Tyler McCandless is a Penn State Alum, class of 2010. McCandless was a 10k All-American on the track with a PR of 29:15. McCandless has run two marathons, both similar times of 2:17:22 (his debut) and 2:17:09. You can check out more about Tyler on his website, tylermccandless.com.
402 days ago I crossed the finish line at the California International Marathon in 2:17:22. It was my first marathon and 98 seconds under the Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying standard. I was very sore and exhausted, yet absolutely elated. I called home to hear my mom already crying tears of joy on the phone as her and my dad had just saw the live results online. An hour later I was sitting in a ice bath in my hotel room talking to my coach on the phone about how to become a better marathoner in 406 days at the USA Olympic Marathon Trials.
At 25 years old and only 13 months after my first marathon, I'm young in the marathon world. Many guys, like Meb, are running personal bests well into their 30s. I'm far from calling the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials my last race, in fact, it's a stepping stone to the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials. Of course, I wanted to do the best I could in Houston on January 14th, 2012 and knew what I needed to do while sitting in the ice bath talking to my coach. I needed to run a lot of miles. In the following 56 weeks I've run 5325 miles - an average of approximately 97 miles per week. In that time, I never missed a day of training due to sickness or injury - I was "unbroken" with my mind's eye focusing on Houston. I ran 18 races in that time with a highlighted win at the Kauai Marathon and an all-time low when a fever reduced me to pulling off the course after not sweating a drop for 23 miles of the Chicago Marathon. No doubt about it, I was broken in that race, but not for Houston. Every mile, workout, and race was planned out to make me perform best on January 14th, 2012 as well as the rest of my career and one hiccup was not going to deter me.
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I recently read the book, "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand about the story of US Olympian Louis Zamperini who was a bombardier in WWII. Without giving away the entire story, he went on a volunteer rescue mission and his plane crashed. Surviving the crash was a feat, but then spending 47 days on a raft without food only to be captured by the Japanese, and taken to a POW camp for the next few years. When he was rescued he weighted under 80lbs, which meant he lost nearly 50% of his body weight before he went on that ill-fated trip. Louis was unbroken in those years, surviving Japanese bullets, sharks, diseases, starvation, torturing, and anything else thrown at him.
The book made me think of the marathon while I was reading it. All of those miles, races, and core sessions are going to mean very little at mile 23 on Saturday. The 20 mile tempo I did on Christmas will be long forgotten. The only thing that's going to matter is my mental fortitude. Louis Zamperini lived through those horrible days, weeks, months, and years because he refused to be broken. He kept his eyes on the love for his family and coming home to see them again. On Saturday I'll be toeing the line with 150 other young men all at the peak of their fitness, tapered, and ready to compete. All of those guys will be trying to break me, similar to the Japanese attempting to break down Zamperini's spirit. I look forward to the opportunity to remain "unbroken" and run to my physical capabilities on this day that I've dilligently prepared for over the past 406 days. I hope to call home to my mother in tears of joy again and be able to celebrate with all of my friends and family that believed in me.
More athlete blogs for Olympic Marathon Trials
402 days ago I crossed the finish line at the California International Marathon in 2:17:22. It was my first marathon and 98 seconds under the Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying standard. I was very sore and exhausted, yet absolutely elated. I called home to hear my mom already crying tears of joy on the phone as her and my dad had just saw the live results online. An hour later I was sitting in a ice bath in my hotel room talking to my coach on the phone about how to become a better marathoner in 406 days at the USA Olympic Marathon Trials.
At 25 years old and only 13 months after my first marathon, I'm young in the marathon world. Many guys, like Meb, are running personal bests well into their 30s. I'm far from calling the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials my last race, in fact, it's a stepping stone to the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials. Of course, I wanted to do the best I could in Houston on January 14th, 2012 and knew what I needed to do while sitting in the ice bath talking to my coach. I needed to run a lot of miles. In the following 56 weeks I've run 5325 miles - an average of approximately 97 miles per week. In that time, I never missed a day of training due to sickness or injury - I was "unbroken" with my mind's eye focusing on Houston. I ran 18 races in that time with a highlighted win at the Kauai Marathon and an all-time low when a fever reduced me to pulling off the course after not sweating a drop for 23 miles of the Chicago Marathon. No doubt about it, I was broken in that race, but not for Houston. Every mile, workout, and race was planned out to make me perform best on January 14th, 2012 as well as the rest of my career and one hiccup was not going to deter me.
I recently read the book, "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand about the story of US Olympian Louis Zamperini who was a bombardier in WWII. Without giving away the entire story, he went on a volunteer rescue mission and his plane crashed. Surviving the crash was a feat, but then spending 47 days on a raft without food only to be captured by the Japanese, and taken to a POW camp for the next few years. When he was rescued he weighted under 80lbs, which meant he lost nearly 50% of his body weight before he went on that ill-fated trip. Louis was unbroken in those years, surviving Japanese bullets, sharks, diseases, starvation, torturing, and anything else thrown at him.
The book made me think of the marathon while I was reading it. All of those miles, races, and core sessions are going to mean very little at mile 23 on Saturday. The 20 mile tempo I did on Christmas will be long forgotten. The only thing that's going to matter is my mental fortitude. Louis Zamperini lived through those horrible days, weeks, months, and years because he refused to be broken. He kept his eyes on the love for his family and coming home to see them again. On Saturday I'll be toeing the line with 150 other young men all at the peak of their fitness, tapered, and ready to compete. All of those guys will be trying to break me, similar to the Japanese attempting to break down Zamperini's spirit. I look forward to the opportunity to remain "unbroken" and run to my physical capabilities on this day that I've dilligently prepared for over the past 406 days. I hope to call home to my mother in tears of joy again and be able to celebrate with all of my friends and family that believed in me.
More athlete blogs for Olympic Marathon Trials
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