Witt’s Warriors

Four years ago, I had just hit forty and was sitting on the couch growing more and more frustrated with my inactive lifestyle and growing waistline. I looked everywhere for motivation but came up empty everywhere I turned. Then one day I saw an advertisement for a Warrior Dash race. For those that aren’t familiar, the Warrior Dash is a 5k (3.1 mile) muddy run through an obstacle course. It looked like a lot of fun but for someone that couldn’t even run to the mailbox I thought that the race might be too challenging for me. But that’s when I saw that the race coincided with the 2nd Anniversary of Witt’s life saving heart transplant. Remembering the fight he had been through and how he courageously fought that battle I knew that I couldn’t back down from the challenge of the Warrior Dash. So I registered for the race, recruited some good friends to join me,  started a Couch to 5k training program and Witt’s Warriors was officially born.

We trained all summer that year and were still a little concerned we might not be up for the task on race day. But with Witt as our inspiration we stepped up to the starting gate determined to finish. Once the gun went off and we scrambled out of the gate and through that first obstacle we realized that this was going to be a lot of fun.

The Inaugural Witt’s Warriors Squad – Mark Poppell, Danny Lane, Katy Lane, and me

The race was tough but we were certainly prepared and ready for it and all of us finished together. And as I stood at the finish line covered in mud and sweat I made a commitment that each year on the anniversary of Witt’s heart transplant that I would honor God, honor Witt, and honor his heart donor by pushing myself to do things that challenge me far beyond anything I’ve ever done.

Victorious

Once my sore and achy muscles had recovered from the inaugural Witt’s Warrior’s race I began to contemplate what I would do in 2013 to challenge myself. I began to think about the daily commute that I made from our home in Franklin Tennessee up to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville during Witt’s stay there. I thought about how running from my home to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital would be symbolic of that faithful daily trek we made. But in mapping out a route I realized that it would be somewhere between 18 and 20 miles. Having just gutted out a 3.1 mile race I thought that there was no way I could pull that off. And then I remembered… That’s what this was all about – about challenging myself to do things far beyond anything I’ve ever done.

Fast forward to 5:00am on September 22, 2013.  I had trained all year and had successfully completed my first two half marathon races but my longest training run had been 15 miles. Would I be able to make it 18-20 miles? I again looked to my inspiration – to Witt and what he had overcome in his life – and realized that failure was not an option. Standing by me at the starting line that day were some great friends that had supported our family throughout Witt’s time in the hospital – Andy Johnson, Dan Albert, and Kristen Fisher. Also joining us was Josh Bolin. Josh’s young son Andrew had also been born with a Congenital Heart Defect. We had a great run that day and three hours and forty minutes later we made it.

Kristen, me, Dan, and Andy at the finish

I would learn a few days after the run that I had stress fractured my foot during the run. I spent the next six weeks in a walking boot and during that time had settled back into my old couch potato lifestyle. The months flew by and before I knew it Witt’s fourth heart transplant anniversary was upon us and I had done little to no training at all. I wanted to repeat last year’s run to Vanderbilt but knew that my body wasn’t up to the task.  That’s when I heard about the 2014 World Heart Race – a virtual race benefitting Mended Little Hearts – a great organization dedicated to providing help, hope, and healing to heart patients and their families. In this virtual race competitors commit to running a marathon over the course of a week. I thought… Maybe I could walk a marathon? Maybe I could walk from my house to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital? I saw that the week long virtual race kicked off on September 22, 2014 – Witt’s fourth heart transplant anniversary. Knowing that Witt had gone into the operating room at exactly 12:14am on September 22, 2010 I decided that I would start my virtual race at 12:14am and would extend last year’s route so that I would be the first person to start and finish the marathon distance World Heart Race.

Unlike previous years I didn’t recruit any friends for this challenge. After all, asking friends to walk a marathon is a pretty big ask. Asking them to forgo any sleep AND walk a marathon was a REALLY big ask. I began to think of what Witt faced that night in 2010 and came to realize that it was only fitting that I headed out alone and in the dark on this journey. It was a beautiful night. The sky was filled with stars. I saw an owl, a few skunks, a possum, and some deer. My route was a beautiful journey through rural middle Tennessee farm lands. The solitude of the walk gave me an opportunity to reflect on what God had done in my life over the last four years and an opportunity to pray for each of the heart warriors that we had come to know. My route took me by Dan Albert’s house and he linked up with me and walked the last ten miles with me. The last five miles were tough – very tough. But just shy of eight hours we completed the 26.2 mile walk, showered, and headed to work.

As 2015 rolled around and I started thinking about what I would do for Witt’s 5th Heart Transplant Anniversary I started to think about a triathlon. I had some friends doing triathlons and I had even done a Sprint distance triathlon (400 meter swim, 13 mile bike ride, 3.1 mile run). Triathlons presented a whole new set of challenges. I wasn’t a very strong swimmer and wasn’t very strong on the bike. So I quickly decided that an Olympic distance triathlon (1.3 kilometer swim, 25 mile bike ride, 6.2 mile run) would be the perfect challenge. The only problem was that because of the cool fall temperatures there aren’t any triathlons in Tennessee in September. I wasn’t going to let that stop me so I recruited my friends Andy Johnson and Kristen Fisher and we mapped out a course starting in our neighborhood’s swimming pool. At 49 degrees it was a bit chilly that day. Transitioning from the pool to the bike and then riding 25 miles in wet shorts and with wet hair was tough but we survived and had a great race. And waiting to greet us at the finish was Witt – our inspiration.

Kristen and I with Witt – Our inspiration

Witt’s Warriors was birthed out of my desire to honor God, to honor Witt, and to honor Witt’s heart donor. Over the course of the last four years these challenges have become an extension of my commitment to “running with endurance the race that God has set before me“.

So what am I going to do in 2016? That’s a topic for my next post. Stay tuned.