Cleveland Born Triathlete: Leaving Ohio

It hasn’t been that long since I’ve traveled beyond the Ohio border, but it has been a long time since I left for an extended period of time. When I was 19 years old, I left for a little over 8 weeks. I was playing drums for this punk band, and it was our first US tour. Before that tour, I had barely been outside of the state. In those 8 weeks, we hit 50 major cities across the country. It was a serious adventure for a handful of teenagers. By the time we made it back to Cleveland, I had never been so happy to be home. I was a little homesick, but that was expected. We were young and 8 weeks was a long time to spend on the road. Life away from home has always appealed to me. But, I can’t live without knowing where home is.

This time I’ll be away for at least 6 months. Everything about leaving my hometown feels surreal. The thought of actually moving away didn’t strike me until we crossed the river into Kentucky, and I am certainly going to miss certain people that I left behind. We have had a lot of good times since the end of summer, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. But now I get to go live the life I have been fantasizing about for years... the life of an athlete.

We spent the night in Memphis yesterday. This city is seriously a place a could see myself living someday. There is something about the culture down south. We spent the night watching blues bands, eating BBQ, and drinking a few beers. Today, we’ll drive into Dallas and celebrate New Years. It’ll be nice to catch up with some old Texas friends. I haven't had much time to train on this trip yet but there will be plenty of time for that in AZ.