In this episode I speak to Endurance Athlete Brandon Hozack. Brandon lives in Vancouver, Washington with his wife and son. Previously a firefighter/paramedic he currently works as a tattoo artist.
While claiming to not have an athletic background, Brandon got introduced to the sport of triathlon in 2014 where he started competing in local sprint and Olympic distance races before making the move to Half Ironman. In the summer of 2021, he completed Ironman 70.3 Washington.
Brandon is currently training for a 50K trail run in April of 2022 and has his sights on completing the full distance Ironman in Alaska in 2023.
Brandon shares that he lives with an autoimmune disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis, which is a rare form of arthritis that targets the spine and ribcage. Brandon explains how AS effects the body, some of the 1st symptoms, and what he deals with daily. Even through adversity, he believes that this disease has changed his life for the better.
Brandon is passionate about living his life in a way to prove to his son and others that you don’t have to be limited by AS. Taking the words of both his doctor who said “…we can’t let these diseases push us around” and his wife who reminded him that “an object in motion stays in motion” Brandon is determined to continue and push forward by staying active.
We talk about some of the things that Brandon has been able to accomplish including his favorite race to date. We have a good time analyzing how he could have improved 59 seconds in a Sprint Triathlon that would have yielded him 3rd place in his Age Group, and he vows to return to the same venue next year to improve his finish position.
Brandon shares how he has gone from a feeling of anger to acceptance and is beginning to share his story in the hopes to inspire others dealing with a similar situation. You can follow Brandon on Instagram @do.as.is to see daily accounts of life with AS. He believes that with perseverance and the right mind set someone doesn’t have to be limited by this disease.
We talk about the 50K race he has coming up, our thoughts on being social on the run, he shares a story of how he “paced” another athlete to the finish line and we, of course, talk about bikes.