As I described on the about me page, I started this blog at the beginning of my deployment to Afghanistan in 2016. But, by the time I reached the second half of my time there, I was too busy to stop and write about my experience. Now that I have been home for almost a year, I will finish up the unpublished posts and try to summarize the experiences I did not get a chance to jot down, and release all the posts for public consumption that were previously protected for operational security reasons.
But, in the meantime, I am also (again?) going to attempt to document my experiences, particularly in triathlon.
Flash back to 2013; a point in time when I had not ridden a bicycle since I was a kid and had only attempted to swim for fitness once in my life but had never competed, been coached or really knew anything about technique, I decided I needed to complete a triathlon. I was tired of the same old run routes and the cycle of over run-training, under cross-training, injury, recovery, and repeat. I wanted a new challenge.
I picked up the cheapest Fuji road bike I could find on craigslist, got some pointers from my wife’s friend who was a nationally ranked master’s swimmer and a colleague at work who had finished a couple Ironman events, and signed up for Semper-Tri sprint triathlon on Camp Pendleton. After a beach start 500 meter ocean swim, 18 mile ride on base roads open to traffic and a 5k run around the LCAC hangars of ACU-5, I was hooked and went all in on the sport.
I participated in a handful of local sprints and Olympic distance events every season, following the “Essential Week-By-Week Training Guide” by Matt Fitzgerald and figuring out the nuances of training, transitions, nutrition management, etc. on my own.
By 2016, I was ready to entertain the idea of attempting my first 70.3 distance event, but instead I missed the season in its entirety when my number came up for an active duty mobilization to Afghanistan. After being gone from home for 1 year, and hearing stories of the challenges of returning to civilian life after a deployment, I knew returning to triathlon would serve me well. I did what I could to maintain fitness levels in the polluted mountain air of Kabul and registered for three late 2017 season triathlons to direct my focus on upon my return to the states in July.
It turned out to be more than just a good idea. Triathlon training was the most cathartic and therapeutic thing I could have done in my return from 18 hour work days in extreme and intense environments to patiently caring for 3 and 6 year olds, commuting in traffic to a job that seems insignificant under the newly fitted deployment lens and getting used to the idea that not every car that drives by is a potential VBIED.
My renewed focus on triathlon as therapy also came with some new speed. I found myself on the podium for the military division of 2 of the three races I participated in. I also discovered a greatly supportive training team and specialty triathlon store very close to my house that had recently been acquired by Matt and Sabrina Houston. This adorable young couple built a remarkable community around the sport in my town of Oceanside and I found it was a group I wanted to be a part of.
This year, I am on the Endurance House Oceanside team, I have a full race schedule that includes at least two sprints, three Olympic/international distance events, and two 70.3s. My hope is to stand on the podium a few more times and place well in the San Diego Tri Series over the course of the 2018 season.