I’ve always been fortunate to have found good friends in this life but during my first year at the University of Texas I met a group of true outliers. I’ve always despised complacency but sharing an apartment and retaining close ties with such exceptional individuals eventually drove me to reach a level I never would have contemplated reaching on my own.

A few years after college, at the beginning of 2023, two of those friends informed me that they were planning on taking on the challenge of Ironman Arizona later that year. At the time the idea intrigued me but having never run more than a 10K myself I quickly dismissed the idea.

The Pack Effect

There’s a reason the saying goes “if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room” but for some reason you never hear that quote expanded to include ambition and grit.

My friends weren’t trying to inspire me when they mentioned that they had signed up for the 140.6 mile race. They were just being themselves, setting goals that seemed unreasonable and then doing the work. Suffice to say proximity to that kind of drive is infectious. When everyone around you is doing hard things, difficulty becomes the baseline.

At first the goal seemed so out of reach that I refused to commit but frankly the idea of going to cheer my friends on from the sidelines instead of joining them disgusted me. So naturally I started to train.

Unfortunately after only a few weeks of bike training I was hit by a car in March. The cuts healed quickly but surgery to repair both my labrum and my rotator cuff was required and the prognosis I received afterwards was frustrating. At this point it was already June and despite my diligence with rehabilitation exercises I was told that a return to full range of motion activities like swimming would likely take 12 months.

As soon as I could I got back on the stationary bike in my garage and at this point there was no longer a doubt in my mind. I was going to meet the same standard set by my wolf pack even if we didn’t cross the finish line on the same day.

As the months progressed I started to gain more and more hope. I was able to put weight on my shoulder and finally in late September I got back in the pool. I’ll spare you the details with respect to the mileage covered in between but on October 24th I finally put my credit card down and paid for the race. On November 19th we all started and finished Ironman Arizona.

Choose Your Pack

Surround yourself with people that make you sprint to catch up to them. Better yet surround yourself with people so far ahead of you that it would be easier to quit than to catch up.

Had I not chosen to surround myself with such people I never would have had the privilege to cross that finish line and hear the words “You are an Ironman” over the loudspeaker.

Surround yourself with wolves.

Then run (bike and swim) with them.