Who is PD?
My name is Jason Pedersen and I am an aspiring professional triathlete. I was once a runner and now coach Track & Field and Cross Country for Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. RunPD is my personal blog about training, studying and living at 7,000 ft. Find out more.
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About
My name is Jason Pedersen and I am beginning my sixth year at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. I graduated in May of 2010 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and I am now pursuing a Masters of Engineering. I competed for NAU’s Cross Country and Track & Field teams for five years, and I’m now an assistant coach. I am now making the leap to professional athletics as a triathlete. PD is a nickname that a teammate gave me as a freshman in college, and it stuck.
My Roots
I was born May 15, 1987 and grew up in Simi Valley, Ca, just north of Los Angeles in Ventura County. I played lots of sports as a kid, but running was always number one. My older sister began running track so it was only natural that my brother and I gave it a go. I had my first track practice with the Simi Valley Running Rebels in March of 1993 at the ripe old age of 5, and I have been running competitively ever since.
I was fortunate to have immediate success in running. During those first few years, it became apparent that I wouldn’t spend my running career sprinting out of blocks or jumping into sandpits; I was a distance runner. In ’97 I ran a 5:00.01 1500m as a 10 year old and continued to see similar success through elementary and middle school.
High School
I started high school in the Fall of 2002 as a very ambitious 15 year-old. Alan Webb had broken Jim Ryun’s High School National Record just one year before, and I had already made plans to join the 4-minute club.
As you may have guessed, that never happened. My freshman year went really well, running 9:37.48 for 3200m placing me among the best freshmen in the state. Each year after that, however, I failed to progress like many of my peers: 10-second PRs turned into 2- or 3-second PRs and so on. Fortunately, I was a part of some really great teams at Royal High School (Two State titles, one runner-up, and two births to the Nike Team Nationals in cross country) and will cherish the memories we made.
College
After being on such a great high school team, I wanted a similar experience in college. After taking a few recruiting visits, I decided to spend the next 4 years (or 5 or 6…) competing for and studying Mechanical Engineering at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff at 7,000 feet. I took several trips to Mammoth Lakes in high school for some altitude training (8,000 feet) and it was something I thought could help me bring my running to a new level.
Since arriving, my running has been progressing slowly but steadily. The 2008 cross country season I had big improvements, breaking 25 minutes for 8km twice and racing at Nationals on a top-10 team. The 2009 season was my best yet, finishing in the top-100 in the nation and scored on the 4th best team. 2010 was a difficult year for me, missing both indoor and outdoor track seasons because of knee surgery. I worked my butt off all summer and was able to improve on my 2009 cross country campaign by finishing 87th in the nation. I was happy to hang up the cross country spikes as a part of three top 10 teams.
The 2011 track seasons were bittersweet for me. I set a few PR’s, but still didn’t hit the times I knew I was capable of. My collegiate running career came to an end with an Achilles injury that severely limited the amount of training I was able to do over the last month of my outdoor campaign. I remarkably qualified to run at the NCAA Preliminary Round in Eugene, Oregon at Hayward Field. Injury or not, it was a great setting to finish things up.
What lies ahead
As I said, now that I have completed my Bachelors degree and I working towards a Masters to use up the last of my eligibility and delay “real life.” After I finish my Masters, the plan is to either find a career near home in Southern California and “take up what a friend of ours calls the hearty challenges of lawn care (Once A Runner, John L. Parker, Jr.)”. . . OR
Triathlons
I am no longer an aspiring track athlete. This summer I qualified for my elite license (first by winning the Treasure Island Triathlon at San Francisco and again by finishing top 5 at USAT Age Group Nationals). I am now in hot pursuit of a full time professional triathlon career. The ultimate goal is the 2016 Olympics. Do I have what it takes? It is way too early to tell. But I have a dream and I’m going to do my best to realize it.
Progression
Running
Event 800m 1500m/1600m* /Mile** 3km/3200m* 5km Steeple Misc. Event 1995 3:00.00 - - - - - 1997 2:36.59 5:00.01 - - - 69.93 400m 1999 2:29.75 4:54.57 10:38.47 - - - 2001 2:13.83 4:30.47 10:17.25 - - - 2002 2:11.63 4:24.07 9:27.17 - - 5’01″ High Jump 2003 2:08.21 4:33.46* 9:37.48* - - - 2004 4:27.67* 9:27.68* - - - 2005 4:25.70* 9:25.55* - - - 2006 9:26.02* - - - 2007 - 3:59.58/ 4:18.94**@ 8:51.32@ - 9:15.55 72:20 20k 2008 2:04.67 4:03.31/ 4:21.23**@ 8:22.11@ 14:50.80 9:09.04 - 2009 2:03.20@ - 8:28.47@ 14:50.69 9:14.94 70:35 20k 2010 2:02.8 - - - - - 2011 - - 8:26.59 14:37.66 9:42.12 30:01.31 10k Swimming (SCY, SCM*, LCM**)
Event 50 100 200 400 1650 2009 :30 1:08 2:36 5:48 25:55 2010 :29 1:07/1:17* 2:13/2:39** 21:44 2011 :32** 58.91:10** 2:10/2:34** 5:21** 19:55 3 Responses to “About”
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Follw Me
PD- I like the website, update you track Pr’s from 08 and 09. Also, your currently in the GRE, so I wish you well. Let me know how it goes. It was good seeing you up there, I had forgotten how much I like You:) I also would love to see you back on the track, so good luck with all the injuries. Also, the guy was up on his roof on Sunday shoving and he looked to be about 50% done, but he was definately slowing down as he had the Mrs. with him out there too.
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