Most of my friends and family know by now that this year, 2024, is the year I have been working so hard for and building toward since my first triathlon in 2013. 2024 is the year that I will go to Kona and race in the Ironman World Championships. This year will be unlike any other year I have had yet. In late 2023, I was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and Hashimoto's disease, all in the same week. With these ailments, I must train smarter and harder than ever.
In 2018, I joined the Fxck Cancer Foundation and started racing for their endurance club. I've helped raise money every year I have been with the organization, and my immense gratitude for those who have supported me since joining the team has not gone unnoticed. However, I want this to be my biggest fundraising year yet.
Firstly, I can't even begin to tell you what an honor it has been racing with the Fxck Cancer Endurance Club — carrying their message worldwide, honoring our lost loved ones, and standing side by side with those still fighting. One of the most important messages we share with fellow athletes is to listen to your body and take preventative measures through screening tests. As athletes, we train hard, and our bodies take the toll. We dismiss symptoms for general training aches and pains when they could be potentially serious. Because of this message, I received my diagnosis last year and started treatment. While my diagnosis was not cancer-related, it provided me with the answers and the relief I needed.
Here is my story - My friends and family all know how much I love the sport of triathlon. What many may not know is how I came to be involved in it. 13 years ago, addiction had me feeling out of control in my life, so my mother took me in and helped me to get sober. My mother, who had recently picked up running, encouraged me to choose a productive hobby as a way of stress relief and give me some much-needed focus and direction. I decided to commit to giving triathlon a try. I completed my first sprint distance in 2013, and it was one of the hardest things I had ever done.
I embraced the challenge and focused on getting better. By 2014, I completed my first IRONMAN. In late 2019, I completed my 12th full-distance IRONMAN race and qualified for the World Championships through the Legacy program. I am incredibly fortunate to have accomplished this. After a few years of patiently waiting, I have finally been given the opportunity to compete in a once-in-a-lifetime race. This opportunity is not lost on me. The hard work, goals, and dreams have all helped me get through some of the most challenging times of my life.
In 2017, my stepfather lost his fight with esophageal cancer, leaving behind myself, my sister, two grandchildren, and my mother, a breast cancer survivor herself and the woman who ultimately saved my life. In the same year, an old friend of mine, and possibly the most talented skater I have ever met, died of cancer at the age of 37. In 2019, one of my best friends lost his father to cancer, while my wife's aunt, an incredible woman, recently won her battle with breast cancer after more than a year of fighting. Since my involvement with the F C, I have had multiple friends open up to me about their own cancer stories and diagnosis. Some are winning, and some like my beautiful friend Gwen are still fighting. Sadly, the list of loved ones lost or impacted by cancer is far too long. This sport has already saved my life, so if there is a way I can do it to help save the lives of others, I must. I'm a triathlete. I fucking hate cancer. This is where I need to be.
