EP56: Into the Unknown | Andy's Amazon Eve, Fear, Grief & Why He's Doing This

EP56: Into the Unknown | Andy's Amazon Eve, Fear, Grief & Why He's Doing This

Andy is calling in from Cusco, Peru. He flies into the jungle tomorrow. In 48 hours, he'll be on a start line for 230 kilometres through the Amazon rainforest over five days - four manageable days of 26 to 36K, and then a 75K final stage that starts at 4am and has taken some people 22 hours to complete. This is the conversation they had the day before all of that. Rich and Andy talk through what the race actually looks like, the logistics, the terrain, the cut-off times, and why 35K in the jungle can take more than 10 hours. Andy reflects on his desert race - the moment he ran out of water with 4K still to go, his hands swelling up, wedding ring bulging, collapsing into a checkpoint with 45 minutes to spare before the cutoff. And the 10K after that, when the voice telling him he wasn't good enough became the loudest thing in his head. He talks honestly about fear. Not the fear of the jungle, but the fear of that voice coming back when he's too tired to fight it. About whether, this time, he'll finally be able to prove to himself that the story isn't true. And then, quietly, he talks about grief. About wishing his dad could be on the end of a phone right now. About wanting to hear him say he's got this. Rich connects it all back to the people they work with every day - the ones standing at the door, able to see what's on the other side, but not quite ready to step through. The certainty of staying stuck versus the uncertainty of change. It's one of the most honest episodes they've done. Follow Andy's dot at BeyondTheUltimate.co.uk from Sunday. All the BTU coverage is on their socials too.

EP55: Guest Episode – Gab Stone | The Double Life, the Fall & Running Back to Life

Gab Stone had it all mapped out from the age of 14. Loughborough, sports management, his own agency, 22 athletes at London 2012 - 13 of them medalling. He was 29 years old and at the centre of one of the greatest sporting moments this country has ever seen. And behind all of it, he was living a double life. Gab has battled a gambling addiction since university - one that followed him through the highs of his career, took everything he'd built, led to a criminal conviction, and eventually landed him in a prison cell. And it was in that cell, on his first morning inside, that he put his watch on the windowsill, closed his eyes, and ran a 5K around Regent's Park. This week, Rich and Andy sit down with Gab for one of the most honest, gripping conversations they've had on the podcast. They cover the early warning signs nobody spotted, what online gambling does to remove every last firewall of resistance, the quarter of a million pounds, the Sunday papers, the court case, and the four and a half months inside. But mostly, they talk about what comes next. Eleven years clean. Running as recovery. And a plan to run 30 marathons in 30 days throughout June to raise awareness around gambling harm - starting in Mayfair on the 1st and making his way up to Newcastle and back. If you're in Leeds on June 15th, Rich will be running with him. This one will stay with you. Follow Gab - https://www.instagram.com/gabstone9/

EP54: The Ripple Effect | Marathons, Mental Health & the Moment Everything Changed

It’s just the two of them this week, and they’ve got a lot to get through. Rich and Andy kick things off with some genuinely exciting news - the Valencia marathon experience that became the highlight of Rich’s year is back in December 2026, and this time they’re opening it up. They’re giving up their race bibs, offering a six-month coaching programme, and taking a small group on the whole journey with them. Twelve people expressed interest within 24 hours of it going live. There are race reports too. Client Ed ran 3:47 at the brutally hilly Leeds Marathon - only five minutes slower than his Seville time on a completely different beast of a course. Andy ran the Bristol Half with his son Johnny on his 18th birthday and crossed the line holding hands in 1:42. Rich used Leeds Half as a glorified training run, executing 12K of race-pace intervals while trying not to fart on people. But the heart of this episode is Mental Health Awareness Week. Rich opens up about where he was five years ago - sitting at his kitchen table, not wanting to be here - and traces the slow build that got him there: the values misalignment, the coping mechanisms, the things he was avoiding. It’s honest, raw, and the kind of conversation that reminds you exactly why this podcast exists. Andy talks about the emotional regulation rollercoaster of ADHD, what it really means to chase contentment instead of highs, and what it felt like to watch the ripple effect of eight years of choices play out in real time on a finish line in Bristol. Oh, and Andy’s off to run 230 kilometres through the Peruvian Amazon jungle in ten days. Training’s done. The zip lines are being built as we speak. The foot cream has arrived. This one’s got everything. To join the Valencia Marathon Waiting list go here - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXj3TJDplFq-83-VlYZj_PwfGBjKDzn_3t0cqR_Z2nurhPHA/viewform [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXj3TJDplFq-83-VlYZj_PwfGBjKDzn_3t0cqR_Z2nurhPHA/viewform] Send us a DM and start the conversation - https://www.instagram.com/clean.break.coaching/ [https://www.instagram.com/clean.break.coaching/]

EP53: Guest Episode – Louisa Evans (Stepping Into Sobriety) | Grey Area, Busy Brain & the Life She Didn't See Coming

Rich is joined this week by the wonderful Louisa Evans  therapist, hypnotherapist, CBT practitioner, and someone who stopped drinking three and a half years ago and hasn't looked back since. Louisa's story isn't about rock bottoms or dramatic turning points. It's about the slow, quiet exhaustion of a decade spent trying to moderate, the physical signs her body kept sending that she kept ignoring, and the moment she finally decided she was done negotiating with herself. Since then, her life has changed in ways she genuinely didn't see coming. She's lost 3.5 stone, cleared up her rosacea, completed a Master's in Psychology, and is about to embark on a PhD exploring the link between neurodivergence and alcohol use. Oh, and her husband Dale — who said he'd join her "just for a year"  never went back either. This is a conversation about what it really means to be a grey area drinker, why moderation is harder than it sounds (especially if you've got a busy brain), and how understanding yourself - your patterns, your triggers, your neurodivergence — is often the thing that finally makes sobriety stick. Honest, warm, and genuinely inspiring. This one's worth your time.

EP52: Tragic Optimism, Sub-Two Hours & Why Gratitude Isn't Toxic Positivity

Rich and Andy are back together, and this one goes deep. What starts as Andy pulling on a medium t-shirt for the first time in years turns into a genuinely honest conversation about gratitude - not the toxic positivity version you see on social media, but what Viktor Frankl called tragic optimism: the ability to find meaning in life despite inevitable suffering, loss, and pain. They talk about why gratitude isn't a destination you arrive at, but a daily practice you have to train. Andy shares what it's like running to his mum's funeral playlist - crying through the woods, feeling grief and joy at the same time, and what it means to actually be able to process things now. Rich talks about using gratitude to close the gap between trigger and response, and how it maps directly onto the alcohol-free journey. There's also a proper celebration of the Clean Break community - Six runners across Manchester, Nice Half Marathon and the London Marathon, including Syori who went from not being able to run 5K to finishing her first marathon in nine months, and Jane, who at 70 called her half marathon in Nice "just an easy run, but a bit longer." And with Sebastian Sawy going sub-two in London, the conversation turns to what's still possible as we get older, and how far both Rich and Andy feel from their own ceilings.