Not giving up isn't necessarily a mental thing, but in my opinion more of a H.E.A.R.T thing. Having enough attitude, resilience and toughness. I've know Chad for over four years now and if anyone embraces these terms it's him...
I actually just got off the phone with him a couple of hours ago and he reminded me that he's participating in another Tri in Kansas City this weekend. And that brought back a flood of memories of when he worked his tail off training for his very first one.
Chad is a great cyclist, awesome runner and was a decent swimmer (after the first Tri, he trained harder to bring his swim up). With those components you would think that a Tri would be a piece of cake. Well, you have to also realize that you are not only competing with others and the clock...you're also competing against yourself as well.
Prior to Chad's first Tri, he actually broke one of his toes...reread that...He BROKE one of his toes! Do you know how painful it is to break a bone which the doctors can do absolutely NOTHING for you? "Wrap it up, here's some Tylenol...". Gee, thanks. Well if you think a broken digit was going to stop him, you don't know how big his H.E.A.R.T is!
He continuously trained around his injury by devoting more time to his swim and cycling, while decreasing his time on his feet running. He ate better, hydrated as best as he could and stayed the course of his training, all while working a full-time job which in my opinion is way more than full-time!
All of his hard work culminated in his participation and completion of his first Tri in Havre de Grace, MD. I was really proud of him because I knew how hard he had to work to get to where he was at. He overcame his swim, a broken toe and the terrible...terrible, Maryland humidity! Below are some of the pictures from his first Tri and I look forward to seeing new pictures from his Tri this weekend in KC. Go get'm Chad! Show those three events just how big your H.E.A.R.T is!!!
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