The Army built my engine. I let it go for two and a half years. Now I'm taking it further than it's ever been — four races, nine months, every session on camera.
I left the Army on 29 June 2023 with a real aerobic base — years of four-to-seven mile runs, ruck marches, Ranger School, Selection. Then I spent two and a half years not running a single structured mile.
Business school happened. Pickleball happened. An apartment gym and a quiet determination to stay injury-free happened. It wasn't laziness — it just stopped being a priority, the way it stops being a priority for almost every man in his early thirties who used to be an athlete.
In January 2026 I started CrossFit again. A month later I ran my first HYROX in Miami: 1:12:43, 161st out of 1,463, on no structured run training in two and a half years. My transition time between stations was top 11.8% in the field. My running was top 20.1% — and it was the reason I wasn't in the top 50.
That result did something I didn't expect. I started running again to fix it, and I found out I actually like it. So I signed up for a marathon. Then a full Ironman. And now I'm twelve weeks out from my first half Ironman with a coach, a testing protocol, and a real training plan for the first time in my adult life.
This isn't a comeback story and it isn't a transformation. It's the more common and less dramatic thing: I had it, I let it go, and now I'm building it further than the Army ever took me. If you were fit at 24 and you're wondering what's still available at 33 — this is being documented for you.
Every one of these is a first except the HYROX — and the HYROX has a number attached to it that I've said out loud in public.
The rematch. Same distance, same eight stations, same body — but this time with six months of actual run training behind it instead of none. I'm also coaching three athletes from my gym racing Women's Open Doubles the same weekend.
The goal 1:05:00 A 7:43 improvement on Miami. Public, specific, and easy to check.I did not get a slot. General entry is sold out and I'm working the waitlist and transfer routes — if nothing opens up, this one waits until next year. The twelve-week build with Coach Hector Torres at TriPeak Athlete, as part of the Winback performance and recovery pilot, runs either way: baseline bike, run and swim testing starts this week and every number gets published. The fitness is the point; the race number is admin.
The goal Seeking entry Chasing a bib. If I get one, the goal is simply to finish.The one I signed up for because I started enjoying running, which is not a sentence I expected to write. 26.2 miles is further than I have ever run in one piece, obstacles included.
The goal Sub-4:00 First marathon. Ambitious rather than safe — I'd rather chase it and miss.140.6 miles in my own city. The end of the arc and the furthest my engine has ever been asked to go by a wide margin — the Army never once asked for this.
The goal Finish Everything between now and May is in service of this line.The benchmark is free and takes one session. The plans are what I'd hand a friend who asked me where to start — fifteen years of doing the work, several years of coaching other people through it, and no app subscription attached.
Five tests, one session, and an honest answer to the question "am I actually in shape, or do I just go to the gym?" Scored against real standards with a plan for whichever number comes back worst.
Eight weeks to rebuild the engine without giving up the strength — or the physique. Push/pull split, one speed day, one long piece.
Twelve weeks for Ranger School or SFAS. Rucking, running, water confidence, and the durability to still be standing in week three.
Sixteen weeks from wherever you are to the finish line, built for people who lift and refuse to give it up to run.
Everything here is in my rotation right now. When something stops earning its place, it comes off this page — and I'll say why.
Split into two lists on purpose. The first one pays me something; the second one doesn't. You should know which is which before you read a single word of praise.
The rows marked Referral or Ambassador pay me — in store credit, commission, or product — if you buy through the link or code. That is disclosed on each row rather than only down here, which is what the FTC actually asks for. Nothing gets onto either list that isn't already in my own training, and when something stops earning its place it comes off and I'll say why.
What I trained, what the data said, what I got wrong, and one thing you can use. Longer and more honest than anything that fits in a caption. Free.