Army veteran trains back from major injury to compete in Chicago Triathlon

CHICAGO (CBS) – More than 5,000 athletes will swim, bike and run in and along Lake Michigan this weekend during the Lifetime Chicago Triathlon.

CBS 2's Jackie Kostek told the story of one Army veteran set to compete in his first Olympic distance triathlon.

Stephen Semmelroth considers getting to the starting line a win, but his goal is much bigger than just finishing the race.

It's to inspire other veterans and to show them it's possible to fight through depression, anxiety and the symptoms of PTSD.

Semmelroth has a soft spot for life's toughest challenges.

"I love hard problems," he said. "I want to do the hardest problem that no one else wants to do."

That love for adversity led Simmelroth to West Point, becoming an Army Ranger and then to Afghanistan, where he was met with his most significant struggle yet.

"We came up to a ravine and you don't just drive through ravines," he said. "You get out and walk through them first to make sure there's nothing that's going to be really bad, specifically roadside bombs, and I ended up falling into the ravine."

Semmelroth broke his back in several places but still finished his deployment, grinding through for two years before finally having reconstructive back surgery.

"When I woke up, my surgeon came in and he was standing at the foot of my bed," he recalled. "I couldn't see him. He has a hilarious sense of humor and so he goes 'Can you feel this?' And I said 'Oh come on doc. Don't play that game.' And he goes 'No seriously, can you feel this?' And I said 'No.'"

Days later, Semmelroth began to regain feeling but the former endurance athlete had to relearn how to walk.

"I'm literally in pain right now," he said. "And so my surgery was in 2015 and we're over seven years past and I'm still, still struggling."

Exercise is one of the only things that helps curb the physical pain, which Semmelroth said is nearly constant, and the symptoms associated with post traumatic stress disorder.

"I can't sit too long and I can't stand too long so I have to be really diligent about getting up and moving," he said. "A lot of core exercises, which is hard because between surgery, I had so much muscle atrophy in my back and my core, but I couldn't do core work because of the titanium in my back."

Still, Semmelroth finds a way not just to move, but to train three, four, sometimes five days a week for his first Olympic-distance Chicago Triathlon. Semmelroth isn't doing it for himself though, but for other veterans, to show them that it's possible, even when it's hard.

"My wrestling coach in 7th grade told me, he had written down on a piece of paper, 'Sometimes you win by showing up,'" he said. "I've continued to take that message, just putting your toe on the starting line and taking the first step is winning."

Before competing in the international distance race on Sunday, Semmelroth has already targeted his goal for next year, which is to compete in all three main races during the weekend: The super sprint, sprinT and international.