Summertime is full of sun, fun and barbecues galore.
But Josh Mance does not have time for that.
He's got bigger fish to fry.
The USC sophomore has his sights set on the 2012 Olympics. If he's going to make it to London this summer to compete in track and field, he realizes he's going to have to give up certain things.
"It could be anything from hanging out with your cousins at a barbecue or going to a party with your friends," Mance said. "It's just cutting back on everything and putting everything 100 percent towards track and meeting your goal because in the end that's why I'm here.
"This is why I'm at USC, this is why I'm doing everything right now is for track so I have to dedicate everything right back to the track."
There was a time when Mance didn't think he would have to give up anything for track. It started out as one of the sports, along with football and basketball, that his mom signed him up for as a youngster because he was "always hyper."
His first love was basketball, but track stuck because he was naturally good at it.
He was so good that he eventually landed at USC and took the Trojans track program by storm in 2011 as a freshman, earning All-American honors.
Mance finished fourth at the Pac-10 Championships and sixth at the NCAA Championships in the 400m. It was there, that he ran a 45.29 to set a USC freshman record.
He continued his pace into this season when he ran a season-best 45.65 at the Trojan Invitational. During the same meet, he anchored the Trojans 4x400m relay team that ran a 3:02.24 — the second fastest time in school history.
Things were looking up for Mance until he had a setback six days later with a hamstring injury at the Texas Relays.
All of a sudden, the athlete who was projected as a top-five runner nationally in the 400m was out of sight and out of mind with those same prognosticators.
His confidence was shaken.
After a month off, he returned for the Dual Meet. However he would compete in the 800m and not the 400m. He won the 800m with a PR 1:51.16.
When he returned home later that night, he watched the archive of the meet on FOXSportsWest.com. He heard his name mentioned as a "tremendous" 400m runner and a prospect for the 2012 Olympic team.
"I didn't think a lot of people thought like that," Mance said. "(It) put me in a good state, a good mood and now I feel a lot better about everything listening to all that and got a lot of my confidence back.
"To hear FOX Sports speak about you, that right there gives you a big boost of confidence alone."
He looks at the injury as a blessing in disguise. He feels stronger now at this part of the season than he normally would as he prepares for the stretch run.
Coming up this weekend is the Pac-12 Championships in Eugene, Ore., followed by the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa June 6-9. After that, it's back to Eugene for the US Olympic Trials which begin on June 22. He's one of four Trojans trying to make a spot on this year's Olympic team in the 400m.
"It's a blessing being able to represent the United States and to be able to train with so many great competitors, such as Joey (Hughes), Bryshon (Nellum), Reggie (Wyatt)," Mance said. "All four of us run the 400. We're all state champions and now that we're mentioned amongst the top making the USA team and being one of the youngest up there with them is a great deal and I'm actually excited and I'm real thankful for that opportunity."
Despite all of the success he enjoyed as a freshman, he realized he wasn't doing things the right way. He's now more aware of how to prepare away from the track. He and his former roommate, USC sprinter Aaron Brown, have changed their eating habits, vying for fruits, salads, and incorporating more protein into their diets in lieu of late-night pizza.
They've forced themselves to be in the bed by 11 p.m. instead staying up well into the next morning. Now once they awake in the morning, they opt for breakfast, a meal that was almost always certain to be skipped. It keeps them from having to scurry for a late lunch just minutes before the start of practice.
Mance can also be found in the weight room, a place he was rarely seen last spring.
Mance has made plenty of adjustments in hopes that the steps he's made will get him that much closer to London.
It's now about sticking to his sacrifices.
"You can't go to all the barbecues," Mance said, "but knowing me, I might end up at one or two."
Perhaps it's OK to bend the rules every now and then.
