The Leap
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I get emails and messages sometimes from other moms and dads who read my letters to you here on the blog. They often thank me for sharing my… Read More
Category Archive: Swimming
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3 Bugs in a Rug
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I woke up at 4:30 this morning and went for a swim. I’m starting what my coach calls a “transition week,” meaning I’m shifting from a week of… Read More
Meet Liz Lyles: mother of two, wife, and Ironman champion
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I want to introduce you to some awesome Moms and Dads as I write these letters to you. I’m doing my best to balance being a husband to… Read More
Rev3 Knoxville 70.3 race report
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, We had such a great time at Rev3 Knoxville last year we decided to go back again this year. I trained hard, through the ebbs and flows of a… Read More
Race week mantra: Chop wood, carry water
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I wake up thinking about it. I try to put it out of my mind – focus on the tasks of the day, being present in the moment,… Read More
Joe Kapacziewski: Husband, Father, Triathlete, and Soldier
Dear Izzy Max, and Kate, I have met and talked to a lot of interesting people over the years of my involvement in triathlon. Some of them were and are athletic heroes of… Read More
Spring Training products for triathletes
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, We’re beginning to see lasting signs that spring is here. After another long winter of slogging through miles in the cold and wet Tennessee winter, warm afternoon walks… Read More
The Last Long Run
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, As I approach the end of my 20 week training cycle I’ve been reflecting on the journey. Here’s a post I wrote for Rev3′s blog called “The Last… Read More
Tales from the dinner table: Simple prayers
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, It’s been awhile since I’ve shared one of our dinner conversations with you. We put a lot of importance on family dinner time. Mommy has been teaching swimming… Read More
Ahead of What?
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate I worked my way through it. The first big overdistance training weekend of my 20 week training cycle. I’ve done a few rides in excess of race distance… Read More
Clarity and Trust in the Texas hill country: Part II
PART II OF TRUST AND CLARITY IN THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY. READ PART I HERE. Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, We drove straight to Salt Lick BBQ when we arrived. It didn’t disappoint.… Read More
Clarity and Trust in the Texas hill country: part 1
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, Carolyn Horton handed me a pistol. “It’s scatter shot,” she said. “So you don’t need to have good aim, just point and shoot.” She walked back up the… Read More
Rudy Project Gozen sunglasses review
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I now own 3 pair of Rudy Project sunglasses. Yes, they’re that good. Along with my Zyon sailing and Noyz glasses I was lucky to also get my… Read More
Daddy, here’s a dollar
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, People don’t slow down often. I saw a guy cut across a median on the off ramp and slide 3 lanes over. That move motivated, I presume, because… Read More
Life is just a tire swing: Easter photos and potlucks
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, We had a great weekend! The sort of weekend that you hope for during the other five days of the week….filled with fun, love, and photo opps. It… Read More
Peaceful Easy Feeling
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, Grandfather sent us this picture of you fishing beside the Pedernales River in Texas, Izzy. I stared at it for a long time. Different emotions overcame me as… Read More
8 of my triathlon training essentials
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, It’s becoming more and more popular, but triathlon is still a “fringe sport.” For that reason I’m asked often what sorts of products I use regularly in training.… Read More
Sunshine on a cloudy day
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, The breezes helped me relax as I lay motionless, eyes closed, drifting back in time: a beach in Hawaii, a beach in South Carolina, Mexico, Duval Street, Bourbon… Read More
Seek and you will find
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, We wandered through unfamiliar streets. Bordered by thick green, heat waves, and banana trees. All of it felt like it might close in on us at once. I… Read More
Rites of Passage: Rev3 Blog
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, Rev3 ran my second installment on their Rev Blog yesterday. It’s called “Rites of Passage”. When I wrote it I was really thinking about your papaw and about… Read More
It feels so good feeling good again
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I wrote to you a few days ago about some of the struggles I’ve been having with my health. At first the doctors called it an ulcer. When… Read More
Skin Strong skin equipment review
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I have enough to think about on long training days and race days without thinking about raw, chaffed, or sun burned skin. But I’ve been there. The middle… Read More
Changes in Attitude
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, The first 20 passed effortlessly. The first signs of spring allowed me to ride in bib shorts and a jersey rather than the layers I’ve been wrapping myself… Read More
The Way I Take: One Twelve Media
Dear Izzy, Max ,and Kate, I heard a guy speak yesterday on the book of Job. As he made light of the Job’s trials I considered the path I’ve been following. My life… Read More
Loneliness and the journey
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I started to feel it this weekend. That empty feeling I get. The loneliness that sets in as the miles build. I’ve written to you about how miles… Read More
How to scare the bajeebers out of your kids
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I’m a bad daddy. I scare my kids. But only at their request. Here you two little ones are a few nights ago after “seeing a monster” downstairs… Read More
Perspective in the dark
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, It was dark when I walked in. The oddity threw me off balance for a moment. I stopped, rubbed the morning stubble still on my face, as if… Read More
Peeking into the cave
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I had a rare Saturday with no training yesterday. Thanks to a quirk in my schedule I managed to get my workouts accomplished during the week, leaving me… Read More
Meet off-road triathlon pro, mother of two, and PhD: Danelle Kabush
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, It sounds impossible for someone to break into the triathlon world and finish 3rd in the world, among pros, in just their 2nd triathlon ever. But Canadian off-road… Read More
It will come: Belief in the face of fear, doubt, and uncertainty
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, The deep ache set in somewhere around 30 miles. I ate another gel and began to slow. I’ve been on my bike diligently through the winter, but for… Read More
Healthy Life
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, We don’t need a life coach at our house. We have you, Izzy. I’m constantly finding your notes around the house ranging from “how to save the planet”… Read More
How Revolution Changes Everything
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I’ve changed. Sometimes you’ll hear that people don’t change; It’s just the circumstances around them. I’m not sure I believe that. Perhaps a little backstory is necessary if… Read More
Across the Threshold: 140.6
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, Last night I found myself on my bike trainer at 9:30pm in our living room, listening to music, watching a basketball game, spinning my legs, my mind racing.… Read More
Monster Trucks, ear plugs, and the voice of God
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, When it started we were stunned. I wondered how loud it might really be, assuming that from our vantage point the noise would be manageable. It rattled our… Read More
Trevor and Heather Wurtele: Pro triathletes into the great wide open
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, Trevor and Heather Wurtele are rising stars in the long course triathlon world. While it’s not that unusual for two professional triathletes to be married, Trevor and Heather… Read More
Lance Armstrong and Grace
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, They gathered together, as much as that’s possible, in our modern age of social media. Virtual torches and pitchforks lifted. Snarled expressions. A thirst for blood. When there’s… Read More
The monsters in the dark: triathletes and 4:30am
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, It’s there every morning. It’s been there my entire life. Most mornings it pokes me, pinches me, pushes me until I’m out of bed, on my feet. Listening… Read More
Tales from the dinner table: candle lit dinners vs. real life
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, Sometimes I imagine other families having dinner. For some reason it’s quiet, dimly lit, perhaps just a candle flickering on the table. Maybe there’s soft music playing. Probably… Read More
Life gets serious
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I got an email from my contact at a PR company I’ve been working with a few weeks ago. He let me know that he was moving on… Read More
Happy Saturday: Gettin’ down to Frankenreiter
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, We do a lot of kitchen dancing at our house. It brings laughter and joy into our home. When you’re grown with kids of your own I hope… Read More
ZumXR xtended release sports drink review
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, As a triathlete I’m always on the lookout for products to help me maintain my energy and stay hydrated. I had the opportunity recently to try out the… Read More
Meet Brady Murray: Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I want to introduce you to some awesome Moms and Dads as I write these letters to you. I’m doing my best to balance being a husband to… Read More
How Breakthrough Endurance plans to change the face of Endurance racing
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate I sat down recently with professional off-road triathlete Craig Evans and his nutrition coach Cliff Duhon of Breakthrough Nutrition. I’ve known Craig for several years, as our paths… Read More
New Year’s Day 2013
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, Last year around this time I decided that I needed change in my life. A lot of it. I needed to listen to the stirring in my spirit… Read More
The Family Friendly guide to planning your race season
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate I gather my things. I shuffle around the house in sweatpants looking for something to write with. Some years I find a pen, but I’ve used a crayon… Read More
The year of “OF COURSE”
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, We had a great Christmas. We’re fortunate to live close to family, so we make the rounds every year: Christmas Eve lunch at Aunt Lisa’s in White Bluff… Read More
Healthy eating for the entire family: A chat with RD and pro triathlete Kim Schwabenbauer
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, I’m often asked about nutrition. I guess it’s because I’m a triathlete and that causes people to assume I also eat wisely. While I think I make good… Read More
Raising Twins: what kind of cars do clowns drive?
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, A few nights ago I took you two little ones to Pet Smart with me to get Coco the dogs nails trimmed. Seemingly simple trips always turn into… Read More
The first step: Why signing up for your next race makes all the difference
Dear Izzy, Max, and Kate, The distance is nothing ; it is only the first step that is difficult. – Madame Marie du Deffand I stumbled upon this quote yesterday. I thought about… Read More
