“Many times I’ve woken up and thought, ‘Oh, what can I do to get out of this? Can I fake an injury?’ And then I realize it’s just me. The only person I’m faking is me. The only person I’m lying to is me if I do that. And the same thing with not finishing a race: I’m the only person that I have to answer to. One of the things that Teddy Atlas talks about on our podcast is being a game quitter. It’s much more painful and much more difficult to quit than it is to stick it out and give your best—cause you have to live with that quit and that failure for a fucking long time, and the pain of suffering through— especially a race where someone’s not trying to like, literally kill you—you can do this. And I get up and I find myself going through the motions and it’s almost like I’m on autopilot because in my heart I’m like, ‘No I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to put myself out there. I don’t want to be exposed.’ That fear of failing is incredibly powerful for me. But like I said, the pain of not giving your all lasts with me forever and as I said earlier, I’m the only one that cares and I know that, but I care, I care if I fail and I care if I didn’t give 100 percent, and I don’t know, it’s like a mental exercise for me.” - Over the past six months or so we’ve been working on a project with our friends Ken Rideout and Todd Anderson that we launched widely this week called Rideout Strong (@teamrideoutstrong). Learn more about the programs we’re offering in 2023, read testimonials from our Fall 2022 team members, and join the team today at rideoutstrong.com. While you're at it, listen to Episode 91 with @kenrideout12 for throwback Thursday on @applepodcasts, @spotify, @stitcherpodcasts, or wherever you get your audio content. #run #running #runningpodcast #podcast #mariofraioli #themorningshakeout #theamshakeout #trailrunning #trackrunning #trackandfield #ultramarathon #marathon #halfmarathon #10k #5k #KenRideout #RideoutStrong