eric campbell

My name is Eric Campbell, and I was born and raised in Battle Creek, Michigan.  I have 2 boys, ages 14 and 5, and engaged to my beautiful fiancee.  I have a Bachelor of Arts in Management and Organizational Development from Spring Arbor University, and a Master's of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University.  I was always involved in sports all the way through high school.  Once I graduated and started my professional career, my free time for sports and the gym took a back seat and I started to become very unhealthy.  I am a Type 1 Diabetic, so the unhealthy life style had an extra negative impact on my life.  I gained a lot of weight and was almost 300 lbs.  I made the decsion to change my unhealthy ways and started really focusing on my health.  I lost over a hundred pounds through exercise and healthy eating habits.  I then decided my goal was to run a 5k.  I had no idea how to train for this, as running was never my favorite thing to do.  I did my best and ended up finishing 2nd in my age group for my first race.  From there I was hooked and decided that a half marathon was next.  I trained by myself again and was able to finish the race under my goal time.  I then had the brilliant idea to run a marathon.  I incorporated several 5k, 10k, and other races into my training while preparing for the marathon.  Being a Type 1 Diabetic, it is very difficult to manage my blood sugar over the long training runs, so it was very difficult getting prepared.  I ran the race, blacked out after 22 miles due to low blood sugar, but still managed to finish.  I changed up my training and insulin delivery methods and did a lot of research in preparing for my next marathon.  It paid off as I was able to complete that one, and several more, including a few ultra marathons without any problems.  Unfortunately, I was injured running the Chicago Marathon in 2015 that required an extensive hip surgery.  I decided to switch gears and move from running to weights and getting stronger.  I am continuing my fitness journey everyday and look forward to going to the gym to help people and help myself.