Captain Tony Young | Running 100 Miles and Managing a Charter Business | Tom Rowland Podcast Ep. 981

Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 981: Captain Tony Young

In this episode: the Keys 100, ultra running as cross training for being a captain, the forty sixty rule, zone two heart rate training, and freediving breath work — in the exact words spoken.

00:00 · Cold Open

Tom Rowland: If you want everything you need to take care of your boat, StarBright's got the solution. It's called boat care in a bucket. That's right. One three and a half gallon bucket packed with essentials, vinyl bright, deck cleaner, marine polish, a wash mitt, hull cleaner, and boat wash. That one kit will keep any boat clean and protected, but that's just the start. I also use StarBright's salt off, which is incredible for rinsing salt off after a day on the water. Their brushes and cleaning products work just as well on your RV and patio furniture and anything else that lives outside. It is a company that gives back. That's one of the things that I really like about StarBright. StarBright supports marine conservation through Project Sea Safe, and that means a lot to me personally. You're getting performance and purpose. Visit starbrite.com. That's starbrite.com, and get your boat dialed in for the season. From The Seychelles to The Keys, I trust Nikon binoculars to find fish fast. Visit nikonusa.com and upgrade your line of sight. I thought I was covered, but I wasn't. HH Insurance showed me that my old policy did not cover The Bahamas or nighttime navigation, two major gaps that could have cost me a lot. Jake and Landon fixed it fast. They know charter policies better than anyone I've ever worked with. Call (727) 498-5551 or visit hhinsgroup.com and tell them Tom Roland sent you. Trusted enough to go with me to The Seychelles, my Danco pliers are a staple in my kit. Check out dancopliers.com and build yours today. One kit, total care. StarBright's boat care in a bucket has everything I need, cleaners, polish, wash mitts, and more. I also swear by Saltoff, and their brushes work great on your boat, RV, and other things as well. They give back through project sea safe supporting real marine conservation. Head to starbright.com and check it out. That is starbrite.com. I took Nikon binoculars to The Seychelles, and I used them to spot tailing triggerfish from a long way away. I used them the same way here in The Keys for tarpon, redfish, permit, and bonefish. They're waterproof, crystal clear, and built for serious anglers. Visit nikonusa.com and check out their marine ready optics. Let me give it to you straight. If you're a boat owner or a charter captain, you need to talk to HH Insurance. These guys know more about insuring boats and captains than anyone I've ever met. I thought we were covered. Turns out, we weren't. Jake and Landon at HH Insurance walked us through our policy and showed us that we did not have coverage in The Bahamas. If something had gone wrong, we would have been out of luck. The same thing was true with nighttime navigation. Most policies don't cover it, but many of us are out there predawn or after sunset. That's the way our policy was previously. They fixed it. We're properly insured now, and I sleep better because of it. Call Jake or Landon at HH Insurance. That's (727) 498-5551. (727) 498-5551, or visit hhinsgroup.com. Tell them Tom Roland sent you, and make sure your boat and business are actually covered properly. On my trip to The Seychelles, I packed light. The most trusted gear made the cut. One piece that went with me, my Danco Premio pliers. Durable, lightweight, and always reliable. Danco makes pliers, knives, and tools for serious anglers. Plus you can customize them with all different types of colors and even engraving. Find your next tool at dancopliers.com.

Tony Young: Hello, everybody. My name is captain Tony Young and, from Forever Young Charter Company, and this is Tom Roland podcast.

Tom Rowland: Tony, how are you, man?

Tony Young: I am doing awesome, Tom. How have you been?

04:12 · His First 100-Miler: The Keys 100

Tom Rowland: I'm great. I can't wait to hear about this race that you just ran.

Tony Young: Yeah. It was pretty special.

Tom Rowland: The Keys one hundred. That's amazing. A 100 miles. I've never run a 100 miles. I ran 30 miles one time, which was I thought was a lot. But a 100 miles.

Tony Young: That's It's not just Right? Yeah. This was my first time doing a 100.

Tom Rowland: Okay.

Tony Young: So I I did the keys fifty two years ago, and we did our podcast. We did a podcast together a bit ago. We talked a little bit about preparing for that race.

Tom Rowland: Mhmm.

Tony Young: So this was, like, a step up from there. So Yeah. This is my first time running a 100 miles.

Tom Rowland: So what makes you wanna run a 100 miles?

Tony Young: Well, the funny story about it was I, we, you know, we both do a lot of hunting and stuff. So I drew I drew an elk tag couple years ago for Wyoming, and we don't have any elevation gain here in the Florida Keys. So I thought I'm just gonna start doing some running after my day of work, and hopefully that'll help me get get me ready for my Wyoming hunt. And I started to really enjoy the runs, did a marathon, and then learned about this Keys Ultra race. So I signed up for that 50 that we talked about. And at the awards ceremony, there was a couple of the 100 mile finishers. I didn't even know, like, the 100 was possible for people that didn't professionally try to pursue this, but, there is a guy, he came in so broken and battered after running a 100 miles that as soon as he hit the finish line, he just collapsed. And they pulled him off on a little stretcher, got him some water and everything. I'm like, that looks awesome. I wanna do that. So most people

Tom Rowland: looked at it and thought, oh my gosh. That looks terrible. You thought it looked

Tony Young: It looked like a good time.

Tom Rowland: So for people that may not know, you also own Forever Young Charters, which is one of the fastest growing charter companies in the Florida Keys. How many boat tell us about Forever Young and what it what it takes to run that charter company.

06:16 · Forever Young Charters and a 3 A.M. Wake-Up

Tony Young: Forever Young's been a been a huge passion project company, and it's been amazing and, just over eight years in business now. And it started out with, with me and a close friend, and it just expanded from there. So I'm running, three boats full time, about to launch the fourth boat into the fleet now. And this last year expanded down to Key West, specializing in trips to the direct Tortugas. And then this past this coming year, we'll be opening up in Key Largo. So we have three locations, four boats, and doing a wide range from dive instruction to Tortuga snorkeling trips, stuff like that. But the main bulk of it is charter fishing and charter spear fishing.

Tom Rowland: And so your responsibility is not only running the charter service, but also guiding daily. Right?

Tony Young: Yeah. It's

Tom Rowland: How many days of guiding are you doing a year, you think?

Tony Young: As many as I can. Yeah. I I'm I'm well up in probably the two eighty day range where I'm actually on the boat. Nothing's changed from day one. I love it as much as I have from the very beginning, but the the days are pretty long. So, you know you know what it takes to be a charter fisherman and, you know, to be on the water, it's it's early days and then try to organize bookings for four different boats and a full team and scheduling everybody and taking care of invoices and stuff. My days are pretty long.

Tom Rowland: So doing all of that and then finding time to train for a 100 mile race. What does that look?

Tony Young: Yes. Well, it's it's not as glamorous as you would think. I I start my day. I usually wake up between three and four in the morning, and, I do some emails in the morning and just, you know, kinda get caught up on that busy work, but it's a nice quiet time. I really enjoyed that morning period where people are still, you know, rest and doing their thing. And then, if I'm fishing, I'm usually at the dock between 04:30, five in the morning and then, you know, get a full day of fishing in, come home, close my day out by, like, five, 05:30, and then I'd run and return phone calls and then usually sit down and have dinner between 08:30, 09:00 at night and hit the pillow by, you know, 10:00. So that's kinda what a day of Tony Young looks like. Wow. But

Tom Rowland: When did you decide or commit to the one hundred race?

08:45 · Why Ultra Running Is Cross-Training for a Captain

Tony Young: So I finished the fifty two years ago, and to my surprise, it was extremely good. Well, it was it was amazing cross training for being a captain, and it it worked out really well. Like, it just worked well with me. So I decided, like, the next year, I'm doing the 100. I gotta do the 100. And with all the expansions of Forever Young and everything, it was kinda hard to to organize the time, and I didn't sign up for the race. And I was heading to the marina to set up for a charter, And I saw all the early morning, like, five, 6AM starts. Like, these these runners were leaving Key Largo to run the Key West, and I wasn't with them. So I immediately signed up for the next year. I'm like, I'm getting this done. What it was. I've never been so let down myself before for not signing up for that race, but that's where the that's where the drive started. So really, like, right after, my 50, I decided, like, this is something I need to do.

Tom Rowland: So you just mentioned that it was really great cross training as a and being a captain. Explain that real quick.

Tony Young: Well, I think, you know, being on the water for you and everybody listening to this, like, you guys are love fishing and and diving and stuff. So, like, the days are are pretty long and they're hard. And for a captain, you know, it's not we don't start when the customers show up. We start for me, when I'm fishing, it's I'm there usually an hour and a half before the departure time. And then sometimes, depending on how many fish we catch, it might be two to three hours of of tear down, but, you know, take really good care of the boat, get everything ready for the next day. So you're in the sun all day, and it is tough work. So coming off the water and then going for an extra run, I just started calling it heat training. So I'd wait till after work in the heat of the day where the humidity is hot, sun's up high, and it just made everything so much easier. It made it easier to wake up in the morning. You hit the pillow exhausted beyond belief. But I don't know. Just fishing and diving just became so much easier when you're adding on that five to 15 mile run every night. You know?

Tom Rowland: Wow. Yeah. I do. I was when I was fishing the most was when I was run most also, and I felt the same way except that one thing that especially in the hottest months, you know, I was on the skiff, no shade at all, so you're out there just in the in the sun all day long. And then I would come home because we were tarpon fishing like you getting up very, very early and then leaving the dock before sunrise. There it was hard for me to run. It's hard for me to get out. I would have gotten up at, like, two something in the two Yeah. I'm like, okay. I'm not gonna do it before. I'm gonna have to do it after. And I was training for marathons at the time, but what I found is that I could not step into the house and feel that air conditioning.

Tony Young: No. You can't. You gotta gotta keep moving.

Tom Rowland: Outside, despite the scorpions and everything else, I had to keep my shoes either in the truck with me, you know, a pair of shorts and shoes. That's all you really need. And, but if I stepped inside, it was over. I mean Yeah. Conditioning after being on the water all day long. I do suffer with that too. It sounds like you're going and and, you know, returning phone calls and stuff. Do you do you get in the AC before you go running?

Tony Young: It's it depends on the day. I usually, yeah, I usually come inside the house, and I'll I'll say hi to the dog, and I'll sit down and do a few things. But, yeah, I I try to get going as much as possible. So I usually on the way home, I'll get because I live in Key Largo, so it's, like, sometimes a half hour to an hour drive. So I get a lot of those calls done on the way home. But I gotta stop, get a Cuban coffee, and just kinda get, like, an afternoon coffee boost, and then that usually helps me knock out a couple miles after work.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. A couple miles. But tell me about the difference between training for a 50 and then training for a 100. Did you put in a lot more? Did you, like, read books or look at a training program? Or how did you, go from being successful at the 50 to being successful at a 100?

13:02 · Training for the 50 vs. the 100 — and Getting Addicted

Tony Young: So probably not the best answer on this, but for the for the 50, I actually looked up, like, an eight month training program, and I followed it religiously. And I did multiple twenty, thirty mile runs. I was putting in 70 minimum a week running or 70 miles a week running, like, really hammering down on that. And then the 100 mile was a little different because I've just been having so much fun building Forever Young and having so much fun fishing and spearfishing that I I'm still running a lot, but it's I wasn't doing the long runs. And I really felt that towards the end of the 100 mile race, but the longest run that I had actually put in before the 100 mile ultra was 20 miles, and it was, like, a week before the race. So I was doing mileage, but they weren't very long. So yeah.

Tom Rowland: So had you read some different things about I mean, there is kind of a, when I was running my my marathons, I was running about the same, as you 65 to 70 miles a week was kind of the standard plan. I ran with, with the Hal Higdon plan, which is super old school for anybody that's listening today. There are a lot of other plans that are much lower in mileage, and there is definitely a a, kind of a theory that you can run lower mileage and be successful at these longer races, which you obviously proved. What's your thought on that? Did you feel better on the 100, or do you think that you if you were to do again, would you have done anything differently?

Tony Young: Well, for the record, putting it out there, I am absolutely addicted to ultra running. This is not definitely not the last I'm already looking at, like, the two hundreds, the two fifty races. I'm like, I'm all in. But the the 50 mile ultra, like, Alyssa was my crew chief, my fiancee, and, it was just her and I. We learned so much. Tom, we did so many things wrong during the 50. Like, I'm like, I'm gonna pack venison burgers and, like, all this good and I'm and during the race, like, I just did my body just didn't want any of it. So it was like I was fighting nutrition and working through the heat and doing all these things. So, like, I think just doing the 100, like, having that 50 behind, I kinda learned learned a little bit what my body needs nutrition wise, hydration wise. And and really as far as, like, the sleeping goes, we're I'm used to getting low sleep just from day to day work. But that's I've learned we learned so and then doing the hunter now, I learned so much and did so many things that we can improve on. So it makes me more excited to do the next race. Well, let's talk about

Tom Rowland: what you did the the first time versus this time and what you were actually eating, this time. So you had a lot of food the first time, venison burgers, other things. You ended up not eating, those. What did you eat on the first 50?

Tony Young: One of the main mistakes I did is I've I've done quite a few marathons, and, you know, those go packs or those gel packs are always nice. So I ordered a fair amount of those, like, good ones that are decent for you and, made the mistake. I didn't realize they were caffeinated ones. So so I was taking these

Tom Rowland: lot of capping in them.

16:23 · Heart Rate Problems, Gel Packs, and a Dead Garmin

Tony Young: Yeah. So I like, the first, like, 15 miles of my 50, I was having real bad heart rate issues. And I'm like, man, what is going on? So my body one was not happy with the with the gel packs, and then each gel pack had seventy five milligrams of caffeine. So just overlook that once we got that sorted out. What I what we did a lot in the 50 was is I was running a really I was running a fairly fast pace, I thought, for that mileage. And then I would take, like, five to ten minute breaks in the truck to, like, cool down and fuel, like, get water and stuff. So the tactic on the 100 that we switched to is I never stopped for the entire duration of the race. It just kept going. And if I felt tired, then I would walk, like, a half mile, but I would never, like, stop at the truck for more than a minute or two. So the idea was if any anything that I'm gonna eat, really, the the food was, encrustables were actually really good. Really good pickles. Pickle juice is a huge thing for me. Some electrolyte, like sodium electrolyte, additives for water. I had a ton of blueberries and stuff like that, bananas, apples, just stuff that had a lot of moisture and that was just, like, easy to kinda get down. So the idea was just to stay more hydrated, keep moving, not take breaks on the truck, and just kinda keep going was the main tactic for my 100.

Tom Rowland: Wow. And so with the you were mentioning your heart rate. Are you wearing what kind of device are you wearing to monitor your heart rate?

Tony Young: Well, I have a Garmin. They're, like, newer Garmin MK two dive watch, so you can do the running and stuff. But I need to get a newer watch or, like, a running specific Garmin because this one went dead on the 100 mile. Oh, it's good. I had to, like, run far enough to where it go dead, and then I had to charge it and stuff. But, I just tried to kinda ignore all that and just enjoy the run, and just kinda listen to my body. And if my body needed something, then I would just try to fuel it that way. Versus in the 50, I was trying to go by the program and, like, this is what people do. And and during the 100, it was just, like, when I was feeling good, I really took off. If I if I was feeling depleted, I, you know, I might walk speed walk half mile and eat a banana and just fuel up and then get going from there. So just try to listen to my body a bit more.

Tom Rowland: And do you have any idea how many calories you burned on this 100?

Tony Young: I have no idea except that, like, it's been a week now, and I I'm I can't eat enough food throughout the day. I'm still trying to get caught up.

Tom Rowland: Like, what what did you eat when you were finished with the race? Did you have something that you were craving or that you felt like you needed?

Tony Young: Burger. Just Burger. Craving something heavy. Yeah. We went to, we went to the Hogfish Bar and Grill, got some, got some spicy shrimp and got a nice burger and fries and just, like, not something that normally eat too often, but it felt amazing.

Tom Rowland: Isn't that funny how, like, after, I've never run a 100 miles, but I've done some things that require a lot of energy. And after that, like you're saying, for a week, you just cannot seem to have food.

Tony Young: Yeah. Yep. It's your body needs it. And I I jumped kinda right back in. I took one rest day and then jumped right back into life. So, maybe take an extra day after the next one. So So what Yeah.

Tom Rowland: Life are you training and fishing and spearfishing, and running when you jump back in? Just a little bit lighter?

Tony Young: Yeah. So I had so I finished the race at I think it was not like, just, like, around 09:00 I finished the race. So that day and then the next day, kinda recovered and got caught up on emails and working stuff in my office. And then, I was and then when Mahi fished in the next day and then started running, did another run, like, the day after.

Tom Rowland: What's that?

Tony Young: It I I tried to wait as long, Tom. I'm, like, addicted to it. I love it so much. It was a great run. Yeah. It was a fun run. My dad actually joined me for a mile of it.

Tom Rowland: How many mile how many miles did you go on your first run back?

Tony Young: Five and a half.

Tom Rowland: Five and a half.

Tony Young: So yeah. Just over five miles.

Tom Rowland: Was everything feeling good?

20:36 · Mile 96 Pain and the Forty-Sixty Rule

Tony Young: Yeah. Actually, very surprised with how well my I've never experienced pain that I didn't know that was possible during the last four miles of the race. Mile 96, I really, really was hurt bad, but it was more muscle and, you know, fatigue and what and then but, like, after that, like, my whole like, everything came back. I didn't luckily, didn't I broke my foot during the 50 and ran through that, and then I had some shin splints, you know, that kinda hurt, and my right knee was a little jacked up after that race. But during the 100, surprisingly, everything hold out really well.

Tom Rowland: So how do you what do you attribute that to? It sounds like you trained less, for the 100 than it for the 50, but you were able to do it do it much better. I mean, have you thought about that? Like, is that anything that you're you're kinda putting two and two together, especially as you start to look at longer races? Like, you you show showed me a two fifty already that you're considering. Yeah. What are you thinking about your training now?

Tony Young: Well, I I think I think one of the one of the biggest things that I've realized is that during the 50, I was I mean, I'm definitely don't know a lot about this. I'm very new to everything and don't consider myself the greatest runner, but I should work hard at it. But during the 50, I was just trying to, like, listen to all these podcasts and just go buy the book of, like, what, you know, perform professional ultra runners are doing. And I just had in my head this idea of, like, what the race had to look like. Whereas during the 100, you know, listen, I just you know, we're up for up for over a day together just running, and I just tried to listen to my body more. And that really helped out a lot, and just trying to enjoy the run. Like, there was a moment on the seven mile bridge run, which is it's kind of a tougher stretch of the race just because you already got a you already got, at that point, 50 miles, and then you got a seven mile stretch. But I I caught it right at the sunset, and I watched this guy hook up a tarpon. You would have loved it. He hooked up a tarpon, like, right at sunset, and I saw him jump in. I heard the drag going. And it there were so many moments in the race like that, Tom, where, like, I just would kinda actually stop for, like, thirty seconds and just appreciate what I was doing. And I think my head was just in a better place, and everything just moved a lot better. Like, I know from you and all the workouts that you do and the runs, like, our mindset is more powerful than any physical, you know, shape that we could ever be in. It's all more of a mental game if anything. So that I was just in a better place for it, I think.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. So, I mean, my opinion on the mindset is exactly as yours. I think that your mind is so much stronger than your body and, like, the the whole you know, if you read David Goggins book or anything like that, he's he says that, you know, when you feel like you're tapped out, you're really only about 40% there. And if you can overcome that in your head, you can continue on. And it sounds like maybe I don't know. Did you get to that point, or did you have a point where you had to kinda fight some demons and and overcome and move on?

Tony Young: Yeah. A lot it's funny you mentioned that because, Alyssa just got me for my birthday, like, a plaque from my office where I can hang all my running medals and bibs on, and it says the forty sixty rule, which is David something that David Goggin talks about. And I was hoping that it's funny because, like, I think that we all like, if you're into this type of stuff, you, like, you actually try to find that 40 per forty, sixty. And I was hoping to find that on my on my 100 mile. And, and, yeah, I battled a lot of stuff. I lost control of my bladder at one point, which was interesting. And, I had a stretch through the night where, I didn't really realize it, but I ran, like, a three mile distance and didn't even remember any of it. So I must've, like, zoned out, like, half asleep. And but I felt pretty solid until mile 95 and that I had, like, point eight to get to the aid station, like, the last aid where Alyssa was, and and it was it was really, really tough, like, really bad. And that was, like, the first moment. I'm like, there's no way that I'm gonna not finish this race, but it was on the table at that point. Like, I was walking was almost impossible. And then when I got to the aid station, I just had to take a second to kinda collect myself. So I took, like I was I was a bit of a mess. And I'll never I'll never forget this, but, you know, this goes to, like, the testament of how strong you have to be with your crew. It's just Alyssa and I. So she's as tired as me. She's been up for at this point, we're I was running for twenty four, twenty five hours at this point, and we've been up for over thirty hours together. So, I mean, we're pretty exhausted. And I I needed to change my shorts and just kinda get a mental reset, and I started blacking out while I was trying to get my shorts out and collapsing. She got me to a bush, and I was, you know, I was vomiting. There was nothing there. And it was it was really tough, but, like, walking was not an option. Have you ever heard that where people say, like, I can't walk, but I can run?

Tom Rowland: Mhmm. Yes. Yeah. I have yes. Like, you can you could keep moving, like, running, WER. Yeah. But but walking is not Yeah.

26:06 · Chafing, No Walking, and Lessons That Stick

Tony Young: Walk walking was not an option. I made some mistakes with, my, like, you know, chafing. I had made some mistakes there. Chafing was rough rough. And walking, anything was not optional. Alyssa tried to get me into the truck to let me cool down and just have a reset. I'm like, if I get into that truck, we're not getting out. Like, that's so for the first time so for 96 miles, at that point, I never listened to any music. I just ran and just enjoyed the race and just stayed in my head, but that was, like, the point. I'm like, alright. I need some I put some David Goggins on. I listened to, like, a section of one of his books that you talked about that I know, and it was basically just David Goggins just yelling at me in my earbuds. Like, you know, all the all the good stuff, and I'll never forget it. Like, something happened inside, and I I couldn't I could barely get one foot after the other. And I'm like, at this pace, it's gonna take me four hour you know, four or five hours to get to the finish. And I'm like, my only option to finish this thing is I just gotta get my feet moving and start running. And it hurts so bad that tears were just pouring down my face, and I was just screaming to get started. And, I was having these muscle spasms. I'd get, like, a couple strides of a run, and then I'd have a muscle spasm go from my leg up through my back, and my whole body would lock up. And it was it was a real I was a mess. But I managed to hold, like, a 13 and a half mile pace through the end, and something happened there. And I think that's I finally broke through to that other 60%, and it I when I finished, I was like, that was, like, the first time in my life I realized maybe I've only been living at 40% potential. You know? For you. I mean, I think we sell ourselves short of what we're capable of, and it it, it really I I wanna explore it more. Yeah. I don't know at this point, but that's when I started learning more about the longer races and just, like, you know, there's more that I can do with fishing. There's more that I can do with diving. I think, you know, like, when you free dive, there's a like, when we went out, you know, there's that point where you wanna take a breath and, you know, now it's like wanting to get back into working past some of those barriers and, you know, focusing on my mental state, you know, when I'm diving or fishing. And, yeah, it's a pretty big moment for me.

Tom Rowland: I would imagine that that's a really big moment for you, and I bet that sticks with you for a long time about, you know, my experience in these type of things is that you learn a few lessons that really, really they're like a permanent marker on the your life, and, that's one for you. Like, maybe you've only been living at 40%. And it's hard to believe because you've accomplished so much, and and you're doing I mean, you're living at a 180% of what a regular person does, but, you know I appreciate that. There's the possibility that that's not even you're not even anywhere near your potential.

Tony Young: Yeah. And I'm I'm I'm excited to explore it for sure. So there's there's

Tom Rowland: interesting with that, though, in order to get there, like, it's not so now you've been to this this place where you're calling the 40 you know, maybe you're only at 40%. In order to kinda learn more about that, you have to get there again, which is 95 miles in. But next time, it won't be 95 miles in because you've already been there. So next time you have to push further.

Tony Young: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: You know what I'm saying? Like, that's that's what's addicting about this type of stuff and also just in why why I think that it is incredibly challenging to continue to learn about this stuff because you have the desire to learn about it, but you have to actually put yourself through it again to get back to that same mental place. But that it's like a moving goal post because you'll be in better shape next time you'll have this experience that you can draw from. So it you'll be able to go further before you get to that same place again, which is

Tony Young: I I sure hope so.

Tom Rowland: Yeah.

Tony Young: Yeah. You know?

Tom Rowland: I'm sure that you will. So when you take that lesson or or even just that realization back into your regular life, what does it do for you even just a week out?

Tony Young: Well, I I think just right now, like, the day to day of everything is, like, we have we have good days and bad days. Even with fishing, you know, there's days where where it's just tough. Like, you go you go and try to catch bait, and it's tough. And and I think the the big mindset is is just, like, every day is different and you just you can just over like, you just get through the day and you just overcome everything, and you just make the best out of it. You just let the day develop. And that's one of the things that I I really have learned through running is, like, some days, it's so hard to get that first mile in when you're exhausted. But, like, yesterday, I was tired, and I'm like, I wanna make a coffee. And I'm like, you know what? Don't eat any more caffeine. I'm just gonna put my shoes on. I'm a go run a couple miles. And then I came home. I was able to knock out some work and, you know, cook dinner, have a nice night. But I think that's, like, one of the biggest takes homes that when you go through so much pain and you go through so much hardship, it's just it makes all the obstacles of life just that much not easier to get through, but it's just like something happens to be like, oh, that ain't nothing, you know, compared to what I've done. And it just it's like another tool in the in the box for you to pull out when you need it. And

Tom Rowland: Cookie jar. Goggins What's that? That's the cookie jar that that Goggins

Tony Young: The cookie jar. Yep.

Tom Rowland: He he talks to me as a cookie jar. Like, all of those experiences, all of those things that you've overcome, he calls it the cookie jar where he has Right. All those memories in that place. So when it gets really tough, he just goes back to the cookie jar. He reaches in and he says, oh, well, I ran the keys 100. I overcame, being unable to walk at mile 95. Right? So if I can do that, I can definitely do this. Right?

Tony Young: 100.

Tom Rowland: And so

Tony Young: And

Tom Rowland: he has more and more and more as you as you do, as we all anyone who's interested in these type of, endurance events, you you start to collect those cookies and keep them in the cookie jar.

Tony Young: Right. And just it just slowly makes you a better person, and I I I had a lot of good moments, I think, with with, with Christ on the run, you know, with with, you know, just, like, some very special moments that, like it's just those undeniably true moments during the run. And I I also like to what's that?

Tom Rowland: Tell me about one.

32:46 · Running for His Grandfather from Minnesota

Tony Young: Well, my grandfather was a really big runner. He did a lot of five, ten k's, and and I remember as a kid, I'm from Minnesota, which which you know, but not everybody might know. But we we have a family cabin up in Walker, Minnesota, and his bedroom, he's just littered with a bunch of these medals. Every time you finish a race, you get a medal. Doesn't matter if it's five k or a 100 mile or two fifty mile, whatever, you get a cool medal. So he's got dozens of these things. And at, like, mile 60, I was running and, you know, you're getting to be it's like 60 or 70. I was pretty tired, but I was still fully alert. And I felt this, runner to my right just about to pass me. And I look I look around, there's nobody there, and I just go back to running. And I I still I feel this person. I look over, and it's like I try not to get emotional, Tom, but, like, my grandfather is right next to me clear as day. Wow. I mean, he was he was right next to me running. And and, when he passed away a few years ago, I I started I really started doing some small runs just to try to feel closer to him. And, it's been working, you know, for sure. But this was a this was a moment for me where it's, like, clear as day. He was right there, and we didn't say nothing. He just looked at me. I looked at him, and it lasted for maybe five or eight seconds, and then he was gone. And I'm like, just just keep me going, gramps. You know?

Tom Rowland: So was he wearing run it when you in your in your recollection of him, was what was he wearing? Was he wearing, like, running gear that you had seen before?

Tony Young: It's like one of the last outfits that I saw him in, which was, like, sweatpants. It's like sweat sweatpants, one of his, peel out fishing shirt or fishing shirts from up in Walker, and then his and then I can't remember shoes or something. But, yeah, he's it was a it was a spectacular moment, like and and just too, there's, like, a lot of times when stuff like this I mean, just anything in life. It doesn't have to be a 100 mile race. It could be, you know, it could just be a tough time that you're going through, and you just you say a prayer out, and and it's a true prayer. Like, you're not asking for anything, but you're you're praying from your heart. And, and and he listens. You know? He finds you. And you it might not be in the way you expect it, but it's like like, I was exhausted. And I, you know, I said a prayer, like, you know, just, you know, just try to keep me safe on this run. And then, you know, a few moments later, you just I saw my first key deer. I've lived here for a long time. I saw my first key deer, and it was like it was like a mental reset for me at, like, three in the morning. You know? And just little stuff like that. But

Tom Rowland: Super cool.

Tony Young: Yeah.

Tom Rowland: The, so what about what about Alyssa as your crew chief? This seems to be I just had this guy on, Enrique Zapata. He set the, world record for pull ups in twelve hours. 7,100 pull ups in

Tony Young: twelve hours. Yeah. Incredible.

35:45 · Alyssa: A One-Woman Crew for 100 Miles

Tom Rowland: It is incredible. But one of the things you talked about were were, who he chose to have around him and and why. Because he basically, he's done this a lot. He almost got rhabdo. Like, his body starts to break down. There's all kinds of things. It's not a pretty sight just like what you're talking about. Mhmm. At Mile 95, it's not a pretty sight. There are a lot of people that would just say, oh, just please stop. You know? And then how about Alyssa? What what was the, like I don't I don't know exactly how to ask. Like, obviously, it was a good choice because you you're you're successful as a team. Right?

Tony Young: Yes. Yep.

Tom Rowland: Concerned about you. She cares about you. She doesn't want you to to hurt yourself. Like, there's a balance there. How did she do with that balance?

Tony Young: Alyssa's amazing. Like, she's we've been which, you know, we've been together for over nineteen years now as a couple since high school, and and we've been through a lot of hard things together. And, when we when we were looking at putting together a crew for the for the team, it was, you know, who's gonna ended up just being her and I for the race. And and she really she really did a nice job. Like, just like all of our food prepared, like, everything was organized. You know? I had different water bottles. You know? We had different water bottles with with this thing in it, this thing in it, like, different stuff to, like, help me throughout the race. And, you know, and I'd I would text her, you know, voice message her exactly what we what I needed, and she'd have everything ready. But but most importantly, like, all these things that I've always been into and she's always been into, some way we kinda grow together in them. So when I like, she loves fishing as much as I do. And spearfishing, I definitely enjoy a lot more, but she likes being on the boat just as much as I like being in the water. And we've we've rock climbed together. We snowboard together, and this and she runs too. So she's you know, we did I did the big pecker challenge down in Key West. She did the little pecker challenge, which is a super fun Kizi race. We've done the bridge runs together. She's always at the marathons. But, like, the thing with her is we just had so much fun during the race, and I we we broke through some new barriers as a as a couple that I didn't even think after nineteen years together, you don't think you can explore new avenues, but we found out so much more about ourselves through these two ultras that, I mean, that we didn't even know. But it it was one of the things that really stuck out of having her is I didn't want her to see me weak, and I think that as men, we just don't want our significant other to see us weak. So no matter how bad I was feeling, like, even coming into that last aid station, I had been speed walking, wobbling for a little bit. But when I saw her, I'm like, oh, man. I gotta start running. Because if she sees me shutting down, like, I don't I can't have her shut down. So I I picked myself up, started running a little bit, and about collapsed in her arms. But, she kept me going. She pushed me the whole way, and she had a smile on her face the entire time.

Tom Rowland: That's awesome. That's awesome. So as you prepare for what's next, she's definitely gonna be your choice crew chief.

Tony Young: Of course. Yeah. With some we did decide that a 100 miles, just her was, it was a lot on her for sure. I mean, just like because she's moving every couple miles to get the truck, you know, move the truck. There's no aids on the 100 mile, keys 100. So the only aid is what she provides. So she, you know, she'd have to meet me, like, every three miles, five miles, seven miles, whatever it was. But I think we you know, on the next one, it would be good to have a couple more people for sure.

Tom Rowland: So what's what do you think the you've identified a couple that you're interested in. What does the next one look like? Do you I can't

39:43 · Down the Ultra Rabbit Hole and the Next Race on the Vision Board

Tony Young: I can't find one right now. It's so tough because, like, I'm I've I all I've been, like, down the ultra running rabbit hole. I guess, like, like, every morning on the way to the marina, it's like ultra running podcast, and I'm like, oh, I could do this better. I learned about this. So the tough thing is just, like, with our bookings for charters, it's really hard to dial in, you know, a block of time for a race. So, there's the Superior one hundred up in Minnesota that looks incredible, Tom. It's the Superior Hiking Trail, Lake Superior, just South Of Canada. So that's next year in May. But what's tough is a lot of these races you have to get invited into where there's a lottery. The so that's one I wanna do, the Badwater one thirty five. I'm sure you've heard of that race. Yeah. It's arguably the hardest

Tom Rowland: For a while, they they canceled it for a while because it was so tough that

Tony Young: Yeah. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: It's Maybe they're bringing it back. I mean, that's the one I've heard about that is, like, the most extreme thing I've ever heard of is that it gets too hot to run on the pavement, so you have to run on the white lines.

Tony Young: Yeah. Yeah. There's a famous picture of, like, a cast iron pan frying an egg next to a runner running on the white line. So but that

Tom Rowland: used to train for that.

Tony Young: Yeah. Yeah. And it you know what was fun is I was listening to another podcast and, they were talk it was a ultra running one, and they're talking about the Badwater one thirty five and the Keys 100 being, you know, similar in in heat difficulty just because of the areas that they're in, which was cool. But, yeah, I'm try the bad water, I have to put in three ultras within three years, and then I think the last ultra has to be within six months of the race to qualify. So I'm I don't know. I'm just trying to find another ultra that's within the schedule because we're coming up on hunting season too, so gotta be careful about that.

Tom Rowland: Sure. Is there a time of the year that would work best for your your, charter business for Yeah. Like race?

Tony Young: Yeah. The spring months would be really nice, which is when we get a lot of races down here in The Keys too in Florida. So but, yeah, the Louisville one hundred, is is a good one that I've been looking at. And, but, yeah, I'll find another race. But the Cortodona two fifty, that's got my eye for, like, an that's I put that down as a three year goal, so I gotta start getting to it.

Tom Rowland: How do you how do you, you said you put down your a three year goal. Do you have, like, a board or, like, how do you keep track of your goals, like, especially ones that are that far out? Three years, five years?

Tony Young: Yeah. I got a nice vision board. I'm sure I'm sure you kinda have a similar one or, you know, or a spreadsheet or we all kinda have our thing. But I I would say, like, anybody listening that's trying to better themselves, it's so important to have goals for, like, a year, five years. So I got three years, five year, ten year goals, and then each goal has a breakdown of, like, what it's gonna take pretty much down to the month to accomplish that. And, like, so I put the I put that two fifty race on my three year goal. And, you know, and what that breaks down to is coming down to at least a couple 100 miles a year, 100 mile ultras, and then, like, what it takes to train per month. But, yeah, it's really lit a fire under me. I'm I'm I I'm like, when I see your post and everything, it's like you see a lot of runners and how they're cross training with weights, and that's something like, I used to go to the gym quite a bit, like, years ago, but I haven't done that in a while. So I'm excited to start lifting again and start better performing myself that way.

Tom Rowland: There are there are some guys out there right now that are doing putting out some incredible content that Nick Baer. You know, he's he's

Tony Young: Of course. Yeah.

Tom Rowland: And true or or, Truett Haines, Cameron Haines' son. I'm sure you're aware of him. He is the twenty four hour pull up record. He's done the most pull ups anybody has ever done. He did 10,001 in twenty four hours.

Tony Young: Yeah. He's incredible.

Tom Rowland: He's doing that, but he's running these races in June. Yeah. I know. June's running like a two forty six marathon. Yeah. Like, he's but then he can also run a 100 miles. I I just saw his post. I guess there was a he was in a him and Nick Bare were in a 100 mile race, I guess, this last weekend. And, I saw his thing. That's one of the reasons why I asked you if you knew how many calories you burned because I guess he was he had a watch or something that was keeping track of his, and it said something like 14,000. He burned 14,000 calories, which is I'm sure you burn the same amount. Yep. And then he, what was the other thing? It was 14,000 calories. Oh, but it gave us pace, and he he was averaging about a fourteen minute pace for a 100 miles.

Tony Young: Yeah. That's great. Yep.

Tom Rowland: What what was yours?

44:46 · Pace Math and Three Goals for the Keys 100

Tony Young: Mine was just over fifteen minutes. Like, fifteen fifteen thirty. You know you know what's yeah. And, I mean, it it really like, my pace really I had I was averaging 11 eleven to twelve minute mile, and that includes any stops. You know? Like, so if I stop to for a minute to, like, grab water or put some ice under my hat or something, that adds that time. And I held that, I think, through, like, mile 60, and then I dropped down to and then I dropped down and then add you know, it averages out to, like, 15 something. But what's what's amazing is, like, how hard I had to work to finish. And then there was a guy that finished this race in fourteen hours, and he ran a a 100 miles in the Florida Keys in fourteen hours.

Tom Rowland: So what can I

Tony Young: do that? Well, I get I guess, like, it

Tom Rowland: Calculator. I can find

Tony Young: Yeah. So in yeah. Incredible pace. And then he set the keys he set the keys record, which was in, I think, twenty sixteen or so a little bit or or maybe a little later, but he did it in just over thirteen hours was his record.

Tom Rowland: Thirteen hours. So wow. This is the Strava one's not the right one.

Tony Young: And the and the females the females do an incredible job. And

Tom Rowland: Yeah. My nephew just ran the Lima, Peru marathon, and he's quite a runner. Two forty six is what he finished that marathon in.

Tony Young: Yeah. It's incredible. That It's it's. Yeah. There was a female last year. She did the she did the keys 100. Or when I two years ago, she did it in seventeen hours. And, I mean, that like, you're running with your hair on fire at that point, and it was hot.

Tom Rowland: So what about your training? Like, if you're running a, a fifth fifteen minute mile. So in order to I I just did this race calculator here. Fourteen hour time for a 100 miles is an eight twenty four mile for a 100 miles.

Tony Young: Yeah. Incredible.

Tom Rowland: That's what, I mean, that's what most people run a a five k in.

Tony Young: Yeah. It's an incredible time.

Tom Rowland: Eight twenty four. So when you're training and you're, you know, you're first of all, you're training to finish the 100. And then do you have any kind of time in mind, that you're that you're thinking I would like to finish in this amount, or are you just training to finish?

Tony Young: I had I had three goals for the for the 100 mile for the Keys one hundred. My first goal was to obviously finish the race, and then my second goal was to finish not stopping and and run across the finish line. And I, like, I wanted I wanted to have a strong finish run, but I was running through the whole race and not not like walking 20 miles of it or something. You know? And then my third goal was to finish it in just under twenty four hour like, in twenty four hours. And I didn't make the last goal, but I was able to, you know, I was able to run the whole race, not stop, and, you know, learned a lot. But I I'm really excited for the next one so I can try to get it in sub 24, if not even better than that. So

Tom Rowland: So sub 24, let's get let's see what this thing says. 20 that would be 23, let's say, $23.50 for a 100 miles is going to be

Tony Young: What app is that, Tom, you're using?

Tom Rowland: I just found it. It's on active.com. Okay. The running pace calculator, you put in the time. So let's say twenty three hours, fifty minutes, and for and then you put in the distance a 100 miles and then calculate, and it says 16 o six would be your in order to run a twenty six hour oh, that's twenty six hour. Let me see. Three hour, fifty second would be and the the thing about this is that it, if you if you do it wrong, it messes up. It makes you do the whole thing over again. So Yeah. Miles for twenty three hours and fifty minutes. That's gonna be a fourteen minute, eighteen second mile for I

Tony Young: was close. I was close.

Tom Rowland: Fifteen minute. That that's that's true. It hangs, territory right there. That's, that's serious, Tommy. That

Tony Young: Well, it depends on the it depends on the race too. So, like, one of the things about about the race here in The Keys is that it's flat on pavement, but the whole it's a very easy run outside the heat. And, what was cool was I met I met runner I mean, people from all over the country came to run this race, and it was really neat to see that. But a lot of people enjoyed the track because it was the race because it was so flat. So, like, the terrain was easy, but the but the heat was the was the, you know, the hard part. So a lot of people dropped out just from overheating. There's a number of people that, you know, go through the hospital and stuff like that, but for for overheating. But I don't know what a lot of the old other ultras, but a lot of them have massive elevation gains too. And that's one of the things that I look forward to some of the other races just seeing different country, but then also adding, like, you're not just running a 100 miles. You might have 14,000 feet of elevation gain over the course of that, you know, ups and downs, which is pretty impressive to work through.

Tom Rowland: Leadville, I think, but like, seriously.

Tony Young: Yeah. The Lead the Leadville race looks amazing.

Tom Rowland: That one. Did you run into our usual friend Harley Hunt from How To Boating?

Tony Young: I did not, but I did watch, I did watch his show or his YouTube, which was very special. And I love I love that he ran the race for Lucy, Lucy's foundation. And I really hope it helps get some education, especially on being Memorial Day weekend just recently.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. For sure. Yeah. He did he did well in his race as well. And, like you, didn't seem to, I mean, I don't know. He just trained, but not excessively. You know? Like, I mean, I I called him and, I was like, are you running right now? He's like, yeah. He's bumming and running while he's I was like, well, you gotta train. You know? You you have to train.

Tony Young: One of the

51:24 · Zone 2 Training, Electrolytes, and Glutamine

Tom Rowland: things I wanted to ask you about your training is that as you're training for a 100 miles and you're training to you know, maybe maybe let's talk about the next race Even you wanna run fourteen minute, and change for a 100 miles. What is your training pace look like? Are you running long and slow? Are you running faster than that? Are you going back to conventional marathon training, or do you do any speed work in there? What does it look like to, to train for a 100 mile race and have a target pace in mind?

Tony Young: So you hear a lot about, like, that zone two, workout like that zone two, and that's what I try to stay in. So

Tom Rowland: Explain to what that is. That's a heart rate. Yeah. Zone one, zone two, three.

Tony Young: Yeah. So the yep. So there's, like, different zones of your heart rate, and and, you know, zone two is, like, considered a zone that you can have your heart rate, during a workout, while holding a conversation. So, like, my my first run after the race, I'd actually had a a friend and client call with a question. So I talked to him for, like, forty minutes on the phone while I was running. So that's like which is which was he's like, are you running right now? I'm like, yeah, Jim. So if Jim's listening to this, I'm talking about you. But, yeah, the ideas on a zone two is, like, you can kinda just stay in that indefinitely as long as you keep your body, you know, fueled. So that so I just for me and you know, after a normal day, that's like a that's like a nine and a half to a ten and a half minute mile is a is a zone two. So it doesn't matter if I run a mile or, like, 15, I can kinda just maintain that that speed. So that's where I'd when then when I dialed it back for the first, like, 60 miles, I was able to hold that, about, like, eleven and a half minutes. So I dialed it back a little bit and did really well until my legs started to get, like, just get wore out. But

Tom Rowland: a longer race or the next race that you would start slower?

Tony Young: I think I'd just stay, you know, stay at the same. I just need to, I mean, I just need to I just need to put in more miles before the next race. Mhmm. The one thing that when we when we were talking about working on the water and being a captain and how that's helped out with this race is, like, the heat really didn't affect me that much. And that's one thing that, like, it it was never the heat. It was never overheating. It was, it was just like my like, taking care of my legs and just keeping the acid out of my legs, and and that was, like, the main that was the main problem I I faced on the race. It wasn't most most runners are running into, like, heat exhaustion or, you know, even even worse than that, but luckily, I didn't have too much of that.

Tom Rowland: Well, I would imagine, if you're coming from a place where that where you're not used to running in the heat and certainly not running in the heat for that time, the electrolytes would become a real problem. How did how did you, monitor your electrolytes? Could you just feel when you needed something, or were you on a program every five miles you're hitting a hitting a supplement or something?

Tony Young: Well, I gotta make sure I say this right. Glutamine. Is that how you say it? It's like a Glutamine. Yep. So I I started taking that supplement to help out with, you know, to help to help keep water and keep, like, your blood flowing through the body. So I would take that every four hours. But I was taking a potassium, magnesium, and sodium just like in the packets that you can put in your water bottles. So I did notice that I, you know, like, I tried to listen to, like, if I wasn't going to the bathroom or I wasn't, like, flushing fluids, then I would try to get more sodium and try to get more water. But I I did over hydrate a little bit at one point, and I was flushing fluids like crazy, and that's where I kinda had, like, the bladder issue. So I just tried to listen to the body more, but I did I did learn after the fact, like, how much you can you can make this a science. Like, you can actually learn I mean, people listening to this are probably like, of course, Tony. You should have known that doing this race. But you can you can weigh yourself before a before a one hour run and then do a one hour run, drink no water, weigh yourself again, and then you get a dial in on how much you're burning, how much you're sweating, and then that'll dictate how much water you need to take in. And then from there, you can do a salt test to figure out how much sodium you're losing. So for the next race, I wanna have more of a science behind it. So I'm not just, like, winging it, where you're actually, like, replenishing properly. But

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that that, when I did the the GoRug selection and the SealFit deal, SealFit Kokoro, the high the electrolytes were really the I mean, that was that was the deciding factor. It wasn't Yeah. Wasn't Christian. It was it was really the electrolytes. And when you get so low in electrolytes and you have any, it is like a supercharge. I'm sure you've got that. When you got your when you got the electrolytes, which is potassium, magnesium, and sodium, if you can get those right, you feel amazing. And when they're really, really low, especially in sodium, you feel I mean, you cannot move. It it's the feeling, but it just takes just a second. If you drink some, it goes into your bloodstream so fast, and you feel better so fast. It's really amazing.

Tony Young: Yeah. It It's incredible. Yeah. It it is important. Even, like, that's, like, the number one thing for freediving that I always tell people. Like, how can I prepare? Prepare? How can I get ready for my trip? And what I tell them on the phone is is is, you know, try to try to do some, you know, try to do some ear clearing in the pool. If you can, that's great. But the biggest thing is just staying hydrated and then having, you know, not drinking alcohol the night before your diving or a few nights before hydration and then just a lot of electrolytes. Like, that's the biggest thing that people usually face with us on a charter is that they is that their legs, you know, they'll cramp up and they'll get headaches just from freediving. And it's you know, you don't realize how much you're sweating or how much you're working in the water because you're because you're covered in water, but you lose a lot. So, yeah, we we always have, like, you know, coconut water, water on the boat for people. That stuff really helps out a lot.

Tom Rowland: Wow. So what kind of advice would you buddy that is either a charter fisherman that wants to let's start there. A charter fisherman that might find some inspiration here and, wants to give something like this a track.

58:00 · Advice for Busy Fishermen: You Only Get 24 Hours

Tony Young: Well, to be honest, like, there I I think if you if you're a charter fisherman or a a weekend fisherman or whatever, like, I I grew up in Minnesota and moved to The Keys about ten years ago and and really wanted to create a life down here around fishing. And it's charter fishing is extremely competitive, and there's a lot of companies. And and, you know, the best way I think to, like, better yourself is is just to put in the work. And by me running and doing some cross training, it just made the actual work easier so that I could focus more on fishing and diving. You know? Like, I think that's a big thing for a lot of people is, like, you might have the fishing dialed into the tee the best that you are, But if the heat's getting to you or you're wanting to get back to the dock an hour later to clean up the fish so you can get back in the AC earlier, like, that's the stuff that, you know, that doesn't really phase me. So I have no problem. Like, even when we have, like, a banner day of fishing, like, I'll still push to go catch yellowtails after we got the boat full of Mahi and tuna just to, like, fill out the day even more. You know? And I I can't stress enough, like, how much running in the heat has helped me, be a better captain and be a better diver and and just hold a better head on the boat. And, like, if other people are tired and you're tired on the boat, like, that just doesn't work well. So if your captain's energetic and excited and running circles and jumping up and down, you catch a nice fish or shoot a big fish and, you know, it just makes the day so much easier. But

Tom Rowland: Sure. What about, advice for somebody that has a busy schedule? You I don't I don't know how you could have a busier schedule than than you, and wants to do one well, I mean, it could be a marathon. It doesn't have to be a 100 mile race. It could be a half marathon or marathon or something, but those require a lot of training. How do you how do you what kind of advice would you give somebody to to kind of find the time? Because I don't like the term balance because there is no balance, really.

Tony Young: There's no balance.

Tom Rowland: So I I don't really like that, but I do like finding time, and there is time available for all of us in the day. How how what kind of advice would you give somebody that's busy that wants to find the time to be able to train for something like this?

Tony Young: Well, what's what's worked well for me is that if you if you just you might have to write it down, but there's 24 in the day. Unfortunately, I have tried, Tom, and you're not gonna make more than twenty four. So there's twenty four hours in the day, and you gotta block out your sleep on what you need, and you might have to make some hard decisions to to limit sleep or whatever. But if you're a person that needs six hours of sleep, well, you got eighteen hours in your day. What's what what time of that day is work? So minus out your work. If you if you work an eight hour day, now you're down to ten hours. So what are you doing with your ten hours? And usually, what I've noticed when I've talked to people about this is that when they actually labored like, label it down, they realize they waste a lot of time in the day. And I I I mean, at the end of it, it's like even, I think, you and I too, like, there's times where maybe you're scrolling on social or you're, you know, or you decide your alarm goes off and you snooze twenty minutes or something. Well, that's twenty minutes that you just lost. So I always say there's always time in the day, and you gotta prioritize it. So you can do like, one of the things that a lot of people, like, look at is, like, pillars is I I like that analogy of pillars, like, different pillars in your life. So you could have three or five pillars, but things that you don't deter from in the day that you have to complete. And, like, one of my pillars is, like, a minimum of five hours of sleep. So five hours of sleep is what well, try to get right at five hours of sleep, and then I try to dedicate for sure an hour and a half of just quiet time with Alyssa, like, where there's no distractions. So you you minus that out in your day, and then you build around that. So then you put another pillar in your day, and you just make sure you get those done and then fill everything out around that. So if you decide that, like, hey. I wanna I wanna do a marathon or I wanna run a mile a day. You just make that mile. That mile could only be, like a it might only be ten minutes of your day. You just have to get started. So you just make it a pillar. Just make it something, then it becomes habit. Once it's habit, then it's just in your it's just in your program every day. Yeah. You know?

Tom Rowland: Yeah. I call those non like, the things that you are going to get you're going to accomplish that no matter what. Like, those are your pillars. Those are what I call nonnegotiable in in in my day. And those are or other people just call them your priorities. You know? Yeah.

Tony Young: You just have to get it done.

62:40 · Freediving Breath Work Meets Ultra Running

Tom Rowland: Do it. Yeah. That's super cool. And then, you mentioned, how being a a charter fisherman may have helped you, in some way on this race. I was wondering about how about what about spearfishing? And, like, was there any, like I know that as a spearfisherman to your level, you've done a lot of breathing exercises. You focus on your breathing a lot. Are you, are you bringing any of that into the running at all?

Tony Young: Yeah. A 100%. Yeah. So, like, when I when I go through the like a like a breathe up for free diving or even, like, if we're doing someone's doing a deeper tank dive with us. You know, males, we or just in general, we tend to breathe with our chest. You know, we we fill our chest up, but that's really, like, what we wanna do is we wanna be using our diaphragm to keep that air low in the bottom portion of our lungs where we can absorb oxygen better, and we get more out of each breath. So the more you do that, like, just so, like, with free diving and spearfishing particularly, you don't always have time to get, like, a a full breathe up to dive down and shoot a fish. Like, this like, if a wahoo's swimming by, you have to stay in a constant state of of ready to dive, ready to you know, you're breathing up the entire dive while you're waiting. And when you see the fish come through, it's quick breath and go and execute. So, like, during the entire race, there was never much of there was never a cardio, there was never a like, my cardio system was never strained or tired or anything like that. And I think it's just making sure that you listen to, like, your body and knowing that taking slow deep breaths constantly and just understanding that that's how you're going to maximize the oxygen retention and expelling c o two. The fast breathing is not gonna help. So I think it's just like the habit that's been developed to really transfer as well into into the running.

Tom Rowland: Breathing. You breathe What was that? Nasal breathing, like, out of your nose.

Tony Young: Yes. Yes. I I try to do that as much as possible. So on my runs, like, I just I just run loops around the park pretty much always breathe out of my nose.

Tom Rowland: Mhmm. Interesting. Yeah. There's Super cool.

Tony Young: There's some really good some good books on that, like breath or, you know, like, there there's a lot of really good books on that. Like, Born to Run is one of the greatest books I've ever read. I highly recommend it to anybody. It was a wonderful book to read. So

Tom Rowland: When you read Born to Run and then you're running your 100 mile race, how does your footwear compare to the Born to Run footwear?

65:24 · Broken-In Shoes and the Barefoot Running Debate

Tony Young: Well, it's a little bit different. You know, we I did I would say, I I have been Alyssa's like, you need to buy a new pair of shoes. I'm like, no. In the book, they said you gotta have broken in shoes, run barefoot, all that stuff. But my shoes, I have had these shoes for three years, and they've got you know, I've did my 50 mile ultra, all my other runs in them, and I've ran in the rain in them. So they're they're beaten down pretty good, but but it does, like you know, the padded shoes are like, a lot of people say I can't run. I got a bad knee or it hurts my legs or it hurts my back. Well, it's probably because you got these big padded shoes that are, you know, compensating for a bad form. And that was one of the takeaways is that I'm running these shoes that are extremely worn out. They're flattened out. They're all scuffed up. I mean, there's not much left to them. But I was back on the water fishing two days after the race, and I think it's because you're you know, if you if you don't have that cushion to to help you, you know, you have to have a good form, you know, in order to move forward. Otherwise, it's just gonna hurt too much, and your body doesn't wanna hurt. You know? Our our bodies are pretty lazy. We don't wanna hurt ourselves unless you know? But

Tom Rowland: Interesting. That book, you know, it basically advocated barefoot running. You know, and the the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico, they basically run-in in I mean, some of the things that they were describing were, like, it's just like a tire, and they would just lash it to their foot. Like, they would cut a piece out and just lash it to their foot. I mean, just just to keep from cutting their feet. Like, no no no cushion whatsoever. Just, you know, either some sort of a sandal or, like, these things that are lashed to your feet to make sure that you're not cutting your feet. Other than that, they believe in no padding whatsoever.

Tony Young: Yeah. I I got, at the 7 Mile Bridge or no. Sorry. The the Keys Bridge Run this year, or last year, I got the guy that was in age group above me. He he got first place, and he barefoot ran the whole thing. Wow. Yeah. And he and he barefoot ran on this on yeah. And then he stuck. He hit his toe on, you know, like, how bridges have, like, those connection points. Yes. Well, he hit that, and he, like, totally ripped his I mean, he ripped his foot up pretty bad. He is so the whole leg was all bloody and everything, but, yeah, he ran through the whole the whole time. No problem.

Tom Rowland: Seems like

Tony Young: it's hot that time

Tom Rowland: of the year. I mean, that's April. That's pretty hot on the pavement. I mean, he must be really running barefoot all the time on the pavement just to, you know, avoid burning your feet like that.

Tony Young: Yep. I haven't gotten that hardcore yet. But,

Tom Rowland: I don't I don't know that, barefoot running is is for me. I don't I I wore those Vibram five toe toe things for a little while, but I kept tearing my calf. And, when I got away from those and back into, you know, like, a flat running shoe, I stopped carrying my calf, but, also, I did this stretching, of of my calves, that that has really helped there. I haven't torn in in a while, but, I mean, it was a repetitive injury. One calf would go and then the other calf would go, and it really messed me up. But, I'm over it now, I think. So all good. So you're back on the water, and you have, you're about to expand your business to Key Largo. How's the boat project going with the with the renovation of the of the boat? Is that the one that's that's going into Key Largo?

69:09 · A New Boat, Coral Restoration, and Where to Find Tony

Tony Young: Yeah. That's the plan. It's, it's coming together really well and, just got new motors put on. And then it's at the weld it's getting welded on a dive ladder right now and doing a new second station up top. So, decided not to do controls up top, but we're putting in a nice little second station so kids can go up there and stuff like that, you know, if we're at, you know, anchored up or something. And then from there, it goes for the rest of the rewire work and, little bit of u deck. Ryan's gonna do a little bit of u deck on it, make it look real nice, and then she'll be ready for the fleet. So

Tom Rowland: Nice.

Tony Young: Yeah. I can't wait.

Tom Rowland: Going. You're where where is where are you located in Key West?

Tony Young: We're at the Perry Hotel and Marina, which is beautiful. Yep. Stock Island. So, yep, the guys are running to the Tortugas right now.

Tom Rowland: Oh, good. And then you're in in Islamorada. You're right behind the Square Grouper.

Tony Young: Yep. Yep.

Tom Rowland: And that is what's the marina called?

Tony Young: Safe Harbor At La Mirada.

Tom Rowland: K. So Safe Harbor. And in Key Largo, where will you be?

Tony Young: We're still working that out. I'm trying to I'm trying to get right by Key Largo Fisheries

Tom Rowland: Oh, nice.

Tony Young: Which would be which would be really special because when I first moved down there, I I've spent a lot of time at the Core Restoration Foundation. They have their office one of their office buildings there. And, remember going to the fish you know the market there, the fisheries market. Yeah. And back when it was a little hole in the wall thing, and, they've expanded. They got a bar now, do live music there. So it'd be a it'd be a really fun full circle to have a boat there. So

Tom Rowland: Well, good luck. And so if people want to either spearfish with you, you do both spearfishing and regular fishing charters. Where do they go? Foreveryoung.com?

Tony Young: Yep. You can visit diveyoung.com. So we have all the information on both locations there. You can book online. My Instagram's captain Tony Young, and, phone number's right on the website there. And I'm always looking for people to run with. So if you wanna go for a run, Key Largo Park. I am the current Jacobs Aquatic, leader. I've done the most laps. So if you wanna come for my title, come get it.

Tom Rowland: I I would think that the only person that I know that is even close to coming for your title would be Harley Hunt, and he's probably he probably doesn't even know that you run there. So hardly go over there and see if you can, I

Tony Young: don't know if

Tom Rowland: you can take your title, but maybe you can have a good run with him on Yeah?

Tony Young: Come spend some time with me.

Tom Rowland: Yeah. Alright. That'd be that that's great. Tony, congratulations on this last accomplishment of the Keys 100. That is truly incredible. Something I've never done, something I would like to do, and, you you that's that's a great inspiration and motivation. Good job for you and the team effort. I do know that, and, good luck on the next one.

Tony Young: Thank you. I appreciate it, Tom, so much.

Tom Rowland: Alright, buddy. We'll talk to you soon. Alright. If you wanna go spearfishing, Tony Young is the man. If you want to, do some sort of a joint thing, spearfishing, a little bit of spearfishing, a little bit of above water fishing, he does that too, or just straight up, above water fishing. Tony was on Saltwater Experience this year. He did a great job taking us, both underwater and above water. We did that, and it was fantastic. So you can check that out on waypointtv.com if you want even more of Tony. And we'll be back with another awesome guest just like Tony next week, so I'll see you then. Cheep.