What do you do when you lose someone? How do you cope? I run. I bike. I swim. 
 

A year and change ago, I lost my mom. She meant the world to me. About 7 years before that, I lost my dad. It hurt. A lot.
 

You end up asking yourself, "how do I find the energy to even get out of bed, knowing a part of my heart just died?"
 

In my case, I was fortunate enough to have a chance to make a final promise to each of them. That promise is my reason, and this is me keeping that promise. 

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Growing up in east Austin attending special education classes was always rough. 

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Finding out in school that I would never be like the other kids that could attend regular curriculum classes, and instead having teachers just send me to content mastery to color when every one else learned how to read and write was devastating. 

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It was tough feeling like I’d never amount to any thing in life given the way society glorified traditional education like going to college. 

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I pretty much felt like the only thing I was ever good at was running and playing music, but the reality was society never really catered to those aspects of my life, as I was not fast enough to run professionally and not mainstream enough to afford the life style I wanted for myself on my music alone.

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I felt a good life was just a dream for me. 

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One day in 6th grade a few of the coaches at school took me aside and showed me a video of a triathlon being held in Kona. Something ignited inside of me. 

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Right then, at that exact moment, I said that day that one day I would become an Ironman.  

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Through years of trial and error, and in many times complete failure, I kept moving forward towards my dream.

It took the suport of so many people around me. I did not achieve this alone.  

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Fast forward to today, only a handful of people really know what it took for me to become an Ironman. 

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Even less have any idea what it took for me to become an Ironman XC athlete. 

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Never once did I doubt I could become an Ironman once I set it as my goal.  

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But, I can honestly say I never for once believed I would ever be considered to become an Ironman executive challenge athlete. 

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I am an official member of this group among other athletes from all around the world that compete against each other in an event called the Executive Challenge.

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Ironman says “any thing is possible.“ 

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I’d like to think I am living proof of that.

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If any one ever feels like the world is against them and things are just to far out of reach, don’t stop reaching for your goals.

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Never give up.

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Most importantly, never stop believing in your self.

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I may have never been the one to win a spelling bee.

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Hell, I wasn’t even worthy of sitting in the same classroom as the other “regular kids.” 

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Yet here I am about to embark on a journey that will take me one step closer to qualifying for the Ironman World Championship that I saw all those years ago back in 1999.

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I am an Ironman.

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I am an XC athlete.

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I know first hand that any thing is possible.

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I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for both me and you.