"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why."

The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. – Mark Twain

Swim At Ironman Mont-Tremblant

Today thousands of athletes gathered together in Mont-Tremblant to do one thing and one thing only...become an Ironman.  (Ironman consists of a 3.8 KM swim, 180 KM bike ride and 42.2 KM run in that order). 

The goal of Ironman is to cross the finish line before midnight (you have 17 hours from the start) and hear your name called out by the announcer with the following words after it "John Doe YOU ARE AN IRONMAN". 

I am proud to say that one of those thousands today who completed Ironman Mount-Tremblant and earned the right to call herself an Ironman is my friend (and inspiration to me) Krista Murray (bib 450).

 

Krista YOU ARE AN IRONMAN and we are all very proud of you.

So You Wanna Be A Triathlete?

This was on a facebook page I saw recently:

Fact: you will not become efficient at swimming, biking or running over night. Sorry to burst your bubble. This is NOT an easy sport. 
 
Check your ego at the door because chances are someone fifty pounds heavier than you will lap you in the pool. Not to mention she will be ten or fifteen years older than you. 

You will be passed on the bike many times and you will never be the fastest runner in your town.
 
You will have early morning workouts. Really early.You will plan your weekends around your swim, bike and run.You are up while others are sleeping.You are training while others are sitting.You will discover others who also follow this blood, sweat and tears cult.You will eventually get a flat tire... and have to change it all by yourself.No matter what you hear, triathlon is NOT an inexpensive sport.
 
Warning, it is extremely addictive, hence the impulse spending on wetsuits, bikes, running shoes, aero bars, aero helmets, speed suits, power meters, GPS heart-rate monitors and many other ‘gotta have items.’
 
You will hate swimming more times than you like it for the first year.You will suffer through road trips with whiny fellow triathletes.You will suffer set backs.You may experience an injury.You will develop a love/hate relationship with a foam roller and ice baths.You will at some point realize you need a coach.You will hate swimming for the first year.
You will wear tight clothing.   You will not like how this tight clothing fits or looks.Your age will take on a whole new meaning.You will discover a whole new meaning for tan lines.
 
Food will become an extremely important part of your life.You will learn new words such as GU, cadence and brick.You will hate swimming for the first year.You will spend more time on your bike than on your couch.
You may lose a friend or two because you spend too much time swimming, biking and running, and they could careless about your heart rate training, foam rolling pain or 20 mile bike ride.
 
You will learn patience.
You will be humbled.You will start to realize you are paying money to put yourself through pain and suffering, but for some odd reason, you LOVE it.

This sport called Triathlon, becomes a part of you. You start to plan your entire year around sprint, international, half-iron or full-iron distance races. Your vacations become racing, and you start to realize that this sport called triathlon could become a life-long adventure.
 
Many people settle for things in life. They settle for a crappy job, marriage, friends, food, place to live and overall fitness and health.

Those who desire more or those who want more out of life than a drive-thru window and boring sitcom, will choose triathlon or an activity that makes them happy. An activity that will change their life. 

Triathlon will change your outlook on life, your career, your marriage, your goals, your friends and many other things you thought you had figured out. It’s not just crossing a finish line or a boring finisher medal. It’s the countless hours that got you to that point.

A moment in time that you will NEVER forget. A moment that you will discuss with your family and friends for hours if not days after the event. These discussions will most likely be about how you could have done better. At what point could you have swam faster, biked harder or ran more efficient? This is what will go through your head everyday until you get the opportunity to suffer again.

So you wanna be a Triathlete? Enjoy the ride and train hard!

Update and Well Wishes

Update....Do you remember a while back I wrote about seeing a man get hit by a van (The Worst Day).  Well thru the grapevine I heard that he is alive.  That is all I know and I am happy for it.

Well Wishes...one of my very good friends, Krista, will be doing her first Ironman this coming weekend Mont-Tremblant - please send your good vibes to her for August 18th. 

 

Krista I know you will rock this Ironman!

Training Totals as of July 8th to-date

Total Running Distance: 76.64K

Total Swimming Distance: 9.5K

Total Biking Distance: 444K

Total Hours: 38.53

Total Distance: 589.50