Hi everyone! My name is Calvin and at the time of writing, I am 20 years old. I started running cross country, commonly referred to as XC or CC, and track when I was in seventh grade, and have had my fair share of coaches, training strategies, injuries, and accomplishments. I am now a college sophomore and am coaching my old high school and middle school teams. So, what makes me even remotely qualified to be giving advice to all of the runners out there who may stumble across this website? I believe it is because of my experience.
My Backstory
I have always favored cross country over track. My seventh grade year, I was the slowest runner on the team. In middle school cross country, especially seventh grade, no one really knows what they are doing. All of the athletes show up and are told to run, without much direction as to why, with the hope that when it comes time to run the two mile race on Saturday, the athlete can finish the race without walking. The point of middle school cross country is to have fun and stay interested in the program that way when it is time to go to high school, you have friends on the team and want to be there. This was not the case for me. I absolutely hated cross country my seventh grade year. I didn’t know anyone on the team, I wasn’t fast, and my coach sat in the shelter house playing games on her phone instead of coaching us. My best time for the two mile in seventh grade was 18 something, which got me almost last every meet. One meet I did get last. Nevertheless, I stuck with it. My eighth grade year, however, was a different story. We got a different coach, one that stayed engaged with us and didn’t play games on her phone. We won our league meet by breaking a tie with our sixth and seventh runner. I was our fifth runner with a 13:34. For those of you that don’t know, the five runners’ scores are counted. The sixth and seventh runners’ scores only count if there is a tie between two teams. My freshman year of high school, I was back to being the slowest runner on the team. There is a different coach from high school to middle school, and I constantly butted heads with my new coach. I can’t remember what the exact time was, but I believe I finished my first high school meet in just under 24 minutes. In high school they run a 5k, which is roughly 3.1 miles, instead of the two miles run in middle school. I was injured most of the season. There was something wrong with my hip that made it so I couldn’t put pressure on it, however, when I got healed, I had a new perspective on things. I figured I was stuck doing the sport, so I might as well try. One day while I was running with a senior on my team, he was brought up how he was going to run in college and said that if I applied myself and tried, I could still run a varsity time and get a varsity letter. Of course, to a young freshman like me, that letter with a cool jacket sounded enticing. I decided to really apply myself. I learned the league course like the back of my hand, including the hills, turns, and mile marks. I had specific splits timed out to know what times I had to be at when I reached specific distances. The day of the meet came and I did it. I ran a 19:49 and earned a varsity letter. I went from running just under 24 minutes, to running in the 19’s in just one season. Track season got canceled because of COVID-19. Sophomore year, I went from the 19:49 previously run my freshman year, to the high 18’s. During track, I went to all of the varsity invites and my best times were a 2:17 in the 800, 5:25 in the 1600m, and 10:53 in the 3200m. Junior year was where things really took a turn for the best. I turned my high 18’s into a 17:31 and rose to the second fastest on the team. I successfully went from last to second on a team of 13 people in a span of two years. I tore my labrum in my shoulder so I had to get surgery. I got surgery in February of 2022, which caused me to miss my junior track season due to recovery. I couldn’t run again until May of 2022, however, I was determined to not let my injury hold me back. I was in the weight room every other day starting at the end of March, constantly training legs. My thinking was if I had my legs in shape, then all I would have to work on is cardio. Over the summer, I received my first email about running in college. My senior year I had two goals: go collegiate for xc and track and qualify for state. At the beginning of the season, my high school coach of three years quit. I had a new coach, again. I told myself from the very beginning of the season that my time HAD to be 16:37 because that is what would allow me to accomplish both of my goals. At the pre-season invitational, we all called it pre-state because everyone in the state was invited, I ran a 17:30 something but placed in the top 20 meaning I performed fairly well. I knew I had a lot of work to do. As a senior, I was looked to for help by the new coach due to her lack of XC experience. This is when I fell in love with coaching. I got 12th in the WBL, earning me the title of “First Team All League”. My teammate and I ended up qualifying for regionals. From there we qualified for state. My qualifying time was 16:37. Exactly what I wanted it to be from the beginning of the season. This enabled me to go collegiate with XC and track. My academics gave me the title “Academic All Ohio”. My teammate and I were the first guys to qualify for state in about 20 years, and I was the first to get All Ohio for XC in who knows how long. During track, we had another new coach, and I helped with the coaching a lot for that, too, due to injuries. My teammates, friends, and family started coming to me for advice and I loved giving it out. They wanted to get better, get in shape, deal with an injury, or just simply needed someone to talk to. All of the advice I gave was directly related to my experience and time dedicated to the sport. Due to a sports hernia and life threatening surgery before I could really enjoy college running, I decided to leave college sports and come back home to accept the coaching position for my old high school and middle school teams. The injury left me unable to train correctly for about a year, and I am still recovering. I continue to run local 5Ks and run with the team where now I can get paid to do what I love.
Why?
This website is dedicated to runners like me who are always wanting to know more and get in better shape. My blog posts will answer commonly asked questions, as well as helping the readers improve in areas they feel they need to. I also have a store up with products to help runners and training plans to help people become runners. So what makes me qualified? Long story short, I have years of experience in the field of running, and most likely have some sort of an answer for your questions or problems. I know what it takes to go from being the worst to being one of the best. I know how to deal with injuries. I know how to change people’s mindsets to help them overcome training challenges. I know how to help with training. I know because I have done it. And since I have done it, I am certain that I can teach YOU how to do it. I realize I don’t know everything. I still have a lot of learning, as does everyone else. For now, I will offer all of the knowledge I have gained from years of experience, and all you have to do is read and try for yourself. There will be more posts to come and more products to be added to the store. If you have read this far, then you know that I am more qualified than most to help you become a more successful runner, and if you haven’t started running yet but want to, this website is for you, too. I will be posting articles on how to get started with running because anyone can be a runner, and I have training plans available for purchase if you need that little extra help. It is never too late. So why choose this website? I am not a doctor and will never offer medical advice, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider reading my posts. The majority of my posts are experience based, and if you choose to listen, you will see the improvement you seek. Don’t take my word for it, click through this website and read the articles that interest you, you won’t regret it!