Today I ran in my second marathon, the REVEL Big Bear Marathon, my first since joining the Squad five months ago.  With the help of ‘the Pillars’ my mindset, race plan, and fitness level could not have been any better.  I am still very new to endurance sports so a sub-four hour marathon will not rock the sport world but this is very satisfying to me. This is 25 minutes better than my first marathon I did in March of this year. Yes, I realize this is a fast track, down hill run but I hit the mark of where I wanted to be.  Thank you Purple Patch Coaches, I know you are a major part of my growth in endurance sports and life in general.  I did my first 70.3 at Santa Cruz in September and I have my next coming up in December at 70.3 Indian Wells.  What possible improvements may I see there?  Or what curve balls?  With the Squad's help, I’m sure I’ll be prepared to handle whatever scenario may come.   Thank you. 

 

Short bio on my new Tri-life:

So at the beginning of 2018, I committed to running in order to to get back into shape. I’ve played sports throughout my life (baseball, soccer, basketball, hiking, golf) but clearly that wasn’t cutting it.  I was out of shape and soon turning 50 years old with two teenagers in the house playing their own youth sports.  I couldn’t let my kids out-sport me!  Running and getting dragged into Strava by a couple buddies soon had me also hopping on my 25 year-old mountain bike to post rides. And that was it, why not swim and go for a sprint triathlon.  April 2018, I did a local charity sprint triathlon.  I was hooked. The whole experience was nothing short of awesome from the welcoming athletes, uniqueness of the competition, volunteers, everything. Oh, and I got 6th in my age group out of 20.  I thought this Triathlon thing must be too easy, I hardly trained.   Triathlon can be humbling though, I’ve always placed in the lower half of the field since that event and you know what...I love it more.  I love the challenge, I love the training process, I love how nothing goes as planned and how improvisation is a certainty. A bit cliche perhaps but Triathlon and the daily training to me are a huge parallel to daily work and family life, there are always ups and downs with curve balls coming everywhere.   I have been self-coached up until June of this year.  That process was a lot of fun, drowning myself in books, websites, and podcasts covering all things triathlon.  That is where I found Purple Patch, in the podcast world.  Reminds me of this past July when I was walking around after finishing a sprint race. I had my Purple Patch visor on and a guy from across the way yelled out saying, “Hey Purple Patch, that’s my favorite podcast.”  I told him I couldn’t agree more. He then told me to ask Matt about England rugby or something, not sure I ever figured out what he was after.   I have come to realize that I am a time-starved athlete.  Family and work life are demanding but when sport is in my life, I am more complete.  I am a more positive and engaging husband, father, son, brother, friend, coach, and employee.  I must put joining the Squad at Purple Patch as the best decision I have made in 2019.  The squad is a perfect fit for me in that I can move my training around in a way that fits my personal life and professional travel schedule. The workout videos, office hours and education hub have taken the guesswork out of hoping my training plan is being effective and the Facebook athlete group is simply a huge resource and wonderful engaging community.   Stick a fork in me, I’m done. I’ve found my home as a time-starved athlete. 

#wearepurplepatch