I am sharing links here to the websites and social media accounts of people who inspire and motivate me on my fitness journey. There are so many people who inspire and support me every day, so it will take me a while to list you all. I will be adding more over time so check back from time to time for more inspiration!
Inspiration and motivation from others are an essential part of our journeys, but ultimately the success of your journey depends on you. We all need to hold ourselves accountable for our own successes and our own failures. It is our own mindset, our own choices, the hard work that we do (or do not) put in, that is most responsible for our outcomes, over time. The discipline to show up every day, with gratitude, and a positive mindset, with focus on your goal, committed to putting in the work: that must come from within. But sometimes that feels really hard and the inspiration and motivation of others keeps us moving forward towards our goals!
A huge "thank you" to everyone listed below (and many more I have yet to add) for all of your support and inspiration!
Family and Friends
To my beautiful wife Christina who supports my fitness journey, my races, and my focus on self-improvement, completely and unconditionally, and who inspires me with her healthy, positive lifestyle
To my and Christina's children, you inspire me to stay healthy and active, so I will have many, many more years to be there with you as you pursue your passions, chart your paths in life, meet the people who will become your partners, and begin your own families
To my mother, Patti, and my sister, Michele, and my in-laws, Debbie and Jansen, who have overcome so many challenges in their lives and persevered through it all with strength and positivity
To my grandmother, Elaine Sumner, who inspired me with her energy, her commitment to staying active into her old age, and her drive to compete long after the age when I thought people gave up that sort of thing
To my running and racing friends over many years, including Drew Rimmer, my teammates on the Rockhurst cross country team, my sub-3-hour marathon partner Matt Boyle, Amy Porter, Chris Sacht, Mike Podol, Soren Gabrielsen, and my inspiring teammates on the Belmont Track Club and on CharityTeams. We have pushed each other to be our best and you have opened my horizons to new challenges, like marathons, triathlons, and obstacle course racing. A special "shout out" to Joe Breed, Mike Kerwin, and Nishan Khoshafian for inviting me to my first Tough Mudder in 2018! That race ignited my love of OCR.
Public Figures
To David Goggins, who is teaching me the power of the calloused mind and that the mind is our biggest limitation to overcome, not our bodies. Our bodies are capable of astonishing things if we can harness the power of our mind.
To Joe De Sena, the founder and CEO of Spartan Race, who has inspired me to take "the hard way" to growth and success, by stepping outside of my comfort zone and committing to do challenging things that will allow me to grow and evolve into a better version of myself.
To Brian Johnson, the author of the book Areté and the creator of the Heroic mobile app, my daily guidebook to living, which provide me with the wisdom, virtues, and focus I need each day to narrow the gap between my current self and my best self, and to be a modern hero to the people in my life who need me.
Athletes and #IGfitfriends
To Becca Pizzi and Scot DeDeo and my Belmont Track Club teammates, what you have accomplished (and continue to accomplish) blows my mind and resets my expectations of what I am capable of!
To Bruno Prataviera, who exemplifies the love of running and staying fit for the pure joy of it
To powerhouse couple Noah DiCenso and Cristin Flick, whose intense workouts I have copied many times. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
To Kevin Gillotti, the most badass man my age out there. I love this guy's singular focus and the intensity with which he pushes himself every day.
To Brian Wolf, who attacks every workout with an intensity that I can only aspire to. He kept up with Shaun T during Insanity and he's never let up since.
To OCR Eunice, the queen of grip strength, who shows me what is possible if I keep working at it
To Fareed Fitness, whose Instagram workouts and reels have inspired and shaped my own IG fitness story
To Lucy Moloney, one of the most consistent people I know (that is a huge compliment in my book), who never ends a workout without one final challenge
To Wyn Duraes, who is an inspiring example of the strong, confident woman I hope my daugthers become