Kenda signed them up for Running Man after a little too much to drink one night in May. She was scrolling Instagram, and she didn't check the dates or where it was. It turned out to be a festival in Rome, Georgia, the same week as a podcast convention in New York. She said she'd make it work.

It was 95 degrees and humid inside their tent. Kenda ran the half marathon in dark blue socks and got blisters, and the timing machine missed three of her laps. Kylen was the cameraman. When he got hot, he went to the cold plunge.

Then Kylen lost his headphones and had a complete shutdown. He walked away from Kenda so he wouldn't have to hear her logic. Then Kenda lost her new anniversary ring, and the announcer told everyone she was surprisingly calm. Kylen found it in the dirt and turned it in himself, hoping it would get him promoted from IC3 to IC4.

So what is grit? Kylen thought it was a cowboy movie. Kenda thinks it is behaving when you want to throw a fit. She talks about therapy speak, and feelings that are real but not always the right size for the situation.

Then she tells the story behind it. In her 30s she fell while carrying her baby, went numb, and found out she had cauda equina syndrome while standing in a bank line on the phone with her dad. After emergency surgery, she was told she would be on a catheter for the rest of her life. A few weeks later it was her birthday, and she decided she was not living through her 30s with a catheter.

They talk about why young people are so afraid of rejection, how Kenda talked a dean into a master's in business without a bachelor's, and the guy with a broken foot yelling one more lap.

The Kylen and Kenda Show. Kenda is the mentor. Kylen is the mentee.

00:00 Cold open
00:51 Welcome to the show
01:13 What Running Man is, and how we signed up
02:51 95 degrees inside the tent
04:21 The people on the track
05:57 Everyone has a story
07:40 Building grit takes time
09:27 Bone digger
10:53 Anything worth having is hard
12:19 The machine missed three laps
13:46 Kylen loses his headphones
15:46 Kenda loses her wedding ring
18:33 IC3, IC4
20:14 Two people, two losses
21:54 Headphones as identity
22:47 Why we regress under stress
23:50 How do you make the unacceptable acceptable?
25:07 Expectations are the source of all suffering
27:09 Therapy speak and outsized emotions
28:30 You want grit? Let's fight
29:31 Kenda's cauda equina story
33:29 Years of recovery
35:45 Destined for greatness
36:18 A master's without a bachelor's
37:42 That's your superpower
38:50 Every no gets you to a yes
39:25 Why are we so afraid of rejection?
40:25 Kylen's dating years
42:14 The guy with the broken foot
43:16 Pushing yourself vs. listening to your body
45:26 Compete with yourself
47:17 Kylen didn't take a medal
48:21 Free alcohol and no fights
49:05 Get comfortable being uncomfortable