Heading into 2022

Here we are. 

A fresh new year. Untainted, nothing but potential. 

After a furious two years focused on reclaiming the most personal dimension of my identity, I’m  psyched that I've found my Wayback and am starting from a point that’s not in the hole. It’s a whole new challenge unto itself.  

First, to be kind to myself, a celebration of what I’ve accomplished. (I’ve been bad about this in my past.) It was no less than a renaissance of my entire well-being. 

My clinical health: 

-I’ve eradicated my diabetes-2 

-I’ve lowered my blood pressure to normal 

-I’ve lowered my triglycerides to normal 

-I’ve lost 100 lbs 

-I’ve lowered my resting HR from 85 to 55 

My mental health: 

-I’ve meditated 12,015 minutes in 405 straight days 

-I’ve quieted my brain and better understood, and accepted, how it works 

-I’ve gained clarity on my priorities and purpose 

-I’ve turned the corner on depression and know how to manage flare-ups 

-I’m able to think about the future but remain present 

My physical health: 

-I’ve ridden my bikes 11,596.5 miles 

-I’ve ridden up 318,000 vertical feet in the Rocky Mountains 

-In 2021 had 1,700 PRs on my rides, continuous improvement 

-I rode the 2021 Skinny Tire Event in Moab

-I rode the 2021 Triple Bypass (Evergreen to Vail) 

-I rode the 2021 Buff Epic100

-I started riding with better cyclists as part of the Rapha club  -I scoped out SBT with the idea that I'd like to start riding gravel

My nutritional health: 

-I’ve tracked 1,124 straight meals 

-I’ve changed my relationship with food 

-I’ve established healthy, new routines for how and when I eat 

-I’ve established new habits around bad calories, sugar, and alcohol 

-I stay hydrated consistently without effort 

-I eat less meat, more fruits, and a lot more vegetables 

-I’ve learned about composition and caloric density of most foods 

-I choose my places to eat or drink whatever I want 

My social health: 

-I’ve deepened my relationships within my extended family 

-I’ve deepened my relationships with my closest friends 

-I’ve met new friends from cycling — riding Jamestown with Katie Bolling from InGamba was a highlight

-I’ve lost track of several meaningful professional relationships I value  

-I have clear intentions to reconnect with those people 

My professional health: 

-I’ve recovered/healed from nearly15 straight years of startup stress 

-I’ve started writing a book on my past with a friend in publishing  

-I’ve started a blog/podcast to share my story and hopefully help others 

-I’ve helped others with apps, strategy, and career development without losing my focus on myself -I’m ready to take on new challenges and projects 

-I’ve narrowed the ways I’d like to work 

-I’ve established boundaries so that I never completely lose my identity and well-being 

So, like I said, a great, new starting point from which to take responsibility for what I want my life to  be, take charge and set new intentions, take care and make new commitments, and vividly, visualize my goals.

The Wayback

Name something that gets better the more it is used.

The human body is the answer. Most things wear out or break down - entropy simply wins. However, the human body (and mind) are different.

(Above) Greg finishing 1990 Ironman Triathlon World Championship in under12 hours and, almost 30 years later, at the Chequamegon 40 Fat Tire Festival.

Before explaining more, I thought I would share a bit about my background to provide some relevant context to this story. My academic training and career has been driven by a fascination with the human body – particularly how it adapts and responds to exercise. During my Master’s Program, I reluctantly admit that I was focused more on triathlon training than academic training; however, I was able to do both and later learned that this is a common path for many, if not most, exercise scientists. My journey led me to an assistantship at the U.S. Olympic Training Center where I had opportunities to work with elite athletes in a variety of sports.

The quest to optimize human performance is a compelling endeavor, but somewhere along the way I became more consumed by trying to figure out how to help the average person.

Squeezing out an extra second or pound of performance seemed mundane compared to the challenge of promoting physical activity at a population level. My Ph.D. work was in a program called Exercise and Wellness and I have continued studying these topics in my current position as a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Iowa State University. My passion is in linking science to practice and one application of this is my leadership role on a textbook called Concepts of Fitness and Wellness, now in its 13th edition. I study, apply and teach principles of fitness and wellness, and it is this context and experience that I bring to GB2U.

Jay and I were fraternity brothers a LONG time ago. He was president of the house and oversaw and drove major changes and improvements in the way the house operated and the physical building itself. And he was leader of our athletic teams too. He captained and quarterbacked the flag football team which finished second on campus one year. He played first base and led the softball team to winning the campus championship later that same year. Jay was a natural leader AND a stud athlete.

His success as an entrepreneur made complete sense, as did his ability to compete in triathlons. However, the interesting part of the story is in the ups and downs along the way.

Jay's personal transformation captures the intersecting elements of fitness, health and wellness in novel and insightful ways.

We’ve been working together on the Get Back To You Project for the last year, building The Wayback framework as he chronicled his transformation after letting entrepreneurship and life’s responsibilities wash away his identity as an athlete. As we publish more of his story I’ll be chiming in with data, research, and other resources.

Jay has fought back on becoming another statistic. What he has effectively done, you can too. It’s not easy, but it’s simple. While his story is unique to him, there are fundamental components that made it work. And they will work for you too.

My Wayback

I’ve done it before.

And, I’ve also had more than my fair share of false starts.

It was Black Friday 2019 when I finally came to grips with my situation. A combination of how I felt, my doctor’s concerns, and college friends passing away brought it all to a head for me.

This time, given my age, I knew I was playing for keeps. I needed to overcome false starts and also any extreme rollercoaster action. I wanted to get healthy, fit and stay that way for the rest of my life.

Two years later I’m happy to say it all worked.

But why did it work? What was different this time?

My Wayback to well-being was a spiritual, mental, and physical journey that had a clear starting point, then a distinct order of next steps. More cautionary tale than fairy tale, I’m hoping it can inspire, motivate, and educate fellow mid-lifers and entrepreneurs, and maybe even beyond.

An unexpected and interesting component of documenting my journey involved Reclaiming My Story as an athlete. I had myself convinced those days were behind me and my identity was solely being an entrepreneur, father, husband, and son.

Big mistake.

You’re going to hear a lot about cycling and how I used it to visualize, motivate, and believe. But that doesn’t mean you have to become a cyclist or even an athlete to Reclaim Your Story.

As I looked back, I became curious about how many other people have been similarly impacted. To that end I’m adding two dimensions to telling my story:

EXPERTS I'm partnering with a fraternity buddy, Dr. Greg Welk, who is an Exercise Scientist, Professor of Kinesiology, and Director of the Physical Activity and Health Promotion Lab at Iowa State University. Greg brings 30 years of research, outreach programs, and colleagues into the conversation with evidence-based best practices. His published research has been honed over the past 15 years, and adds the evidence-based science behind why and how my tactics worked.

(Left) Greg and me back in 1984.

YOU I'll be looking for you to Reclaim and share your stories too. Building a supportive community where we can all find solace in the fact there are others facing the same challenges and support to keep going, prevent False Starts, and maybe smooth out the rollercoaster ride

The Wayback is a framework that can help you find your way back to a lifestyle of health, wellness, and fitness on your terms by reconnecting with your personal stories. The Wayback helps explore what's still possible by inspiring discovery through three elements.

Reclaim Your Story, Rewire Your Brain & Rebuild Your Body

It's not easy, but it's simple. You can do what I've done too. And, while this is my story, there are fundamental concepts that make it work and will help you

Get Back to You.