40,000 Steps Radio

Ryan Mains is an Iraq War veteran and a former firefighter of 14 years who just recently won his disability pension case, in light of PTSD forcing him out of his career. Even more recently, on May 22, 2021, he took on a 115K - one kilometer for every firefighter who completed suicide in 2020. It's an annual fund- and awareness-raising run called Run for Our Lives, which Ryan and his wife, Danielle, started in the summer of 2019.

But Ryan was only able to completed about 95 of those kilometers because of overwhelming heat and humidity that left paramedics unable to find a vein while trying to administer an IV at an aid station.

We talked about the insurmountable challenge, and the reality that him admitting enough was enough, that it wasn't safe for him to keep running, was the perfect example of the message he's been pushing: It's OK to not be OK.

To hear more of the Mains' story, check out Episode 13 of the podcast, which stars Danielle. Her perspective on the partner's role in recovery is invaluable.

************************************

This episode was presented by Gateway Foundation. If drugs and alcohol are starting to take over your life, or the life of someone you love, it’s time to be honest and enlist some help. Gateway offers life-saving inpatient services, as well as virtual treatment. Call 877-505-HOPE to schedule a consultation, or visit gatewayfoundation.org for more information.

************************************

Catch me on IGTV (@40000_Steps) and Facebook Live at 11 a.m. CST every Tuesday and Thursday. Join the discussion. Bring your own snacks.

************************************

If you or someone you know would like to star on the podcast, or be interviewed on IGTV, email us at [email protected].

************************************

Sign up for our free newsletter and read my regular musings in The Big Blog at 40000steps.com, where you can also read about and listen to every episode of 40,000 Steps Radio.

Running has been vital for Michelle Quirk as she's grieved her father, who lost his life to cancer in 2012. It also helps her deal with the trauma she endures daily as a pediatrician. Think about it. Not every child comes through the clinic door with the sniffles. She sees kiddos who are terrified to see a doctor. Little ones with terminal illnesses. Tiny tots who are clearly being neglected and abused at home.

So Michelle, like many of us, works out her problems through running. She took that one step further a couple of years ago, when she began her running coaching business, Mindful Marathon. It's geared toward helping professionals cope with stress, anxiety, depression and, one issue that's running rampant in the healthcare industry: burnout.

************************************

This episode was presented by DUI & Behavioral Health Counseling Centers, which has offices here in northern Illinois – in Sycamore, Plano, and Crystal Lake. If you suspect you or someone you love has a problem with drinking, drugs, mental illness or anger, call 815-895-9000 today and set up an evaluation. Visit duisycamore.com for more information.

************************************

Catch me on IGTV (@40000_Steps) and Facebook Live at 11 a.m. CST every Tuesday and Thursday. Join the discussion. Bring your own snacks.

************************************

If you or someone you know would like to star on the podcast, or be interviewed on IGTV, email us at [email protected].

************************************

Sign up for our free newsletter and read my regular musings in The Big Blog at 40000steps.com, where you can also read about and listen to every episode of 40,000 Steps Radio.

Max Bergstrom is 8 1/2 years sober, but he's all too aware that he needs to work a daily program to address his character defects - vanity, insecurity and others to keep himself on the righteous path, and to continue his healing process.

Max went through rehab multiple times, tried and failed to take his own life twice, but it took him breaking down after his father's funeral, calling his AA sponsor, and fully committing to following the Big Book to the letter for him to finally get clean and make it stick.

Max is the frontman of the rock band Avenue Army, which will play its first show in 14 months this weekend. He's a straight-shooter, a deep-thinker, and a Big Book-thumper dead set on constantly clearing his side of the street. His story will bring you to your knees, but it's trending toward a happy ending.

************************************

This episode was presented by DUI & Behavioral Health Counseling Centers, which has offices here in northern Illinois – in Sycamore, Plano, and Crystal Lake. If you suspect you or someone you love has a problem with drinking, drugs, mental illness or anger, call 815-895-9000 today and set up an evaluation. Visit duisycamore.com for more information.

************************************

Catch me on IGTV (@40000_Steps) and Facebook Live at 11 a.m. CST every Tuesday and Thursday. Join the discussion. Bring your own snacks.

************************************

If you or someone you know would like to star on the podcast, or be interviewed on IGTV, email us at [email protected].

************************************

Sign up for our free newsletter and read my regular musings in The Big Blog at 40000steps.com, where you can also read about and listen to every episode of 40,000 Steps Radio.

Tony Xu, born and raised in China, has lived in the United States for 8 years. Despite knowing very little English upon arrival, to the point that he needed help finding the bathroom, he rose to the rank of editor-in-chief of the student newspaper at Bradley University.

This conversation, as you might imagine, was spurred by the horrible recent violence against Asian-Americans - not just the incidents the media has reported in the past couple of months, but the spike in such hate crimes since the beginning of the pandemic.

Tony's response to racism, and the perceived delay in the media's reporting, is very measured. Rather than allowing himself to be consumed by emotion, he reflects and tries to figure out the best way to advance progress.

It begs the question: How much does that approach stem from minorities simply growing accustomed to racism in America?

************************************

This episode was presented by DUI & Behavioral Health Counseling Centers, which has offices here in northern Illinois – in Sycamore, Plano, and Crystal Lake. If you suspect you or someone you love has a problem with drinking, drugs, mental illness or anger, call 815-895-9000 today and set up an evaluation. Visit duisycamore.com for more information.

************************************

Catch me on IGTV (@40000_Steps) and Facebook Live at 11 a.m. CST every Tuesday and Thursday. Join the discussion. Bring your own snacks.

************************************

If you or someone you know would like to star on the podcast, or be interviewed on IGTV, email us at [email protected].

************************************

Sign up for our free newsletter and read my regular musings in The Big Blog at 40000steps.com, where you can also read about and listen to every episode of 40,000 Steps Radio.

Martin Parker and I are shockingly similar in a number of ways. We've both spent far too much of our lives beating ourselves up. We both used alcohol to try to fit in, whether that meant dumbing ourselves down or making ourselves feel more interesting. We did that because we're deep-thinkers who suck at small talk.

There are some ways we're starkly different. Martin was diagnosed with Parkinson's while he was in the thick of his addiction to alcohol and cocaine. He's gone through a painful separation with the mother of his daughter. Yet when he awoke one evening to find himself upside down in his truck in the ditch, in nothing but his underwear (something else I admit I haven't experienced), despite all those personal obstacles, he got clean.

He's emerged as an advocate and an inspirational speaker. In fact, one of his speeches has won an award. Above all else, he's steadily becoming a better human, father, and brother each passing day.

************************************

This episode was presented by Gateway Foundation. If drugs and alcohol are starting to take over your life, or the life of someone you love, it’s time to be honest and enlist some help. Gateway offers life-saving inpatient services, as well as virtual treatment. Call 877-505-HOPE to schedule a consultation, or visit gatewayfoundation.org for more information.

************************************

Catch me on IGTV (@40000_Steps) and Facebook Live at 11 a.m. CST every Tuesday and Thursday. Join the discussion. Bring your own snacks.

************************************

If you or someone you know would like to star on the podcast, or be interviewed on IGTV, email us at [email protected].

************************************

Sign up for our free newsletter and read my regular musings in The Big Blog at 40000steps.com, where you can also read about and listen to every episode of 40,000 Steps Radio.

Lynnea Erickson Laskowski spends her days educating students about sexual assault. She teaches the littles about their bodies and how to set boundaries. She teaches kiddos and teenagers alike how to notice signs of abuse, and how to report them.

While our host Christopher was sexually abused as a kid, Lynnea concedes she didn't have such a traumatizing experience. She does, however, wish a Lynnea-like person showed up in her small-town Iowa school to teach her about relationships and self-love.

The discussion with Lynnea addressed the impact sexual abuse has on all aspects of the community, and the importance of continuing to make noise and raise awareness after Sexual Assault Awareness Month wraps up.

We also talked about futbol.

************************************

This episode was presented by Gateway Foundation. If drugs and alcohol are starting to take over your life, or the life of someone you love, it’s time to be honest and enlist some help. Gateway offers life-saving inpatient services, as well as virtual treatment. Call 877-505-HOPE to schedule a consultation, or visit gatewayfoundation.org for more information.

************************************

Catch me on IGTV (@40000_Steps) and Facebook Live at 11 a.m. CST every Tuesday and Thursday. Join the discussion. Bring your own snacks.

************************************

If you or someone you know would like to star on the podcast, or be interviewed on IGTV, email us at [email protected].

************************************

Sign up for our free newsletter and read my regular musings in The Big Blog at 40000steps.com, where you can also read about and listen to every episode of 40,000 Steps Radio.

Dora Gosselin is the host of the popular podcast Soberoso, and a survivor of what's a lifetime for many of drinking and drugging, having taken her first sip of booze at age 12.

Dora also survived an abusive relationship, and when she finally walked out for good, with a carry-on suitcase and her little dog, she realized that maybe, just maybe, if she quit drinking, she'd have the power to not go back to him. She was right, and now she's living her very best life. It got even better when she made another recent revelation, one that she went public with for the first time during the episode. You'll have to tune in to find out what it is!

By boldly sharing her story, and by hosting her podcast that's more than 50 episodes stronger, she shows others a path to recovery. She was also gracious enough to feature Christopher in a recent episode of her podcast. They're firm believers in collaboration, and that we brothers and sisters in recovery are stronger together.

************************************

This episode was presented by Gateway Foundation. If drugs and alcohol are starting to take over your life, or the life of someone you love, it’s time to be honest and enlist some help. Gateway offers life-saving inpatient services, as well as virtual treatment. Call 877-505-HOPE to schedule a consultation, or visit gatewayfoundation.org for more information.

************************************

Catch me on IGTV (@40000_Steps) and Facebook Live at 11 a.m. CST every Tuesday and Thursday. Join the discussion. Bring your own snacks.

************************************

If you or someone you know would like to star on the podcast, or be interviewed on IGTV, email us at [email protected].

************************************

Sign up for our free newsletter and read my regular musings in The Big Blog at 40000steps.com, where you can also read about and listen to every episode of 40,000 Steps Radio.

Danielle Mains is outspoken. She speaks plainly on social issues and doesn't pull punches. Yet while her husband, Ryan Mains, was suffering crippling PTSD from his time in the service and 14 years as a firefighter, she tried to keep their home as quiet as possible in order to avoid loud noises triggering him and setting him off.

Danielle stood by Ryan as his cumulative trauma caused the man she fell in love with to withdraw more and more every day leading up to him checking into inpatient treatment in March 2019, and when he started intensive outpatient that fall.

Since then, they've launched a fundraiser called Run for Our Lives that culminates each year with Ryan running an ultramarathon, with as many kilometers as firefighters who took their own lives the year before. Funds raised go to the Illinois Firefighter Peer Support Hotline, which was the life line that got Ryan the help he needed.

The fundraiser also raises awareness, of course. But Ryan and Danielle were forced to keep their voices down for nearly a year and a half as his disability pension case played out. Now that he's been unanimously awarded his pension, the gloves are off, and Danielle graciously came on the podcast to speak out against people, pension boards, and other institutions that would rather pay for a funeral than long-term mental health treatment.

************************************

This episode was presented by Gateway Foundation. If drugs and alcohol are starting to take over your life, or the life of someone you love, it’s time to be honest and enlist some help. Gateway offers life-saving inpatient services, as well as virtual treatment. Call 877-505-HOPE to schedule a consultation, or visit gatewayfoundation.org for more information.

************************************

Catch me on IGTV (@40000_Steps) and Facebook Live at 11 a.m. CST every Tuesday and Thursday. Join the discussion. Bring your own snacks.

************************************

If you or someone you know would like to star on the podcast, or be interviewed on IGTV, email us at [email protected].

************************************

Sign up for our free newsletter and read my regular musings in The Big Blog at 40000steps.com, where you can also read about and listen to every episode of 40,000 Steps Radio.

Eric Wilden began studying mindfulness at age 12, and he's been studying Buddhism for 30 years now. He has a Master of Divinity degree, and he's a Road Runners Club of America-certified coach, both of which play into his success as a mindful running coach.

Eric, like our host, does some ... different stuff. In the past few months alone, he's run a marathon on a treadmill, and another in his cul de sac. He also ran across the state of New Jersey to memorialize the beginning of the pandemic. We learned shortly after the interview (to which he wore a T-shirt reading "Kiss My Asana") that he and his wife officiate weddings.

When asked why he does these things, Eric's answer is always the same: "Why not?"

There is, however, an explanation for why he got into mindfulness. Because he was different from the other kids, he was bullied in middle school. And he found solace in deep breathing and, eventually, Buddhism.

Now he's a sought-after mindful running coach, and one hell of a conversationalist.

************************************

This episode was presented by Gateway Foundation. If drugs and alcohol are starting to take over your life, or the life of someone you love, it’s time to be honest and enlist some help. Gateway offers life-saving inpatient services, as well as virtual treatment. Call 877-505-HOPE to schedule a consultation, or visit gatewayfoundation.org for more information.

************************************

Catch me on IGTV (@40000_Steps) and Facebook Live at 11 a.m. CST every Tuesday and Thursday. Join the discussion. Bring your own snacks.

************************************

If you or someone you know would like to star on the podcast, or be interviewed on IGTV, email us at [email protected].

************************************

Sign up for our free newsletter and read my regular musings in The Big Blog at 40000steps.com, where you can also read about and listen to every episode of 40,000 Steps Radio.

In November 2020, Corey Harrington completed one of the most grueling races out there: a full Ironman. What makes that even more incredible is that he'd spent 10 years in the throes of opioid addiction.

Corey opened up about the loneliness and hopelessness that comes from suffering in silence, what it took for him to finally say it out loud that he was an addict, and the immediate obstacles he faced in his recovery.

He and Christopher also made sure to talk about just how great life is in recovery, and what it's like to become an ever-present husband, father, and all-around human being.

************************************

This episode was presented by Gateway Foundation. If drugs and alcohol are starting to take over your life, or the life of someone you love, it’s time to be honest and enlist some help. Gateway offers life-saving inpatient services, as well as virtual treatment. Call 877-505-HOPE to schedule a consultation, or visit gatewayfoundation.org for more information.

************************************

Catch me on IGTV (@40000_Steps) and Facebook Live at 11 a.m. CST every Tuesday and Thursday. Join the discussion. Bring your own snacks.

************************************

If you or someone you know would like to star on the podcast, or be interviewed on IGTV, email us at [email protected].

************************************

Sign up for our free newsletter and read my regular musings in The Big Blog at 40000steps.com, where you can also read about and listen to every episode of 40,000 Steps Radio.