Ironman training may or may not be crazy. Ok - it's crazy. Somehow racing really fast usually entails destroying myself slightly, and nearly reaching a breaking point several weeks out from a race. It's during this point in time I typically swear off ever racing another Ironman...until I cross the finish line and somehow forget all of this.
I've been in Montana for two weeks training with my coach. I have raced a 40k TT and a road bike race (blog on this to come). I will race a 10k running race this week before I head home. What makes the training difficult is the day-in-day-out accumulation of miles, intensity and making myself "hurt". Somehow the races help me forget the hurt because they are just fun.
The new roads, scenery and trails have done a fairly good job of helping me appreciate what an amazingly beautiful a place I am in, and forget a bit how hard all of this training is.
It has also helped to have friends to train with and push me.
I had an easy ride today and at the mid-way point I found myself sitting on a curb outside a gas station in the middle of nowhere MT drinking a Coke. I must have looked overly defeated because an elderly gentleman walked up to me and set a cold bottle of water on the ground next to me. He didn't say a word. It actually reminded me of an act of goodwill one might impart on a homeless person.
I smiled most of the way home because of this kind gesture.
Nobody ever forces me to train hard for Ironman. But I want to get the most out of the experience, so I choose to go all-in for training. Definitely not the easiest route, but come race day I will be 100% confident I did everything I could to prepare.
20 days until Ironman Frankfurt!
