My Favorite Photos From A Year Of Crushing Iron

I have officially hit 300 posts on Crushing Iron so I’ve taken the liberty of selecting some photos that illustrate highlights from what has been a fantastic year filled with great friends, family, and races. 

This is a screen grab from the first Fab 5 Interviews in February.  We had a dream of landing PBR as a sponsor for the documentary and Kevin unwittingly became our spokesperson.  Kevin and Jim had a side battle going on throughout training and this picture is when Kevin said, “I have no predictions for this group, other than I will beat Jim Schwan by at least 10 minutes.”  See video here.I could build an entire library of “Jim photos” but this is probably my favorite.  I can’t remember why he went to the Lamb Chop look, but he said he’s planning to bring it back soon.  Let’s hope he’s serious.  This is my buddy Roger Badger (in the background wearing white) with famous marathoner Bill Rogers in the foreground.  It was Roger’s first marathon in Huntsville and I just think this picture is hilarious because we were both a star struck by our childhood idol.  And no, we didn’t talk to him. This is coach Robbie the morning of Ironman Louisville posing for a shot in front of the adult novelty store on the way to his race.  Loose and ready to hit the water.This was from the X3 Christmas party and the first photo of the Fab 5.  But what most don’t know is that Mark wasn’t actually there so I Photoshopped him over my shoulder.  It’s just so ridiculously awesome.  I have no clue what race this was, but for some reason Daniel wore full-on business gear and it seems like it should be a commercial or something.  I especially like the look of the guy behind him who seems to be thinking, “I gotta catch that guy in the suit.”  More great shots of Daniel here.

Mark battled more injuries than Greg Oden but kept showing up.  Here he is rubbing a knot out of his shoulder before the Muncie 70.3.  He trained most of the year with a double hernia and a torn bicep, then took Madison by storm.  Here you can see Jim asking me if I’m going to make it to the end of my first 5K in April of 2013. Always a classic shot for the ages.  I think my answer was, “If you stop asking me questions I might.”

This is Daniel, Lee Wilson and Season Kaminski from Nashville Running Company.  I think I just asked Lee if he was going to sponsor the Fab 5.

The photographer at Rev3 Knoxville nailed this shot.  Me battling for dear life as this guy in the green put me away at the finish line.  A huge group toes the line for one of our many open water training sessions.  There is nothing like starting your day at 6 am in the open water.  This is Wasky in the white shades with Allie and Jim in the background.  I’m pretty sure Wasky would call this legit.This me with Dr. Oz in after our 5K face off in Las Vegas.  Oz has become a lukewarm fan of Crushing Iron over the year and even posted several pictures of me on his own blog.  It doesn’t get much more ridic than two middle aged guys posing for a selfie.Corey and his wife, Donna, after he crushed Louisville in under 12 hours (including 6 course meal transitions), giving me something to shoot for.  He beat me by a minute and don’t think I haven’t lost sleep over this.  Another legit shot of Wasky after Ironman Louisville.  He was in great spirits despite having 4,565  leg cramps on the run.  Robbie took this shot of me Friday night in Madison.Me and Rebekah in front of the Wisconsin State Capitol.  She played a huge role in my training and gave me endless support the whole way through.  She was always there to push me out the door when I didn’t feel like it and encourage me to go after my highest goals.  My mom was probably my biggest fan after she finally figured out what the heck Ironman was all about.  Here she is in full glory on the IMWI course with the best sign of the day.What a great feeling and relief this was.  Me and Robbie after the race celebrating the hard work.Me with my dad after the race.  It was amazing to see how he slowly came alive about Ironman and it meant more than he knows to have him there.  It was a flashback to all the days he spent cheering for me in sports when I was a kid.This is me and my bro after the race.  We have spent many hours together playing sports in our life and it was especially awesome to share this win with him.  He was definitely one of my biggest supporters along the way and hopefully one day we can both cross an IM finish line in the same day.And, of course, this classic shot by Carolyn Petredis Wasky of me hugging my sister after IMWI. Amy traveled from Dallas to see the race and it was truly emotional to have her around.  We don’t see each other that much and having her there to create this moment was special.