Living a Healthy Lifestyle

About Me:

I used to weigh 375 lb. Mid July 2010 my grandfather passed away from complications with diabetes. I saw first hand what I was going towards. It was not pretty. In August of the same year I began this journey to lose weight and become more fit. Many don't know this but at first it was a journey to try and play College Football. (I know a long shot) Over the months of running and gym workouts I found a love for running and cycling. I combined that love and did my first Triathlon in June 2011. With that I pushed to see what the limit was. I have run more races than I can count, 5k's, half marathons, marathons, and Ironman Arizona. Doors have opened in my life that I never thought possible. Moving back to Maryland I trained as an EMT/Firefighter along with becoming a terp at UMD. There I joined the Maryland Triathlon team GO TERPS!! In the Summer of 2014 I will be joining others on a bike ride called the 4K for Cancer from Baltimore to San Francisco to help raise money for the Ulman Cancer Fund For Young Adults. Today I weigh 245 lb and life is good. This is my journey:

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Day 5: To Lynchburg (75 Miles)

We split up into groups by Anchorman characters. Naturally I got Team Ron Burgundy, which most of the day was “Ron Burgundy??” Haha. Due to some rerouting the trip turned into about 84 miles. The Alumni claimed this was one of the hardest days but the hills didn’t seem to be that bad. We ate like kings with bananas and chicken donated from various locations along with smoothies and powerade. Early in our day Erica’s wheel broke and she was in the van the rest of the day. We were down to 3 but trucking hard. We averaged probably a good 15mph between Tyler, Steph Kos, and myself. The hills were tough, especially the one after lunch with just a little bit of chicken coming back up on it. There is a lot of work to be done tonight as the mechanic but hopefully we get a chance to grab a beer.

Best part of the day: We beat the chalking van to the host today. With about 17 miles left we booked it and used technology to find our way. I chalked for the rest of the team from my bike.

Today should be titled “Damn I wish I had my GoPro”. It didn’t charge last night and I didn’t get any footage today. However we saw 3 great things happen.

1. Steph went off the road into a ravine and somehow recovered enough not to die. I watched it in slow motion and thought I would be calling 911. We were going roughly 30mph

2. Saw a squirrel tragically lose it’s life. He ran out in front of me and across a 2 lane road and looked like he was going to make it when “CRUNCH” a car came cruising by and hit the poor guy.

3. The descent into Lynchburg came out of nowhere and was so beautiful. One moment you are in the trees and the next you are descending a huge open mountain with a view going about 45mph and seeing that the whole entire day was leading to that moment.

What a fantastic day of cycling.