I am an Ironman®
I am no Chris McCormack, Dave Scott, Scott Tinley, or well, you get the point, need I say more? I am your average person with a very, very understanding wife. OK, maybe that part does set me apart from others. What I am getting at is that I am your average person, with an average job, but with a immense love for triathlon. I want you all to know that I am not fast, not that fast at all. I think I can best describe my triathloness as a front of the middle of the packer. Nothing fancy at all really, I just have a huge passion for this amazing sport. It’s almost sickening how much I love to swim, bike and run. I will be the first to admit that it about consumes me. If it wasn’t for my daughter and my amazing wife, and simply the fact that I need to make money to survive, I would do this all day, every day. Does this give you a good idea of how normal I am? I hope it does.
Now the reason I preface this in such a way, is to let you know that Ironman really is possible. I personally have only done one Ironman to date and a couple 70.3’s, but really, if you put forth a good plan and utilize it, you can make it happen. Some things in your lifestyle may need to change. You may think that is a given, but I promise you there are things that will need to be changed and compromises will have to be made in your life, and most importantly, if this applies to you, in those peoples live’s who are in direct contact with you on a daily basis. Aside from the obvious family issues of training 12-20 hours each week, you must take into consideration your work load, and how tired and cranky you may be. It seems that I was more on edge to my wife who had obviously given me her blessing on this before I hit that magical “submit” button on active.com.
I want you all to know that I am not trying to scare you off by any means, but what I am doing is painting the best possible picture so you can know what to expect and how to prepare family, friends, your boss at work, (unless you are your own boss, which then goes into time management, which I will go over in a bit), and even possibly your neighbors. While training for Arizona I let my lawn grow 2-3 inches more than I normally would have and my neighbor on at least 2 different occasions mowed it for me. Finally I just started watering it less as I started to peak so I could just mow it once every 3 weeks. The reason I tell you this, is so you have an idea of what weird things can happen.
If you are up for the challenge of Ironman® there are a number of things you should consider. For those of you who are still with me here is a checklist that I have come up with for you to have a great and memorable experience that you will hopefully continue to do over and over again!
Moral support:
Mentally you probably go through more ups and downs than you thought possible. You will constantly be drawing from other’s mental stamina, as you slowly start to peak. Let your family, close friends and your boss know what you are about to undertake. It IS a big deal , and ignore anyone else who would tell you differently. By keeping your boss in the loop, he or she hopefully will be more understanding as to why you may be a little more tired at work.
Time management:
What type of hours do you work? How much do you work? If you are a 9-5er, then you would want to schedule workouts before work and right after. Or maybe on your lunch break. I know I am not good at getting up before 6am, so I would schedule my swims around 6:30am, then I would do my runs, depending on the distance, during lunch or directly after work. I always had some change of clothing in my car, just in case. If you work a graveyard shift, or 4 tens, or something like that, you will need to find what works best for you.
Nutrition:
Find out EARLY what is going to work best for you. Everyone is different. I personally like pretzels, power bars that I put on my bike stem and CarboPro which is a syrupy goop that has 1200 calories in one bottle. Trust me, the last thing you want are some nasty GI issues come race day. There are plenty more articles on the site about nutrition so I will leave it at that.
Coaching:
You are going to need support. Are you going to do this on your own with something you have researched, or do you want some tenured advice on how to make your training go as smoothly as possible? For a person’s first Iron distance, I would recommend some sort of coaching, whether it be some form of online coaching, and maybe one consult a week, or more. This for me, was important, because you are putting your body through some pretty tough stuff, and I promise you that questions will come up that will start with, “what about” and “when you did your Ironman did you…” or, and my favorite, “have you ever had this happen to your…”. That’s what coaches are there for, and I know from experience, they are more than happy to help get you through this, so come race day, you will be more than ready.
Visualization:
This is something so small, but so important for me. I can’t tell you how many times in the pool doing lap after lap after lap I thought about crossing the finish line and hearing Mike Reilly telling the Ironman community that I was an Ironman. I want you to do this next time you are out by yourself swimming, biking or running. For example, what will the swim be like? Is it going to be a mass swim or in waves? What about transition? Remember that you have the bike and the run. Practice running on ‘brick legs’ so when the time comes you are ready and there are no surprises come race day. Always give yourself positive thoughts. My favorite thought that I have repeated out loud countless times is; “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”.
Ironman® is possible. I know it is as do thousands of others. And when you finally decide to hit the ‘submit’ button, and if you really follow through with it, I promise you, it will change your life forever for the better. You will notice it in yourself and people around you will also see a different side of you that may mean you have an extra bounce in your step, you are leaner, more defined and chiseled. Be intentional and make it happen. I’m excited for you to make this dream a realization! Remember, slow is smooth, smooth is fast!
Te Koi Smith
Te Koi Smith is a USA Triathlon certified coach, marathon coach for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Ironman Finisher. He has been an avid runner for several years and has found new excitement in the sport of triathlon. Te Koi enjoys coaching ‘newbies’ and has helped dozens of people cross the finish line. When not training, himself or others, Te Koi loves spending time at home with his wonderful wife and 15-month-old daughter. Contact him at tekoi@triathletesedge.com
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I am an Ironman… which if you know me probably seems ridiculous. But what it really means is that if I can do it, then YOU can do it. My goals were pretty simple, 1. Finish, 2. Finish Healthy, and 3. Not be last in my age group… I met my goals and had a great time.
Good Luck!