PEAK PERFORMANCE: Dan sit skis in Grand Mesa, CO in 2022; "I love hiking, mountaineering, and climbing mountains. So, cross-country skiing quickly became this new way of hiking."

within the sport, broadly speaking. That is to do ski marathons, because I want to demonstrate that sit skiers can do ski marathons, and get them on the Paralympic circuit. These are 50-kilometer races. So, that’s where I want to go. I want to do it. This is not super important to me, but I do think it’s showing some motivation, and it’s maybe a goal that’s a year ahead. I did a 54-kilometer ski marathon in Norway in March, and I really think that on the Paralympic circuit we should have these competitions. Not necessarily at the games, because putting a 50-kilometer race in the games would be a little tough to do logistically, but on our World Cup circuit, they could have the ski marathons. I think you just got to go out and do it, and then start a conversation around it. That’s kind of where I’m at right now. I don’t think I have anything else.

“I think it is helpful if you can prepare yourself. It’s mindset and mental tips for how to approach challenges and setbacks. If you can prepare yourself for the big ones, then the daily annoyances and setbacks aren’t as big of a deal.”

There’s kind of this transition from being this full-time 100% athlete, which I was years ago, that I can tell is kind of slipping away a little bit. It’s still very much a part of my life, but I’m not so concerned

about next season and what my training is for tomorrow? I'm going to still exercise. I used to take that so seriously. During the process of getting better, I had this fire inside me. Often though, I would think that all my training was not making the world better. Sometimes, I thought that maybe through the example of it, it helped some people. I could be driving and would come down on myself a little hard. But then I would think that I didn't know where this was coming from, but it was there, and I wanted to train and do all this. Now, I have softened up a little bit from that, to be honest. I still like to race, but it's not this huge part of who I am. These cycles just happen naturally when you are getting older.

FS: Absolutely. Not to analyze, but maybe some of the ambition could have come from what you went through, and needing to show yourself all you were still able to do. Now, that you see how much you can do, it doesn't have to be proving anything. Now, you can just really enjoy and have different activities in your life, which is a nice thing.

DC: Yeah. I think so. I think that's fairly correct, if not totally correct.

iFS: Is speaking more like a job, although you’re helping people?

DC: Yes. I'd like to grow as a speaker. My goal would be to reach more audiences and continue with it, as long as I like it. And then, managing it so that I'm not burning out, managing it in terms of engagements and interviews. I think that's where I'm at.

FS: What would you like the readers to get from this interview?

DC: I hope it’s entertaining. I hope the story is valuable in terms of giving some advice on how to deal with some setbacks. I think it is helpful if you can prepare yourself, just like in the Seal team. We would train for scenarios that were just so complicated, in hopes that when you get overseas on a real mission, it would not be as complicated. Therefore, when the stakes are higher, you can process things a little better. It’s mindset and mental tips for how to approach challenges and setbacks. If you can prepare yourself for the big ones, then the daily annoyances and setbacks aren’t as big of a deal. The concepts of perspective and narrowing the focus when things get really difficult, and trying to get small wins, small goals to go forward to create more psychological momentum, I think can help people. That’s something practical they can take away.

FS: Dan, it has been an honor. Thank you again for your service and your continued inspiration.

DC: Thank you. You’ve had great questions and are a good listener, so I appreciate that.