More just about me
Today is yet another off-day. It’s just worked out that way that I’ve had a lot of off-days this last week or so, but I definitely need it today, after yesterday’s run. I’m feeling pretty good, but a little stiff and tired. I have some hard workouts this week and the Alcatraz race this Sunday, so I’ll cherish the day off today! I’ve been meaning to write a little more personal history in this space, so I’ll take advantage of the day off and write some more about me.
I can’t lie and say I was ever much of an athlete. As a kid, I participated in all the normal kid activities – soccer, tennis, little league baseball, even wrestling (my dad was a wrestler as a kid and man was I ever disappointed when I realized I sucked at wrestling). I also did some karate and, I think, a little gymnastics.
By middle school, the only sport I was playing was tennis. In high school, I was, well, I don’t know, but whatever I was, I was NOT an athlete. I played some JV tennis for a couple years, but I wasn’t that good and I wasn’t dedicated enough to try to become better. My high school had good swimming and water polo programs and I remember often thinking about trying one of those sports, but just never gave it a shot. Also, I was pretty small and wimpy and, though I didn’t fully realize then, my hand-eye coordination isn’t very good, especially in sports involving a ball. As an 18 year old high school senior, I was probably 5’9″ and 145 lbs (and that may be generous). A couple of my close friends were on the cross country team and I remember once or twice going on “mud runs” with them – “mud runs” generally involved running a couple miles to this nearby construction site and then running through and diving into the mud in the newly dug house foundations. It had considerably less to do with running than with mud. I was a pretty good student, so I did my school work and spent my free time driving around with friends, drinking and getting high.
After high school, I took off and spent 6 months in Israel, living on a kibbutz. The experience was a fantastic, truly life-changing time. I lived with people from all over the world – Israelis (of course), but I lived much closer to the Dutch, English, German and South American travellers who were my fellow volunteers. During my time on the kibbutz, I did a little weight lifting for the first time in my life, spent many days doing physical labor outside in the sun, ate a ton of food, drank a ton of beer and I grew 3 inches and put on over 15 pounds. I’d finally had my growth spurt. Better late than never. I came back home feeling more confident about myself psychologically and physically.
That January I started college at Brown University. My first friend at Brown (and still one of my best friends and the person who introduced me to my wife) happened to be a triathlete. I’ve already mentioned Assaf a few times and we’ll come back to him many times later in this blog. At the time I had absolutely no concept of what a triathlon was.
We started at Brown just in time for Freshman rush. One of the sophomores I met during rush at Delta Upsilon was a former high school soccer player who started telling us about discovering rugby at Brown. He took a few of us to a drink-up and got us wasted with a team of rough, tough, fun and crazy guys who came in all shapes and sizes, generally did not have rugby experience before college and certainly liked to party. I’d never even seen a rugby match, but I was definitely intrigued. I think I went and watched a match or two that Spring, but my fitness activities were limited to fraternity pledging, active partying and some weight-lifting.
That summer (between freshman and sophomore years), I worked in San Diego and lived at home. A friend of mine from high school and I spent a fair amount of time in the gym, primarily lifting weights. I came back to Brown in the Fall ready to join the rugby team. I really loved it right from the get-go. I wasn’t very good, and my sense of the game never really developed, but I did try and had a blast doing whatever I could. Rugby took up a lot of my time and energy over the course of the next three years. My teammates and coaches were great, I loved being part of the team. I think I made up for a lack of skill with determination and enthusiasm. I also always knew that I wasn’t going to be on the first side and I would never be a star. I was content with my role as a second-sider who tried hard and was rewarded for his efforts. I got to play in New Orleans, Bermuda and Ireland and of course, the drink-ups were a blast. I owe a lot to my coach, Jay Fluck, and my teammates. Joining the rugby team and sticking with it was one of those decisions that really made a difference in my life. Even though we practiced 2 or 3 days a week, plus games on Saturdays and running on Sundays and I was lifting weights, I wasn’t a good runner or anything even remotely approaching an endurance athlete. All that came later…