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tea.

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get

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Coon

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house

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just

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all

the

time.

So

now

a

little

bit

on

my

guess

well,

who's

Kycoon?

Kyle

Kuhn

is

a

para

Paralympic

paralymia.

I'm

not

saying

it

right.

Professional

speaker,

author,

podcaster

and

exactly

what's

up

to

say

Certified

guide.

He

lost

his

sight

at

the

age

of

six

after

a

battle

with

retoplas

plasmia.

Shortly

after

losing

his

sight,

he

was

encouraged

to

live

and

pursue

a

life

of

adventures

by

world

class

blind

AT

athlete

Eric

wildhammeyers.

I

didn't

get

Kyle

to

say

whatever

I

can't

pronounce

right,

so

I

don't

want

to

show

any

disrespect

to

anything.

Kuhn

took

y

high

Meyer's

advice

to

heart

and

went

on

to

become

a

competitive

rock

climber,

downhill

skier,

wrestler

and

endurance

athlete.

After

graduating

from

the

University

of

Central

Florida

with

a

degree

in

communications,

Coon

struggled

struggled

finding

employment

for

more

than

a

year.

During

that

time

he

fell

into

some

very

unhealthy

habits

until

he

decided

enough

was

enough

and

he

needed

to

fix

his

life.

He

reached

out

to

the

online

endurance

community

and

found

someone

willing

to

guide

him

for

a

run.

From

there

he

fell

in

love

with

running,

which

more

mor

it

into

a

love

and

passion

for

triathlon.

Coon

went

on

to

compete

internationally

for

the

Team

USA

as

a

professional

par

par

paratri

lac

athlete.

I'm

not

saying

that

right,

I'll

get

him

to

say

it.

He

represented

Team

USA

and

the

2020

and

the

2024

Paralympic

in

the

para

trilogy.

When

not

competing

as

a

para

tri

trans

tria

athlete,

he

speaks

to

groups,

companies

and

organizations

about

the

importance

of

value,

keeping

an

eye

on

your

vision

and

how

to

adapt

a

high

performance

approach

when

it

comes

to

conversational

excellence.

I

didn't

get

Kyle

to

say

all

those

hard,

complicated

words

for

myself.

I'm

sure

some

of

you

guys

know

what,

what

Kyle

does,

but

let's

get

Kyle

to

say

it.

So

we,

we

show

a

lot

of

respect

for

all

of

the

incredible

stuff

he

does.

So

I'm

going

to

get

Kyle

in

here

and

we're

going

to

spill

some

tea

together.

Welcome,

Kyle.

Hey,

Ms.

Liz.

Well,

thank

you

so

much

for

having

me.

I

don't

hear

you.

Oh,

can

you

hear

me

now?

I

got

you.

Okay,

there

we

go.

There

we

go.

There

we

go.

Well,

thanks

so

much,

Ms.

Liz,

for

having

me

in

here

today.

It's

great

to

be

here.

So

Kyle,

let

me

get

you

to

say

what

I

couldn't

pronounce

correctly.

I

really

want

to

get

it

out

there

for

anybody

that's

listening.

They're

probably

like,

what

is

she

trying

to

say?

What

tongue

twister

has

this

girl

got?

Like,

yeah,

it's,

you

know,

all,

all

of

it

is,

you

know,

it

is,

it

is

funny

how

all

of

it

is

kind

of

a

tongue

twister.

But,

but

you

know,

just

the

short

of

it

is,

so

I'm

a

two

time

paralympian

in,

in

the

sport

of

para

triathlon.

So

you

know,

so,

you

know,

so

you

know,

is

some

of

your,

some

of

your,

you

know,

your

listeners,

your

guests

may

be

aware

the,

the

Olympics

and

Paralympics,

you

know,

happen

every,

every

four

years.

So

the

Paralympics

are

for

athletes

with

medically

verified

disabilities,

whether

that

be

a

cognitive

disability,

a

neurological

impairment

or

a

physical

disability

or

impairment.

And

it's

a

very

highly

competitive

athletic

endeavor.

You

know,

you

have

to

go

through

a

very

stringent

process

to,

you

know,

to

ra

and

train

and

qualify

on

the,

on

the

world

stage.

And

so

the

term

para

means

alongside.

It's

Greek

for

alongside.

And

so,

and

so

that's

why

we

use

the

term,

you

know,

Paralympics,

paralympian,

you

know,

para

triathlon.

So

you

know,

I

myself,

I'm

a,

I'm

a

para

triathlete.

So

I'm

a

triathlete.

And

then

the

para

gets

tagged

onto

the

front

end

of

that

to,

because,

you

know,

we're

all

very

proud

that

we

are,

you

know,

that

we're,

that

we

represent

the

Paralympic

movement

because

we

compete

right

alongside

our

able

bodied

counterparts.

And

then

the

gentleman

that

I

got

connected

with

who

basically

encouraged

me

to

live,

you

know,

you

know,

live

a

life

of

adventure

back

when

I

was,

you

know,

seven,

eight

years

old

after

I

shortly

lost

my

sight.

His

name

is

Eric

Winemer.

He,

after

I

met

him,

he

actually

went

on

to

become,

you

know,

pretty

well

known

for

being

the

first

totally

blind

man

to

Climb

the

seven

summits,

which

is

the

tallest

mountain

on

each

continent,

and

that

includes

Mount

Everest.

So.

So

I

think

I

hit

all

of

them.

But.

But,

yeah,

that's

the.

How

I.

How

I

lost

my

sight

was

I

was

diagnosed

with

a

rare

form

of

eye

cancer

called

retinoblastoma.

That's

the

other

word

I

couldn't

say.

Yeah,

yeah.

So,

yeah,

that.

That

one.

That

one

is

that.

That

is

one

that

trips

everybody

up,

and

they're

like,

wait,

what?

Huh?

What

is

this?

What

is

this

foreign.

Foreign

word?

So

now

it's

just

a

super,

super

techie,

technical,

medical

term,

but

it's

retinoblastoma.

So

it's

cancer

of

the

eye.

About

1

in

15

or

20,000

kids

are

diagnosed

with

it

every

year.

It

specifically

attacks

the

retinas.

And

my

specific

cancer,

I

had

no

family

history

of

it,

and

it

attacked

both

of

my

eyes.

And

so

I

went

through

five

or

six

years

of

just

very

intensive

treatment,

which

eventually

the

only

way

to

completely

get

rid

of

the

cancer

100%

was

to

remove

my

left

eye

when

I

was

5,

and

I

had

my

right

eye

removed

just

before

I

turned

seven.

Oh,

wow.

So

there

must

have

been

a

lot

of

adjustments

as

a

child,

Kyle.

Yeah.

So,

I

mean,

the.

The,

you

know,

as

a

kid,

like,

I

didn't

really

know

what

was

going

on.

Like,

I.

You

know,

I

knew

that

I

was

in

and

out

of

the

hospital.

I

knew

I

was

sick.

My

parents

knew

that

I

was.

I

was

eventually

going

to

go.

That

I

was

eventually

going

to

go

totally

blind.

But,

you

know,

for

me

as

a

kid,

I

just.

I

just

said,

hey,

you

know,

doctors,

can

you.

Can

you

please

just,

you

know,

make

me

better

so

I

can

go

outside

and

play

with

my

friends?

Like,

yeah,

because,

you

know,

this

being

confined

to

a

hospital

bed,

this.

This

kind

of

stinks.

You

know,

this

really

stinks.

And,

like,

you

know,

I'm

meant

to

be

out

there

rollerblading,

biking,

rough

housing,

you

know,

playing

basketball,

playing

football,

all

those.

All

those

things

that

I'm

supposed

to

be

doing

with

my

friends.

And.

Well,

so

the

way

the

doctors,

you

know,

eventually

got

rid

of

the

cancer

was

by

taking

my

eyes

away.

And.

And,

you

know,

it

was

definitely

an

adjustment

period.

And,

you

know,

for.

For

a

time

there,

I

really

did

struggle,

and

I

wondered,

well,

what

on

earth

is,

you

know,

what

on

earth

can

a

kid

that

can't

see

do?

And

that

is

when,

you

know,

I

got

connected

with.

With

Eric

and.

And

he

sat

me

down

and

he

said,

hey,

look,

just

because

you're

blind

does

not

mean

you

are

helpless.

You

know,

there

are

still

A

ton

of

things

you

can

do.

You

know,

you

just

have

to

be

creative.

So

he

challenged

me

to

go

out

and

try

rock

climbing.

And

that

was,

that

was

something

that

we

really,

I

was,

I

was

really

passionate

about.

And

I

was

like,

okay,

this

sounds

cool,

I

want

to

try

it.

Because

it

just

sounds

crazy.

So,

Kai,

we

have

a

question

here

for

you.

How

were

what

some,

what

symptoms

were

there

for

your

parents

to

find

out

about

the

eye

cancer?

So

retinoblastoma,

you

know,

my.

Is

generally

found

actually

through

like,

photographs.

So

like,

you

know,

my

parents,

you

know,

would

take,

you

know,

a

photograph

and

then

that

you

could.

There

was

a,

There

was

some

type

of

reflection.

It's

known

as

the

glow.

I'm

not

exactly

sure

what

the

technical

term

is,

but

the.

There

was

some

type

of

reflection

or

something

where,

like

when

you

took

a

photograph,

you

could

look

back

through

the

photos

and

you

could

actually

see,

you

know,

these

white

spots

in

my

eyes.

And

then

also

my,

you

know,

my

mom

noticed

that,

you

know,

I

think

my

eye,

one

of

my

eyes

was

crossing.

You

know,

my

eyes

were

shaking

when

I

tried

to

follow

something.

And

then,

you

know,

and

then

at

a,

you

know,

when

my

mom

brought

it

up

to

the

pediatrician,

the

pediatrician,

you

know,

went

through

and

did

some,

you

know,

some,

some

basic

eye

tests

and,

you

know,

shined

some,

some

infrared

lights

and

such

into.

Into

my

eyes

and,

and

then

referred.

And

then

referred

us

out

to

a

specialist.

But

a

really,

really

good

account

to

follow,

a

really,

really

good

Instagram

account

to

follow

actually

is.

Is

a,

Is

an

organization

that

brings

awareness

to

diseases

like

retinoblastoma

and

other,

you

know,

eye

cancer

related

diseases.

It's

called

Know

the

Glow.

So

if

you,

if

you

check

them

out,

Know

the

Glow,

you

can

just

Google

them

or

find

them

on

Instagram.

They,

they

run

campaigns

all

the

time

so

that

parents

and,

you

know,

family

members

and

people

know

the

signs

to

look

out

for

when

it

comes

to

eye

cancer

and

eye

diseases.

Well,

you

know,

it's

important

to

get

that

information

out

there,

you

know,

because

there's

so

much

going

on

in

the

world

that

sometimes

we

just

don't

see

these

things.

Right?

We

don't,

we.

We

don't

know

these

locations

and

services

and

programs

out

there

until

we

get

them

out

there,

like

through

your

stories

and

that

as

well,

Kyle.

Exactly.

So,

Kyle,

how

did

you

go

from

losing

your

eyes

to

rock

climbing

to

running

to

all

of

this

incredible

stuff?

Like,

you're

really

an

inspiration

to

a

lot

of

people

who,

you

know,

feel

that

helpless.

Oh

my

God.

I

can't

see.

I

can't

do

this.

So

how

did

you,

like,

overcome

all

of

that?

Oh,

my

goodness.

Well,

you

know,

like.

Like

I

mentioned,

getting

connected

with

the

right

people

was.

Was

a

big

start.

So,

you

know,

I

was,

you

know,

7

or

8

years

old,

and

my

dad

was

involved

in

Rotary,

so

he

was

a

member

of

a

Rotary

Club.

And

I

think

he

missed

a

meeting

or

something

at

some

point.

And

a.

One

of

his

Rotary

Club

members

heard

a

gentleman

by

the

name

of

Ed

Weinmayer

speak

at

a

Rotary

club

or

some

event.

And

she

pulled

my

dad

aside

at

a

meeting

one

time

and

said,

hey,

this

man,

Ed

Weinmair,

talked

about

his.

His.

His

totally

blind

son,

Eric,

who

is

this,

you

know,

amazing,

you

know,

skydiver,

marathoner,

rock

climber,

mountain

climber,

skier.

Like,

he's

just,

you

know,

and

he's

really

cool

and

like.

So

I

actually

got

his

contact

information

for

you

because

I.

I

think

it

could

be

a.

It

could

be

a

really

great

way

for,

you

know,

Kyle

to

connect

with,

you

know,

someone

to

look

up

to

Ed.

So

my

dad

got

a

hold

of

Ed

and,

you

know,

and

Ed

happened

to

live

in.

Live

where?

Close

by

to

where

we

were

living

at

the

time.

And

so

he

arranged

for

Eric

to,

you

know,

the

next

time

Eric

came

into

town

for

a

speaking

engagement

or.

I

don't.

I

think

it

was

a

speaking

engagement

or

something.

And

so

Ed

arranged

for

Eric

and

I

to

sit

down

and

have

a

conversation.

And

Eric

just

told

me

about

what

he

did,

you

know,

about

his

life

and

his

life

growing

up

as

a

blind

kid.

And,

you

know,

he.

He

challenged

me

to

not

let

my

blindness

get

in

the

way

and

to,

you

know,

be

creative

and

to

figure

out

how

I

can.

How

I

can

do

different

things.

And

so

we

had

a

family

friend

that

was

a

member

of

the

rock

climbing

gym

in

town,

and

they

took

us

to

the

climbing

gym,

fell

in

love

with

that

sport,

and,

you

know,

just

started

going

to

the

climbing

gym

a

lot.

And

eventually

my.

My

whole

family

started,

you

know,

rock

climbing.

And,

you

know,

my

parents

put

my

sisters

and

me

in,

you

know,

on

the

competitive

climbing

team.

So

we

were

traveling

around

the

state

of

Florida,

climbing

at

various

gyms

and

competing.

And

then

that

spun

off

into,

oh,

well,

if

we're

going

to

be

climbing

in,

you

know,

gyms,

well,

then

we

eventually

got

to

get

outside

and

rock

climb.

So

my

family

started

taking

camping

and

climbing

trips.

And,

you

know,

we

would

drive

up

to

Georgia,

Tennessee,

North

Carolina,

just

all

over

the.

All

over

the

southeast

United

States.

And,

you

know,

and

that

little,

you

know,

those

outdoor

adventures

led

to

me

getting

involved

with

Boy

Scouts,

which

led

to,

you

know,

me

getting

involved

with

other

outdoor

adventure

type

stuff.

And,

you

know,

eventually

we,

we

started

heading

out

west

to

Colorado

to

start

skiing

as

a

family.

And

it

just,

it

just

kind

of

all

built

on

from

there

until

I,

you

know,

I

looked

up

and

I

was

like,

oh,

wow.

Like,

I

just.

This

is,

this

is

what

I

do.

I'm

an

adventure.

I'm

an

adventure

athlete.

I'm

a

person

that

just

pursues

adventure

and

I

figure

out

how

to,

how

to

do

it

even

though,

you

know,

even

though

I

can't

see.

So

that's,

that's

really

how

it,

how

it

started.

And

then

how

I

found

my

way

into

endurance

sport

was

kind

of

by

accident

or

I,

I

don't

know.

I

think

your

accidents

have

turned

into

adventures.

Yeah,

yeah.

I

mean,

the

accident,

you

know,

turned

into,

into

adventures

and.

But,

you

know,

endurance

sport,

you

know,

came

after

I

was,

you

know,

after

I

was

a

rock

climber

and

I

had

wrestled

throughout

high

school,

and

I

actually

wrestled

for

a

couple

of

years

in

college.

And

then

after

I

left

the

wrestling

team

in

college,

I

got

into

teaching

group

exercise

at

my

university

recreation

and

wellness

center.

And

so

I

was

teaching

indoor

cycling,

like,

spin

classes,

I

was

teaching

washboard

abs

and,

you

know,

strength

based

group

exercise

classes

and

all

that,

you

know,

different

kind

of

stuff.

And,

and

so

that

was

my

first

job,

like,

when

I

was

in

college.

And

then

when

I

graduated

college,

I

was,

you

know,

I

was

a.

I

can

confidently

now

say

that

I

was,

I

was

quite

arrogant.

And

I

thought,

you

know,

because

I

had

done

so

many

really

cool

things

in

my

life,

that

I

was

CEO

material.

And

so

I

applied

for

every

job,

CEO

and

above.

But,

you

know,

you

don't,

if

you

don't

try,

you

don't

know.

Right,

right.

I'll

start

at

the

top

and

then

go

all

the

way

down.

Right.

Yeah,

that's,

that's

pretty

much

what

I

did.

I,

I

tell

people

all

the

time,

I

just

climbed

my

way

down

the

corporate

ladder

until

I

fell

off

the

bottom

rung

and

hit

the

ground

and

started

digging

a

hole.

So.

But

eventually

what,

what

happened

was

I

looked

up

and

I

was

just.

I

was,

you

know,

30

pounds

heavier

than

when

I

had

graduated

from

college.

I,

you

know,

had

no

job.

I

was

deep

in

debt,

and

I

just,

I

had

no

money

and

I

had

very

little

hope

at

that

point

of

ever

getting

a

job

or

being

employed.

And

I

decided,

well,

if,

if

I

can't,

you

know,

the

one

thing

I

can

do

is,

is

at

least

try

to

get

my

body

back

in

shape.

And,

well,

the

only

thing

I

can

really

afford

to

do

at

this

point

is

run.

So

I

decided

that

I

was

going

to

try

to

figure

out

how

a

blind

guy

runs.

I

mean

I

had

figured

out

how

a

blind

guy

rock

climbs

and

skis

and

all

of

that

stuff.

So

I

was

like,

well

how

does

a,

you

know.

I

just

googled

how

does

a

blind

guy

run?

And

found

out

I

needed

a

running

guide,

someone

to

tell

me

where

to

go.

And

although

that

made

sense

and

I

found

a

website

that

connected

people

who

were

open

to

being

guides

for

blind

and

visually

impaired

runners

with

blind

originally

paired

athletes.

And

I

sent

a

few

emails,

one

guy

responded

and

well,

beggars

can't

be

choosers.

And

went,

met

up

with

him

for

a

run

and

just

we

started

running

together

and

he

happened

to

be

a

triathlete

and

you

know,

basically

did

tell

me

that

well

running

is

dumb,

you

should

do

triathlon.

And

so

I

believed

him.

And,

and

here

we

are

about

10

years

later.

So

what's

the

difference

between

running

and

training?

So

triathlon

is

a

sport

that

consists

of

swimming,

cycling

and

running.

So

okay,

so

the

three

in

one.

Yep.

So

it's,

it's

a,

it's

three

sports.

It's,

it's

three

disciplines

combined

into

one

sport.

So

it's,

it's,

you

know,

it's

an

open

water

swim

immediately

followed

by

you

know,

some

distance

of

biking,

then

you

immediately

come

off

the

bike

and

you,

and

you

run.

Um,

and

so

the

most

famous

triathlons

that

everyone

knows,

that

a

lot

of

people

know

about

is

the

Ironman

distance.

You

know,

triathlon

which

is

a

2.4

mile

swim,

a

112

mile

bike

and

a

26.2

mile

run.

So

it's

you

know,

but

you

know,

for

our

kilometer,

for

our

people

that

know

kilometers,

you

can,

it's,

it's

a

3.8k

swim,

about

180k

bike

and

then

a

42

kilometer

run.

Uh,

so

it,

it's,

you

know,

you

get

about

17

hours

to,

to

do

the

entire

event.

Um,

and

so

that's,

that's

known

as

Ironman.

And

so

that's

what

I

initially,

you

know,

went

into

triathlon

thinking

I

was

going

to,

you

know,

pursue.

But

the,

the

range

of,

of

triathlon

distances

are,

are

wide

and

varied.

You

know

from,

from

super,

super

short

triathlons

all

the

way

up

to

multi

day

Iron

man

triathlons

and,

and

you

know,

all,

everything

in

between.

So

I

did

wind

up

doing

a

few

Iron

Mans,

I

did

some

half

Iron

Mans,

I

did

some

Olympic

distance

races

and

for

the

lap,

but

for

the

last

six

years,

so

since

about

2018

I

have

focused

and

specialized

in

sprint

triathlon

because

that

is

the

distance

that

we

compete

at

the

Paralympic

level.

So

that

is

a

750

meter

swim

followed

immediately

by

a

20

kilometer

bike

and

a

5

kilometer

run.

Wow.

So

Kyle,

when

we

booked

this

tea

time,

you

were

heading

out

to

Paris

for

the,

for

the

Olympics.

Yes.

So

how

did

that

go?

Oh,

Paris

was

quite

the

experience,

you

know,

so

I

had,

so

I,

I

had

gone

into

the,

you

know,

the,

into

this

Paralympic

cycle,

you

know,

really

focused

and

dedicated

with

the,

with

the

idea

that,

you

know,

my,

my

primary

goal

was

to

come

home

with

a

medal.

Whether

that

was

gold,

silver

or

bronze,

I

didn't

care.

I

wanted

to

come

home

with

a

medal

and

if

I

didn't

come

home

with

a

medal,

I

wanted

to

get

know

that

I

had

left

no

stone

unturned

and

given

it

everything

I

had

in

my

preparation

and

my

day

of,

you

know,

race

execution.

The

world

had,

you

know,

some

other

plans.

So

I

arrived

in,

arrived

in

Paris

and

you

know,

we,

you

know,

we

had

a,

we

had

actually

gone

to

a

little

pre

training

camp

about

a

month

before

our

race

and

so

we,

we

trained

in,

we

trained

in,

in

Vichy,

France

for

several

weeks.

Then

we

transferred

over

to

Paris

and

you

know,

we

were

staying

in

the

Paralympic

village

and

we

were

getting,

you

know,

putting

our

final

preparations

in.

And

the,

you

know,

as

some

people

may

be

aware,

the,

one

of

the

big

concerns

around

the

Paris

Olympic

and

Paralympic

Games

was

the

water

quality

of

the

Seine

river

and

the,

you

know,

the,

the

sen

is

where

the

triathlon

and

open

water

swimming

events

were

to

take

place.

And

it

was

a,

it

was

a

legitimate

concern.

And

so,

you

know,

in

the

few

days

leading

into

our

race,

you

know,

we

had

some

weather

rolling

in

and

so

so

they,

they

started

shifting

our

race

calendar

around

so

they,

I

was

initially

supposed

to

race

on

September

2nd.

They

moved

the

race

to

September

1st

to

try

and

avoid

some

rainstorms

that

could

affect

the

water

quality.

And

then

I

Woke

up

on

September

1st

ready

to,

ready

to

race,

you

know,

wake

up

at

4am

and

wake

up

to

the

sound

of

not

my

alarm,

but

my,

my

guide

getting

sick

and

you

know,

just

throwing

up

and

just

in

a

bad,

in

a

bad

spot.

And

so,

you

know,

got

him

to,

got

him

to

our

medical

team

and

you

know,

not,

you

know,

15,

20

minutes

after.

After

that

we

get

an

email

saying

that

the

race

has

now

been

moved

to

September

2nd.

But

I'm

in

a,

I'm

in

a

bit

of

a

pickle

because,

you

know,

my,

you

know,

my

guide

is

in

just,

you

know,

he's

not

in.

He's

not

in

a

good

position

to

be

able

to

give

it

a

hundred

percent

or

even,

you

know,

90

or

80%.

You

know,

he

was

probably

at

like,

you

know,

50%

of

what

he

could

have

done.

And

so

fortunately,

we.

We

did

bring

a

reserve

guide,

and

so

we

pivoted

and

switched

to

my

reserve

guide.

And

I.

I

wound

up

racing

with

my

reserve

Guide

on.

On

September

2nd.

Had

a

really,

really

good

swim,

actually

came

out

of

the

water

second.

I

was

the

second

person

out

of

the

water,

but

because

my

reserve

guide

and

I

had

not

put

as

much

time

in

on

the.

In

on

the

bike

that

my

primary

guide

and

I

had,

you

know,

we

lost

quite

a

bit

of

time

on

the

bike,

and

so

we

fell

from

second

place

all

the

way

back

to

probably

10th

or

11th

and

came

off

the

bike

in,

you

know,

I

think

ninth

or

tenth,

you

know,

ninth

or

tenth

place.

And

then

we

had

to

run

our

way.

Run

our

way

through

the

field

and

by.

And

by

the

time

we

came

off

the

bike,

the

chances

at

a

podium

were

really,

really,

really

slim.

So

we.

We

just

did.

We

did

our

absolute

best

and,

you

know,

ran

my

way

up

into

finish,

eighth

place,

so.

But

still

really,

really

proud

and

of

the

way,

you

know,

I

handled

the.

That

pivot.

Really

proud

of

the

way

my

reserve

guide

stepped

up

and

really

proud

of

my

primary

guide

for,

you

know,

recognizing

that,

you

know,

he

wasn't

at,

you

know,

on

that

day.

He

was

not

the,

you

know,

he

was

not

the

strongest

that

he

could

be,

you

know,

and

it.

But

it,

you

know,

it

still.

Still

hurts

my,

you

know,

hurts

my

heart

because,

you

know,

he.

He

had

put

in

so

many

years

to

be

brought

and

brought

down

by.

Brought

down

by

a

sickness

that.

Yeah,

you

know,

it

just,

it

was.

It

was

a

bummer.

Um,

you

know,

we

had

prepared

for

so

many

years

to.

To

race

at

that

level

together,

and

then

we

just

did

not.

We

didn't

get

that

chance

and,

you

know,

we

didn't.

We

didn't

have

the.

I

didn't

have

the

race

that

I

had

prepared

or

planned

for,

but

I

executed

to

the

best

of

my

ability

on.

On

that

given

day

with

the.

With

the

tools

and

people

that.

That

were

around

me.

And

I

can,

you

know,

I

can't

ask

any

more

of

myself.

So.

Kyle,

are

you

doing

the

next

Olympics?

Oh,

we.

Yeah,

that's.

That's

a.

That's

a

question

that

I

get

asked

a

lot.

And

all

I

can

say

is

that

we'll

see.

You

know,

I.

I

put

in,

you

know,

I.

I

made

it

to

Tokyo.

You

know,

I

was

only

40

seconds

off

the

podium

in,

In

Tokyo

and

finished

in

fifth

place.

And

then

I,

you

know,

I

put

a

lot

of

time,

money

and

effort

into

trying

to

go

to

Paris

and

coming

home

with

a

medal

and

wasn't

able

to

accomplish

that

goal.

But

at

the

same

time,

it

takes

a

lot

of

emotional

energy.

It

took

a

lot

of

emotional

energy

to

prepare

for

the

Paralympics.

You

know,

I'm

taking

a

step

back

and

taking

a

little

bit

of

time

away

for,

you

know,

at

least

the

next

six

months,

you

know,

six

to

12

months

to

figure

out

if,

you

know,

if

Los

Angeles

is

in

the

cards

for

me.

So

right

now

it's

a.

We'll

see.

I

haven't

quite

decided.

Yeah,

well,

you

know,

and

this

is

the

message

that

I

tell

a

lot

of

my

listeners

in

the

audience

and

my

friends

and

family.

Sometimes

we

have

to

step

back,

right?

We

have

to

reevaluate.

Is

it

worth

it?

Is

there

something

different?

Is,

Is

there

something

in

that

I'm

not

seeing

that's

here

right

now

that

I

can

do?

You

know,

am

I

being

guided

somewhere

else?

You

know,

and

maybe

that's

the

direction

that

you're

going,

Kyle,

is,

you

know,

that

something

else

is

coming

for

you.

Exactly.

And

look,

so,

you

know,

you

know,

if,

you

know,

if

this

is

the

close

to

my,

you

know,

professional

triathlon

career,

I've

had

a

pretty

good

one.

I

can't

complain

about

it

if

it's

not,

you

know,

the,

the

best

is

yet

to

come,

you

know,

but

there's,

you

know,

there.

There's

so

many

different

paths

and

so

many

different

ways

that

we

can,

you

know,

fill

our

own

cup.

You

know,

how

we

fill

our

own

cup

of

tea.

You

know,

just

like

you

said,

you

know,

near

the

beginning,

like,

you

know,

it

doesn't

have

to

be

tea.

It

can

be

coffee,

it

can

be

water,

it

can

be,

you

know,

an

alcoholic

beverage.

It

can

be

whatever.

Whatever

floats

your

boat,

you

know,

floats

your

fancy.

You

know,

we

all

fill

our

cups

of

tea

up

in

different

ways.

And,

you

know,

for

me,

you

know,

I

don't

know

what

the

next

adventure

is

going

to

be,

but

there's

a

lot

of

things

on

my.

On

my

bucket

list

of

my

wish

list

of

that

I

want

to.

I

still

want

to

experience

a

whole

lot

of

things.

I

want

to

spend

more

time

with,

you

know,

my.

My

girlfriend,

my.

My

family,

you

know,

my,

My

nieces

and

nephews.

I

want

to

spend

more

quality

time

with

my,

you

know,

with

our

dogs,

all

kinds

of

things.

And

then

there's

a

lot

of

other,

you

know,

just

adventurous

type

stuff,

you

know.

You

know,

I

want

to

get

back

into

some

road

marathon

running.

You

know,

I

want

to,

you

know,

try

my

hand

at

some

ski

mountaineering.

You

know,

I

want

to

do

some,

you

know,

do

some,

some

big

mountain

running

events

and

stuff

like

that.

And,

you

know,

and

not.

And

it's

really

hard

to

juggle

all

that

when

you're

trying

to,

you

know,

train

and,

you

know,

perfect

your

craft

at

a,

at

a

really

difficult

sport

like

triathlon.

And

you're

trying

to

peak

for

one

single

day

in

a,

in

four

years.

Absolutely.

And

Kyle,

you

gave

me

a

couple

of

teas,

but

the

tea

that

you

gave

me

that

we're

going

to

talk

about

this

afternoon

is

live

without

limits.

And

that's

what

you're

doing

is

you're

living

without

limits.

Right.

Because

you,

you

want

to

just

keep

trying

stuff.

But

the

other

tease

that

you

also

gave

me

was

eye

on

a

vision

high

performance

approach.

Keep

it

simple.

Do.

Keep

it

simple,

do

simple

well

and

do

simple

better.

Like,

those

are

all

incredible

strong

teas

because

you're

coming

at

different

angles,

right?

You're

coming

at

different

flows

and

different

spills

at

different

times.

Absolutely.

Look,

you

know,

I

gave

you

the,

you

know,

I

gave

you

the

top

of

the

top

of

the

pyramid.

So

how

do

we

live

without

limits?

Well,

we,

let's,

let's

take

it

all

the

way

to

the

bottom.

We,

we

break

it

down.

We

keep

it,

we

keep

it

simple.

We

do

those

simple

things

that

we've

identified

really,

really

well.

We

do

those

simple

things

that

we

do

really,

really

well,

and

we

try

to

do

better

at

them.

That's

ultimately

what

it

means

to

take

a

high

performance

approach

to

living,

you

know,

living

without

limits.

So,

you

know,

in

high

performance

sport,

we,

you

know,

we

put

the

people,

you

know,

our

success

is

determined

by,

you

know,

our

discipline,

the

habits

that

we

form,

but

more

importantly,

by

the

people

that

we

surround

ourselves

with.

And

so,

you

know,

I

break

it

down

to

very

simple

things,

and

that

is,

you

know,

the.

Keep

it

simple.

Sometimes

I,

you

know,

sometimes

I

throw

a

second

s

in

there

and

I

say

keep

it

stupid

simple.

Sometimes

that

stupid

does

make

a

difference.

It

really

does.

It

really

does.

It

adds

a

sticker

in

the

tea.

Come

on,

guys.

I

know.

Exactly,

exactly.

It's

just

a

little,

just

a

little

spice

spicing

up

the

tea

in

there.

You

know,

if

you

bring

humor

in.

You

go

a

long

way.

Like,

you

know,

you

got

to

throw

humor

in

there

in

order

to

survive.

Absolutely.

And

so

look,

it's,

it's

the

people

and

the

habits

that

you

surround

yourself

with

and

that

you

establish

that

allows

you

to,

you

know,

Keep

an

eye

on

your

vision,

you

know.

You

know,

a

vision

that

I

have

had

for

myself

is,

look,

I

want

to

live

without

limits.

I

know

that

there

are

limits

to

what

I

can

do,

you

know,

but

my

goal

is

to

take

those

limits

and

push

them

further

out

and,

you

know,

and

eventually

I'll

push

those

limits

further

and

further

and

further

out

in

a

way

to

where

they

become

so

far

out

there

that

I

can't

reach

them.

Like,

I

can't

reach

my

limits.

So.

And

that.

And

that's

really

what

I

mean

by,

you

know,

living

without

limits.

And

all

those.

All

of

those

T's

that

we

talk

about,

you

know,

the

high

performance

approach,

the

keeping

an

eye

on

your,

you

know,

keep,

you

know,

eye

on

vision,

you

know,

keep

it

simple.

Do

simple

well.

Do

simple

better.

All

of

that

leads

to

us

being

able

to

live

without

limits.

Well,

I

think

nothing's

impossible,

right?

Absolutely

not.

You

know,

it's.

If

you

fall

down,

you

get

back

up.

If

you

scratch

your

knee,

you

put

a

bandaid

on

it

and

you

fix

it

and

you

carry

on,

right?

I

put

a

bandaid

on.

I

just

rubbed

dirt

on

it.

I

mean,

come

on,

who

needs

a

bandaid?

Rub

some

dirt.

Keep

it

simple.

Exactly.

Got

no

time

for

band

aids.

What

you

talking

about?

We

got

places

to

go,

people

to

see,

things

to

do.

I

got

to

get

to

that

mountain.

Exactly.

I

love.

I

love

your

approach

in

life,

Kyle,

as

you

start

from

the

top,

right?

Start

with

the

CEO

and

then

go

the

way

down.

But

that's

almost

like

the

skiing.

You

go

skiing,

you

start

at

the

top

of

the

hill

and

you

go

your

way

down.

Exactly.

Then.

And

then,

guess

what?

You

look

back

up

and

you're

like,

how

do

I

get

back

up

there?

Well,

I

can.

I

could.

I

could.

Great.

And

then

you

gotta

go

all

the

way

back

up

and

start

again.

Yeah,

it's.

It's.

It's.

Look,

we

can.

We

all

say,

yeah,

we

have

to

start

at

the

bottom

and

work

our

way

up.

But

if

you.

You

have

to

know

where

you're

going

in

order

to

get

there,

to

plan

your.

To

plan

your

route

and

to

plan

your

route,

you

know,

up

to

the

top.

So,

you

know,

if

I.

If

I

know

that

I

want

to

be

at

the

top,

whatever

that

top

may

be,

you

know,

it

doesn't

have

to

be

CEO.

It

doesn't

have

to

be

the

top

of

a

mountain,

but

sometimes

we

have

to

know

or

have

an

idea

of

a

destination

or

a

goal

that

we're

working

toward,

and

we

have

to

be

willing

to

shoot

and

miss

at

it,

you

know,

so

that

we.

We

Take

chances

and

we,

and

we

push

our,

our

ingenuity

and

our

abilities

and

we,

you

know,

we,

we

stretch

ourselves

in,

in

new

and

different

ways,

you

know,

and

that's,

and

that's

where

the

fun

comes

in.

Because,

you

know,

if

I,

if

I

shoot

and

miss

at

a,

at

a

goal,

well,

man,

I

still,

you

know,

I

still

have

a

whole

lot

of

fun

trying

to

figure

out

how

to,

how

to

make

it

there.

And

I

may

land

in

another

spot

where

it.

I

get

pulled

another

direction

to

pursue

a

different

goal.

You

know,

I,

you

know,

I

initially

thought

that

I

wanted

to

be

a

CEO

and

I

shot

for

that

and,

well,

wound

up

at

hitting

rock

bottom

and

found,

you

know,

found

endurance

sport

and,

you

know,

climbed

my

way

up

to,

you

know,

near

the

top

of

the

mountain

being

one

of

the

best

athletes

in

the

world

in,

in

the

sport

of

triathlon.

You

know,

it's

not

a,

Not

a

bad,

Not

a

bad

way

to

find

your

way,

you

know,

not

a

bad

way

to

think

about

things.

Yeah,

so

there's

all

kinds

of

paths

that

we

can,

we

can

take,

but,

you

know,

sometimes

we

gotta,

gotta

have

a

vision

or,

you

know,

an

idea

of

where

we,

where

we

want

to

go

so

that

we

can

start

planning

a

way

to

get

there.

So,

Kyle,

we

have

a

question

here

for

you.

Are

you

a

daredevil

rebel

or

a

limit

pusher?

Yes.

Yes.

No,

I,

you

know,

I,

I

don't

know

if

I

would,

you

know,

pigeonhole

myself

into,

into

any

of,

any

of

those.

I

definitely

consider

myself

a

limit

pusher.

I,

you

know,

like,

like

I

said

before,

I

do

like

to,

you

know,

don't,

don't

try

to

cram

me

into

a

little

box

because

I'm

just

gonna,

I'm

just

gonna

push

with

my

hands,

my

back,

my

head

and

my

feet

in

every

direction.

Make

that,

make

that

box

bigger

and

just,

I'm

just

gonna

keep

expanding

that

box.

Some

may

call

me

a

daredevil,

but

I

am

a

very

calculated,

you

know,

I

am

a

very

calculated

risk

taker,

you

know,

So

I,

I

don't,

I

don't

know

if

I

would

consider

myself

a

daredevil,

but

I

definitely,

I

like

to

push

the

limits.

I

like

to

push

the

limits.

I

like

to

find

my

limits

and

I

like

to

push

beyond

them.

I

love

that

question.

I,

I

love

that

you

said

I.

I

love

that

you

said

yes

right

away.

I

was

just

like,

oh,

he's

all

three.

I

can

see

you

as

a

jack

in

the

box

there,

Kyle.

Like,

you

know,

the

cranking

and

poof.

I'm

only,

yeah,

I

definitely

been

compared

to

that.

I

Mean

Jack

of

the

box,

jack

of.

Jack

of

many

trades,

whatever

you

want

to

call

me.

So,

Kyle,

I

want

to

get

into

the

book

because

you

have

an

incredible

book

that

I

would

like

the

audience

to

check

out.

Could

you

tell

us

a

little

bit

about

the

book?

For

sure.

So

my

book

that

I

wrote

is

Discovering

a

Life

Without

Limits.

How

Cancer

took

my

sight,

Blindness

gave

me

vision,

and

the

mountains

let

me

live.

And

I

like,

I

always

knew

that

I

wanted

to

write

a

book

and

so

I

actually

started

writing

it

way

back

in

like

high

school.

And

I

just

started

like

documenting

my

life

and

you

know,

being

super

detailed

about

everything

and,

and

I

just,

I

kept

putting

the

book

on

the

shelf

and

you

know,

I'd

let

it

sit

there

for

a

while

and

then

I'd,

you

know,

take

it

back

off

and

write

a

little

more

and

put

it

back

on

the

shelf.

And

eventually

I

looked

up

and

I

was

like,

man,

I.

This

book

is

way

too

big

and

way

too

thick.

I

gotta

figure

something

out.

And

I

was

already,

you

know,

so

I

started

shopping

it

around,

trying

to

find

publishers

and

you

know,

then

I

went

down

the

self

publishing

route

and

you

know,

eventually

I

did

come

across

a

great

independent

publisher

called

Walnut

Street

Publishing.

And

we

agreed

that,

you

know,

it

was

really,

I

had

a

unique,

cool

story,

but

maybe

I

should

break

it

up

into

a

couple

of

different

parts.

And

so

the

reason

I

titled

this,

you

know,

my

first

book,

Discovering

a

Life

Without

Limits

was

because

it

details

my

journey

from,

you

know,

the

time

I

was

born

up

to

the

time

when

I

found

my

way

into

endurance

sport

and

I

found

my

way

into

triathlon.

And

you

know,

I,

while

I

had

started

talking

about

how

to

live

without

limits

and

live

a

life

without

limits,

I

didn't

like

really

growing

up,

I

was

just

discovering

how

to

do

that.

And

so

the,

you

know,

so

discovering

a

Life

without

limits

just,

it

shares,

you

know,

the

lessons

that

I

learned

growing

up

and

learning

how

to,

you

know,

push

my

limits

and

you

know,

tell

it.

Tells

it

through

the

lens

of

some

of

the

adventures

that

I

had

growing

up.

And

the

next

book

will

be,

I

think,

even

better

because

it'll

cover

the

lessons

that

I

learned

through

being

a

high

performance

athlete

competing

at

the

highest

levels

of

sport

and

maybe

some

other

lessons

in

there

as

well.

Kyle,

you

must

like

heights

because

you

like

everything

at

the

top.

I

mean,

I

like,

I

mean

I

like

stuff

at

the

top,

but

I.

But

the

adventure

and,

but

the

adventure

happens

on

the

side

of

the

mountain.

At

the

end

of

the

day,

the.

It

is

a,

it

is

a

journey

to

get

to

the

top.

And

you

Know,

things

that,

you

know,

if

I