Month: May 2025

(Photo courtesy of Shining Star staff)

“Pay your dues, and your debts.” – Dave Matthews Band

This is one of the few blog posts that’s not specifically an athletic blog. But it has a tie in…

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Blue Star Network was extremely strong where I lived and in the surrounding towns. For those of you who aren’t aware of what it was, the short version was the people would sign up as a “safe harbor” and put a blue star in their window to signify that. Then if you were being abused or in trouble, you could go to one of those houses.

I believe that this network made it easier for my parents to give me some of the freedoms I did at the time. This meant a lot of going to soccer practice/games and some Little League games on my own. I am also fairly certain that without it, my parents would not have allowed me to be delivering the paper or collecting for it on my own in the early 1990s.

Roughly thirty years later, I happened upon Shining Star through their Jail and Bail fundraiser. While it didn’t work to participate in 2023, I did in 2024.

When I was unable to make my “bail” in 2024, I was more disappointed that I had been about not making any other fundraising goal. The simple reason was that I knew how much every dollar I was unable to raise could have helped. Because of scheduling conflicts, I was also unable to make it to Dixon to “surrender” after not making my “bail”.

So when 2025’s fundraiser was announced, my goal was to “make up” for what I hadn’t raised in 2024. Apparently I have friends and family that really want to see me in jail, as offering to “serve time” in Dixon led to some sizable donations. So on May 1st, I headed down to Dixon.

After the photo shown above was taken, I started pushing it out (social, texts, etc.) While I didn’t reach my “bail” for the second year, I was eventually let out… But during my time there, I had a chance to talk with Jessica (their Executive Director). I learned a lot more about Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) and Shining Star as a whole.

As such, I now realize how crucial support is for the CACs in the smaller counties. Lee and Ogle Counties (which Shining Star serves) together are about 55% of the size of the town I live in. This means that fundraising is crucial to ensure that they can continue to provide services to the children who need it.

Please consider supporting my fundraiser ()http://tinyurl.com/jgss25 or donating directly to Shining Star ()https://shiningstarcac.com/support-us.

I will be continuing to participate in this fundraiser as long as it continues. It’s a fun way to help so many, and to help repay a debt of safety I had so many years ago.

Thank you to Dare2Tri for proving an Ability Fund grant for me! This will help to cover a portion of my races and travel in 2025!

THANK YOU Dare2Tri! And thank you to the Naperville Noon Lions for helping to fund the grant!

(Photo courtesy of Paul)

This year, my outdoor season began in Florida (St. Petersburg — St. Anthony’s Tri). Paul kindly drove down from NC with the tandem so that we could race.

Saturday included a Para clinic (led by Aaron and Kristen). Paul and I had an opportunity to try the swim course. This also led to an improved tether choice, courtesy of Aaron.

On Sunday, after waiting quite a while for our wave to start, we made it into the water. Because the tide was out, a big part (~50m) of the short sides of the “rectangle” were too shallow to swim in. So we walked/ran in that part of the swim. The longer part had consistent waves, which led to a lot of movement in the swim.

After a long run from the swim exit to transition (about .5 mile), we got out onto the bike. That run was not fun, and I have no idea how some people run full marathons barefoot…

After a reasonably solid bike, and a long run in/out with it, we headed out onto the run.

When we started the run, it wasn’t too bad. I would guess high 70s and low humidity. But before we got a mile in, it became hotter and more humid. Both of these took their toll on me, and the later parts of the run were walk/run. Because of this, I also got temporarily pulled by medical at the end for a cool down session.

Even with all these struggles, I came away with a 2nd place (Male PTVI) finish!

Thanks to Paul for guiding and all his help. Thanks to Aaron and Kristen for all of their help throughout the weekend.

Over the past couple years, I had heard about the Holy Half.  Any reason is a good reason to go to Notre Dame.  The fact that the race was the same day as the Blue-Gold game made it an even easier decision. 🙂

Going into the race, I knew that the last couple miles were going to be tight.  This was because the race had a three hour time limit.  But I thought I could make it happen.

While running into the sun was a challenge (especially along the lake) during the first loop, we made it happen.  When we didn’t see an aide station after coming out into the buildings (about 1.5 – 1.75), I should have realized there could be an issue.  Instead I focused on keeping pace, and we eventually made it to the first aide station at about 3.5 miles.  The next clue that some could go wrong should have been that we hit two more aide stations within about a mile.

The aide station that we hit at about 4.5 miles was the last one of the loop.  But we didn’t know that until going through the 10K mark without seeing anything else.

Between hills (at about mile 5.25) and not having any water for more than an hour, dehydration finally caught up with me between mile 8.5 and 9.  

This is the first race in a while that I’ve had to tap out of (DNF).  But it just wasn’t safe to try and push it further.  Scott was able to get medical and security to us, and after water and rest for a few minutes, it was better.  While it was a limping struggle to get back to the finish, the post-race massage helped a lot.

While this year wasn’t what I planned, I will give it another try in 2026.  I will run with water then to try and avoid a repeat.

Thanks to Scott and Nanci for all of their help and support, including Scott’s guiding.  Thanks to Father Nate for being out there as a cheering section!  And thanks to the Holy Half staff for all of their help and support.

Thank you to Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) for their continued support of my athletic endeavors!

Their support will help with transportation costs so that I can train and race in 2025!

THANK YOU CAF!

(Photo courtesy of Scott)

After the struggles I mentioned with the swim in February’s race, I thought I fixed them for March’s race. But it wasn’t as I thought…

While the swim went better than February, I was still unable to see the bottom of the pool because of the goggles. I was also slipping at times, as the pool had been painted only a few days earlier.

The bike went better than February’s, and I finally came close to 10 miles on these spin bikes.

The run was about the same as February. Same issues with slipping; same having to run with caution.

I was very glad to see this race not only sell out, but expand to an additional 30 people.

Thanks to Scott for guiding me, and to Coach Joe and the rest of the ET staff for all their help!

I hope to see some of you at the 2026 ET Indoor Triathlon races!

(Photo courtesy of Spartan)

While I wasn’t able to do the full Trifecta in Dallas last year, I intended to finish it in Houston this weekend.

After a fun Friday night at the Houston Rodeo, we all showed up at the Ranch for Saturday’s race (Sprint). I was surprised by the obstacles that were before the start line (including the short wall). I have never done a race where you “raced” before you started. But we made it over and started with the crowd.

As in Dallas, there were a few obstacles that I couldn’t do and had to take the penalty loop for. Most of these were the “grip” obstacles, which are slowly getting better even though they’re still a struggle.

One of the early obstacles that I really enjoyed was the “A-frame”. On the Tough Mudder side, this obstacle (Mudderhorn) uses ropes that connect at points. If you forget about this, and place your foot thinking it’s a square (full ropes) when it’s really a triangle (created by connections), you can have issues like I did in 2023. But this A frame was solid ropes that created squares throughout, so it was a lot easier. 🙂

Two obstacles that were new for me were the Atlas Stone and Spear Throw. While it took a bit to figure out the technique, I was finally able to carry the smaller one. On the Spear Throw, the resulting burpees from missing it drained me.

We made it through the course, ending at the fire jump. Going into the race, this was the obstacle I was the most worried about (jumping over fire). But the guide team helped me to successfully complete it, and we made it across the finish line.

After some R&R, we were back at the ranch for Day 2 (Super).

While there were many similarities from Saturday, there were also changes and additions. While I don’t remember all five additional obstacles, the one that sticks out is the 45 degree slanted bars. While I was able to get part ways up, I had to take the penalty lap. This was disappointing, as I had been able to complete a similar obstacle at ASR in January.

Doing consecutive races caught up with me a little. I know that the bucket carry and sandbag carry were a bit harder the second time. Also, the Spartan version of the Pyramid Scheme was definitely harder. On Saturday, I was able to get up and over on the first try; on Sunday, I fell while trying to make the transition from the slant part to the level part. As I slid down the rope, my hands got torn up a little from rope burn, and I just couldn’t make it back up.

While that was frustrating, the inverted wall was truly painful. On Saturday, I made it up and over fairly easily. On Sunday, my left leg seized as I was part way up. It took extra help and some fairly painted manoeuvring to get up and over, but it all worked out.

After another fire jump, we finished and completed the Trifecta!*

I learned two very important things from this weekend that will serve me well as I continue forward with OCR. One is the importance of nutrition even on the Sprint. The other is that knuckle gloves are worth their weight in gold. I believe I put them on before we went over the first wall, and I only took them off when going into the mud/water.

Thanks to all of those within Spartan who helped to make this weekend successful. And thanks to the entire guide team (Kate, Jonnie, Doug, and Jaime) for all of their help and support throughout the races!

• = While I completed the Trifecta (Sprint, Super, and Beast), Spartan does not have me completing a Trifecta yet. This is because you apparently have to do all three within a single year for them to count it.

(Photo courtesy of Scott)

Prior to the Houston weekend, I met with Kyle for swim training. This was my first Triathlon since, and an opportunity to see how it had improved my swimming.

While I did go through the warmups that Kyle had taught me, other issues curtailed the improvement. Until it was too late, I didn’t realize that I had grabbed the wrong pair of goggles. Being unable to see the bottom lane line made for some “drunken” swimming and cut down the number of lengths I was able to get in.

After transition, I headed to the spin bikes. While it wasn’t as far as I wanted, it was still a solid ride.

The final piece was the treadmill run. Because of my vision, treadmills are always hard. There were a couple of times that I had to dramatically slow it down after almost tripping.

While it wasn’t what I had hoped for going in, it was a good starting point for the 2025 season.

Thanks to Scott for guiding for me, and to Coach Joe and the rest of the ET staff for all their help!

(Photo courtesy of Scott)

Over the last several years, I have had different guides tell me about this race.  And their “notes” had included ‘froze my feet’, ‘almost lost a finger/toe due to frostbite’, and ‘I think doing this race in the Arctic would have been warmer’.  

So after having survived 24 hours in the Florida weather, I decided to go play in the snow.  I knew all of the above going in, and tried to prep the best I could (I like my digits!).

After going through packet pickup in the cold, we all connected at the start.  Either Yogi or Jeff had already done their race, but joined us for another go round.

When it comes to running in general, I have been trying to run hills more.  I’m still struggling with it, but it’s better than it was five years ago.  This is important, at the race starts with a roughly half mile 30 degree incline run towards the forest.  I went too hard up it, and was out of gas by about halfway up it.

Once we made it into the forest, there were both the actual obstacles (think of carrying, climbing, throwing, etc.) and the forest obstacles (like roots, steep ups and downs, and “pitfalls”).  Because of the latter, we were at a slower pace for safety reasons.  Because of this, we were passed by many — including a speedy Ty coming through the forest. 🙂

A few of the memorable obstacles were the sled pull (weighted pull through the snow), sandbag toss (tossing a weighted bag through holes — hard to do when you can’t see the holes), inner tube slide (sliding down the hill in an intertube — mental obstacle), platform jump (jumping from one platform to another about 6 – 8 feet in the air — skipped for safety reasons), and the hybrid climb into a cargo net obstacle.  The preceding names are not the actual obstacle names, just my description for them.

One of the more challenging obstacles for me in Spartan and Tough Mudder is the Pyramid Scheme.  Within the obstacle, the hardest part is getting the footing for the last boost to transition from the sloped part to the flat part.  I have fallen off of it a few times at Spartan races, and I fell off of it here (part of the hybrid cargo net obstacle) on the first try before finally making it up, over, and onto the cargo net.

While it was challenging, it was also a lot of fun.  I look forward to doing it again in 2026, and hope to see some of you there!

Thanks to BIll and the entire ASR staff for all their help and support.  And thanks to the entire guide team for all their help!

(Photo courtesy of Kate)

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Going into the Half Maraton this year, I had optimism of finishing it strong. Unfortunately it didn’t play out as I had hoped…

After the issues in the last couple Arammco Halfs, I had learned a little about how and where to push. I had also learned how key bringing my own nutrition was (instead of solely relying on on-course stuff).

After a cold wait, we (Doug, Kate, and I) were finally ready to go. Sadly, I had to relinquish the toasty foil blanket before crossing the start line. But it did warm up as the sun came up, so that all worked out!

One of the challenges for me is the start and roughly the first half mile. This is because of my vision and the fact that it’s still dark when we’re starting. There are lights around the start corrals and start line, but not much after. So I always have to rely even more on my guides that I’m not tripping on something in the dark.

By about mile 1, the sun was up and things got easier from that perspective. As usual, I passed the first aide station. This is simply because I’m in a groove and it’s usually too early (maybe 1.25?) for me to need it. I do end up hitting every other aide station.

Doug and Kate helped to manage the pace and timing for nutrition. While I felt mild tightness at times between the start and roughly mile 10 (shortly after the museum roundabout), I still felt really good overall. Given that, I was confident that I’d have a strong overall race and hit my estimated goal (25 minutes faster than 2024).

However, at mile 10, all those mild aches caught up to me at once. I don’t remember all of the details between when we hit mile 10 and made the turn at mile 12. But I do remember both Kate and Doug helping to support me through a choppy run/walk, stopping multiple times for extra hydration and nutrition, and the magical donut somewhere in mile 11.

After making the turn, things did get a little better. While it still wasn’t back to the run or pace I had been able to do the first 10 miles, it was far better than miles 11 and 12. The stop at the Catapult tent at roughly 12.5 miles helped with that final last push. 🙂

After finishing (time was on par with 2024), the three of us went through the post-race “maze” to get everything.

As Doug and I were headed out, I was stopped two different times by “fans”. Initially, I thought these people were part of the large Catapult group. But both said that they had been following me throughout the race. 🙂

Thank you to Doug and Kate for all of their help and support throughout the race. And thanks to Catapult for all of their help and support throughout the weekend.