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Posts Tagged ‘half ironman’

It’s the last 5 minutes before each race starts that I always feel the most need to go pee!!! I get the butterflies, a little anxious, and a TON of adrenalin going through my body like   you wouldn’t believe, but it’s all good. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever gotten involved in…the triathlon.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with this kind of race, let me indulge you. It’s one that includes swimming, biking, then running all within the same race one event right after the other. I got involved with this activity because I wanted to add more challenging activities to my life. Something that could help me set a big goal and accomplish it. The biggest perk is that it helped whip me into shape in a different way like I’ve never known! It’s definitely hard work, especially if you plan on doing them on a competitive level.

So on with my point; you should think about setting a goal for yourself this year of participating in an event that ends with an “ON”. TriathlON, MarathON, DuathlON, get it? Before you start with the heart palpitations or cursing me under your breath, or saying “YEAH RIGHT!” to yourself, let’s think about this for a moment. It’s an opportunity to challenge your mind, body and spirit to something that maybe you’ve wanted to do for a long time, or something that you never thought you could possibly do, and yet you CAN!

Let’s go over my fave first…the triathlON: Like I mentioned earlier, this race is made up of a swim, bike and then a run. There are 4 different distances that you could try. First there is the Sprint distance race. It usually consists of a 500 yd swim, a 10 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. Next is the Olympic distance. A little further, it goes for about .93 mile swim, a 25 mile bike ride and 6.2 mile run. Following that is the Half Ironman :) with a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride and a 13 mile run. It’s also nicknamed a 70.3 race if you’ve ever heard that term before. Finally, we have the Ironman, most famously known as the Kona Ironman race in Hawaii, but NOT the only ironman race out there. This monster is made up of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run, or in other words, a marathon to complete the race. If you’ve never done any of these races, I suggest you start with the sprint distance. Don’t be fooled though. Although it’s the shortest distance, it’s supposed to be a SPRINT race. So you’re giving it your all the whole time, unlike the longer races which you can pace yourself. Again, this applies to the competitive level. So if you want to do one just to say you did it, start with this one. Training programs for all distances are available through me, or you can check out several at beginnertriathlete.com. This is a great site to get information for newbies. You can search for all different distances through the triathlon calendar which is the site I visit to find my own races. The MarathON…dun-dun-DUN!!! I find that the best way to train for a marathon is do join a team or recruit a partner or two. Team in Training for the leukemia and lymphoma society has a wonderful training program as well as organization that you can sign up with. I remember the first marathon I did in Chicago…I swore I would never do another to be honest, but it didn’t work out that way :) It’s definitely hard work because it’s the same thing for 26.2 miles, but under the right conditions (fundraising, cancer support, supporting a friend) it can be such a rewarding experience. You could also set your sights on a 1/2 marathon! Much easier to complete, but still a lot of sweat and hard work. Imagine the results you’ll be seeing as you train for any of these! Runners World is highly regarded among runners and the 1/2 ,marathon link above will take you there for some great info. Remember that you’re not limited to one of these two races for running. Start off with breast cancer walks/runs, local turkey runs, or even trail running for the beautiful views. I actually love trail running! The DuathlON: A neat race that has two events. These two events are usually a run and a bike ride. Occasionally there will be a swim and bike, or a swim and run, but for the most part it’s a run and bike. So there are two events, BUT, they can be divided up into three parts. So you can have a run, bike, run; or a run, swim run; or run and bike…you get the idea.

Past, current or future athlete beware!!! I can almost promise you that once you decide on an event, start training for it, begin to see results in your own physique and emotional well being, you may become addicted!!

There is nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when you’ve crossed the finish line. When you decide on one, let me know what you picked :)