Four Essential Lessons for Triathlon, Sports, & Life
I just returned from the USAT Multisport National Championships in Omaha, where I raced three events: the Super-sprint, Sprint, and Mixed-Relay. It was a demanding and deeply fulfilling experience—full of intensity, adversity, and insight.
While I love racing, what keeps me coming back isn’t just the competition. It’s the life lessons that emerge on the course—powerful reminders about how to perform, live, and grow. This year, I walked away with four essential lessons, not just for triathlon, but for all sports and life as a whole.
Lesson #1: Go All In
Last year, I lost the Super-sprint national title—by just 11 seconds. The difference? My competitor raced on a tri-bike, and I rode a road bike. That slim margin haunted me. Should I have brought my tri-bike, despite the $600 shipping cost, for a 10-minute ride?
This year, I found myself wrestling with the same dilemma. It seemed absurd to spend that much money for such a short ride. But I also didn’t want to leave any doubt or regret on the course again.
So, I turned to ChatGPT. I fed in all the relevant info, and it responded with remarkable clarity: If my goal was to win, and riding a tri-bike increased my chances, the decision was simple. Make the investment. Go all in. Even if I didn’t win, I’d know I gave myself every opportunity.
That advice stuck. And yes, I brought my tri-bike. And, yes, I won.
Lesson learned: If you’re going to do something—anything that you care deeply about—go all in. Leave no room for regret.
Lesson #2: S&%# Happens
S&%# happens in all aspects of life, but it seems to be really noticeable in triathlon. Murphy’s Law (“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong…at the worst possible time”) seems to get invoked constantly. And I invoked it three times during my trip. And here’s the kicker: Murphy applied his law the first two times to my tri-bike, within a few hours of each other.
First mishap: A tiny but crucial part was missing when I reassembled my tri-bike. For a moment, I thought my $600 shipping fee was wasted and I would have to ride my road bike in the Super-Sprint. Miraculously, I found the part hiding in the corner of the shipping box. What a relief!
Second mishap: This one was not only potentially more catastrophic, but also just plain stupid. The day before the race, I returned to my rental car after riding the course on my tri-bike and leaned it up against the passenger side of the car. I then went to say hi to some friends and, upon my return to my car, I forgot that I hadn’t put my bike on the back of my car. As I backed out, I heard a crunching sound, hit the brakes hard, and ran around the back of the car. My tri-bike was lying on its side and my rear disc wheel was partially under the right-rear tire. OMG! I thought that not only was I not going to be able to ride my tri-bike in the next day’s race, but I might have irreparably damaged my beautiful Argon 18 E119+. I rushed it over to the bike mechanic tent and, after emergency surgery on the rear derailleur, the patient was saved and ready for the next day’s race.
Mini-lesson: Always lean your bike on the driver’s side. Trust me.
Third mishap: It didn’t occur until the last day of the event in the Mixed-Relay. I had built a strong team that, at least on paper, was going in as the favorite. There was one other strong team that would be very competitive. I was making no predictions for the very reason that I knew that, well, S&%# Happens.
And it happened to our other male on our second leg. In T1, his wetsuit zipper got stuck and he spent an extra two minutes getting it unstuck. When he handed off to our third leg, we were 2:13 down. I was getting warmed up and my first thought was, “We’re done!” It just seemed inconceivable that we could make up 2:13 minutes against a very capable team. And I was really disappointed because winning the Mixed-Relay would give me a week of success at the Multisport Championships that I hadn’t even considered as a possibility. More on that shortly.
Now here is where the almighty triathlon gods took pity on me. Shortly before my anchor leg of the M-R, I thought to myself, “S&%# Happened” to us, well, it could happen to the other team. And that’s exactly what happened! As I learned after the race from the other team’s anchor, he just felt terrible on the swim and was much slower than usual, and that completely changed the race. I’ll share the outcome of the race below.
Lesson Learned: S&%# can happen to anyone at any time. It’s how you respond that matters.
Lesson #3: You Never Know
I actually first learned this lesson at last year’s Sprint race in which I had hoped to podium. I was in 4th place at the turnaround of the run with the 3rd place guy well ahead of me. My first thought was, “4th place, how disappointing.” But then I said to myself, “Gosh, you never know. Let’s give it a shot and see what happens.” From that point on, I charged and began to close the gap. With only a short way to the finish, I was still well behind. But I kept pushing, caught the guy ahead of me in the final sprint to the finish, and got the 3rd place that I had hoped for.
This lesson was reinforced in the mixed-relay. Despite believing that our team would have to settle for 2nd place, I told myself, “You never know,” and just pushed as hard as I could. Because of the struggles of the anchor of the other team on the swim, I was shocked to see him just ahead of me as I entered T1. I then caught and passed him on the bike, and pulled away even more on the run. With this “you never know” attitude, despite what seemed like an insurmountable deficit, we won gold!
Lesson Learned: You never know what can happen, so give it everything you’ve got however dire the circumstances might seem.
Lesson #4: Anything is Possible
Okay, not everything. Pigs can’t fly and, at 5’9”, I will never play center in the NBA. But a lot more is possible than you think. And not embracing this lesson will hold you back from ever finding out what is possible for you. Too often, we “weaponize” our minds against ourselves with doubt, worry, fear, indecision, and caution, all kisses of death to our dreams and goals. We set limits on ourselves about what we think we can do. We play it safe. We tell ourselves, “That’s not me” or “That’s beyond my ability.”
But when you let go of those limits—even just a little—you find out what you’re really capable of. Instead, just say, “WTF! Let’s find out what’s possible.” And you might be surprised, amazed, or even shocked at what is, in fact, happen!
This lesson was affirmed in my performances this past week in Omaha in a way that went beyond anything that I thought was possible. Given that I have won twice and finished on the podium in every race over the past two years, I thought I had a solid shot at winning at least one title and, if the almighty triathlon gods were feeling generous, a second title was possible.
I’ve always seen myself as a triathlete who is good, but not really great, meaning there were always going to be a few guys who were going to beat me. And standing on the top of the podium was just going to be an infrequent and fortuitous occurrence.
But do you know what happens when you open yourself up to what’s possible? You can express every ounce of ability and effort in your performances and, sometimes, the threshold of what’s possible shifts outward into new territory.
That is what happened to me. Leading up to my races, it never once even crossed my mind that I could win all three of my races in Omaha. Yet that is what happened, to my absolute shock. And in doing so, something changed in me. My ideas about what I thought I was capable of expanded. All of a sudden, what had seemed truly impossible became possible. And those limits that I imposed on myself fell away.
Lesson learned: More is more possible than you think. You just have to let go of your self-perceived limits—and find out what is possible.
Final Thought
I don’t know what the USAT National Triathlon Championships in Milwaukee in August will bring. I might push my limits even further, or I might hit a wall. But that’s not the point. The joy isn’t just at the finish line. It’s in the pursuit. It’s in the commitment to find out what’s possible when you go all in, push through the setbacks, and never stop believing that you just… might.
Final, Final Thought
I wouldn’t have had the amazing experience I had last week if it weren’t for my coach, Duane Franks of Trifiniti Endurance performance Coaching. The significant changes Duane made to my training made all the difference.
It’s the life lessons that emerge on the course—powerful reminders about how to perform, live, and grow. This year, I walked away with four essential lessons, not just for triathlon, but for all sports and life as a whole.
chances, the decision was simple. Make the investment. Go all in. Even if I didn’t win, I’d know I gave myself every opportunity.
worst possible time”) seems to get invoked constantly. And I invoked it three times during my trip. And here’s the kicker: Murphy applied his law the first two times to my tri-bike, within a few hours of each other.
my car, I forgot that I hadn’t put my bike on the back of my car. As I backed out, I heard a crunching sound, hit the brakes hard, and ran around the back of the car. My tri-bike was lying on its side and my rear disc wheel was partially under the right-rear tire. OMG! I thought that not only was I not going to be able to ride my tri-bike in the next day’s race, but I might have irreparably damaged my beautiful Argon 18 E119+. I rushed it over to the bike mechanic tent and, after emergency surgery on the rear derailleur, the patient was saved and ready for the next day’s race.
he handed off to our third leg, we were 2:13 down. I was getting warmed up and my first thought was, “We’re done!” It just seemed inconceivable that we could make up 2:13 minutes against a very capable team. And I was really disappointed because winning the Mixed-Relay would give me a week of success at the Multisport Championships that I hadn’t even considered as a possibility. More on that shortly.
happened! As I learned after the race from the other team’s anchor, he just felt terrible on the swim and was much slower than usual, and that completely changed the race. I’ll share the outcome of the race below.
disappointing.” But then I said to myself, “Gosh, you never know. Let’s give it a shot and see what happens.” From that point on, I charged and began to close the gap. With only a short way to the finish, I was still well behind. But I kept pushing, caught the guy ahead of me in the final sprint to the finish, and got the 3rd place that I had hoped for.
entered T1. I then caught and passed him on the bike, and pulled away even more on the run. With this “you never know” attitude, despite what seemed like an insurmountable deficit, we won gold!
will hold you back from ever finding out what is possible for you. Too often, we “weaponize” our minds against ourselves with doubt, worry, fear, indecision, and caution, all kisses of death to our dreams and goals. We set limits on ourselves about what we think we can do. We play it safe. We tell ourselves, “That’s not me” or “That’s beyond my ability.”
thought I had a solid shot at winning at least one title and, if the almighty triathlon gods were feeling generous, a second title was possible.
crossed my mind that I could win all three of my races in Omaha. Yet that is what happened, to my absolute shock. And in doing so, something changed in me. My ideas about what I thought I was capable of expanded. All of a sudden, what had seemed truly impossible became possible. And those limits that I imposed on myself fell away.
