INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis man is sharing his powerful story about a remarkable turnaround.

Timmy Howard completely changed his life around. Howard says he went from abusing drugs and living on the streets to taking part in Ironman competitions — and it’s all thanks to fitness.

“I was just waiting to overdose and die or get killed. I mean, I didn’t know which it would be,” Howard said.

Howard is now a triathlon athlete who competes in running, biking, and swimming. Before, he was homeless for six years. He spent three of those years in Dayton, Ohio, and three more in Indianapolis.

“I was sleeping under a bridge at I-465 and Pendleton Pike; you still see people there panhandling there all the time. I was that person. And that was how I looked at my life for a lot of years. It was ‘wake up, find drugs, try to survive,’” Howard said.

Howard was addicted to heroin. He says his mother got him hooked. But after those long hard years in Indy, he says it was fitness that saved his life. 

“When I got sober, I was probably 130 pounds. I’m 185 now, for perspective. So, I was skin and bones. And I wanted to get healthy, so I started lifting weights. I found a flyer for a local organization called Back on My Feet. They run with the homeless community. It’s basically to empower them to change their lives and to learn to function in society.”

It changed Howard’s life forever He says it was a simple hug that turned him into the athlete he is today. 

“I think I finally found family and acceptance that I had been missing a long time.” 

He added: “It was a way just to test my body, ’cause I spent so many years addicted to drugs that I went through a lot of pain that it was a good healthy way to really test my body and see what I was made of.”

But after running, biking and swimming Howard completed his first Ironman in 2023 at Lake Placid. 

Howard is now going on seven years clean and his gives all the praise to physical fitness. “Fitness is where I found my calling and my way to stay sober.”

The end goal for his journey is to help build community. He shared this message for anyone struggling: 

“Find a community; find people that are there for you just because they want to see a better you. That hug when I initially went back on my feet was what I needed, what sent my life into motion for what it is now.”

A documentary about Howard’s journey called “Inches to Miles” premieres next Wednesday. Local screenings at the Kan-Kan Cinema are sold out, but moviegoers can catch the film on YouTube on June 4.

Click here to watch the trailer for “Inches to Miles” on YouTube.