Category Archives: running

Carry on

After several years straight of focusing all efforts on maintaining my late wife’s health through cancer treatments, and stumbling through financially, I had some catching up to do on my own health in 2013. The previous year ended with a … Continue reading

Posted in anxiety, Christopher Cudworth, death, foregiveness, God, healthy aging, love, running, sex, triathlete, triathlon, triathlons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the run through a world of hurt

One of the key things a distance runner learns over time is how to deal with a world of hurt. Among track athletes, it is those who circle the oval multiple times that learn to deal with sustained levels of … Continue reading

Posted in anxiety, healthy aging, it never gets easier you just go faster, life and death, love, mental health, running | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A trip back east in search of a sense of hope

Following a departure from an audio-visual company reeling from its inability to finish a new product for which they never completed the software, I engaged in full-time caregiving for my wife as she sank into another recurrence of the ovarian … Continue reading

Posted in anxiety, Christopher Cudworth, fear, foregiveness, friendship, mental health, mental illness, PEAK EXPERIENCES, running | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

70.3 miles of key learning experiences

For those of you who do triathlons, I’m sharing what it was like to do my first-ever 70.3, a Half Ironman race in Madison, Wisconsin. Those of you who don’t know the sport well are invited to find out what … Continue reading

Posted in adhd, anxiety, Christopher Cudworth, coaching, competition, cross country, healthy aging, healthy senior, IRONMAN, running, running shoes, training, tri-bikes, triathlete, triathlon, triathlons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A definite feeling of unsurety

Have you ever wondered exactly how good you really are at something? Pick anything. It could be gardening. Your job. Relationships. Marriage. Divorce. We all face these pursuits in our own way. Yet it’s really hard to judge whether you’re … Continue reading

Posted in aging, anxiety, Christopher Cudworth, college, competition, cross country, mental health, running, steeplechase, track and field, training | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Education. Presentation. Inspiration.

This post is part of a continuing series of chapters to be included in a book titled Competition’s Son. Hunting for a job when you desperately need one is never fun. If you’re old enough to think back to the … Continue reading

Posted in 10K, Christopher Cudworth, competition, mental health, running | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Whatever suits you

In the spring of 2007, toward the end of a seven-year tenure at the Daily Herald, I was freelancing with a marketing agency run by a guy named Vince. My role was serving as a creative director of sorts, writing … Continue reading

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A Sprint to Respectability

The Naperville Sprint Triathlon is the first real triathlon I participated in ten years ago with my wife Sue. We’d met in July of 2013, gone riding and running together right away, but then she had a bike accident (her … Continue reading

Posted in 13.1, 400 meter intervals, 400 workouts, 5K, aging, aging is not for the weak of heart, anxiety, bike accidents, bike crash, Christopher Cudworth, competition, cycling, friendship, IRONMAN, love, PEAK EXPERIENCES, race pace, racing peak, riding, running, swimming, Tarsnakes, triathlons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An unpleasant start to an ultimately pleasant triathlon

Open-water swimming is one of life’s acquired joys. Unless one grows up swimming in ponds, lakes, or oceans it takes a bit of practice to get used to the idea of climbing into the water and swimming over whatever depths … Continue reading

Posted in anxiety, Christopher Cudworth, cycling, Depression, fear, mental health, PEAK EXPERIENCES, race pace, racing peak, riding, running, swimming | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

50 Years of Running: Cataclysmic convergence

My competitive instincts had not abated much in my early forties, but one quickly learns as a caregiver that being competitive is not the answer to every problem. In fact, it constitutes an answer to few problems. It doesn’t help … Continue reading

Posted in 10K, aging, aging is not for the weak of heart, Christopher Cudworth, competition, fear, foregiveness, life and death, running, we run and ride | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment