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Ken Rideout was a hard-pressed Wall Street player until a series of economic crises and opioid addiction nearly ruined him. But somewhat than succumb to the demons of drug addiction and bankruptcy, Rideout weathered the storm.
“Every time I was in the depths of hell, I turned it into strength,” he says.
Rideout is now a successful investor and the world’s fastest marathon runner over 50. On the latest episode of One Day with Jon Bier, I talked to him about how he turned his life around, the importance of getting a never-give-up attitude, and his five must-have suggestions and tactics for living your best life.
“Showing up is very important.”(*50*)
Rideout has won countless races, including the over-50 category in the New York Marathon and the Boston Marathon. He recently placed first in the Gobi March, a grueling 7-day, 255-mile walking race in central Mongolia.
But half the battle, he says, simply shows up.
“If I hadn’t had the balls to go there and stand on the starting line, I would have never known I would make it, and it became the highlight of the race for me,” he says of the Gobi race. “But guess what won’t occur? If I do not go there, no one cares because I do not win. “I don’t know what I can do.”
Rideout emphasizes the importance of consistently showing up and working hard, whether it’s training, gaining recent experiences, or overcoming challenges.
“Showing up doesn’t just mean race day. The race itself is a beauty contest,” he explains. “The hard work was done months in advance, in the rain, in the snow and in the dark.”
“Do things outside your comfort zone”(*50*)
Rideout is about pushing recent boundaries.
“The one thing I always did, which was a huge strength of mine, was that I would try anything,” he says. – I need to try every part.
He tells the story of a conversation with his wife a few weeks before Goby’s marathon when he had doubts.
“I told her, ‘I think I can win, but do I really want to sleep in the desert for six days?’ I’m not a camper. I like staying in elegant hotels. But she told me, ‘You always talk about doing things outside your comfort zone. You say all this nonsense on the Internet. You should take your own advice. And as soon as she said it, I thought: I’m already doing it.”
“Grow in routine”(*50*)
Rideout credits his disciplined each day routine with helping him stay motivated and accountable to his fitness goals. He says that developing consistent habits makes this occur routinely.
“I lost my calling and didn’t join the army when I had the opportunity,” he says.
His typical weekday includes taking his children to high school (he has 4) and running for 90 minutes around 8:30. He takes a shower break and gets to work, lifting weights for half-hour around 4 p.m. Then he takes his kids to Jui Jitsu and has a family dinner.
He says, “For people who may have trouble getting motivated in certain areas, I can say that when you do something enough, it will eventually become automatic.”
“Learn from mistakes”(*50*)
Rideout shares how quitting smoking during the 2012 Ironman in Kona, Hawaii was his biggest bomb as an athlete, but it also modified his way of pondering.
“I resigned. I just stopped running and gave up like a big kid,” he recalls. “I was so disgusted with myself that it basically changed my entire journey. I told my wife, ‘I will never feel like this again. I’d rather die. I do not want to live like this. I don’t want to live with that feeling of giving up the race once I get there and then being disrespectful to the race and all the people who do it in a weird way, I feel like less than zero… I promise you I will. fuck. die before I go.”
“Endurance is the key.”(*50*)
How does a former opioid addict in his 50s manage to outperform clean and mean athletes in their 20s? Rideout says endurance is the most vital thing.
“As you get older, you become mentally stronger. You look at things from a bigger perspective,” he explains. “When you’re younger, you do so much. There are a lot of things that distract you and that’s great. But when you realize that the clock is ticking, you start to really focus and optimize for the things that are important to you in this moment.
“I still don’t think I’m a good runner. I just try harder than people.”