Diego Estrada: Learning the tools of his trade
November 13, 2015
Diego Estrada isn’t afraid of hard work. And that has been a problem.
Landscaping? He’s been doing it since he was 10 years old, helping his father, Francisco, turn plain back yards into small paradises. Gutting a house? He bought a fixer-upper in Flagstaff, AZ, in 2014 and for five weeks that spring spent 60 hours a week ripping out drywall, tearing up floors, taking out windows, you name it.
In the process, he was demolishing more than just his living quarters.
“I would have a good workout and then struggle for over a week to have another decent one,” Estrada said in a telephone interview this week. “I just felt like I was running out of gas. At night, I couldn’t sleep: It felt like I had done a road trip and was tired but was jacked on caffeine.”
Blood tests showed that his levels of cortisol—which the body produces to cope with stress—were “off the charts.” Much of his track season ended up on the rubbish pile.
Estrada learned his lesson. Since then, PlayStation and the TV remote have been his allies in winning a pair of national titles, at 5K in September 2014 and in the half marathon last January. He won the latter in 1:00:51—the seventh-fastest time ever by an American—in his first serious attempt at racing 13.1 miles.
After competing in the .US National 12K this Sunday, where last year he finished as runner-up by one second, the 26-year-old will buckle down to train for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles on February 13, where he will make his debut at the distance.
“I’m not really nervous, but I am aware that it’s not an ideal situation,” said Estrada, whose 1:00:51 currently ranks him as the fastest half-marathon Trials qualifier by more than a minute. “I’m just trying to tell myself that if it doesn’t work out then it’s not the end of the world, and trying to be mature with it and look at it as one of those circuit races I’ve been doing with a bunch of American athletes, and … yeah, I guess I’m slightly nervous.”
He expects to have plenty of support on the course. Born in Mexico, Estrada came to the U.S. when he was 13 months old, settling with his family in East Salinas, CA, about 300 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Those California roots drove him to pester his coach, Joe Vigil, into letting him attack the marathon distance sooner rather than later.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever have another Olympic Trials basically at home,” he said, predicting that he could have up to 50 friends and relatives cheering for him on every loop, backed up by fans from a county boasting the largest Latino population in the U.S. “I was going to have a big argument with my coach if he didn’t allow me to run. Fortunately, it didn’t come down to that.” Vigil, who coached Deena Kastor to her Olympic bronze medal, finally gave the thumbs up in late September.
Should Estrada make the team, it won’t be his first Olympics. Although he became a U.S. citizen in 2011, confusion over his eligibility to compete for this country led him to accept an invitation from Mexico to run the 10,000 meters at the 2012 London Games. Grateful for the opportunity, Estrada nonetheless acknowledges that his heart wasn’t entirely in it.
“Hopefully I make a U.S. team and get to experience it differently,” he said.
Meanwhile, he is relishing his new identity as marathoner-to-be.
“I’m loving the atmosphere, the positive vibes of people, the support,” he said. “Everybody’s so involved, especially in Flagstaff; everybody’s gearing up for this, and it kind of makes me feel that I’m one of the cool kids now.”
Home / Race / Trials Blog / Diego Estrada: Learning the tools of his trade
November 13, 2015Diego Estrada isn’t afraid of hard work. And that has been a problem.
Landscaping? He’s been doing it since he was 10 years old, helping his father, Francisco, turn plain back yards into small paradises. Gutting a house? He bought a fixer-upper in Flagstaff, AZ, in 2014 and for five weeks that spring spent 60 hours a week ripping out drywall, tearing up floors, taking out windows, you name it.
In the process, he was demolishing more than just his living quarters.
“I would have a good workout and then struggle for over a week to have another decent one,” Estrada said in a telephone interview this week. “I just felt like I was running out of gas. At night, I couldn’t sleep: It felt like I had done a road trip and was tired but was jacked on caffeine.”
Blood tests showed that his levels of cortisol—which the body produces to cope with stress—were “off the charts.” Much of his track season ended up on the rubbish pile.
Estrada learned his lesson. Since then, PlayStation and the TV remote have been his allies in winning a pair of national titles, at 5K in September 2014 and in the half marathon last January. He won the latter in 1:00:51—the seventh-fastest time ever by an American—in his first serious attempt at racing 13.1 miles.
After competing in the .US National 12K this Sunday, where last year he finished as runner-up by one second, the 26-year-old will buckle down to train for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles on February 13, where he will make his debut at the distance.
“I’m not really nervous, but I am aware that it’s not an ideal situation,” said Estrada, whose 1:00:51 currently ranks him as the fastest half-marathon Trials qualifier by more than a minute. “I’m just trying to tell myself that if it doesn’t work out then it’s not the end of the world, and trying to be mature with it and look at it as one of those circuit races I’ve been doing with a bunch of American athletes, and … yeah, I guess I’m slightly nervous.”
He expects to have plenty of support on the course. Born in Mexico, Estrada came to the U.S. when he was 13 months old, settling with his family in East Salinas, CA, about 300 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Those California roots drove him to pester his coach, Joe Vigil, into letting him attack the marathon distance sooner rather than later.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever have another Olympic Trials basically at home,” he said, predicting that he could have up to 50 friends and relatives cheering for him on every loop, backed up by fans from a county boasting the largest Latino population in the U.S. “I was going to have a big argument with my coach if he didn’t allow me to run. Fortunately, it didn’t come down to that.” Vigil, who coached Deena Kastor to her Olympic bronze medal, finally gave the thumbs up in late September.
Should Estrada make the team, it won’t be his first Olympics. Although he became a U.S. citizen in 2011, confusion over his eligibility to compete for this country led him to accept an invitation from Mexico to run the 10,000 meters at the 2012 London Games. Grateful for the opportunity, Estrada nonetheless acknowledges that his heart wasn’t entirely in it.
“Hopefully I make a U.S. team and get to experience it differently,” he said.
Meanwhile, he is relishing his new identity as marathoner-to-be.
“I’m loving the atmosphere, the positive vibes of people, the support,” he said. “Everybody’s so involved, especially in Flagstaff; everybody’s gearing up for this, and it kind of makes me feel that I’m one of the cool kids now.”
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