Athlete Profile
Fitsok is excited to tell the stories of runners across the country and how they RUN FOR IT every day.
Brandon Southall, 25
Where do you live? How does it affect training schedule for events?
I’m from Peoria, Arizona. The Phoenix area is ideal for training most of the year with good weather and lots of places to run. During the summer months (when most states are in the peak of training/racing) it is difficult to find comfortable/ideal training weather. I have to either get up very early to run when the temp is below a 100 degrees or run late at night after the sun has gone down (still over 100 degrees just don’t have the sun beating on you). Trying to get a run in at any other time is doable, but I’m not likely to get a good workout in without jeopardizing heatstroke. Winter, however, is perfect running weather other than the short days. For this reason I schedule any major races in late fall to early spring so that I can try to get a good training cycle in.
Tell us a little about your background in running.
I ran a few little fun-runs growing up because my dad was in to running, but nothing big. I mainly played baseball, basketball, and football as a kid. I started running regularly my Sophomore year of high school …I didn’t have a lot of success that first year but enjoyed it because running was a sport where I could really push myself and see results. By my senior year of High School I had become a slightly above average runner, winning a few races and placing closer to the front at the State meets. After college I ran Cross-Country at Paradise Valley Community College, which furthered my interest and dedication to running. This was the first time I actually followed a running program and it did wonders for me. I was able to run across the country and compete in the national meet. The next year due to changing circumstances I needed a job and had to quit running for a while. A year after that I broke me neck in a snowboarding accident, which put a stop to any running I was doing. After healing, I began running again off and on and would jump in a race or two every so often.
You recently won your first marathon!
Two years ago I decided I wanted to run a marathon in order to beat my dad’s PR. I trained for about 3 months for the P.F. Chang’s marathon before I injured myself due to overtraining and a lack of knowledge. I still ran the marathon a month later but hobbled across the line due to the injury. This year I was determined to run again and train a lot smarter. February 14th I ran the IMS Arizona Marathon and had a pretty good race. I learned a lot from the year before, and spent a considerable amount of time educating myself on my injury and on how to properly train for a marathon. I ran the first 5 or 6 miles of the race with two other guys but then was all alone the rest of the race. It was a great course and perfect weather. It is a relatively new race in only its second year so it pulled around 1000 people between the full & half marathon and a 5k. Overall it was a great race experience (can’t complain about a win) but I would like to run another this year and try to better my time. My time for the marathon was 2:47.
Any races or event plans for the future?
I will be doing a local 10k at the end of this month and probably a few others here and there. One race I love to run every year is a 10 mile Thanksgiving morning. (You win a pie if your top 3 in your age group!) I would also like to do another marathon this year if possible. I definitely look forward to running New York or Boston some day just because those are the biggest races in the States – even non-runners know about them.
What about FITSOK is different from other socks you’ve worn?
FITSOK is definitely the best running sock brand I have ever run in. The different sizing options make a huge difference. The worst thing when running is having a sock bunch up on you or move around because it doesn’t fit properly. I always used to struggle with this before trying FITSOK. I have tried lots of different running socks – even some as much as $15 a pair, and none of them fit and feel like FITSOK. Secondly, I like a minimalist feel and look which FITSOK provides but at the same time it has a good amount of cushion. Some athletic socks are too thin and feel like your foot is sliding in the shoe. Lastly, I have noticed that my feet don’t ever seem to feel wet or sticky in FITSOK.
