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(Photo courtesy of Andrew)

This was supposed to be my 100th Triathlon.  However, because of everything that happened in June, that will actually come at ParaTriathlon Nationals in Milwaukee.

Going into Muncie, I felt good about the race.  I had done the painful bricks in the garage (painful in part because it was 90+ in there, even with a fan), and I had swum the length of the course in the pool (1.2 miles).  However, it did not turn out as I had hoped…

With any Open Water Swim (OWS), I understand and accept that people are going to be drafting off of me.  I don’t have an issue with this.  What I DO have an issue with is when people start grabbing my ankles / feet or swimming over me like I’m not there.  So you can understand my frustration when the first two males of the first wave swam over me.  

I think part of this is that the Para wave was only two athletes (instead of the much larger Para waves at most of my other races this season), part of it was not enough education (they mentioned Para athletes, but not something like ‘don’t swim over them or between the tether; they can’t see you’), and the final part being purple caps on blue water (while I didn’t think about this at the time, another athlete got me to think about that the following weekend in Long Beach).

In any event, it was an extremely chaotic and unpleasant swim.  It was also one where I had to make sure I didn’t lose my cool while people were being utter bitches and asshats around the .9 mile mark.  

We made it out of the swim and onto the bike.  The prior day, I thought we had dialed in the fit.  We did several adjustments and a decent ride, during which it all felt fine.  But something was clearly not fully fit on race day.  While I don’t have the exact timing, I know that we had to stop twice before mile 12 to do significant adjustments.  Also, after mile 12, there were constant stops, as I was in pain from something being pinched.  

After making it back to transition, I took a long time to try and recenter myself.  This is why you’ll see a 10 – 12 minute T2 time.  A “normal” T2 is between 2 and 3 minutes.

When we got out on the run, I had to walk for quite awhile.  While my body had “unclenched” a bit in T2, it still was not “solid” to run.  Even during that initial walk, we did get ice to go down our backs.

When I was able to start running, the heat, humidity, and hills made it a ragged run at times.  

After we missed the run cut off by less than five minutes, we made the decision to keep going until the thunderstorms came.  During the 2 – 2.5 miles while storms were threatening, a “sweeper” crew of law enforcement officers (LEOs) and race staff kept an eye on us.  And when we had to take cover before the skies opened up, they were there to help us.  I still haven’t gotten an answer from Andrew as to why he put me into a police vehicle instead of the Gator… 😀

While there were a lot of challenges, there were also a lot of positives.  Hydration and nutrition worked out; I found a new tool for the humidity; I was able to build on resilience and make it through an extremely challenging 8.5 hours on the course.

I am extremely grateful to the Muncie 70.3 Accessibility staff, who worked with us to make the race successful.  We could not have accomplished what we did without all of their help and assistance!

I am also extremely grateful to Andrew for all of his help and support throughout the weekend (especially when I was struggling / in pain) and for guiding.  

Thank you to those who provided the funding so that I could race.  Having this opportunity — both the training that went into it and the race itself — meant a lot to me.  THANK YOU.

Finally, thank you to Pastor Kauffman and the entire staff of Harris Chapel Church.  He opened the church up to athletes for the weekend.  Without that help, this weekend would have been harder financially.  I was happy this all worked out, and was glad I could help others .

If you are racing Muncie 70.3 in the future, please consider staying three.  You’ll help others while reducing your cost.  🙂

(2024 FFC Photo, courtesy of Notre Dame Photo Staff)

While I hadn’t intended to write this specific blog, I will since I’ve talked about it publicly (as part of the podcast).

Leon’s was supposed to be the first of many races and events in June.  At a minimum, I had Pleasant Prairie, the Dare2Tri relay, and the Spartan Farm Experience on my calendar.  But June did not turn out as I had planned…

Even though it did not work out for me to participate in the camp this year, I was still there for the game that caps the Notre Dame Football Fantasy Camp.  WHile it was great to meet Rudy, I wish I had been able to be at camp and have had more time to talk with him.  But things work out as they’re mean to, and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had. 🙂

After that point, my June fell apart.  I’m not going to go into the reasons why publicly.  But the bottom line is that none of the other athletic things happened.  And I felt “stuck” for most of the month.

What got me “unstuck” was what had also pulled me out of the darkness 22 years earlier — an opportunity to go see a Dave Matthews Band concert.  And just knowing that I’d have that opportunity made that week easier.  

As I’ve said over the years, music can do magical things.  So when you feel “stuck”, find the music that makes you happy and use it to climb out. 🙂

“When you fall off the horse, get back on.” – Unknown (but well know saying)

If you’ve read my last blog from Leon’s, you know that the horse threw me… hard.  And to put it in perspective, of the less than 5 DNFs I’ve had to this  point, Leon’s 2022 is the only one where I let something I could have controlled take me out.  Please read the prior blog if you want to learn more.

After having time to swim with my guide (Danny) as part of the clinic, we did the bike fit / practice.  It’s probably the only time that a goose has taken out a tire (we had a flat because of having swerve to miss geese.  I’ll spare you all the 20+ page rant about how I feel about geese…)  He was able to get all of that fixed before the race though.

During practice, I did not notice any issues with the wetsuit.  Things seemed to work like it had in prior races.  I think it had been about a year since I had swam in it last.  And with the extremely bruised ribs at that point, I can’t make an exact comparison.  However, during the swim on Sunday, I kept losing breath and having to stop.  It was as if the wetsuit was constricting my breath, and tight just at the rib cage…

After finally making it out of the water, and through a normal T1, we headed out for the bike.  After a decent, normal bike, we headed out for the run once T2 was complete.

While there wasn’t as much humidity (especially on the “steel bridge”) and the running bottle helped, it wasn’t as smooth of a run as I’d hoped.  There were stretches of solid running.  But then I’d hit the “red line” and have to walk to catch my breath.

While this wasn’t how I envisioned my return to Leon’s, we did make it through safely.  I did also earn my third Podium of the Series at Leon’s.

One real disappointment of the day was that I did not see the photographer who had followed me through 2022.  I still vividly remember her finding me as Lee and I was walking back after the DNF and saying that she had taken photos of us each year (and wanting one even though we had DNFed.)

Thanks to Dare2Tri for all of their support, and to Danny for guiding and all his support!

As part of the clinic (run by Scott Bennefield of PARA ENDURANCE), David and I had a chance to get the bike set up and swim.  The former was key, as we had to work out several issues (including an unexpected seat post issue).  While we did have a chance to swim, I guess the area we were in didn’t have the “false flat” (more about that later).

After setting up the transition, we made the long walk to the swim start.  The swim went well for the most part — the two main issues were when I unknowingly started swimming at a 90 degree angle to David; the other when I though the “false flat” was the finish.  

This was only my second race with the thigh tether (instead of waist and thigh).  St. Anthony’s had a more traditional open water swim (OWS), so I may not have noticed it there.  But in the pool, there’s only so far you can correct…  After fixing that, we continued on to a point where my hands were hitting bottom while we were in shallow water.  I naturally thought we were at the swim exit.  However, we were only at the 500m mark.  Thus, the “false flat”.

After a decent run from swim out to T1, and a normal T1, we were out on the bike.  The adjustments that we had made the prior day helped, and it was a relatively smooth bike.

After a decent T2, we headed out onto the run.  As I’ve talked about in the past, I sometimes go out too fast.  This was one of those cases, where I burned far too much in the first mile.  Between that and humidity kicking in by mile two, the last mile was a painful, ragged mess.  But we finished, and I earned my second Podium of the series.

Thanks to everyone who made the weekend possible — especially to Scott for leading the clinic, Catapult for ALL of their help and support, and to to David for guiding me.

(Photo courtesy of Scott)

“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” – Clark Gable

As we almost went with the wind, I thought I’d use that quote. I’ll get to the wind later…

One of the race series I found early on was the J-Hawk series (Early Bird / Late Bird). While I had wanted to do the early race for years, the timing hadn’t worked out prior to this year.

After a 2 – 2.5 hour drive, we got packets and set up the transition. One of the first things I noticed after leaving transition is that I should have invested in sandals. Let’s just leave it at the walk out of transition. It was very painful and several people said ‘yeah, I learned that the hard way after my first race too.’

The swim was a pool swim, set up with seeding (based on your swim timing), with people starting in that order as lanes freed up. While there were a couple of points that weren’t “fluid”, I was still out of the pool within a minute of where I intended to be.

After a reasonable T1, we headed out on the bike. And it was at this point where things got a little scary. We had a 30+ mph headwind for 9+ miles of the 20K bike, with gusts at times. As I told Scott a couple of times, I was really uncomfortable with it being that windy. Even with all those challenges, we did make it back safely.

After a normal T2, we headed out on a winding course through the neighborhoods, finishing at the gazebo area.

While it wasn’t an ideal race because of the weather, I would still do it again. Hopefully the timing works out for 2026!

Thanks to everyone who helped make the race possible, to Scott for guiding, and to both Scott and Nanci for all their support.

(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!