Finish Lines and Milestones

By SandyBoy ProductionsHealth & Fitness Fitness

Finish Lines and Milestones episodes

October 25, 2024Episode 79: Trading a Drug Addiction for a Running Addiction
Wes Doty is now 8 years sober! Instead of sleeping outside he's now running marathons (and maybe an ultra-marathon one of these days). Thank you to Timmy Howard (EP 54) for introducing me to Wes.

This is the first official episode as part of the SandyBoy Productions podcast network! Huge thank you to Lindsey Hein for bringing this show into the fold.

During this episode, sponsored by Athlete Bouquets, we talk about:
His childhood in Anderson, IN and how he spent most of his time away from his house searching for normalcy

How this led him to discover opiates at the age of 13 because his friend’s mom had some that went missing

Getting kicked out of high school and going from juvenile to a boys school

Spending a year in boys school but then going right back to chasing the high

What his parents must have been thinking and feeling during the time he was using

Breaking the promise to himself that he’d never use heroin

How he became a dad to his daughter, Jocelyn, when he was 25

Why he shouldn’t be alive today

How rehab brought him to Indianapolis in 2015 but opportunity and desire caused him to use again

What finally caused him to get clean and how he found running through Back on My Feet

The first races he did - The Indy Mini for his first half marathon, The Carmel Marathon for his first full marathon (where he BQ’d)

How he set a goal to qualify for the Boston Marathon and go there with his mom, but didn’t get the chance

His mom’s accident

How the biggest struggle with helping others like him is that you can only help someone who really wants it

Building a relationship with his daughter now that he’s sober

Finding his running community in PBT and getting faster and faster

His experience at the Boston Marathon in 2022 and chasing a PR at monumental (that’s on the anniversary of his mom’s passing)

How we’re both intrigued by ultramarathons

The documentary that was created about him after a film maker saw him give a speech in front of the governor

An incredible story about when he was running downtown after he was sober

How he ended up with a “normal” job thanks to someone from Back on my Feet
1 hr 15 min
October 18, 2024Episode 78: This is My Gift
Margo Baltera is a badass. We've known each other for about a year and I was so happy to finally get to sit down and get to know her better. During this episode, sponsored by Athlete Bouquets, we talk about:
The story of how we met and why it involved Kraft Singles

How she’s 59 and I’m not sure I believe her

Going out for cross country in middle school and having to run with the boys since her school didn’t have a girls team at the time

How one morning she woke up and told her husband she wanted to run a marathon

Her first marathon at Monumental in 2012, the year it sleeted and the year it was the same weekend as IU Parents Weekend

Becoming a mom of three kids by the age of 26

Finding the running community

Running the New York City Marathon in 2015

Running the Marine Corps Marathon with her son while he was working in the White House

Pacing her first marathon at Monumental for the 5:00 pace group

What it means to be an Abbott World Majors Gold Member

Battling plantar fasciitis in Berlin and Boston and an asthma diagnosis she doesn’t think is accurate

How she came to compete at The State Games and then at The Senior Olympics

Figure skating and roller skating and how it was her life when she was young

How Meb Keflezighi became her running coach (yes, that Meb)
Exciting announcement about the podcast coming next week and there's someone mentioned in this episode who is involved...👀
1 hr 44 min
October 11, 2024Episode 77: The Competitive Vacation Racer
Sal Escamilla and I met earlier this year at the Carmel Marathon expo and after the race. During this episode, sponsored by Athlete Bouquets, we talk about:
The battle of the last name pronunciation (I lost)

How we first met at the Carmel Marathon expo

His experience at the 2024 Carmel Marathon

What we like to eat before and after marathons

The Q Elite race in Michigan in December that was Sal’s first distance race

Growing up in Elkhart, Indiana, the RV capital of the world

An international race in Ireland that was measured in miles vs. kilometers

How he’s the son of Mexican immigrants but embarrassingly isn’t fluent in Spanish

How his gamer friends in high school got him into running but then backed out

Running in college at Goshen College

The traffic accident that allowed him to have another track season

His professional career in technology as a developer

Training for his first marathon that was at the Carmel Marathon in 2022

The Boulderthon Marathon in Fall of 2022 - his first time running any kind of elevation

How he ended up running a marathon in Rome

Why he doesn’t want to run the Boston Marathon but considers himself a "competitive vacation racer"
1 hr 44 min
October 04, 2024Episode 76: You Only Get One Shot
Mark Glover is 51 but you'd never believe it. He has the energy (and speed) of men half his age. During this episode, sponsored by Athlete Bouquets, we talk about:
How Mark and I met

The fact that Mark has a problem with going to fast

His PR at the Geist Half Marathon despite the hills

Qualifying for the Boston Marathon and his Boston experience running with the Boston Police Department the year of the Boston bombing

His first sales gig at the age of 9 and why he didn’t finish college

Why he didn’t run in school… the girls liked football players

How a decade of partying with celebrities in LA took a huge toll on his body

Becoming a dad six months to the day after September 11th

The “mirror talk” that saved his life

How he did 95% of his first marathon training on a treadmill

Listening to “Lose Yourself” by Eminem on repeat during his first race

Becoming a full time single dad and moving to Indiana

Living and running with Crohn's disease

REGNR8 Rx and learning a lot about how to upkeep his body and focus on longevity

Doing Hood to Coast for the first time

Losing one of his best LA friends who took the path he would have taken if it hadn’t been for running

Running for the abs, the medals and the times vs. the awards
1 hr 43 min
September 27, 2024Episode 75: The Run AROUND the USA 🇺🇸
Cameron Balser RAN AROUND THE PERIMETER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Sorry, the all-caps seemed necessary. 11,170 miles in 294 days. That's ~40 miles PER DAY. I'm simply in awe of Cam and his attitude towards life and you HAVE to listen to this.
During this episode sponsored by Athlete Bouquets, we talk about:
How being called Forrest Gump doesn’t bother Cam

The fact that Cam grew up in the “Only Swayzee in the World”

Finding running in junior high and learning it was genuinely something he loved to do

His sisters, his twin, Chantelle, and younger sister, Kayla, and how they all ended up in the same grade in high school

The last minute full ride that changed his life plans from joining the Air Force to running in college in Kansas

How he worked 80 hour weeks packing chips on a line and it showed him money definitely isn’t the key to happiness

The role mental health has played in his life and his time in an inpatient and outpatient program

How he got into ultramarathons by creating his own in his hometown - a ten mile loop ten times in the middle of February 🤯

Finding MTC and sparking their interest after he proved what he could do

The run AROUND the USA and how it happened

What he packed for a 10 month run around the country

The elements during his trip - lowest was 13 degrees and the highest was 97 degrees

The biggest challenges he faced out on the road

How his team and family would send him stuff while he was out running

When a guy gave him $1,000 when he was in Florida

What wildlife he encountered - and the one that scared him at night

The Speed Project and film, Ultra: A Team Sport

What he wants to do in the future

Support Cam by:
Following him on Instagram

Sharing his story

Buying merch or make a Venmo donation

Watching the Ultra film
1 hr 32 min
September 20, 2024Episode 74: "Once I run 100 miles I can rest easy"
Will Siman is early into his running journey but not wasting any time. During this conversation, sponsored by Athlete Bouquets, we talk about:
How we met through Will’s dad, Mike, and Miami of Ohio, but neither Will nor his dad went to school there

How he achieved his dream of working for the Ohio State football program but then hated it

The Indy 500 and Will’s family tradition of going to the race every year and me trying to talk Will into coming to Indy for the Indy Mini

Going from a “large football player” to “psycho runner”

That the FIRST running challenge Will conquered was David Goggins’ 4 X 48 challenge (running 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours for 48 miles) he did it with his younger twin brothers

His first marathon in Myrtle Beach, his first ever organized race

Marathon number two and qualifying for the Boston Marathon and what that experience was like

Going from marathons to ultra marathons… 50K (31 miles) then 50 miler and next 100K (62 miles)

Winning a Vegas 50K and only getting a bottle of water

His “holy cow” moment of finding out that he couldn’t use his headphones 2 weeks before his 50 miler

The mental side of running

Podcasts he listens to while running: Oops The Podcast, Rich Roll

Working as a civilian for the Air Force and traveling to Vietnam

His next finish line in two weeks at the Firetower 100K in Minnesota where they are warning runners of black bears
1 hr 30 min
September 13, 2024Episode 73: Her Hips Don't Lie
Carrie Bradshaw, as you'll see by her Instagram, is a bionic runner. At only 43, she's had a double hip replacement and she's maybe the only person in the entire world training to run the world's most prestigious marathon, the Boston Marathon, on those two hips.
During this episode, sponsored by Athlete Bouquets, we talk about:
Carrie's video that garnered 25 million views (and is how I found her)

How she feels about her amazing name

How she started working with Meb Keflezighi as her running coach

How we were both at Chicago Rock N Roll in 2015

Getting into running in the first place

How she started a business in Australia “Sweat in the City”

Eloping in Bora Bora

Running her first marathon in Nike Shocks

The full story of her double hip replacement

Getting back into running after her surgeries

Her family's love of Halloween

Go follow Carrie on Instagram to see some of the photos we talk about during this episode.
Random bun maker I use 🤣
1 hr 33 min
September 06, 2024Episode 72: RERUN of Episode 3 with Christi Dee
Christi Dee was one of my very first guests on the podcast. Since I've been battling the flu all week I figured it was time to pull from the archives. In April 2023, Christi got her Abbott World Majors Sixth Star at the Boston Marathon.

In this episode sponsored by Athlete Bouquets, hear about her race experience and how she:
Met Joan Benoit not once but TWICE last weekend

Has worn her Boston jacket nearly every day since Monday

Once missed a BQ by only 46 seconds

Begged her mom to let her skip school on "mile day"

Caught the running bug after succumbing to peer pressure

Doesn't ever run with music

Has set an even BIGGER goal she hopes to achieve by age 50
Since her episode originally aired, she also launched a run coaching business, The Blonde Runs Coaching.
1 hr 1 min
August 30, 2024Episode 71: The "Jim-athon"
Jim Patton and I didn't meet through the running community. You'll have to listen to hear the story. I like to think of Indy as a "small, big town".
During this conversation sponsored by ⁠Athlete Bouquets⁠, we talk about:
How Jim and I know each other

His sub-4 hour marathon in Mesa 2024

Working on his nutrition, strength and following a running plan helped him find “edge”

How he got into running 15 years ago

The story of him being the first person to register for the Carmel Half Marathon (ever!) and one of the first members of the Carmel Runners Club

Why he joins Indy Runners and Carmel Runners Club every year

2011 Marine Corps Marathon was his first marathon

Getting sober 15.5 years ago and how that ties into his running journey

Finding ways to give back - Back on My Feet (how he met Timmy Howard), Drumstick Dash, American Cancer Society (his wife, Jennifer, is a survivor), and Big Brothers Big Sisters

The unfortunate injury he’s dealing with right now heading into the NYC Marathon in November

How we used to suck at training for races

Our virtual race experiences - “The Jim-athon”

A health scare he had at the Indy Mini in 2015

The Ragnar events he’s done - 7 of them! And his team won their age group one year after another team admitted to cheating
Donate to Jim's NYC Fundraiser
1 hr 33 min
August 23, 2024Episode 70: Remember Why You Started
Kaity Wachtel and I met when she became a customer of Athlete Bouquets and gifted bouquets to her amazing friends. This was the first time we really got to sit down and have a conversation and we talked about:
Almost a decade of OrangeTheory Fitness - 8,500+ classes

The fact that she didn’t play a sport in school but was in show choir (we both choose Dixie Chicks for karaoke)

How her fitness journey started in college with a boot camp that completely changed her life

Comparison is the thief of joy and how social media can be a dangerous comparison game (Katie’s book recommendation: Worthy by Jamie Kern)

How she chooses to surround herself with people who make her better

How meaningful and how simple it is to use people’s names

Her first race and other races she's done - Indy Mini, Carmel, Monumental, Yosemite, Nashville, Philly, Moab Ultra

How we train with the same running coach, Rachel Sinders, and that the best coaches have their own coaches

Becoming 2021 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Woman of the Year!!

Her dogs AJ & Roo and their back to school photos

Living with Hashimoto’s disease and going gluten free to improve her health

Her fear of distracted drivers and a confession I make about my distracted driving

Running twelve half marathons in twelve months - why she set this goal and which races she did to complete the year

Her bike accident during a triathlon season she attempted
1 hr 48 min

About Finish Lines and Milestones

From the publisher's feed

Every runner has a story. Finish Lines and Milestones is a podcast that celebrates the everyday runner. If you run, you’re a runner. Join host, Ally Brettnacher, every week as she shares these runner…