#103 - Bruce Davis is here to inspire us with his transformative journey through running and obstacle course races that gave him a renewed sense of purpose after a devastating personal tragedy.
Bruce opens up about how endurance events offered him a sanctuary of peace and introspection, and the adrenaline rush of his first Spartan stadium run, which he candidly admits changed his life trajectory and got him hooked on racing.
Topics Covered:
Hear positive ways to cope after tremendous personal loss
Discover the keys to doing hard things in life and sports
Learn how to level-up when looking to improve your running game
Listen to how the running community can be a positive part of your life
Today’s Guest
Bruce Davis
Bruce was coming from a very difficult time and he found peace through endurance events and obstacle course races. This year Bruce has done 4 DEKA STRONGS, 3 DEKA MILES, 1 DEKA Fit, Hyrox, tough mudder, two Savage races, two rugged Maniacs, three Spartan races. Bruce also just finished up running his first half marathon and Spartan Beast. And this is only the beginning…
“Inspire to Run Podcast is truly inspiring!” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — move toward the healthy life that they desire. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
#103 - Bruce Davis is here to inspire us with his transformative journey through running and obstacle course races that gave him a renewed sense of purpose after a devastating personal tragedy.
Bruce opens up about how endurance events offered him a sanctuary of peace and introspection, and the adrenaline rush of his first Spartan stadium run, which he candidly admits changed his life trajectory and got him hooked on racing.
Topics Covered:
Hear positive ways to cope after tremendous personal loss
Discover the keys to doing hard things in life and sports
Learn how to level-up when looking to improve your running game
Listen to how the running community can be a positive part of your life
Today’s Guest
Bruce Davis
Bruce was coming from a very difficult time and he found peace through endurance events and obstacle course races. This year Bruce has done 4 DEKA STRONGS, 3 DEKA MILES, 1 DEKA Fit, Hyrox, tough mudder, two Savage races, two rugged Maniacs, three Spartan races. Bruce also just finished up running his first half marathon and Spartan Beast. And this is only the beginning…
“Inspire to Run Podcast is truly inspiring!” <– If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — move toward the healthy life that they desire. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!
Hey, my friend, are you going through a difficult time in your life, whether it's related to family, your health or job? Well, today our guest is going to share how finding running and races after a devastating loss in his life gave him a renewed sense of purpose and a healthy way to cope with that loss. Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to Inspire to Run Podcast. Here you will find inspiration, whether you are looking to take control of your health and fitness or you are a seasoned runner looking for community and some extra motivation. You will hear inspiring stories from amazing runners, along with helpful tips from fitness experts. Now here's your host, richard Connor.
Speaker 1:
Hi, my friend, welcome to Inspire to Run Podcast. Today I have the privilege of sitting down with Bruce Davis. Bruce was coming from a very difficult time and he found peace during endurance events and obstacle course races. This year Bruce has done four Deca Strongs, three Deca Miles, one Deca Fit High Rocks, tough Mudder, two Savage Races, two Rugged Maniacs and three Spartan Races. And he just finished up running his first half marathon and Spartan Beast. And this is only the beginning. Welcome to the show, bruce.
Speaker 3:
Thank you, thank you, rich, rich, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:
Yeah well, thanks for being here and sharing your story. You have an incredible story this year alone. I'm just amazed by all of the races you run. I'm reading through this I was like I know you've run a lot of races, but this is a lot of races in one year and I didn't quite know the full story. So excited to kind of get into your story and just learn a little bit more about you and really, what was the reason that led you to do these types of races? So just take, you know, wind the clock back a little bit and just tell us a little bit about your story.
Speaker 3:
I was just you know, just that everyday guy at one point, just you know, we, you know we call him the Jim Rats, the guy's always skipping leg day, just you know. One day, arms, two days, chest back, whatever, and it just came routine. I just kept doing it, I kept doing it, I kept doing it. And it was when my son's mother, when she passed, it was just, I was at a lock, I just was still. I had no, I felt like no direction. I felt alone, I felt like I had nothing going on in my life but a routine. The routine was like the rat race of life going to work, paying bills, coming home. You know what I'm saying? And for me it was. I was just tired of that. I needed to find my tribe and my why, and it was when I discovered the Spartan races that you know, that opened up the door for me.
Speaker 1:
Well, I'm so sorry for your loss and I appreciate you sharing that with us and you know it's really great that you found Spartan and you found kind of that sense of purpose and I'm really curious to understand or hear like why Spartan?
Speaker 3:
Why Spartan Spartan was. You know, me and my friends, all we had this thing where we always it was like we kept putting it on the tape on the shelf, like maybe next year, maybe next year, after that, maybe next year. We just didn't want to. You know, it was just the regular, like next year, next year.
Speaker 3:
And it was one day I was on the, I was on my phone and I seen an ad for the Spartan stadium run and when I saw that stadium run I said you know what? Now is the time. It was only a month out. And when I saw it I said you know what, now is the time, let me, let me sign up. And from there, you know, 30 days, I had 30 days to train. I trained myself. No coach, no, nothing, just me and the will to just do it. It took me an hour and 40, I think an hour and 40 minutes to finish that stadium run and that it woke me up. That was the day I completely, like, switched the light switch went right off, click and I was just. I was, I was down, I was hooked.
Speaker 1:
So I appreciate you sharing that. You know, similar to to my story when I first started with Spartan. So you know I was, I was running as part of a team, we actually did train. So a little bit different from your story in that regard, but I did the rate by first race. It was a Spartan sprint. And then, you know, after that I'm like I want to continue doing this and I want to. I could know I could do better, right. And it was just kind of the spark was like this is I'm going to start this year this journey of doing things that I've never done before and overcome fears, and this was a way for me to do that. So, but it really just took that first race to kind of light that spark, right. So you know, tell me a little bit more about that. So you mentioned that you didn't train 30 days. You did the race. You know, tell me a little bit more about, like, what did you experience during the race? And then what happened?
Speaker 3:
It was. It was hard. My heart was just beating out of my chest. One good moment I do remember about that, rich, was that I had no training with the spear throw and I hit it on my first try. I go oh my God, I got it. They're like, yeah, you did it. I'm sure it did. I was really excited about that. Overall, looking back at that I had I discovered with what my strengths were and what my weaknesses were in doing that stadium run, and again that that was that will always be my favorite race for the rest of my life because that opened the door for me that got me into into this, into this world. You know, and after I finished, I was, I was hooked man. That's, that's when you discover it all you know the whole vote of what, what we do, you know.
Speaker 1:
Yeah for sure. And you know for our Spartan friends who are listening, they're going to be super jealous to hear that you nailed the spear on the first try. So I I can tell you after many races I don't think I've had a successful spear throw. So a lot of folks are probably going to be jealous to hear that you did that right out of the gate.
Speaker 3:
Right out, right out the gate man. And yesterday I did it. I did it and landed it. But I landed it on the second try because I knew I could do it. So I threw it up and burning in it and it missed. I got some. I'm gonna try this again. Screw that, I'm gonna try this again. Grabbed it, concentrate on my breathing, leveled it out, Boom and hit it. And as soon as I hit it I said I knew I was going to let that slide.
Speaker 1:
I'm gonna hit that mark. Heck no. That's awesome. That's awesome, all right. So you know what are the things that you learned. When you said you know you learned a lot about yourself during that race, like what are some of the things that you learned? And then what? Where did you take it from there?
Speaker 3:
I learned the world about my weakness as well, being a better runner, learning how to condition my body, pace and just overall, just a sense of purpose. I mean it. You know, dealing with your mental. You know, because every time you turn around it's something else, is something else and, like I was telling a friend of mine yesterday, see Spartans, all about mental. Yeah, the physical is there, but they really want to psych you out mentally. That's why every time you turn around, even at the stadium run, every time you turn around, there's more steps. You got to go up, you got to go up. They want you, they want you elevated, they want you to keep moving those, moving those legs to go up. And so when you come back down now you got an obstacle, you know. So you know, those were the things that I've learned, man, and I sense home getting on that I home did on my mental, and now it's just about focusing on strength and being able to to deal with the problems when they come because they're going to come.
Speaker 3:
Not everything's 100%, you know. You know 100% there's going to be some things that happen out there, but you got to be prepared for that and I learned that too, even with the stadium run.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, for sure. And you know, when you talk about mental, is it mental kind of the focus and overcoming the obstacles of the race. So you're talking about just in general, because you mentioned that you had experienced a loss in your life and you know you're looking for that community, you're looking for that purpose. So how did you balance that, how did you put your, get your focus and your mindset in doing something as hard as a Spartan race, with everything else kind of going on in your life?
Speaker 3:
Life man, you know, shout out to Shamika. You know I love her. I love her still. She was always used to buy me, even at my worst times in life, and when she passed away it hurted. It still hurts.
Speaker 3:
It hurts that it never goes away, you know, and you know, sitting there, sitting, you know, here, you know, dwelling, and not necessarily dwelling, but more so sitting on those feelings. Either I'm going to let them out through Spartan or I'm just going to consume them in a negative way, you know. And so I took her passing as a sense of. You know, she would want that from me. She would want me to thrive and be a way better person or take my journey to the next level. And she's with me. She was with me through all of them.
Speaker 3:
You know her and my mother. You know I had a lot of times on my shirts I put her name or I put her face. You know, even when I was at the stadium run in Philadelphia, you know, I felt her presence there, you know, because you know it was because of her passing that helped me, because if it was her passing I probably would have never, I probably would have never been doing this, you know. So it was that fuel that helped me be me, be who I am, you know.
Speaker 3:
And I owe that to her. I owe that to my mother.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah for sure, and I appreciate you sharing that and I think your message is a powerful one because there's others probably in similar situations that are going through something, and I've seen through and heard through stories like yours and others how running and obstacle course racing has really kind of been there for them during tough times and it's been something that they can turn to again kind of during those difficult times. So I appreciate you sharing your story and you know I want others to hear this and know that they have options, right, if they're going through a challenging time, it's. You know, now's the time to. You know, if it's something to do with being active and something to do with sports, it's great. Or even if it's something else, but just kind of that, that philosophy of just movement or just moving forward, right, whether whatever that is.
Speaker 3:
Right, right, right. Life is hard, you know, is what we do with it. That makes us who we are, and that's the sit. You know, life is like a deck of fit, you know what I mean. Or running, you know. A half marathon, 10k, 5k, an ultra marathon, you know what I mean, you know, and pushing through those will help you push through life, because it's basically it's like the same thing If you can run a deck of fit, there ain't nothing coming. You know what I'm saying. Especially, you beat your last time. You can do it, you can handle anything Because, again, what we do, you know, finding that time to train, finding that time to exercise.
Speaker 3:
Life doesn't stop for us. Yo, we pay for this, we pay to do this. You know what I'm saying. It sponsors for us. You know what I'm saying. We pay to be here. So life doesn't stop and what makes us so unique is that we can continue to do that while doing the everyday things that everybody else still does and that, definitely, with podcasts like yours, definitely is a blessing. That is out there so that people hear that and they see that and they know that.
Speaker 1:
For sure. And I love what you said about the crossover between you know, being active in the sports world and life. And you know I worked for somebody who was always interested in my running journey and always asking me, did you get your runs, or when's your next race? And they're really interested and one thing that they said to me was fascinating because they were like look, if you could do those things right, if you could have the mental toughness to do those things, I know that you're going to show up here right, you're going to show up at work and you're going to have that mental toughness. So you know, even he recognized kind of the crossover between you know, the active or athletic part of my life and the work or the professional part.
Speaker 3:
Right, right right.
Speaker 1:
So let's hear a little bit more about your running journey. So I know you did the stadium and I know you've. We just talked about all the races that you've done this year. So you know, let's talk about maybe one of your favorite races that you did this year and why.
Speaker 3:
Man.
Speaker 1:
Is that too hard to choose?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, yeah, because you know what. They all got a story. You know if I can I don't even know if I have a fit OK, because I could say you know, the half marathon was most inspirational for me, but high rocks was like the Holy Grail, because with high rocks I had no running, I had no running experience. I ran that when I did high rocks it was I had two months of training for high rocks, you know what I mean. And I had before high rocks I did maybe two deco miles, you know what I mean. So I had no running. And to run, to be able to run high rocks, was an accomplishment in itself, you know so. So that's my favorite one because of where I was at when I did it. My, my half marathon will be the most inspirational because my running improved. My running improved. I did I maintain a 10 minute pace, about 10 and a half minute pace. My goal was under 230. I did it in two 2032. And to me and that enriched my very first one, you know, out the gate, you know I didn't do a five K or a 10 K, I just I just went right to the half marathon and very, very inspirational. Inspiring for me because I just wasn't a runner, I was just one of those guys. At my heaviest I got up to 240, 240 like muscle. You know I was going to the gym that's lifting heavy weight and then I was like, well, to do what I'm about to do, I got to, I got to bring it back down. There's no way I can move all of that. I mean there's people that can do it, but but I didn't want to do that. I never. 240 was cool, but I like where I'm at now. I believe in that, like my last in body scan put me at 212. And you know the yeah, yeah. So I will say high rocks. High rocks because where I was at is a combination between high rocks and the half marathon. Those are my favorites as of right now because every single race I did this year has a story. You know they all have stories. You meet people, inspired, inspiring people like yourself. You know I mean and the conditions. You know I mean everything, man.
Speaker 3:
The First part in sprint, I did at Mount Vernon April of April. It was bad, it was bad, it rained that whole weekend. I did the sprint on a Sunday and that the day before I ran my first deco mile up, kind of up in the same area like an hour away in North Jersey, but it rained the whole way up there. But the deco mile was that was was completely indoors, the whole thing was indoors so it was nothing. So that sprint Was brutal because of the weather. People were sliding down the hills, it was muddy, it was bad. They had to shut down the bucket carry because Saturday people kept falling. It was bad, you know.
Speaker 3:
And that that race taught me a great lesson, and lesson is simple your mind makes it harder than what it actually is. It will always be that. Oh, my god, I don't want to do an ultra. That's 30 miles. Basically, your mind makes it harder than what it is. And I learned that with the, with the Spartan sprint, because I never I did the rain, the cold weather. I don't want to go do all that stuff out there. Who does? We all want the nice sunny, 60, 70 degree weather, but it's not like that. Life is not always like that. Is there going to be those clouds and is what we do with those clouds that makes us who we are?
Speaker 1:
You know I love what you said about the, the mental part, because it's almost like you're reading my mind. Oh, that ultra is too hard, is too long is that's absolutely what I've been saying to To our mutual friend, coach Kevin, like, oh, you know, he's like all the ultra's next. I'm like I don't know about that. I mean, I've got some, I got some other goals. I don't know if ultra is next and then and then the death race right, the Spartan death race. Oh my gosh, I was like the name itself should be an indicator. But but super cool, you know the races that you shared.
Speaker 1:
So first, shout out to high rocks. You know we just had coach Kevin and AJ Golik on Instagram live talking about tips to crusher Hi rocks race on Instagram. So that was a lot of fun. I personally haven't done it. I've only done the Spartan races and the deck races. So I don't know, maybe high rocks is in my future. And then you know you talked about the half marathon and you were building up on the on the OCR side, but you went right for the half marathon on the road race side. So I think that's interesting that you did that. But like, how was that first experience for you, kind of doing that half marathon, because you had been doing a little bit of running, I think through OCR, so maybe you felt a little bit more prepared to do that race.
Speaker 3:
Right, yes and no right. And that's a great question, by the way. Shout out to rich for that question. That's a good one, right. What it was was this whole year, man, this whole year, everything I thought about this. When I saw rich Ryan, when the World Championship, atlantic City last year, at the Decoral Championships, I had this whole thing planned in my head, how I was going to tackle 2023. When I saw that it was like Christmas for me when I Was in Atlantic City watching this, and that's when I first met coach Kevin. Shout out to coach Kevin. Underdog, all day I got mad love for my brothers over there, including my man, rich.
Speaker 3:
So I, when I, when I started running, it was April. April was when I started running. Prior to that, rich, there was no running. I did no running. I had no coach. I had no, nothing. It was all me just learning online. You know, I had no plan, no structure, until April. April was when I finally build up my, got my structure in place, got my coach in place. Shout out to Robert Woods, would he work out? And we he started putting things in place for me to start running. You know, interval running, progression running, easy runs, long runs.
Speaker 3:
After I finished high rocks and I started training for, because after high rock was over, my mind went right towards the half marathon and we put together my coach, rather put together the plan for me and that running progression, all of that help with that, could fit with everything else I had in the middle. So the OCR, the OCR side of what I'm doing, I Really do any running in the OCR, our power walk, I'll go up. If it's a nice smooth like level, then I'll do like a zone to light run. But for the most part it's just living the experience and enjoying myself and meeting like-minded people.
Speaker 3:
If we are hybrid races where I'll be into really trying to, you know, pr, get in, then you know, compare my time for my last time, like, like, like the deck of strongs, I did four of them. So the best time I did was like 16 and some change. You know I'm saying that was my third one. My fourth one. I wound up doing 18 minutes, you know me. But then I stopped because I was other a deck of mile and then high rocks and all of that. So so so my running just I used running as a base for everything else, especially now. So me running for the half marathon automatically is preparing my mind for the full marathon, or for the Rocky run, or for the beast. No, my legs wouldn't be able to take all that pounding had I not been doing all my running.
Speaker 1:
So Running is key yeah for sure Running is key. Sure, yes, sir. So you know, tell me a little bit about one of the questions I like to ask the guests that come on the show is what is the biggest obstacle that you faced, you know, during this part of your journey, and then, how did you overcome it?
Speaker 3:
Wow, the biggest, the biggest obstacle so far. Well, I want to say right now, my biggest obstacle right now was running, was running, my, I want to say running the half marathon. That was the biggest obstacle because I'm constantly. That was the longest, I was the longest. I was on my feet as far as like, not a sense of now, the Spartan beast, but even with high rocks I wasn't on my feet that long.
Speaker 3:
And it's mixed. You're not doing all, you're not constantly running like, you're like, you're constantly running at the half marathon. So I mean, yeah, yeah, I overcame it by my mindset. You know my mindset persevering, thinking about my loved ones, thinking about, you know, my loved ones, who's past, and you know just, grid and determination. Man, like I'm not anything I signed up for. I am going to make sure it gets done, no matter what. Now, that doesn't mean rich, that hey, like, like, like. For example, I got the ultra right in April and if I fail, then I fail. But I go with understanding and knowing. Guess what? I'm coming right back and I'm going to rock it the next time. So, like I'm playing, I got plans for all of that. So, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:
All right, all right. So, incredible running journey, incredible OCR journey so far. What's next for you? What's coming up for the balance of this year and into next year?
Speaker 3:
Oh man, you know I got a saying. I probably got it from somebody, you know, but I say a lot, especially when I'm out there on the trails or I'm at an event. There's always another race. When you are, when we are at races, that race whether we started at that wave or our wave, is later, the race is already done because we're here. It's always the next race, and that race that we're in is preparation for that next race, no matter what.
Speaker 3:
So my next race that I got coming up is I have I'm looking to benchmark my 5K and 10K later this month, october 21st. That's the goal. I got a, I got a pay for it on one sign up. Haven't done it yet. Right, that's the. I am, though I have the Philadelphia Rocky run. That's the first time I've ever done that. That's another one. I always wanted to do that run, but never did it. But now I mean they have three, they have three versions of that. They got the 5K, then the 10K if you do both. That's the Italian style and challenge, basically, you know half marathon. So I signed up for the half marathon and then that very next week I'll do the Philadelphia full marathon, and that's it. After the marathon. I'm done for the year. I'm with this train for next year and next year. Right now I got signed up for the Spartan Ultra. I'm making that rich. I'm making that a whole trifecta weekend that weekend. So I'm going to do the ultra and then the super and sprint that Sunday.
Speaker 1:
Okay, all right. Well, the world's going to hear it. You put it out into the world and we're going to be there cheering you on.
Speaker 3:
My man. Yes, sir, yes, sir, oh, and my future. I'm sorry, I'm not in control of two. I still got that. I signed up Hirox, I got Hirox DC. That's March of 2020, next year, and now, since I got one of the books, it's PR time. Now, you know, I got my numbers.
Speaker 1:
The goal is simple Beat the numbers, and that's all man, you know this is ongoing. This is ongoing for us.
Speaker 3:
I'm not. This is it for me. This is I found my people. You know what I mean. I love. I love what you do. I love the community. We was out there singing never going to give you up on the trail yesterday. You know we used to be singing that song because I had that song on my speaker and it the battery died. So they remembered it and we started singing together at the water station.
Speaker 1:
That's awesome, that's awesome so 2024, man, god bless it.
Speaker 3:
It's going to be a fun year. I'm looking to run more and I'm just so thankful for all of this, and I just look forward to having more stories.
Speaker 1:
All right. Well, we look forward to having those stories here on the show. So, bruce, kind of as we wind down here, what is the one thing you would say to our community to inspire them to run while they're going through a difficult time?
Speaker 3:
I would say use that difficult time as fuel and fire and passion to pursue greatness. You know what I mean. Let it become what it means to become in you, to be the person you need to become, because life doesn't stop for any of us. It moves forward. Just as there are bad times, there are good times. It's what we do that makes us who we are.
Speaker 3:
So get off that couch, get out there, get those mouths in, get those stories. Don't be that person, because that could have been me, that person 10 years from now, 20, 15 years from now. I wish I did it. I wish that's the worst feeling and I haven't gotten there. Thank God Now I can sit back. I sit back and look at the photos and you get that smile, that smile because you did it. Now only did you do it. You trained for it. You worked 12 hours and then you still found a hat that hour, two hours just to go out there and run or go out there and do some threshold work. You know what I mean. You know what I mean Compromise running work just because you know you wanna be at your best when you are out. There come race day. So get off the couch. Get off the couch, man. That couch is comfortable it is.
Speaker 1:
I have a comfortable couch back there.
Speaker 3:
I can sit right there and play a game all day. No man, it's about life's about living. So we gotta start living. So live, that's what I would say. I would say live.
Speaker 1:
Love it, love it. Bruce. Thank you so much for coming on the show. I really appreciate you sharing your story, your kind of, your origin story, your running journey and advice for our community. So how can our listeners find you and follow you online?
Speaker 3:
I mean, like in my past life, past life, even in this life, I call myself a super editor. I'm a video editor of one awards and video production for 10 plus years. So a lot of people I don't have like be fit on all that, it's like be productions. So they looked on YouTube for be productions. That'd be a good way to find me, I guess, here, or they can email me, if you ever want, bruce Davis, the number 20 at gmailcom. That's a great way, a great simpler way to get at me. And that's about it, man.
Speaker 3:
My YouTube channel has a lot of my fitness journey videos, a lot of animations that I do inspiring other people that I meet in the fitness hybrid community, people that I look up to and people that I inspire. I get that, too, from people saying please make me, inspire me, man. Thank you so much. Hey, I'm just trying to live, man. I'm just like you. You know what I'm saying. I'm just like you. I just want my kids to be proud of me. I want my loved ones to be proud of me, my family, and that'd be, like I said, the best way to get to me with my email or my YouTube channel. And yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1:
Love it, love it All right. So I'll put that information in the show notes to make it easy for our listeners to find and follow you Again, Bruce. Thank you so much for coming on the show and have a great day.
Speaker 2:
That's it for this episode of Inspire to Run Podcast. We hope you are inspired to take control of your health and fitness and take it to the next level. Be sure to click the subscribe button to join our community and also please rate and review. Thanks for listening.