I began my triathlon journey with a sprint tri on October 6, 2009. It was one day after my 30th birthday and 6 weeks after I took my first swim lesson. After I struggled to complete the 400-yard swim, 12-mile bike, and 5k run, I felt like I could do an Ironman. A year later, I completed Ironman Cozumel in 2010. In 2011, I completed Ironman Florida and three weeks later I completed Ironman Cozumel.

After those races, I separated from my faith and I fell back into my addiction to alcohol. I didn’t train and gained a lot of weight. My 5’9” frame topped out at nearly 260lb. A far cry from my lean race weight of 185lb. It got worse. between 2013 and 2015, I started smoking cigarettes again. I hadn’t smoked for nearly 12 years. I was at the bottom of the bottom.

I stopped smoking when I met my future wife in 2015. A year later, I stopped drinking on 09/29/2016. I began the process of reclaiming everything alcohol took from me. At the top of my list, the Ironman. I wanted to do Ironman #4 at 40. I started with a 5k. A Turkey Trot in Huntsville, AL on Thanksgiving day 2017. I finished the 5k in just over 39 minutes.

I then started following a free online tri plan and completed my first sprint triathlon, Chattanooga Waterfront Tri in June 2018. I literally walked the 5k. My next race was an olympic distance in Sep 2018. I, again, found myself walking 95% of the 10k and barely made the 4-hour cutoff. I was in the bottom ten at 7th from last.

I still thought I could somehow complete an Ironman in a year’s time. I signed up for Ironman Florida ’19. I started following a highly rated plan online. I hated that plan! It was killing me on the run which I hated doing anyway. I hated running!

I joined TriDot after seeing reviews and recommendations of people and thought I would give it a shot. My morale was already at the bottom of the barrel. It certainly couldn’t do any harm.

My first assessment after using TriDot I made huge improvements in all three disciplines. My last assessment I ran a 9:22 minute mile on the 5k. My fastest 5k ever. It was also a lot faster than my first, return to endurance, Turkey Trot 5k which was about 12:34 minute miles.

My target races for 2019 are Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 and IM Florida. I am very excited my training indicates I will be able to run the entire half marathon in Chattanooga. I am also predicted to complete Ironman Florida faster than my PR, on the same course, when I was 32 years old.

TriDot has helped me feel like a triathlete again. I am regaining the last thing alcohol took from me. The support from the community on the IamTri community page is unreal. It feels like a tri-family. Welcome to TriDot!