Go Run

Looking for inspiration? I hear my friends and athletes talking about it, and read about it all the time. Why am I not looking for it? How do I just get up and want to punish my body, not just once in the morning, but most days twice? The answer is that I obviously have a screw loose somewhere. Whether that’s the case or not, there needs to be a purpose to run, to bike, or to do whatever it is you have a desire to accomplish.
Let’s start there, a PURPOSE! When it comes to working out, it is much easier if you have a goal to shoot for. Personally, I start by picking a race. After I find the next BIG race to shoot for, I work back with my workouts to where I am now. It is a lot easier to work backwards than forwards because you need to know what it will take to accomplish that goal with a certain level of fitness and then work back ,doing your best to get there in a logical manner. So, find a 5k, 10k, or maybe just a fitness goal, such as running for an hour without stopping. Now that you have that set down, devise a plan of how you hope to accomplish that goal. If you need ideas on workouts or want ideas what I believe would be necessary, feel free to contact me, and I would love to see what I can do to help. Once there is a purpose, working out gets easier because you know that to achieve your goal, you need to get off your rear end and get to it!
What? You have a goal and you still are lacking motivation? Very common, especially in college runners. They know that there is a big meet or competition coming, yet they spend their runs focusing on anything but that fact. To these runners, I would say, “Why are you a part of this team? Why do you even put yourself through this if you do not care?”
It is easy to get into a rut in life, in training, in faith, or in any relationship. So, how did you change from being a highly driven athlete to someone who is debating giving it up? Most likely it is an external factor. For me, when a day comes that I don’t want to train, I look to my Faith. Yes, my Faith. I love running, but I have truly started to enjoy running now that I am running to glorify God. My belief is that God gave me this body to use, just as he gave me the Bible. When I see a Bible that is almost destroyed from being used so much, I smile, as I know that the owner of the Bible is actively learning more about God. As with the Bible, I want to use my body the same way. “Destroyed” may be the wrong word, but I want to use everything God gave me.
I have only achieved such a feeling after certain runs or races. I do not want to end up at the pearly gates and say I spent half my life in bed or on a couch playing video games. I want to say I used every bit of talent and strength possible. Genetically, I will never be able to be the very best athlete, but I intend to become the very best athlete that I can be. So, if you are looking for motivation, turn to God. Look at what he has given you, and use whatever talent you have to glorify him. If your goal is to glorify him, I believe you will find your way out of bed and into a great workout.
I have heard it many times and have seen the strength of having support from friends, teammates, family, and God. There is a good chance all of those will be there on that big day for which you are training, but on those morning workouts, the late night abs, you will most likely be chilling with God. Do not underestimate him. His strength can be your strength. Trust in him, and know he believes in you. So, good luck with whatever your goal may be. May you find inspiration in these words, but truly through the words of the Lord.

West Palm Beach Half Marathon

Florida!! The trip began by flying out Thursday night and getting in very late, I still had a very hard time sleeping despite getting in late. It was exciting to be in Florida! This Half Marathon trip worked out great for me and the team. I was able to travel to West Palm Beach with 19 of my cross country runners. Friday, we started out by volunteering at Feeding South Florida where we sorted food and other goods in an attempt to give back to the community. The afternoon was awesome as we spent it at the beach, body surfing and playing in the sand. Saturday was spent at Peanut Island in West Palm Beach where we snorkeled and swam with some really cool fish. When the team took to the beach, I took to the back seat of the van in an attempt to sleep off my late Friday night that I spent out with friends enjoying the night life of Florida.

Sunday morning came quickly, and I was able to warm up with Justin Hill and Chris Scheideman. The first mile I went out and was neck and neck with the defending champion as we rolled through 5:27 at the mile. We ran together for five miles until he did a small fartlek, trying to break me. I slowly tried to close the gap that he had made over the next four miles, but at mile eight he officially broke me. He had found a way to pull away, running negative splits, and put a good gap on me by mile 9. To be honest, I was almost glad to see him leave,as I was flat out sick of running behind that stupid convertible with a running clock attached to it. Having motorcycles on each side of me also started to get old. Little did I know, things were about to get even more annoying. The last three miles was hard mentally, as the cyclist who was leading me had her radio on as they read off the time difference every few minutes between the top three men.
The temperature was perfect and so was running along beside the ocean, as it was in the mid 50’s to low 60’s throughout the race. As I crossed the line, I was not really happy with at 1:13.44 but realized I had run a very competitive race. Considering my activities Friday night, I was very pleased.
My T6s supplied by Brooks felt great and truly helped me stay light on my feet, especially late in the race. Finishing behind me was Chris, a junior at Baker University. It was really exciting to see him finish in the top 3. Also, finishing 3rd on the women's side overall was Megan Rosa who qualified for NAIA nationals by six minutes, destroying the A standard. During post race interviews, I did my best to express just how proud I was of all the runners from Baker and gave thanks to God, leaving my name out of it.
Although I will not be in West Palm Beach to watch the television coverage, I am still really excited about the team and my efforts. This race officially closes my 2010 racing season, and I am looking forward to 2011 when I hope to set new PR’s. Thanks to everyone who supports me.

Pain

Pain is essential to growing both physically and emotionally. Just three months ago I was finishing my first Ironman. With 138.3 miles finished, I had to stop. I had to lie down on the ground. People quickly rushed to my aid to make sure I was ok. I held onto that pain; it was that pain that kept me awake, that kept me from fully passing out. I think back to all the nights when I came home after a long day, and the last thing that sounded like fun was going to run or workout. It is easy to avoid pain. It is not easy to attack it, to allow it in, and to love what it gives you. It gives me strength. When I endure pain, I know I can endure more the next time around. The harder I can push today's workout, the more I will get out of it one month from now.

We all love success, but it is not the time that you put in, to get success, it is the amount of pain you are willing to put yourself through in that time. Without pain, nothing changes. With less than one week until my half marathon in Florida, I feel I have endured enough pain to put myself through the finish line in a time that will please me, glorify God, and reflect the hard work that has been done.
Recently my relationship with my girlfriend ended. I know from this past summer that I can train very well when I am angry, and I am spending a lot of time trying to better understand God's will. To give him thanks and realize his plan is working whether I understand it or not. Anger can be a tool that leads to good workouts, but it will not lead to a race that will glorify God. I must harness the anger, disappointment, and stress to better allow myself to race. For me to race well, I must be relaxed and not emotional. Being a bit excited or having adrenaline is fine, but I cannot let it get the best of me. A half marathon is relatively short compared to my normal races, but it is just long enough for too quick of a start to destroy the whole race or running a stupid mile.
I must take advantage of all the pain and punishment that I have put my body through in order to race the way I am capable of. I never want to shy away from pain because the path of least resistance is a path I want to be nowhere near. Anything worth keeping, saving, cherishing, comes from hard work. Anyone can give up and avoid pain. It takes a strong person, both physically and emotionally strong, to achieve greatness.

Having Some Fun

Yesterday was the Mid-States Classic, a meet made up of NAIA schools from Oklahoma to Nebraska, and Kansas to Missouri. I had planned to just be coaching at this meet, but the week leading up to this meet I was feeling hungry to race, to feel competitive, to see where my fitness was. I had not decided if I was going to run until that morning. I came prepared with my spikes and jersey, but it wasn’t until I walked up to check in Baker University and saw an old friend Jazz that I really decided to run. I had seen him run under 26 at OSU, and he encouraged me to have some fun in the race with him. It was then that I decided, "Why not?" Even though my training was far from 8k cross country style training and the week had not been a good lead up weak to race, I knew I had over 500miles of training since my last race, and it could be fun.
So the race began on a very windy morning in Winfield, KS. The first mile I ran right with my #2-#5 runners for Baker and my good friend Jazz. Jazz and I talked about running and just chit chatted for a mile catching up. The runners around us looked at us like we were out of our minds as they were racing, and we were just enjoying the run. After the mile, he decided to pick it up, and I looked around to my guys to see who I could help shield from the wind. On my right shoulder was a sophomore from Dallas, Texas, named Corey. He looked like he was ready to race, so I said let's do this, and he took off with me. I broke the wind for him through the next 4 miles, pushing him. When he would slow down, I would too and reaffirm to him that today was his day and the team needed him. I had so much fun talking to people as we ran and pushing Corey. When it came down to the sprint, I let my two top guys go on to the finish. I did not try and outkick them. I just yelled to FINISH, striding in myself at 27:01 for 8K and beating my friend Jazz. It was a disappointing time if that is all I look at, but the fact that Jazz, and my guys have run under 26 this year made me realize that if I had really raced on a nice fast course without wind I would have been far under 26 minutes. This was a huge confidence booster and a reaffirmation that I am on track to have a good half marathon in December in Florida. This had been my first cross country race since I left college nearly 2 years ago, and without a doubt my first cross race that I ran to glorify God and not myself. No pride was pushing me to kick in, no misunderstanding of what the race was for. I was running for God, having some fun along the way. What a great and fulfilling day!

Blessed

So many people search their whole lives for their calling, going to work each day dreading the day and wishing they had a purpose driven life. They ask themselves how they ended up on the path they are on right now. From a young age, I have had a passion for running. It was something that I enjoyed being around and participating in. While the idea of spending a weekend at a track meet may sound horrible to the majority of society, it sounds like an exciting weekend to me. Of course, I have my favorite races to watch, but I still enjoy the other events that are going on throughout the day. I have found happiness on my path in life so far, as a runner, and as a coach, along with my faith.

What I failed to realize for so long was that what I was doing was important. I truly feel God has called me to coach and to continue competing in running and in triathlon races. It had been troubling that I was not called to be a minister or have a beautiful voice to sing songs to God. I was failing to realize that my passion for running, my drive to use every ounce of strength that God has given me to test the limits of this body that he gave me, is actually my calling. For too long, I ran to please the crowd or to feed my own ego, but I now understand that I am running for God.

Training and working out by myself gets old; I think, "Why is no one here to watch me?" It is then that I realize that God is there, and he is the only one who needs to be there. Race day is important, but God enjoys my running as much on Monday as he does on race day. I am so blessed because he loves me. When I need motivation, God is always there believing in me. God has given me a drive to compete and to be the very best I can be. He also has given me two amazing parents who are always supportive of my training and coaching, and he has blessed me with fantastic sponsors who believe in me and my abilities. I am working on surrounding myself with people who believe in me, from my family to my friends, from my sponsors to my girlfriend. I want to be as much of a blessing to them as they are to me. Special thanks to Brooks for taking care of my feet and keeping me running! Thank you God for blessing me with this life in spite of my being unworthy.

Competitive

Triathlon season is over, and so is the recovery period after my Ironman. It is hard to believe that my last race was over a month ago, and I am now back to training as hard as ever. I am currently considering running a half marathon in Lawrence on October 2nd as a gauge to test my fitness for my big half marathon on December 5th in West Palm Beach Florida!
This morning I had a fantastic workout and noticed true improvement in my training. So many people seem to be thinking and wondering what is wrong with that person as they watch me run down the dirt roads and all over the area by myself. How on earth is he pushing himself up that hill this far away from town? All my hard work and drive comes from a deep competitive nature. I truly love to compete and be competitive in all I do. Competition is rooted in comparison. When I look at the world, I am instinctively aware of other people’s performance. Their performance is the ultimate measuring stick to measure my own success. No matter how hard I have tried, and no matter how worthy my intentions, if I reached my goal but did not outperform my fellow competitors, the achievement feels somewhat hollow. Just like all competitors, I need other people for comparison.
If I can compare, I can compete, and if I can compete, I can WIN. And when I win, there is no feeling like it. I love the measurement because it facilitates comparisons. I like other competitors because they invigorate me. I like contests because they must produce a winner; I particularly like contests where I know I might have the inside track to be the winner. Although I consider myself as being gracious to my fellow competitors and even stoic in defeat, I do not compete for the fun of competing. Brent Bailey competes to win. This brings me back to my hard training months away from a truly important race. I must lay the ground work to allow myself to win.

Ironman

Swim 2.4 miles, Bike 112 miles, Run 26.2 miles, and brag for the rest of your life. I had seen the commercial long before I ever dreamed of doing an Ironman. Just three years ago when I started experimenting with sprint triathlons, I hadn’t ever dreamed of what it would take to prepare myself for such a test. Triathlon was a way to stay in shape during the summer by mixing up my training. Well, the days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, and I was out of college. Suddenly I realized triathlon was not just a hobby but a way of life. I now dream of being one of the best triathletes, a bold goal but my hope is that my stubbornness over the next 10 years of training can lead to great things.
When I look at the best triathletes in the world, it is easy to see they are not in their twenties but instead their thirties. So now here I am trying to make my mark, get my start and see what I am made of. I decided back in January that I wanted to complete at least one full ironman soon. Not trying to say I want to pick the full ironman as my distance, but instead I want to see who I am. An ironman is more than just a race, it is a test. It is said that the toughest test a human can put his body through is a full ironman. Sounds good to me, I enjoy pain, I enjoy a challenge, I enjoy showing people just how crazy I am. So once I moved back to Colorado I began my training at elevation and training for the Vineman Ironman: 60 days at elevation, 28 miles of swimming, just over 1,000 miles of cycling, and 386 miles of running.
The day of reckoning is here, and I have now finished my first ironman. To be completely honest, I am very bummed with how slow my time was. At just 10 miles into the bike section of the race, I was going through an aid station when a man dropped a water bottle right in front of me causing me to hit it and lose control. I swerved to the left and unclipped but just enough to twist my ankle a bit, then turned the bike right where I fully lost balance and fell around just 18 mph. I sacrificed my knee and right side of my body to protect the bike to ensure I could finish the race. With the help of another man I was able to get up but took about 10 minutes to get going again because I was bleeding/bruised/and had managed to crush my boys into the bike. I keep thinking back to how I crashed during the bike race, and how much it took out of me.
Finishing an Ironman is a huge deal, and that in itself is enough to make me smile. What really makes me smile are a few things: my mom came all the way out to California, and at one point when I had started to walk, I saw my mom and she walked with me till I could run again; next was the older gentlemen who stopped when I wrecked, picked my bike off of me, and waited around till I was able to get my wind back; after that, I watched another guy wreck, and I waited for him and we finished the bike and much of the run together bleeding and just talking; and the final thing was God. They say to make sure you are following God and not the other way around. Well, today I saw him all over the course, and at one point I was quoting scripture aloud to kind of stay sane. 12+ hours is a long time to be alone with one’s thoughts. After my finish, I collapsed and they immediately took me away on a stretcher to look after my wounds and to rehydrate me. Once again my mom was there, and I was so truly blessed to have her along. This race did not go according to plan, it went much longer. However, I now can say I am an Ironman, and I had to go through the toughest day of my life to accomplish it. 58 days of training in Colorado, 30 miles of swimming, over 1000 miles on the bike, and 385 miles of running for just one race. I can’t wait to sleep!

4 Minute PR

When it comes to personal records, it is very hard to be discouraged when there is improvement. With a four minute PR, I would be pleased, but I realistically believe I am another five minutes faster than I showed today. My actual bike split was over a minute slower than last year and with the amount of time I have spent cycling compared to last year I find myself very discouraged. In workouts I am putting in more miles, faster times in all of them and feel as fit for triathlons as I ever have.
After my past two races I have felt recovered within just a few minutes as though I am ready to start over and do it again. My conclusion is that training for a full Ironman and competing in Olympic distance triathlons are not a good mix to see success. July 31st I believe with all the hours on the bike, the two-a-day runs, and the smell of chlorine coming off my skin even after I shower due to how much time I am spending in the pool will all pay off with a great race. Even though I am looking forward to the Vineman Ironman, I also look forward to next summer where I can focus on more than one race while bringing home some much needed success. I owe a special thanks to Jim Hallberg for once again allowing me to stay at his house and his coaching has helped me to another personal record.

Qualified

My birthday came and went without much of a celebration, but instead a weight of another race on my mind. With two bad races in a row, I was hoping that the Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon would be the start of the season I had hoped to have.
As the race began, I felt very relaxed in the ankle deep water. I knew my parents were there to support me, my great friend Adriane had come up to the race to support me as well. Along with the support, I had also been having great workouts leading up to the race. The swim was not as fast as I would have liked, but it was still a PR for 1500 m. This was due in part to more time in the pool, but also my amazing Xterra Vendetta wetsuit contributed. As I took to the bike, I never truly got into a rhythm that felt really comfortable, although my time was also a PR for this course. True Olympic Distance triathlons have a 24 mile bike portion, but this one has a 30 mile bike course. The run went well, not great, just good. My run is becoming less of a blowout for me because my training has divided up my time, and I am becoming better at the other two disciplines. As a whole, with a long bike course, my time was not an Olympic Distance PR for me, but for this course it was a PR. My final time was 2:33.19. When the race was over, I placed 4th in my division which secured the last qualification spot for USA Triathlon Age Group Nationals. Whether I compete in the race or not will be determined after my full Ironman, I am still excited to have a qualifying mark. The next race on my schedule will be the Boulder Peak, which I finished previously in 2:24. I hope to drop that time by 10 or more minutes.

That Hurt a Little

I survived the Kansas Half Ironman, but it was not what I had hoped. Going into the race, I felt very prepared. At first, I was nervous about taking several days off after my fall on Pikes Peak, but then realized I had been almost over training and could use the rest. I thought with a time of 4:42 last year, that this year I would have a much better race since I had been actually training for it. My hopes of breaking 4:20 failed miserably. The swim went great in the new Exterra Wetsuit; the Vendetta is a fantastic wetsuit. Getting onto the bike, I felt fine until mile 35ish when the nausea crept in. During the rest of the bike ride, I felt exhausted and like I was on the verge of throwing up. As I started the run, I thought things were turning around. I averaged 6 minutes flat for 7 miles; then, I began dry heaving about 4 times per mile. Anytime I tried to drink water or Gatorade I would throw it up about 100m down the course. From then on, I fell to over 9 minute miles and sucked on ice chips between dry heaves and poured water on me to try and keep cool. When the finish line finally approached, I was limping because of my knee and barely staying up with the cramps and dry heaves. As soon as I crossed the finish line, I collapsed in pain and was carried off. The Navy Medical officers who were working the med tent were concerned that I was shivering so much that it was the start of a heat stroke. They immediately hooked me up to an IV and tried to warm me up. After the first IV drained into my arm, I became warm and they then had to try and keep me cool. After over two hours in the med tent, I finally started feeling good again. The drive home was far from fun, but I made it home and had never been so happy.
Two races down- the first one involved mechanical error, the second one was my error. I am not fond of making excuses for bad races, so I will put it plain and simple. I had a bad day; I truly hope my season turns around at my next race in Loveland. Thanks for all the support.

Summer

Summer is here, and I am in Colorado! I wasn’t here three days before I was on Pike's Peak doing a workout. After the workout was over, I headed down from Bar Camp. On the way down, a dog without a leash jumped out in front of me causing me to trip and rip open my knee and palm. I lucked out by not getting stitches, but I was unable to run or really bend my leg in any way for four days. Yesterday I got out and ran 5 miles and did an hour bike ride with a bit of discomfort. Each day brings more healing as I get closer to the Kansas Half Ironman this Sunday.
Christmas morning?!! Nope, it's just June 2nd but today I received a package from Xterra Wetsuits. It was a few shirts and the Vendetta Wet Suit! It is a lot like Christmas when you know what toy you will be getting, but you cant play with it for a few days. I already know it is one of the fastest tri suits on the market or if not, awful close. As I am a sub par swimmer, I always have to make up time in the bike and a lot in the run. With another year of swimming under my belt and the best wet suit, I hope to get myself out of the whole that I tend to dig. Thank you Xterra for the wetsuit, and I look forward to a great Half Ironman this weekend.

Gain of Confidence

This past weekend I decided to test my fitness. After having such terrible luck in Richmond, I wanted to see how ready I was physically for the upcoming summer race season. So, I decided Friday night that I would wake up at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday and drive to Wichita to run the 10K River Run. Although there were around 3,000 runners, I managed to get out and run a 33:40 which placed me third. It was a very windy race, and I ran a somewhat stupid race, blocking the wind for over a mile for the guy who ended up getting second. I was very pleased to realize that with a bit of peaking, I would have run in the 32's, and if I wasn't dividing my training time with swimming and cycling, and if instead I just focused on running, I would be under 32 min for 10K. That thought made me very happy. If I can run under 34 minutes and hit 60+miles of running, 150+ miles of cycling and 4 swim workouts in a week, I am ready to have a great summer!

Hard Work is No Match for Bad Luck

The trip had been made from Kansas to Richmond, Virginia. As the evening rolled on, I had checked my bicycle in and headed to Panera for my pre-race ritual of eating a nice big soup in a bread bowl. I placed my order, only to have them tell me they were out of bread bowls... wouldn't say I am superstitious, but I really wanted a bread bowl. So I smiled and threw some charm at them, and they decided they could cut a hole in a loaf of sour dough bread, making me the largest bread bowl in the history of Panera. Success!
Beep... Beep... Beep... my alarm is going off, and I am out of bed ready to race. The race wasn't scheduled to take place until 9:30 a.m., so it wasn't an early morning. I double checked the bike and got everything set up and felt like today was my day.
The race is on, and I am off with the leaders. Knowing that my strength is my running, I wanted to get a little gap from the top cyclists. I came into the first transition at 16:34 feeling really relaxed in a pack of 8 guys. I hopped onto my bike and was rolling... BUMP!!! and my aero water bottle bracket cracked.... BUMP!!! lost my water bottle within the first mile. Hope I don't get thirsty. As the race went on, I was in my first lap still and hit the crease where the bridge comes together and got a squish flat on the front wheel. Hopped off the bike and got it changed in under five minutest and went from 4th place till nearly last. As the race went on, I saw more and more people walking with bikes who were getting flats. I was using so much energy trying to work my way back into the race slowly catching guys. POP! on the third lap, same bridge I got a SECOND flat tire on the front wheel. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!! Luckily I had two tubes and two CO2 canisters. Hopped off and began fixing the second flat knowing I was nearly done. I decided to keep the tube not that it would probably do any good, but who knows with my luck. I finished the bike with a time of 1:12, knowing the flats alone cost around 11 minutes, not counting the effort wasted trying to catch up and just mentally being Destroyed!
Finally, I was off the bike and running again. Running, not really catching anyone, made it very hard to stay competitive. I ran a 18:55 for the last 5k. All I could think about was finishing. As I came to the finish line still with my tube, I held it up praying that this was the last of my bad luck.
All in all, the race was a success. It was my first duathlon national championship. I also learned that without the 11 minutes spent changing tubes, that would have been the difference in qualifying for Worlds in Scotland. I came, I saw, I learned, I gave everything I had, but most importantly I finished! Thanks to Brooks for giving me shoes to rock my run, another special thanks to ONETRI.com for hooking me up with the coolest uniform and the most comfortable cycling shorts. One more thanks to everyone who cheered and prayed for me. Without the support of my friends and my brother being here today, I would have most likely walked off the course. Thanks!

Feeling Fit

Yesterday was a fun meet at Tabor Relays! We were able to get the runners who did not qualify for KU Relays into a smaller meet on a Wednesday to get in a solid race. As the 10K approached, it was evident that our top 10K runner was going to be lapping the field and would be all by himself. Luckily I came prepared for this by bringing my Brooks racing singlet and hopped into the race, rabbiting him for the first 10 laps. Although I wanted to race the whole thing, I knew that it was not in my training plan, and I am very close to my biggest race of the season. The 10 laps felt smooth and easy, hitting 80's a lap without a problem into a strong head wind. After dropping off, I was recovered within thirty seconds which shows me I am very fit. Besides feeling fit, I felt like a star wearing the Brooks ID Jersey!! It's easy to stand out in that lime green jersey. Thanks Brooks!!

2010 Race Schedule

USA Duathlon Championships April 25th
Richmond Virginia

Ironman 70.3 Kansas June 6th
Clinton Lake

Loveland Lake to Lake June 26th
Loveland Colorado (Olympic Distance)
USA Triathlon Regional Championship

Boulder Peak Triathlon July 11th
Boulder Colorado (Olympic Distance)

Vineman Ironman 140.6 July 31st
Santa Rosa California

The Story of My Life

Since I was a young boy, I have been competitive in every sport from rodeo to roller hockey. I played with intensity and passion. Always being smaller than my teammates and competition, I constantly found myself spending extra time in the gym, on the road, or just strategizing, trying to make my weakness into a strength. To this day, I have always loved playing all sorts of sports and making everything, even reading into a competition. My life has been lived around competition; growing up, my father was my basketball coach. Once I made it to high school, my mom was my cross country coach while my dad was my track coach. It is obvious to anyone who knows me that running became my favorite sport, hobby, and lifestyle.

Running is probably the only sport that will allow anyone to have it in all three areas. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” - Hebrews 12:1 Although most people look at running the miles I do as INSANE, I see it as my life. Why do I run? Running constantly leaves me tired, angry, injured, and just drained. But what in life doesn’t? When a friend hurts you or you lose a loved one, it tears you apart. While running is constantly telling you that you can’t and is always knocking you down, it is always there for you to try again. I can be completely wrecked from a workout, and maybe I didn’t even come close to what I wanted to accomplish, but GUESS WHAT?! Tomorrow morning when I wake up, I get to try again.

When life gets me down, running is there. When life takes everything from you, running is there. When you feel like you want to cry from all that life is throwing at you, running is there. Running is this amazing act that drains the body of oxygen, energy, salt… You name it. It takes everything, but it does this amazing thing at the same time. It gives you ENERGY!! Endorphins are produced when exercising which despite the cramp in your hamstring and the headache from being dehydrated, you still feel satisfied, happy. At times, you almost want to laugh because it is insane what you just did but it left you smiling. The story of my life is running, in all I do I incorporate running. As a triathlete, I train and compete and focus in my specialty which is running. To pay for college I was on a cross country and track scholarship. When I graduated and wanted to go to grad school, my coaching of runners is footing the bill.

I constantly surround myself with great friends, but the ones that truly get me are the ones that have run and competed in track or cross country. I can probably list quite a few people who are not on the Brent Bailey Fan Club, but I am willing to bet if they know me even just a little bit, they will say they respect me and my drive… my love… my passion… for RUNNING.