JOURNEY BEGINS: I started my journey in 2015 when I found out that I was going to be a dad. There was a local sprint triathlon that I did with only a couple months of training. It was brutal and I finished dead last – no really, look it up.
THE YEAR I BECAME A DAD: We had a little boy in January of 2016 and I was able to train a little longer and was much faster than the previous year at the same triathlon despite not getting a whole lot of sleep being a first time dad. I decided to double down the next year and really get in shape…but:
THE YEAR I KICKED CANCER’S BUTT: The doctor found a lump in my throat during my 2017 annual physical and I was diagnosed with “angry” papillary thyroid cancer in March. I had a complete thyroidectomy and lost 57 lymph nodes and some throat tissue on April 10th. I had radiation in June. Soon after I was declared to have no evidence of disease and with only a month or two to train I decided to do the Rose City Tri again. It was pretty brutal and my times were slower than the previous year, but I finished. Looking back it was one of my proudest accomplishments thus far. I was the heaviest I had been in years but started the Ketogenic diet around Halloween and got some great results pretty quickly.
THE YEAR TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT MY JOURNEY: 2018 was a busy, fun and successful year. I lost 70 lbs on the Ketogenic Diet and trained my first continuous year. Although I couldn’t run a mile in January, I finished the Fresh 15k in March, the Azalea 10k, the Wounded Warrior Half Marathon in Irving, TX on June 10th. The most exciting news was when I was declared one year cancer free in early June! I finished Rose City Triathlon again this year and at my fastest time yet. I was able to run the Tyler Half Marathon in December and shaved an hour off me half marathon time. I am now a coached athlete with FlyTri Racing and I have big plans for 2019: I am aiming to do the MS150 next April, a Half Ironman sometime during the year and a Full Ironman next October. 2019 is going to be the”Year of the Ironman”!
THE YEAR TO SHINE – EEEEHH MAYBE: 2019 I shaved 41 minutes off of my Fresh 15k time from last year and had a blast at the Azalea 10k. I competed in Ironman Texas 70.3 in Galveston and had a great race up until a huge tropical storm blew in while I was on the run portion and they cancelled the race. It was really wild. I signed up for Ironman Boulder 70.3 and had issues the whole race – nutrition and then dehydration – it was over a hundred degrees. I still have my sights on a full Ironman, but haven’t had any luck with halfs. Ironman Florida Bound – This goal almost seems impossible, but that’s the point. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Since cancer treatment I have had some pretty serious vocal issues and chronic laryngitis. After going to several ENT’s and finally being referred to an Otolaryngologist, I discovered that I had a paralyzed vocal chord.
Pandemic (2020) – changed all of my plans for the year and foreseeable future. I focused on the family and getting my vocal health in order. Unfortunately sitting at home with the family also led to less activity and weight gain. Don’t worry. My story isn’t over.
I am a Daddy Again!! This April (2021) we had our second kiddo – another boy. His name is Hayden and he is amazing. Ryland is so excited to be a big brother and we are super excited to have two wild little rugrats to keep us busy. Time to get back into fitness. I did a lot of races and had a blast and getting ready for Ironman Florida 2022!
New Home (2023) I focused on the family as we built a new home. I was a bit burned out on training after Ironman Florida and I agreed to take a year off training to get the house finished and moved in. We love the new house and are so excited to have more room. My wife went back to college to get her Masters Degree and I decided to get my health coach and nutritionist certificate.
Health Coach/Nutritionist (2024) – more to come!