The MOVEMENT Movement Episode 164: From Couch Potato to Ultra Marathoner?
From Couch Potato to Ultra Marathoner?
– The MOVEMENT Movement with Steven Sashen Episode 164 with Randy Kreill
Cancer happened in late 2004, less than two years after Randy Kreill resigned from the work force with nearly 24 years towards a pension with the Dayton Daily News. After leaving the task of building his advertising sales "territory", he dove into full-time parenting to his three daughters. Since then, building a family with his wife, Megan, has been top priority and the greatest gift.
After Randy’s second thyroid cancer surgery, he asked the surgeon how a relatively healthy male gets that type of cancer at age 42. The doctor’s answer was nonsensical; "for all we know it falls from the sky.” Randy smelled BS and searched high and low for answers, for years. Slowly his wellness improved. That years long search for the truth led him to "connecting most of the dots" after reading Born To Run in early 2010. While he'd already downsized homes in '99, during the post cancer years, his interest in minimalism grew as he learned of the health benefits of the Tarahumara lifestyle. He was searching for the ideal "hobby" and found it to be ultra-running, minimalist. As much a lifestyle as a "sport", Randy has completed 25 official 100 mile foot races, all in minimalist footwear, most in sandals sans socks, and all on a completely plant food fueled nutrition plan since December 10, 2010. He is currently working to finish building a home he’s been in for well over 20 years, hoping to downsize again.
As a full-time parent in the suburbs of Ohio, in 2011, Randy took up ultra-running and never stopped. "Born To Run, Experiments in Truth" began then, with no letting up. While the average ultra-runner is into it for about 3.5 years, he’s run over 80 ultra marathons, with just one early overuse injury requiring medical intervention during the summer of '11. Randy has adopted the best habits of the Raramuri as a long term experiment. This includes their more cooperative and less competitive mindset, along with barefoot, ultra-distances, sandals, and plant sourced foods. Since that stress fracture to the fibula during his first 50K, he’s avoided spending a penny with chiropractors and orthopedists.
Randy has been a Xero super fan since the early days of "Invisible Shoes." He took "Run Free" literally and has been actively helping Xero Shoes grow via their affiliate program. In return, his many race fees are covered via referrals without impacting his family’s budget. Not only does he get thousands of miles from a pair of Xero shoes or sandals, but he’s also a regular wearer, tester, and reviewer, so he has a Xero product for virtually everything. Randy learned quickly that if his financial investment was low for running, he could run many more races in beautiful places, meeting wonderful people all along.
Listen to this episode of The MOVEMENT Movement with Randy Kreill about transitioning from a couch potato to an ultra-marathoner.
Here are some of the beneficial topics covered on this week’s show:
- How running barefoot makes you a better runner and promotes living a healthier life.
- Why you should only focus on getting healthier, instead of the disease, if you’re diagnosed with cancer.
- How easy it is to lose sight of your health when you’re consumed by your career.
- Why animal sourced foods mess with your body’s chemistry.
- How you need to have a good diet to have healthy bones.
Connect with Randy:
Guest Contact Info
Instagram@randykreill
YouTube
Connect with Steven:
Website
Twitter@XeroShoes
Instagram@xeroshoes
Facebookfacebook.com/xeroshoes