Ten Lessons Ten Years TeamUSA

I am completing my 10th consecutive year as a member of TeamUSA, this time as Captain. Initially competing in Triathlon, I found my niche in its cousin, Duathlon. Triathlon is an Olympic sport and includes swim, bike and run. Duathlon is strictly run, bike and run. Having completed hundreds of Triathlon and Duathlon events, by far the most challenging is the World Championship course for Duathlon, raced each year in the Swiss Alps. Not even Triathlon’s vaulted Ironman comes close in terms of degree of difficulty. Even writing these words as a 3-time finisher, I get shivers as I repeat, “never again”. Talk about resilience building!

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I wanted to summarize Ten Things learned for each of my Ten Years. ??

Don’t Quit. Be brave enough to suck at something new. I entered multi-sport lifestyle from advice given by a friend. Lamenting our oldest son’s struggle with healthy weight and self-esteem, they recommended Triathlon where “everyone cheers for you, even if you are last”. Sure enough, the first couple years we were last to cross the finish line but people stayed and cheered. We both wanted to quit but stuck with it. Two years later Brandon would take first place and we would do major races together like marathons, Escape from Alcatraz and half Ironman.

Dreams Create Destiny. At one race they handed out posters for the Duathlon World Championships in Switzerland. This was as far as East is from West in terms of any serious thought of reaching this level. Nevertheless I hung the poster in my office and saw it every day for years and dreamed. Several years later I found myself at the TeamUSA national long-distance duathlon championship start line and qualified. I trained hard. I was coached well. I finished in the Top 100 of the World.

Data Trumps Gut. My coach was a disciple of legendary gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi. She would always say “trust the data, trust the data”. While others went with their gut and flamed out before the finish line, I consistently made the team year after year.

Don’t Rely on Past Success. You must re-qualify for TeamUSA each year. There is no preference given to current members. Everyone lines up at the Start line with equal opportunity. I have 20% body fat, not 2%. My bike is 5K not 15K. Doesn’t matter. Earn it each race. No excuses. Embrace the suck.

Identity is Who I Am, not What I Do. I got wrapped into it for a while where TeamUSA became my identity and I lost myself a little bit. Pride. What happened next reminded me of what really is important and rebased me.

There are Angles Watching Everywhere. You can read the full story here of my massive heart attack, aka, Widow Maker, as I entered the last two miles of the race. The good, the bad and the ugly. Ironically, what helped save me are the miracles we enable in healthcare tech.

Gratitude Begets Humility. The following year the championships were in the exact same city on the exact same course. As I crossed that precise spot on the race course where I was cursed a year prior, I flashed my middle fingers to acknowledge yet move swiftly on. At the finish I again entered the medical tent and there they were. The same crew that helped save me. We embraced. Cried. Gave thanks.

Who is on Your Team? Sometimes you don’t know until you find out the hard way. Certainly my TeamUSA athletes and my family. To up my training my kids pitched in one Father's Day and now I have a fully decked out “athletes cave” right in our family room! My wife Simran Marx is something else in her unwavering support. Even my nephew and Godson Jordan Wehe jumped into the sport so we can train and race together. At a World Championship event in Romania, I even found myself drafting off his bike as we raced the streets of Transylvania. Closed loop.

We Perform to Level of Training, not Hope. I learned from the beginning that winning happens in the dark, while everyone else is asleep.

The Why will Carry You. This came from my lead physician, a sports doc who takes care of the "whose who" in sports. My cardiologist said no more competitive international racing. Dr. Phelan asked me why I race. Unexpectedly, I am crying and sharing and he looks at me and says, “go race!”. When cancer struck a year later, I carried the same resilience and trained through it and made TeamUSA. When I want to throw in the towel for one reason or the other, the Why keeps me eating mostly right, working out to a plan and listening to my wife.

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I am unsure what the next Ten years hold for me in TeamUSA. I already made the 2024 Team and will represent our colors with Jordan at the World Championships in Australia this August. I plan to attempt my 11th qualification for TeamUSA at the National Championships this June in Nebraska. One year at a time.

However it turns out, I just want to be sure I give it everything I have.