“Training for and competing in endurance races is powerful therapy. Whether you know this already or you’ve yet to discover it, read One Foot in Front of the Other. You will see yourself in Marc Dupont.” 

– Matt Fitzgerald
Author, Life is a Marathon

“This personal story is a great example, even in the face of doubt and fear, of the capacity of the human spirit to transform in ways we never dreamed possible. Marc Dupont takes the reader on his year-long triathlon journey revealing the power of sport as a “mind-body practice” and as a gateway into greater self-awareness. It’s filled with humor, humility, vulnerability and wisdom. He reminds us of that “place“ in each us, that when we trust and believe in ourselves, we can do anything we set our minds to and that sliver linings do come out of the inevitable ups and downs of our lives — relationship loss, childhood challenges, disappointment, even physical pain as a teacher of humility and perseverance. That indeed hardship, if we allow it to, can push us into our courage, allowing us to step outside of our comfort zone and grow mentally, emotionally and physically.

I highly recommend this book to non-athletes as well as athletes and thank the author for leaving me inspired and renewing my trust that it is ultimately inner work that creates the capacity for resilience, personal growth and transformation.”

– Jennifer Innes, MSc.
Brown U Certified Mindfulness (MBSR) Professio

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ISBN: 978-1-7780728-0-2 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-7780728-2-6 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1-7780728-1-9 (Epub)
ISBN: 978-1-7780728-3-3 (Audiobook)

Ever been so unmotivated or depressed that the idea of setting a goal, let alone reaching one, seemed impossible? This story follows the author through a full year of trials and tribulations, as he set his mind on a cold, drizzly Fall 2020 day, to not just practice a sport, like when he was a child, but to become a triathlete. Whether or not you are athletic, or your goals are sports-related, you will be inspired by this story of self-re-discovery. You will laugh, you will cry, but most of all, you will be inspired. This book is one more healthy and respectful way to destigmatize mental injury and focus on mental health and the role of endurance sports in helping achieve it.

Confined alone in his house, during the global Covid-19 pandemic and on the edge of depression after the sudden end of his marriage, his story is one of not only courage but of gratitude and how it helped him “re-wire his brain” to focus on the positive. It is also one of steadfast determination to just put one foot in front of the other. He shares with vulnerability the challenges of his childhood. Of learning to swim, bike and run from scratch, as an adult in his late 50s, with rebuilt knees and following major shoulder surgery and how, rather than avoiding or dismissing his fears and doubts, he welcomed these and other emotions by his side throughout his one-year triathlon journey.

With his own tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating humour, he recounts training for and racing not one triathlon but three Ironman 70.3 events in 2021, with virtually no experience in any of the three disciplines. He shares how he picked up triathlon lingo; managed race transitions; mastered grabbing bottles of Gatorade from aid stations while biking; faced desert heat as a cold-climate Canadian, and swam in alligator-infested Florida lakes.

His embarrassment of learning to swim again as an adult in the children’s pool and his fear of open water made him question whether or not he would ever become a triathlete. This is a story about how in life, anything truly is possible. And that if you set a goal high enough, the path towards it may not only lead to discovering what you can do, but rediscovering who you are.