Breaking Barriers and Building Dreams: The Lucid Motion Revolution

I grew up playing team sports year round and was never described as someone being gifted with speed or endurance. As a child, I was overweight and my diet consisted mainly of foods that were high in sugar and saturated fat. I hit a growth spurt in my teens and replaced lots of fat with muscle. The idea that the kid I just described would someday be breaking barriers and building dreams.

My aspirations of playing collegiate and possibly professional baseball one day were very high. From those dreams, I began running, consistently, for the first time in my life. Despite never being known as a runner, I discovered I had some ability!

After a few years of pursuing baseball, injuries and other setbacks motivated me to pursue a new chapter in my life. I always had a knack for social justice so I pursued a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from San Jose State University. My education here would play a fundamental role in the development of Lucid Motion. It was here that I learned about issues within disadvantaged communities such as higher rates of obesity and heart-disease, lack of access to trails, bike lanes and fresh food, lack of trees, bad air and higher rates of asthma. I didn’t know it at the time, but these issues helped me identify my focus audience for Lucid Motion programming.

The Origin Story: Overcoming Obstacles

In 2015, my wife and I welcomed our daughter, Paloma. I was in between jobs and struggling to establish consistent income and my fitness took a hit. The stress of securing family income and being a role model father and husband caused me to become depressed. I turned to food and alcohol to cope.

Life’s Crossroads: The Turning Point in 2016

In 2016, Ironman came to my hometown and I visited as a spectator. I caught the tail end of the event. This was when the racers, whose physical appearance was not too dissimilar from mine, reached deep to cross the finish line. I respected their effort but also remember thinking, “if they can do it, I can too.” Leaving the event, I spent the next few months researching endurance training. I was a little naive but crafted some workouts for myself anyway.

Embarking on the Endurance Journey

Endurance training was a departure from the “fast & furious” training I thought I had to perform to get results. When I started this frenzy I was quite frustrated by the lack of progress. However, slowly but surely, things began to positively materialize—I lost weight, I had more energy and I made friends with other endurance athletes. This positive switch in my life led to a new job, which I can only attribute to this new passion!

Triumph Over Trials: My First Ironman Experience

In 2017, I signed up to participate in Ironman Santa Rosa 70.3. However, the event was postponed and eventually cancelled due to wildfires and COVID. They allowed me to choose a new venue so I selected Boulder, CO. For me, this first event was a spiritual awakening. I felt like I had “found my tribe”. I returned to California and vowed to do everything I could to give back to endurance sports and share the fruits of my labor with everyone I could.

Inspired to Give Back: The Birth of Lucid Motion

I wanted to get demographics involved who I hadn’t seen present much during my training and at events (minorities and financially-challenged individuals) so I set out to become a coach. Within a half-year, I obtained my USA Triathlon Level 1 and NASM Personal Training Certifications. I was going to be the coach with the highest quality programming at the most affordable cost. I knew I could inspire others to become the best versions of themselves if I could coach them to fitness and help them discover their inner-athlete.

Using underrepresented demographics as my target audience, I created Lucid Motion. My goal is to train more individuals from these groups to eventually find their footing at the start line of endurance events. The playing field is not yet level, but I intend to put in the work. By breaking barriers and building dreams, everyone who wants a chance, gets a chance.

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