New Athlete Series + Meet Jason
Hello! I’m so excited to bring you another athlete training series. Last season following Kelly’s build up to Ironman California left many people feeling inspired to train and race. Thank you to those of you that reached out to let me know this was helpful. To see the high’s and the low’s of a journey is powerful. Training isn’t easy. There are days that the alarm goes off and you just want another hour in bed. But there are days when things just come together and you get to experience an amazing session. It’s all a part of the daily life of a triathlete. Kelly inspired many athletes to keep training through the high’s and low’s of a year dedicated to Ironman; isn’t that amazing? He also inspired one BEST athlete of mine in particular: Jason Spruiell. Jason reached out and volunteered to have his journey documented this year! So, while Jason gears up for Ironman, we are going to document his training. The good, the bad, the ugly. I hope you follow along for this ride as we get started.
Sidebar: Just a little Kelly update for you all. Kelly had a good Ironman recovery period (basically 3 full weeks) before we put just a little load into his system. We discussed 2023 goals and are shifting focus this year to running and local triathlon’s in his area. His next long-term goal is getting a Boston Qualifier.
Now, it’s time to introduce to you all, Jason Spruiell! In this post you’ll find some fun facts about Jason. In the coming weeks and months we’ll dive into his training and his goals. But for now, say hello to Jason!
The Basics:
Jason is Alabama born and raised. He has always stayed close to Birmingham, where he was born. He grew up in Leeds and now resides in Trussville. He played some sports growing up, baseball mainly and some football, but is a self professed “band geek”.
Jason dived into the deep end with triathlon. He signed up for IM Tulsa (the first year it was open) and that’s how we connected. He needed a coach to get him to that finish line in 6 months! (BTW he finished that brutal race!) But he is no stranger to doing hard things and pushing himself beyond what he thinks possible. He started running several years ago doing half marathon races and took up trail running as well. He has done some intense events such as The Four Days March in the Netherlands and the 30k Norwegian Ruck March.
Since then Jason has done two 70.3 races (North Carolina and Panama City) and a handful of run events. He needed to take a break from sport for a while and 2023 is his comeback year :)
When Jason is not training he is busy at work. He is a Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2) in the Alabama Army National Guard. He has served in the military for 20 years as an Information Analyst. In his free time he and his family attend UAB games, as they are big supporters. You can find them at most football and basketball games each season.
Jason is married (his wife is Christy) with four children, all grown boys ranging in ages from 19 to 25.
Fun Facts:
Jason is a beekeeper! He has several beehives on his property that he tends to.
He has 3 dogs that he loves hanging out with.
Jason completed his first official marathon during IM Tulsa.
The Race:
The 2023 Ironman Jason will be training for is Ironman Maryland on September 16th! This is a race he’s been eyeing for a while and it seemed to be perfect timing for him to get back into training and have a good build up for 140.6. So, IMMD here we come!
I hope you all will follow along on his journey. I look forward to writing these posts; but ultimately I look forward to helping Jason reach his next big goal.
Let’s Go!