I will be competing in my first Half Ironman triathlon this weekend. Thanks to all of you for your well wishes! I know you will be rooting for me and that will keep me going when I’m cramped and running on vapors. I will be back online again Monday but the computer is being turned off after I publish this post so I can make final preparations.
I will do a post Monday to let you know if I achieved my goal or not. So whats my goal? Although it is a race, it isnt a race for me. I have done several olympic length triathlons but this is my first attempt at the much longer Half Ironman. My only goal for my first race of this length is completion without injury. On my second half ironman, I can work on improving my time. The half marathon run will be my major challenge in this event. I have improved drastically since I started running 4 years ago and have very, very gradually worked up running distance I can achieve without knee issues. I’m a heavy guy so I need to be very, very careful with my running technique to minimize knee forces. Around mile 1o, things get dicy with my knee but I have been doing 2-3 10k runs a week without any issue for quite awhile now so I *should* be ok.
As you all know, I work hard at practicing what I preach. A big part of fitness is setting goals regardless if you are a newcomer to health, fitness, and bodybuilding or an old seasoned pro. If you dont know what you want to achieve then you will never achieve it. About 4 years ago I decided I wanted to start triathlons, although my ultimate goal was the half ironman (this race), the problem was I couldnt run more than 3k without knee issues. I made a plan, I broke it down into small, achievable components, and I whittled away at them one at a time, and four years later here I am at my goal’s doorstep. Will I be able to complete the half ironman on my first attempt? Maybe, maybe not. If I don’t, it doesnt matter as I can achieve it soon. I do triathlons for fun and for health so you wont catch me pushing thru a serious injury just to finish a race. The big question I will need to be mulling over is that if I do achieve my goal this time, what will be my next goal??? :)
Half Ironman:
- 1.2 mile swim
- 56 mile bike
- 13.1 mile run
Have a good weekend!