2021 IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA TRAINING

WEEK 8 – April 26, 2021

I’m a day late with this post thanks to a weekend trip to the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin, that in a matter of three days my wife and I experienced spring, summer, and winter.  That time of the year I guess.

This week a coworker of mine, Tom, took the plunge and signed up for his first triathlon – a 70.3 distance event in Indiana in October.  I always feel pretty good about inspiring others to join in on the fun I have doing this dumb sport.  It took a few years of working there to get someone to give triathlon a try.  Actually, my supervisor Micah may have been the first to do a one, but I think he had already participated in one or two before, so I am not sure I can take credit for his misery.  With the pride comes a little regret, however, because this sport is going to be a shock to him.  He’s a total newbie, and he thinks he’s going to win.  Well, that’s a little bit of a stretch.  His brother also signed up, and his brother is the one who thinks he will win, and Tom won’t let his little brother win, therefore, Tom thinks he will win.  Follow me?

Tom texted me with his exciting news that he had signed up.  I asked him if he had thrown up yet.  He replied that his heart had started racing and that he’s nervous.  I replied with a laughing emoji and that his reaction is pretty normal. I’m not sure if that made him feel any better.

I say I have a little regret about inspiring him to take on a half-iron distance race, and that is mainly due to knowing what he is up against.  First of all, he has a bike (that I sold to him) and a pair of Under Armor running shoes.  Tom played football, and football players wear Under Armor.  At least that covers the bare minimum.  He said that he was in shock from the cost of the race, and add to the fact that he is redoing his kitchen right now, he’s really going to be in shock from cost everything else he will and might need:  a helmet, a trisuit, cycling shoes, a wetsuit, tires, etc.  Plus he is dealing with an upper leg injury that may impact his training.

But don’t fret, Tom.  I’ll be there to help you out in anyway that I can.  Whatever equipment that I have that will fit your body you can use.  Come on over to my house to swim.  I’ll gladly give you unqualified advice on how to not drown.  And I will answer any other questions that you may have.  We’ll do some training together, and I will do my best to help you beat your brother and win the race.  Well, I can kind of promise that you’ll finish.  And that will be an awesome thing.

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This was a little bit of a pull-back week for me in the plan.  The weather forced some of my training indoors and I did some easy treadmill runs and found that the leg injury from last week seems to be okay now.  I did aggravate it a little on Saturday when I ran a little too hard.  I’m cramping in my calf muscles when I push hard on the bike, so there may be causation there with the running injury.  I will dial back the intensity for a while.  There are 22 weeks to go, no sense in burning myself out now.