I took a risk. That's about the only way to put it...
I grew up in suburban New York, Westchester County, Mamaroneck to be exact. I attended the University of Michigan, graduating in 2001. I moved to Chicago after graduation to go start a new life, career, living with college friends, getting established...it was an adventure.
Somehow I found myself corporate risk management for 3 years...and from there, I took what I thought was the next logical step in my progression, attending law school. Soon after entering law school, I realized I loved the academic life, but I did not have a passion for what I was doing, and I knew this would not translate into a career of leading to any sort of fulfillment...I stayed with it, finishing my first year...and then went into a sort of year-long odyssey...
Dark times, self-doubt, conflict of confidence, I went to some very dark places...but somewhere in the midst of all that, leaving law school, wondering where I was going with my life...I started running, cycling, swimming...and I did my first Ironman...at the time, I did not know anything beyond the fact that ultra-endurance training and racing struck a deep chord within me, and I connected with something when I was pushing, way out "there" physically and mentally. A moving meditation, my path, whatever I have called it over the years...I would later discover it was my path, my passion, and what led me to discover myself, and take a risk...
...I moved to the West Coast, and to the San Francisco Bay Area. My parents moved to the East Bay, and I decided to follow them out here...one visit was enough to prove some sort of calling.
Not soon after moving out here, to the East Bay, I began working at a small multi-sport/trialthon retail store. Here I was, the Michigan grad, former law school student...working a retail job...
...I stuck with it, immersing myself in the ultra-endurance lifestyly. Exploring all parts of Northern California, from the ocean, to the mountains, to the endless windswept inlan flats...I trained, worked, trained and ate and slept. I realized, that around every corner was a new adventure. Every day I was meeting amazing, fascinating people from all walks of life. I was competing, traveling to new an exciting places all over the country (and now all over the world).
What I thought was a step back, was in retrospect, the first step towards living a dream. I had found a true passion that revealed meaning in so many of the things I did in life. Going to work was no longer "work." I came in off a training ride, or out of the pool, or in from a run up in the hills...to work with athletes, or to help people just starting to get fit.
All the trappings of the life I had left behind, and from which I had suffered some terrible regret leaving, soon disapated. I found contentment. In training, leaving, eating, breathing this rather extreme, somewhat unconventional, and complete unexpected lifestyle, I was really living.
Racing Ironman, competiing, getting coaching certified and coaching other athletes to their Ironman dreams, and working with people day-in-and-day out as a retailer and bike fitter..
...it's left me completely baffled, and nodding my head sometimes, with a big smile on my face, I went with my gut, followed my heart, took a risk, and things just kind of fell into place from there...although I hit rough patches, and face the trials of life as anyone else (which I try to capture here in this blog), I will just keep doing what I'm doing...and I like where things are heading.