Slowtwitch interview

I grew up in Vestal, NY, and thought that endurance sports were lame.  I spent all of my time playing baseball, basketball, and volleyball.  All I really cared about was how high I could jump (no… seriously, I was obsessed with jumping… so much fun!).

When I enrolled at Cornell University in 1998, I gave up on my dreams of being elite at the “fun sports”, and walked on to the rowing team.  Academically, I majored in Environmental Engineering, and athletically, rowing taught me how to suffer.  A highlight there was winning an Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Title in the Varsity Pair as senior, setting a course record in the process.

Upon graduation, I was commissioned as an officer in the US Navy, and my service included 3 years as a Division Officer aboard USS Shoup (DDG 86).

In 2006, I enrolled in grad school at the University of Michigan, working on a PhD in Environmental Engineering.  It was also in late 2006 that I discovered triathlon and signed up for my first Ironman (Coeur d’Alene, 2007).  After a couple of years, I came to the realization that I liked triathlon a lot more than working in a lab, and I made the decision to leave school and take a gamble on myself, in triathlon.

So, in December 2008, I bailed on grad school, packed up my car, and moved to Colorado with nothing but a small amount of ability and a large amount of faith in my potential.  Since then, I’ve committed myself to triathlon, as both an athlete and a coach.  So far, it’s working out pretty well…