Any former Drunks/ Addicts out there?
Just wondering if I am the only one who managed to snatch my life back from hell, by swapping addictions!
Running/ Triathlon has saved me!
August 4th= 2 years of sobriety and:
loss of 140 Lbs
2 Marathons
2 Half Marathons
2 5k
2 10K
2 100 Mile Bike races
1 Triathlon
Half Ironman in August- NYC marathon in November.
And One unbelievingly happy life, found again, just where I left it…with my wife and twins (6yr olds)
I have more admiration for folks like you than anybody else in triathlon. Congrads on turning your life around.
19 yrs last march
I wouldnt say i have traded addictions though since I am not quite addicted to training
are you doing timberman? if so lets get a milkshake afterwards
or after NY sonce ia m doing that race also
old slow and sober
After NYC would be awesome.
Is it OK if I have 13 milkshakes…just kidding:)
Two years this past April, life is much easier seeing the sun rise for a Transition area opening!!!
I am quite sure that if I didn't do what I do Tri-athletically I would be a drunk or dead.I've been through alcoholic DT's more than once and the struggle against depression is constant.Funny thing is most people think I do all my ultra-stuff 'cause I'm an A-type ,selfish guy who won't settle down and consequently I'm not exactly popular with the modern tri crowd(especially the females).Mostly I'm trying to giving myself a reason to stay alive.There are more of us out there than people think but this sort of thing isn't popular conversation in the tri world.Most people don't want to know.
I won’t even claim to understand the difficulty of what you have done but I can tell you that my father spent a career helping folks with substance abuse problems and I think I know 1/10th of the reality of it. I do know that without something to replace it most fail. Exercise likely saved your life and improved it at the same time. You have definitely acheived more in conquering addiction than I can ever appreciate. Two years at your activity level and you have likely reversed most of the negative effects the misguided years took away from you.
I will say that exercise, mostly running turned into a tri obsession, got me through a divorce worthy of a book, movie and made for TV Lifetime movie. It also helped me get my fitness and subsequently self-confidence back. I never realized how much I missed the inner peace that running can bring you until one day during the worst of my divorce in Forrest Gump fashion:
“That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I’d just run across the great state of Alabama. And that’s what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I’d gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another ocean, I figured, since I’d gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep right on going.”