Chapter 45: Rich Roll on wrestling with recovery and running to redemption
About this episode
Rich Roll shares his journey of recovery and transformation from a struggling athlete to a successful ultra-marathon runner and author.
Happy new moon, everybody! Today we fly down to the hills of Calabasas, California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, where I sat behind a microphone at a walnut desk across from the one and only Rich Roll. Rich went to Stanford and Cornell and was a national athlete in swimming before his career was cut short by a decade-long struggle with alcohol—eventually landing him in jail and rehab. On the eve of his 40th birthday, as he walked up the stairs he was left totally winded… and decided it was time to make a change. The next day, Rich overhauled his life. He switched to a 100% vegan, plant-based diet, grabbed his running shoes, jumped back into the pool, and two years later, fueled only by plants and after losing 50 pounds, he became the first vegan to ever compete in the 320-mile ultra-marathon and finished as the 3rd fastest American in the race. Are you kidding me?? He then went on to complete five Ironman Triathlons on five islands of Hawaii in one week! In 2012, he wrote his inspirational memoir 'Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself' , which became a bestseller upon its release. It's a fantastic book and…
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