“Yo he estado aqui muchas veces antes y regreso” – AFI (I have been here many times before and I return)

I finally am swimming for real, after a long break to focus on OCR racing. It feels great. I never thought I would missing swimming as it’s a bit of the more mind numbing of the three sports. But with a masters style workout the meters pass easier, and are more fun.

I am also just enjoying doing different things. Sports was always more about an adventure than a vocation for me. I like that SLB feels that way too. We train, but we also explore. We mix hard work with a sense of adventure and excitement to see cool things and experience a new place. If your the kind of athlete that misses seeing a rainbow over an ancient volcano because you are looking at your power meter, maybe your missing part of the fun?

But here is the thing: the more fun you make training the more you train. The more you train the better you are. So in the end, fun is very serious.

As I pack up my things for the 2018 trip to kick off training for the year, I don’t know where to start this post because I spent most of last year writing for the Warrior Pak blog ( I will still proudly be using there gear for OCR!). I am gonna skip a whole bunch, because all of 2017 was insane. I got divorced, I won a third Spartan Race Ultra Beast world title. I felt great going into the ironman in Israel but had bike problems (my fault because I built my bike and didn’t do the headset right and had death wobble) and wasted a great swim and good run. I did well at some other OCR races too. But as the year ended I knew I wanted to return to tri in 2018 so here I am back on the bike and will be in the pool again. With the re-boot of tri, I figured it was time for a re-boot of the blog!

Training this year got off to a slow start as I had to heal a broken ankle (and heart) and torn ligament that I raced through most of 2017. But the break was mentally good for me too, I was tired from the Israman winters and OCR summers so starting 2018 off with rest was good.

What wasn’t good was the amount of break n bake cookies I ate! And dollar pizza. So in the 10 weeks I was off, I put on 10 lbs plus I had 5 pounds of muscle from OCR that I need to drop for tri. I got about 1/2 that weight off now before heading to SLB because I knew the mountains of Spain aren’t getting any smaller.

I picked up some new sponsors: check out Energy Bust Gels, MYN Choice Cycling stuff and Boston Common Coffee!

Spartan World Title

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“Would you prefer the easy way? Ok then don’t cry.” – Ani Difranco

Spain comes as a bench mark of my life. The travel, training and being an owner/operator of the came cause stress on all fronts but something about that always seems to show me my cracks in my amor. Maybe that’s a good thing. It’s easy to ignore ones weaknesses when you feel invincible and when you are unstoppable. So Spain is a form of inner fun house mirror. It shows me the worst of me to myself. Distorted and ugly. Brutal and unforgiving. An imagine of me; but only after being stretched to the point of snapping.

Like every freaking time.

But is that so bad? To be humbled? To be reminded I am mortal? Each time I pick myself off the mat, wipe the blood from the corner of my mouth and fight another round. Each time I learn something. Each time I come back strong, better, wiser. I love Spain and SLB, not because it’s a sweet vacation for me; but because it’s the opposite: a trial by fire where I judge myself against myself. Where I see what progress I have made as an athlete, and as a person. This is my 12th year here and each year I have struggled. Each year I have been tested. Each year I find a way to move forward and grow. Yeah I wouldn’t prefer the easy way, and I am not crying about it.

Chilling on the Roof of Spain.

Coffee Snob: All Me!
It’s here!!!! My own blend! When Boston Commons gave me a chance to make my own blend I got so giddy. Finally after drinking all the worlds coffees all over the world I had a chance to make my own! Here is what I came up with “THE EVIL RACING CULT TRAINING AND RACING BLEND.”
I wanted it to be bold and flavorful so it’s got a strong Ethiopian base. But I also wanted it to have some extra kick so it’s got some arabica (what they drink in Europe) espresso. And lastly it’s got a bit of Kona so it has magic.
Now here is the other thing: Ethiopian is the home of the great runners. Arabica espresso is the drink of euro roadies and the pro peloton. Kona is the home of triathlons most iconic event. That wasn’t by accident.
This bold but not acidic coffee mixes taste, fuel and a touch of the mental aspects of sport.
Thanks again: https://www.bostoncommoncoffee.com