Hello and welcome to my blog. My name is Dan Hedgecock and this blog is about living the good life and seeking out adventure. Most of you already know me, but on the off chance that you don't I graduated from the University of Missouri in 2009 and moved to Minnesota to work for Target corporate. It was the perfect start to living the American dream: a suit and tie gig with my foot in the door of corporate America. All I needed was a wife, 2.5 kids and a mortgage and I would have made it. But when I sat down every day in my cubicle and started working through the endless spreadsheets and forms that added no value to my life I had to question whether I was really happy, and of course I wasn't. For me the whole point of work was to make money and money can't buy happiness. It can sure make life a lot easier and buy a lot of fun nights in the city, but I didn't love the people I worked with, I wasn't making any worthwhile memories, and time was starting to move really quickly. So instead of slowly falling into a routine that would have sustained me until I had a mid-life crisis I left my job, started work at a bike shop and committed to doing something only so long as I loved it. My current love is triathlon. I ran through high school and college with moderate success and have carried my passion for endurance sports into one of America's fastest growing sports. I've got one goal in mind: become a pro and try to make a living racing. I've got long odds to overcome, but I'm young and too stupid or stubborn to know when something is probably too difficult to accomplish. So I'm starting this blog for any friends and family members that are interested in how the journey is going.
The 2011 season is well underway and training is going well. My swimming still has a long way to go, but pre-season fitness is set up well to start some fast workouts once the snow melts. I'm running the Human Race 8k on March 20th to get a better gauge of where I'm at. The run is where I need to make the least improvement, but it will still be good to get a feel for how fit I am. My first tri will be St. Anthony's on May 1st in St. Petersburg Florida where I hope to qualify for the 5150 championships that will take place in Iowa this September.
This being my first season as a committed triathlete I've decided not to set race or time specific goals. I'm hoping to accomplish the following: stay injury free, spend as much time outside as possible and get fast enough in swimming that I don't get crushed by high school girls. At the end of the season we'll see if I've raced well enough to get a pro card.
There's always obstacles and temptations in life that seem important and demand attention. There's a hundred things that could go wrong at any time. There's even a line of people ready to tell you why you can't. But when you love something with all your heart, it's easy to choose the path less traveled. Training is hard, but when I'm out on my bike flying down a freshly paved road at full speed or hitting the trails for a hard long run I've never been happier. So here's to uncertainty and long odds and refusing to accept mediocrity. Wish me luck in 2011 and keep me in your thoughts.
