RUNNING
BEGINNINGS
It It all began with recovery runs after games during my last season playing soccer competitively. I would run about four miles on the treadmill, which turned into six to seven miles within a couple of weeks. Around mid-May of 2022, once the weather got warmer in Chicago, I started running longer distances consisting of laps around the 1-mile perimeter at Portage Park.
Soon I realized how enjoyable it can be to run at a comfortable pace for long distances. I had always associated running with fast pace and high intensity, which is what I was used to when training for soccer, and it was never fun. I was ignorant about the amazing effects of running on the mind, body, overall health and quality of life. As I kept increasing distances, I began experiencing the “runners high” – a great feeling of energy and well-being caused by the body’s release of endorphins – and discovered that running was something I could do long term.
Amidst developing a passion for running, my enthusiasm for trying to play soccer at a competitive level diminished. Training at high intensity began to wear on me and towards the end of my last season I wasn’t fully enjoying training sessions or looking forward to games anymore. Although it was hard, I accepted it was time to move on from soccer, and running was a tremendous help in this transitional process.
One day while checking out Instagram stories, I saw my younger brother Fernando had shared a picture of his running stats on a treadmill dashboard. I immediately responded to the story by sending a list of marathons around the U.S. for the year 2022, with a message saying, “Pick one and let’s go.” I wasn’t entirely serious, but just thought I would throw the idea in case he was up for the challenge. To my surprise, he chose a marathon from the list and suddenly, the preparations for our first marathon had then begun. Up to this point, I had only been running longer distances for a few weeks, but the marathon we chose – at Crater Lake National Park in the state of Oregon – was almost three months away and I couldn’t have been more excited to train for it.
Also, during this time I came across Nick Bare, who has a YouTube channel with great content on marathon training and running lifestyle. This undoubtedly became a source of inspiration for me to get into endurance running. Ever since training for my first marathon and eventually completing the race, I became avid about the whole experience and it’s something I incredibly enjoy. In fact, completing a marathon in all fifty states of the U.S. became a long-term goal of mine, and to date I have run eleven.