TRI-DC Issue #1 Cover
Many times when I describe an Ironman®-distance triathlon to someone I’ve just met, they say:
“Why would anyone want to do that?”
For me personally, I love to be taken outside of my comfort zone - to test both my mental tenacity and my physical toughness. I strive to live boldly, and endurance events are my best answer to getting the most challenge out of each day.
In 1995, at the age of 23, I discovered a malignant tumor on my right hip. In a moment, I went from being a fit and self-assured Naval officer to a frail cancer patient undergoing painful surgeries and extensive radiation treatment - someone who was suddenly confronted with his own mortality.
It’s no coincidence that I competed in my first triathlon three months after being discharged from the hospital. I walked for exercise until my stitches were removed, and then I slowly began to build my strength, my endurance, and my confidence. When I was ready, I entered a sprint-distance race in Atlantic Beach, Florida. Before the race, I felt out of place and alone, but as soon as the starting gun went off, my anxiety disappeared and I was drawn completely into the dynamics of the race. I crossed the finish line in a little over an hour, finishing in the middle of my age group. I was ecstatic.
I have finished nearly 100 triathlons including 24 Ironman distance events - which consist of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike, and a 26.2-mile run. Not only is triathlon an activity that I love to do, it is also something that inspires and informs the rest of my life.
This past year was an outstanding year for me as an athlete - I set personal best times in both the marathon and Ironman-distance triathlon and I won the Vineman Triathlon overall at the age of 36, an age when most athletes would be considered “over the hill.”
See me in Triathlete Magazine.
See me in the Conte’s commercial aired during the Summer Olympics ‘08:
