The Next Right Step - A Personal Story From our CEO

Over a hand shake at a Christmas party in 1999 and maybe a couple of beers with a buddy Colin, I decided to commit to a marathon the following spring. The next day, I went online and found an 18-week marathon training plan by marathon guru - Hal Higdon. In preparation for the program, I decided to, well go for the run - I was so excited. I told my wife, Bren, I was going and left with a huge smile on my face. I returned home 5 minutes later, broken, humbled and a bit embarrassed. When I entered the front door, Bren uttered "is that it?" I was 195 pounds, looked ok, but definitely was not fit and at an optimal, healthy weight for my 6 ft frame. During the short run, I hurt. My back was aching and I was completely out of breath, despite my turtle pace.  However, it was a start, and I knew all I had to do was take the right next step and keep doing that. I was confident that in 3 weeks I would be ready to start the formal 18-wk plan. I followed it to a 'T' and ran a 3:45 first marathon. Did it hurt? Yes, marathons can hurt, especially those final few miles - but the joy I got in completing and achieving the goal of running the entire marathon was the catalyst to what changed my life and how I live it.

I had officially completed my first marathon in spring 2000 and was hungry for more. I had been mountain biking regularly (recreationally) for several years and was growing more intrigued with the concept of triathlon. The only problem was I didn't own a triathlon bike, let alone a road bike. I decided to look for an off road triathlon bike and later in 2000, I completed my first triathlon, an X-Terra even in Pinckney Michigan.  Again this was humbling, but I knew it wasn't my last triathlon - I loved it.  I am an all in kind a guy, so in 2001 I signed up for a half in Ottawa, then for my first Ironman in 2002. I completed it in 13:41.  From there 2003 - 12:00, 2004 - 11:29 and here is the story I really wanted to tell.  

After the result in 2004, I went to my coach Rich (Rich Pady - amazing coach) and discussed the goal I had in mind for 2005 - I wanted to go 10:45.  I remember him being cautious about me setting that goal (45 min faster). I had crunched all the numbers and was confident that I could do it so I set the goal. I also created a list of things I would have to do every day, beyond hit the training plan that Rich would prescribe for me.  The list included things like: sleep 7-8 hrs daily, eat to fuel, hit today's training plan, rest when it is rest time, be a good dad, be a good husband, get up early, visualize hitting 10:45 all the time. At the top of these bullets was simply a big, bold 10:45. This was printed 3 times and placed in the kitchen, bathroom and the exercise room.  It was in my face and on my mind all the time and my family's too (thanks to them for playing along). Every night that I went to bed, I would mentally go through the swim, the bike and the run - imagining finishing in 10:45. I would drift off, in my happy place.

So race day in July of 2005, I was ready. I had a good swim, the transition was good and I was on the bike. This is where the story gets good. I was cycling comfortably out of Lake Placid down to the Olympic Ski Jumping venue when I realized I had forgotten something really important. I forgot to transfer the wheel magnet from my training wheel to my race wheels - no magnet, no data. I laughed and said to myself, you have got this, just race it on feel. So that is exactly what I did. I finished my first lap (90km) going around Mirror Lake and purposely avoided looking at the running clock that would allow me to assess how I was doing. I was almost superstitious about it - I didn't want any data. I wanted to race it all on feel.  After completing the second lap and entering T2, I avoided looking at the clock again. I had a good transition to the run and headed out and remember the announcer saying these are your top 100 athletes. Hmmm... that sounds good, but now time. At this point, I didn't want to know my run pace or any split. I ran the entire marathon, except purposely walking through the aid station every mile ensuring I got my fuel and hydration in before running another 1 mile.  In my mind, I could always run a mile.

As I was running down the slight hill from Mirror Lake for the last time, I saw my Mom and Dad - I was so proud to make them proud.  I knew I was having a good race, and as I entered the speed skating oval that we finished on, there was Bren and Mat cheering (again, super emotional). Mat came out on the track with me, and with less than 200 m to go, we round the final turn, and Mat yells at me, "Dad..Dad...we can still meet your goal!" I look down and the clock says 10:44:49. We finish at 10:45:00! The picture shows 10:44:59, but the official time is on the button to the second. The power of the mind is amazing. No data. I raced completely on feel.

Back to the decision of deciding to run a marathon - it changed my life. During the 7 years of Ironman, I discovered Infinit. I raced and trained on it as a customer in 2005 and 2006.  After the race in 2006, I had breakfast with the owner to discuss bringing the brand to Canada - we opened in November 2006.  We grew the brand with at least 20% growth year over year and did so while holding a senior role in operations at a pharmaceutical company called Accucaps until 2013. In 2013, Bren and I decided it was time to go all in to the business. To this day, I make far less than half of what I did in my former career, but today with Gruppo and Polar Joe I get to help elite athletes, everyday athletes and the general population that might need just a little more protein in their diet. I am living my dream and helping more people than I ever could if I was a doctor (my original goal at University). It's funny how life works... just take the right next step and see where it takes you.