I have joined Team IRONMAN Foundation to help fight heart disease in youth.

For what little attention it gets, I was surprised to find out that coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. What makes me the most sad on a personal level is how, more often than not, it is entirely preventable. Some people are more genetically predisposed than others, and certain factors are out of anyone's control. But the habits we build in childhood and early adulthood are the ones that not only persist, but eventually lead to hearts that cannot keep up.

It often looks like this: plaque builds in the coronary arteries, causing years of hypertension and discomfort, until eventually the plaque dislodges, a blood clot forms, and the heart muscle is starved of oxygen. This breaks my heart (no pun intended), particularly because so often the root of it is children simply never being exposed to the habits that take care of their hearts, and their entire bodies, at all.

Thus, on April 4, 2027, in Galveston, Texas, I will swim 1.2 miles, bike 56, and run 13.1 with Team IMF, the charity team of The IRONMAN Foundation. I am not racing to prove I am an athlete. I am racing to show, as plainly as I can, what a heart is capable of when it is cared for from the start, and to raise money for a foundation that puts that chance in front of young people.

If you are able to give, every dollar goes to The IRONMAN Foundation. And whether or not you give, I hope you will take a child you love outside this week and move with them. It is among the best gifts you can give a heart, and it costs nothing at all.

Thank you for reading, and for caring about this with me.

P.S. This page is open source. The training, the race-day splits, and the fundraising total will all be published here as they happen.