Brad Kearns is a former professional triathlete who resides in Auburn, California. A lifelong athlete and sports fan from an early age, he also has a sound literary skill, which first appeared in the pages of Triathlete Magazine. In this Q&A, Brad discusses his writing journey, disdain of wise guys and proof-reading out loud at bedtime.
Several top triathletes of your also dabbled in writing and you were no different. Talk about your early forays as a magazine contributor, how this came about and the methodology back then for article submission.
Well, I wouldn't say 'several'. Most top triathletes were expert at going to the beach, watching MTV, taking naps or reviewing race splits. I think its important to have a balance in life, particularly an intellectual balance to the raw physical work that a triathlete is obligated to every day. So I enjoyed sitting down and doing something else besides hard labor.
Talk about your subject matter then. Were you given specific briefs or would you pitch ideas?
Yes, I started out writing some magazine articles. The methodology was to suck up to magazine staff at races and pitch article ideas. I thought that would work for getting cover shots too but it was better to win races, and also have sponsors on your shirt that advertised in the magazine, if you wanted a cover shot. Usually I would write the entire article for my own enjoyment (no blogs back then!) and then submit it. In one article I discussed how my dog Duane the Dalmatian trained smarter than I did. He would turn back for home, or lie down in the creek if he got hot. That received a lot of good feedback over the years. In another I discussed what it was like to quit my job and pursue my athletic dream, the ups and downs athletes experience (like getting DQ'd from an 8-hour race for not making a complete stop at some stop sign en route). A lot of people connected with that. The messages were honest and real. There is enough bullshit in magazines to fill a landfill and make a golf course on top so I figured I could lay down some straight talk and feel good about my contribution.
I like to talk about perspective and mindset instead of training logistics. Most readers are not nearly skilled enough to worry about workout logistics. It is better to cultivate a pure motivation - a love for the process of challenging your body and improving and competing, and for spending time outdoors in nature. There are many ways to get fitter and the best one is that which you enjoy most. Recently, I loved Olympic silver and bronze medalist Nick Willis's blog post about Simply Running. Here is one of the great milers in history talking about training less and enjoying family more, ditching workouts he doesn't enjoy for stuff that's more fun. If he can do it at world level then the average person certainly can trend toward fun and
Being a top professional athlete, how were your articles received by your competitors?
My competitors didn't read. If we were sharing a hotel room I would read my articles aloud before bedtime.
What motivated you to put thought to pen? Did you have any formal training or was writing something that came naturally?
I didn't pay attention in school and had some 'loosey goosey' schooling that didn't challenge me, but I loved writing. In middle school we would write fake sports stories featuring us as superstars and read them to the other passengers the next day at carpool. I think high volume works to develop your writing skills, even if its silly stuff. I studied Economics/Accounting in college (which requires almost zero writing) so I still have no formal training. I know the Chicago Manual of Style is important but I operate by the Brad Manual of Style and hope that it makes sense.
Talk about your writing style. Has it evolved over the years?
I seem to inject a motivational tone into everything I write. Here in the age of massive information, we all know enough to succeed in whatever, but often don't put our knowledge into practice due to missing intangibles. So I seem to try and rally and inspire action in the reader while I'm communicating the message
You went on to publish several books, the most recent being Primal Endurance. Talk about some of your titles, from the earliest to the most recent.
My first published book was Can You Make a Living Doing That? - (just noticed on Amazon you can buy a new one for $57, or a used one for $1!), autobiographical about my youth and progression to becoming a triathlete. I have written or co-written something like 17 books in total. In recent years I've been working together with Mark Sisson to spread the message about primal living. Primal Endurance was a great opportunity to connect our past as endurance athletes with the present immersion into primal living
Describe the process of writing a book and the challenges as such.
Thanks for the question! I often hate it when writers ruminate about the writing process, because they can come off condescending to aspiring writer. I hear Tim Ferriss say how tortuous his writing process is and wonder why he's complaining after writing 3 bestsellers?
There are few challenges that compare to being a young athlete trying to win money in races. My old time training partner Andrew MacNaughton reminds me that the literal definition of work is mass times force. By that definition, an long duration endurance athlete has worked harder than most every other human in the history of humanity. Being an athlete and experiencing the high intensity successes and failures makes you more resilient for any other challenge, like writing a book.
I also appreciate a bit of advice from noted screenwriter William Goldman, who had a crappy cramped office with a simple metal chair and ordinary desk as his spot to write classic movies like The Sting. About his spartan office, he said he didn't want to get too comfortable. His one-liner for aspiring writers was, "Get up very early in the morning and work very, very hard." How can you beat that for advice and inspiration!
With that out of the way, I will say that writing can be a battle inside your head so you have to always keep going forward. You can't say you have "writer's block" and go for a coffee or a workout and hope you clear up. The tax return bookkeeper doing returns late at night (as a side business after his full-time day job) can't get "tax return preparation block," nor can the leaf blower (whom you are complaining is bothering your writing process) get leaf blower block and stop in the middle of your yard. Oh, and read Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird to appreciate and gain inspiration about the writing process.
Do you have any preferred time of the day for writing? How does putting pen to paper fit into your daily regimen?
Again, I don't appreciate wise guys telling others the right way to do something. People should figure out what works best for themselves. I like the tip Casey Neistat offers aspiring young career enthusiasts to not get intimidated: "Remember, nobody knows anything."
Any ideas for future books in mind?
Yes Mark and I are working on a book about ketogenic eating right now. Its the ultimate expression of the primal/paleo/low carb scene. The therapeutic benefits of being fat- and keto-adapted are quite amazing - similar to the long validated benefits of fasting (anti inflammatory, enhanced cell repair, delayed aging, etc) but you don't have to starve yourself.
