Dreaming of a Life Less Ordinary

October 6, 2026 Moving Forward: The Art of Transition They say you cannot win races in the transition, but you can lose them. Just like in motorsports, you can win or lose a race in the pits; in the game of triathlon, you can lose the race in T1 or T2. Fumbling to get out of your wetsuit. Bike shoe not clipping in. God forbid you leave transition without your race fuel. All the little things that can lead to losing your race.  For me, the goal of every tri, all nine, was just to finish. Therefore, when I saw people running by me from sport to sport, and I just sort of took my time walking, not running, I have never run in transition; I just let it all pass by. Didn’t spend too much time thinking about it. I would head over to find a seat, sit down, and wiggle my double-sized body out of my wetsuit. Get the sand out from between my toes. When my coach told me to get going, I smiled and waved. I started, therefore, I had already won. It wasn’t a race for me; transitions were rest are...

  2X & Fitted for Progress:   How Clothes Show What the Scale Can't (and Looking Damn Good Doing It) Finding Light in Hard Moments: Sometimes you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right. Jerry Garcia said that in my favorite Dead song, Scarlet Begonias. That seems to sum up last week well. Sunday, Mom gave us the news that Dr. Dan had passed away. The long-time readers will remember Dr. Dan as my honoree hero from Team in Training. Danny beat leukemia back twice and won against it, but cancer is a relentless beast and got him in the end. People will feel the loss of Dr. Dan. Family holidays won’t be the same without him; I can’t think of one he was not at. Then he helped my Mom, find her cancer early, which helped her go into remission and be cancer-free today. My Dad was as suit and tie guy. The very idea of wearing jeans to church would have horrified him. He labeled it with a single phrase: crumb bum. Don’t mistake my meaning; I acknowledg...

  Leaving It All on the Road: Sister Bay Metric Century   Sister Bay, Wisconsin, experienced cold and wet weather. Cold might be a stretch for an Indiana boy, but coming from the high 80s and 90s we have had here in Bloomington, Indiana and going to the mid to high sixties off the coast of Lake Michigan was a big change. Although, a very welcome change. I ride better in the cold. The fall scenery there dazzled with vibrant color. While not all trees had started their seasonal change, some had, which made the landscape around the mighty Michigan lovely.        David and I drove up there to cap off our summer rides and put state number 8 into the books. I struggled in Kentucky and Pennsylvania earlier this year. My goal was straightforward: to conquer the three rated climbs and reach the finish line. I made a joke to David on the way up there that our Airbnb would be a shack out in the middle of the woods with no driveway. I had no way of knowing at the time ...

From Hobbyist to Athlete: Mindset over Miles The weight of carrying heavy legs hits hard this Monday morning. I’m sitting down to write this feeling, and I have to admit, I am completely exhausted, but it’s the good fatigue. It's the kind that results from dedication and staying on course, despite every muscle in your legs pleading for a break. Last weekend was a genuine test of one's commitment and discipline. It started with a two-hour-and-fifteen-minute spin locked inside on the trainer. Then Sunday came bearing the gift of a three-hour tour on tired legs, at least that was outside. This is coming after back-to-back weekends of fifty-plus miles on the bike, and then two additional rides during the last week. My legs hated me, and who could blame them?  I am proud of myself. It feels strange to say that. I am proud of myself, though. Not just because of the riding, but because of everything I am doing to live my dream. How I continue to put myself out there. Sunday’s ride was...

  Beyond the Ordinary: The Suck and the Saddle The numbers on the Garmin: Saddle Time:  4:57:27 hours Distance:  53.84 miles Elevation Gain:  2,776 feet Personal Records:  12 PRs Maybe it is because of the book by King I am listening to, but the phrase “The Suck” has been stuck in my head. Though King’s novel uses “The Suck” to refer to Fallujah and an operation that the main character is going through as a Marine. That is something I can’t speak to; I can only talk about what “The Suck” means to me when I am out there in the saddle.  The phrase “Embrace the Suck” is something I first heard in my Team in Training days. It is from a book named “Embrace the Suck: The Navy SEAL Way to an Extraordinary Life”. The meaning of Embrace the Suck mans leaning into suffering and getting comfortable with it. That I can only mildly relate to based on my efforts in the bicycle’s saddle. I would never try to compare that to what the Navy SEALs go through.   To m...

  Beyond Big & Tall: First Time Shopping in 30 Years It is amazing that so many things in your life can click that you don’t have enough time to talk about them all on your blog in any given weekly post. I’m posting two blogs this week, something I haven’t done in years.  The mind is funny sometimes; what it remembers and holds onto. I vividly remember my favorite button-down from college. The shirt was a green and black checkered shirt, size 3XL, and I bought it at Old Navy. The shirt always appeared wrinkled even when it was just fresh out of the wash. Man, it was so comfortable. I would have worn it every day if I could have.  There is another reason I remember that green and black checkered shirt. Why do I always hold it in such high esteem? It was the last piece of clothing I picked out or purchased, not only at Old Navy but outside of a Big & Tall store or a Big & Tall section. I know I got the shirt at the start of my junior year at IU. That means the l...