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CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee
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Communicators Outside the Lines Feature Series
This is the next profile in a series entitled
Communicators Outside the Lines: Better Yourself, Better Your Community produced by the CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee. Read past profiles at
CoSIDA.com/CommunicatorsOTL.
WE NEED YOUR IDEAS!
If you have any ideas for this series, which will revolve around CoSIDA member volunteerism and health and wellness, please contact Goodwill and Wellness Committee chair
Megan Jameson, St. Edward's University Associate AD for Marketing and Communications, at
mhardin@stedwards.edu.
Q&A with Carter Brown
Virginia Tech, Assistant Communications Director
by Chelsey Chamberlain – LSU, Assistant Communications Director
CoSIDA Goodwill and Wellness Committee Member
Carter Brown, who is in his fourth year at Virginia Tech, serves as the primary contact for the women’s basketball and lacrosse programs, as well as working with the football program as the secondary contact.
During this unprecedented time it may be hard to get into a routine of health and fitness and to try and stay motivated, but Brown has been able to be consistent with his workouts. Prior to the pandemic hitting, Brown was already an active person but since COVID-19 hit, Brown has been able to refocus his efforts with his health and fitness journey and has plans to run a marathon one day.
Q: When and why did you decide to focus on your health and fitness?
Brown: I’ve always been active so it wasn’t a conscious choice to begin working out you know? But I have refocused my efforts since COVID-19 hit the nation. I have definitely focused more on getting my steps in every day and pushing myself to get better times when I go run on the trail.
Q: What has been the most challenging part during your journey?
Brown: The most challenging part is making myself do it every day. There’s always the temptation to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep or use the built-in excuse that you I had a long day at the office. Fortunately, the Peloton has an instructor to coach you through the class and when I go run, I’ve got my tunes and I’m always racing against the clock to be my best.
Q: Are there any changes you have noticed during your health and fitness journey?
Brown: Obviously I’ve gotten faster and stronger, but I use my exercise time as a reset for the day a lot of the times. When I work out in the afternoon I put my work to the side and just grind for an hour or more and clear my mind. I’ll take a walk around the neighborhood as a cool down and by the time that I take a shower, I wash the stress from the day away and put it behind me.
Really, I’m the same guy, but I can run longer than I have in the past.
Q: What are some goals you have for the upcoming year, both personally (health) and professionally (Virginia Tech Athletics)? What have you already accomplished?
Brown: In the next year I definitely want to do a competitive half marathon for and maybe go all the way up to a full marathon to really challenge myself. So far, I’ve gotten the half marathon down and my time of 1:45:04 isn’t bad but I know I can improve, especially on a flat track which is hard to find around here in the mountains.
Professionally, I want to keep improving and at this point I think it’s the minor details on a day-to-day basis, like following up on projects, holding those around me accountable and making sure that everything that goes out from my desk is done to the best of my ability.
Q: What kind of workouts do you do and why? What other activities do you do to stay active?
Brown: I live right on the Huckleberry Trail in Christiansburg so I hop on there and run all the time. From the top of the hill of my neighborhood to campus is about 5.5 miles so sometimes I’ll run there and back. Other days I’ll do a shorter loop and just track my mile splits.
We have a Peloton bike at my house and that gets a lot of use between me and my roommate. It’s so easy to get in a good sweat in a 30-minutes class and then get on with your day.
Not particularly strenuous, but I play a lot of golf in the summer and when the weather allows and when you’re walking 18 holes, the steps really add up.
Q: How do you hold yourself accountable during the busy seasons or just in general?
Brown: Honestly, I wing it. If I had a late night working a game, especially with travel, I might give myself a day off to sleep in or have time to run errands. Most of the time I do try to power through and stick with my regimen. Pre COVID, myself and a group of guys would work out in the wrestling room at our facility at 6:30 a.m. before showering and heading upstairs for work. That was the perfect situation because it left the rest of the day open for work and other extracurricular activities, especially when I knew that I was going to be staying later than 5 p.m. or had a game to work that night.
Q: What is some advice for others to get started or maybe hold themselves accountable during the busy seasons?
Brown: Do what you can do. That’s it. Everyone starts somewhere and if you’re looking to start a fitness journey don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Compete with yourself until you start to see results.
One thing that I like to do is Snapchat a bunch of friends after every workout as a check in to show that I got a sweat in. Many have returned the favor and we motivate each other that way. Finding a friend or a support system is another great way to hold yourself accountable and push each other to be your best.
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