History

My first race was from wall to wall in the Fairfax elementary school gym during the 2nd grade.
I won. I beat the whole class. I was always quick and elusive as a kid. I had a big brother so I really knew how to turn on the jets, change direction and sprint. Survival skills are taught by siblings with very direct methods.
My brother also led me to swim team at the Y, and the city pool. He had a Bill Rogers warm up and a Motobecane touring bike. by the mid eighties my Uncle Bob was running Boston and winning age group awards in this new 3sport race called "Triathlon".
I ran track in the 7th grade. After experiencing knee pain, I looked to the coach for advice. He said"If you can't take the heat than get out of the kitchen." Completely unsatisfied with his response, I got the hell out of the kitchen.
Swim team ended when the coach threatened to flunk me in earth science if I didn't choose swim team over choir. My defiance to this threat began a very bad high school career.
I made my own choices. A lot of bad choices. If I could do it again. I would change a lot of choices. However I will never regret walking away from these coaches.

I liked riding. My friend Hung and I used to ride out to the Chagrin river to fish. I could never keep a bike for very long. Eventually I lost interest.

I began smoking in high school.
The only sport I ever took part in was a silly game called hacky sack. the goal was to keep a round bean bag from hitting the ground without using your hands. I became very good at this. I would play for hours in very active games. I built a lot of strength in my legs.
By 23 I wanted to quit smoking and adopt a healthier life style. After having been attacked violently twice in 3 months I also decided I needed to exorcise.

My first run was at 11:30 PM a quarter mile to the playground and back. Halfway I laid on my back, heart pounding and lungs reaching for whatever oxygen they could get. I was 23 and I was very out of shape.
I went out and bought some Air Nike cross training shoes Like Bo Jackson would use. I told a friend, Bruce that I had started running. Bruce was one of the top area runners. He told me he would pay my entry in an upcoming 5k at John Carrol University.
That Saturday, I raced. In a pouring rain with only one rest stop. I finished a race of 3.1 miles in 39 minutes. I didn't win, but I beat the race walker in the final 50 meters. After the race, we all went inside and ate fruit, drank water and watched all my friends get trophies.
I received a nice shirt.

This was the beginning of my life as a "runner".
My 1st 10k was the Revco Marathon and 10k. I remember while we waited for the race to begin the marathoners lined up for the start. When the gun sounded and Dire Straights "Heavy Fuel" started playing I imagined this incredible journey that this smaller group of runners was to under take. I imagined myself beginning my marathon.
Over the next 4 years I wandered a crooked path. At times I was so far from my 26.2 mile dream that I had nearly forgotten it.
Injuries and the constant lure of nicotine would keep me unfocused. I eventually came to a point in my life where I needed to regain my self.
In the fall of '97 I started training. As I began to build my base I suffered a very bad ankle sprain. I remember immediately wondering what would happen to my training. I was scared that I would revert to my bad habits.
Funny thing happened the night before. Sandy Alomar Jr hits a HR to send the Tribe to game 5 with the Yankees. Later that night, we win the series and go on to within 2 outs of winning the World Series.
Alomar had a season of dreams that year. He had suffered in his career from injury. Finally he was the hero we all wanted him to be. So many had given up on this injury riddled catcher. but he never stopped working for his dreams.
If I needed a sign, this was it.
I ran the turkey trot a month later. Got a marathon training book("Marathon Training" Joe Henderson) and started training with focus.
I joined the local Y for cross training. Stuck to the plan, and on May 3rd 1998 I completed the CVS Marathon. I cried at the finish line. It had been a long journey and was the first time that had felt I had finished what I started.
While training I had inadvertently trained for triathlon. The program director noticed this and encouraged me to try a tri.
Long story short, I fell in love with triathlon and the program director(Jen). We raced and trained often. She had an Ironman dream and I was with her through it all. We were engaged in Klagenfurt Austria two days before her first of two IM finishes.
After some time our relationship began to collapse. We both started to alienate the other and and soon the wedding was off.
The breakup along with my longtime Job as entertainment coordinator at Arabica ending left me spinning. I returned to school for Audio engineering and sporadically raced and trained.
After school, I became engaged once again to a women named Kim. Kim had been my first real love when we were young. Fairy tale-nightmare-parable.
This ended very badly. I was hurt and a mess. After 6 months of sitting in my sh*t I decided to move forward once again. on Thanksgiving of 2003 I began training for the Greater Cleveland Triathlon. A half IM distance race.
As I crossed the finish line I thought, " I have more". This begins my IM dream.