Episode 17 - Chemical Engineer, Musician & Outdoor Enthusiast - Alex Nuntapreda

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Dr. Random podcast. I'm Dr. Sarah and here's the deal, we don't do boxes here. Every episode is different, every conversation has its own flavor and no topic is off limits. If you're looking for predictable, this isn't it. But if you want real conversations, honest takes and a touch of intellect in the best way, you're in the right place. This is Dr. Random podcast. Hello and good evening and welcome to the Dr. Random podcast. I'm Dr. Sarah and I'm excited because on this episode I guess Alex Nuntrapeda, and he's a really cool, amazing guy, especially for I feel like he's accomplished so much and has so many interests. And Alex is 23 years old. His primary profession is chemical engineer. And he's also a content creator, a guitar player, songwriter, mountaineer, super into jiu jitsu, and he's into running races, marathons and travel. And quick bio on him. He's a chemical engineer who actively is searching out the beat ways to engineer his life for success in the buckets that he cares about most, which are adventure, creativity, health, wellness and community. And he creates content with Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and he shares learning insights on these platforms. And he originally started with the content for younger engineers and now it's been broadened out and more widely to other 20 something year olds who want to maximize their life, it sounds like. And he recently also started a podcast himself called Engineer My Future and he does a mix of solo episodes and he discusses learnings and then guest interviews and he asks interesting people about their habits, strategies, routines that have led to their success. So that's a little intro on Alex. And so Alex, I'm going to kind of like let you take the floor, do a little intro that you like to do on yourself, certainly. [00:02:24] Speaker B: So I would say kind of as everything you've gone through, there's quite a lot, a lot of different buckets and avenues that I've chosen to take my life down over the past few years. And ultimately I think it starts with I was a curious kid. My parents talk about when I was 2, I had my multiplication tables memorized front to back up to 12. And I was obsessed with animals, not geographic, learning about tapirs and okapis and pipitoads and all these weird creatures. And then, you know, I was obsessed with space. And so I remember I was in first or second grade, I built a model rocket that at least in my memory as a second grader, was taller than me. And so that's kind of been A thing that has gone through my entire life, sort of as through line. And ultimately, as I went into high school, I got interested in chemistry, and I felt that I wanted to go somewhere in that route, but I didn't understand exactly what I could do if I got just a chemistry degree. I wanted something where I could apply my skills. I could be building things with my hands. And so that's why I chose engineering. And once I went to engineering school, I realized what I was learning in school was not just thermodynamics, physics, calculus. It was more the mindset that I was getting out of my education. And something that I think is really unique about engineering is you're building a problem solving skillset for four or five years for me when I was doing my master's degree. And so with that, that's something that I've then taken out into my entire life. And the reason for starting my podcast, the reason for climbing the mountains, doing jiu jitsu and all these different things, is I'm just trying to find the best ways to optimize and maximize everything that I care about in my life. And that's really been the mission for the past 23 years. And I mean, like, I've brought up and you've brought up. I'm still 23. And so I'm trying to learn as much as I can every single day and just get exposed to new ideologies, new methods, and people's different ways of doing things. And so it's been really interesting just hearing people through my podcasts and why I'm trying to get onto other people's podcasts and just talk to as many people as I can and just broaden my. My worldview. [00:04:33] Speaker A: I love that. That's awesome. And I think something that we connect on, too, is the. I know we talked a little bit about how you're into skiing. I snowboard. Just that kind of. That lifestyle there. And I know, like, that was previously discussed a little bit. I know I mentioned that I worked actually at Mammoth. [00:04:57] Speaker B: Yes. [00:04:57] Speaker A: During COVID And kind of interesting because I normally was working as a paralegal, but I had this thing in me where it was like, you know, I had to work. I was like, I got to work, you know, and. And so I saw that Mammoth was hiring, and I did this role called vacation specialist. So it was kind of interesting because it was a remote role. So I was able to actually complete my master's in my art classes while I was doing this remote job. And. And we have the icon pass there. And I ended up selling the most icon passes out of everybody and like the whole company, which was crazy. I didn't even know I could do that. But I guess I have a gift of being good at sales that I didn't really know. [00:05:41] Speaker B: Remind me how many you sold again? It was a. It was a lot. [00:05:44] Speaker A: 50 grand in a day or something. [00:05:46] Speaker B: That's so insane. [00:05:47] Speaker A: Or like. Yeah, I, you know, it's funny, I'm like, was it 50 grand in total or 50 grand in one day? Which is like, you know, I don't know. Whatever it was, I guess I sold the most out of everybody. And it's funny. I want a backpack. And of course we get a comp season pass when we do that when we work for the company. But Mammoth is a cool vibe. I like Mammoth. If you've never been. [00:06:10] Speaker B: I have never been. Yeah. I've skied exclusively Utah my entire life. I was born in Phoenix, but I moved here when I was, I want to say three or four years old. Once my mom, my mother is a doctor and so once she finished up her residency and then we moved back into, into Utah, which is where she grew up. Ok. And so I've. I've skied everywhere in Utah but outside of the state. I am yet to travel out there. It's on the list though. I think next year we've got at least one trip planned to go up to Sun Valley and then we'll see. See where the world takes me. [00:06:37] Speaker A: Nice. Yeah. And like I said, if you're ever in Tahoe, it's a little hidden gem, but going to Homewood. Yes, I like Homewood. It's just this beautiful view of the lake when you come over. Of course that's on a clear day, but I think you can still kind of see it on a. A dirty day. [00:06:52] Speaker B: But that's the tough thing with Tahoe. I was there last year and everyone tells me about how much the lake looks like an ocean and how beautiful and blue it is. And it was so cloudy and stormy. We had the, the lakeside dinner reservation, but there was no lake. So I'm looking forward to going back there and being able to actually experience it as. As pretty as it seems to be. [00:07:19] Speaker A: Yeah, it is gorgeous. And so really interesting though, just about the fact that you're engineering. Can you tell me about your journey and kind of your path on that kind of a little more in detail? [00:07:34] Speaker B: Sure. So, like I said, I was always a curious kid. My great grandmother used to always say that one day I'm going to Become an engineer and look, maybe she was right. And ultimately, I just always loved building things. I was really into legos. I was really into any kind of kit that I could get my hands on, where I was growing a crystal or solving a mystery or doing some sort of chemistry experiment. That was what I wanted as a kid. I didn't care about playing with action figures or any of that stuff. I just wanted to tinker. And so ultimately that led me down the route of engineering. Once I finished up high school, I moved straight into chemical engineering and studied that for four years to get my undergrad, and then I did an extra year to get my master's degree. So I finished up my master's master's in chemical engineering when I was 22 last year. And then since then, I've been working just doing a bunch of crazy jobs on a bunch of various projects, which have all been very interesting. I've been very fortunate to join the research and development world pretty early on in my career. And I think a lot of engineers, once they finish school, they're looking for something that's super hands on, that they can be building something, designing something, and then actually hold a tangible item in their hand. Unfortunately, a lot of engineers don't get that opportunity out of school. They end up being a paper pusher. They're just kind of watching over a chemical plant and they're not actually applying their skills. So, so much of my work has been from start to finish, being in a meeting, hearing about a contract, coming up with how on earth we're going to do something that has literally never been done before, and then spending the next six months trying to figure out how to do that. And then we create a product, ship it out the door, rinse and repeat. So that's been a really interesting experience. It is funny, though, because I would say I'm the farthest thing from a chemical engineer in the traditional sense. Most chemical engineers go work in oil refinery, oil refining, food and beverage, some sort of thing like cosmetics, or they make paints or anything that's very process oriented, not product oriented. So much of my job is more bridging the gap of a mechanical, electrical, aerospace engineer. But I still get to apply my broad engineering problem solving skills that I was talking about earlier every single day. And so it's been a very exciting opportunity. [00:09:52] Speaker A: That is very cool and congrats on all that. Thank you. Good hard work, but you did it. Okay, now it's interesting. I never thought about this before because I'm an artist. So like oil paints That I use. Chemical engineers, like, make those or. [00:10:11] Speaker B: No, I would say. I would say. I would say everything that you can see, feel, touch in your entire house right now has been somehow. Somehow it's had an engineer involved in it in one way or another, whether that's coming up with the correct formulation to get the color of the paint or figuring out what viscosity we need the paint to be at. So that way, when you get the brush and then apply it to the canvas and you don't want it to smear everywhere, but you also don't want it to just stick in one place. You want a nice spread of your paint. And so all of that is something that chemical engineers are thinking about behind closed doors. So that way you, the consumer, can go and get just the product that is the perfect thing for what you need. [00:10:49] Speaker A: Yeah, interesting. You just said behind closed doors. So everybody listening knows that's how we connected was through a group that we're both on of. Basically. I would call it like connecting and networking and collaborating called Behind Closed Doors that Devin started. And I feel like I've heard his last name pronounced differently a few times. Do you know the proper. [00:11:16] Speaker B: I believe it's. I believe it's levake. Yeah, I believe is how it is properly pronounced. [00:11:21] Speaker A: Yeah. So, thanks, Devin. [00:11:24] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. [00:11:27] Speaker A: And, yeah, and so I just love the fact that it's like, you know, founders, owners were all, like, you know, entrepreneurs, people in there together, working together and trying to just, like, be supportive of each other. [00:11:43] Speaker B: It's been a really cool experience just being in that group. And I try to get involved in as many communities and groups as I can. And like I said, I mean, it's just. I just barely turned 23. So I'm going. Everybody is 15 steps ahead of me. How can I learn from as many people as possible in any endeavor, whether it's directly related, like an engineer or somebody who is more involved in the arts and painting and photography, because everyone has such a unique perspective on the world, and everyone has their own habits, tactics, things that they implement every single day that allow them to move the needle in their lives. [00:12:20] Speaker A: Yeah, good. Good stuff there that you just said. And so as far as you being a content creator, can you kind of tell me what you would say is your. I don't know, your norm or what you focus on with being a content creator that you kind of want to share with the audience? [00:12:39] Speaker B: Yeah, so I started creating content about two years ago. That was during my senior year of my undergrad in engineering. And I really Just wanted. I actually started content about music before I ended up going into what I do now. And so I'd make guitar tutorials, and here's how you play this song, here's how you play that song. And eventually that just delved or slowly morphed into me sharing more about my life, talking about, hey, here's what I'm doing. You know, I figured I'm not the only kid who's going through engineering school right now. I might as well document it. So I started to talk about that journey. And I brought up just, this is how I'm passing my tests, this is how I'm getting internships, this is how I got my job. And it allowed me to sort of become a mentor figure for a lot of the younger engineers, freshmen, sophomore, et cetera. And I was able to build out an audience of, at this point, closing in on about 40,000 people on Instagram and TikTok. So still small in the world of content, but something that's been growing over the past couple years. And it's been super cool to just see the impact I've been able to have. And then since finishing up engineering school, obviously my life has just broadened out and I'm not thinking about school every single day. And so naturally, the content has also broadened as well. So I'm still talking about engineering, but more so how I'm engineering my life and just what I'm looking at every single day. And so that comes down to what am I doing with the podcast, what am I learning from everybody that I'm talking to? And then also, these are the adventures that I'm going on. These are the trips that I'm taking. These are the gigs that I'm playing as a musician while still trying to stay as true as I can to that I'm an engineer. This is my initial baseline foundation, and here's how we build off of that. And so then that's just basically transformed into posting a crap ton of talking head content and trying to make as big of an impact as I can. [00:14:28] Speaker A: I love that because it shows that, like, you, by mentoring and helping others, that's what's needed, you know, in every avenue or corner of, you know, pursuits, dreams, careers, whatever, academia. The fact that you're willing to do that is very cool. So kudos to you on that. And, you know, and I think you think about the times when you have somebody in your life who does step up or somebody who's willing to do that, it can make a big difference on your path. You never know some, you know, words of wisdom or even encouragement that could change somebody's day or drive or what they're doing, you know, because sometimes, you know, maybe they're struggling with something and then, you know, you can be that beam of hope for somebody. [00:15:23] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. [00:15:24] Speaker A: So that's very cool. And then your guitar playing and singer songwriting, what would genre of music. Like, what's your favorite? Like if I was to ask you, okay, who's your. What's your favorite song? Who's your favorite band? Which I'm sure probably influences your style. [00:15:47] Speaker B: Definitely favorite artist, hands down, John Mayer. And I think I will probably die on that hill forever. I got into guitar when I like to tell people that I got into guitar because I just wanted to express myself musically as much as possible. But in reality, I think I was just trying to compete with my little sister. She got a ukulele for Christmas and so I needed to add two more strings. And so I picked up guitar. And that was in the middle of high school. I was really into Green Day, Blink 182, pop punk bands when I was first learning to play. And so I spent years just doing that. And then once I got into college, I, on a whim, decided instead of getting the stereotypical physics or math minor that you would get with an engineering degree, why not study jazz? Like, let's, let's go and have fun with this. Let's go and do something that's different and unique and is just going to expand my life. And so I started studying jazz. I got really into West Montgomery and jazz guitar players like that. And then that's where I found artists like John Mayer, who. Mayer went to Berkeley and so he applies a lot of these jazzier techniques into pop music. And so that's really been what's influenced me now. Creating my own songs, writing my own music, playing shows. I have a gig. Let's see, today's Thursday. So in two days I'm playing just a solo acoustic singer, songwriter gig, but playing everything from that to with a full five or six piece band, jazz orchestras. [00:17:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:14] Speaker B: And at this point, I mean, I've had the opportunity to play at least 100 plus gigs and that's been a very cool thing to just get into. [00:17:25] Speaker A: So cool. Love that I give you a little background on my music. I grew up playing violin. [00:17:34] Speaker B: Okay, cool. Yeah. [00:17:36] Speaker A: And I had like private lessons over the summer and stuff and I kind of dreaded it, but I kind of feel like my music teacher is kind of mean. [00:17:46] Speaker B: That can be, that can be the make or break right there. Good teachers are everything. [00:17:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, I just remember and I don't know, people are gonna laugh at this. Like, I. I'm kind of. I'm petite, and I have, like, very small hands and feet. But, like, I had to get a special size violin. [00:18:07] Speaker B: Okay. [00:18:07] Speaker A: They had to find me at the Tate Violin, and it was like, oh, my gosh. And. But I just remember I would watch all my friends, like, at a pool party or going to do all these things all summer, and I was stuck practicing violin. But now I. It's funny. I love classical music, and I also actually like jazz. I like all different genres of music, but I sort of wish I stuck to it. Now I kind of regret that I didn't. I mean, it's not saying I can't go pick it up again, but I don't need anything else right now. And I also played guitar, but I started. I talk about this, actually, in another podcast. I actually went straight to electric. [00:18:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:55] Speaker A: I started playing electric, and then I did acoustic. [00:18:58] Speaker B: What was your experience with that? Because I did the reverse. [00:19:01] Speaker A: You did the reverse, too? I enjoyed it, but I knew that there were, like, skills I needed to learn from the acoustic, though. You know what I mean? [00:19:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:11] Speaker A: Because I don't know. And then I love it that I used to be able to read music. But what's funny, like, now if somebody put a music sheet in front of me, I wouldn't. I would need to relearn it all again. [00:19:22] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, I'll be honest. I learned that skill in school. It was just basically a requirement to go and get a minor in jazz. But I have not read a chart since the last time I played a jazz gig. And even then when I was reading the chart, it basically meant I had read it so many times that I had memorized it. And then I was kind of occasionally looking at it to know where I was. And so it's tough. I mean, if you were trying to play in a string quartet and be in a pit orchestra, obviously you have to be able to read music. But, yeah, depending on what you're doing, so much of it comes down to just feel and being in the moment and, yeah. Kind of riding the wave of the song. And I find myself there almost all the time. [00:20:03] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's. And you were saying. So when you. Do you write your songs more for yourself, or do you consider that, like, a profit for yourself? Like, do you kind of try to make money off your songwriting, or is it more for joy, for yourself, for sharing with people. Just curious. [00:20:26] Speaker B: I think if I tried to make money off my songwriting, that career would end very quickly. I think when I. When I first got into music, for a long time, my whole thesis for my life was, I'm going to be the next Taylor Swift. And for whatever reason, and I can't really put my finger on it, three or four years ago, that just sort of changed. And I no longer had as much of a drive to want to do that. And I think what it comes down to is just I enjoy it more when I'm not going. I need this to make me money. I need this to work because then I can just be there in the moment and have fun with it. And I found that kind of, like you've said, I have so many other things going on. And so I would rather just have music be my nice, fun little escape that I get to go off to and not be something that's like, this is the Trojan horse of my life and I'm going to make $5 a night and maybe it's going to work out one day. [00:21:24] Speaker A: Yeah, okay, cool. And any experiences playing or any funny stories, anything memorable you want to share about when you're, you know, up there on stage or playing your music? [00:21:41] Speaker B: I think. I mean, I have pretty much every crazy gig story known to man, everything from breaking guitar strings on stage to having your entire guitar just break on stage. I crowd surfed while playing with a wireless guitar and played a guitar solo while crowd surfing. When I actually. Probably the weirdest thing that we used to do when I was in early high school playing in bands, I was in punk bands, and I used to be known as the Backflip Kid or the Thai Ninja in high school. So my whole shtick was that I would. I'd play an entire pop punk set and then I would just give somebody else in the band my guitar and just do a backflip on stage. Maybe I inspired Benson Boone, if you're familiar with him. Um, so I like to think I was doing flips on stage first, but I've done. I've done all sorts of crazy things, and it's been just a wild ride. But I think the biggest thing that I've taken from it is just the connections that I've been able to make with people. And there is. I'm sure you see this with your art and when people receive it well. But there's just nothing like playing a song and seeing that the people are there in it with you in that moment for the three, four, or five Minutes that you're playing. There's something really special about that, to be able to connect with an individual in a crowd. And so, I mean, I frequently play moderate sized crowds, couple hundred people, and I try every single show to lock eyes with one person and just be there with them for 15 seconds, be there with the next person for 15 seconds. And it's been really cool to have that experience and then to have so many people after a show just be like, hey, that really was a great time. And whether it's that song really changed my outlook on life, or it's simply just, dude, I had a great Saturday night. I'm here for both of them. I think it's awesome. [00:23:32] Speaker A: That's cool. It's awesome. And kind of veering now more into. So it's fun. Actually, I was going to mention real quick, you said you were into punk bands and stuff. [00:23:46] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. [00:23:47] Speaker A: Okay. So when I was in high school, that's kind of a skater chick. [00:23:53] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. I had a. I had a skater phase for about three weeks, and then I thought, I'm gonna die if I keep doing this. [00:23:59] Speaker A: Oh, gosh. So, yeah, I wasn't great or anything, but I actually used to carry a skateboard in high school sometimes. A couple times I was like. And so I actually have a whole collection of skateboard videos, which is kind of cool. It's a pretty cool collection. Like, some really cool classics and stuff. But I used to go to a lot of ska punk shows and, like, punk rock shows, different things like that. So that was really fun. I like. [00:24:28] Speaker B: Those are. Those are fun shows. Objectively, from a onstage standpoint, those are the most fun shows to play, too, because I get to run around and do whatever I want. And also, you have more of a freedom to mess up when playing versus if I'm playing you this super sweet, sensitive love song that I wrote, and I'm pouring my whole heart and soul into it, and I mess up in the middle. It just kind of ruins the whole vibe of the thing. You can do whatever you want. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. And the shows are just as fun, too. I love going to those types of shows. [00:25:04] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't know if you know. Aquabats. [00:25:07] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. [00:25:09] Speaker A: So Travis Barker used to be the drummer, right? [00:25:12] Speaker B: That's right. [00:25:13] Speaker A: And I met him when he came to my hometown, and he was the drummer. Actually met him. Very cool band. [00:25:19] Speaker B: Was that all before Blink 182 or did that kind of overlap? Okay. Yeah. [00:25:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:25] Speaker B: Nice. That's sweet. [00:25:27] Speaker A: Yeah. And then of Course, I had a. It's kind of a funny story. That is kind of funny. So I had a total crush on him, like, before he was even in blank, which is funny. And then my sisters came in running one day. They're like, that guy Travis, a crush on. They're like, he's the new Drummer for Blink 182. And I was like, what? I was like, no way. [00:25:48] Speaker B: I think he. He had to. I mean, this predates me, but he had to have been the teenage heartthrob for everybody, I would imagine. [00:25:56] Speaker A: Yeah, Yeah. I mean, I was like, young high school, but, like, so. So, yeah. So let's get into talking about your mountaineer stuff and, like, your training and everything you do with that, because that is so interesting. [00:26:16] Speaker B: Yes. So basically, this started two years ago. I had a friend that I was training jiu jitsu with. Actually, he grew up in Seattle, Washington. And so because of that, he had climbed Rainier a number of times, which is the tallest mountain in Washington. And God willing, I'll be there later this year to go climb that. And then he's also just done a number of other mountains throughout Washington and Oregon. He moved into Utah, and he would just tell me these stories about. I was on this mountain and this crazy thing happened to me. And the more and more he talked to me about it, the more and more interested I became, naturally. So I just kept pushing him. I said, dude, we have to go climb a mountain. When can you take me up on a mountain? And so the first mountain I climbed two years ago was. I want to say it was on January 1, which January 1 in mountain season means there's still tons of snow on the mountain. Or, sorry, June 1st. June 1st. So middle of summer, there's still tons of snow. And so I went out and climbed Mount Timpanogos, which is right around 12,000ft, a little bit below that in Utah. And so I went climb that mountain, thought I was going to just conquer it. And, boy, was I humbled. It was easily the hardest thing I had ever done in my entire life. I made it up to the top, but just so unprepared, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't have the skill set to go and do it. It's very different than hiking. And going into that, I thought, yeah, I've gone on some hikes before. I've gone three or four miles, I'll be fine. But now I'm here with an ice axe in my hand, crampons on my feet. I have no clue What I'm doing, I forgot my sunglasses. So I go snow blind. I had probably a liter and a half of water for a 17, 18 hour day. [00:28:05] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:28:07] Speaker B: So I'm drinking snow. I'm super dehydrated. I didn't realize that up at altitude, even Fairly low altitudes, 9 or 10,000ft, you lose your appetite. And so I remember losing my appetite trying to eat things. I probably. [00:28:21] Speaker A: You were by yourself? [00:28:22] Speaker B: I was with two friends. Two friends, Okay. [00:28:24] Speaker A: I was like, okay, all right. [00:28:27] Speaker B: But I mean, once when you're up there, I mean, you have, you have people that are there to help you, obviously, but it's still, it's you versus you up there. And so it was a very humbling experience, to say the least, that first time around. [00:28:40] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. Okay. So sorry. I'm like, wow. Okay. Yeah, that's, that's, that's crazy. I survived. [00:28:54] Speaker B: I survived. Yeah. [00:28:55] Speaker A: What, how many hours? Like what, like, what was the time when you left? What was the time when you, like, would you say like you returned or descended or got back to like, I believe. What's the total time lapse of that? [00:29:10] Speaker B: Probably about 15 hours. We started at, I want to say 3:00am is when we were boots on the ground. And I remember I was going to go watch UFC at my girlfriend's later that night and I didn't get to my girlfriends until, I want to say, 8pm 8 or 9pm so it was a full, full day, that whole experience. [00:29:36] Speaker A: Wow. [00:29:38] Speaker B: But for some reason, I keep coming back to them. I've done about 40 of them in the past two years, and obviously they're in varying difficulties. Um, some of them are quite a bit easier than that climb, but some of them are quite a bit harder. It just depends on the mountain, time of year, the condition, how far you're going. Um, okay. It's all a big equation. [00:29:58] Speaker A: Wow. I'm like, wow. And is there a certain. Do you kind of do the same one over and over or like you have like a whole mix of different. [00:30:11] Speaker B: It depends. I'm very fortunate living In Utah, being 30 minutes away from the whole Wasatch Range. I can get on a Mountain in 20 minutes. And so that's been a really good blessing to have. That said, for the past two years, I've been hitting. I would say that I have a few main objectives every single year, and then the rest of them, sometimes they're new, sometimes they end up being repeats just in training for the big ones that really are going to count for me. And so the More and more I do, I lean more and more into. Let's have bigger objectives, let's have bigger goals because you can only climb the same smaller one so many times before you just kind of, you know, go robot robot mode and get your way up it. And so this year the big ones that I'm looking at are Mount Rainier, tallest peak in Washington, and then either Mount St. Helens, which blew up in the 80s in Washington and then, or Mount Hood, which is the tallest one in Oregon. And then I'll be going to do Bora Peak in Idaho, tallest mountain in Idaho, and just sort of trying to collect these state high points as I go. And so in training for that, I'll probably climb an additional. I just was climbing two weekends ago. On top of that, skiing helps me because sometimes you're doing your approach up to base camp on, on skis. And so I'll be doing skiing, rock climbing, hiking, lifting weights, all that stuff for months and months. Pretty much. It's pretty much a year round endeavor. [00:31:38] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, that's ba. And like how you were talking about the water, I'm just curious, what do you, how do you. Because you know, I think like as a girl, I'm like, okay, I would feel like that would get heavy or awkward. So I'm just curious, what do you do about the water park? [00:32:01] Speaker B: It definitely gets heavy. I would say my average pack is anywhere from 30 to 60 pounds depending on the thing. And so that's where it gets difficult because not only are you hiking 17 miles and doing 7,000ft of elevation gain, you also have a 70 pound rucksack on your back that you're bringing up there with you. And so you've got your water, you've got your tent, you've got your food, you've got your climbing gear, you have layers and layers and layers of clothes. Because at the base camp you may be T shirt and shorts. At the top you're in three layers to make sure you don't get frostbite. And so all that being said, with water there's a number of things to do. If it's shorter, meaning it can be done in a day, typically I will just suck it up and bring the water that I need. If it's a longer one, then usually I will. In the, in order to maximize my time on the mountain, I will bring less water so I can move faster and then either bring some sort of filter if we're on something that doesn't have a whole lot of snow and there's a Stream or a creek or a lake, or just bring a stove and start boiling snow and ice to get yourself some water. [00:33:11] Speaker A: Okay. It's interesting, but make sure you bring enough. I'm learning something. Okay, definitely. [00:33:17] Speaker B: The big thing. The big thing is you need to make sure you have enough water, and you need to make sure that you are constantly sipping on your water, because I've made that mistake many times. You're just so in the moment. You're going, going, going, going, going. You're not thinking about, how many calories have I gotten in over the past hour? How much of my water have I had? Especially because typically you're not going to have a camel pack where you've got a straw. Reason being that straw can freeze on you when you're up in the mountains, and so it kind of doesn't work. So because of that, you have an algae in the back of your pack. In order to get your water, you have to take your backpack off, open it up, grab the water bottle. So a lot of the time, you're not really thinking about it. You're just kind of going. And then it's been three or four hours, you haven't had a drink or anything to eat, and then you start to feel really, really sick. [00:34:02] Speaker A: Okay. Dang, dang, dang. Okay, so interesting. And then. And it sounds like you also want to get into this, your Jiu Jitsu, and I didn't know it BJJ stands for. So can you tell the audience what that is? [00:34:25] Speaker B: Yes. Brazilian. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. [00:34:29] Speaker A: Okay. [00:34:30] Speaker B: Basically, yeah. Basically there's Jiu Jitsu is something that started in Japan and then it migrated over to Brazil in sort of the mid-1900s area. And ultimately what ended up happening was the Brazilians really cultivated the sport and brought it to be what it actually is today. And ultimately that ended up coalescing into the UFC. And so the first couple of UFC's were put on by the Gracie family, but basically to prove that Jiu Jitsu was better than every single other martial art. And so you had no weight classes. You had just eight dudes going at it. And the whole thing was, is kung fu, karate, taekwondo, kickboxing, Jiu Jitsu, which one's the best? And so Jiu Jitsu from there kind of morphed, and that's where Brazilian Jiu Jitsu comes from. Ultimately, at this point, combat sports have become so holistic and well rounded with the advent of UFC and mma. And so because of that, now you're really Looking at a much bigger picture than just one specific art. [00:35:37] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, like, I've. I know, I've seen it. Jiu Jitsu just looks pretty hard, like really tough. And I actually. Are you. Well, since you know ufc, you're familiar with the Diaz brothers? [00:35:56] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. [00:35:58] Speaker A: Okay, so my sister is married to Nate Diaz's cousin. [00:36:03] Speaker B: That's so. That is so wild. [00:36:06] Speaker A: Yeah, we're all like 200niners, you can say. And. Yeah, so it's kind of cute. Like, I like, you know, I know the mom and all them, they're. They're nice family, so. And what was I gonna say? Oh, yeah. So Jiu Jitsu, I do Bikram yoga, which is that 90 minute hot yoga. Yeah. And I don't know if this is true or not, but there is a guy, he was like, I don't get. And he was challenging this other guy, he was. Who did yoga, and. And he was like, just try this. He's like, just try it. And so he did. And he actually said he thought that Be Creative was harder than Jiu Jitsu. But I don't know if I believe him because I do Bikram a lot. But I think it's a different kind of hard. Do you know what I'm saying? I feel like I don't think I could ever do Jiu Jitsu. I mean, I don't think I could. I don't know. But. Because the bikram, you repeat every pose you do. You do each pose twice, you rest in between, and it's 90 minutes and 105 degrees. And you just keep going, you just flow through the whole thing. And it's 26 poses. [00:37:24] Speaker B: That's hot. 105 is really hot. [00:37:28] Speaker A: Yeah. So it's a. It's always 105 degrees. So you think about, if it's 26 poses, you're actually doing it twice. So the math on that is you're actually doing 52. Am I right? [00:37:40] Speaker B: Yeah, 52. [00:37:41] Speaker A: So you're actually doing 52 poses in 90 minutes and 105 degrees. [00:37:46] Speaker B: Yeah. That's a lot. [00:37:47] Speaker A: So. And there's a saying, Bikram can't heal you, then nothing can. I don't know if you've ever done Bikram, but I would like you to find it's hard. They don't call it Bikram anymore for some reason. They usually will just call it Hot90. [00:38:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:06] Speaker A: But if. No, it's a traditional beecher in class, it will have the 26 poses. I would just say it will Change your life. But let's see. [00:38:14] Speaker B: And it's consistent is what you're saying. From class to class, you expect the same order, the same poses. [00:38:19] Speaker A: Okay, yeah. But you know, it's funny, I've been doing it so long, every time I go though, every class is different. Like I could go in there and I just feel so strong one day, and then I'll go in again. And I swear, like, if somebody saw me, they'd be like, is this your first time? Because that's what's crazy about it. Because like, you could maybe be a little more dehydrated or maybe you're not feeling very good or, you know, sometimes your balance just isn't the same and you feel off. Like, I felt like a. Like sometimes I feel like so strong and other times I go in there, I feel like a baby wobbly giraffe. You know what I mean? [00:38:52] Speaker B: The body is so weird in that sometimes I think as you do any sport, longer and longer, your baseline floor level of performance increases. But there are no matter what you do, you will have days where you're on top of the world, you're Superman. And then other days you do not know what hit you. And it could be sleep, poor diet, maybe just the day, it could just be Thursday. And maybe that's why it wasn't a good day. Yeah, and it's so crazy. I mean, I've had so many mountains, specifically where I'm so trained, going into it, I feel so strong. And then comes the day of performance and it is horrible. I'm in so much pain, I feel sick. It's just not a good time. And I don't have any explanation as to why. It's just lucky to draw, I guess. And to touch on your point too briefly with what's harder, I think what it comes down to is it's what you do. Because if you look at an elite marathon runner and they run a hundred mile a week, a hundred mile weeks, for them it's pretty effortless. But for any of us who aren't running 100 miles a week, where do you even start with something like that? And so I think so much of it is just your body adapts. Your body is meant to evolve in the long term, but also in the short term and just put certain stressors on your body, regardless of what it is, eventually, given enough time, your body just gets used to it, you perform better. And I've noticed that with climbing, with jiu jitsu, with everything every single year, back to back, just baseline level I feel stronger, I feel better. And I just have noticed that throughout my life. And it's just really interesting to see. [00:40:28] Speaker A: Yeah, it's interesting because you made me actually think of something this morning. So I. I've been dealing with this car accident, and yesterday was like, by far. [00:40:37] Speaker B: I'm sorry. [00:40:38] Speaker A: Yeah, one of the worst days. It was so stressful. I have this crazy thing I'm dealing with with the insurance company. I'm not even the at fault driver. Like, this is why we pay insurance. And dealing with something with my car that I'm not even gonna really explain it on here, but it is like everybody's like, what? They're like, I've never heard of that before, so. And it's like I'm the lone person who's dealing with this or something. And it's so stressful. And I'm like, what the heck? You know? And I was just kind of having this day yesterday, and I'm like, you know, and then. But I use that energy. It's like about mindset, you know, like, you switch your mindset, you use the energy. So when I went in the gym this morning, I like, use that and turned it into like, I was like. [00:41:23] Speaker B: And how did it go? Did it go well? [00:41:25] Speaker A: Good. It went good at the gym. Great. Yeah. But, like, it's just, I think that, you know, I think about yoga, like with you, with Jiu Jitsu, do you find. I'm curious because I don't do Jiu Jitsu, do you find it's a lot of mindset? [00:41:40] Speaker B: So much of it. And to your point, with something like yoga, there's a time and a place for having a death match with your friends. Most days of my life, it is not that day. I try to just be flowy and in the moment and really enjoy the process of training. Because otherwise I have so many other things going on. Whether it is climbing the mountains, creating content, working as an engineer, like, I can't break my ankle and just. It's okay. So, yeah, so much of it is. I like Jiu Jitsu because it's one of the few places that I truly do not think about anything else. [00:42:16] Speaker A: Mm. [00:42:17] Speaker B: Even with playing gigs, playing music, I'm thinking about what I'm gonna order at ihop. While I'm playing my song, while I'm climbing the mountain, I'm thinking about the burger that I'm gonna go and have later. When I do Jiu Jitsu, all I am thinking about is doing Jiu Jitsu. And so it is such a good Mental break. And then also it allows me to spend time just thinking about right here, right now, be where my feet are. I think that's really important. And then also you definitely get just the, the grit and the toughness of a just doing something physically hard that you're going to get out of yoga or weightlifting or running. But also, I mean, you're getting beat up and so it makes you tougher. And I think that there's a lot of valuable lessons that come from that. And also you get a lot of ego checks and it really puts you back into your place and you get a better appreciation for the humility of it all because you realize, like, sometimes it's just not your day. Other times you're going with a person who is half your size and they are twice your skill level and there is nothing you can do to stop them. And so much of it to tie it all back together is mindset. 90%, 80 to 90% of it, I would say, is the mindset. The other 10% is just the physical act of what I'm actually doing. [00:43:30] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, agree with that. And then you probably. And with your marathons, you do training for marathons in your running, kind of gearing into moving into that. Especially with mindset, you kind of want to talk about your kind of history behind that or your passions behind that. [00:43:53] Speaker B: Yeah. So I guess first and foremost, I'm a garbage runner is what I've learned over the, the years. I think so much of my life is ultimately come down to trying to deal with life's non idealities and specifically with running. I, when I was younger, I ended up tearing my MCL in a different injury. And when I was going through the treatment for that, we found out that I have really bad intowing where most people can take their, their leg or their foot and bring it 45 degrees out and 45 degrees and I can go 85 degrees in, 5 degrees out. So because of that, I put a ton of strain onto the inside of my knees and no strain onto the outside, which basically translates to every time I run a race, it is very painful. So because of that, I have been forced to kind of adopt interesting training methods. The thing that I've really been experimenting with as I'm in marathon prep, I have a marathon too soon. I have a marathon in about a month, probably I think about five weeks. It's on April 25th. And so for the Salt Lake Marathon, I plan to do what's called run, run, walk, run, which is really something that's gained A lot of popularity from I believe Jeff Galloway or some something. Galloway. Jeff or Scott Galloway is the person who ended up coming up with this method. And so I have been trying to practice this as much as I can to just lower the amount of workload and strain that is happening to my body. And so ultimately that's looked like running for six or seven minutes and then walking for a minute and then rinsing and repeating that cycle. This upcoming year, what I'm looking at is I have Salt Lake marathon in about a month. I'm going to do a couple half marathons and I am hopeful that I can increase my time on those. But again, just trying to deal with aches and pains and just kind of the non idealities of running. We'll see how that goes. And then I'm trying to make some transitions into ultra because I feel with that I can slow down the pace. I can. It's more acceptable to walk because you run a marathon and everybody asks you, dude, that's so great. What time did you get? You run a. You run an ultramarathon and everyone goes, that's insane. How many miles did you go? And I also feel that I'm in a more familiar environment there. Truth be told, running on pavement hurts. But trail running, being on soft dirt is something that I feel is not as painful. And also I'm more familiar with it. I mean, I spend so much time in the mountains, hiking, jogging, trail running and all that different stuff. And so I think it just naturally makes more sense in a weird roundabout way to actually look at races longer than 26.2 miles and start playing with 31 miles for a 50k or a 50 miler or 100k. A hundred miler, etc. [00:46:45] Speaker A: Wow, that's a lot. I've done a 5K. [00:46:50] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. I mean, but you, that's where you start. [00:46:53] Speaker A: Yeah, but like I'm sure I ran longer. I'm not. I was in cross country in high school and so I think. Do you think those were longer than a 5k? [00:47:03] Speaker B: I'm sure I would imagine. I know some cross country kids that were running insane amounts in high school. [00:47:10] Speaker A: Yeah, I only did it one year, but I enjoyed it. But like I used to run more when I lived by the beach. I mean, I have no excuse. I can go run on the beach here. I need to start doing that actually. But I used to run more myself and I love running on the beach, like in the morning. Like that's one of my favorite things, [00:47:31] Speaker B: I think, kind of getting into briefly with what I was talking about earlier and my. My new training method of run, walk, run is I, myself included, for a long time, felt like, well, I'm running. I cannot walk. Like, this is unacceptable. My only option is to run. But I think something that's made it a lot more approachable for me is it's okay to run for three minutes and then walk for 30 seconds or walk for a minute or even three minutes. Like, run for a minute and walk for three, because then you can still get those endorphins that you get pumped into your brain from running, but at the same time, like, you can slow down, you can walk, you can enjoy the nature that's around you. And I think that's something that is important. [00:48:07] Speaker A: Yeah, love that. And so, yeah, anything you want to share more on that? [00:48:19] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I mean, I think we pretty much touched it. [00:48:21] Speaker A: Okay. And overall, as everybody's listening, they can see what an interesting person Alex is and everything he's into. And, Alex, anybody listening wanted to, like, connect with you or get a hold of you or maybe even, like, who knows, maybe utilize your services or have you come play a gig or something. How would you best like them to get a hold of you and get in contact with you? [00:48:46] Speaker B: Absolutely. I'm on pretty much every social media platform. Instagram is the one that I'm the most active on, though. You can just look me up at Alex Nanta Prida. I guess that's the benefit of having a unique last name. I don't need to fight someone for an Instagram handle. So, yeah, Alex Nunta Prida. N U N T A P R E D A and then I have my podcast, the Engineer My Future podcast, where I'm talking to interesting people who are doing interesting things and trying to essentially engineer my own future and then also take you along for the ride with that. And so you can find me there. Alex and Deprida Engineer my future. That's where I'd find me. [00:49:20] Speaker A: Cool. Awesome. All right, well, I will see you probably in Behind Closed Doors again, and maybe eventually we'll in that group all get together in person. That would be amazing. [00:49:32] Speaker B: That would be. Yeah, that would be a ton of fun. [00:49:34] Speaker A: I know. It'd be so fun. So, yeah. But thanks, everybody, for listening to the Dr. Random podcast. And as always, we'll say ciao. [00:49:44] Speaker B: Thanks.