you know,
I could tell when I took my shirt off that I
wasn't at my varsity -ish athlete. stature anymore
that I was in high school. So around 2018, I
started taking my fitness more seriously. And
the first thing that I did was I ordered a Spider
-Man shirt off of Amazon, one of those little
Spider -Man Amazon workout compression shirts.
And what I would do is I would sneak out of my
fraternity house at like two or three in the
morning and go for runs. And I remember the very
first night that I did it, no stretching, no
warmup, no nothing. I just poked my head around
the corners. I lived on the second floor, so
I had to get through the first stairwell, through
the first hallway, down the stairs, around the
corner, whatever, and then sneak myself outside.
And I barely made it, I think, just down the
street a little bit, probably about 100 yards.
I think I was doing the full sprint thing that
I think a lot of people do when they start running,
is they think that if you're running, you have
to run full sprint. and I didn't get much further
than that. I was out there for probably about
10, 15 minutes until I went back to the room
or back to the house and then took a shower and
went to bed. But I started doing that pretty
consistently for a few months, at least four
or five times a week, just sneaking out to go
do that. And I was sneaking out because I felt
like it was embarrassing to be a large person
running down the street, which... isn't necessarily
the best mentality to have. I think that was
kind of a judgment that I had on other people
at the time that I was applying to myself, which
was something that after coaching and after self
-development and looking inward, I realized was
an issue that I didn't want to carry anymore.
Once I realized that, I started going to the
actual gym more. We had a membership at Davis,
so I was going to lift weights and run and rock
climb. I signed up for the rock climbing gym
in Davis. And that was really good for muscle
development and kind of like pulling myself out
of that comfort zone. Being on a wall and climbing
on it and being a big guy wasn't the greatest
in terms of hiding myself, which I think is what
I needed was to be more out and open with what
I was doing, what I was trying to accomplish.
And I think I ended up losing about 20, 30 pounds.
by the end of the year, not the end of 2018,
but the end of 2019. So I got down to about 280,
270 or so, and I felt pretty good. It was really
nice to be able to go through that and see what
I could do just from the little bit that I was
doing. I really think the thing that helped the
most was not drinking a gallon of Mountain Dew
a week, which is a half joke that I like to say
about that time. Um, cause I was just eating
and drinking like garbage constantly. I think
that's a big thing that if you're on your own
weight loss journey is really there there's,
I think it's the Pareto principle where it's,
you know, 20 % of the inputs equals 80 % of the
outputs. If you look at your, if you look at
your diet or what you're eating or drinking on
a, on a daily, monthly, weekly, whatever basis,
um, cutting out the big calorie intakes. is going
to do wonders for you even just walking a little
bit is going to help a ton i mean it did for
me and i'm just kind of extrapolating that out
for literally every other person on earth um
but yeah rangers rangers fitness tips um don't
drink them out gallon of mountain dew a week
and maybe eat a vegetable every once in a while
and you'll lose a bunch of weight um then during
covid is when I started getting more and more
into fitness and activity. I started hiking more,
running more. I did my first 5K, I think, right
before COVID with my mom and my little sister.
Like an actual race, not just by myself. The
Nike running app is something that I use constantly
for tracking my miles and running. And there's
guided runs on there by Coach Bennett, the Nike
global running head coach. And it's just really
nice to have those guided runs going on in the
background because it really helps in terms of
staying focused and forgetting that you are running
and putting yourself through something kind of
the worst. And it's just really encouraging.
So another thing I'd recommend if you're getting
into running is to download the Nike Run app
and take advantage of those guided runs. And
then during COVID, I got into 75 Hard with my
little brother. Um, we did the program and by
the end of 75 hard, my first round, um, it wasn't
just that that got me from two 70 down to two
25 ish. Um, it wasn't just during those 75 days
that I lost that weight. It was again, that continuous
going through it, going through the motions,
um, and eating better and working out more. I
think I was around two 50 or two 60 when I started
and I got around two 25 to 30 by the end of it.
Um, I wish I took better notes during that time.
Because I'm just going off of my noggin and what
I can remember. But I mean, it was pretty extreme.
I mean, you're working out twice a day and being
very careful about what you're eating. And I
did intermittent fasting during that time. And
honestly, I think that might be something I go
back to in the future. Because I think my biggest
issue that I have with eating is I eat when I'm
bored. Or if there is something there, I will
eat it. But if I kind of limit myself and say
I can only eat during this time, I really focus
more on protein, vegetables, fiber, starch, you
know, just like the big things that I needed
to eat. So that was useful for me. And then I
guess that's the general what got me into fitness
and everything. And then I made the decision
to do my walk. And I started taking running and
lifting a lot more seriously in about the year
or so before I started my walk across the U .S.
So in terms of PRs, my 5K PR is 25 minutes and
6 seconds. My 10K PR is 56 minutes and 59 seconds.
My half marathon time is 2 hours, 18 minutes
and 15 seconds. And I'd really love to get that
half marathon. half marathon time down below
two hours. Um, the time I was going to do it
was the Yosemite half marathon in 2023. And they
ended up the, one of the parts of the race had
a landslide. So they had to divert the course
through a different area and it ended up turning
into a mud run. So it was a lot of running through
the mud, running uphill way more than you were
supposed to be. So that knocked down my time
pretty significantly. I don't know if I would
have actually gotten below two hours if it wasn't
for that, but I think it'd be a lot closer, probably
under 210 for sure. And then I ended up hiring
a fitness coach, Spencer Sharp. He is a good
friend, a great mentor, great coach. I highly
recommend him. I hired him for about six months
before starting my walk. And really what I wanted
to focus on with him was eating better and getting
my body overall from my toe muscles to my neck,
I guess, in shape and ready to go for the walk.
I mean, again, it was really full body focus,
but he was able to get my bench up to 300. I
was able to do 300 for three, squat 405 for three,
and deadlift 450 for four, which one of the big
things I wanted to do was join the 1000 pound
club, which is where The big three lifts, your
bench squat and deadlift, all your maxes equal
at least a thousand. I was able to get that up
to 15 or 1150. Sorry. My new goal is to get it
to 1500. So we'll see how that goes. And again,
I just knew I was going to be carrying that 20,
30 pound pack during the entire walk. And I was
also going to be pushing my, you know, hundred
plus pound cart through all different types of
terrain. And I just didn't ever want to hit a
point where I couldn't get past it. Not that
I wanted to get through everything super fast,
but I just want to make sure that, you know,
no matter what happened, I could get myself out
of it essentially. And it worked. So if he can
get me prepped to walk across the country, imagine
what he could do for you. The other thing during
my walk is my daily average for walking on days
I actually walked was 25. The max miles I ever
did in a day was 40, and that was through Joshua
Tree. And one of the things I noticed pretty
quickly off the bat was my running ability disappeared
very fast. About 200 miles into the walk, when
I was still in South Carolina, I stayed in a
town called Saluda. And they had me run the torch
for the Special Olympics. And it was just kind
of a reality check because I could barely make
it a mile of running, even though I'd been averaging
about 20 to 25 miles a day walking. It just made
me realize that endurance and speed and agility
are very different things. You know, before the
walk, the furthest I'd ever gone in a day was
a half marathon, so 13 .1 miles. And now, even
though I was doing 20, 25, almost 30 miles a
day, that was walking, not running. So just again,
made me realize that just because I could do
it in one way doesn't mean I could do it in another.
I think it's one of those things where it's like
these skills or traits are very domain specific.
They don't always translate. So there were a
few times on the walk when I was in hotel rooms
that I would try to run a little bit just to
keep that up. But I realized that my legs would
hurt very quickly from the impact and start burning.
And my cardio was just shot for the most part.
My breath, I felt like I got the wind knocked
out of me when I would start running. So that
was something that I was like, you know, I don't
think it's even worth it to try to keep this
going for now, this cardio. I'll just focus on
walking and really focus on mobility and stretching
during the days. And that was, again, a big thank
you to Steph Alston over at Santosha Yoga Collective.
She made my yoga and stretching routine for morning,
afternoon, and evening. I for sure always did
the morning. I tried to do the afternoon as much
as possible. And then the evening one, it just
depended on where I was sleeping for that night.
There were some nights where I was just so exhausted
by the end of the day that I didn't. And I really
wish that I'd focus more on that recovery aspect
rather than just getting ready and maintenance.
I think that recovery is something that I would
have liked to focus on more. In terms of the
actual walk itself, even there was a time when
I stayed at a gym called Slaughterhouse in Mississippi.
I tried to do a little bit of lifting. I got
under the bench. I did some squats. I did the
deadlift. I thought that it might be a good idea
to do some lifts. Then I got really worried that
I was going to hurt myself even with a little
bit of weight. Because any little bit of a tear,
sprain, or anything else I think would put me
out for at least a few days up to a few weeks.
And I just didn't want to risk it. So that was
the first time that I tried lifting during the
walk. And I did very little things occasionally
just to like stretch out or just to see what
it felt like when I would try to lift like a
10, 15, 20 pound dumbbell at the hotel gyms.
Just decided that it wasn't worth it after a
while. And really, just again, a testament to
Spencer and his training, all the uphill and
heavy load days where there were some days where
I didn't have the cart because it was broken
or I didn't want to push it or the shoulders
were going to be pretty small and I had to carry
more in my backpack while a host family took
the cart. I didn't really have any issues. It
definitely hurt. It was definitely rough. But
there was never a time where I was like, man,
this is unmanageable and I can't do this. So
I think that was the main thing, too, was all
the muscles that I was using on a daily basis
were getting continuously worked out. But the
overall everything else was kind of falling apart.
Then the very last day of my walk, August 31st,
2024, around 2, 3 p .m. in Los Angeles, I did
my last few miles of the walk. And once I made
it to the beach, there was about 100 feet from
me in the water. And I remember just going into
a full sprint. I didn't feel anything during
that time. I think it was just pure adrenaline
that pushed me through. And it was such a weird
out of body experience, really. The next day
we flew from Los Angeles back to San Francisco
and back to Julie's place. And I remember going
for a walk and everything just kind of hurt and
felt like everything hurt more. Right. And then
the following day, September 2nd, I remember,
well, I think, I think everybody went to work
that next day, but I tried going for a quick
run, just like a quick around the block, like
a quarter, third of a mile. And I barely made
it a hundred feet. Like I had the day before
I wasn't even trying to sprint or go super fast
or anything. But again, I was just out of breath.
My legs hurt. Everything was just achy. And then
I decided from there just to do two to four -ish
miles a day of walking just to kind of keep myself
moving and feel like I was doing something. I've
done 75 hard a couple times since I've ended
the walk. Definitely not – I don't even want
to say that I did 75 hard. I was doing two workouts
a day, at least walking or running or lifting
a little bit. I was reading. I was drinking the
water. But the diet wasn't really super dialed
in. It was more so of don't eat like garbage
and not eat five to six thousand calories a day
like I was doing on the walk. Because on the
walk, I thought I was going to come back pretty
skinny, but I was able to maintain around 270,
280 pounds. I think that was because I realized
that I didn't have to just eat tuna and veggie
sticks every day. Um, there's McDonald's and
other fast food places pretty readily available.
Um, and pop tarts became a huge staple, uh, near
the end. Shout out Andrew Kivett for reminding
me of, uh, the fact that pop tarts existed. Um,
so yeah, I, I thought I would be eating a lot
less cause I remember at one point during the
walk, actually, um, I should have mentioned this
earlier. I got down to about 260, 255, and I
started around 270. I think that that was also
something important to remember. My weights fluctuated
pretty significantly over the last five or six
years. That's also an interesting thing. I go
through weird periods of feast and famine. I
think I'd like to stay down closer to 220, 230.
But even now that I'm right now, I'm right around
275. Even though that's pretty... That's closer
to the 300 that I hit when I was in college than
my lowest weight of 225 -ish during COVID. I
still feel really good. I think that's something
that I've taken into consideration on all of
my weight loss and working out and everything
else is that my goal isn't to necessarily be
a certain weight or really even look a certain
way. It's just to feel good. Like I can do the
things that I want to do. I'm not quite there
in terms of running or the amount I want to lift,
et cetera, et cetera. But I think that that's
just part of the journey. So I think that's something
important to keep in mind. But yeah, I think
the other fun thing was in September of 2024,
the month after I finished my walk, the worst
thing was how tired I was. Just absolute exhaustion
mentally, physically, emotionally. I think that
a lot of it had to do with just the state I was
in during the walk. I talked to Andrew Kiven
and Mark Dudek about it a little bit because
I was like, guys, I feel like crap. I'm so tired.
Even a couple weeks into September, I'm like,
is this normal? Did you guys experience this?
And they both said, absolutely. I think Mark
said it. It was a tired that not even sleep could
touch. And I looked into it a little bit and
I did some noodling on it. I think a lot of it
had to do with the fact that I was drinking so
much caffeine and electrolytes and water every
day that my body was just confused on why all
of that suddenly stopped. Mixed in with the fact
that pretty much every day I was getting like
hits of adrenaline throughout. You know, I was
constantly in almost, I mean, it sounds dramatic,
but life and death situations. walking on the
side of highways and freeways and interstates
and staying with strangers. And I was constantly
on and have to be aware of everything going on
around me, no matter what, no matter where I
was. And I remember kind of experiencing that
and feeling that while I was in Vegas with Julie
and my friend for about a week and with my stepbrother
about a week, like I was just exhausted and tired.
Because I was with people that I knew, loved,
and cared about, and I felt the same way towards
me. So it was like that weird safety. Not that
the safety was negative, but that it gave me
that sense of security. Therefore, I didn't have
to keep numbing my feelings like I did with the
adrenaline that was going through. I'm not an
endocrinologist. I have no idea what I'm talking
about, but I think that that would be something
interesting to dive deeper on. If you know anything
about hormones and endorphins and all that kind
of stuff, let me know because I think that that'd
be fun to talk about more. But really, the crash
happened about two weeks into September. I was
on a cruise with Julie and her family. I was
falling asleep on the buses, on the planes, on
the trains, and the Ubers, taxis, everything.
And Julie kept kind of having to elbow me to
keep me awake, which I appreciated because I
didn't want to miss out on the experience. I
mean, it was expensive, and I don't know that
we're going to go to Greece and Turkey ever again.
We're on a cruise, so I didn't want to waste
the opportunity, the time that we're there. But
I was caffeinating myself. I was trying to get
the best sleep I possibly could. trying to relax
every chance I got without falling asleep. Um,
and halfway through, I got super, super sick.
I mean, cruises and boats and ships are just
cesspools of a bunch of different people and
people are kind of gross. Um, and I got very,
very sick, like to the point I was bedridden
and I felt it like whatever I'm making up the
days, but it was like Tuesday night. I felt like
crap at dinner. Um, and I barely ate. And then
the next day I woke up and went to breakfast
and I was like, I can't even really see straight.
Like I don't feel good. And then I miss out on
the excursions for that day. But I went back
to the room and I fell asleep and I remember
waking up throughout the day and I was just in
pain. I was vomiting. I was sweating profusely.
And I was like one of those pains when you're
sick where it's like, if I could throw myself
off of this boat, I probably would right now
just because it felt so bad. And again, that's
so dramatic. But it hurt. It did not feel good.
Then Julie got back that night. We went to the
urgent care hospital thing on the boat, which
huge scam. They charge ridiculous amounts of
money just to basically give me ibuprofen and
tell me to go rest. This is my my angst against
the health care system in general. It should
not cost a thousand dollars to make sure you're
not. dying and they didn't even run any tests
they ran me they ran a covid test and a flu test
and they came back negative so that was super
lame um thank god for insurance and going back
and forth anyway but after that it was fine i
stopped um taking electrolytes because again
i was doing um i wrote here two to ten electrolyte
packs a day especially during this the heat of
the summer That was mixed in with three to five
gallons of water every single day at least. So
it wasn't like I was just taking it very quickly.
And then two to six coffees or energy drinks
a day to keep me moving and going. The other
crappy thing that is hard for me with caffeine
is I really love the taste of coffee and energy
drinks. Like if there was a non -caffeinated
energy drink, I would probably buy a ton of them.
I mean, coffee has decaf, but there's still a
little bit of caffeine in there. I don't know
what it is, but bean juice. I just love that.
I love that stuff. So speaking of caffeine, check
the description for my code for Cold -Blooded
Caffeine Company. They were my sponsor during
the walk. I'm still in the affiliate with them.
Still love what they do. A portion of their proceeds
goes towards wildlife and forest conservation
over in coffee producing areas. So 10 out of
10 would recommend. their coffee. They're also
just have a bunch of cool flavors and everything
else. I need to put in a new order soon. Speaking
of which, but anyway, use code Ranger at checkout
or yeah, I think it's Ranger R -A -N -G -E -R
at checkout for 10 % off your order, by the way.
Now that I am back and I'm past that crappy one
month of feeling like garbage. I am focused on
recovery and getting back to where I was pre
-walk. I've been running a lot more. One of the
big goals that I have for the year is to run
1 ,000 miles in 2025. The early part of this
year has kind of sucked. I've gotten sick a few
times. I got bit by a cat, completely my own
fault. I'm so stupid. It was a family member's
cat. But they bit my left hand. Because they
were an inside cat. They'd gotten out. I picked
them up. They freaked out. They bit me. It was
a whole thing. I had to take antibiotics. It
sucked. Don't get bit by cats or animals in general.
But that took me out for about a week, week and
a half. So I'm very far behind on where I want
to be with running so far. I think I am about
120 miles into 1 ,000. Right now I should be
around 300 or so. So I am kind of stressed and
kind of worried that I'm not going to hit it.
making it happen um i'm able to run sub 10 minute
miles on good days which is fantastic i ran a
5k not that long ago um for a non -profit here
on the coast side in half moon bay and i got
like 29 58 so that's pretty cool that i'm able
to do um average under 10 minute miles um for
several miles in a row um Right now, for that
1 ,000 -mile goal, it's miles run in under 15
minutes. I am counting as good towards that goal,
so I can't do miles that I've walked. But it
also lets me have some leeway in terms of, you
know, I did two miles, I did two miles out, and
then a mile back, I wasn't feeling great. Like,
I want to make sure I give myself some grace
on that. Uh, one of the other big goals that
I have is to hike Mount Whitney with some friends.
We put in a fur permit, none of us got it. So
hopefully next year we can, but we still want
to hike a few other, um, mountains and, um, taller
climbs in California this year. So that's still
a goal. And one of my other goals is to hit 1500
miles or 1500 pounds for squat bench and deadlift.
Like I hit 1150 before I ended. That is where
I want to be now. And I'm going consistently.
We have a gym membership over here on the coast
side. And I think that that is pretty much it.
I hope that I went through everything that people
would want to hear about for this. This is almost
longer than my normal episodes for business -related
content or mindset and everything else. So let
me know what you guys think. I know most people
probably still follow the podcast for walk -related
content. Or maybe some of the newer people are
here more so for the business content. But I
hope to do a good mix of the two in ways that
are useful for you. I really think that in terms
of the final thoughts, the notes that I have
here is walking across the country isn't just
physically demanding. It really does rewire you.
And I think that that is a big thing to keep
in mind for other big goals. It's not just about
the obvious things. It's not the external. It's
the internal that happens. I didn't even talk
anything about the physical or the mental or
emotional challenges that I went through on the
walk. Maybe that's for another episode. But the
goals that you set for yourself, I really do
think should change who you are as a person,
not your values or what you believe or what you
want out of life. But I think that it should
really change what you think is possible for
yourself and what you're capable of. The other
thing here is recovery takes time and intention.
I think that is just something you need to trust
the process for. You can't really rush the comeback
or you can't rush progress, but you can do the
things that encourage it, if that makes sense.
Another thing here is breakdown to breakthrough.
Post -walk, I mean, again, there's some mental
and emotional challenges going through that,
but... Um, now it's just about building back
better. So I think that's pretty much it. I don't
want to go too far over the 30. So let me know
your thoughts again. Um, if you have a few moments
to leave a review for the podcast, I'd super
appreciate it. Just whatever podcast platform
you're listening to this on takes a few seconds,
a few swipes of the thumb, and it means the world.
You don't even have to write too much. Leave
the review and hopefully this will push it out
to more people that want to hear the podcast,
that want to be a part of what we're building
here, the Never Peak Project, which is just a
constant reminder that no matter what mountains
you climb, no matter what you do in your life,
there's always another mountain. There's always
something else you can do. And really our goal
in life is to get better at climbing those mountains
so that we can see better peaks. The great thing
about climbing the mountain is at the top you
get a view. Thank you guys again for listening.
If you have any questions, comments, concerns,
emotional outbursts, please let me know. My email
will be in the show notes and description ranger
at within range coaching .com. I'd love to hear
what you guys think. And remember the best is
yet to come. As long as you make the decision
every single day to never settle, never quit
and never peak. I'll see you guys in the next
one.