Given the expected cost of my 2027 season and the portion of my new tandem that I’ll need to cover, I’ve decided to get creative and launched a Patreon account.
It will contain content before it gets to socials and blogs, along with Patreon exclusive content, such as behind-the-scenes of my racing and training. Please consider subscribing to my Patreon. You’ll help support my athletic endeavors while getting a little glimpse “behind the curtain”.
(While I realize memoriams would usually have somber photos in them, this is the most apt one. He fought for life at the beginning, and he fought off death for as long as possible at the end.)
“All [his] life in this world […] had only been the cover and the title page: now at last [he was] beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” – C.S. Lewis
In 2008, I was looking to get a companion for the cat I had adopted about a year earlier. Neither the shleter nor I knew the first “companion” had a terminal disease. I just chalked it up to his very long, very bushy tail caused things to get stuck in it (which I then cleaned out). So it was a huge surprise when I came home from working a Bears game and found him dead on the floor.
After I found him, the shelter owner came over to help clean up and take the body. She was very apologetic, and offered me first pick on kittens that had just come in once they were old enough. A few weeks later, she brought over the two “candidates” — brothers that someone had cruely attempted to drown by the side of the road.
Close to eighteen years later, I don’t remember exactly why I picked the one I did. But there was a reason. As thus Miles came into my life.
From that point, he was a companion and friend. Once I started in Adaptive sports in 2014, he was there to welcome me home from every race and race weekend. He helped me to work through some of the more challenging races that are chronicled in the blog. He did a lot more to help both me and the two “companions” he shared his life with (the first passed in May 2020), including sleeping with me.
About a week ago, that changed. While he was fine Monday morning, things went downhill very quickly. By Monday evening, he couldn’t stand; by Tuesday afternoon, he was gone. 🙁
Because he had been abused at such a young age, it took him until he was about twelve to come out when anyone else was here. That was even with seeing my parents constantly. Before he passed, he was able to say goodbye to them and his “sister”.
It has been a hard few days. As you can tell, he was a big part of my life for the last 17.75 years. While it hurts to lose him, I’m happy that it happened when burying him near the one that passed in 2020 was “easy”. I’m extremely grateful to my parents for taking so much time on Wednesday to help make that happen.
It will be hard coming home from the next race knowing that he’s not there to greet me and listen as I talk through it. But I will continue to move forward. I want to keep going and see where this athletic path that he and so many others have helped me to stay on goes.
RIP Miles. You were a special kitty. I will always remember you and love you so much.
During the awards ceremony for Adaptive Mixed Relay Nationals in Milwaukee, they said if you qualified for Worlds in Germany, you’d see an email that following week. Even though we finished 4th in the Adaptive category, I didn’t see an email before leaving for Finland. So I believed that we hadn’t qualified. However, I received it shortly after returning from Finland!
The athletes on the team have all claimed their spots, and the “mice” will have to formalize guides by the end of July 2027.
I am extremely excited for this opportunity! And I am extremely grateful to everyone who’s helped me on my triathlon journey to this point!
Because of the large cost (at least $5,000 for myself and guide), I will be launching a fundraising campaign in early 2027. If you would like to generally support the campaign, please watch for the link here and on socials (@nocrappyexcuses). If you would like to help partially or fully support a specific piece (i.e. team apparel cost, airfare, lodging, etc.), please reach out to me directly. Especially if you’re in Hamburg and willing to let us use your house during Worlds! 🙂
(Photo courtesy of John)
Over the years, I have talked about my struggles with the run. I’ve worked on it a lot over the last few years, and I believe it’s finally starting to pay off.
When I ran this race two years ago, I was coming off of Tough Mudder Pittsburgh Infinity. So my body and legs were already “warm” for this 5K the following day. From memory, I had about fourteen hours between when I crossed the finish line in PA and when I crossed the start line in IL.
This time, I did not have a race the day before. But the results ended up very close to the same..
Prior to the race, John and I had a chance to stretch and warm up. After about 1/3 of a mile, the race transitioned from pavement to crushed limestone trails. While the pace was slower on that part, I was able to pick it back up at about 1.5 miles when we merged back onto pavement.
The second half of the race went really well, and things felt really good with the socks I was using. I will continue testing them and hope to have a formal, public post at some point in late 2027 regarding them.
Because the 5K race start was running a little bit behind, I don’t have an exact comparison between 2024 and 2026. In 2024, we crossed the finish line within 30 seconds of the start of the kids race. This year, they had already begun by the time we crossed — but we had also started a few minutes later.
I’m grateful to PATCH for the opportunity, and to John for all his help and guiding.