{"id":195409,"date":"2024-01-16T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=195409"},"modified":"2025-02-24T10:09:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T18:09:18","slug":"becoming-mentally-and-physically-elite-with-chad-vanags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/podcasts\/becoming-mentally-and-physically-elite-with-chad-vanags","title":{"rendered":"Becoming Mentally and Physically Elite with Chad Vanags"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"cb-itemprop\" itemprop=\"reviewBody\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" height=\"200px\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https:\/\/player.simplecast.com\/a164262f-d7ea-46f0-a580-de6f16c23c35?dark=false\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wild-ideas-worth-living.simplecast.com\/episodes\/becoming-mentally-and-physically-elite-with-chad-vanags\/transcript\">Transcript<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In September of 2022, at 39 years old, Chad Vanags was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal lung cancer. Chad is a surfer, runner, and all-around athlete. In the year and a half since his diagnosis, Chad has been living his wildest most authentic life as he faces his own mortality. Cancer isn&#8217;t the message, but it&#8217;s been the vehicle that&#8217;s pushed him to become what he calls physically and mentally elite.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Connect with Chad:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chadvanags.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Website<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/chadvanags\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Teaquilafarm&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/teaquilafarm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Contribute to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/chadshealingfund\">Chad&#8217;s GoFundMe<\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Book your next&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/adventures?s_kwcid=PS_ADV_Google%7C402_&amp;s_kwcid=PS_ADV_Google%7C21700000001699351_43700074186418047%7C58700008162711965%7CADV_PB%7C71700000102354059&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiA1-6sBhAoEiwArqlGPpTecILDBMOijvmaql7s6C0V8-9PYu62-bzvpbwN3ZazCez_PzMY6hoCtyUQAvD_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">REI Co-op Adventure<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/used\/shop\/gear\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">REI Re\/Supply<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transcript In September of 2022, at 39 years old, Chad Vanags was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal lung cancer. Chad is a surfer, runner, and all-around athlete. In the year and a half since his diagnosis, Chad has been living his wildest most authentic life as he faces his own mortality. Cancer isn&#8217;t the message, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32542,"featured_media":195410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1726,1727],"tags":[],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-195409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcasts","category-wild-ideas-worth-living"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/podcasts\/becoming-mentally-and-physically-elite-with-chad-vanags","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Becoming Mentally and Physically Elite with Chad Vanags","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/podcasts\/becoming-mentally-and-physically-elite-with-chad-vanags","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/podcasts\/becoming-mentally-and-physically-elite-with-chad-vanags"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/Vanags-Chad-Headshot-e1705344035552.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/Vanags-Chad-Headshot-e1705344035552.jpg?fit=900%2C538"},"articleSection":"Wild Ideas Worth Living","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jenny Barber"}],"creator":["Jenny Barber"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2024-01-16T11:00:00Z","datePublished":"2024-01-16T11:00:00Z","dateModified":"2025-02-24T18:09:18Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Becoming Mentally and Physically Elite with Chad Vanags\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/podcasts\\\/becoming-mentally-and-physically-elite-with-chad-vanags\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/podcasts\\\/becoming-mentally-and-physically-elite-with-chad-vanags\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/Vanags-Chad-Headshot-e1705344035552.jpg?resize=150%2C150\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/Vanags-Chad-Headshot-e1705344035552.jpg?fit=900%2C538\"},\"articleSection\":\"Wild Ideas Worth Living\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Jenny Barber\"}],\"creator\":[\"Jenny Barber\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Uncommon Path \\u2013 An REI Co-op Publication\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"2024-01-16T11:00:00Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-16T11:00:00Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-24T18:09:18Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rei.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/01\/Vanags-Chad-Headshot-e1705344035552.jpg?fit=900%2C538","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32542"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195409"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":199352,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195409\/revisions\/199352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195409"},{"taxonomy":"internal-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-tag?post=195409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}