Live From Dream Run Camp: Tyler Day

pattern here. So, uh, let's break to commercial.

Got it.

I need to gather myself.

Yeah, I feel that.

And for news of our sponsors, uh, welcome to episode number whatever of Live from Dream Run Camp. Uh, we're coming at you from the Dream House in Flagstaff, Arizona. Uh, thank you for joining. Thank you for listening on demand, uh, in the year 2027, if Earth still exists then. Talk about tangents.

Yeah, I feel— hey, man, I've seen 2001: A Space Odyssey. We're closer than they appear. 1984, Big Brother. We're getting there.

Yeah, I keep telling Lauren we're not going to be here in 6 months, but if we are, yeah, we're doing all right. There's hope. Our guest this evening is one Tyler Day, former standout track and field and cross-country runner at the local university, Northern Arizona University, NAU, the Lumberjacks. Go Lumberjacks.

Go Jacks.

And which is where one of our longest-tenured Dream Runner, Kelly, who's sitting right over there, She will be attending NAU, God willing, in sports psychology very soon. This is part of the master plan, developing a cult here. We'll be the survivors when the world ends in 6 months. Dream Run Camp, this is where you want to be.

A refuge.

Yeah. Yeah, so it's kind of a survivalist thing with a running theme. Um, anyhow, uh, so yeah, so, uh, Tyler graduated from NAU and went straight to the local professional running team, or the biggest and best— I don't want to offend anyone— um, uh, Hoka Northern Arizona Elite. Um, promptly got injured, then got injured again. And like, we don't want to— we'll get into this a little bit. I mean, you're not running right now, and that's You know, I try to— I just, when I advertise these events, I put out a theme. We don't only have to talk about injury.

Hey man, you're running the show, man. I'm just hopefully I bring some context to it and some dad jokes. I mean, I'm not a dad, but I could definitely bring some jokes.

You got dad jokes.

Trust me.

I know you well enough at this point.

Well, I might have something on my sleeve even though it's up here.

Oh dear. Those are very short sleeves. Not a lot of dad jokes. Anyhow, welcome Tyler.

Thanks Matt. Thanks everybody. Appreciate being here. This is cool. It's a sweet little establishment you have here, but yeah, happy to be here.

Yeah. And as I said, when I gave you the tour around the property, I certainly hope and expect this won't be your last time. Open door policy.

For sure.

Casa su casa.

For sure. You have a little secret knock sometimes, but if not, I could just barge in.

Yeah, it's a little more high tech than that. We got codes. We can—

Got it. That works too.

Special team code.

Yeah, there we go.

Yeah.

It's not just like, yeah, it's not just 1, 1, 1, 1. I feel that. Yeah.

I'll feel like we finally arrived as a cult when I get the, like, the first, like, 3 AM, like, NAZ runner, like, I just really need the hyperbaric chamber treatment. Like, they just, they just walk in. I'm semi-asleep, though, you know, I'll get the chime down in the casita. It's like, who is it? I can hear a buzzing. Someone's in the hyperbaric chamber. Could be you. Yeah.

Could be me. Hopefully not at 3 AM. Hopefully I'm sleeping, recovering, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Yes. So let's, like, before we get into injury and, you know, just like to set the table a little bit, like, you know, we talked a little bit, like, this was, this whole thing was teed up when you and I just shared some time in the waiting area at Hypo 2. You had an appointment with, was it AJ or Wes? AJ.

AJ. He's my man.

Yeah. Yeah. He's the man. Um, and yeah, so we, we just talked a little bit, you know, I, I'm aware of what you've been going through and, you know, on the one hand, I feel like, God, I can relate so much because like, you know, I was a constantly continually injured runner for decades. On the, on the other hand, like, I can't relate in the sense that you're a professional runner. So, I mean, the stakes are just very— I mean, they're crucially different. Um, so we'll get there. And, uh, yeah, just the idea is that, um, this is a, this is a universal experience. And like, you have a lot to offer, um, on that because like you're, I mean, it might not feel like it always, but I think you're probably coping with it, dealing with it with a sport team around you at an elite level. Right. Um, and that, and therefore, like, because injury is a universal experience, you'll have something to offer. Those listening. But, rewinding from that, I'd like to start these conversations by asking how you were introduced to running. Was it the discovery of talent that came first or falling in love that came first?

Got it. So, I would say that how I got into running was I failed at every other sport known to man, at least to my standards. If you ask my mom or dad, like, no, I did the darnest. But honestly, I just wasn't going anywhere in any of the other sports. My dream growing up was to be a professional catcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks. I had dreams of being a D-back player, winning a bunch of World Series, being a Hall of Famer, and yeah, retiring super awesome, like, and being Cooperstown. But yeah, as the older I got, you could tell my upper body strength definitely filled in. And so a bunch of people, when I tried to go out for my 7th grade baseball— number one, when I try to, when I try to go out for my 7th grade baseball team, yeah, I was just not— I did not have the gene pool winnings for that. People that were able to throw farther, that were taller and stronger than me were able to make it to the team, and I was nowhere near close on making the cut. So that was kind of like really sad. But the year before, I did cross-country because my sister— shout out to my sister Kendall, who is 2 years older than me— she did track and field before I did. So when I was elementary school, she was in junior high. She mainly did shot put and discus, but I just saw people run on the track and I was like, that looks pretty cool. It'd be kind of cool to try it one day. And yeah, going into my 7th grade, my sister told me there's a sport called cross country. I was like, do we run across the state of Arizona? And she was like, no, you just run for a long time. And yeah, I went out for it my 7th grade year. Mr. Aragon, who was my social studies teacher, he called me Mr. Knight, um, was like, yo, you want to try out for the team? And I was like, heck yeah.. And yeah, my first race I got third. And so I was like, yeah, I think I might be good at this. And then yeah, I tried out for baseball, didn't make it. And I was like, well, I'm going to try out for track. And then since then, I've been a baseball fan ever since, but never tried to pursue it. Um, but yeah, I think it's just the short term was just, yeah, I sucked at every other sport except for one, which is running away from my bullies. And I guess it worked out.

So yeah. So, uh, lingering a bit on that. So those fantasies of greatness, And I mean, let's admit it. I mean, I mean, so many runners can relate to that, that, that was their experience. And it's not just, I mean, well, the reason you try every other sport first is that the other sports are more popular. They're considered more fun. So, I mean, I mean, to be talented at one sport is a beautiful blessing. It's just like, there's a reason so many of us try running last and that's like something with a ball and it team. It just seems, seems cooler and more attractive. But, you know, it's interesting to me that you had these, you know, these fantasies or, you know, visions of greatness in baseball, because I see that so often. Like, you know, I, I just have a fascination with the minds of elite athletes, and you see that over and over and over. It's like, it's almost like the— it's like the subterranean prerequisite, like Even before talent or a gift for a sport, it's like that mentality, just like that yearning to just have a gold medal draped around your neck and have the national anthem sung. So, it's like, is that how you're wired?

I mean, if anything, it's good to have a drive. And, I know this is very running-centric and I know this is all about sports, but just anything in life, you don't have to be an athlete to have a drive. Sometimes you want to be a great painter and For some painters, you try to find your own art style and make sure you have faith in it and be driven in that and try to be successful in that. For writers, you could easily copy some of the best writers, whether it's Stephen King or Crichton or anything like that. But at the end of the day, it has to be your own voice. At least for running, it's just you just have to have that drive because mom and dad might help you with the financial side of things and try to get you on the team, but they're not out there playing the sport. You are. It's all you. So you kind of have to have a little bit of a drive. Um, and I think for me, like, I definitely am very driven, and especially when it came to running-centric, because running came to me at a very impressionable time in my life. It was in junior high. So while other people are going through puberty, I just mutated. And, um, and that joke number 2. Yeah.

And for those keeping score at home.

And, um, and, and, and for me at that time, I kind of felt like I was being overlooked. And it was very underwhelming. It was very sad. And when I got into running, I got popular from it. And people want to thrive on being cool and stuff, even though the life of distance running is all about sex, drugs, and rock and roll. So I quickly tried to adapt. I quickly tried to adapt to that lifestyle. But yeah, I think for me, it really gave me kind of like some sort of like a shine to myself and gave me something to grab onto that uh, made me seem— made me feel seen, which has been super, uh, important, and, um, which has been, you know, super cool, especially during the impressionable Tyler back in the day.

Yep. Yeah, so yeah, so I get it. Um, I mean, this is a, a common enough story where you strike out, so to speak, at every other sport, then you find like, you know, I don't suck at running. Yeah. And then, then you, you start to you start to be funneled, right? It's just like, you know, there's a lot of reinforcement. You know, the coach is like, you're really good, we're counting on you. And then, you know, you get the positive feedback. You're probably in the local newspaper. And then, but still, like, you know, there's a spectrum of people who end up channeled in that way. And some of them, maybe their passion isn't all that great. It's just a matter of like, Well, now this is what's expected of me. Like, I'm going to try to get a scholarship. I'm trying to, you know, I'm going to go to a D1 school and try to be an All-American. But like, you know, it's almost like a matter of like simply following, you know, the path of least resistance, even though like it is a gift and it takes a lot of work. And then there are others who are like, oh yeah, I want this bad. Like, I want to, I really want to see how far this journey can take me. Where were you in this spectrum?

I would definitely say the latter. I definitely felt like when I did do baseball and when I did do flag football and I did soccer, when I did the other two, it was like, cool, I'm down to try it once, but I really like baseball. And then when I did baseball, my dad paid for professional hitting coach and I did club ball. They put in money and they traveled across the state of Arizona half the time to watch me be a benchwarmer. And that's very, you know, sad. And, and having like the coach's son start before you was very degrading as well. Not that he was a bad player, but just kind of like, give me a chance. All I want is a chance. And I feel like if there's anything in life, you know, people just want a chance. And I think for running, what really gravitated towards me towards that was, doesn't matter if you're the coach's son, doesn't matter if you have the coolest gear, are you able to run? And for me, I wasn't the coach's son. I didn't have the flashes of running gear, but I knew how to run. That was my shin dig. And so, and that's what made me gravitate towards that. But yeah, I think for me it was just kind of like, I want to see how far I can go. In junior high, that's when I found out that running could be a thing in college, which I never knew because when you click on ESPN for college stuff, what is it? Softball, baseball, football, volleyball, but you never see swimming, you never see really track and field. And if you did, it was only one time. But I never really saw anything about even cross country. So I didn't even think, even fathom that you could run in college until I was in junior high. And I'm like, you know what would be kind of cool to like— and I grew up in Gilbert, Arizona, which is close to ASU, and I grew up a Sun Devils fan. So I was like, it'd be kind of cool to run for the Sun Devils. That would be pretty cool and see how far I can go. So for me, that was always a drive to strive for the next level. 'Cause when I was in junior high, I was like, well, I wanna see if I could strive for college. And then when I was in high school, it was still strive for college. And when I was in college, I was like, I wanna see if I could do this professionally. I wanna see if I'm good enough for a company to be like, we want that guy. And then now that I am a professional, it's been super underwhelming because I haven't been able to achieve little Tyler's dreams according to my standards. Now, as we talk, I will go through that my standards have changed, thankfully, but Um, but yeah, at the time it was very, um, sad that, you know, I should be happy, you know, I have professional athlete to my name, I had that title, but I don't feel like a professional athlete. And that was degrading, killing me, uh, slowly on the inside.

Yeah, yeah.

Um, and do you mean to bring the room down a little bit?

Yeah, no, no, I mean, that's like, you know, that's— I mean, this is— we, we want the real. Yeah, like, this is— we bring the real. For sure. Yeah.

So, uh, but yeah, I definitely feel like I had that drive. I definitely had that drive to see, like, I want to see how far I can go, uh, because in my family, I think the highest sporting you can get was like high school, at least for my parents in general. My dad, uh, never made varsity wrestling. He made JV wrestling and only to his junior year, then he got burnt out. And then my mom, uh, and this is back in Iowa, so it was just kind of like if you wrote your name on the sheet, you had instantly made the team. It wasn't as competitive as it was out here, uh, in the Southwest, at least in the Phoenix area. And yeah, my mom, she did every single sport, but the one that she always brags about is being a pom-pom gal. But yeah, but my parents were super— very different than cheerleaders. They just— yeah, very different. I don't know where, but she says it's very different. Um, but I already knew, like, I came— like, my parents were into sports. My sister did sports in junior high. Like, it was an active background, but never to the point where I could They could have gone to college for it. That was just insane. I never thought anyone from the Day family could do that. And also, the weird caveat is growing up, I've never seen my parents run at all. My mom had really bad arthritis in her knees, which— and recently, she just got them replaced, which is doing significantly better and has been way active. But yeah, I've never seen my mom run at all. And my dad, I think I could count on one time I've seen him run, and that was to probably chase after me to get out of the road or something. Growing up, I never thought that anyone in my family was able to run. So, when I did it, it was just like, "Am I supposed to do this? I never seen my family do this." It was very weird, but I'm glad to be able to find it.

Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting. So, when you come at— you're on this ascendant path in your sport and the expectations are low just based on the fact that I mean, it's a kind of naivete, right? Like, like your milieu did not provide examples of like, oh yeah, like good running. And then there's the Olympics. For you, it's like, oh wow. You know, it's like stage by stage. So then you get to NAU and, um, you know, not only are you