Episode 126: In 2012 Bernie Montoya won the high school Dream Mile in a time of 4:01 and became the top recruit in the country. He decided to stay home and go to ASU. Whatever happened to Bernie? Well in college he was diagnosed with a heart condition and then had a series of injuries. Hope you enjoy this great story of overcoming adversity.
:50 There are going to be some that don’t follow the high school running scene too closely, you were the top recruit in America in 2013 and I want to get into the story of where you are now and what you have gone through. First take us back to when you were younger, back to when you were a football player and how you ended up in running
3:25 You ran your first race ever it was the Footlocker West Qualifier?
5:45 It is the summer right now and some kids are thinking about what they want to do their first year in high school What advice do you have for an HS freshman who is just starting their first summer of training?
7:22 When you were getting ready for your first track season did you push yourself to run with the better runners or did you hold back some?
8:39 Over your career what type of ancillary work or non-running work did you do that you would recommend to a serious high school runner?
10:00 Did you hit the weight room in high school?
10:43 Did you do many 2-a-day running sessions in high school?
12:06 All around the country there are kids getting ready to run their junior and senior years who are going to be aiming for that sub 4:10 mile or sub 4:50 mile for female. For that athlete that was a star like you, what advice do you have as far as getting finishing the career and the college decision-making process?
14:58 What was the most memorable or favorite race you had in high school?
16:40 One of the things that I always heard about you was how everyone liked you. You didn’t act like a star athlete that was different than anyone else, you respected your competitors and you were friends with them. Was this something you did consciously?
18:50 Let’s move to the next part of your career. You had to make a decision on where to go to college. Oregon, Colorado, all the big teams were recruiting you, how did you make your decision?
21:26 You get to college and you are an immediate impact for ASU, you have a lot of success as a freshman, how do you feel your freshman year went, how was the transition from high school to college?
22:55 Your whole story changes in 2015, talk about the heart condition
27:21 What was it like being forced to take that time off?
29:45 How hard was the comeback after six months off?
31:24 How long did it take to get back?
33:15 What is your best advice coming back from a long downtime?
35:19 What are you working on now?
36:50 What does the future hold for you in terms of running?
38:39 You can look back at your career with this time off, who can you point to that really helped you as an athlete and as a person?
40:48 I notice the passion you talk about your high school coach with, you think you will ever take that road?
Final Surge 5 questions in under a minute
Favorite endurance/running book? – Pre
Current trainers you are wearing? – Adidas
Favorite race? – Twilight
Favorite recovery meal or recovery drink? – Pizza and a Coke
Your favorite workout – 12×400
Where can people follow you online?
Instagram 2_bernie
