Live from Dream Run Camp with Mike Teran

Welcome to episode whatever of Live from DreamRun Camp. As always, we're coming at you from DreamRun Camp in Flagstaff, Arizona, presented by 80/20 Endurance, proud supporters of the Coaches of Color Initiative. We just picked our most recent coaching apprentice. Uh, awesome program that I take great delight in being a part of. If you want to find out more about it, visit 80/20foundation.org. Uh, have a very special edition of Live from DreamRun Camp this evening. It's the very first time that our guest is someone who's actually staying at DreamRun Camp, so super cool. Yes, um, uh, Michael Taran Solano. Sorry, yes, dang it, I was practicing before and like I was worried about the middle part.

Terán. Thank you. Michael Terán Solano.

There we have it.

Right on. Also known as Mike T if you're from Latin America. Miguel is what I've been called differently. In Belgium, Michael. As long as it has a T in the end, it's all good.

Right on. Okay, Mike T. You're Mike T to me. Yeah.

Boom, man. Cool.

Uh, how did you end up here?

Long story. Virle, my girlfriend from the Netherlands.

Virle Bacher.

Virle Bacher. She was always fascinated with altitude training. I, on the other hand, was not. I'm more of a sea level. But we always heard these stories of we got to go to summer camp in college. Salt Lake City, Utah was one of them. Colorado, but Boulder, Colorado. Flagstaff, Arizona was one of them. And if you're— if you could afford it, uh, Switzerland.

Yep.

Or Mexico City.

Yep.

My areas, a lot of options. Yeah. Kenya. Kenya. Big Bear, California. Flagstaff was the other one that I put off for a while until recently when things were going great in Portland, Oregon. And then had a problem with my post-tib. And one day I walked into work at Adidas where I worked then, was like, oh, you know, this could be a safety hazard, so we might have to let you go. So I'm like, oh, what do I do? Well, Vera's training block is going to be in Flagstaff. Like, let's just give it a shot. Jack Mullaney, who was our assistant coach at University of Portland, ended up here at HOKA. He was like, hey, I know a guy, we know a place, you might enjoy it. Sure, why not? Let's, let's do this. Uh, you know, I can just focus on my health first and something I love, which is running. And yes, it's been the best decision of my life so far.

It's going to be—

by the end of this week will be 3 weeks here, and it's— the amount of stay is perfect.

Yeah, yeah, cool, right? Well, I mean, we're so glad to have you here. You know, it's like sometimes it's a little bit random how people get sent our way because like I hadn't known Jack Mulaney all that long, you know, but he, he's been over here for dinner. We had him on live from Dream Run Camp. And so, yeah, he's starting to send people our way.

Yeah, it's great. It's really worth it. I would say I've blown away from the city. I'm blown away with what you have here at DreamRun Camp. I'm blown away with the amount of people I've met. It's amazing. This is the first time here. This is all authentic here, so I would recommend it. I could redo it as well.

Right on. Yeah, well, do come back then in that case. So yeah, you had, you know, I remember like, you know, when I first met you, you were like a little bit down just because of the situation with your foot. You know what I mean? So I wasn't catching you at your best moment, but it seems like things have come around somewhat since you've been here. Like, bring us up to speed on the health situation.

Well, the health situation, amazing. First week, yes, I was down. I was meeting pro runners, people who knew me, people who I haven't seen in a while, and just arriving into the city I was so amazed with the amount of trails. I was amazed with the seeing the stars. I was amazed with the— I kind of was into geology a bit, so just seeing the amount of just nature was just so mind-blowing that, yes, at first when I arrived here, I couldn't even walk properly. And then I was recommended by a great physio, Brian. He, after one session—

Brian Kinslow. Our official physical therapy partner at DreamRun Camp.

Yes, after one visit, uh, if I could rate the pain, it would be like a hard 9, almost a 10. After seeing him, it went down to like a 4 or 5. And then from there, I had this mentality of Cristiano Ronaldo where it's like, all right, give me what I need to do and I will do it. Not 2 sets, but I'll try to do like 4 or 5 sets of it and just try to get back and just take small steps. But patience was applied a lot, which I'm not very a patient guy, but you just have to listen to your body and take slowly steps.

Yeah, yeah. Actually, say a little bit more about that because, um, you know, I think probably a lot of people watching this, like, they're encountering you for for the first time, they don't know your whole story, but you are a high-level runner, you know, like some sub-14-minute, uh, 5,000-meter runner. Um, so you have some like street cred and just in terms of performance. So I think it's interesting to hear from someone at your level like how you negotiate injury, right? You know, because it's like, you know, it's, it's part of the sport. I mean, Some lucky people seem to never get injured, but most of us do at some point. And then so much of it is coping, right? So like you're hurt and so that's just the reality, but you see people cope in different ways, some not so good, some like kind of make the best of it. So, you know, obviously you want to cope as well as you can. What does that look like for you?

Yes, when I meet patients, it doesn't mean like, all right, let me take 2 days off, I should be good to go. Like, no, patience. It's like, where are we at? How could we progress slowly? And how could we get back to that level, not rushing it and not taking so much time? So just quite a balance. Yes, my credentials are very good. 13:47 5K, 4:08 full mile, 29:01, 10K. Those were— yes, consistency. There's bumpy roads with injuries, but we like to call it the infinite game from Jack Mulaney, where it's like, come in. Dude, this came up.

I mentioned, I mentioned it yesterday. Yeah, yeah, that's nutty.

Uh, yes, uh, something where it's like you just come in, try to get as much as you can. 100% would be always okay. It's okay if you give 80, 70 based on your health. For example, me, it was just like 10%, minute on, minute off walking. Then let's bump it up a bit more. Of course, I would just love to just go for a 6-miler, a 10-miler, etc., but just stepping back a bit, saying, okay, block out the noise, let's just slowly move up instead of pushing it. Yes, goes a long way. It's rough at first, trust me. Mentally, it's rough because you, you're surrounded by all these great runners. Yeah, sub-13 milers, sub-28 milers— milers are sub-28 10K runners, sub-13 5K runners, sub-4 milers. You could be trapped and be like, oh man, like, I know if I focus I could do this, this, and that, but first it's let me prioritize my health first before I start setting and going back towards my goals. It's rough, but patience. It's not easy, but it— you'll last longer. It'll be long-term instead of, okay, going back, oh, I got injured again, oh, going back, I got injured.

Right on.

Cool.

Um, so let's rewind, and, uh, uh, I, I would love to— I mean, I do not know the answer to this question, like, just like, what, what was like growing up like for you growing up?

Interesting. Wow, we're going to really go there. Yes.

Yeah, you set the boundaries. I just asked the question.

Yes. First few years of my life were in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. I was raised by my grandparents. Immigrated when I was 5 or 6 years old. I can't remember. I was too young. I just remember crossing the line. Ended up in Southern California, Fontana, California to be exact. Just, you know, going day by day growing up. I didn't get into running like competitive until high school. Prior to that, I was just like, I would just go for a run, you know. I just love to run here and there. Obviously growing up Mexican, soccer is a big thing, football, or a boxer. My grandpa was a great boxer. So either those two routes, running was never in the picture. Mhm. That's how I just kind of picked it up. And of course, I didn't even know a sport going into high school. By then, I went from soccer to baseball, and then I was great at stealing bases. So I was like, all right, well, I'm going to do this in high school because, um, you know, I love the sport back then. But there was always something about running where it was just like, you know, So baseball was a spring sport, cross country was a fall sport. First off, I didn't even know it was a sport. I thought it was just an after-school program. When you hear cross country, you're like, all right, ouch, you're going to be running in other countries, like, oh, this sounds super cool, like, why not? It's an after-school program. Do 3 months of, I guess, training. I thought we were just running for fun. And coach one day, Coach Sun, I was coached by Coach Sun and Coach Lara, who are still coaches in their high school careers still. They're like, oh well, by the way, we're gonna be racing this next week, so you wanna prepare. And I was like, oh wait, really? This is a sport? It's like, yeah, what, you thought it was an after-school program? Yeah, I did. Like, I actually did think that. It's like, no, you're gonna be racing about other schools, so First 3-miler race, I won by like 3 minutes. Oh my goodness, 2 or 3 minutes to be exact. 16:01.

Holy smokes, 3-miler.

And, uh, did that for 3 years. I took it serious as soon as I got my first recruiting letter from UCLA, Stanford, Arkansas, Yale, Syracuse. Like, I didn't even know where these colleges— because it wasn't really a big thing growing up in our culture. Obviously I didn't grow up so much in Mexico until after 5, but you have 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds already working. My first job was at 10 years old. That was a vendor. I sold corn, chicharrones, which is some type of like chips. Anyway, we never did raspados, but we sold menudo, which was kind of like my grandma, what she did. I didn't know it was a job. But now growing up, I was like, oh wait, that was a job. That's what put food on the table. Yeah, you were working.

Yeah.

So having that background, I was like, oh, you know, I think I could do something with running. Let's just, uh, focus. And yeah, couldn't afford it, so I went to Valley— San Bruno Valley College. But I was like, you know, I believe I could, you know, do this if I could get into D1. I hate going through that phase, but I had to create an ego to get out of the community college. Phase. And then RC recruited me in high school and then recruited me as soon as I was in junior college, University of Portland. To this day, it's one of the best decisions of my life. It changed my world when it came to running. No more of, I'm just going to stay in Fontana. Let me race overseas. Let me try and reach my goals. Let me meet other people. Let me learn from other cultures, languages. That's how I met you guys here as well. I know whoever I reach out to as well.

Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, I think clearly you're kind of driven, like you're like maybe you're a dreamer, like someone who just wanted to reach for more, you know, like because like that, that's really interesting. Like you're like you're what, 18, 19 years old when you go through that? Juco phase, you know, like you're not where you want to be, but like, I don't know, you're grown enough to realize like if I just like pay my dues, you know, I can get somewhere further. Then, you know, for me, I grew up differently from you where like it was all painted out in front of me. Like, like, here are your options, Matt, you know what I mean? Like, so I just had to choose. For you, you had to kind of like figure it out or like, you know, discover a path for you. Is that like that accurate?

Yes. Yeah, I mean, it changed a lot in high school. Just it's nice to look around your society and see how it works. Steel company was a big thing, factories. Amazon's running it right now. And I was like, man, like, I don't know, like, I kind of don't want to go that route, you know? I respect my friends, I love them, and I'm glad they're succeeding in that city still, but I just wanted to be like, you know, let me get out of California, let me see what's out there. Oh, there's a running city in Oregon, Portland. Let's check it out there. Let's do this. Like, if I failed, it's okay, I'll just come back. If not, well, great. It went great. Met Birla. I'm like, okay, well, NCAA, it's one big competitive program. Overseas, you're representing your country, and it's just a whole different field too. And it's like intimidating, but let me give it a try. If I failed, it's okay. Like, I tried. It's okay. It's not— failing is not always like, oh yeah, it's a bad thing. And so it could be a great thing because you could always learn from it. So I've always taken those risks and The rewardings have been incredible.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell us more about your time in Portland. So, you know, the connective tissue is like Jack Mulaney, now head coach for HOKA NAZ Elite, former guest at Live from DreamRun Camp, was the assistant coach at Portland while you and Virla were there. But it seems like, you know, like what you just said, it was one of the best decisions you ever made, and I think you like really flourished there. So just say more about what that experience was like.

Yes, so going into University of Portland, I was excited. A new environment. At that time, I enjoyed the rain a lot. You did? After 3 years, I was like, wow, okay, now this rain— I missed the sun a bit more. But going into there, you're I'm not the fast guy no more. Let's be honest, there's some, some of my colleagues, and it's a strong program. It's a very strong program. It's a 10K program at that time. Now it's well-rounded, which has been great, but at that time was a 10K program. So there's people that outworked me, there's people that underworked me, still perform, are talented. It was just like a mixed pool. Yeah, I didn't know about the infinite game until maybe my sophomore year. And that's when I transferred in, and, uh, I was getting dropped. I'll be honest with you, workouts— no, man, there would be a gap. I would always try and finish, but I would always have a gap. I would get dropped. I would not close in 59s, 60s, you know, back when matambos were still the big thing before dragonflies. So I was getting dropped. I was just like getting beat up, but I just kept showing up and showing up and showing up. And the infinite game came into reality when I first went sub-14, first time ever. It was always a dream, but I knew these workouts were like not displaying that sub-14 shape. Yeah, that week before we go to Mt. Sac, I do a 10K, I just completely blow up. 30:30, I think, 30:20. I'm like bummed out, but I'm like, no, I'm just gonna keep showing up. Next week we do this 5K, and again, no pressure, no nothing. I just came off a 10K, so I'm like, all right, well, I'm doing a 5K, should be easier, so let's just send it. And, uh, I didn't know this, but first mile was like so 4:30, and coach was like, oh wow, my team just went fast. And at that time I'm like, okay, well, like, okay, I'm just, just going to keep doing this. I'm just keep driving. I go sub-9, I'm like, oh, okay, now we're talking. I think we're like sub-14 pace now. Like, I'm still in this. Like, let's just keep going, keep going, and keep lap. The music didn't help. It was like some funky techno music. Oh no, at OSU, I was like, oh gosh, no. And at one point I see Lalo, who ran for University of Colorado, Colorado Boulder, now represents Mexico. One of the very few Mexicans that I know in this sport. I'm like, oh man, he's right there, he's going back, like I'm going forward, like let me just kick it in. And I punched my ticket to regionals, went sub-14. Leading up to that, I had no idea I was capable of that, but the infinite game meant like I just had to be consistent even though I was just getting blown up. I break for sub-14. I'm like number 3 in my team, I think. And I was like, I did this. I just— my dream came to a reality. Like, wow, this is crazy. I just put my heart into it. I put my consistency. My mind was the main key into this. And, uh, all those injuries, all those rough times, like, just went away after you were rewarded.

Yeah.

So having the colleagues and all my great friends at University of Portland, it helped. Just a simple like, you got this, Mikey, good job, Mikey, keep going, Mikey. Simple things like that goes a long way. And having that team environment instead of individualism.

Yeah.

Went a long way. Yeah. Yeah. Cool.

Yeah. Yeah, that's the nature of the sport, right? Like, you— there's like setback after setback, there's after struggle after setback, and then like you have these like moments where it's like, it's all worth it.

Yes. You know, I never regretted Portland. No, never. Had amazing time there. All my years I kept improving, I kept reaching for the goals. I always made regionals. I was on to make nationals. That was a rough one. But I always tried. And I'm just glad for all the people, the people who I met, and my coaches mostly. Jack Malaney being the one who really helped me with, uh, I wanna, I wanna say physics, uh, like philosophy-wise. And then RC would always focus on the training, but then Jack Malaney would focus on the training too. And it was just like, it just fit so perfectly. And Coach Faradi at the weight room my trainers at the training room that would always heal me up, and my psychologist who I lost contact of. She was able to help me out with the— not so much diet, but like, I just love enjoying what I love to eat, but I always like to balance out well with health too. So yeah, yeah. And my family that drives me every day. So, right on.

So yeah, you, you mentioned, uh, that, you know, So here we are in the year 2024 and there are not a lot of other Mexican runners that feel that your level, like you just don't, there's Lalo and then there's not a lot of others. So like I'm dating myself here, but when I was like totally geeking out on the sport for the first time, Arturo Barrios was like a, a big deal. Yeah, so I was like kind of a fan of his, so like, you know, what's your awareness of him?

And like, again, very, very few. You know, you don't really hear— well, if you want to compare it compared to America, well, America is just many runners, you know, Canada as well, France, you know, you see all these other international teams come here. We just recently ran into Finland, Germans. You have the good boys, the crazy runners from Norway. So Mexicans, not as much ever. I could name Carlos, who used to be on Ron, Lalo still, but very few in the East, you know, West. But again, this goes back to like, you know, where's our main focus with the countries? Mainly soccer, boxing. And then field events mostly, long distance, not as much, maybe marathon runners, a few, but 5K, 10K, it's very rare. But we always try to just embrace our culture and try to kind of put them on the map as well. Of course, it's not an easy thing, not at all, but it's always fun and it's incredible to like go overseas and just getting cheered at. Just because we're repping Mexico. Oh, go Mexico! Or tequila or sombrero. And I'm like, yeah, you know, that is— it's what we have out there. Burrito, burrito, taco. It's, uh, just hearing the hola, you know, it just makes us feel good, you know. It makes us be recognized a bit more.

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, um, I know that from— so you're staying at the second house here that, uh, we have two houses here at Dream Run Camp where—

where—

yeah, cool. I'm glad you like it. Um, that where, uh, Ruby Wiles is, um, kind of like coach-in-residence, hostess. Um, and so she's like, you know, she's, she's gotten to see more of you, you know, than I have, but like, she's, you know, she's really enjoyed you and Fearless both. And she was just telling me like, you know, some of the stuff she's learned about you from conversations. So I know from talking to Ruby that like, like running is not the only interest you have. Like running is not the only thing you're good at. So can you speak to your other interests?

My other interests or hobbies? Well, I love running. I love running so much. I just want to reach my goals, but sometimes there's setbacks, injuries like in this case. And I used to be lazy. I would just go on YouTube or just play video games, but then after a while, it's just like, you know what, like, let me look into other things. What could I do to, I guess, skills, what could I do to like either keep me productive, what could I do that could benefit me in the long term. So YouTube was one of them. Started a YouTube channel because I love to run, I love to travel a lot, and I love to eat food here or international. So I was like, all right, I can start a YouTube channel. Second, I, I enjoy watching football a lot, uh, not American football, soccer. The real thing. Premier League, Liga MX. I love Club América a lot. So through soccer, I was able to not only identify to other countries but other teams. And then from there, I would dig into more like history and kind of like the background. That led me to my new hobby that I had no idea I was very good at, which was sewing.

Sewing, folks. Sewing.

Yes. Backstory, going back to soccer jerseys, I just wanted to learn how to put a number and name on them because I love customizing my jerseys, or I love putting like famous other football players' jerseys' names on them. One day I go to learn how to do this at Adidas World Headquarters. Oh, sorry, Adidas North America Headquarters. So I go in one day, I'm like, hey, I want to learn how to do this, like, how much would it cost? It's like, I can teach you. Then I get brought up like, oh, you could, um, well, here we could teach you how to make a shoe, we could teach you how to make apparel, we could teach you how to do other things, 3D printing, laser printing. I'm like, oh, okay, actually, yeah, you know, let's give it a shot. Like, I've never done anything this? And it was like, all right, let's start with sewing.

It seemed interesting to you?

Yeah, I'm like, oh well, you know, why? I love jerseys, so, and I love clothing, Adidas clothing or the other brand's clothing. And I was like, yeah, why not? Why not learn this? Like, it could go very bad, it could go very good, or I could just learn a new skill. And so they're like, yeah, we're gonna make you take a test, uh, but first off, have you ever done sewing? I'm like, nope. Never in my life, like never. All right, just take this test, just do some line work, do some stars. I aced the thing. I literally just followed the lines.

Hidden talent. Yeah, and I can tell you I would not have aced that.

Yeah, first impression of my mentor was like, dude, how'd you do this? I'm like, I just went for it. So all right, well in this case, let's all skip the other steps. That's gonna start into doing a bucket hat. I was like, all right, cool. Wow. So I cut off my pieces, and then from there it was like step by step, like, are you going to stitch them and stuff? He tried to give me an example, like, oh, you know, like, if you do it wrong, which you have not done wrong whatsoever, then this would happen. He was just trying to find like a bad detail in it. So far I was doing this perfectly, lines were perfect. He's like, are you sure you've never done this? I'm like, kid you not, like, I have not done this, but it's fascinating to me that if I put in 4 hours of this, then something could come out. And then went on to my last project, which actually what I'm wearing now. I was like, you think you could teach me how to do a crew neck? Yeah, let's do this, let's give it a shot. Like, all right, cut off my pieces, cut off the sleeves, all all this, stitch them. Dude, you're like a natural.

Yes, that's nice fabric.

And the part where really was like, okay, maybe it's something— could I could do something about this— was actually the neck part. The neck, the neck is probably the complicated thing besides the other stitching. For him, my mentor, it took him like 7 or 8 times stitching the neck part, because you have to customize the neck first and then you have to attach it to the shirt in this case. Or I did it in one shot. I took my time, was like, let me just slowly focus, not distract myself. I knocked it off the park. He was just like, how are you doing this? I'm like, no, you're teaching me, I'm just following. I So far I've been doing great at this. And was like, yeah, you know, we have some internships we might consider you in. And I'm like, it went from just wanting to learn how to stamp numbers to finding a new talent. And I'm like so fascinated because I'm like, oh, I could start doing my racing kits, I could start modifying my racing shoes, I could start creating all these designs.

Yeah.

And again, and I'm taking a course at University of Barcelona for marketing, so it's interesting, it's so interesting how like all goes into this whole thing of like, oh, selling jerseys or making jerseys or racing shoes, like how do they manufacture them, how does it go into marketing, and how does it get sold. So yeah. It's all— this all started with running too. So I would just run to the gym and then I would meet someone who would do product testing. It's like, hey man, I could really use you. I'm like, sure. So I would just go in there, do 5 flat on the treadmill, and he was like, damn dude, you're sure you're not tired with these? And I'm like, no, these are like normal pace. If I had to do like a tempo on there, I'll just do my tempo and then do product testing too. And from there, networking would occur, but most times it would happen like either I identify someone's language or identify like what they're wearing. I would just conversate and would make my networking connections happen. And from there, you just, you never know who you might meet, you know. Yeah, shoot, you really don't know.

Yeah, you and I might stay in touch. Yeah, you got some useful skills.

Yes, but I do have to mention this, that it all started as a retail sales associate. Obviously it looks down upon them because it's like, oh, it's not really a job, but I— there's a lot of complications in there. But working there, I was able to meet like famous people. LAFC, um, coach Chicharito, uh, Beyoncé, uh, artist Karl Herre, Ant-Man, who plays for the Houston, uh, yeah. I would meet all these, uh, A-listers. Yeah, yeah, that's pretty cool. I would meet like WWE Superstars because I love WWE, so Finn Balor would be in there. Rey Mysterio would always go to like a different— the other brand. But it was just amazing how like working as a retail associate you could meet different humans from different fields.

Yep. Yeah, so, so how old are you?

I'm only— I still get carded, but I'm 29.

29.

Okay. I always get told I look 18 or 19, which is good. Drink water every day.

Yeah, so yeah, still pretty young guy. So like, where could, uh, where could all this lead for you?

Uh, well, of course my dream goal is either be either jersey designer or marketing team in the Premier League overseas. I was living with Virla, she's from the Netherlands, so going over there and living there for a bit, I'm like, yeah, I could make Europe the continent a home place, you know. Racing out there is quite affordable than here in America, I'll be honest with you. One race I made €500 and booked my ticket to Greece that evening. And here, well, you kind of— I could see the struggles, you know. This time last year I had to book— I took a train to Stanford invite. I had to just sleep in the train overnight and then get there and try to perform on that leg after 40 hours a week, run 14 20, I believe. And I was obviously a little disappointed, but I was like, man, like, I got to find my balance between running and then what I want to do in my career.

Yep.

But again, don't limit yourself. You really don't know where your next field could be. Me graduating as a philosophy and, uh, sociology major, I transitioned to marketing and now like manufacturing field. Just because I got inspired working for Adidas. It's, you don't know where your road might be, but one thing for sure is that you're gonna enjoy what you love doing. So yeah, and I'm still young.

Before I wrap up, can I canvas the room for anyone got a question they're dying to ask? Danny almost always does.

I've tried to hog the floor.

It's all right. Every room needs its alpha.

So you've met a lot of people from a lot of walks of life, casually Beyoncé. I'm just wondering what are some— you're such an amazing human. I'm learning more and more about you. But I'm just wondering what's the key lesson that you've taken from another person, whether it's on the track or just meeting them in a store? What's a big lesson that you continue to take to this day?

Wow. That's a very good question.

It's a really good one. Yeah.

Let's see. Well, I could touch up on the amount of people I've met. The amount of people I met are very kind, you know, very human. If I could say that. You know, we look at these stars. I've run too many great runners. I met who many great soccer players I met, many great people. And I noticed that, you know, hearing someone else's story, it just amazes me so much. I don't know why. I love learning from different humans who come from different societies, different cultures. It just fascinates me so much that I'm so open to simply say hi to someone or simply reach out and go out of my comfort zone and try to greet them in their language or try to just conversate based on what they're wearing. I don't judge them based on what they're wearing, but it's so easy to see someone wear like a running shirt or, I don't know, Liverpool jersey, or, you know, an 80/20 Endurance pullover, Boston Marathon, because it's like I know it's going to be a great outcome, and I always try to just be myself. I always make it a comfort where other guests, I would say, or people I meet are comfortable around me, uh, saying like, you know, oh man, I see this a lot with, uh, with like, I guess women, I would say that, uh, very comfortable where they could just be themselves. Like, I'd rather have you be your own version presenting to me, because I'm going to give you my authentic version of myself. I'm not going to be like, oh yeah, I want, you know, this guy, this— like, no, I'm just going to be myself. I'm going to make jokes. I'm also going to introduce myself as my tea. The way you approach me, like, just be yourself. I'm going to accept you the way you are. And that's why when I meet all these incredible people, they're just being themselves, you know. And it amazes me because they just see me as a great human being. But I, I just took the lessons from my grandma, just being a kind person, you know. If I give, I don't want anything in return. If it does, thank you, I really appreciate it. I love to give. I love giving my time to people. I love giving. If I could help you pace, if I'm injured, then I'll do my best I can. I'll give you my time, I'll give you my honesty. I'll be straightforward, you know, just be 100% with me, and that's all I ask for. And most times it's always a great relationship. Now I have a new home now in Flagstaff.

Yes, you do.

So everywhere I go, I tend to just connect and try to make myself feel home. But it's always nice to have others that welcome me, you know, with open arms. And that's kind of what we bring to as Mexicans. We enjoy welcoming everyone else and enjoying them and to have them a good time. You know, we make great food, so we always love to make great food for everyone.

Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of which, are you going to hang out for dinner? We got some stuffed chicken breasts.

Sure.

Yeah.

Why not?

Couscous and some green beans and. Yeah.

Yeah. All right.

So we'll chow down. So yeah, the book. I'm starving. I'm not going to lie to you. Like, yeah, I'm in training now. Yeah. Who would have thunk it?

Yes.

Yeah, I've got training belly. Yeah. So thank you so much. I really enjoyed talking to you.

Yeah. Thank you for having me. Oh, this is so exciting.

Cool.

Take advantage. Come through. It's worth it.

Check's in the mail.

Thank you. Appreciate that. Yeah.

Thank you, Danny, behind the camera and the DreamRunners and assistant coach Lauren. We'll see you next time. See you.