LOGANSPORT, Ind. (AP) - Bryce Baldwin never pictured himself running a marathon. That changed when he started working for Nike.
A switch in careers and a new-found passion for fitness led the 2004 Caston High School graduate to complete his first marathon last year.
When Baldwin graduated from Ball State University with a degree in telecommunications and English, he accepted an internship at a record label and moved to Los Angeles.
“Unfortunately, what I thought was my dream job, wasn’t,” Baldwin told the Pharos-Tribune (https://bit.ly/1f1sY6O ).
While he was working at a record label, he started working for Nike, and he’s stuck with that. In 2012 Baldwin moved from Los Angeles to Chicago, where he is still working today. He has now been with the company for five years.
There’s plenty to like about working for the athletic company, he said.
“I like what it represents,” Baldwin said. “Sports have been a big part of my life - I’ve always been an athlete.”
Baldwin played soccer at Caston Jr.-Sr. High School and while he got away from that in college, he decided to pick up running and exercising after he started working for Nike.
Seeing how much people enjoyed running was one of the reasons he first tried it out. What started as running one or two miles turned into a Tough Mudder race which turned into a half marathon which eventually turned into a marathon.
Baldwin completed his first marathon in 4 hours and 8 minutes. He felt a mix of emotions afterward.
“The first thought was, ’Heck yeah, I’m done,’” Baldwin said. “The second was my grandmother had just passed away so I was thinking how proud she would be that I finished. Other thoughts were I want to take my shoes off and have this victory beer.”
Through running, Baldwin has continued to set and meet goals.
In 2014, he hopes to run four half marathons and one full marathon.
“At the end of the day you’re competing yourself,” Baldwin said.
His goal for his upcoming marathon is to finish in less than four hours. One thing he has learned from other marathon runners is to keep tentative goals.
“You don’t want to be so focused on (reaching a goal) that you tear cartilage in your knee,” Baldwin said. “You also have to take into account the surroundings - if it’s raining, you’ll have to slow down.”
If you’re trying to do a marathon, he advised to “give yourself a chance.”
“I never in a million years pictured I would run a marathon,” Baldwin said. “I did it because I liked how I felt after a mile or two.”
Other advice he has is to get on a serious training program, which can be found by browsing the Internet. Without a training program, it will be easy to put off running, he said.
Baldwin’s passion in fitness started when he began working for Nike.
Baldwin initially took the job at Nike because he liked getting a paycheck doing something he liked. As time went on, he really started to think about his options to pursue a career he enjoys.
Baldwin, a digital specialist for Nike, is proud of his job and the fact Nike doesn’t copy other companies. One of his favorite things about the corporation is its innovation.
“Our innovation is top notch,” Baldwin said. “It’s cool to talk about what we’re doing that other companies aren’t doing - I’m very proud of that.”
He also likes that the company is all about “athletes serving athletes,” he said.
“Before working with Nike, I didn’t care too much what I wore,” Baldwin said. “Since working for the company I have started to pay attention to what competitors are doing and what people are wearing to the gym and to work out.”
The clothes people wear to exercise do make a difference, he said. For example, he said, a cotton tee isn’t going to perform as well as something designed specifically for running.
The decision to switch careers has changed the way Baldwin thinks in many ways, he said.
And he doesn’t regret it. Instead, he recommends others give their hobbies a shot. “Try to do something you like and go from there,” he said.
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Information from: Pharos-Tribune, https://www.pharostribune.com
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