This post concludes a lengthy sabbatical from writing and pretty much everything in my life having to do with triathlon. I don't think it's fair to say that I've "caught the triathlon bug" again, rather the fire inside was extinguished to deal with other shit. Sometimes that's life: you have to stop what you enjoy to deal with other shit. No more cursing, I promise. Let me now add one large and extremely important caveat...my life is perfect. I have a lovely wife and son who are my everything, a truly amazing family and group of friends, and my career is flourishing. This is life on the surface. Internally, however, I struggle with many things that I'd rather not get into in this blog. It's the constant battle to find inner peace that brings me back to the training. The training is my therapy-- the training makes me feel alive.
I'm sore as f*ck today (last one, I swear). I'm now in week 8 of a 24 week crusade to race Ironman Vineman (140.6) on July 30 in Napa/Sonoma. I haven't trained for or raced Ironman since 2013 and I am doing everything differently this time. And I believe that is a good thing. While I'm on the same journey as many other people out there, to travel 140.6 miles in under 17 hours, I have learned a lot over the last 4 years and am subscribing to a different set of values than I did last time. This is my age-grouper manifesto in five points.
Triathlon Costs Money
Entry fees into Ironman Vineman cost me $800. I have two gym memberships because there is no pool at the gym downtown near my office. I spend countless dollars on sports nutrition to fuel my workouts, prevent illness and injury and to recover properly. At some point, if you choose to be competitive, you will likely need a time trial bike. They don't give these away to age-groupers--see below. Goggles break after capitulating due to too much chlorine exposure. Shoe treads wear out. Triathlon kits are different than cycling kits. You subscribe to TrainingPeaks, VirtualTraining, Strava, MayMyRide, MapMyRun, etc. etc. It truly is a billion dollar enterprise. This sport is expensive.
Only Professional Triathletes are Sponsored
This is a product-centric sport and there are an average of 2,500 people competing in each race who (to the product vendors) are nothing more than swimming/cycling/running net zero marketing budgets. Unless you are paid for performance or paid to use a certain product, you are actually paying manufacturers to actively market the products they make. Facebook and Instagram are full of people who are "brand ambassadors," i.e., they get a 20% discount on the products they market on social media or get priority bike maintenance (at cost) and a free racing kit. For some reason, the sport is a culture of ambassadorships and attempts at being sponsored. In actuality, you'd have to quit your day job, move to Boulder, train all-day-long-every-day and be a natural endurance athlete to even have a shot at getting paid in this sport. I'm willing to bet the odds are less than 1%. Nothing in this sport is free, and the people you enter the water with are not sponsored athletes.
Work on Your Engine
The best advice I ever got in this sport was when I was shopping for my first time trial bike. I walked into the bike shop wearing a triathlon finisher shirt, my Rudy Project sunglasses and my Newton shoes. The dude who owned the place came over and asked me what I was looking for and I told him I wanted a bike that would make me faster. I swear to God, he looked at me, said "it's not the bike, it's your engine" then turned around and walked away. I didn't get it then, but I get it now. Your body will do what you want it to, but it makes you train it before you take it there. It's a safety system we are all born with. If you want to be a faster cyclist, cycle more and increase your power numbers. If you want to run faster, run intervals when you train. Same with swimming. Speed is a gift that is given for hard work.
There are No Shortcuts
If you want to beat the 17 hour shot clock in an Ironman, you better be able to swim 2.4 miles + cycle 112 miles + run 26.2 miles in under 17 hours. It's a pretty simple concept. In other words, you better be able to swim nonstop for 1.5hrs, your longest bike ride better be more than 90 miles and you better be able to run a marathon. Any training plan or coach that tells you differently belongs in the recycle bin (they're garbage). If your plan tells you to run for 1:30, then run for 1:30...don't run for 1:20 and call it good. There's a legitimate difference between the two. It takes weeks upon weeks (maybe years?) of preparation to get the body ready to endure the physicality that comes with endurance racing. In this sport, unpreparedness is dangerous.
You Chose to do This
This is not a sport you participate in against your will--there has to be more to it than that. Most people have a story and a fire burning inside of them that allows them to keep moving forward when their brain and body give up the fight. People tell me all the time, "I'm Type A so I love this" or "I was a distance runner in high school, so this is fun." It's not enough to sustain you through a six hour bike session or a 3 mile swim, forget about doing it for 24 weeks straight leading up to a race! At some point in your time in this sport you will come to the revelation that you chose to do this and you'll have to make a decision as to whether or not you can continue doing it. If you don't have the fire, you better find a reason to race or you'll quickly burn out.
I guess this post is as good as any I could come up with to both jump back into blogging and jump back into training. I find myself more focused than ever on my training and there is less pressure because I have a grasp on what I am building up to. I'm not worried about what everyone else is doing and for the first time since I started this in 2012, I am learning about my body and how it responds to the training. I only wish I would have taken a different approach to the last few years, but I learned the hard way and will not forget theses lessons. Here's hoping the racing continues so the lessons do as well.
KLB
