I love our sport! I love everything about triathlon and today my passion grew even stronger! This week I had the pleasure of meeting a select few kids that would be racing in the 3rd annual Nashville Kids Triathlon. I traveled across town to Holy Rosary Elementary to conduct a transition clinic for a group of 25 5th and 6th graders. The kids asked great questions and there was plenty of swag to go around. The excitement in their faces and enthusiasm in their voices was absolutely incredible!

The orange cones served as the transition rack as I demonstrated how to set up the area. The kids were were on the edge of their seats and wanted to know every single detail about setting up a fast transition area!

By the time I left the school the kids were about to pop out of their seats. They could not wait for the race on Sunday. It was this very sight that caused my love for triathlon to grow. I wish you could have seen the looks on these faces!!

Race morning finally rolled around and we found ourselves in the middle of all the excitement that carries nerves, emotions and expectations! We started at the pool and I took my position at the end of the lane yanking kids out by their armpits! Next we moved to T1 and the younger kids were tripping over themselves with excitement. I think I saw one kids trying to pull his shirt on over his helmet! Last but certainly not least, we facilitated T2 and saw the kids off on the run. The course was contained inside of a park in the middle of the city. The area was not big, but the kids were making great use of the space. I’m not sure who was more excited, the parents, kids or me!!

The awards ceremony was the best part no question! I had the honor of holding the mic so it was up to me to dictate the pace. We were gathered in an amphitheater and the crowd was close to 1000.  Bruce and I were handing out official Timex SWAG and the kids were eating it up!!

I have been to enough races to know that the quicker an awards ceremony goes, the happier EVERYONE is! I rolled through the ages groups starting at age 6 and ending with 15. I brought the kids up on the podium and the parents flocked with their cameras. The entire process was so fun to experience as the kids were outside of their minds with excitement. This entire experience was simply refreshing and it makes me appreciate the position I hold on this wonderful triathlon team. Timex is the standard and Bruce and I got to display our great name today to incredibly impressionable minds. Thank you Nashville Kids Triathletes for reminding me of the joy that comes along with Swim, Bike, Run!!!

Wow, what a year! I am truly grateful for another season as a member of the Timex Multisport Team. I am truly blessed to be a part of something so great. I have the best teammates, coaches, managers and directors in the business and I would simply like to pay tribute with this post!

The year started off with a bang at the New York Giants Training Center in Newark, NJ. It was great to see all my teammates from the previous year as well as meet the 2012 additions. From there, my road ran through New Orleans for the New Orleans 70.3. I got to hang out with Andrew Hodges as we both raced the next day. The swim was cancelled and my first triathlon of the year was a long course duathlon! From New Orleans, I made my way to Haines City, FL for the Florida 70.3. Once again I got to spend time with teammates Andrew Hodges and Shannon Coates. The cool thing about this race was Lance Armstrong was racing that day and we got to see his jet sitting at the county airport! After the race, I traveled to nearby markets to conduct Timex clinics with three Fit 2 Run stores. I educated the staff on the Timex Run Trainer, the Marathon Trainer as well as the Race Trainer Pro.

Next up on the calendar was a trip with teammate Bruce Gennari to Lubbock, TX for the Buffalo Springs Lake 70.3. We had a blast in TX while spending time with Barry Siff, Christine Anderson, Tim Hola, Nick Thompson. Tough course and extremely hot day but raced well!

After Lubbock, I had got to do a hometown race before heading to the west coast for the Lake Stevens 70.3 with teammate Dave Erickson. It was great to see a part of the country that I have not spent a lot of time in. The weather was cold and rainy which absolutely blew my mind due to our desert like condition in Nashville. Dave was kind enough to drive us around wherever we went as I gawked at the scenery. Dave and I got to spend time with teammate Christine Anderson in upstate Washington as well!

August was a very tough month for me. The heat was really starting to wear on me and my volume was at a summer high. I decided to do Ironman Louisville along with teammates Andrew Hodges and Jackie Arendt. My volume in the weeks leading up to the race was crazy and my body was not in the best condition to race Ironman. After a great swim and good bike, I blacked out at mile 2 on the run and woke up in the back of an ambulance. It was definitely not one of my better athletic moves. That experience was just what I needed to finish the last part of the season. I had 3 races scheduled for September and October and I was racing with something to prove. The first race was a local 70.3 and I finished 3rd overall. The second race was Branson 70.3 which resulted in a Vegas slot! The final race of the year of the year (alongside teammates Stu Fitch) was Rev3 Anderson and I finished 3rd. It was a wonderful turnaround from my IML meltdown!

Aside from racing, I was thrilled to participate in several community events representing Timex. In June, teammate and I Bruce Gennari served as “Celebrity Big Kids” for the Nashville Kids Triathlon. 2 of the kids that raced were named “Sports Illustrated Junior Sportsmen of the Year.” I also had the honor of delivering 30 Timex watches to an innagural  inner city cross country team in Nashville. Lastly, I had the extreme privilege of speaking to a Southeastern Regional nursing conference for the purpose of sharing my personal recovery from Crohn’s Disease. In total, I raced 9 times in 8 states and spent quality time with several of my Timex teammates. I managed to qualify for the 2013 Vegas 70.3 world championships and collect a handful of podium spots. I managed to break 30 minutes on my swim in 3 races and set a new standard for my half marathon run splits at 1:28. My bike steadily improved posting a 70.3 best of 2:18. I love my sport, I love my team, I love my community…Thank you Timex!

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Rev3 for organizing an outstanding race! Everything about this race was exceptional and the volunteer support was over the top. I was blown away by the experience and wanted to give credit where credit is due! This was my second race with Rev3 and I will definitely be back! I would never had chosen Anderson, SC as a venue BUT what the heck do I know…. This was one of the best race sites I have ever been to. The city of Anderson is not big by any stretch of the imagination but it is very conveniently located on interstate 85 about 2 hours from Atlanta.

My wife was working in the general area so I picked her up at the airport on Saturday afternoon. I was listening to the Auburn football game on the radio and was not at all happy with what I was hearing! I scooped up Marietta at the airport and we headed to the race site for packet pickup. The exact venue was the Anderson Convention Center. This was to be a 2 transition area race, which was a bit nerve-racking on the front end. I had done a 2 transition area race just two weeks ago in Branson and the logistics were a nightmare. Fortunately, the lake where T1 would be located was just 2 miles from the convention center and T2. We got checked in and I was issued race number 140. We left the race site and checked into our hotel. I packed my bags for the next morning while Marietta searched for a good dinner spot. We headed out the door around 6:00 for a local restaurant called Trio. What we found was incredible! Brickoven flatbread was served..and then served and served again! I think I ate 3 whole loaves by myself! We had a great time at dinner and then headed back to the hotel for a not so sleepy night. I don’t know what it is about the night before a race BUT I NEVER SLEEP, EVER!

I couldn’t wait to pop out of the bed and the alarm finally came! We were out in 15 minutes. We drove to the convention center and I dropped off my T2 bad. We rode the bus to T1 and hopped out as I started to set up my bike and T1 area. Much to my delight, I was greeted by my very good Austrailian friend and teammate Stu Fitch. Stu gave me a big hug and yelled Yee-haw, U-haul. Stu has affectionately tagged me by Southern vernacular, Ya’ll (U-Haul!) Stu and I walked over to see Christine Anderson who was racing in the pro division. I thought how cool it was that 3 teammates were together in a small southern town representative of 3 completely geographic regions! T1 closed as the sun came up and we all headed to the water.

The gun went off as my wave charged down the beach. As soon as I hit the water my goggles filled with water. This was incredibly frustrating but fortunately all buoys were on the left and I’m a left-side dominate breather. The swim is never my best so I fought through it and managed to finish 4th in my wave, which was a huge suprise. I ran back into transition and changed for the bike. As I pulled on my bike shoes, I pulled my left shoe strap completely off, CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!!! I messed with it for longer than I should have before thinking to myself, JUST GO!

Before I knew it, I was out on the bike course and climbing! My left foot was ridiculously loose but I had no other options. The bike course was constantly changing elevation. I never really could get in a groove and spent more time out of the saddle than in the saddle. There was a few stretches where I could hammer, but the majority of the course was climbing and descending. I finished the bike with a 21.5 average speed and two very heavy legs! The bike course was nothing like I had expected from what I read in the athlete’s guide so I was thrilled with my 2:38 split time.

I was just over 3 hours into my race when I started the run. The weather was perfect, overcast and 70 degrees. I decided to go without a hat for the first time this year. I ran out of transition and out onto the course. I ran up a slight incline before heading into the nearby park. I ran down a hill, then up a hill, down a hill and back up again. It was like deja vu all over again. What the heck, were there any flat areas in Anderson, SC. I was running hard and passing people; exactly what I shooting for! I was feeling pretty beat up after the first loop and started to drink flat cola at each aid station. I was counting down the mile markers now, extremely ready to be done. I got to mile 10 and was ready to stop. I kept running and KEPT LOOKING FOR MILE 11. I was getting incredibly angry but then everything was fine when I spotted mile marker 12. “I sure do hate it when mile markers are not marked!!” I was never so happy to see that mile marker sign and from there turned up the jets a little more. I cruised across the finish line with a 1:29 1/2 marathon split.

My overall time was 4:44, not what I was hoping for but then again, the course was brutal! That time was good enough for a podium as I finished 3rd in the 30-34 age group. After the race, I waited for Stu to find that he won his 55-59 age group division after having led wire-to-wire! We checked in with Christine Anderson who had a great race and finished 4th Pro female. 3 Timex athletes in Anderson, S.C. and 3 podiums baby!!

This past weekend I had the tremendous pleasure of traveling to Savannah, GA for the 2012 Southeast Region Great Comebacks Award.  Each year, Convatec (a global medical supply company) selects an award winner from each of the 4 continental regions.  I’m not sure why but I was chosen as the Southeast region finalist and was in attendance to accept my award and deliver a presentation!  I absolutely love public speaking and my audience was a group of over 300 nurses with family and friends in tow!

I took the stage armed with my Timex Global Pro Trainer as I had only 15 minutes and did not want to go long!!  It is absolutely crucial to get a laugh before beginning any speech so I did my best to illicit a response. I think I asked the MC to help me move the podium because I could not be contained to one solitary space on stage.  That was enough, sure enough I got the laughs that I was looking for!

I started with a huge thanks to the audience of nurses and explained that my comeback could not have been possible without them.  The thing about Wound and Ostomy Care Nurses is that they all have a relentless passion for service.  I thanked my own personal WOCN and even brought her up on stage for a hug.  I spoke about my near death experience in March 2006 and how my life has changed so drastically since then.  I shared my passion of Triathlon and thanked my major sponsors Timex and Newton Running.  I was literally in my element on the stage speaking from an overflow of gratitude from the heart.  I was essentially dead not more than 8 years ago and now I am a nationally sponsored triathlete fully capable of any and all physical challenges.

I concluded my presentation with a song, “It’s Good to Be Alive” by Jason Gray.  The lyrics were so fitting to the momentous occasion: “I won’t take it for granted…..I won’t waste another second….All I want is to give you a life well-lived and say thank you.”  It is impossible for fear and faith to occupy the same human heart.  My ostomy surgery was very scary but I had no idea how good life could be on the other side!!  Thank you Timex for supporting my pursuit of a lifelong dream and for giving me the platform to create awareness for the United Ostomy Association and thousands of people around the world who are faced with the reality of living with an ostomy!