What inspired me to start this blog is:
1. Track my training / Hold myself accountable
2. Creative writing outlet
3. Inspire others
A little background...
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| Can Am Games |
I grew up in a great family environment, where my parents always supported me in whatever activities my brothers and sister wanted to pursue. For me it was sports; baseball and soccer. I played both every year from when I was 5 all the way up to high school. Playing on club teams, traveling teams, All Stars...etc etc. My parents dropped a lot of money and a lot of time into me and I was grateful for that because it paved the way for me to be successful in endurance sports both in fitness and in mental toughness. As I was getting in shape for soccer season, my freshman year in high school -I naturally ran xcountry and was introduced to this old man, Coach Wilson who coached xcountry and track. Besides my parents, he later became one of the biggest influences in my life. After running a 5:02 mile in my first race with just soccer and baseball training, Coach Wilson convinced me that I could have a future in running. I finished HS with a 1:57 800 and a 4:19 mile which was fast enough (at the time) to earn me scholarships to different universities. I transferred around and went where the good coaches were and I ended up graduating at California Baptist University; where at the time, Coach
Irv Ray (now head coach at UCR) was coaching. He guided me to 14-time All American status, 4 time National Champion, 1:51 800, 3:47 1500 (4:04 mile), and a 14:15 5000. After graduating, these times were good enough to land me a spot on
Bob Shul's ('64 5000 Gold Medalist) Olympic Development team located in Dayton, Ohio. I was exposed to some very unorthodox training with influences of Mihaly Igloi which included a lot of speed work on the track (sometimes 12+ miles all on the track). My mileage and intensity were higher than it had ever been and I just felt tired...always. I wasn't racing well and after battling some injuries and burnout I decided to pull the plug and head back home to CA. I took a few months of recovery and raced an 8k for fun a few months later and ran a 23:47, my fastest 8k by like 90 seconds. Even though that was a huge PR, I was still burned out (and in love with my eventual wife) so I quit racing competitively in February of 2002.
Fast forward 7 years and after getting married, having two kids, gaining 44 pounds (I brewed my own beer...) and a full time job, I weighed in at 179 in November of 2009. It was a wake up call. I decided immediately to start training for the Carlsbad Marathon that was a little less than 3 months later. Bad call on that...I struggled to a 4:14 finish, but was excited about getting back in shape. In 2010, I ran into a lot of little injuries and I kept trying to push my mileage up so I could get into shape quicker. The body wouldn't let me, so I decided to give the triathlon a try so I could train more and avoid less injuries. The plan worked. After a successful run at triathlon which included many AG wins, one race as an "elite," qualifying for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships and completing an Ironman.
Hope you enjoy the blog, if you have any questions, suggestions or feedback, feel free to email me anytime at:
ilovethehurt@gmail.com
thanks for reading!
-James
