Brief Biography

I figured this would be a perfect time to start blogging about my running journey because in the next few weeks I will be making some big decisions and leaving my little nest here in East Lansing that I have called home for the past 5 years.

Nothing beats the Steeplechase

For people who don't know me I started my running career in 8th grade at Jackson Catholic Middle School focusing on the 800 meters and finishing the year with a 2:19 PR.  I played Football in Middle School and by played I mean watched my teammates run on and off the field as I warmed the bench for them.  Still, going into High School I had big dreams of becoming a star football player but my step-mom and dad's friend really pushed for me to run because they saw I had some talent. So I called up my lifelong friend, Brett Leach, one day in the Summer and asked him if he wanted to go try this running thing and we decided to show up to Summer practice to see what it was all about.  We showed up and ran 4 miles with the team and just destroyed it and after that we both were hooked.  The rest is history from there and I graduated from Lumen Christi with 2 school records, 1600: 4:11 and Cross Country: 15:36.

From there I moved on to Michigan State University, as a scholarship athlete, under the Head Coach Walt Drenth.  For people that don't know Coach Drenth he is a world class coach who has coached many Olympians, NCAA record holders, Conference Champions and the list goes on and on.  So I was in good hands.

Indoor Big Ten Mile Final

College running is a whole different beast from high school and it was a steep learning curve but I think I adjusted pretty well.  By the end of my second year I had made Nationals in the 1500 and All-Region in Cross-Country, helping our team to a NCAA National bid.  From there though I thought it was a good idea to do my own thing and hammer runs no matter how I felt and my body quickly deteriorated.  After 2 years of 3 stress fractures and frustrations I decided that maybe my coach knew what he was talking about and started to listen to him and put all trust in his hands because after all he has had much more experience then what I had.

This past year of fully listening to him I PR'ed in every single event from the 800, 1500 and Mile.  I ran 1:50.53, 3:42.25 and 4:00.46 which were all significant Personal Records.

So if there is one piece of advice I can give to young runners it would be LISTEN TO YOUR COACH especially while in college.  Believe it or not, they do know more than you and are looking out for your best interests.  Go in and talk to them everyday even if it is 5-10 minutes at a time, it builds trust and allows you to be open about training, academics and any other topic at hand.  I'm kicking myself because I didn't listen to this advice until it was almost too late but I was able to right the ship in the end.

As for my future plans I am waiting to hear back from Team Indiana Elite in Bloomington, Indiana to see if I can join them or not and also looking at the American Distance Project out in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

You can follow me on Twitter or Instagram @JoshMcAlary

---Josh