242. Cole Brecka: The Great World Race, 100-Mile Ultras & Why Hydrogen Water is the Ultimate Recovery Tool

Summary

The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka Episode: Cole Brecka: The Great World Race, 100-Mile Ultras & Why Hydrogen Water is the Ultimate Recovery Tool | TUH #242
Date: February 5, 2026
Host: Gary Brecka
Guest: Cole Brecka

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Episode Overview

This electrifying episode features Gary Brecka and his son Cole Brecka, exploring the extreme frontiers of human performance. From Cole’s leap from non-runner to completing the “Great World Race”—seven marathons on seven continents in seven days—to conquering his first 100-mile ultra through the Nevada desert, the episode is a deep dive into pushing the body and mind past all self-imposed limits. The duo examines recovery science, the “pain cave,” the mental shifts in ultra-endurance events, and why hydrogen water is emerging as a cornerstone of their recovery protocols.

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Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. From Non-Runner to Ultra-Endurance Athlete

• The Great World Race: Cole’s first marathon wasn’t just a single race—it was the infamous “Great World Race”: 7 marathons, 7 continents, 7 days (00:00, 07:02).
• Starting from Scratch: Just 10 months before, Cole had never run a marathon (06:48, 07:56).
• Pushing to Extremes: Facing -28°F in Antarctica, fighting through stress fractures, severe sleep deprivation, a stomach bug that left him fasted for 4 marathons, and profound physical and mental depletion (01:15, 08:43, 21:11).

Notable Quote

“Everything that could go wrong just started going wrong. I’m running on broken ankles. I can’t keep any food down. I can’t keep up with the climate. I haven’t slept. It was the most raw and vulnerable and primal I’d ever felt, ever.”
—Cole Brecka (00:15)

2. The Pain Cave & Mental Grit

• Pain Thresholds: Cole discusses how extreme endurance strips away all material concerns, laying bare the most basic human needs for sleep, food, water, and shelter (13:39, 23:54).
• Mental vs Physical: The mind’s power to outlast physical suffering, problem-solving in crisis, and the psychological warfare waged during ultra-distances (23:50, 26:22).
• Father/Son Dynamic: Gary reflects on navigating the tension between scientist, coach, and concerned father—when to push and when to pull his son back from harm (27:20, 28:14).

Notable Quote

“The more pain you’re in, the easier it is for you to find something you’re grateful for.”
—Gary Brecka (00:27, 36:52)

• Not Giving Up:

“I still, to this day, don’t know where you went in that pain cave, because you didn’t quit.” —Gary Brecka (00:09, 27:27)

3. The Realities of the Great World Race

• Logistics & Suffering: The event isn’t “run, rest, repeat.” It’s constant motion: customs, flights, new time zones, new climates, and little sleep (18:08, 19:00).
• Hazards: Risk of rhabdo, hypothermia, and the physiological havoc of sleep/nutrition deprivation (03:23, 21:26).
• Adaptation & Resourcefulness: Cole recounts a near-fatal experience with frostbite in Antarctica, saved only by quick thinking and a timely snowmobile rescue (13:39, 14:13).

4. 100-Mile Ultra in the Nevada Desert

• Preparation & Learning: For the recent 100-miler, Cole invests in a meticulous training and recovery program with ultrarunning coaches Matt Johnson and Andy Glaze, noting the distinction between overtraining and under-recovery (30:02, 31:00, 06:09).
• Challenges: Facing dry air, night running (16+ hours of darkness), and mind games as the miles grind on (32:18, 33:07, 34:21).
• Support & Camaraderie: All six runners in their group finished—defying the doubters (29:14, 29:19).

Notable Moment

“The race was in Area 51. It was silent—except for passing traffic. Your mind gets so creative about convincing you to quit… That’s when the training and recovery really matter.” —Cole Brecka (34:27)

5. Recovery Science & Hydrogen Water

• Recovery Is King: The paradigm shift from “more training” to “more recovery.” Gary and Cole emphasize that it’s not just professional athletes who are under-trained, but under-recovered—particularly in joints, ligaments, and connective tissues (06:09, 43:52).
• Hydrogen Water & H2 Tab: Cole claims a massive reduction in soreness using hydrogen water during the Great World Race and the 100-miler (39:43, 41:25).
• Other Modalities: Sauna, cold plunge, red light therapy, hyperbarics, PEMF (Pulse Electromagnetic Field) therapy (06:36, 43:52).
• Anecdotes: Even after enduring 100 miles, Cole went to the gym the next day, testifying to the effectiveness of this recovery stack (39:28).

Notable Quote

“I was taking hydrogen tablets before the race and doing hydrogen water bombs. Other than the stress fractures, I wasn’t sore. Seven marathons, seven days, seven continents—I could’ve walked out and hit a back squat. That was freaky to me.”
—Cole Brecka (40:41)

“Hydrogen gas is one of the greatest discoveries of our millennia… It’s a selective antioxidant, restoring something called redox homeostasis.” —Gary Brecka (41:25)

6. The Next Frontier: 10 Ironmans in 10 Days

• Upcoming Documentary: Gary and Cole are planning a new project: 10 consecutive Ironman distances in 10 days, focusing on dialing in every aspect of physiology and recovery and pushing the boundary of what’s possible (44:43, 45:07).
• Message: Transitioning from a “guinea pig” to a model of what’s possible for “superhuman” athletes—and hoping to inspire others to push beyond their own comfort zones, whatever their pursuit (46:15, 48:52).

Notable Quote

“How do we take a mediocre athlete and turn him into a super athlete?”
—Gary Brecka (45:52)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Cole on Finding Perspective in Pain (36:52):
  “The more pain you’re in, the easier it is for you to find something that you’re grateful for.”
• Cole’s Definition of the Ultimate Human (48:23):
  “For me, it’s pushing yourself beyond your own capable limits... You do something once a year that’s so hard you know you can reap the benefits for the rest of the year. For some, that might be starting a business, running a 5K, or losing 10 pounds—but for me, it’s about taking that leap towards what you want.”
• Gary as Father and Scientist (28:14):
  “When do I throw in the towel on my son? He’s one marathon away from completing this goal…What do we come back next year and try it again?”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment / Topic | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------|------------------| | Cole’s introduction to the “pain cave” | 00:00 – 00:15 | | Father/son dynamic in ultra events | 01:15 – 02:48 | | Risks and symptoms of rhabdo | 03:23 – 05:14 | | Emphasis on recovery, not just training | 06:09 – 06:36 | | Great World Race—Antarctica close call | 08:43 – 15:09 | | Realities of multi-country ultra logistics | 18:08 – 19:30 | | Gut issues and four marathons fasted | 19:32 – 23:21 | | Primal needs and the stripping away of ego | 23:49 – 24:27 | | Navigating quitting vs. pushing on | 27:05 – 28:14 | | 100-mile Nevada race prep & execution | 29:28 – 39:28 | | Hydrogen water & recovery science | 39:43 – 43:52 | | Launching the 10 Ironmans in 10 days project | 44:43 – 45:07 | | The Ultimate Human philosophy/Takeaway | 48:00 – 49:57 |

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Tone and Takeaways

This episode is gritty and inspirational, offering an unvarnished look at the real cost—and reward—of pushing beyond genetic and psychological limitations. Gary and Cole's candid dialogue, vulnerability, and scientific curiosity create a riveting father-son dynamic that brings the science of recovery and the art of endurance together. Anyone seeking motivation to shatter their own perceived limits—on the course, in business, or in life—will find hard-won lessons and actionable insight in this conversation.

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“If you’re going to talk the talk, you better be able to walk the walk… I want to be the first person to prove it to people. Don’t take my word for it. Just look at the actions that I do.” — Cole Brecka (46:41)

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Listen for inspiration. Stay for the science. Leave ready to become your own ultimate human.

Transcript

[Cole Breca]

The great world race. It sounds like seven marathons in seven days. Like, you run a marathon, you get to sleep and you lay down on the plane. It's not that you pack your shit. You get on the plane, you fly there, you run a marathon and the race kicks off.

[Gary Breca]

I still to this day don't know where you went in that pain cave because you didn't quit.

[Cole Breca]

Everything that could go wrong just started going wrong. I'm running on broken ankles. I can't keep any food down. I can't keep up with the climate. I haven't slept. It was like the most raw and vulnerable and like primal that I'd ever felt, ever.

[Gary Breca]

The more pain you're in, the easier it is for you to find something that you're grateful for.

[Cole Breca]

Listen, if we take everything we know about human performance optimization science, in 100 days time, is it possible to not only go out and attempt this race, but complete it? And so we did just that.

[Gary Breca]

I wonder if you'd talk a little bit about the race prep.

[Cole Breca]

At some point, you cross a threshold where you have to have.

[Gary Breca]

Ultimate human. Hey, guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human podcast. I'm your host and father, human biologist Gary Brca. And today I'm sitting down with my son and actually one of my mentors, Cole Breca. Now, I've done over 200 episodes of this podcast. I've interviewed Navy SEALs, UFC champions, world class athletes, PhDs, doctors, MDs, researchers, and some of the most elite performers on the planet. But I've never been as nervous and concerned and as proud as I was as a father when I watched my son and five other of his buddies, including Kyle Forgard from the nelk boys, run 100 miles straight through the Vegas desert. And what makes this even more insane is that Cole has not ever run 100 miles before. In fact, just 10 months before this race, he'd never even run a marathon. Last year, he went and did something absolutely psychotic. He ran seven marathons on seven continents in seven days at the great World Race. Let me say that again. Seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. That was the first time he'd ever run a marathon. Started in Antarctica at 28 degrees below zero, nearly died from frostbite and hypothermia, ran through a stomach bug that left him, fasted for four consecutive marathons, developed double stress fractures in both feet. And as a father, nothing was more concerning to me than than him now attempting to run 100 miles straight through the Nevada desert. Pay special attention when Cole talks about going Primal. That moment when everything materialistic disappears and all you want is sleep, food, water and shelter. That's when you find out who you really are. This isn't just a father son conversation. This is a front row seat to the future of human performance optimization. If you've ever wondered what you're truly capable of, if you've ever wanted to push beyond the limits you've set for yourself, this episode is going to change your life.

[Cole Breca]

Kyle is like popping in the running community. Yes, I think is due to be an influencer. And to run 100 miles is like.

[Gary Breca]

Especially for, I would say, I'm not kidding.

[Cole Breca]

Like, like you can be an influencer like so many influencers, like do 5Ks or run marathons or do stuff like that. But to run 100 miles is like.

[Gary Breca]

You can't walk on and fake that. Like I used to say when I was in the triathlon game, like you could, you could walk on and do a sprint. Try. Yeah, you know, it's like an hour and 10 minutes. You're not walking onto a Kona Ironman.

[Cole Breca]

You know what I mean?

[Gary Breca]

You're like, this sounds like a great idea by the way.

[Cole Breca]

You could kill yourself. I mean, you get out there, you untrained and like, you know, you could end up getting rabdo or something and really hurting yourself. So I mean, from.

[Gary Breca]

And you've had rab though before.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah, and it was, it's horrible. I mean like, I remember even when I got rapid. I remember it was, it was when I was training for the great world race. I, I was like moving houses and I just started training and it was like my first time getting into it and we had such a little time to, to prep for the great world race. And so I, I remember just like diving in headfirst and like trying to just ramp up the miles as fast as possible and.

[Gary Breca]

But you also do Muay Thai. And I was doing.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah, I was still in the gym. I was also like, I wasn't a runner. I was like a. Basically a bodybuilder, if you will. Like I was just a gym bro. And so when I was training like that, I just started running like seven miles a day, then 13 miles a day. And then I was like just trying to get in as many miles as possible. And then I remember I like, I was moving houses and stuff like that. So I was just on my feet all day and I woke up like in the middle of the night and I felt like everybody, every single muscle in my body was cramping. Like I Felt like the muscles in my fingers really like my hands, my wrists, my, my biceps, everything and everything like curled over. And I woke up and I was like super tense.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

And I never had a full. I thought I was just having like a full body cramp.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

And like it, it stayed like that and eventually it eased out and I was like super sore. And I got up and I just went to piss. And it was like brown. Yeah, it was brown. And I, I remember feeling like, like I got Covid or something. Like I felt like, just depleted. Like I felt like everything in my body was, was gone. So like that. That's like the risk you run into sometimes with some of.

[Gary Breca]

And rhabdo can shut your kidneys down. I mean it can be life threatening. There have been ultra marathoners and, and, and competitive distance athletes that have actually died from rhabdo.

[Cole Breca]

Well, my thing was like if you can only control so much, like you can eat all the know go through the full training program. Like I followed for the 100 mile race. I followed the training program to a T. I didn't miss a single mile. If anything, I did extra miles. Rabdo is something that, you know, you don't even know that it's oncoming. It's. It's painless. You don't know. Your living values are super stressed out. And if you rush into something like a 100 mile race, especially someone like Kyle, like that is a huge risk. Like, like you could, it's very seriously got there. Especially if like you're, you're mentally strong and like capable, which, which he was. And, and so am I. Like, you can just think like you're pushing yourself through like just some pain. I mean you go through tons of pain while doing these races or you're.

[Gary Breca]

Just too sore or just like I'm too sore. Sleep well, whatever it is.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah. And you just, you, you don't. When you're first getting into it, you think like more is always better. And like I, I know you talk about it all the time. Like these most professional, most professional athletes are not overtrained. They're under recovered. And I think like totally true. In our training protocol, in this 100 mile race. Training protocol, the one thing that we took very, very serious was the recovery. Like after every workout, it was sauna, cold plunge, hydrogen water. We were doing hyperbarics with you. We were doing red light.

[Gary Breca]

I made sure of it and I.

[Cole Breca]

Made sure like I did all of that. And I think that's why I felt so good running this last hundred Miles.

[Gary Breca]

I'm surprised you feel that good right now. I mean, I want to sort of back it up for the audience because a lot of people don't even know.

[Cole Breca]

What the great world race is.

[Gary Breca]

So let's back up. So this is November 20that you did the great world race. But what's important about that is 10 months before that, you had never run a marathon. In fact, right up until the day you did it, you'd never run a marathon.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

Great.

[Cole Breca]

So for context, great world race is seven marathons and seven continents in seven days.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

And the concept behind that was there's a guy named Alvaro Nunez who you had on the podcast, and I listened to his podcast, Level Up. Huge fan of Level up, who's actually become a huge mentor in my life from the fitness aspect. And he's actually going to coach me in this next thing. But great human, I saw him talking about this race, the seven marathons on seven continents and seven days. I think you.

[Gary Breca]

I think you were out for a run with him, because I'll never forget you called me and you were like, dad, your dad. Like, dad, I just finished a run with Alro, and I think I want to do the great world race. And. And I was like, the great world race? Isn't that seven marathons on seven continents in seven days? And you're like, yeah. And I was like, you don't mind if I state the obvious, do you?

[Cole Breca]

Like, no.

[Gary Breca]

And I'm like, you've never run a marathon. Maybe we should start with one.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah. Yeah. So concept was like, listen, if we take everything we know about human performance, optimization, science, everything like that, in 100 days time, is it possible to not only go out and attempt this race, but complete it? And so we did just that. And I think it. It started in Antarctica, which was insane because it was negative 28 degrees Fahrenheit. And so, you know, it's. It's funny, one of the rules about Antarctica is if you sweat, you die. And that at the briefing. Yeah, it's because, like, if you. If you sweat and you know the clothing that you're wearing absorbs all that moisture, it'll actually freeze and you'll go hypothermic. And I remember just like sitting in that race briefing as they're telling me this being like, what. What the fuck did I get into?

[Gary Breca]

Like, dude, I don't. I remember when we flew. We flew into Cape Town, South Africa, and. And they were passing the microphone around, remember the first day of the race? And so you're like, you know, everybody introduce themselves and you know, tell. Tell each other a little bit about yourselves and, and the first girl that takes the microphone is like, I'm a three time US Olympian and like a decathlon. The next guy was like the world record holder in, in the ultra marathon.

[Cole Breca]

There's one guy there, like, they started passing around. I was like, oh, I've I 100, 100 mile races. I'm like the Olympic qualifier for Lebanon. I beat Dave. There's that one girl there with pink hair. Her name's Ashley Poulson. She was like, I beat David Goggins at Badwater 135.

[Gary Breca]

I know.

[Cole Breca]

And it gets to me and I'm.

[Gary Breca]

Like, I've never run a marathon before. The whole room just stopped.

[Cole Breca]

And they're like, the.

[Gary Breca]

Is this guy like, literally, they gave you zero chance of fishing.

[Cole Breca]

I felt so shallow and so small. It was.

[Gary Breca]

Plus you were big. You were like 208 pounds.

[Cole Breca]

210 pounds.

[Gary Breca]

210 pounds going in there.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah. And then you, you look like a.

[Gary Breca]

Rugby player in Antarctica.

[Cole Breca]

You stack on layers and stuff. So I was probably racing at like 213, 214. I was full of carbs and water and stuff too. So that was, that was insane. But anyways, you get to Antarctica and I remember running around. So the way that the course map was laid out is Antarctica is a research base. And so like, they're very delicate on like whatever you bring in there. So like you, you have to like, check all your nutrition and stuff like that. Like, you can't bring stuff in there. They make you like, wipe your feet off as soon as you get off the plane. Like, yeah, no, no dirt, like no trash. Like, yeah, everything is studied. And so like, they're very particular about what they have there. So they have one snowmobile, they've got, you know, a couple huts that, you know, are dedicated to research that we ended up using. But you basically land on this tarmac, which is a block of ice, you know, in the middle of nowhere, which.

[Gary Breca]

We got to put up an image of that.

[Cole Breca]

Seven two, seven. Yeah. If you can pop one image, that'd be great because. Cause there's literally nothing for as far as you can see. And actually the only thing you do see is mountain peaks, which is a crazy concept because you don't realize that there's an entire mountain under you. So you're at like 3,500ft in elevation gain. Again, it's negative 28 degrees Fahrenheit. And this course map is Set up in, like, six and a half mile loops, and you do, like, just under four of them. And so, like, at first you start out, you go, and everybody's kind of together. But, like, the qualifications of some of these people, like, some people are going fast, some people are going slow. Some people know that there's six more marathons after this. So everybody just immediately spreads out, and there's only 60 racers. So you start to spread pretty thin. So I was going through periods of just not seeing anybody for miles, like, almost sometimes hours. And I remember one thing I didn't realize about Antarctica is, although it's frozen solid, it's also a desert. So, like, the UV index is 13. And so the layers I was wearing, I was wearing, like, this black base layer and this black jumpsuit, and I had these big, like, Oakley glasses on and this. This beanie and the ski mask and these gloves. I started, like, cooking from, like, the inside out.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

And I remember, like, just trying to drop layers as fast as possible. And I come through the first aid station, and I remember telling Max, you know, our videographer who was shooting the documentary, that, like, hey, I need, like, fresh gear, fresh gloves. I was like, go in. Go in the support pad. Go find me whatever you can. And I need you to somehow just get me some stuff out there. And my concept was, like, hopefully while I'm out there running, I can drop some layers and I can cool back down, and then I'll make it back to the aid station. You know, I'll run six and a half miles and I'll make it back to the aid station. Well, I left that first aid station, and 20 minutes goes by or whatever, and I immediately feel like my fingers have gone completely numb. Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

And it happens so fast. It's not, like, painful like a normal slow frostbite. It happens so fast. It's like all of a sudden, you look down and your hands are white and they're numb.

[Cole Breca]

Hands are numb. And I remember I had one hand warmer, and I ended up tearing it open to try to, like, shove my fingers into it. I was like, whatever's on the inside, like, I want my fingers to be in. And so I teared it open. I was trying to share it between, like, one thing, and my gloves were soaked, my shirt was soaked, my beanie was soaked. So I just started, like, taking stuff off, and then I would start to freeze. So, like, put my gloves back on, and as I'm running, I swear to God, it was like something in the movies. Like, I felt my vision Just like, start to narrow, and it just starts going like legit tunnel vision. And like, your ears start ringing, your vision gets blurry. And I swear I saw it, like, just start to close in on itself. And my fingers had gone numb. And I was like, best case scenario, pass out here. Hopefully some runner or somebody sees me soon and they can get me, at least save my life.

[Gary Breca]

Because the runners were spread out, sometimes by miles. You sometimes couldn't even see the other runners.

[Cole Breca]

And so for me, I was also. I'm worried if I fall asleep or I pass out or whatever, my blood's gonna move slower, I'm gonna freeze even faster. I was like, so hopefully somebody finds me and they at least save my vit organs and I live.

[Gary Breca]

I lose a couple fingers or something.

[Cole Breca]

And I can walk again. But by the grace of God, I'm running and I swear my vision's going tighter and tighter. And videographer Max dude literally saved my life. He came out on the only snowmobile in all of Antarctica.

[Gary Breca]

Commandeered that thing.

[Cole Breca]

Commandeered that thing and literally came out.

[Gary Breca]

Max is off camera. Where did you get the snowmobile from, Dude?

[Cole Breca]

And he just brought me. Yeah, yeah.

[Gary Breca]

Thank God, by the way.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah. Brought me fresh gloves. He brought me a fresh beanie. And like, if it wasn't for that 10 minutes max, like, I would have hit the deck because I was. I was in such like, a fight or flight weird mode where like, there was nothing, you know, like, no racers by. It was the same distance to go to the next aid station as it was to turn around. So you're in like, this weird predicament and you think like, oh, I'll just keep going and keep going and keep going and try to get as close as possible. And then so I get fresh gear. And as I'm racing in Antarctica, I also, like, I did all of my training in Miami, so it was a lot of, like, road running. I mean, we went up to the mountains of Colorado to try to simulate.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah, yeah. We used to get up at 4:30.

[Cole Breca]

As close as possible.

[Gary Breca]

I would follow you from 10,500ft up to 14,000ft. And I remember we would try to wake up at 4:30 in the morning, so we get out before daybreak. So it would be as cold. Cold as high as possible. So, yeah, you know, we could try to simulate Antarctica. I mean, the altitude was a lot more. It was insane that you were able to run from 10,500ft, 14,000ft.

[Cole Breca]

That was even. That was like 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Which is freezing, but still 60 degrees.

[Gary Breca]

Away from where it was.

[Cole Breca]

60 degree difference from that to Antarctica, which is insane to even think about.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah, but.

[Cole Breca]

But again, like, I did a lot of, like, other than, like, the mountain running that I did, I did most of my training on the road. So what ended up happening, it was a mixture of ice and snow, compact snow. So it's almost like running in sand. And so it made me sore in places I hadn't been sore before. So, like, all my muscles got accustomed to road running. So as my foot placement was getting off and everything like that, it really jacked me up. And so we finished that marathon and we get on the plane and then we fly to Cape Town. And in Cape Town, it's the polar opposite climates. It's, you know, it's like hot, 90 degrees Fahrenheit, humid, UV again, 13, sun's beaming. And I think the soreness and everything like that threw off my mechanics because as I'm running in Cape Town, I feel like my. My ankles really start to hurt. My feet, like, are really, really hurting. And it's not like, soreness, it's like, starting to become, like, ligament pain. And like, I could feel tendons, like, really, really deep, deep, like tissue pain. And. And I'm running around Cape Town and it's hot. And immediately, like, there, I'm like, dude, what did I sign myself up for?

[Gary Breca]

I'm like, I think the crazy thing is too, that you finished a marathon in Antarctica, but it was only a five and a half hour flight to Cape Town. So we literally strapped into an seat like my.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah, we were feet on the. This, you know, and I'm like, strapping this. So, like, all the swelling's going in my feet. Yeah, we're just strapped on this. This basically this old, like, World War II prop plane, you know, dude, that thing was something out of the Stone Ages. And. And so, no, we land back in Cape Town.

[Gary Breca]

Food was awful on that part of the flight, too. It was like five and a half hours of Cape Town. We land in Cape Town, we clear customs and go straight to the start line. So really it was. The first two marathons were in less than 24 hours.

[Cole Breca]

Oh, yeah. Well, think about Antarctica also. Like, it's. It's so unpredictable how the weather is like, you could have a blizzard one second and like, crystal skies, you know, the next. And so, like, they watch the. The weather for days, and as soon as you get, like, a window, you have to leave.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah, we left like, two days early, I think, or a Day and a half early.

[Cole Breca]

We left. Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

Like 28 hours early.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

So, like, you think you're getting into Cape Town, you're gonna warm up, you know, you'll get a shakeout run, eat some good food, and then next thing you know, they're like, all right, we're leaving in an hour.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

And, like, you. You pack your shit. You get on the plane, you fly there, you run a marathon, and the race kicks off.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

And so, like.

[Gary Breca]

And now you're in it.

[Cole Breca]

So, like, you travel to Antarctica, you run the marathon, you immediately get on a plane. And on the plane, like, you're not really resting because you're. One, you're sitting upright. Two, like, you're trying to get nutrition. You're trying to, you know, deal with all your injuries or whatever. And then you land. You've got to grab all your stuff, run a marathon, literally within seven hours of your last one, and then again, pack up your stuff and it's time to travel. And, like. So, like, a lot of people didn't realize, like. And I didn't even realize it either. Like, the great world race, it sounds like seven marathons in seven days. Like, you run a marathon, you get to sleep, and, you know, you lay down on the plane. It's not that you gotta. You gotta clear customs. You're in different time zones, you're in different climates. You have to, like, travel to the airport. Sometimes you're on a bicycle, a bus for, like, an.

[Gary Breca]

We actually only spent one night in. In a. In a hotel, so everybody knows. Every other night was on the plane. Like, there was only one night, and that was in Turkey, between the European side and. And the race progressed.

[Cole Breca]

So we did Antarctica, Cape Town, and then we flew to Australia. And I think. I don't know something about Australia. I felt pretty good in Australia, going through Australia, but I think somewhere between Perth was nice. Yeah. Cape Town in Australia, though. Like, I don't know if I got a parasite or I.

[Gary Breca]

A bunch of runners did, or the water.

[Cole Breca]

I. I knew better not to drink, like, local water, like, out of the tap, you know, I don't drink tap water in general, but I knew better, like, not to drink, like, that water. People always say, like, it destroys your gut, but I think, you know, one of the things you said is they, like, wash the vegetables in the water.

[Gary Breca]

And, you know, most of the athletes that got the Greek salad or the ice or.

[Cole Breca]

Ice in the drinks. Yeah, ice in the drinks or something like that. So it could have been the water, but from that Moment forward in the middle of the Australia marathon. I couldn't keep anything down.

[Gary Breca]

I mean, dude, I was so worried about you. Between Istanbul and Cartagena, because we had done. We'd done Antarctica, Cape Town, Perth, Australia. Istanbul, Asia. Istanbul, Europe. And then it was almost 19 hours. Remember, that was the longest flight. I think we refueled in Dubai, and they wouldn't let us off the plane. So you and Alvaro and I went out. They. They put the thing up for the. For the steps, and they said, you can't touch the ground because we're not clearing customs here. So they put the. They put the thing up against the plane, and we just went out on the little platform. We did. Did breath work.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

And then we get back on, but. And then we. It was like six and a half hours into the flight, and I would say 25% of the athletes woke up. Puking monosumers. Revenge. It was all within an hour and a half of each other. I had everybody come into my seat, and they're like, gary. Mister, do you have anything for nausea? Like, oh, just awes, nauseous all of a sudden. And I think David, the race director, said, you know, trace it back to the ice or the salad. But, I mean, you probably lost. You didn't take one ounce of fluid, and you probably lost so much weight on that flight.

[Cole Breca]

It was. Everything that could go wrong just started going wrong. Like, my. My. My ankle started to collapse because, again, like, I. The way I was, I was definitely also too big. I was 210 pounds, like, racing like that. And that's not smart.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

I ended up with double stress fractures. You know, I had one in each. One in the top of my left foot, one in my right ankle, which made my ankles swell like a balloon. And then I got this bug, this stomach bug, and I couldn't put a cracker into my system. Not a. I was trying to give you, like, literally capfuls of.

[Gary Breca]

Capfuls of coconut water. Yeah. And I would pour it into a cap, literally the cap of the bottle, and you would try to sip it just to keep it moisture in your mouth. And then when we got to Cartagena, Yeah, it was 98 degrees, blazing sun. It seemed like the worst possible course because it was a concrete, long, flat, unforgiving course with no shade. And then they just had those little porta Potties, like every two and a half miles and the little table set up and. And, dude, you would go into that porta potty and you like vomit and other shit literally every two And a half miles.

[Cole Breca]

Dude, I couldn't give anything.

[Gary Breca]

I remember telling Max.

[Cole Breca]

I was like, by the way, that's the sixth marathon.

[Gary Breca]

That was number six.

[Cole Breca]

This happens at the end of Australia. Okay, so that's three marathons in. I go four marathons, completely fasted.

[Gary Breca]

I know.

[Cole Breca]

Like, it's crazy to see. So it goes Antarctica, Cape Town, Perth, Australia, Istanbul, Asia, Istanbul, Europe, Cartagena, and then Miami. And I remember just, like, thinking, like, dude, how. How I was trying to mash rice. Like, I was like, I feel like everything that could go wrong. I'm running on broken ankles. I can't keep any food down. I was like, I don't know. I mean, I can't keep up with the climate. I haven't slept. My longest sleep during seven days was an hour and 50 minutes consecutive. Yeah, it's because, like, you're trying to slam nutrition in, and you're like, now I'm, like, throwing up every 30 seconds.

[Gary Breca]

And, like, your whoop score had a recovery of one.

[Cole Breca]

Every day. Yeah, 1%.

[Gary Breca]

1%.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah, every day.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

And so it's honestly, like, spectacular to see how primal, like, the human body can go. Like, there's those stories about people that get stranded in the woods or in the mountains or something and survive for three months off, you know, like, berries and sticks and, you know. You know, catching rabbits and. And, like, that's true. Like.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah. No, you were in.

[Cole Breca]

The human capabilities are insane.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

And, like, so to. To feel that there was, like, the most raw and vulnerable and, like, again, primal that I'd ever felt ever. Like, I. It's weird how, like, anything, like, materialistic or anything like that or, like, the little that people care about, like, you know, your. Your clothes and what kind of shoes you're wearing and, you know, like, with the. What kind of car you drive and like, that and, like, what kind of watch you have. Dude, I didn't want anything. I wanted sleep, food, water, and like. Like, Like, I wanted shelter.

[Gary Breca]

And kind of in that water, literally.

[Cole Breca]

I felt like a caveman. I wanted shelter, I wanted nutrition, and I wanted to hydrate.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

And that's all I wanted. And that, like, I would have done anything for it in that moment. And I, like, I couldn't keep anything. The race just started slowly breaking me and breaking me. And one of the crazy things is that 60 or 65 racers started for only 40, finished. There was a guy out of Dublin, Ireland, who broke two world records on the great world race. He broke one in Antarctica and one in Asia. He ran a 214 marathon in Dublin. And they actually found this guy and they brought him on the great road race. He took the record in Antarctica, in Cartagena, that race you're talking about, I'm running behind him, and all of a sudden I see him start to, like, wobble. And I'm. I'm literally running behind him. And all of a sudden he just hits the deck and just, like, falls to the side. And, like, he's looking up and his eyes are just glazed over, and he's just, like, sitting up. And I'm like, dude, what am I like?

[Gary Breca]

Yeah. So I said, they actually pulled a couple of people off that race, taking.

[Cole Breca]

Them to the hospital. I remember they would drop people off at the park plane and, like. Like, IVs still in their arms. They pull them and, like, throw them on the plane. It was chaos. And to see, like, again, I'm just this kid coming in here like, yo, I never ran a marathon ever.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

And. And here I am, like, running seven marathons and seven continents in seven days, like, absolutely battered.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

And you go in a survival mode, and, like, once you're in survival mode, you know, it's like. It's an insane feeling. It's something like I've only felt in that moment. And, you know, I. I only feel like, when I. When I do, like, these ultra endurance things that really. You have to strip yourself physically of, like, everything you have, and you really start to find out who you are, like, mentally. Like, what is your mental capabilities? Like, how do you.

[Gary Breca]

Is my mind as strong as my body?

[Cole Breca]

Is my mind as strong as my body? Like, what. Like, how can you handle adversity? Like, in those times? You know, it's like, what's your ability to problem solve and stuff like that. Like, it's.

[Gary Breca]

I remember when we pulled up to the. To the race start in Cartagena because you were still fasted. You've been fasted for over three days. And. And I remember pulling Max aside, and I was like, I think there's zero percent chance he finishes this race.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah. And I said, if you don't give up on this race, I won't give up on you. That was the only marathon I've ever ridden run either, because I was so worried about you, so. And I hadn't trained, so I was in horrific pain, but I'd only run one, and you were on year six, so I didn't say a fucking word.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

Well, that's part of. I mean, part of the. The documentary that we ended up Filming on was like, you know, you were kind of the scientist and I was kind of this guinea pig.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

But then there's also, like, when we started racing, there's also, like, concerned father and son. Like.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

At what point do you, very concerned, push the boundaries as a scientist and throw in the towel as a father?

[Gary Breca]

It's like, there was a lot.

[Cole Breca]

Dude.

[Gary Breca]

Mile. I'll tell you exactly when it was mile 18 in Cartagena, I was like, what did I say at the beginning of this race? If you don't give up in this race, I won't give up on you. I was like, hey, if you want to throw in the towel, I'm actually good with it. Dude, lots of people have quit. Not everybody that quits is a loser. Yeah. Like, Thomas Edison failed 3,000 times before he found the light bulb. But I still, to this day don't know where you went in that pain cave because you didn't quit. I. I didn't quit the one marathon, but we. We started breaking it down into those. Into the distance between the ice buckets where they had the waters to shove our whole legs.

[Cole Breca]

And they had to cut my socks off me because.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah, I remember the MTs cutting your socks off. Your. You had this big balloon out the front of your.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

Tibia. And then I was like, dude, when do I throw in the towel on my son? And we're like one marathon away from him completing this goal. He's already done six. And I was running it through my mind. I'm like, what, do we come back next year and try it again?

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

And so I wanted you to finish so bad, but I also didn't want you to have permanent damage. And yeah, I was running that fine line the whole time.

[Cole Breca]

How much, you know, when do I start? When do I keep throwing science at this and biohacking and recovering. Yeah. Yeah. And then when do I, you know, just say, listen, I can't, you know, watch my.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah. So. So I want to transition to the. To the 100 mile race because you'd also never run 100 miles.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

And there. There was a moment during that race. This was just two days ago, by the way.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

Fresh. And, and hats off to Kyle Forgard and four of the guys that went with you guys. Because when. When that race started and I was in the. Because it was live streamed when that race started, I was in the comments and chats and just listen to what people are saying. 0% of the people thought that you guys would finish at.0% thought all six would finish. Yeah. And all six of you guys cross the finish line.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

But I think it was around mile 32, where every single one of you entered the unknown. What was the first you'd ever written around before that?

[Cole Breca]

Consecutive 37 miles.

[Gary Breca]

Okay, so 37.

[Cole Breca]

So for you, for them it was 31.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah, for them it was 31. You were at 37. And that was the uncharted territory. So that was every step after that.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah, it was a personal best.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah. So, you know, I. I wonder if you talk a little bit about the. The race prep and like, first of all, you're a completely different.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

Racer. I feel like we went into the great world race blind.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

And you went into this one really structured. I mean, Matt, you know, helped tremendous.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah. Shout out to Matt Johnson.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah, Matt Johnson. We just. By the way, if you haven't seen the podcast with Matt Johnson, please check it out.

[Cole Breca]

I mean, no, he's. He's a lifesaver. I think he's. His program was a huge part of, kind of why I did so well. He's. Between him and Andy Glaze. I mean, those two guys basically took me animal too, across that finish line. They. They crafted this. This thing so well. They have so much real world ultra racing experience that I basically just turned my life over to them from a training standpoint. And I said, listen, you know, this is my goal. I want to run this 100 miles. I want to do it consecutive. I don't want to sleep in between, you know, and I want to do it in a straight shot, you know.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

As little aid stations as possible, as minimal time as possible. And I want to, you know, stay on my feet and I want to feel good also doing it. I was like, the great world race scarred me pretty bad. You know, I was like jacked me up for months. I didn't want to, like, run after that. Like, it. It really messed me up. You know, I lost 37 pounds in the great world race. I. Double stress fractures.

[Gary Breca]

You ended at 180.

[Cole Breca]

It also stressed out, like, the family, my fiance, like, it was. It was hard. Yeah. She was ready.

[Gary Breca]

Throwing in towel.

[Cole Breca]

So, like, when I committed to another race, that's, you know, similar to that. This is four of those marathons, but I'm doing it in 24 hours, so it's tough. And so for me, I wanted to find someone that was super, super experienced. And so they created a program, tailored it to me. I followed it to a T. Like, if anything, there was no day that I went under Miles. I Did over miles. And that also gave me confidence, I think going into this race that I could just kind of trust in the process.

[Gary Breca]

Always. Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

You know, like, if they said I could do it and everything like that, I knew that my training wasn't going to fail me. I was like, at a minimum, I know I'm qualified based on whatever they say.

[Gary Breca]

Right. It's just whether or not you're going to have the mental fortitude. There's nothing they can do to prepare you for that pain cave.

[Cole Breca]

It's also like the unknown can hit you. I mean, you could have. You could train, you could be perfectly in shape. But like, some of those guys were getting like gut issues and like, gut issues could take you out. One of them developed, like, so you're running behind a support van for 100 miles. It's kicking up dust. One of the guys, like started develop wheezing and asthma.

[Gary Breca]

Dry air.

[Cole Breca]

Dry air and stuff like that. So, like, he went to the ER today.

[Gary Breca]

Oh, did he?

[Cole Breca]

Yeah. Mark S. He went to the ER today?

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

Two days after having trouble breathing. Trouble breathing. He just couldn't. Couldn't handle it.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah. Andy called the desert lung. He was like the dry air with all the dirt and all and like, and it was so dry. And dude, when those semis were coming by and it was going, the wind was just like a wall that felt like a linebacker hitting you, trying to knock you off the road.

[Cole Breca]

It was uncontrollable. But like, mile 20 to 40 was probably the toughest, honestly, because when you start to feel pain, like at mile 20 in that early on, I have done another 20 mile runs and I was like, I felt better on those runs. And why do I feel like this right now? And then I'm also like, like, I'm not even halfway to the halfway point.

[Gary Breca]

Like, yeah, halfway to the halfway point.

[Cole Breca]

I'm not even a marathon in. I got three and a half marathons to go. You start like all those thoughts start to play in your head. So it's like they call it. Andy calls it mile 80 training. Yeah. The reason it calls it that is because, like, you get to a point. For me, it was like 50 miles. Once I got to 50 miles, I got to start to count backwards. I was like, I was no longer going, like, almost like you're going downhill. I was like, then 49, 48, 47, and so on and so forth. But it was, it was scary for everybody because when we started feeling like that, one of the things about this race was majority of it was in the darkness. Okay. There was 16 hours of nightfall. You know, the sun set at around 4 o'. Clock. It got up at like 7am yeah. So majority of the race was at night. In the night. And we started at 10:00am so, like, we're running through the day. It's pretty overcast. During the end of, like, right before the sun was setting, like, the sun was beaming on us. And so, like, I started to sweat. Everybody started to sweat. Like, there was a section of this course that was like 15 miles of, like, the support fans couldn't be on the side of the road with us, so we couldn't have, like, crew and stuff. So we were running in a single file line. There was. And it was just silent. Like, you're out in the desert until.

[Gary Breca]

The traffic that comes by.

[Cole Breca]

Like, the desert desert. Area 51 is where we ran.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah, literally.

[Cole Breca]

Area 51. So, like, Google Area 51. There's nothing.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah, there's actually only sketchy shit.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah, there's. There's one gas station that sells fireworks.

[Gary Breca]

There's a strip club. Fireworks. A bar and an alien.

[Cole Breca]

And like an Indian restaurant.

[Gary Breca]

Super random and an Indian restaurant.

[Cole Breca]

Strangest combination of anything. But I remember just being out there and it was so silent, and you're just like. That's when the thoughts start to come in and it's insane, like, how creative the brain gets when you're in those moments. Like, how creative you start to convince yourself to quit. It's like, listen, if you just step on that rock over there, maybe it'll hurt your ankle. And everyone will be like, oh, that's a serious injury that could be permanent. You can go out, or you're like, oh, I got the flu two weeks ago. You know, everybody will be like, oh, he was sick, and stuff like that. How creative. Your brain, like, just starts to convince yourself. And I think that's where the training and the preparation and the trust and the recovery comes in. Because you're like, listen, you. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you know, like, qualified. You know, like, I did the preparation. I'm qualified. You knew these thoughts were gonna come. Like, you know, it's not gonna be easy. You know, there's gonna be the mental aspect and they just start flowing in, especially in those high times or those low times. And. And the 100 mile race is like, just highs and lows, highs and lows. And you have high highs and you have low lows.

[Gary Breca]

And, you know, what's. You know, what's wild about that is like, I watched you guys And I, I would, I would, you know, run nutrition and stuff back up to the front and back to the van for, for you guys. Mainly for you. And I watched like the motion and the energy of the crowd, like the, the six of you guys shift and like you would run so long and like, the longer you would run, the more the mood would like get suppressed and suppressed and suppressed. And then like when, when they decide they would allow you guys to have caffeine.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

And then they would allow you to have Advil. It was like mile one for you guys. You guys were animated and chatty. Kyle started rapping, you know, to the music. And, and it was like, it was.

[Cole Breca]

Like, it's the little things, dude.

[Gary Breca]

Doorstep. Two sips of a bang and two ads.

[Cole Breca]

Well, you go primal once you're in primal. It's like those things. Yeah, it's, it's crazy. Like you get a little bit of water and like you get to put your feet up for a second and that's like, like you, dude, it's like.

[Gary Breca]

It changes your perspective. I think it's such a metaphor for life.

[Cole Breca]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Highs and lows.

[Gary Breca]

Staying. It's just highs and lows, but also perspective for like, what are you thankful for? And like, the more pain you're in, the easier it is for you to find something that you're grateful for. You know, because you were so grateful for like a quarter of a bang energy. And dude, do Advil.

[Cole Breca]

You have no idea what that did to my.

[Gary Breca]

If I had offered you anything else, but I'm like, you want a new Ferrari or do you want these 2.

[Cole Breca]

Milligram of that energy drink Just like hit my soul, dude.

[Gary Breca]

My soul.

[Cole Breca]

Well, what I did is, is I bang energy.

[Gary Breca]

Good for your soul. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Cole Breca]

Because honestly, everything that I ate on that race. Do not eat unless you're.

[Gary Breca]

Oh, dude, that's the ultimate human. I was like, dude, he's on his 50th rice Krispie treat. I can't watch this.

[Cole Breca]

Honestly, I need a Rice Krispie sponsor after this because I pounded probably 150 rice Krispies.

[Gary Breca]

You did? Skittle.

[Cole Breca]

Coca Cola. Yeah, Skittles. And it's, it's the nastiest stuff, but it's, it's fuel. And like you just kind of, you take from these guys that have this ultra running experience and it, bro, it works.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah. And you start getting sores in your mouth.

[Cole Breca]

And I think, you know, what I did with the caffeine was I tried to delay it as much as possible. So like There was a section where, like, I was just running and I felt. Felt myself like, going to sleep. I was like, I'm going to fall asleep while I'm running. I was like, I feel like I'm yawning. I'm, like, getting delirious and I, like, I would start to nod off and. And I was like, okay, this is probably the time I should have it, but I wanted to delay it. So it, like, gave me something to look forward to. It gave me energy.

[Gary Breca]

Insane how depleted your body is that. Something like that little was not a lot of caffeine. It was a quarter of a bang. So it's probably 80 milligrams of caffeine.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah, it's nothing that you got, but.

[Gary Breca]

You guys lit up like Christmas trees. And then the two Advil just dulled a little bit of the pain. So your pain cave went from an eight to a six?

[Cole Breca]

Yeah, yeah. It was insane. And so as the race progresses, you know, it goes from kind of being warm, like in the evening to being freezing cold. And then it goes down into, I think, like the upper 30s and stuff like that. So, like, when you're moving, you're heating up, but as soon as you stop. Yeah, it's like you're shivering or cold and your blood starts moving cold. Like, you immediately get exhausted and tired. And so I remember, like, coming out of those aid stations and just being, like, so fatigued. And then like, you start running and you start to pick back up again and then you're in cruise control. But tell you what, I. I honestly, I felt good. Like, I felt a lot better than I thought I was.

[Gary Breca]

No, you look great.

[Cole Breca]

Like, honestly, like, I ended up actually going to the gym. Like, yeah, I went to the gym. And I think, you know, as. As. As corny as it might sound, the hydrogen water.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

Actually works. Actually saved my life. The. The whole reason, and not to even get into H2 tab, but the whole reason I started H2 tab is, is when I was doing the great world race and the great World race prep, I found a research article because I was studying all this stuff, like, how can I amplify my recovery? Because it's marathon. You know, playing marathon, Playing seven marathons, seven continents in seven days. And I was looking at all those things. Beta alanine, you know, beta carotene, you know, like, all these things that amplify recovery. I was looking at beet juice and. And all this different stuff. Nitric oxide stuff and like, everything. And. And I stumbled upon this research article on delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS and it showed a reduction in DOMS by like 76 or something. And so I got my, I contacted the patent holder on the tablets because I realized it was from the tablets. Got my hands on some of these tablets and I took them on the great road race. And other than the physical ailments like the stress fractures in the gut, I wasn't sore.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah.

[Cole Breca]

And I ran seven marathons in seven continents in seven days and I wasn't sore. Like I could have walked out and hit a back squat. And like that was freaky to me. Like, I was like, I was like that's, I was almost skeptical. I was like, what is that? And so like, you know, I got that science over to you. You really started to validate it. And I think that is when we took the leap on H2 tab and I, I got to validate that again with this 100 mile race. Like I, I, I was taking five hydrogen tablets before the race and then I would do these little hydrogen water bombs where I put like three tablets and like half a liter of water. I'd let it fully dissolve and I chug it back to like if you go back and I mean the whole entire race is live stream. You go back and watch how I felt throughout the entire race.

[Gary Breca]

No, no, you look, it was a completely different race. And I think I'm with you. I mean I don't want to turn it into A. Yeah. H2 tab either. But hydrogen gas I think is one of the greatest. It's its role in the human body is one of the greatest discoveries of our millennia. I know doesn't break it fast. It's a selective antioxidant. We could go all into the, the mechanism of, you know, how it restores something called redox homeostasis, which is a balance. And we bathe in hydrogen water. I mean I bathe John Jones in that before, you know his, his big last title fight. Sean Ryan talks about it all the time. How I used them to get in my bathtub. Shout out, Sean. Yeah, Rogan too. I want to, I want, I want to close out out by rounding out on a few things. So we have a big project planned.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

And you know, we're going to do a documentary around it. But the, the whole concept is, you know, the vast majority of athletes are not over trained, they're under recovered and we don't huge statement target our recovery at the tissues that need it the most. I mean, you know, strength and conditioning is in my opinion that is a field that has where there is just absolute excellence. And professional sports teams have strength and conditioning coaches, they do positional training, hand eye coordination, speed, timing, agility, strength. We've really maxed out with where we are but we haven't gotten anywhere near the threshold on recovery. And this is joints, ligaments, tendons, connective tissue. And this is where people, where athletes break down. I mean you look at a number of non contact injuries in the NFL. These are non traumatic injuries, blown in an Achilles heel, running off the sideline, blowing an acl, running a pattern. You know those are injuries that professional teams and athletes should not have to tolerate. And it has a lot to do with recovery. And so we're creating a documentary that's, that's going to be centered around how far can we push the limits of human performance. And my role will be to target the recovery of those tissues, your joints, ligaments, your tendons, your, your, your spine, your nervous system, you know, targeted red light therapy, hydrogen nanobathing, hyperbarics, you know, pulse electromagnetic field. And can we get this connective tissue in these areas of body that are deprived of oxygen to recover as fast as our muscles? And if so can we reset every day to baseline even after something as extreme as a full distance Iron man.

[Cole Breca]

When you get into like multi day endurance events it's like there's only so much training you can do for something like, like for the, a hundred mile race like my, my longest run was 31 miles, 32 miles. It's like me running 50 miles or 60 miles doesn't do me any better than me running 30 miles. So at some point like the training actually does start to plateau. It's like you can't. More training is not just going to mean more miles you can run. That's not a thing. And so like where you can buy more time and buy more, buy better performance is in the recovery. And, and for me like the things that start to go in these multi day endurance events are the tissues, the ligaments. Yeah the tendons, that, that stuff that is just completely getting pounded for, you know.

[Gary Breca]

Yeah, I believe in this. I, I think we're going to prove it. Should we say what you're going to try to do?

[Cole Breca]

10 Ironmans in 10 days. So the distance of 10 Ironmans we're going to condense it down. So It'll be a 24 mile swim into an 1112 mile bike ride followed by a 262 mile run. And we're going to try to complete that in 10 days.

[Gary Breca]

By the way, if anybody wants to join.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah.

[Gary Breca]

And. And we're really gonna see how. How we can.

[Cole Breca]

And that'll be push the limits. The biggest thing and the whole concept behind that is like, at some point you cross a threshold where you have to have all of that or else you can't complete it. You just physically can't. Like, you can't do 10 Ironmans in 10 days without having your physiology and every ounce of blood work and, you know, everything just dialed into that. You're training your sleep, your recovery, everything has to be dialed in to at. And that is why we chose this distance. I actually, Dana White called me after doing the great world race, and he said, what you did was insane. One and two. He's like, I'm so fascinated about it. I want to like, Whatever you're doing.

[Gary Breca]

We were sitting in my kitchen that day.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah. He's like, whatever you're doing next, he's like, I. I want in on it. He's like, I want to film something about it. He's like, it's so inspiring. It's so crazy. And so, like, the concept behind the great world race was how do we take somebody in 100 days time that was not a runner or anything, Never run a marathon, turn him into, you know, a mediocre athlete. And how do we take a mediocre athlete and turn him into a super athlete?

[Gary Breca]

Yeah. And I think, and I think, I think following this, sometime in early 2027, you're going to see the first wave of superhuman athletes market, and I hope to be a big part of that. And you're going to see human records shattered by margins we never thought possible. So, you know, before we wind down the podcast, I just want to say on the podcast call, you're. You're an inspiration to me as your father. Like, I. I couldn't be more proud.

[Cole Breca]

Thank you, dad. I mean, we, our entire family and, you know, both of our. Our careers have been built on this backbone of health and wellness and preaching health and wellness. So for me, it was like, when. When looking for a test subject to do stuff like this and be this guinea pig, you know, it was. It was me that raised my hand just because, you know, if. If you're going to talk the talk, you better be able to walk the walk. And for me, it's like, you know, I. I own a hydrogen water company and, And I talk so much about the benefits, the. And performance benefits that, like, I want to be the first person to prove it to people. It's like, don't take my word for it. Just, just look at the actions that I do, you know, like I, I just ran 100 miles. You can't, you know, like, you can't, you can't fake that. You know, like, a lot of people can, you know, talk about supplements and stuff on the Internet and talk about health and performance and bio optimization. And I think for us it's like, how do we, you know, put our money where our mouth is and prove it to the world? Like, you know, I talk about this stuff for a reason. I was a, I was a user before. I was a, you know, someone that promoted it. And, you know, I had a life changing experience with all of it. So for me, it's like, how do I become the test subject? How do I become the example and like, take everything that we've always preached and like, put it back into ourselves.

[Gary Breca]

Amen. So, you know that I, I won down all my podcasts by asking my guests the same questions. You get the same question. You forgot about that one, didn't you, dude? 200 podcasts that, you know, I've done so far.

[Cole Breca]

So I don't watch a lot of the podcasts on the screen. I usually watch them in person. So.

[Gary Breca]

Okay, so you ready? What does it mean to you to be an ultimate human?

[Cole Breca]

I don't know. For, for me, it's, it's pushing yourself beyond your own capable limits. And, and I think, you know, we talk about this, this notion called the masogi. And you know, that basically Jesse Itzler. Jesse Itzler, that's his thing, you know, that's where I learned it. Basically. That's like one day a year you do something that's so impressive that you can reap the benefits of it for the rest of the year.

[Gary Breca]

You're supposed to only have a 50, 50 shot.

[Cole Breca]

50, 50 shot. And I think for some people, it doesn't have to be seven iron or seven marathons, or doesn't have to be 10 ironmans. It could be starting a business, it could be writing a book, it could be doing a 5k or losing 10 pounds. It's just taking the leap for something. You know, my message out to the people back, you know, after doing the great world race is not that I want you to go out and run seven marathons and seven continents in seven days. That was insane. But it's to show people that, you know, I did that in 100 days time. I dedicated my life to this thing. And like, I just went all in and I cut off all distractions. I cut out Anything that didn't serve a purpose for that mission. And I think if you're watching this, you can do the same. And. And if you're. If you want to get 10,000 steps a day, like, just get out and do it and then, you know, cut all the out of your life and just go after it. And so for me, like being the ultimate human or the ultimate human version of yourself, it's just kind of just taking a leap at what you want. For me, that's endurance stuff. That's business. That's being the best fiance I could be. That's being the best dog dad.

[Gary Breca]

And you know, you are a great dog dad. You know, one thing you want to be as a dog in Cole's house.

[Cole Breca]

Oh, dude.

[Gary Breca]

He actually will make your meals for you every day. Bring them to you in your own bed.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah, not to close this out, but I have a.

[Gary Breca]

And he'll actually carry you down the steps.

[Cole Breca]

Yeah, I've got a 17 year old black lab that's on Peptides. I make his whole food tides. Peptides. He's on bpc, kpv, he's on. I put him on mct.

[Gary Breca]

Oils.

[Cole Breca]

I've got on a multivitamin. I. I make his own food, Megan. My fiance spoils the both of them, so.

[Gary Breca]

Wow. I love you call. I can't wait to see this unfold.

[Cole Breca]

Thanks for being human. Awesome. Let's do it.

[Gary Breca]

Until next time, guys. That's just science.