(Photo from Video; Video courtesy of ND Football staff)
Looking back on the first half of my 2026 season, it definitely hasn’t gone as I had planned it. None of bike challenges, wetsuit challenges, and DNF’ing a race were on my 2026 bingo card… And I’ll admit that some of those have been harder to deal with than others.
Even though it’s been frustrating at times, I will always keep moving forward and striving to improve. I think this was best crystalized in a statement I heard within the last week (paraphrased) — ‘I don’t look at it as if I won or lost; I look at it as if I won or learned from it.’ The latter part of their statement is what I’ve chosen to focus on in this blog.
Just a few of the lessons learned include focusing more on nutrition, going further than just having a plan Z on race weekend, and being willing to try new gear. On that last point, I hope to figure out the long-term wetsuit issue soon.
The overall sizing of the wetsuit is correct. I believe that going up a size would probably be too large and create drag. But from the two June triathlons, it seems that I need to find something different since it’s compressing my upper chest (near lungs) too much.
And even though there have been struggles the first half of the year, I am not giving up or packing it in. I have a long, important second half of the season, which includes all of my “A races”. What’s helped me to continue pushing through is the knowledge that the hard work pays off — which the header photo shows.
Prior to 2023, I’d had hundreds upon hundrds of snaps on different football fields. Up to that point, I had zero TDs and zero fumble recoveries. In that one camp, I accomplished both (along with a second TD the following year). While it took 17 years to get to that point, I didn’t give up — I kept going.
That’s how I choose to look at things overall. I will continue putting in the work, showing up at start lines, and know that the hard work pays off. Here’s to a strong second half of 2026!
