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!
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.
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!
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!
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.
As I mentioned in a prior blog from last September, I was finally able to run the entire 5K. After I had come close in Houston within the past couple years, the goal for 2025 was two-fold — to run the entire 5K and shave time off of the September 2024 pace.
After the standard Catapult team photo, Doug and I headed out and towards the front of the start line as part of the AWD group.
After starting off a little fast, Doug helped me to settle into a solid pace which I believed I could keep for the full race. While there were a couple of points where Doug had to help me calm the breathing down (especially as we were on the way back after being Flathoused), I made it work. I did also skip the water station that was close to the end so I didn’t have a repeat of what had happened last time in the last half mile or so.
When I crossed the finish line, I had succeeded in both goals. I shaved about 3 minutes off of the 2024 time and ran the entire 5K!
Thanks to Doug for guiding me at to Catapult for all their support!
For those of you who have been following along throughout the year, you have a good idea of what the year looked like. For those of you that haven’t been, there were both successes and failures.
In the success column — 8 Triathlons (including 4 Podiums and being part of the first-ever all Adaptive Tri), 4 OCRs (including a Holy Grail), 5 different Athletic camps (including scoring my 2nd TD at Notre Dame), and being recognized by the Tough Mudder community for my accomplishments during the season.
In the failure column — having to scratch a total of 6 OCRs (2 due to safety, 4 due to school / injury) and failing to complete the season without injury. And for those of you who might be worried, the injury at WTM was minor and I’m able to run. I was just worried I might injure it further in Florida so soon after WTM.
While there were speed bumps, hiccups, and struggles, the successes far outweighed the failures. I am truly grateful to everyone who supported me through both the successes and failures, along with all of those who provided me with so many opportunities. THANK YOU to all of you!
As I look forward to 2025, I am mindful that 10 years ago, none of this was planned. Ten years ago, Terri and I were focused on which Triathlon was going to be the “one and done”. I knew nothing about Dare2Tri or any of the other organizations that I’m part of at this point.
But because I said yes to those opportunities, I’ve been able to do so much. Yes, some of it has been scary at times; yes, I’ve second-guessed myself a couple of times (AKA WTF am I doing?). There have also been a couple of times that have come close to breaking me. See the 2019 Pleasant Prairie and 2022 Leon’s blogs for more details. But the support of so many has helped me to work through those challenges.
As I prepare for another 46-week season that will include a long list of Triathlon, running, OCR, and other events, I’ll leave you all with this piece of advice. Even if it scares you, say yes to the opportunity. Even if it isn’t perfect, trying and failing (safely) is 5000 times better than just saying no and sitting on the couch.
To that point, my first OCR of the year will be in the snow. It also includes an obstacle that will definitely be a mind game. But I’m up for the opportunity. If you want to join me, the Abominable Snow Race (ASR) is on January 25th in Lake Geneva, WI!
“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” ― Jack Kerouac The simple words are “Thank you”.
After Chicago and Pittsburgh, I thought I was ready for Tampa (WTM). While I was right in some regards, I was wrong in others.
Going in, I believed that I had a solid plan to hit both an initial goal (30 miles) and a stetch goal (50 miles). This included having access to a Pit crew, guides, and support crew. It also included having what I thought was the proper nutrition in place for 24 hours on course.
After going through registration, talking through the Adaptive Athlete parts with Evert, and getting everything set up, we were ready to go. Sean did his normal and amazing pump up intro, and then we were off.
Because of my vision, I relied on my guides for footing on the terrain. As I learned during the first lap, this was not a course that I would be able to run. This was because of multiple roots and holes, along with sand and other pitfalls. So before we even finished the first 5 mile loop, I knew the stretch goal of 50 most likely would not happen.
While most of the obstacles were closed on the first loop, I did have to tackle Mudderhorn. With the help of the Men of Mudderhorn, I made it up onto the cargo part of the net and then over.
After about 15 minutes in the Pits, we headed out for the second lap. By this point, it had become overcast, which made it harder for me to see. Also during this lap, a lot more obstacles had opened. Prior to it, we had agreed to do the lap without the harness and see how it went. While it wasn’t always “comfortable”, I made it over all of them with help from the team and others. Pyramid Squeeze was probably the hardest of these, as the cargo net kept you low (instead of being able to get leverage from standing). And getting my shorts caught in the knot anchor at the top was a lot concerning — thankfully one of the team was able to get me disconnected.
While it was definitely the most scary obstacle for me, Shawshanked was also one of the most fun obstacles of the lap. As a brief description, you’re crawling under barbed wire and then into a tube, from which you dive out of into water. Being a bigger guy, I wasn’t able to get the right positioning within the tube to jump out forward. So having to trust that I would clear the tube and hit the water properly was a lot. The night platform diving from 5 years ago when I couldn’t see the water helped with the fear though, and I made it through.
The sun set during this lap, which made some of the later obstacles (including the second trip on Mudderhorn) more difficult. But after 20-30 minutes in the Pit, we haded out for the 3rd lap.
By this point, all of the obstacles were open. There were some that I was able to do (like the longer Kiss of Mud, the improved Cry Baby, Cage Crawl, Arctic Enema, Sand Jacked, and others). But there were a few I had to bypass or take the penalty at for safety reasons. It was during this lap that “Energizer Bunny 2.0” (aka Kali) started to emerge. That will come into play later.
After finishing the third lap, we made a substantial pit for real food. This was where I made a mistake with nutrition. I thought that Raumen would be great on several levels. However, as I found out on Kiss of Mud, it was not. I spent most of the obstacle burping up the meal. Once I made it through and was OK, the rest of the lap was similar to lap 3. The main differences were that the gator didn’t check in on us (I guess 1 AM was after its bedtime), Energizer Bunny 2.0 did work, my left knee became very painful, and Ian dumped between one and two full pallates of ice into Arctic Enema. As in Pittsburgh, I slipped at the exit and fell back in because of all the ice. But a big difference between 75 to 80 in the sun during the day (Pittsburgh) and 69 in the dark (Tampa).
After completing lap 4, I was cold and disheartened. The crew helped me to get to the fire and I also put on my jacket. It still took a good 30 – 40 minutes to get the core temperature back. My left leg was hurting so badly that I didn’t know how I would get lap #5 in. It was at that point someone from the Orphan Tent (sorry that I’ve forgotten their name) offered a massage. They said ‘this is going to hurt, but it will help’, and they were right. Also, one of the team helped to fix the insole, which was slightly bunched up (and may have contributed).
Shortly after sunrise, we headed out for lap 5. It was extremely painful, especially as both legs started hurting by mile 23. I know that lap 5 would not have been completed without EB 2.0. 🙂 When I crossed the finish line, Sean was there to greet me. Brittany, who was one of my guides at Pittsburgh, was also there. You can see the finish video here.
While it wasn’t perfect or even as intended, I did complete 25 miles. I am extremely grateful to everyone who helped me to make it to that point. Thank you.
The next day at the awards brunch, I was presented with the Accomplishment Community Award. I am grateful to those who nominated me and supported me for it. You can see the full awards ceremony on The OCR Report’s YouTube channel.
While there were challenges throughout it, I believe I had a successful year. Between 2 hour crab walks, an extra loop, and on course struggles, there was a lot that went “wrong”. But there was also a lot that went right.
Throughout the course of these races, I went from needing to have the harness to even try a climbing obstacle to being relatively OK doing them without it. And I know that I’ll continue to get more comfortable the more obstacles I do. I also found a way to work through the mental challenges of the courses. These races may start as physical, but they turn mental the further you get into them. As I mentioned above, 18+ hours in (around mile 23) became a mental game.
Because Pittsburgh has been scratched, and WTM is in the UK, Chicago will be my only Tough Mudder weekend in 2025. But I hope to see a lot of you out there! If you want to save on your race entry as you join me in Chicago, or you do any other 2025 race, check my IG bio for the current discount code!
Last year, I had planned to do my first Spartan race in Dallas (Granbury). But the Welcome2Running camp was that same weekend, which was the priority. With the camp earlier this year, the Spartan Trifecta Weekend (21K Beast, 10K Super, and 5K Sprint) worked. With guides (Jaime and Cheyenne) and support crew from More Hearts Than Scars in place, we headed out onto the course for the Beast race.
For this race, almost all obstacles that you failed had a penalty loop (usually about 1/4 mile). This was different from the Tough Mudder races, and both good and bad in its own rights.
While I won’t go into all of the obstacles, there were some early successes on some of the smaller walls (both with and without the harness). and failures on the grip obstacles, we made it through the first few miles at a decent pace. Then we headed into a long stetch of hills and rocks.
I slipped on one of these and tore myself up in a couple of places. Thankfully, the support crew had the liquid bandage stuff, which helped a lot. Once we had it out of that part and to an aid station, I ran into a sauna.
For those of you who have used port-a-poties during a race, you know they can be hot from the sun. Having one in the 90+ degree heat for 4-5 hours was like sitting in a sauna. But it was the only option… Once that was done, we moved on to the first of the heavy carry obstacles — and once through, onto more stable path. At least, that was what I thought…
Instead, we ended up in a gravel quarry followed by 1.5 miles of the remains of the quarry and hills. To say it was rough terrain would be an understatement. And to illustrate the point, it took us 93 minutes to go a single mile in it.
At some point within this area and rejoining “solid” ground, we came to a wall obstacle. At this point, I was mentally drained and wasn’t fully thinking about the initial plan. So instead of usin the harness for the nine foot wall, I went up without it. The group was able to help me get up, and was on the other side to help me down. But it took me a good five minutes on top of the wall to “settle” as I felt it moving and knew I didn’t have any support. (harness).
By the time we made it back to the more “stable” ground, we had been out for longer than I had planned. We still had three miles to go at this point. So after a grueling, long barbed wire crawl, we headed to the finish.
Even though the terrain was “better” than the rock quarry area, it was still a challenging 3 mile trek. This was topped off by a final climbing obstacle that you had to go over to finish. It took everything I had and help from the group to get over it.
While it wasn’t pretty or as intended, I did cross the finish line. I am extremely grateful to everyone for sticking it out with me. It was an extremely long day of course.
As I sat on stage post-race, all sorts of emotions went through me. The largest one being disappointment over how the race had gone. It took time, but I was able to work through all of that and finally enjoy dinner (lesson learned about buying food at the site…)
While my mind wanted to do the remaining two races the next day, my body did not. We decided as a group that it wasn’t safe to try and push it. While I didn’t complete the Trifecta here, I will try again before year’s end.
Five years prior, Catapult had hosted their first Tri camp at Camp Olympia (Trinity, TX). As I mentioned in that blog, platform diving was so much fun — and opened doors to more fun things. So when Catapult announced that the 2024 Welcome2Running camp would be back at Camp Olympia, I was really excited to see that!
Having spent a fair amount of time working on running in 2024, I was excited to continue pushing at camp. Unfortunately, an unexpected session derailed that.
After introductions, Day 1 began with us running loops (first small and then increasing to larger ones with a hill). Eric helped with the pacing, and the session seemed to go well — especially as I was able to go beyond the initial walk / run interval schedule.
Between lunch and the second run session, we had pilates and strength. Even though I’ve never done pilates before, I could tell that the instructor was pushing at an advanced level. I know that I pulled something during the session, which impacted my run for the rest of the camp. I was able to work through it during the strength session and most of the second run, but then it hit hard.
The second run session of Day 1 started with metronome run sessions (to work on speed and turnover), followed by terrain training. As I mentioned, my body was hurting so much from pilates that I couldn’t get much effort during the terrain part.
I had hoped to get platform diving in when we gathered at the pool later that night. However, they had set up the lighting for the night on top of it. So instead, I swam laps and tried to stretch out the legs. Unfortunately, that just made things worse.
Day 2 started with a long run. My legs were still hurting so much that I had to walk it. After a stretch session (bands) and a TRX session, we had the second run session of the day. This included the tire pull and then running laps. As with the morning, my legs were still not in a place where I could do much, so we walked it out. Once the session was over, I found ice and remembered passing out for a bit. When I came to, the pain was a bit better.
Day 3 was the community run. By that point, my legs were a bit better. While it was still painful, I was able to run it.
While camp didn’t go as I had hoped, I still learned a lot during it. I am grateful to Catapult for the opportunities and to Eric for guiding me.
