Shifting Gears

It was never part of Adam Hill''s life ambition or his genetic constitution to weara Speedo in public, let alone compete in a triathlon. For the first three decades oflife, he was the poster child for non-athleticism, obsessively unhealthy habits, andan intense fear of...well...everything. Yet at the age of thirty-three, with aphysique that could only be described as "Sasquatch with a Dad Bod," he put asidehis insecurities and took his first step toward an outrageous dream: to qualify forthe Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. It was a dream shared by nearly everyother triathlete in the world, reserved for the top 1 percent of all athletes in thesport-a sport in which Adam had exactly zero experience. In Shifting Gears, Adamshares his harrowing, inspiring, and sometimes-clumsy story of transformation, fromthe origins of a debilitating anxiety disorder to his battle with alcoholism to hisrise to the top of the triathlon world stage.