Mike Zourdos, MS, CSCS, Ph.D. Student, 5'6'' 23yrs. 158lbs.
I am currently a Ph.D. student in Exercise Phsyiology at Florida St. University. I just started at FSU in August of 2008.
How did I get here? I attended Marietta College in Marietta, OH from 2003-2006 where I graduated in 3 and 1/2 years with a BS in Exercise Science and minor in Sports Management. I played Varsity Soccer for four seasons, started for three, and captained the team during my final two campaigns from '05-'06. Upon graduation I began my Masters at Salisbury University (Salisbury, MD.) in January 2007 where I was the graduate Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach. I worked with all 21 Varsity athletics teams there and spent most of my time with the football program, for which I wrote their training programs. In March 2007 I obtained the distinction of CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) through the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association). In May 2008 I graduated from Salisbury with a M.S. in Applied Health Physiology. During the summer of 2008 I served as the Strength and Conditioning Coach at The Bullis School in Potomac, MD. (where I graduated high school from in 2003). In August 2008 I started as Ph.D. student in Exercise Physiology at Florida St. University, where I currently am. Throughout all of this time I have worked on my own as a strength coach as well and worked with hundreds of athletes from high school and college to professional.
As you can see from my videos lifting is my life. What you can't see from my videos is that that it is only half of my life, the other half is running. This concurrent training (strength training and endurance training) make it extremely difficult to continue to gain strength and be a competitive runner. Long distance running inhibits power, hypertrophy, and maximal strength while my type of lifting creates a body type that is not conducive to endurance training. The other side of it is trying to run 8-10 miles on a day where you have lifted for 2 and 1/2 hours with lunging over 350 pounds during your workout is not easy. But you can't think about those things, that is what makes the difference, this is when it's time to be a machine and just get the job done. In the end it doesn't matter what it feels like, all that matters is that it needs to get done. And this is what makes the difference in your life. This brings me to my point; Do you know anybody else who weighs only 158lbs. can Stationary Lunge 385lbs. and runs marathons?
In March 2007 I completed the Wirefly National Marathon in Washington D.C. as my first marathon, with no training (aside from normal running, 15 miles a week). I signed up the night before and finished in 4hours and 48 minutes.
I ran my second marathon at the Baltimore Marathon in October 2007. I was able to complete the 26.2 mile course in 4hours and 17minutes.
My third marathon was March 2008 in Washington D.C. in the Suntrust National Marathon, this is my personal record to date with a time of 3hours 57minutes and 10seconds. That is a 9minute and 3second per mile pace.
The fourth marathon was the 2008 UnderArmour Baltimore Marathon with a time a 3hours and 54minutes, an 8minute and 57second mile pace.
The fifth and most recent marathon was the 2009 Tallahassee Marathon where I finished with a personal best of 3:44:41, an 8 minute and 35 second mile pace.
In December 2007 I competed in the 2007 Maryland State Powerlifting Championships, where I competed in the 165 pound weight class. I won my weight class in the bench with a lift of 248lbs. although my actual weight was only 154.