Why I Am Doing An Ironman

“Your why has to make you cry, if it doesn’t, it’s not your why.”

I was an utter screw-up in high-school. I got arrested and kicked-off the soccer team the night before my senior season began.

I was suspended from school for five days the day my senior baseball season began. I was called to the principals office and was actually in my uniform heading up to the field and informed of the punishment. Going into college, it got worse.

I fell off an 80-foot cliff during the first few weeks of starting college.

Nearing the end of my freshman year of college, I was involved in a head-on drunk driving accident. Thank goodness I was the only one that was injured!Yeah. I know.

All of the opportunities that I had worked for years prior, vanished.

Could you imagine being my parents during all of that? Pain, regret, shame, anger, disappointment were emotions that became a consistent cloud over my soul wherever I went.

Then, I was accepted into graduate school at Temple University and received an internship. I thought that they must have had the wrong guy.

The book I read before grad school began was- It’s Not About The Bike, by Lance Armstrong. I get the hate he brought on himself, but I digress.

There was a powerful quote in that book that read “If you ever get a second chance at life, you have to go all the way!”

It became a mantra and I knew that although I wasted my talent in the past, I was still blessed with an opportunity. I knew what I wanted to do and become, I wasn’t going to blow it.

All the lessons that I learned in sports still applied-dedication, focus, commitment, and keep moving forward. My mess would become my message! I read everything! I ran marathons! I immersed myself into my field of sport psychology and mental toughness. I was still haunted though.

Yes, I was thankful and re-dedicated, but I was driven by my failures and fear of making sure I didn’t mess up again!

That motivation was driven by a hate for self that gets channeled in positive outlets, but a residue of anger and a belief of not being good enough remained.

Making your test your testimony is painful. It means being able to see how your own experience can benefit others. It means first being vulnerable, and who likes that?

So, the only way I’ve been able to navigate life without that cloud is to try and be of use to others. That’s why I’m doing an Ironman.

I ran an Ultra in May and dedicated it to Izzy. #runforizzy. https://www.facebook.com/FightingForIzzy/

My next adventure is a full Ironman Triathlon.

Ironman Maryland. September 29th…

2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 run…Here’s my why…

Josh Fugate. https://www.gofundme.com/the-fight-for-josh-fugate-amp-family

Josh just graduated high-school in May and in June he merely went down a slide head first. He fractured his c-5 vertebrae and was paralyzed from the chest down….

Boom, Hinge moment.

He’s a great kid! That should have been me.

So, what can I do? how can I help?

That’s why I am doing the Ironman Maryland.If you feel moved to support Josh’s recovery, then by all means. If there is someone else you can help in life, then do that instead.

https://www.gofundme.com/the-fight-for-josh-fugate-amp-familyBe The Hinge for others…#JoshsJourney #YouveGotThis