The Beach and the Big Chainring

I've had this thought rolling around in my head for a few years now. And after it came to me again today, I decided I wanted to put it down on "paper." It's something that I'm not sure I can articulate, but I want to try. Until about 5 years ago, I had a pretty boring life. It was (and is) a life I was proud of. I had made big strides in my young career and had great friends and a fantastic family, but if you asked about the adventure part of my life, it was severely lacking. There was rarely anything new. I wasn't traveling places that made my heart happy or taking risks that had my heart beating out of my chest. In 2012 I registered for my first triathlon, a half Ironman. That wouldn't be the first triathlon I completed (I completed a sprint and an olympic on the build to 70.3), though. And started to do things that scared me. I got a road bike and rode it on a road with cars. In my mind, that was not an activity for the faint of heart. I bought bike

The last few months have been nothing short of a whirlwind and yet at times they have dragged on more than I could imagine. Back in April I said that I was going to dust off my bike, running shoes, and gadgets and get training for Ironman 70.3 Maine. Well, I did just that. In the middle of July I experienced some pretty monumental life changes. It's funny. When you go through a big change and you feel like your world has been momentarily turned upside down, you fall back on the things you know. And the thing I know, the thing that helps center me, the thing that reminds me how strong I am, is triathlon. So, I threw myself into training. For a multitude of reasons, despite absolutely adoring Old Orchard Beach and the race, Maine didn't go as I had hoped or planned. But I knew I wasn't done with racing for the season and wanted another shot at the 70.3 distance. So I signed up for Ironman 70.3 North Carolina, just 10 days away now. While I certainly have missed raci

Wow! It's been a while since I've updated this tiny piece of the internet that I write on. In fact, it took me a while to even figure out how to log back in, much less attempt to update. Looking back at the last post I wrote makes me realize how much has changed since then. In triathlon, I finished another Ironman (in the toughest racing conditions I've ever experienced; maybe I'll write about that sometime). At work, my practice has steadily morphed over the past few years, and now, my job looks almost nothing like it did the last time I posted. In terms of family, Dooley got a baby brother (who is now two making "baby" a real stretch). Ironman Maryland 2015 While I chased and pursued these dreams and opportunities and experienced major life changes over the past few years, triathlon took a back seat. At first, not intentionally, but after time I realized something had to give. And the thing that needed to give, that I would allow to give, was triath

Since I last put pen to paper, or ummm, fingers to keyboard, a lot has happened. Suffice it to say, it wasn't the best start to the year for me: lots of work stress; some family things; surgery; recovery; and the list goes on. I can't say for sure that "things have turned around" or "the rest of this year is going to be awesome." I just don't know that, that's not the way things work. But over the past 2 weeks, my mindset has started to change. I'm taking advantage of the things I can control and this summer I'm chasing joy. Let me back up a little... A few months ago, when my cast came off, I started trying to get back into the swim bike run groove, but for one reason or another, I was having trouble with it all. I was finishing workouts feeling frustrated and down on myself. And I just wasn't having fun. Looking back, I know a lot of it was related to the stress I was dealing with outside of training. Couple that with the fact tha

            I haven’t been the best at updating what’s been going on with my ankle, but I partially blame that on the pain meds I’ve been on since surgery. J Speaking of which, surgery went great, well, you know, as great as surgery can go.             This post is probably going to be a bit disjointed but I just wanted to post a quick update on how the surgery went and how things have been since. My first cast, immediately after surgery             The surgery went just as they expected, which I guess is good. They had to replace two of the ligaments in my ankle, and they did so with ligaments from a tissue bank. The incision is really huge (scroll right on past the picture below if you don’t like medical kind of stuff…it’s not that bad, but better safe than sorry), but my surgeon but dissolvable stitches on the inside to help minimize the scarring. I told him I wasn’t super concerned about it, but I’m thankful he was able to do that nonetheless. The incision is

Interestingly, this injury process has taught me a lot about myself and how I deal with things. For a while after my last post, I thought that perhaps I should just be done with triathlon for a while. That maybe I wasn’t in it for the right reasons and that it wasn’t something I truly enjoyed anymore. But as I told myself that, I wasn’t at peace with it. I knew that wasn’t the answer to what has been going on, but I didn’t really know what was. However, over this past week, I realized something. When I’m on the bike, or in the water, or out running, that’s where I battle my demons, for lack of a better expression. It’s where I push myself. It’s where I prove to myself that I can do the things that 2 short years ago I never dreamed possible. It’s the place that I learn if this is possible, there are lots of things that are possible with hard work and determination. And the lessons I learn out there on the blacktop or staring at the black line are lessons that I take with me through