One is too many… 22lives/22miles

On June 27th I (along with many others) will be participating in a 22 mile ruck march  to raise money for a worthy cause to battle veteran suicide.  

As many of you know, I am a combat veteran from the Iraq War, and have been living with PTSD for the better part of 15 years. It’s a silent killer…. I’ve seen the worst of it… I have unfortunately lost many of my close friends and fellow soldiers to PTSD. Many came home not knowing the war had already killed them, and didn’t have the resources available to help them cope with the pain of reliving the most traumatic moments of their lives on a daily basis.

As for me… I struggle, but I found the ability to cope through fitness. I found it to be an amazing outlet that helps me get through the frustration of not understanding or being able to rationalize what I went through, and I feel it can help others - because of this I have chosen to raise money for Fit-Ops - More info here:

The Fitness Ops mission is a certification program for veterans who want to become elite personal trainers. The on-site program concludes with certification of fitness industry professionals--who are experts in exercise and in leadership--designated as Certified Veteran Fitness Operatives (CVFO).

We help veterans who are passionate about health and wellness to find success after the military in the fitness industry. The goal is not just to help veterans to get certified as personal trainers, but to create a path for our servicemen and women to use their leadership skills to help improve the lives of others. For this reason, our program focuses on QUALIFICATION not simply CERTIFICATION as professionals in the fitness industry.