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| 5 years of my best swag! |
Five years ago today, I walked out the door on a chilly winter day with the intention of simply distracting my busy mind with some sore muscles and gasping lungs. Not only did I succeed in the short term, but in the long term I discovered the single most potent source of happiness, fitness, inspiration, fulfillment, serenity, and doggone FUN that I have yet to find anywhere.
Over the last five years, I've done things that were completely unimaginable and unthinkable to my former 28 year old self. Triathlons. Marathons. Ironman. ULTRAmarathons. A 100 mile trail race. I realized that limitations are mostly imaginary and all it takes to overcome them is to stop believing in them. In this continuing journey of self-discovery and self-improvement, I've formed great friendships, strengthened existing ones, and learned to believe in myself in ways that I never could have dreamed before.
Coming out of a pretty rough stretch following OT 100 last November, I'm finally starting to feel healthy again. The ankle is cooperating, with the help of Katie, my massage therapist, and Rob Jones, who I've been getting ART from. Both work at Peak Performance in Lawrence, and I highly recommend them both! As a result of their fine work, I've started running again. Easy short stuff on the treadmill, but I'm almost pain-free at this point, which means soon I'll get to start building distance and speed!
So far this year I've spent a good amount of time riding the trainer due to the lousy weather, as well as hitting the pool(though not the past 2 weeks because I just got LASIK!!!). It's all starting to come together and I'm excited for another season training hard for triathlons, culminating at Ironman Boulder where I hope to finish sub-12, and at the very least, beat Delaware...which given how hard he's already training, is definitely no small task.
As always, since I'm a numbers geek and I track every single mile, here are my 5 year mileage totals:
Running: 3670
Biking: 4796
Swimming: 90
Not too shabby, and I'm expecting big gains on the cycling and swimming this year.
And then THIS happened...
Back in January, Honey Stinger sent out an email to all of the customers on its email list. I happen to like Honey Stinger products quite a bit, especially their chews, and usually their emails consist of special deals which help me get my race nutrition a smidge cheaper than normal. However this email did not contain any such specials. It was, however, an invitation to apply to be a member of the Honey Stinger Hive, their group of sponsored athletes.
Never in a million years did I think I'd be picked. I'm not that fast, nor do I have the greatest track record for consistent training(though I've done alright the past few years). Anyways, I filled out their little application, listed my accomplishments and my goals, and promptly forgot about it completely.
Until today.
My birthday.
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| Happy Birthday, Danny! |
I really couldn't believe it. I've always thought it'd be cool if regular Everyman-type athletes with good attitudes and interesting stories could become sponsored instead of having to be some inhuman ultra-cyborg. Well, wouldn't you know it...they thought so too!
I'm utterly thrilled and honored to be recognized, and most importantly, REALLY looking forward to stuffing my face with delicious and wholesome Honey Stinger products as I subject my body to unnecessary yet fun forms of physical torture! Now time to get my hands on some Honey Stinger garb so I can rep' it up proper!
Thanks for reading, thanks for loving, thanks for being friends, thanks for caring, and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Honey Stinger! I already thought you guys were a great organization, and I'm proud to be a part of promoting the brand!
KTB
