I started rock climbing sometime in 2004 and it quickly became my main (and only) hobby, and by hobby I mean all encompassing obsession. I did nothing but think about, talk about, and literally dream about climbing rocks. I went through multiple bouts of injury throughout the years of climbing, but nothing that allowed me or my thoughts to stray far from climbing. Eventually though, a multitude of events transpired which brought me to the place I am today. A rock-climbing runner.
I remember the first time I thought about the possibility of being a runner, I was probably 10 or 11 years old. I was across the street at my friends’ house, and I don’t know how it came up, but my friends’ mom told me that I had a marathoner’s body type, or something to that extent. Maybe that comment is the reason why, in middle school, instead of doing the standard P.E. I decided to try to run on the track team. For some foolish reason I was under the impression that having the body type meant I would be immediately good at running. At the first practice the coach informed me that I would be running the mile, the longest distance he had to offer (I’m sure due to my wiry frame). Unfortunately for me, the track coach that was in charge of my schools team was in no way interested in putting time into coaching the lone miler on his team. My instructions for 4 out of 5 days of the week of the after school training sessions were to go out and run the neighborhood for as long and as far as I could. These hour or so “long runs” were completely by myself, and in reality I doubt that I ever continuously ran much more than 20 minutes at a time. This training did me effectively no good at all, and when I finally made it to the first Friday night track meet I was relatively aware that I was not prepared. My results of course mirrored this feeling as I finished in a very embarrassing last place. With that, I experienced the last of running for quite a few years.
The next time I remember going out for a run, just to run, was about 2004 at the age of 20. Since then, and until September 2009, I ran here and there when the weather was nice or when I needed to have a deep and personal discussion with myself. But, I had never run more than 10 miles in a week before and doubt I ever made it much more than a few miles at a time.
September 2009 was a bit of a transitional time for me, I had hurt my knee and shoulder rock climbing, and on top of that I had decided after close to 15 years of smoking cigarettes it was time to quit. After forcing myself to get up and run for a couple weeks straight, and completing a few really quality runs, I started to really feel the positive mental and physical effects. I soon came to the realization that I was getting addicted to that great feeling a person gets after a good hard run. Not quite addicted in the same way that I got with climbing, but addicted for sure.
September 2009 I started doing 10-15 miles a week regularly in training for the “Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5k” that my company had paid the entry fees for. To be truthful, I was really training in hopes that I could beat the CEO who would be running, and maybe even be the first finisher from my company. I ended up doing both quite heftily, which felt really good and bolstered my motivation to continue running and finish a 5k in under 20 minutes. Then came the LuluLemon group, and Meredith Terranova. This was the beginning of what I consider to be the official start of when I started training semiseriously. In January 2011 I joined a free running group that was training for the Cap10k at LuluLemon that was being coached by Meredith, and by the end of it I was hooked for good. I’m not totally sure what it was exactly, or if it was just a mix of multiple things, but I have to give her credit for pushing me enough that I got fully addicted to training hard and trying to run fast.
Around this time I was still smoking those horrific little cancer sticks on a semi-regular basis. Then, finally, on Feb 10, 2011 I had my last puff of tobacco and haven’t been happier or healthier.
After the Cap10k all I could think about was running, and getting better at it. I started searching around online for training options in Austin. After a lot of searching and a lot of people telling me Rogue Running is where I belonged, I had my mind made up. In September 2011 I sent an email to Carolyn who is one of the people in charge of the training groups, asking if there would be any way we could work out some kind of trade; my services for their services. Well, to my surprise, she responded wondering if I would be interested in working water stops on Saturday mornings in return for a spot in a training group. I told her HELL YES, and we scheduled a meeting. After telling her how far and fast I had been running she suggested I join Team Rogue, coached by the mystical and extremely insightful John Schrup.
That is basically where I am now, I really enjoy being a part of this team, and I really love running. I even decided to jump headfirst into the deep end and start working at Rogue selling shoes, which I am REALLY psyched about. My current goals can be found here, and my current race results can be found here. And that’s all I have to say about that…..for now.
Born: March 18, 1984 — Height: 6ft. 1in. — Weight: 147-155 lbs.
Travis Training 