Well it has been a while since my last blog and, despite myself, training has been progressing. I completed my peak training week with just over 25 hours of training last week including three consecutive days of 100 milers. It is supposed to snow this week here in the greater Denver area so just in time. But I am getting way ahead of myself.

As I hear the whine of an old pickup truck with oversized tires gaining speed behind me on the two-lane country road, I move as close to the shoulder as possible. It’s Bubba, another “good ole boy” about to see how close his side view mirror can come to my helmeted skull. It’s close, but I’m still pedaling.

Why would this busted up retired firefighter and former SEAL commit himself to a physical endeavor that most sane people would never consider at any point in their lives? Simple answer – One of my fellow BUD/S Class 98 graduates ask me to. Situation: I was…

The alarm goes off – early … really early! Reminiscent of a time long past when most things required rising early. But that was then. My mind turns on … why? Why did I set the alarm to go off at this hour? OH … time to train. Or do I hit the snooze button?…

Mike Charbonnet (left) and Conrad Kress during Hell Week of their BUD/S 98 SEAL training. The men would become friends and, 40 years later, form the fundraising nonprofit Beyond the Teams with six other classmates. (Courtesy Mike Charbonnet) Forty years…

There’s a truth only those of us who have lived through the rigors of 26 weeks of BUD/S training know: You do not make friends from the first running or swimming evolution. You don’t even necessarily bond during Hell Week when all the usual difficulties of…

New nonprofit Beyond the Teams to take on fundraising missions for ‘unsung heroes facing physical disabilities and cultural disadvantages’Former Navy SEALs who have served in some of the most strategically important – and dangerous – military hot spots…

The idea for Beyond the Teams was birthed when the organization’s chairman, Mike Carbonnet, undertook a fundraising bike ride last August to benefit a deeply personal cause. His son, David, a former SEAL himself who broke his back parachuting in 2011, is…