Faster than a Speeding Lifetime
THE ATHLETE NEXT DOOR
By Grant Vance | Photos by Danny Alexander
Corey Queen
Faster than a Speeding Lifetime
N o relation to Green Arrow’ s alter ego Oliver Queen, Corey Queen has proven himself to be a hero of many sorts. His history of fighting an unhealthy lifestyle reigns over the past seven years. And although he isn’ t exactly the protector of a crime-ridden city, he’ s proven to be a hero to family, friends and – most importantly – himself.
Now a personal trainer for Bluegrass Phoenix Personal Training and Nutrition, a company he started, Queen is set on mentoring anyone who chooses to embark with him on his heroic journey. Throwing a BANG! at weight loss here, a POW! at fitness there, Queen sees no end in sight for his war on the tyranny of lackadaisical health practices.
With great health, comes great responsibility, he might tell you – he’ s completed 42 different races and fitness competitions over the course of those seven years, after all. Recently competing in a Spartan Challenge, Queen is not one to shy away from a long, challenging race. It wasn’ t always that easy for him, however; whether it’ s a radioactive spider, tragic memory or crashed alien space-ship, every hero has an origin.
From the clutches of childhood abuse, mental health issues and a now fateful health scare, Queen is no different.
Year One
The year is 2010. Corey Queen is casually going through his day, carrying on a discussion at work. He begins to tell a story about his wife, Damary, when something particularly strange happens.
“ I’ m telling this story about my wife, and I could see her in my head, but I couldn’ t remember her name. This went on 90 seconds, which doesn’ t sound like long, but when you’ re married … it is,” Queen said.“ So I jokingly posted on Facebook( about it). … Twenty minutes later, my wife called me and asked when I was going to the doctor … then if I had checked my Facebook after the post. I found about 20 comments of( friends warning me) this is the first sign of a stroke.”
After some slight resistance, Queen followed through with the wishes for a doctoral visit, not realizing how fatal a slight-though-significant memory lapse can truly be. First, he was directed to get a CAT-scan, which tested negative for a stroke.
It may not have aligned with the original scare, but it wasn’ t all good news.
“ The doctor asked if I had been sleeping well. I said no. I’ m an adult survivor of child abuse. … If I made anything below a B, I would wake up to a backpack of books( being thrown at his head),” Queen said.“ So, I grew up to be a light sleeper, because I never knew when it was coming.”
Despite the circumstance, the doctor recommended a sleep study. The results calculated a halt in breathing nine times within a 90-minute span of sleep, with 90 percent blockage another five.
“ So( the doctor) said,‘ We’ re going to have to get you a CPAP machine,’” Queen said.“ But then( the doctor) said,‘ So here’ s the thing: Most people I tell to come see me in six months. Looking at you, you won’ t live three. You’ ve got to lose weight, you’ ve got to get active. I’ ve had this conversation with 20 people this week and 19 probably walked out and went to McDonalds. … Are you comfortable having( your kids) call another man‘ Dad,’ because you won’ t be around.“ I left that doctors appointment shook.”
Meanwhile … a Heroic Training Montage
Queen took the doctors orders to heart, calling his wife immediately and beginning research on what his best strategy would be. Fitness can be hard to keep on its own accords, and soaring back into the game will almost always include a lousy jump or two before flight is achievable.
“ I immediately started to think, if I’ m able to sacrifice one hour a day, which isn’ t a lot to sacrifice. I spend an hour a day doing a lot of useless stuff,” Queen laughed.“ But I researched what I could do that would burn the most calories consistently. No matter how hard I looked, it kept coming back to running.”
To Queen, running was the last thing he wanted to commit to regularly. Joking he would sooner jazzercise or buy Richard Simmons’ workout DVDs( leotard and all), the act of running was about as daunting as it could be.
“ I tied up my sweatshirt and my running shoes, and I went running,” Queen said.“ I called my wife about 20 minutes later and asked her to come get me … she asked where I was, and I told her to open the front door and turn right.
“ I went a quarter of a mile before I felt like my lungs had left my body.”
The drive was there, and Queen refused to let his first attempt at running discourage him from his mission. After a good deal of research, he stumbled upon a book called Marathoning for Mortals. Almost as if this was his pinnacle“ overcoming the fear of bats and becoming
10 EXTOL SPORTS / AUGUST 2017