As I crossed the finish line of my first full Ironman in 2011, I thought about how far I had come. It’s amazing how moments of incredible achievement can lead to intense self-examination. My friends and family who were standing at the finish line that day could hardly recognize the man standing before them. In 2001, I was smoking two packs a day and tipping the scales at nearly 250 pounds. I didn’t like the man that I had become, and decided to do something about it. The cigarettes were the first thing to go. Over the next four years, I slowly worked on creating new habits and getting my weight under control. By 2005, I was under 200 lbs. and began participating in some community fun runs, 5ks once a week on Wednesday evenings. Those 5ks started a fire that quickly burned hotter and brighter! 2006, I completed a marathon relay. A friend competed in sprint triathlons and urged me to join him. I took swimming lessons and a year later, completed my first sprint tri. The milestones came fast and furious after that: 2008, my first full marathon; 2009, my first Olympic distance tri; 2010, my first half Ironman. All of that led up to that finish line in 2011 and my first full Ironman. I had achieved a lot, but I had also just scratched the surface.

Fast forward to the summer of 2017. I had completed 10 more half Ironmans as well as four more full Ironman. I was happy to be finishing them, but I wanted to keep improving. I was also looking for a way to balance my training plan (taken from an old magazine) with my family life and my job. It never felt like there was enough time. It was this imbalance that led me to an ad of Facebook for TriDot. The Preseason Project and the promise of two free months was enough to entice me to give it a shot, as I had nothing to lose! Almost immediately, I saw improvement across the board. I was performing better, and spending less time training. The benefits became apparent in 2018 when I set a PR at Ironman Wisconsin. I finished that race and wasn’t totally destroyed as I had often been at other finish lines. Instead, I was able to relish the finish and soak up the post-race festivities, something I’d always wanted to do but never had the energy after an Ironman.

Getting me that PR, while training less and keeping me injury-free, sold me on the benefits of TriDot. I will always trust the training to get me a great finish, no matter what distance I’m racing!