Hey everybody welcome back to breakfast with Bob from Clash Miami this is day two my name is Bob babbit brought to you by sfuels Hoka Master Spa to Bor wet suits Premium Plus Sports and our challenged athletes Foundation our next guest a 2020 paralympian in parat Triathlon hoping the punches ticket back
To go to Paris this summer Eric mlan joins us how you doing e I’m doing great Bob thank you so much for having me no no problem you know one of the I think one of the hardest thing is in sport the the average the the thing that you
Normally do is you go from a mile to the 5K to a 10K to a marathon you go from Sprint Triathlon to Olympic to full because you take your speed and you go to longer distance you’re just yeah opposite you you took you had been doing
Iron Man for years and the next thing you know you decide hey I want to go to the Olympics and you’re going from something that is a 10-hour event to an hour event with with a Sprint how hard has that adaptation been for you it the that first few years was was really
Challenging and I you know I didn’t want to make the jump but I knew I would regret not trying exactly I so I was like you know what let’s switch up some training and let’s go out and let’s start start getting after and try to figure this out and I just had mentors
And coaching and just uh so much support that helped me move along and all of a sudden we were in Tokyo and getting ready to race it it was pretty cool and Tokyo had to be cool but it was during covid and there weren’t fans and there
Weren’t family and all that type of stuff so the goal now is to go to Paris which will be we you Rio was okay for the par Olympics Tokyo had covid London was unbelievable Sydney was unbelievable Paris is going to be unbelievable so getting there be pretty awesome yeah
That’s that’s definitely the goal and it it’s um when we came back from Tokyo so you know my family couldn’t go I have you know wife and three kids um when I got back my wife uh well first her first her first question was yeah you know why
Were you running so slow at the end of that race end of which race it was the end of Tokyo I hit the blue carpet and I wasn’t catching the guy in front of me or the guy behind me so I like well because I knew I was getting sixed you
Know her second question or her second statement was I already looked it up in 2024 the Olympics and Par Olympics are in Paris France and I’ve always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower so you’re going to qualify again tomorrow morning we got a big swim workout we got to hit the gym
A little bit to fix that run we got to go to she’s coaching now so her her exactly her goal was that was mine though as well as soon as we finished that those Paralympics I was like man what an experience uh I yeah I want to
Do that again and try to qualify and hopefully get some Hardware this time so cool uh and tomorrow is what I love about this whole weekend we’ve got World Triathlon going on first thing then we’ve got the parah athletes and you guys can you can punch your ticket to
Paris by winning your category tomorrow yes yeah I mean that’s there there’s CR I know there’s I know there’s more that’s simplistic for my category pts4 which is below knee and above elbow um trauma injury we the the winner if if a US athlete wins we we punch our ticket
You get that spot to Paris so that’s there yes and yeah that’s exciting something fun to race for so like like the race starts at 10 so by 11 yeah you could be going to Paris yeah yeah we can know pretty pretty early that is wow so
You’re a triathlete now but back in the day you’re a military guy and talk a little bit about your mechanical engineering degree from US Naval Academy and Marine Corps officer three tours of Duty um in Afghanistan uh December 2011 what happened oh man you know my story better
Than me yeah so yeah went to the Naval Academy graduated that’s where I met my wife so we were both I was Marine she was Navy did you know we did five deployments yeah while we were raising our first daughter oh my god um and my last one was the Helman Province
Afghanistan and unfortunately I was injured I stepped on an IED and lost the lower part of my right leg yes uh which you know it’s a lifechanging event yeah but also like the people people around me like you like challenge athletes Foundation like my family friends they helped me see
That as an opportunity and not just a negative thing so it’s like okay you know what’s next when you were in the hospital and I know somebody came to see you another military officer who basically put the challenge out what did he say yeah and that’s it we challenge
Each other but Max Frank he was a captain uh walked into the room and I didn’t even look down I didn’t realize he was an amputee uh but he walked up to me reached down took his leg off handed it to me and I’m in the hospital bed I’m
Like oh this is a nice pair of shoes you got you know this thing’s pretty light and uh he said hey I was I was up and walking within 3 months see if you can beat it and how how how quickly did you
Get up and walk I I got up uh it was exactly two months to the day that we stood up for the first time it was in parallel bars right so it was that was for two weeks but yeah it was two months
Uh and it was just man the team it at at the Naval Medical Center San Diego just it was um you know it’s it’s a hard injury and there’s a lot of us going through that at that time it’s hard for it was hard for my family hard for
Friends but the environment I was in was so healthy you know I just saw people at my level then two months later 3 months later um guy just got back from climbing Mount kilamanjaro it’s like oh wow there’s I mean there’s no limit on what
We can do I need a goal you need a goal and so you did a Sprint Triathlon and I always love this so you’re injured in 2011 in December and by the spring you’re doing a Sprint Triathlon yeah by the Fall you’re doing superfrog which is
A half hman in soft sand not the best thing for prosthetic that was painful yeah it was good though it felt good Crossing that finish line and growing up you were a football guy and Hines Ward being a Pittsburgh guy you were a fan of Hines Ward and uh heading towards
2013 chocolate milk came on board with Iron Man to create the become one program and they put a little team together to team up and do the Iron Man World Championship which mind wed committed to and uh one of our big pushes at CAF is was you know I wanted
Somebody who was a baloney UT like Jim McLaren to come over and you were the guy and then so I remember when uh you went to the laptop and they were just having was it set up that they just going to have a call yes it was supposed
To be a call with the chocolate milk people you know maybe an interview I didn’t know what to expect it was early in my time and I open up the computer uh someone was there and then and they walked away for a second said oh I forgot something and then Hines W sits
Hin Ward sits down and he’s like hey what’s up Eric how are you he’s like hey we’re going to do this are you ready and I was like oh man this is so cool and now I get to reach a big goal of finishing Iron Man get to do it with
Someone who I’ve been cheering for on the football field for years and um and just the the support around it one of the best coaches in the world wither that’s a pretty good yeah that was intimidating she’s such a such a sweet person but uh
Uh she expected a lot from us she did and my my favorite with Paula is Hines would call her and go hey Paula I’m lost because she had him on GPS and he’s in Atlanta she’s in San Diego she says how am I supposed to know where you’re at
And he goes oh anyway then she’d he’d say she’d say well how far did you run today I ran eight miles no you didn’t you ran four how do you know cuz I got you at GPS I know exactly what you’re doing I like the when he call her and
Say hey it’s raining out right now am I supposed to go train in the rain and she just laughed and she said well do you play football in the rain that’s good stuff right there well and also it didn’t take very long for him to start thinking I’m a world class
Athlete I’m going to win right he really thought I’m going to go win the Iron Man but that’s the mentality of a world class athlete oh yeah you have to have that so you finish the Iron Man and then uh like we talked about you did a you
Did a bunch what did you do like eight or 10 FS I’ve done eight eight eight fs and PR uh 1020 it’s pretty damn good but you get to a point where you’re that’s when you start thinking about the Olympics you par Olympics to First par Olympic triathlon was a par Triathlon
Was 2016 so you went to the second one and the the fact that you’ve been able to do that and you now your kids are they’re at an age now where they sort of know what Daddy does yeah that’s pretty cool so if you get the paring the whole
Family’s going yeah that’s the plan yeah my oldest Lupe she’s graduating high school this year she’s a senior and then we have a um a fifth grader at leas and then will is in second grade so it it would be just be it would be wonderful
If they would be if we qualify and we can all go over and check it out as a as a family who’s your competition here oh man my he used to be my mentee Carson kff is um he’s here also Eric Holquist he’s he’s a fast American he’s really getting um great at
Triathlon as well and uh from Brazil George uh who we’ve been racing together for a while it it’s awesome um but it Carson had such a great year last year and like man I’m I’m so proud he beat me and we raced together five times he beat
Me five times oh yes yeah and so it’s like I remember the first time he beat me he like oh wow that’s that’s last year I was showing you how to clip into a bike and now you’re crossing a Finish Line first now has anybody in your
Category qualified yet cuz I think they qualified last year world yeah no none of us did you had you had to get first or second at Worlds uh I think yeah we just we didn’t we didn’t get that so it’s a good race this is
Going to be going yeah I mean you had a lot of last year you you won what in Bradington and you got second America’s Tri Paradise s soda uh and a lot of you know sevenths eths nin a third at Yokohama so was a good solid season
Obviously you stayed actually in you you w no brington was 2022 I’m sorry but second in America’s tribe Paradise in SAR Sarasota yeah yeah you know last year was okay like after Yokohama I started having a few uh a few injuries that that I was ignoring I don’t know I
Just thought like a little bit of pain is okay and it just it kept getting a little bit worse so the offseason I spent a lot of time doing some physical therapy on a hamstring and um you just have to be smarter you know especially since like I’m not 22 anymore how old
Are you I’m 40 40 I keep looking at our start list and it’s like yep oldest guy here again um but but I’ll tell you like I just have to be smart take care of the body um sometimes an hour of stretching and rolling out is smarter than an extra
Hour on the bike and it’s hard it’s hard for me to convince myself that but um I have to start the race healthy if I I want if I want a good race well and being a mo motiv you’re a motivational speaker right you do a lot of that and
Then just seeing like like you talked about seeing that next Generation come in and knowing you can have impact on them and and find them a sport cuz you remember when that guy walked into your into your hospital room and gave you that challenge how important is that to
You to be doing that for next that’s it that is it and and I realize it now it’s um when I when I was transitioning out of the Marine Corps there was a void like I was serving a purpose larger than myself and then all of a sudden I wasn’t
And you’re not part of a family anymore and yeah besides your own family Brotherhood your brothers so that that was hard and there was that Gap that void and slowly like I started racing which is awesome I love it I love it um but when I started um having impact on
Other people’s Journeys and other people’s lives either through speaking or you know being a mentor or hooping on a call and yes talking to someone about hey this is you know this is tough but this is what’s to come that’s when that’s when I feel like I’m serving that
Purpose larger than myself so it’s it’s almost I mean it’s almost everything to be able to do that that it feels better because I I do the run clinics with o going to say that so I’ll tell you I’ve crossed a lot of Finish Lines but one morning spending 3 hours teaching
Someone how to run that just didn’t know that it was possible is more rewarding than crossing the Finish Line myself it really is yeah because those are the those are real victories when you see that next kid going to you know taking it to another level is it’s it’s my
Favorite thing in the world talk a little bit about my favorite alltime Eric mckany story is the the handicap placard yes yes uh yeah and I like how you you pulled this up went out at we were doing an interview at some point we were doing an interview and you told me
And you said wow that’s so powerful um but it was you use that in your motivational speaking Yeah I do a lot of the times a lot of people like it cuz um we get stuck using excuses and so my daughter was five when I was injured
That’s Lupe Lup which is a wonderful age if you don’t have a 5-year-old go rent one for a little bit because they just tell you what’s on their mind but um when I was injured I was given a handicap blackard which makes sense right but I was stubborn I was you know
Aggressive right off the Battlefield I threw it away must have complained for the next couple months cuz I got another one in the mail and I was like I’m going to keep this and I put it in my glove box for a rainy day and we were living
In San Diego it doesn’t rain a lot in San Diego so I started using it on sunny days I pull into work pull into work it’s like oh man that looks I think I’ll be handicapped today you know Park handicap and one day I was with Lupe we
Pull into Ralph’s a grocery store in San Diego and there’s no parking so I zip up and pull into my handicap spot grab my placard and hang it up and I’m like Lupe let’s go and we get out of the truck and she says Dad what was that Magic blue
Ticket and I’m like oh well because daddy only has one leg I’m allowed to park right there when I use that ticket and without missing a beat she says but Dad you have five legs you have a running leg a biking leg a walking leg a
Water leg and your left leg and I thought it was funny and I’m walking through the aisles of the store feeling guilty and I realized oh my goodness I’m using my leg as an excuse when it’s convenient for me and it wasn’t just just with it wasn’t just with parking or
Not just at Disneyland but it was with training I’d go on a run with some buddies you know maybe they’re a able bodied maybe not but it’s like if the the pace picks up a little bit I’m like hey you guys keep going you know I got
The leg thing going on but I I realized I’m using my leg as an excuse and it was holding me back from reaching my potential and that’s when I made that decision like I was racing Iron Man and 703s that’s when I made that decision to
Start racing age group it’s like I want I I want a place in my age group right and you know I got to the point where like when I finish a race it’s up towards the front but there’s usually someone in my age group that beats me
It’s not because of my leg it’s because they work harder than me and everyone has something going on it’s just yeah you have to figure it out get creative adapt flex and um that’s when you stop using excuses that’s when you start Reaching Your Potential I just love that story cuz it
Has meaning across the board and especially with Little Lupe saying calling you out call him BS on Dad I like that yeah yeah yeah yeah she still does that huh I don’t have to talk to her how important has CF been in this journey oh my goodness I was just
Telling someone about CAF and um so big I you know I I was introduced to CAF uh within the month of being injured it was probably two or three weeks after I had already set a goal to finish an Iron Man and Nico with operation rebound challenge athletes Foundation said
That’s a great goal I’m not going to do it with you but I’ll help you get there and they helped me just all you know with GE here um with mentors with coaching with um a friendship a family they helped me start moving forward to
That Iron Man and you know when I cross the finish in the Iron Man it’s like all right thanks CF and it wasn’t that it was hey K like what’s next you keep going and hey we have a new athlete can you help him out and so it’s just I’ve
Been part of this family now for 12 years I think and um it is um it’s just it’s it’s been amazing what just a wonderful organization and more than that like I hate calling it that cuz it’s it really is it’s a it’s a family it is a family yeah it’s pretty damn
Special and we just had that Gala a couple weeks ago raised $6.7 million and Chris Martin played and it was it was unbelievable yeah that really is amazing love it uh so this do you have a lot of European if you qualify here then do you
Need to keep traveling on the circuit to try to qual try to firm up another spot for the US how does that work so right now each category um right there’s going to be nine spots in the world in my category and they made there may be one
Or two added to it cuz we have a very competitive category right there’s you’re allowed to have two country spots so going into this like Carson and I like we’re already trying to figure out what races we want to do cuz we both want to be ranked in the top nine so we
Win two US spots um and yeah Eric’s in the mix as well so it’s like get two US spots and then out of the three of us you know two of us will we get to go um so it’s you know it’s it what what I love because you being a marine always
Being an athlete like you’re part of a team and we’re we’re with Team USA I don’t RAC as Eric mvin like I RAC as Team USA and um hey for some reason I’m not in Paris I’m going to be the loudest one on the sideline rooting for who is
But I hope it’s me right e thank you so much for taking time man to ride the bike horse today oh yeah I can’t wait I’m going to be I’m going to be flying on that thing it’s so cool I’m so excited this is such a cool
Venue this is such a cool experience just grateful to to be able for our race to be here would now you guys hang out for s Satur to watch the PTO stuff you guys you guys got to go home yeah it’s unfortunately I’m flying straight I’m flying from here to Australia cuz I’m
Going to do a race next week okay so I don’t get to see the PTO I’ll be watching it you’re watching it on TV I’ll be watching it on yeah I’ll definitely watch I I yeah exactly um yeah but yes we’ll get race tomorrow and then big travel day what I love about
This is you got the you know the T100 on Saturday we’ve got the parag guys tomorrow at 10 we got the Olympic guys Morgan Pearson who will be with us in a little while those guys are racing tomorrow morning it’s it’s a little bit
Of a three- ring circus but a lot of a lot of times you guys wouldn’t be competing together right and people wouldn’t see each other exactly and it’s all Tron which is all you know it’s all part we have that exact yeah exactly we know what uh kind of know what each
Other goes through the days are a grind and uh it’s it’s rewarding we always say that it’s it’s the sport is an equal opportunity abuser doesn’t care if you’re missing a leg in a wheelchair if you’re that’s true no one has an easy day on that course and you’re and
There’s a fraternity sity of suffering you know if if somebody’s better than you you know how hard they’re working oh yeah yeah yeah e always a pleasure but thanks for taking time definitely thank you Bob Eric mlan has been our guest again breakfast with Bob from Clash
Miami hold on we will be right back
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