30 Years, 30 Miles

It's finally here, my 30th birthday.  For the last couple years, I had dreaded this day.  I honestly have been having a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept of turning 30.  Don't ask me why, especially when I consider everything that I have either accomplished or been able to do over the past 30 years.  Maybe, it's the fact that I am now the father of 2 beautiful girls, with a third on the way in the very near future.  Or maybe it's how much I have already accomplished throughout my life with the fear of not being able to match my success during my next 30 years.  Either way you slice it, I am turning 30 and there is nothing I can do about it.  I was pretty bummed about it until a week or two ago.  I was listening to a podcast with an interview of a 78 year old guy who still does triathlons and is still the race director of a very successful Ironman 70.3 in Texas.  He said that your age is literally just a number and continued to ask, "how old you you be, if you didn't know your birthday?"  It got me to think, There is no way I would say 30.  I feel better and healthier, or at a minimum the same, as I did when I was 23 or 24.  I said all throughout last year, that I was in the best shape of my life - and to be honest, I would say I feel even better today, then I did last year.  After really thinking about it, I have shifted from an anxiety over turning 30 to a new source of motivation throughout my next 30 years.  There is still so much more I want to accomplish, such as qualify and race the Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI, run a 50 mile, 100km, and 100 mile ultramarathons, qualify and race for Team USA at the ITU World Championships.  I also want to watch my kids grow up, find passions and hobbies of their own and be a part of their lives as they grow up and move throughout their lives.  I also want to travel the world and continue to explore some of the most breathtaking places on earth.

A couple years ago, I had the idea of running my age.  I didn't think much of it at the time and didn't act on it last year due to my ultimate goal of getting to the start line of Ironman Wisconsin healthy and didn't want to structure a training plan around running 29 miles on my 29th birthday when I had such a huge goal later that year.  So, this year was the year and how fitting that it would be on my 30th birthday, a rather big milestone (at least in my eyes).  I have never run anything longer then a marathon (26.2 miles), so running 30 miles would be a new adventure for me.  Not that it would be that much more significantly longer, but still pretty long.  I want it to be a nice and relaxed run, nothing compared to the intensities of a race.  I also wanted it to be a time of reflection of everything that I have done and everywhere that I have been throughout the last 30 years of my life.  So here we go....the past 30 years of my life, in miles.....

Mile 0 (March 1984): My true birthday!

Year/Mile 1 (March 1985):  The start of it all!  I honestly, don't remember much of anything from my first year....but then again, should I really be able to?  In January of 1985, just before turning 1, I took my first ever steps.  The true definition of the first steps in the journey of a thousand miles.

Year/Mile 2 (March 1986): My second birthday was my Golden Birthday.  Again, I don't truly remember much of anything from this year but I do know this was the birthday which I got a wagon for my birthday present which remained with me for most of my life.

Year/Mile 3 (March 1987): In August of 1987 I became a brother.  I still do not really remember much of anything, but I do know, I was a jealous brother - no surprise through, right? 

Year/Mile 4 (March 1988): This was my first full year of being the big brother.  I can't even begin to speculate how long it truly took me to get used to this role, but I'm sure it took me a while considering I was the only child for the first 3.5 years of my life.

Year/Mile 5 (March 1989): This was my first year of organized school.  I started preschool at St. Pious Church in Appleton.  I do not remember how often I went, but I know I went for a few hours in the morning.  It was also this year when I learned how to tie my own shoes.

Year/Mile 6 (March 1990): This was the first year of organized school with the Appleton Area School District.  I went to Kindergarten 5 days a week in the morning at Johnston Elementary School which was conveniently a block away from my parents house.

Year/Mile 7 (March 1991): After starting Kindergarten last year, I was now going to school for full days 5 days a week.  I made it to 1st grade wahoo!

Year/Mile 8 (March 1992): We took one of our first big family vacations this year with my aunts and uncles from my mom's side of the family.  We took a trip down to Florida to go to Disney World.  I remember the long drive, Sea World, and of course Disney World.  For what ever reason I can still clearly remember the "It's a Small World" ride being the most annoying thing ever.

Year/Mile 9 (March 1993):  After turning 9, I was finally old enough to start playing organized baseball.  I began playing Little League Baseball and played for Appleton Heart (our team name/sponsor).

Year/Mile 10 (March 1994): During 4th grade a tragic event happened that I truly think had a significant impact on my mind.  A girl I went to school with, she as not considered a friend by any means, but the fact that she attended school with me in the same grade was evidently enough of a relationship to have an impact on me.  In the spring of this year (I believe) she was accidentally shot and killed by her younger brother with a gun that was left insecure in the house.  I remember this having a significant impact on me and caused many sleepless nights initially.

Year/Mile 11 (March 1995): I honestly can't come up with anything of significance from this year.  With that being said, I am sure there was something that happened this year.  I am sure my mom will chime in with something after the fact.

Year/Mile 12 (March 1996): This year my family and I spent a week in January with my Grandma Kohl in Tucson Arizona.  This was my first time ever flying.  It was a great vacation and found it to be one of my favorite vacations to date.  We went to the Grand Canyon along with another smaller canyon/park that I do not recall the name of.  During the 6th grade I also started playing the trumpet.  I initially wanted to play the trombone but was told that my arms were too short (?).  Not really sure about that reasoning, but what ever.  It turns out that it was a great choice for me down the road as I would eventually become a pretty decent trumpet player.

Year/Mile 13 (March 1997): I started middle school this year at James Madison Middle School and was extremely nervous going into school this year.  It was something completely new to me.  It was the first year with lockers, taking the bus to and from school.  It was also the first year that I met my wife-to-be in band class.

Year/Mile 14 (March 1998): After my first year in middle school I got into the swing of things and got into a new rhythm.  I played football this year for a school for the first time as opposed to playing Pop Warner football.  This was also the year that I would say I started looking at Sarah as a crush.

Year/Mile 15 (March 1999): In 1999, I started high school at Appleton East High School.  I was both anxious and excited to starting high school.  The best thing that happened this year was Sarah asked me to home coming.  Yea, yea, I realize that I should have asked her, but I was way to nervous around girls and probably never would have asked her.

Year/Mile 16 (March 2000): During my Sophomore year of high school, my Grandma Kohl passed away on New Year's Eve/Day going into 2000.  I was spending the night with some friends and found out the news when I came home on New Years Day.  I took the news extremely hard.  It was the first real death in my family after the point were I was old enough to understand death.  I had some serious anxiety issues and attended several sessions with a psychiatrist.  As I said early, the death of a classmate during the 4th grade had a significant impact on me, so I think with this death being so close to me, it compounded and ultimately caused a high level of anxiety on me.  I worked through my issues with my family and Sarah.  My Grandma was active in my life and a huge supporter of my endeavors as a trumpet player in school bands.  She attended most, if not all of my concerts.  She was also a "snowbird" and would travel to Arizona every winter after New Years until the middle of March.  My family was planning on traveling to Arizona at the end of January to spend a week with her in the desert, which obviously never happened.

Grandma Kohl, Ben, and I at the Grand Canyon

Year/Mile 17 (March 2001): During my junior year of high school I started touring colleges.  I toured UW - Oshkosh and UW - Stevens Point first and then finally toured UW - La Crosse.  After touring UWL, I knew immediately that was were I wanted to go.  It was also at this point that I knew I wanted to pursue a degree in Exercise and Sports Science.  Later that summer, I learned that I was accepted to UW - La Crosse.  That summer I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to England with our High School band this summer for a week and a half.

Year/Mile 18 (March 2002): Senior year of high school came and went and I had finally graduated high school.  That year, I didn't play a full year of football due to suffering from a serious concussion in our Homecoming game.  I had my greatest year season ever of baseball during my senior year and lead the conference in Home Runs.  I was voted as 1st Team All Conference and also All Area.

Senior Prom with Sarah

Year/Mile 19 (March 2003): I remember I couldn't wait to start College and move away from home for the first time ever for my freshman year at UW-L.  But I learned very quickly that it wasn't all fun and games...well, it was still quite a bit of fun and games, with a small side of responsibility.  For some reason, I thought I was a good football player and tried playing college football.  During my feeble attempt at playing football, I learned very quickly that I was not nearly the football player I thought I was.  I also tried playing baseball and still to this day think I should have made the team (along with a few other guys who played that year).  After getting shot down in both football and baseball, I focused on lifting very heavy and had a pretty muscular body.  I weight 196 pounds at my heaviest and was about 12% body fat.  My thought was that I would try playing baseball the next year.  It was this year that I met Erik Mork at UW-L football training camp.  Little did I know that the two of us would end up becoming pretty good friends.

Year/Mile 20 (March 2004): During my sophomore year at UW-L, I rented an apartment and lived off campus.  Later this year, I learned that Erik Mork lived across the street from me and this was ultimately how I met Dave Danley - and the rest they say is history.  Pat Nissen also moved to La Crosse for school and attended the Technical College.  The two of us lived in the same small bed room and really tested our friendship.  This year was also the year that my Grandpa passed away.  This was the second death in the family, since my dad's mom passed.  I handled it much better and has the support of Sarah and my family and extended family to help.  Later this summer I was playing in a State Tournament for Fast Pitch Softball and tore my MCL.  Luckily for me, it dd not require surgery, but I was stuck in an immobilizer for 3 months.  It was terrible, from July through mid-September, I was hobbling around on crutches.  The good thing that came from this injury, was my doctor suggested that I start biking for rehab.  This was ultimately how and why I started biking and running.

My Grandma and Grandpa after my High School Graduation

Year/Mile 21 (March 2005): During my junior year at UW-L, I learned that I did not get accepted to Fitness program, and change major to Physical Education.  After deciding that education was not for me, I changed my major again to Sports Management.  During the spring of this year I completed my first ever multisport race at the Coulee Region Duathlon in the spring.  It's kind of funny looking back at the way I trained and prepared for this event.  I did pretty much every stereotypical first timer mistake known to man.  I ate a huge pasta dinner the night before and also a huge breakfast the morning of.  During the race, I fueled with way too many calories and also trained way too hard too close to the race.  Either way, I had a blast and was immediately hooked.  This summer, Sarah and I got engaged in Door County and had a huge party weekend at Peninsula State Park.  We had our college friends come from Minnesota and surprised her after she said yes.

Year/Mile 22 (March 2006): During my senior year at UW-L, I continued to study sports management and strength and conditioning.  I bought Sarah an early Christmas present this year of a new puppy.  It was this year that Sarah and I became pet owners for the first time.  Sarah completed her internship in Milwaukee, WI, at Froedtert Hospital.  I joined her in  Milwaukee throughout the summer of 2006 and lived with her and 3 other girls.  That summer I worked minimal hours at the Wisconsin Athletic Club throughout the summer.  Sarah and I both did our first ever half marathon in May at the Green Bay Half Marathon.  I also bought my first road bike this year and did my first ever triathlon at the Oshkosh Triathlon in August.

Year/Mile 23 (March 2007):  I finally finished my final semester actually at UW-L and then did semester long internship in Appleton at Sports Performance Advancement a private sports specific training studio.  In April of this year, my dad ran his first Boston Marathon and it was at this point that I made the promise to myself that I would qualify for the Boston Marathon some day.  Sarah and I got married in June and had an absolute blast at the wedding.  I finished my first marathon later that fall at the Fox Cities Marathon in September.  We then went to Cancun, Mexico in November for our honeymoon and immediately fell in love with Mexico and vowed to go back as often as possible.

Year/Mile 24 (March 2008):  Our first full year of marriage and bought our house, which we still call home.  We also returned back to Mexico, this time with both of our parents and spent a week in Riviera Maya.

Year/Mile 25 (March 2009):  We found out Sarah was pregnant just before my 25th birthday and in October I became a father for the first time.  On October 13th, Sarah and I welcomed Maya to the world.  She had to spend a short stint (4 days) in the NICU due to a potential heart issue.  It was at that point that I realized how much love you can have for someone or something that you have never had or seen before.  Everything ended up being just fine in the end, but it was still a long 4 days.  After becoming a father for the first time, my life changed for the better.  I learned what it meant to truly love someone else.  Nothing against Sarah, but there is totally different type of love for a child.  I think anybody who is a parent knows exactly what I am talking about.

Year/Mile 26 (March 2010): This year Sarah and I made the difficult decision for me to change careers from a Health and Fitness Coordinator to Police Officer in May to better help our family financially.  In May I ran a Boston Qualifier time for the first time at the Green Bay Marathon and ran a personal best in the marathon with a time of 3:03 at the Fox Cities Marathon later that fall.  In November of this year, I was hired by Winnebago County Sheriff's Office, which is were I am still employed yet today.

Year/Mile 27 (March 2011): We found out that we would be having our second child later this year and went to Boston in April to run the Boston Marathon with my father, which is and will forever be one of my greatest endurance racing memories.  A couple months after returning from Boston, Sarah gave birth to our second daughter, Delaney in June.  As nervous as I was prior to our second child, having 2 kids was not nearly as challenging as I had thought.

Year/Mile 28 (March 2012): I was finally able to convince Sarah to let me register for an Ironman race and did just that in September of this year.  After registering for that race, I immediately started my blog which was initially created to be a spot to write about my journey to becoming an Ironman.  Little did I know that the time that this blog would become so much more.

Year/Mile 29 (March 2013):  This year was probably one of the most difficult periods of time, in regards to the stress on our marriage.  This year was not only just a stress on our relationship but also our finances.  It all fell directly back onto me and my dream of completing the Ironman.  Ultimately, we worked through it and all the countless hours of me being away to train and I had finally become an IRONMAN with finishing Ironman Wisconsin in 11:37:09.  The days following IM Wisconsin, Sarah and I brought the girls to the Milwaukee zoo on Monday and then took the girls to Mexico the Tuesday after the race.  Even though the weather was not the best, it was still one of my favorite vacations since it was just Me, Sarah, and the girls.  It was so nice to just spend a week as a family away from everything and everyone.

Year/Mile 30 (March 2014):  A new milestone....30.  Yup, I am now 30.  WOW!  It's amazing to think that I am 30.  Not only and I just 30 years old now, but 30, married, 2 beautiful girls and a 3rd on the way...any day now!  I have done a lot of things in the first 30 years of my life that most people do not get the opportunity to do their entire life.  I have been and continue to be the luckiest man on the earth.  I am happy, healthy, and proud.  I have healthy, happy kids, a steady job, a caring, loving, and supportive wife, and I have been pretty successful in my endurance racing career.  I love my life.  I am excited to see what I am able to accomplish in my next 30 years.