#13: Brad Kelley, Ultra Endurance Athlete - From a wheelchair to an Ultra Triathlon, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and avoiding victim mentality

She got to the point where she was picking me up two and three times a day just because that was the mindset that I had. I was determined to get out of this wheelchair. And that's, you know, you're at the bottom of the barrel. You can't even walk. And knowing what I was able to accomplish before, you know, being active and all that, there had to be a better place. And I had that mindset that I'm not staying in this wheelchair no matter what. No matter what these doctors said, I'm getting out of it.

On today's episode of Heading west, we have ultra endurance athlete and cancer survivor Brad Kelly. Steve, you're a fellow Ironman. How impressed were you with Brad?

It is amazing with Brad overcoming cancer, being paralyzed in a wheelchair, and doing over 16 Ironmans and a double and a triple Ironman, and he's planning on a quadruple Ironman. And he does not have the victim's mentality, and it's amazing what he can do. Anybody listening to this podcast will be energized to overcome any adversity you have in your life.

That's so true. I joked on the episode. I just ran 2 1/2 miles a couple days ago and I barely made it through. And he's talking about doing five Ironmans back to back to back to back to back. I think that was five, but that sounds insane. But it's also really motivating to say, okay, well, maybe my goals aren't as high as they should be in if I'm setting a goal for running a 5K, that's probably a little too low. Maybe I need to bump this thing up and I can overcome whatever physical pain that I have, especially if Brad can do it. And he makes the point of saying, I'm nothing special, man.

I keep going.

I refuse to quit, and I have a why not me Mentality.

And he wants to shoot for the stars.

Yep.

And not set a limit on his goals.

Yep.

It was amazing. It was a great podcast.

Well, let's head west. Stay tuned as we discuss going from a wheelchair to ultra Iron Mans, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, and avoiding victim mentality with our guest, Brad Kelly. This episode is brought to you by Skyline Point Capital. If you're anything like me, you're always considering where to invest your money. Stocks, bonds, crypto, rental home. The list is literally endless. As we've all seen over the past year, the stock market is unstable. The housing market is just weird, and inflation is on the rise. In times like these, the clear place to invest. My money is in multifamily real estate, AKA apartment complexes.

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Well, this is a conversation we've been waiting to have for a couple months. Thankfully for us, you were coming through the area, some speaking engagements, so you're able to stop by for our first ever live Heading west episode.

Lucky us.

So where are you heading and what are these speaking engagements you have coming up?

So I came up here to celebrate my dad's birthday and in the interim I was like, you know, I had a call to get a couple of speaking gigs and so on Wednesday I'm going to be speaking out in Minden and Blue Hill, Nebraska.

Right on.

Well, we're excited to have you here this morning, so thanks for joining us.

Of course.

I'd love to start our conversation 2003 time frame where all this really sort of takes off. Can you kind of walk us through what's happening in your life in 2001, 2, 3 and then that kind of cataclysmic moment in 2023 or 22,003?

I'm kind of right.

Yeah.

Right.

Hey Jake, before we do that.

Yeah.

I want it from one Iron man to the other one. Glad you're here, Brad. You're here.

So in 2003 I was basically just living life, just, I mean I was playing baseball with kids half my age, just working out, doing things, enjoying family life. I had a four year old son at the time and just kind of living life a normal life. And over a three day period my hands went numb, went to my elbows and I basically just fell flat on my face. I was paralyzed. I was rushed to the hospital emergency room where, you know, they kind of did some tests and stuff and they said we don't know what's wrong. So after that they admitted me up into the critical care unit in the hospital and from there it pretty much just took off. I got every test that you could possibly get done, poked prodded they took about 50 vials of blood and they came back about four days later and they said that I had this rare autoimmune disorder called Guillain Barre syndrome. It's, it affects 1 in 100,000 people. I happen to be the lucky one. I always say, you know, it's. I couldn't be the guy that won the new car or anything. I got this, this gps, you know, I got to deal with this. So anyway, the, the remedy for it was they said you've got to get a five day blood transfusion. You pretty much don't have a choice that's going to reverse the effects of the Guillain barrel. And as three of these doctors were leaving, one looked back at me and said, hey, there's, there's one more thing to this. We don't know how this is going to affect you. It affects everybody differently. You know, this is. We don't know if you'll ever walk normal again. So obviously at that point I knew my life was going to change. Made it through the five day blood transfusion and I left the hospital about three weeks later, went home in a wheelchair. Obviously I wasn't walking. And from there it was just a boring life at home for about two months. I didn't do a whole lot. I watched a lot of tv. I got sick of watching tv. I mean, some people love watching tv, but when you watch it for two months, it gets old quick. Yeah, it gets old really quick. And that's not me.

So what, what's going through your mind as they're telling you? Probably not going to walk again, at least very well.

Right.

If maybe not at all.

Right.

What's going through your mind through that process of life's normal, life's good, going on my merry way to.

Right.

This is completely different.

So I think my biggest concern was, like I said at the time, I had a four year old child. And so I'm thinking, am I going to be able to run with this kid, play ball with him? You know, all those things as a family man, you think about and you think, man, how am I gonna be able to do all those things that a dad should do with this kid? You know, go fishing? I mean, I didn't know what my life was going to be. I, I really didn't. And so I was, you know, confused, start spiraling downhill. It's like, oh man, what am I going to do?

How do you, how did you handle it mentally, exactly?

Yeah, and I probably didn't handle it very good. But you Know, it's one of those things where. When you get that mindset. Okay. So that mindset is there, but I always look at it as you get set up for these things. Right. It's smaller things in life. And not to say that was a small thing, but once that happens, then you go, okay, I did that. Okay. Now I. I need to move on to the next step.

So what. What happens after you get home? Okay. TV's not doing it for you anymore. Is there a flip that. A switch that flips at some point?

Yeah.

Where you're like, all right, I'm not.

Gonna do this, is what I like to.

Yeah, I'm done with this.

Yeah. That was about two and a half months since I left the hospital. And right before I left, there was a lady that had given me a card that, hey, you've got rehab. Right. I mean, when you. When you're ready. And I knew I wasn't ready, but I called her anyway. I was like, I've had enough of this. And so I basically just called her and I said, hey, I'm ready. Come and get me. And so she came over in the van, you know, lowered me down into the pool and stuff, and with her hands on my hands, chest up against my back, we walked 25 yards across the pool. And I was exhausted. I couldn't believe how far I'd gone down. So basically, I'm having to learn to walk again at 35 years old. And your nerves are tingling and pain, Pain, tingling, numbness. Yeah. And I still have that even today. Sometimes. We'll talk about it a little bit later. But even in some of the races that I do, I have the same tingling and numbness and pain that I've. I had experienced back then. Yeah, that. I think that. But going back to your question, my biggest concern was, was really my. My child and my family. I mean, what am I going to do for an occupation? What am I. You know, it's those questions just start going through your mind.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And was it. How long did it take to get from. Okay, now you're just moving. You're relearning to walk.

Yeah.

To. I've got this idea to do more. To do competitive.

That was quite a while. I knew it was going to be a long time. Yeah. It's like I always say, you have to look at the things that are possible in the moment. And obviously, there's no way that was going to happen. It was. I was. First of all, I had to learn how to walk. And then it was get back to work at my regular job, and then get back into the gym or, you know, it's that process. It's like the smaller steps that you have to take to get to the bigger step. I always say it's the. You know, you're down there at the bottom of the mountain, and you look up and you go, there's no way I can get to it. But with a lot of little steps, you can make it to the top.

That's good.

What would be your typical therapy first for what you have and when they had you in the water, is it a matter of massages or moving the body or how does that work?

Yeah, so that's what it was, is. It was a matter of just really getting my body up and mo. I mean, I could wheel around in my wheelchair, my upper body, I could. I could move around. Like I could move around on my child, in my house, you know, in my wheelchair and stuff. But everything was set up. I was sleeping downstairs. I mean, I. I wasn't even sleeping in a bed. I was sleeping on the couch because I couldn't go upstairs. It's. Yeah, it just didn't make any sense for me to go up there and try to bring the wheelchair up there. So it's. You just had to adjust and all that. But just over time, you know, you started out at 25 yards. And she got to the point where she was picking me up two and three times a day, just because that was the mindset that I had. I was determined to get out of this wheelchair. And that's. You know, you're at the bottom of the barrel. You. You can't even walk. And knowing what I was able to accomplish before, you know, being active and all that, there had to be a better place. And I had that mindset that I'm not staying in this wheelchair no matter what. No matter what these doctors said, I'm getting out of it.

Is that something that was ingrained in you? Is that something that's naturally in you? Because there's a lot of people who have. That have some sort of setback like you've had, and decide, this is what I. The cards I've been dealt, and I'm okay with it.

Right.

And some people decide to push back and say, no, this is not good enough.

And there's many people that had the same thing that I had that do just exact. Exactly that. They just said, you know what? This is my life. I'm just going to live in a wheelchair. I mean, there's. There's they say 3 to 10% of the people will actually die from this thing. So there was. But I'm not one to live in fear. And especially after this. After this happened, my life completely changed. And I. I say this all the time. You know, sometimes we look at life and we go, man, why did this happen to me? Why? Why? Why? But I always look at it now as why not me? You know, people ask, why me? Why me? I just say, why not me? And. And from that point on, I knew my life was going to change. And now I just have a mindset. I go ahead and doubt me. I'm going to make it happen.

Yeah.

I mean, that's just the mindset I have. It's like, you know, my family, they don't even bother doubting me anymore because they're just like, no, we don't want to say that to him.

What were they thinking while you were going through this and before you said, okay, I'm gonna make this happen? What were they thinking?

I think that they were skeptical. I mean, you know, the doctors are saying one thing and not to take anything away from doctors, but they're going to tell. Tell you, you know, hey, you know, this is the way it might be. And, you know, I'm sure my wife at the time, you know, she was just like, okay, this is going to change our life and everything. But again, I did. I just. I knew that there had to be something better out there. And so that's why I just. Like I said, I would go three times a week or three times a day. Sometimes she would just come pick me up. And we had kind of a fast process. She said, normally it takes about six months. It took us about two.

Wow.

So, yeah, I heard from some doctors that nobody on the bottom of their foot has an expiration date on it. Nobody has.

Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, that is so true. Yeah.

So Steve has. Has sort of teed it up. You've since run a number of iron men.

A few. Yeah.

Walk us through. I want to hear from.

And not just an iron man. He's done some crazy iron man, which I'm sure we'll get.

We'll get to that. Walk us through that. Okay, now I'm starting to gain some mobility to first Iron man. What's that process like?

That was quite a while. Like, like I said, I went back to work and then started playing softball. I was a play a lot of softball and baseball and stuff. And then I was running. And that took about six years before I actually was even considering Doing an iron man. What really happened was I was in my gym and there was a guy that had on an Iron man shirt. And I was like, wow, that's so cool. And that would be so awesome to do that. You know, just kind of. That.

Yeah.

That fantasy moment, right? And why not me? Yeah. And he goes. I go, iron Man. I go. And I just went over and talked to him. I was like, man, that's so cool, man. And he goes, you could do it. You look like you're in shape. And I was like, you have no idea what I have, man. I never told that I couldn't walk, so already I'm kind of doubting myself, right? And. And he goes, no, man, he goes, I'll get you through it. And little did I know he was a triathlon coach. Whoa. So I started out, he said, man, three weeks, I got a triathlon that I'm coaching all these athletes. It's like, three weeks. Are you kidding? And this is a little sprint triathlon, but you know as well as I do, yeah, it's like, it's a 500 meter swim, and you don't think 500 meters is a lot, but when all you did was just like, play in the pool and stuff. I mean, I'm out there about 200 yards in, and I'm huffing and puffing, and, you know, I'm holding on to the little kayak or the canoe or whatever was out there. And he's like, man, you okay? And I was like, you know, breathe. You got asthma? And I was like, yeah, yeah, I got you.

That's it.

I didn't have asthma. I just. I just wanted to make myself feel good, and so I made it through that. There's four people left in the lake when I got out of that sprint triathlon, and I started in about the middle of the pack, and I got on my bike and did the 12 miles and ran the race, you know, and I got to the very end, and I was a fairly decent runner. Got to the very end. You know how you always look up the list to see how you do right after a race? Yeah. And I looked and I was like, second from the bottom in my age group.

Right. And so.

But I finished it, so I was so excited. And I did a couple more of those, and, you know, I advanced to the half ironman and made it to the world championship. To the half ironman. And Steve, you know, the. The ultimate goal is to do in a full iron man. If you're. If you're a triathlete and so anyway, I went into the doctor, this is a couple weeks after I finished a 70.3, a half half iron man and went into my doctor and I was like. Same doctor that told me I wasn't, you know, most likely gonna walk right now. I support in the shirt and everything. You know, I'm like sticking my chest out and. And he goes, he goes, what do you got going on? I go, well, I was thinking about doing a full Iron Man. I don't think that's possible with what you have. Wow. Again, you know, this doubt. Yeah, yeah, this doubt comes in my mind. So I go, well, and I pointed at my chest and I said, I'm going to be the one to change that. Yeah. And I walked out and I signed up for Iron Man Louisville. And four hours later, it was supposed to take, you know, four months later is supposed to take place four hours later. So I walked out the door and four hours later I was signed up.

For Iron Man Louisville and it was four months away.

Yeah.

Are you crazy?

Yeah, yeah.

I think we've established that.

Yeah. I think you'll learn throughout this conversation there's a little bit of craziness.

Yeah.

So, I mean, I'd done the half and I was like, well, surely I can do full. And so anyway, yeah, it's. It was one of those deals and I just started training really hard. I was. Somebody doubts me, I'm going to make sure that I not prove them wrong, but at least try to exceed.

I want to go back to the first triathlon you did, the sprint. Tell me about when you finished. What was that like when you hit the finish line?

That is pretty amazing. And I think that's when I realized that there's bigger plans for me. I really did because I could feel just the presence of. I mean, just the feeling of, man, I've done this. You know what I'm saying? All this time, these guys were saying, you aren't going to walk. You might not even walk. And to think that I just finished something that even very few people do. A small triathlon like that, to think somebody even, or to think I even did that was pretty amazing.

The feeling of crossing the finish line, it's so hard to describe.

Yeah.

But when you get across, there's this euphoria that comes across and all that doubt that I couldn't do it, I wasn't going to do it, but in fact I did it. Did it make you want to keep signing up for iron or.

Oh, I signed up for one as soon As I got home, I wasted no time. I can do two, right. I mean, I always say if. If you're still alive, you got a chance. Right? I mean, it's. So that's. That's kind of where I was at. But, yeah, I just started signing up for a couple more sprints, and I. I think I only did, you know, the distance, but I only did one Olympic. And then I was like, I'm gonna go do. I did Iron man or Half Iron man in New Orleans. Had to swim with alligators. And I'm not a very good swimmer. And it's just like. That's a whole nother story.

Is that the obstacle course part of that?

Yeah, pretty much. It's like, you know, I'm thinking, man, this is going to be great. I'll do this first Half Iron Man. I'll finish on the red carpet on Bourbon Street. I'm thinking, yeah, how great is this going to be?

Great.

And about two months before I see a article that said there was a child that got his arm chopped off by an alligator. And I was like, wait a minute, I'm not a very good swimmer. Yeah, I'm going to be out there by myself in the same lake that there's. That was. I wanted to swim a lot faster, let's just put it that way.

Personal record.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. Yeah. So that's got to be this. Your perspective on life has to be completely different than, you know, guys like Steve and I, you know, I at least have never had something that I thought would set me back to where, okay, I can't do something, or I'm close to death or whatever the case may be. And I. I can imagine your perspective on life now is, wow, look at the cool things I still get to do despite the setbacks.

It's like a second chance of life, you know, I mean, and that's why I say I'm blessed no matter what I've. I do from this point on, because just getting that second chance, I mean, from the. The man upstairs, it's like, you know, he. There was just bigger plans for me. You know, it's like you kind of. I look at it as a hum. Whole life. Not to say that I had that, but I just went about life. But now I look at it and I have an opportunity to speak to tens of thousands of people, you know, and encourage people to do things that maybe are a little bit out of their comfort zone. And to think that I've been able to do that just because of what happened there's. My life completely changed and that's why I say I would never change what happened for anything.

Have you seen in the triathlon in the community itself you see all these different types of people, tall, short, skinny, heavy and etc people that have physical issues and etc. When I was racing I, I, the sport to me was a very much a pay it forward sport. Everybody helped you.

Yeah.

No matter. Did you experience the same thing?

Not necessarily from my standpoint now as far as coaching and different things like that. Yes. But I think it's probably been more from me telling other people hey, you can do it. I mean there's been times where I've walked along somebody in a long Ironman that there's no way they're going to make it unless somebody is just walking alongside them and you know, two or three miles and I might tell just a small part of my story and they're like I'll see you at the finish line.

Isn't that cool?

Yeah, it really is. And that's why I say, you know, you don't realize how blessed you are and the impact that you might make on something like you know, just things that happen, it's, it's amazing. It really is.

I was racing in Kona and I came upon upon a guy that was walking just like you were talking about. He was in my age group.

Yeah.

And we're competitors trying to finished the race and we became great friends and he helped me because I was the one that was walking. And so he took off and guess what? I found him walking so I helped him. It was, it was a great experience.

It really is. It's a, it's. And not to say other communities aren't close like that but the Iron man community, the ultra community that we'll talk about later, but it's all those, you just get to know everybody. I mean I can go anywhere in the world and probably have a place to stay now.

Yeah, yeah.

Speaking of racing.

Okay.

I ran two and a half miles yesterday and about died. Yeah, I'm, I'm not in running shape, let's put it that way. How are you keeping your mind in the right spot through these? I mean walk us through. Okay. What is an Ironman as far as distance? Just so listeners can understand.

Right.

Then how are you in the middle of your run or your, or your bike? Are you keep able to keep yourself going? I feel like you guys have like an inside joke. You guys know this.

We're going to leave you out of this. You're not part of It.

So you can.

I intend to run an Ironman at some point.

So everybody else is watching, but don't.

Tell me when I'm older.

Yes.

So a regular Ironman is a 2.4 mile swimming and then you go 112 miles on your bike and then you run a full marathon as soon as you get done with that.

Easy peasy.

Right, Exactly. And you have to finish in less than 17 hours in order for it to be a, a, a full iron man. Official Iron Man. Okay. So anyway. But you're asking how. As far as mindset.

Yeah.

First of all, when I get to the swim, I'm just hoping to get through it because that's like the worst part for me.

Swimming.

Yeah. I, I spend very little time with swimming and fortunately I have a decent enough upper body and endurance that I just kind of dredged through it and I know I'm going to be behind after the swim, but I, I don't, I don't spend a whole lot of time there. I'd rather get on my bike and ride a couple hundred miles.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I feel like I swim like a tugboat.

Just.

Yeah.

Just slow and steady.

Yeah. Yeah, it really is. And then on the run, you know, it's, I mean, you just pedal it. It's just, I've done it so many times and Steve, you can probably say the same thing. It's. Once you start getting out there, I really enjoy being on my bike. It's just relaxing to me. And so that's really not the hard part of it. When I get into some of the really, really long races and you're, you know, you're biking in the middle of the night, you know, and you see weird creatures out there and stuff, and skeletons, you know, in the, in the woods over there, you know, that you probably need to go take a rest. Yeah. But just the whole mindset again. Things completely changed when, when all this came down the Guillain beret, my mindset changed from I'll just live life to now I know that pretty much anything is possible. I just do. I mean, they always say the, the biggest distance to overcome is the distance between, you know, your two ears. It's that six inches.

Yeah.

And if you get that mindset right, you can go a lot of places. The mental game is more, it means more than the physical part of you. Sure. Yeah.

It's like they say about the Navy SEALs that, that when you're at your limit As a Navy SEAL, you got 40%.

40%?

Yeah.

44. 40% left in you.

Yeah.

And you have to keep thinking that when you're on the run, there's more. There's more there.

Yeah, there really is.

How do you prevent a victim mentality through this whole process, Especially early on, obviously. But even now, because now you're battling another right now, I wouldn't say injury, but something you're battling now. How do you prevent a victim mentality or a why me? Mentality?

Are you saying. I'm assuming what you're saying is the victim mentality. Like, how can I prevent from being bitter? Yeah.

Like, why me? Like, like I just beat something and now I've got something else to deal with. What didn't I have enough?

I like to use the example. And this might sound funny, but, you know, some people like to drink the Gatorade, other people likes to drink the haterade.

Yeah.

And you know, you can hold onto it for so long. Right. And I always use the example. You, you can hold it out here this long. Right. And a minute, an hour. But try holding that for a day. At a certain point you gotta just drop it and move on with your life. And that's why I say the hater aid. I'm just not going to do it. I just refuse to be bitter towards anybody. I mean, I was bullied in high, in junior high and all that, and I could go back and I could be bitter to all those people that are, but it's simply not, it's just not worth it. I like to stay positive and remain focused.

Yeah.

Even a woe is me, though mentality is hard to not fall into. All these things are happening.

Right.

Why can't I just get a positive break?

Right.

But it seems like you found a way of like, okay, throw whatever you want at me. I'm gonna find my way through it, you know?

Yeah.

And I, you know, and whether that comes from just my, my home life and stuff like that, I had, I had a great home I loved and it just, I. All that combined, it just, I'm. I just refuse to be anything but positive. I'm not gonna let something steal my joy. I'm not gonna let somebody steal my kindness. I, I know how blessed I am. I'm even more blessed now that I've had this opportunity to have a second chance.

How was your wife in this process and training with. On Ironman and all the hours you put in?

Right.

My wife didn't like it. I found that out later when I said, I'm done, and she said, praise God, you're done.

Right, Right. Well, that's probably why we're divorced now. Yeah.

No, I just.

I'm kidding. No, we still get along great. And that's the other thing is I went through a divorce. And even to this day, why be better? It's just simply not worth it. But she was good about it. She was very supportive, so. And my family in general was supportive, other than just saying I was crazy, they were pretty supportive.

I think crazy is a good thing. It's a badge of honor.

Right?

Yeah.

Anybody doing Iron Man's crazy.

Right.

Just own it.

Right, Right. Exactly.

What did. What did training look like for the two of you? This is a question for you as well, Steve. What did training look like on a regular basis? Let's just say for an ironman, I know you've done more than just an ironman.

Right.

Which sounds insane, that, like an iron Man. My brother did an ironman this year, which we're so proud of him for, but, like, I didn't think there was anything more than that or longer distance.

Right.

How did you guys train for an ironman? What's an average day?

How many hours did you. Would you put in for?

When I was training heavily, it'd be every day, Monday through Friday, four hours a day.

Okay.

Eight hours on Saturday and six on Sunday. Rinse and repeat for how long? You said that was probably nine months.

Holy moly.

I had some goals and I had to learn how to swim when I was 58. So it's.

Now.

You know why I swing, like, swim like a tugboat. So I had to make up some things. And. But it. That was. And I had the triathlon widow.

Yeah.

Yeah.

On top of being married and having kids and running a business. Good gracious.

Crazy.

I didn't train that much. I'm just gonna be honest with you. But Steve's a lot faster than I am too.

Yeah.

So I'm happy to finish. Steve is the guy that wants to get first place. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, just for me to finish after all I've been through is an accomplishment for me. Yeah, yeah.

I remember watching the Iron Man.

It.

Remember if you remember the wild, wild world of sport.

Yeah, I do.

Do you remember that?

Yes.

On a Saturday. And you look at these guys and you're going, you're nuts.

Yeah, I desert.

And they're. They're swimming. And this was. It was basically the world championship at Kona in Hawaii. And you'd watch this thing and you're going, these guys are absolutely crazy. Something's mentally wrong.

And.

Mentally wrong. And lo and behold, you can do it. It's like what Brad said. It's all up here.

Right.

And you start one step at a time. One step at a time.

Speaking of mentally wrong, this year it sounds like you're planning on doing a 5x ironman and hopefully a 10x ironman next year.

I hope so.

Talk us through. Yeah. What is it? Is it like, okay, do an Ironman day off? Another Ironman day off. What is it? It's not like consecutive, is it?

Yeah, it's. So my plan is to go to France and it will be a 12 mile swim.

Is that because that's the only place that's legally allowed to do?

They have a couple other places. I mean there's usually about 10 people that do it in the, in this. They have other events that are going on, but usually about eight to 10 people would do the five, but it's a 12 mile swim. And then you go 560 miles on your bike.

Oh my gosh.

And then you run five marathons back to back. So 131 miles.

That's incredible.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's a great. I mean, yes.

And people ask me that, when is it going to stop? Like, why do you do this to yourself? You know, I still hear the doctor's voices saying you aren't going to be able to walk again. You know, you're going to have this disability for the rest of your life. And not to say I'm trying to defy the doctors or say you're wrong or whatever, but there's a point in my life where I just said, you know what, I'm going to do all I can. I'm going to make sure I have no regrets. I don't want to look back and go, man, I wish I would have at least tried that. And that's so true about people in life. They won't even try something because they're afraid of failing. Whereas if you got to get to the starting line before you even get to the finish line, why not at least try?

Yeah. There's this old Hunter S. Thompson quote that I love. It's like my life quote, but I'm going to butcher it. But something to the effect of I don't want to end up then in my life in a well preserved body. I want to come in sliding sideways, dust everywhere.

Yeah.

You know, wrinkled skin and saying, that was a ride.

Right.

You know, like use.

Safe use.

Yeah, exactly. Use everything that I've got Right until the very end.

Right. My saying. And it's along the same line is I want to get to the very end and I want to be like burning on fumes, man. Just like, you know, I'm in that car and I'm still on fumes. And they go, man, he had a good life. He, he's not going to have any regrets in his life.

Yeah, it's a. In our family, Jake knows about this but we have tattooed on a second Timothy 4:7.

Okay.

I fought the good fight. I finished the race. I kept the faith. Yeah, that's. That's how we want to. Yeah, we want to keep the faith all the way to the end of the race.

Absolutely. Yeah. That is so true.

What have you. This is more of a, let's say meta question. What's the, what have you learned about the, the human spirit through this process and the what, what the human spirit can endure through? I mean again you're almost paralyzed, right. Potentially almost dead right to now doing. We're talking about you're going to do a 10x Ironman potentially next year. And I think you said Mexico. We talked offline. What have you learned about the human spirit and what you're, what you're capable of through this?

I think the human body is amazing and unless you push your body, you won't know what it's capable of. So many people hold back from pushing the body. I have this pain threshold that's amazing obviously, but it's one of those things where I just push through the pain. It's like I'm already in this race, I might as well finish. What's a little bit more pain? I mean I've done things with stitches in my foot or a broken foot or a broken shoulder. Race is one eyed and all. I mean I just, I'm not quitting. I got stitches in the middle of a race one time. I'm just like he said, it's going to take 30 minutes for this painkiller to kick in. And he goes, you want it? I go, nope, just sew that baby up. And he sewed it up and I was on my way. So it's just the pain threshold. But again the spirit of just anybody and the mindset is so important I can't express it enough.

What do you think is, what do you think holds people back from achieving something like this? I mean, I think you allude to it that it's probably the mindset, right. Physically most people can do maybe not Iron man, but something beyond what they think they can do. You think that's the mindset's what keep people, keeps people from doing great things.

Like this, I think not just the mindset, but I think it's the fear of failure. I don't know if you've ever heard this, but 87% of people think they can't accomplish them because they're afraid of failing. And so you put that into perspective. Think about all the people who, once they finish something, you know this as well. How many people say, man, there's no way I can do a marathon. But yet you start out small, you 5k, 10k, and you work your way up. You might have to walk it, but guess what? You can still finish it. And once you finish that, you become unstoppable with your mindset. That's just kind of where I'm at. I. I just think that people don't push their body or they're just. Whatever it is.

Yeah.

You know, people say, man, there's no way I can open up a restaurant. There's no way I can do this. Whatever it is, it doesn't have to be in sports business, whatever it is. I just feel like people hold back from that because they're. They're so afraid of failing.

Yeah.

You see, like when you finish a race, like an Ironman race, and people didn't think they could do that. So on their first Ironman race, you finish it, your body is on fire, you sit down, and your first thought is, I'm never going to do that again. I'm never, never again am I going to do an Iron Man. You wake up the next morning, oh, yeah. And it's like my scroll on the.

Internet to see what the next one is.

Morning after you say, I'm never gonna do it, you're on the Internet looking for the next Iron Man.

Yeah.

And it's that back to achieving something. It could be a sprint, it could be a 5k or 10k. Once you get that feeling of I accomplished something, it just feeds on itself. It is the craziest thing.

Yeah, it really is.

Case in point, my brother did his Ironman. I think he did Maryland or Virginia. This is a guy who just never did any sort of. I mean, he played football, you know, but that was about the extent of his athletic. And we did BMX and stuff growing up, but he never ran, never lifted weights. And then just all of a sudden last year decided, I want to do this thing. Did it complete. It said, I will never do an Ironman again. This week he texted me and we were just catching up. He's like, yeah, he's like, I think I'm gonna do Ironman sprints every year of my life. And I just did a three mile run. Barefoot.

Yeah, barefoot.

Barefoot.

I don't.

And I was like, what about like stepping on pebbles and rocks? Like I step on Lego, my kids Legos and I lose my mind. How are you running on the streets barefoot? It's like, it's just in your head, man.

Yeah.

Oh, you're so right.

Yeah. I don't know that I'd ever run barefoot, though. I did that on Lake Placid one time and I ended up getting stitches during the middle of the race of that too. So it's like the swim was cut up, cut back, and I was at the furthest end that you could be at in Lake Placid. I had to run all the way down the road into transition, and I ended up having to get four or five stitches in my foot during that race. I was like, oh, yeah. Mud and everybody.

Just not good. No, not good.

What's next?

I mean, you're obviously you're going to keep doing Ironmans, right? Is there any other obstacle that you want to accomplish that's maybe outside of.

The Ironman, outside of the triathlons and stuff? Yeah, more than anything. I mean, I want to finish those, but I've felt a call to like, give back more also. I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro over in Africa.

Yeah.

Why wouldn't you?

Yeah, so I've already done.

Why not?

I know. Why not.

Yeah.

I love that.

That was in 2019. And that was quite amazing also. I mean, it was one of the seven highest. It's highest freestanding mountain in the world. So it's. But doctors again said I couldn't do that either. And so. But I was supposed to do Everest base camp in 2020 and see what it was like to get. And then I was supposed to be in Russia this past year, but obviously with all the complications that didn't happen. But I'd like to do some more mountain climbing.

Yeah.

And just see where it can go from there and.

Yeah, go ahead.

That's pretty impressive.

That is impressive. I'm starting to think I had a goal this year of. Of running a. A half marathon. Actually, no, it was a 10k. It wasn't even a half marathon. I'm like, I wonder if I should bump that up a little bit.

Right?

You feel kind of like.

I feel like that's, you know, I feel like 10k is totally doable. Not even a problem.

Yeah.

Which makes me think I Did I did undershoot it a little bit. Like it should be.

Don't underachieve.

Yeah.

Like, like I always say, try to go for more. So many people under. Underestimate what they can do.

Yeah.

And then they accomplish it and they're like, that was okay.

Yeah.

But if you, like, go for a little bit more, say you go for a half or even a marathon, you might have to walk it. Yeah. But you get, you'll get to the end of that and you'll just be like, okay, I did this. I can do anything.

Yeah.

I mean, that's just the mindset that I have. And I know some people don't have that mentality, but once you start accomplishing things and I just feel like there's nothing that's really going to stop me from doing something.

Yeah. I wonder. You. So you've since stopped doing competitive, like triathlons.

Right.

When pandemic came. And then I've got a little heart issue.

Yeah.

So do you feel like there's now a void of like, whether it's competition or extreme exercise that is hard to fill.

How are you feeling that I'm going to try to fill it with golf.

Golf, yeah.

But there's nothing like swimming, biking and running and doing that, so.

And being competitive.

There is some thought of going back and doing some sprints or smaller ones.

Yeah.

Just to keep the body and get that, that energy going.

I'll join you. We'll do it.

Awesome.

Hi, Brad, I got a question for you. When you're telling your story in front of people and you're, you're all different ages and etc, how do you know you're. You're actually getting through to people and they're hearing your message and they walk away with, okay, I'm glad I came to hear Brad speak.

Right. Yes. I, I know that the crowd that I probably make the biggest impact on, I mean, I'll do the keynote speeches for the companies or at churches and stuff like that, but middle and high school, I know is where it kind of hits home. Like, hey, things are possible. Right. Sometimes you leave one and you're just like, I had no impact on these kids whatsoever. Yeah. And, you know, a couple weeks later, I'll get the random email from.

Sure.

From some kid that said, hey, you saved my life. And I'm. It kind of throws you back for a minute. And then you read the email and it's. You remember the guy that was in the black sweatshirt when it was 105 degrees out? That was me. Yeah. I Cut. I was cutting my wrist all week long, covering up my sleeves, and I was going to take my life this weekend, but you came and spoke that Friday. You saved my life. Yeah, I know. I have direction, purpose. It's like, okay, I guess I made an impact, you know, it's. So that's kind of where you. You have no idea. And, you know, Steve and I were talking earlier. It's so easy to just be a kind individual. It's like. It's not that hard. Hey, man.

Cost you anything?

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

It's amazing. Just by saying hi to somebody.

Yeah.

You don't even know.

Yeah.

How's your day?

Right. What could totally change their day?

You never know what's going on in their life.

Yeah.

Just by saying a little comment can change things.

Yeah. I had a friend, recent. A couple months ago, a good friend of mine, say he was standing in line at a Starbucks. This is when we were all. We were having to wear masks. He. He looked at somebody and just pulled on his mask and smiled at them and said, hey, good. Good morning. And the guy pulled him aside and said, you have no idea how. How infrequently I get a smile and a. In a, you know, good morning made my day.

Right. Yeah. I try to smile all the time. I don't. It doesn't matter if I'm having a bad day or not. I don't have too many bad days.

Yeah.

But I try to make it a point to smile a lot. One of the things that I've actually done lately is I've been trying to give back more also over the past couple years. I could give away toys or I give away books or I give away shoes or whatever, but as an athlete, I've given away like a thousand balls just worldwide. I have no idea where any of these. I know they've gone to Asia. I know they've gone to Africa. I know they've gone to Nepal. I mean, I know they've gone to all these places. What kind of impact they have? I don't know. But it might be a kid that shows up in the World cup in 10 years. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah.

So it's just kind of my way of giving back. I know how blessed I am. And that's just one of the ways I. That's probably more of what I do or want to do in the future also. I mean, I've accomplished a little bit, and so it's just like, now it's time for me to give back.

Yeah. As A way of wrapping up our time together. What's, what is it typically that you want to leave people with at these, you know, when you're speaking to a middle school or high school? What's the message that you want to leave with them that I'm sure the listeners would love to hear as well?

Right. My main message when I go and speak is life is about little steps. You have to take the little steps to get to the big ultimate goal. Don't try to take a big goal and go, you know what? I'm gonna go from a couch to an iron man overnight. It's not gonna happen. Brad would, Yeah, I would probably.

Yeah.

But most people, it's not, it's, that's just not the mentality. So I always say take the small steps that you need to take and you're gonna have setbacks. I mean, life is about, you know, valleys and peaks.

Yeah.

You're going to have those setbacks, whether it's, you know, you lose a game or, you know, but those are all learning experiences. But if you take the small steps to get up to the big, big mountain, you can look down on that mountain when you're done and go, man, I did it. Took a lot of little steps, but I did it. Life is a journey. There is no doubt.

Well, at the end of every episode of Heading west, we have a speed round of questions.

Get your seatbelt on.

Yeah. Quick questions, quick questions, quick answers. So I'll just run through a couple of them. Do you have any daily rituals that you swear by?

Really? Just smile.

That's good.

Yeah, that's probably my biggest one. Smile as much as I possibly can.

It's really good. What's one item you could not live without?

My son.

That's a good one.

I'll take that.

Yeah.

Let's see. What's one thing in life or business in your job that you're really excited about today?

Retirement. Yeah, I mean, I, I know I'm really close to retirement at my full time job, and so it's, it's so inevitable that it's, it's exciting now you can see it. Yeah, I can see it. I'm at the end of the tunnel.

That's good.

That's cool.

In what situations do you find you're the most happy or fulfilled?

Probably on my bike.

That's good.

Yeah. Or with my family.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right, last question. Heading west is obviously the title of the, of the podcast. It's really this way of saying, just get going. Start in one place. You end up at some point, but you learn along the way. So as you head west in life, where do you hope to end up?

I hope that throughout life, I leave a better footprint than when I came in. You know, we all want to make an impact in people's lives, but it's one of those things where I know that now with what I've done and all the things that I've accomplished, I know I can probably make even a greater impact. And I think that's one of the things that over the coming years, I want to make an impact in other people's lives rather than my own.

I have no doubt Brian's gonna do that. I have no doubt.

Yeah, well, I'm already gonna sign up for a half marathon now.

There you go.

I don't know if I'll thank you for that or not.

You can thank me later. Half.

Half marathon.

Not a full marathon.

That's what I thought he said earlier. I did, too.

Yeah, well, you're both getting old. Baby steps. Just take away his baby steps. Right. We'll go with baby steps. Where can people find you if they want to hear you talk? If they want to get in touch with you, where can they find you?

Right. My website is bradkelly speaks.com and then they can find me at media rad Kelly speaks dot com.

That's great. Easy. We'll link everything to this episode. But thanks so much for joining us.

You're welcome.

You've inspired us.

What a pleasure.

This is awesome.

Yeah.

Thank you very much. You guys off the race in Ironman soon, right?

For sure. Yes.

He's getting me excited.

Yeah, you can come and live. Live. Live. Feed it.

Yeah.

Oh, there we go.

Yeah.

Yeah, we'll do that. Well, thank you so much for joining us.

Sure. Thank you. Thank you very much for your time. Yeah.