140.6 Ramblings - Triathlon Stories
Thoughts from an amateur triathlete and entrepreneur while he trains for his first full iron-distance race, the Rev 3 Cedar Point full triathlon in Sandusky, Ohio.
In April of 2011, just two weeks in to training, I lost someone very near and dear to me due to her long fight with cancer. After many close to me during the last few years have suffered from cancer, I've decided to dedicate my Rev 3 full iron-distance event to those who have lost the fight.
Every little bit will help. Please join me in the battle to find a cure.
So, it’s been about three weeks since I finished my first 140.6 triathlon, and honestly, I think it’s taken that much time to soak it all in. Before I get too much further into the race report, I want to stop for a moment and thank everyone who supported me and TEAM FIGHT. Without your support, I could not have accomplished the biggest goal of it all… to raise over $1,500 for the Ulman Cancer Fund. We did it and the totals are still coming in as some folks mailed checks, but it looks like we’ll be close to $2k for this round!
As humans, we go through life setting and completing goals. Ever since I was young, I was intrigued by the sport of triathlon and especially the 140.6 Ironman distance. For me, completing my first triathlon at this distance will always stick with me for a variety of reasons, but mostly, because it was the culmination of years of preparation and it really could not have gone much better. Without further ado, here’s the race report.
As you’d expect - it’s a bit long, so I will be breaking it up into 3 parts (Travel & Pre-race, Morning & Swim, Bike & Run). Here’s part 1 hope you enjoy!
TRAVELING TO CEDAR POINT
946 miles is just over 6.5 times the distance of a Full Rev triathlon and yet, in a car it took us only a couple hours more than it did for me to finish 140.6 miles under my own power… imagine if we still relied oh human and horsepower for our transportation! Geez!
We had a great road trip up and broke it into two separate days of traveling so that we arrived the Friday before the race with enough time to drive the bike course, check in to the hotel, complete athlete check-in and cruise around the expo for a little bit before settling in for the evening.
Overall, the trip was pretty uneventful and we saw some sites (neat, interesting, awesome, and weird). Not limited to, but including the NFL Football Hall of Fame, a giant power generator that looked like some upside down train engine from the future (picture below for your viewing pleasure), coal mines in West Virginia, great wildlife and so much more.
PIC: Some sort of futuristic, upside-down, power generating device.
One thing I will say about the trip, is we were thankful to borrow this behemoth vehicle that easily fit everything a triathlete and support crew could ever want. We took all the necessities - microwave, toaster, multiple clothing bags, tri bag, bike, trainer, wheel sets, a cooler packed with goodies for the road and meals for the race, fruit - you name it, we had it. Could you say we were overly prepared, probably. Was it a little bit less stressful knowing that anything we wanted from the comforts of home (especially nutrition wise) was at our fingertips, definitely.
PIC: Everything a triathlete and support crew could want!
I was a little nervous from being in the Rover for so long and having my legs feel pretty stiff by day two. We were really ready to get to Hotel Breakers (the host hotel for the race), but I thought it would be good to drive the bike course on the way in - namely because “flat” is a relative term to describe bike courses. I was so glad that we took the time to drive the course Friday on the way in though. It was gorgeous! So different from the monotonous training routes that I did my longest rides on. Small rolling hills that you could ride through, shady parts, a couple little downhill sections with one longer portion, and loads of corn fields!
After a day and a half of being in the Rover, we were definitely ready to be out of it and happy to get to Cedar Point!
PIC: Hello Cedar Point!
After arriving and getting settled into our hotel room we went right over to the transition area for athlete check-in. It was great! The volunteers were so friendly and seemed genuinely excited to be part of the experience for the athletes, a theme that continued throughout the race. The first stop was to get my arm band (#92) then on to the next stop where I was weighed in (they do this as a precaution for medical reasons to get a starting weight), next up was the photo booth and then on to get my timing chip. It was such a cool touch to take a fun, personalized photo with me and my better half that went up on the big screen when I crossed the finish line!
Once we finished with athlete check-in, we cruised around the expo to check out all the goods and then headed back to the room to get some dinner and rest.
SATURDAY BEFORE THE RACE
Waking up Saturday morning the mood was positive, focused, and celebratory. After 5 months of challenging training, life’s ups and downs, the realization that I was 24 hours out from the start of my first 140.6 triathlon began to set in. As I got up to go through the motions, I began to think about the advice that a few seasoned-triathletes who have qualified for Kona multiple times told me… “Enjoy every moment of this experience. Appreciate the fact that you are healthy enough to complete an event of this distance. Have fun. Stay positive.” So, that’s just what I did.
The morning started with my normal pre-race breakfast and then I focused on getting through my pre-race workouts quickly so that I had some time to enjoy the afternoon and not feel too rushed at any point of the day.
Saturday Workouts
Saturday Morning Swim: 700 yards, easy with 3-4 race pace efforts; focused on sighting, technique and comfort in the lake.
The lake was fairly calm, but very murky. The swim felt pretty good with two minor exceptions. The first was that when you got in the lake there was nearly 100 yards of this thick sludge (who knows what it was, but I’m still alive with no degenerating limbs - so it couldn’t have been too toxic). The second was the cooler water temperature. Us Floridians get cold when the temperature drops and I am no exception to this rule. Luckily, after about 5 minutes in the water I warmed up and the fear of having a cold water induced “ice-cream headache” on race morning subsided quickly thereafter.
PIC: Trudging through the sludge.
PIC: The scene on the beach Saturday morning was awesome.
Saturday Morning Bike: 11 miles (give or take) at about 18mph average. I had 3 goals for this ride. First, make sure that everything was okay on the bike (gears, etc.). Second, ride the start/finish of the bike course down the rough road along the coast of Lake Erie to get a feel for how it would be on the way out and back. Third, and most important, loosen up the legs a little bit with 3-4 race efforts for 90 seconds each.
The bike ride went great on all accounts! I learned that the road was rougher than I thought, but holding a bigger gear would be the best way to get through it. Additionally, it would be important to check my back bottles after getting through the section on the bike as I saw a couple people lose them just during this ride. It felt great to get the legs warmed up and I had to hold myself back a couple of times from going too hard… a great place to be!
Saturday Morning Brick Run: an easy 2 miles right off the bike at around a 11 min average pace with 3 pickups for 90 seconds at approx 8:30 pace with full recovery in between and a couple steady race efforts at 9:30-9:40 pace.
Throughout the run I felt focused, and happy. How could one not be when all things are firing in sync! Not much else to say about this one.
After the run I headed back to the room, showered, ate some lunch (orzo with lean turkey) and kept hydrating with Hammer HEED & Cytosport. Lunch done, it was off to the Athlete meeting and bike check.
The REV3 crew did a great job with the athlete meeting. They provided a full update regarding last minute bike course changes and answered all sorts of questions. The bike course had to be changed due to construction on part of the it, which was promised to be finished by race day - but wasn’t, the REV3 team had to make a few last minute adjustments. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big issue, but heading out of Sandusky, OH towards the country there are lots of things to deal with - namely railroad crossings. The local police, officials, and race director were able to find a route that was not impacted by any such obstacle.
PIC: Athlete meeting Saturday before the race.
PIC: Two great causes, Team Red White and Blue on the left and TEAM FIGHT on the right. Was great to stop by and chat with the folks from TEAM FIGHT for a while on the way to rack my bike.
PIC: Racking the trusty steed. Loved these racks - so much nicer than the normal “A-frame” style racks.
PIC: Nice touches from the REV3 folks - personalized name plates.
PIC: Bike racked, wrapped, and ready to spend the night! Note: I find that 3 Target bags work perfect to wrap the bike - two on the front bars and one tied on the seat.
PIC: View of transition area from my bike rack location.
After getting my bike racked, I walked through transition as a practice for race day - exiting the water, grabbing my bag off the peg board (I scored a great location right at the end of the first rack), through the transition tent, back to my bike and then through Bike Out. It’s always good to do a quick walk-through to help visualize the motions.
Once that was done it was back to the hotel room to settle in for the afternoon which consisted of double checking my special needs bags (then setting them aside so I didn’t keep checking them), keeping my nutrition and hydration plan on point, and relaxing.
Last solid meal was at 4:30pm and lights out by 8:30pm.
Next up - Race Morning & the Swim!
Thanks for reading!
-E
I get this question time and time again from people all over the country. It comes from folks that I work with, clients, advisers, friends, other athletes, family… you name it. For those that haven’t yet signed up for an endurance event such as a marathon, Ironman, or other similar event this seems to be the underlying question… Why are you doing an Ironman? Usually, this is followed up with - “Are you crazy?” or some other similar check of my sanity.
So, since it’s asked so often, I thought I would put together my best explanation below in long-form. Though, I must say that this explanation is rather the “logical process” by which I came to sign up for, and train for a full distance triathlon. For those that don’t want to read all the details, here’s the simplest explanation that I can give you: “Because I’ve always wanted to and I’m raising money for the Ulman Cancer Fund - I hope you’ll support the cause and donate by going here.”
Why am I doing an Ironman?
I’ve always admired the triathletes that compete in Kona each year and can remember watching the race on TV when I was little. I guess this is no different than many triathletes who get the itch to do an Ironman. For me it was a matter of time before I just committed to doing one. Just over 2.5 years ago, a good friend of mine completed the Disney Marathon and I went along to cheer him on as “support crew.” He didn’t train all that much, and was out there to just complete the day. I spent hours upon hours watching the race with fans that cheered the entire time. I stood at the finish line as the sun heated up the day, watching elation of the finishers. Wishing that I was out there with them. As he finally came across the finish line, he ran up to it tired, dehydrated, and yet found the energy to speed up and looked absolutely elated when he crossed the line. For me, that started the spark.
Later that year we took a guys weekend and went over to watch the Florida Ironman. It was amazing. We got there and as we drove into Panama Beach, FL the atmosphere started to change. We checked into our hotel/condo for the weekend and there were Ironman hopefuls and support crews everywhere. Getting up the following day to watch the race, we made it down to the beach for the swim start. Chaos! But, there was an overwhelming atmosphere of positiveness in the air and all around. People had written messages in the sand to their Ironman Hopefuls… it was surreal.
As we made it down the beach to watch the swim, the people around us were incredible. They’d come from all over the world to be there for their athlete. To watch him or her. To be there to support them with whatever may be needed. We stood in the middle of the fans and watched as the athletes made it out on their second loop of the swim course. At this point, I knew that one day soon I would be signing up for one… the intention was to sign up the next day (more on that in a bit).
Next up, we ran over to T1 to see the pro athletes come out and start on the bike course. Those guys are freaking unbelievable! Sub 50 minute swims just to start off the day.
Next, it was out on the bike course to see what this 112 mile bike ride would be all about. We leap-frogged some of the lead pack of riders and got to watch a lot of the amateurs come through as well. Inspiring.
Next up was heading back for to watch the run course, get some food, see the pro athletes finish, eat some more food, and then head back out to watch the final finishers come in from 10pm - midnight.
If you’ve never been at the finishing line of an Ironman in the last hour before the final finisher crosses, you absolutely must experience that for yourself… words can not describe the atmosphere of passion, courage, and pure motivation. That was the flame. I wanted to sign up for one right then!
After getting up the next morning, the realization of wanting to be able to finish strong set in. The realization of just how much time training would take and how long each of these Ironman Florida finishers had been working for this day. It was a really hard mental battle, but I knew that I wasn’t ready to sign up for the full distance just yet.
I started to think about how long it would take to get ready and decided that I would first complete a half-iron distance race, get another year of triathlon in the books and then re-evaluate my fitness/time before committing for a full.
I signed up for the Florida Half Ironman the next day and completed it last year. To me, getting through that was absolutely painful in the heat of Orlando, FL on a hot day in May. But it left me craving more.
Going into 2011 I knew that I was going to try and tackle a full iron distance race at some point in the near future, but the problem with Ironman races was that most all sold out immediately. Enter Revolution 3 Triathlon. I had been talking with them about a few different items and knew they had a race in Cedar Point… a 140.6, full iron-distance triathlon. One thing lead to another, and before I knew it I was committed to doing the race. A few weeks in to training I lost my grandmother to her long battle with cancer and, though extremely difficult on me and my family, I took it as a sign that this was the right decision - Revolution 3 Triathlon partnered with the Ulman Cancer Fund and Team Fight this year.
So, that’s the story, or I guess one could say the process, of how I got into this Ironman thing… and with it, I’m off to finish work before for another bout of training. Rev3 Cedar Point is just over 30 days away, and I think I’m almost ready.
Thank you for reading, and supporting TEAM FIGHT. Please consider a small donation to help support young adults affected by cancer. As little as $5 will help get us to our goal!
Cheers!
-Elton
Thank you for reading, and supporting TEAM FIGHT. Please consider a small donation to help support young adults affected by cancer. As little as $5 will help get us to our goal!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
So, the biggest training week I have ever completed is in the books and I’m already wondering if it’s enough. In the world of triathlon most follow a periodization training program where you first go through multiple base periods to build a foundation layer, then build your fitness before peak training for your “A” race.
With this approach, and in following Joe Friel’s plan fairly closely, last week was over 220 miles and nearly 20 hours of training. This “biggest week ever” is kind of surreal to me now, as it was immediately preceded by what is now my second biggest week ever at just over 200 miles of training. Even more amusing is that I’ll have my biggest day ever in training this coming Saturday (my second big day - feeling that this will go better than last time)… seems to be a lot of personal records to break in a few short weeks, but overall I know that this is what I need to do in order to get myself physically and mentally prepared for the Rev 3 Cedar Point 140.6 triathlon that is now just over a month away.
This past weekend was also my biggest weekend of training that I’ve ever done (not just in this training program, but ever)! It was a killer and deserves a little bit of blog space for others reading that may go through the same thing in the future.
Saturday:
Saturday consisted of an 18 mile run followed by a 2 plus mile swim at the UNF Aquatic Center. The run went pretty well. I was happy with the overall pacing, how I felt, and the fact that I made it through feeling as if I could have gone another 8 miles if I needed to. With that said, I did learn/remember a few things along the way… after 15 miles my legs hurt.
I also tried out a new nutrition items for my run. Normally, I have been going with Hammer Gel, but I have read and heard such good things about EFS that I wanted to try it out in training. 
After wrapping up the run, I headed home, took a quick break, ate some food and rested for a little bit and then hit the pool at UNF’s Aquatic Center.
The swim was also a tough one as well, but I was determined to get through the full set. Here’s a break down of the workout (all distances are in yards):
50 Easy
6x50 Descending Times
4x300 ME (4:25, 4:24, 4:26, 4:27)
50 easy
1500 Aerobic between 1:50-2:00/100 pace
10x25 Fast Technique with Full Recovery
100 Cool Down
Sunday:
The longest ride of training was scheduled for Sunday morning. I was wiped out after the past two weeks and fatigue began to have an impact. Normally, I’m up between 4:45 and 5am on Sunday morning’s to get nutrition in the system and try and beat the heat. This Sunday I got up around 5:15, and really got moving around 5:30am. 45 minutes may not seem like a lot, but it turns out to be the difference of about 8 degrees in temperature and nearly 12 in heat index.
I made it out to the bike, started the ride and was determined to at least get a good first loop in. Mentally, I had already given myself an out of going back home if it was getting too hot out or too windy or… fill in the blank with any other “reason.” I hit the first turnaround point in Vilano Beach averaging just about 20mph, which for me is pretty fast with a good, low heart rate. I headed back north and struggled a bit mentally, but felt pretty good overall. As I was about half way back up it was like someone turned on a giant fan… the wind kicked up in a nasty fashion - cross-headwind. It felt like it was coming out of every direction. Couple that with the heat ramping up and I was battling to just keep going. This time, it was a mental battle as physically I felt strong.
As I turned the corner onto Ponte Vedra Boulevard, there was another cyclist on a TT bike. I let him pass and then realized that he wasn’t going that much faster than me. I rode about 10 yards behind him for 5 minutes and then decided to pull up alongside. Normally, I train alone so it was enjoyable to have someone else in the vicinity holding a similar pace. We chatted and rode together for about 5 miles holding a solid 22-23 mph into the wind and side by side (no drafting). I looked down and my heart rate was still in zone 2! Couldn’t believe it. I was ecstatic to know that I could push a little harder than I normally do and hold the pace.
After he turned off, I headed back to the car and was in a weird place mentally. It was windy, hot, humid, and I was solo on my ride again. I decided to head home and figured that I would at least get another couple hours in on the trainer to make it to 100 miles for the day.
Once I got home, I forced myself to get on the trainer pretty quickly and start getting the miles in/holding a good pace and heart rate. As the miles ticked by I watched a few Ironman replays and thought about how I had talked myself into “giving up” on the day a number of times. Mentally, I allowed myself to take the easy route - head home… only go 100 miles or 5 hours instead of the 6 hours I had planned. I was mad and realized that this was my last shot at hitting the 6 hour mark… I pushed through.
About 2 hours into the session on the trainer (I have a Blackburn Ultra Trainer - which I think I’ll be changing out this winter), it started to seize up. I was more than frustrated at this point. I was tired. My legs hurt, I just wanted to finish my ride… and it wouldn’t let me. I took a short break, refilled my water bottles and got back on the bike. This time it worked. Well, it worked for at least another 40 minutes and then seized up again. The second time, I was about to throw in the towel and call it a day. It’s amazing what little things will do to the mind when you are at your limit. Somehow, I gave it another 2 minutes and it seemed to correct itself. That moment was the moment I knew I was going to finish the workout and head out for a run afterwards as well.
The day had thrown new obstacles at me that I’d never experienced with that state of fatigue (mental and physical), but I was able to push through. I have a feeling that this will be huge for me on race day.
Overall, I’m feeling more fatigued than I would like to be right now, but I’ve only got a week of tough training left prior to my next rest/test week and then my final long ride/run before Peak and Race Prep.
I can’t believe that the Full Rev is this close.
With that - signing out for now.
Thank you for reading, and supporting TEAM FIGHT. Please consider a small donation to help support young adults affected by cancer. As little as $5 will help get us to our goal!
Cheers!
-Elton
I just realized that it’s only 6 weeks to go until Cedar Point. Training during the last two weeks has been a bit off due to a variety of factors, and yesterday’s scheduled long ride was no exception. I had originally planned for a 5 hour bike ride broken up as follows: 30 minute warm-up, 4 hours in heart rate zone two, 30 minute cool down and easy spin. It was not meant to be.
We started off the day a little bit later that I had wanted to, but that was okay. In getting ready to get on the bike, all was looking okay until I tried to put my aero bottle on the bike. There’s a little piece of velcro that holds the bottle in to the front bracket… and you see, without this little piece of velcro, the entire system fails. Guess who’s little piece of velcro was broken? Yup, mine.
This wouldn’t be too big of a deal (just head back to the house, make a new one) except for the forecast for the day called for 105-110 degree heat index later in the morning and I really wanted to beat the heat! After a few frustrated minutes I figured out a way to fix the piece of velcro and got everything back together and set off on the bike.
Focused on the plan of warming up for 30 minutes, I was feeling good about 15 minutes into the bike. Legs felt fresh, heart rate was much lower than last weekend’s “lesson in dehydration” ride, and all was clicking along nicely. That was until about 25 minutes into the bike at which point I had a fairly sharp pain begin to develop in my right knee. It wasn’t the kind of pain that you feel you should push through. Rather, it was the kind that you start to think… “Oh no… not like this.” I can deal with heat, dehydration, hard training, fatigue, etc. but a knee pain this close to Cedar Point is downright scary.
I continued on the bike for a few more minutes backing off the pace and thought about as many options I could try to do to fix the pain. These included loading up on Tylenol (I always carry a couple with me on the bike), just pushing through it, adjusting my bike fit, trying KT Tape, etc. I settled on trying to adjust my seat height up slightly as that was the only thing that had changed in the past few weeks on the bike (I lowered it about 2mm over the course of the last 3 weeks).
After stopping for a couple minutes to adjust the height of the seat, I continued south along A1A. 5 minutes went by and I was feeling good… Great! I could get my long ride in. Then it hit again. More pain, this time it didn’t feel quite as bad, but it was still there. As I started to sit up I noticed that my velcro fix wasn’t quite holding up to the high levels of humidity. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be yesterday.
So, after a quick mental battle, I decided to head back to the car. I cruised on the way back, riding mostly with the effort of my left leg. Arrived at the car and packed it up for the day. Frustrated. Worried. Very concerned about missing a key training session on the bike. We went straight back home and I initiated hours of rest, ice, compression, and elevation for the remainder of the day. I’ve never focused so much on injury recovery… I believe it helped a lot as my knee feels a little better today. Wednesday is the next scheduled bike ride, so keep your fingers crossed!
My first 140.6 triathlon is only 6 weeks away. Aaah!
I have learned more during the past 2 weeks than possibly in the last 3 months. Here are a few items that I’ve read about, but feel that I have a much better understanding now that I’ve experienced them:
- You must stay on top of hydration and really understand what your body needs for hard training. This includes electrolyte replenishment.
- Nutrition makes such a difference in how our bodies are able to respond to the efforts we put forth. Especially key is the replenishment of carbohydrate after workouts, lean protein, and healthy fat.
- Training for nearly 5 consecutive months will take its toll on you mentally, physically, and emotionally.
- Looking back, I’m so glad that I haven’t missed more training days at this point. I’m behind where I’d like to be, but had I missed other training days, it would be a lot worse. Key here - don’t miss training, you’ll feel so much better the closer you get to your race.
- It’s better to get out there and go slow some days than it is to miss training completely.
- The people you surround yourself with will be either your greatest support ever or biggest detractors… choose wisely. I’m truly thankful for all those supporting me through this process and couldn’t do it without them!
- Goals will change. Mine have fluctuated from “just finish” to try and break 12 hours, to even going after the 11 hour mark (I think this is a bit too far of a stretch for my first Ironman distance race). Key: stay focused on what’s attainable and be happy with that. Going after unattainable goals will make you struggle even more and you won’t have fun along the way.
- Remember that this is all supposed to be fun (see above point again).
- Take the positives from everything you do. There is always something that you can look at as a positive. Hold tight to those items when the going gets rough.
- There are an amazing amount of parallels between start-ups/new business ventures and training for a triathlon (planning an entire post/series on this later).
I have 3 very hard weeks of training left, starting today, and then 2 weeks of Peak and Race Week prep. I don’t feel as ready as I would like to be, but I don’t think we ever do and I am more motivated than ever to push very hard during these last 3 weeks. It’s going to be super tough getting two 6 hour bike rides done in the midst of Florida summer, along with my next Big Day, but it has to happen. I need it, possibly more mentally than physically.
Thanks for reading!
-E
As I near the second full week of the Build 1 phase of my training there are only a couple of months left until the big day. Even with the big day approaching, there have been a few workouts recently where it’s very hard to find the motivation to go all out. I think that many athletes run into this phase as we get closer to our goal race for the season. It’s not that much farther out, our training has progressed to points that we never though we’d get to, and the training now flat out HURTS!
I’ve had a lot of folks where I find my motivation to continue to train so hard each week and live, I must say, somewhat of a monk-like lifestyle from time to time. So, to answer those questions, and find my own motivation, here is a list of things that I go back to each time I need to dig deep to push through a workout.
TEAM FIGHT
Two weeks in to training I decided to raise funds for the Ulman Cancer Fund. When training gets tough, thinking about everyone else who has been affected by cancer helps make my pain feel that much less. Please consider donating to the cause - click here.
My Grandmother
Each of us have someone in our family that inspires us. For me, and specifically for this training period, I know that she continues to support me and watch over me. I’m thankful for the time we spent together and the lessons she taught me. Her life stories inspire me and when I think I can’t go that much further, there’s always a story I can think of where it makes my training session seem that much less significant.
Mind Over Matter
It’s been said many times that the mind is much more powerful than we know. Seems that this works both ways. When my mind decides that I’m tired, it’s really hard to have my body feel like it’s not tired. Though, generally after I go through the motions and get out for a swim, bike, or run - the body generally let’s the mind know that it is ready to train hard. Keeping positive thoughts throughout the process helps continue to dig that much deeper.
Fear
That’s right… FEAR! It’s a wonderful motivator. I don’t want to be that person that doesn’t make it to the finish line of an Iron-distance triathlon because I didn’t train hard enough. Logically, I know that if I put in the work then I’ll achieve my goal. When you harness fear, it can be a wonderful thing and unbelievably motivating.
Visuals and Aspirations
I believe in visualizations. If you can picture it, whatever “it” is becomes easier to achieve. When I’m down and out, I’ll watch what other triathletes are doing, peruse some of the pro’s training videos and read some articles about what they are doing. Usually, it helps to motivate me to get out the door and push harder. It’s aspirational in nature, and it works.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
When all else fails, I remember that there is a plan in front of me to follow and if I just follow the plan, the road will lead me to where I want to be. Funny how much we spend time on planning, but forget to just take the steps in the plan to achieve our goals.
What are some ways that you find motivation?
So, it’s been way too long since I last posted. Though, the training hasn’t let up at all. I just completed Base 3 today with a very tough 93 mile bike ride after yesterday’s wonderful sprint triathlon. Generally speaking, I’m feeling good, but definitely a little nervous about the upcoming build periods leading up to the big race. I can’t believe that it’s only 77 days until the big race (Rev3 Cedar Point Full Distance). If I’m honest, I’m a bit nervous about the distance, but have made some great progress in Base 3 during the past 4 weeks. During Base 3 I clocked a total of nearly 45 hours in training and about 540 miles. I also had my longest ride ever at 100 miles on one of the hottest, smokiest days (proud of that effort) that we’ve seen in a long time. Notes for Base 3 & Things that I’ve Learned: With those updates, I’m going to get some food. Need to keep the body fueled and recovering quickly. Build One starts tomorrow and the intensity and distance increases yet again. Within the next 3 weeks I’ll have my first “Big Day” training as my program shifts to focus on training sessions closer to the actual race. Wow… 77 days. Here we go!
