People sign up for all sorts of reasons. For me, it was because I was sitting on a couch nursing a partially torn MCL and meniscus that had just interrupted my most successful rugby season ever. After a few weeks of PT, I was bored of my at-home exercises. I needed a plan, something to train for - I'd do PT now and real training later.
Enter a timely email from Piranha Sports advertising triathlons for next year. It was October 16, twelve days after blowing out my knee. I clicked through and looked at the races for next year. Sprint tris annoy me, and doing a race in July with the bar exam was out of the question. I scrolled to the bottom and saw the incredibly named PIRANHAMAN.
Anyone who has ever done a triathlon has thought about what it takes to do an Ironman. Many people say That's Crazy and move on. That was me for the first five years. The same way I teased my sister and roommate as they trained for marathons, asking why anyone would ever want to run 26 continuous miles, before finally getting the bug a decade later and running my first in October 2015.
New Year's Eve has been my reckoning day for the last couple years. Race prices increase in the new year, and in Dec 2013, two friends agreed to run a February half-marathon with me as part of my training for a June half-iron. That February half turned into a May half (PR) and October half to complete the trilogy, and I completed the challenging, hilly White Mountains Half-Ironman. I'd say I have the shirt to prove it....but that's a long story.
Next year I was more thorough in my search. Keeping the price reasonable and the race nearby-ish were still priorities, and I went with Musselman in Geneva, NY. Best race ever - check my review. I picked a flat bike and run course that suited me, and crushed it. Sprint on Saturday, half-iron on Sunday for a total of 88.7.
The step from a sprint (1:45) to an international (3 hours) to a half iron (7 hours) has been a pretty logical progression (actually, I started with the international/olympic after trying a sprint distance tri at my gym and believing I could do more). Jumping from half to full is a big adjustment. I trained 5-6 days/week for six months for both half-irons, and I've always been someone that undertrains. Most serious triathlon plans call for 9 workouts per week, 3 in each discipline. I aimed for 2+, and sometimes did less. I wasn't sure if I'd ever make the jump up to a full Ironman. But this is the right timing, and the right course, and the right price ($404 including all fees!). I had to register by 12/15 to lock in the price, so I have a head start on this resolution.
I took 2016 off in a lot of ways. First it was recovering from the fall marathon, and then it was winter cold and laziness, and then it was BostonBucketList, spending my weekends with friends exploring New England before I moved away. Returning to rugby reminded me how good it feels to work out, and how bad it feels to be slow. I'm excited. Training begins today.
Enter a timely email from Piranha Sports advertising triathlons for next year. It was October 16, twelve days after blowing out my knee. I clicked through and looked at the races for next year. Sprint tris annoy me, and doing a race in July with the bar exam was out of the question. I scrolled to the bottom and saw the incredibly named PIRANHAMAN.
Anyone who has ever done a triathlon has thought about what it takes to do an Ironman. Many people say That's Crazy and move on. That was me for the first five years. The same way I teased my sister and roommate as they trained for marathons, asking why anyone would ever want to run 26 continuous miles, before finally getting the bug a decade later and running my first in October 2015.
New Year's Eve has been my reckoning day for the last couple years. Race prices increase in the new year, and in Dec 2013, two friends agreed to run a February half-marathon with me as part of my training for a June half-iron. That February half turned into a May half (PR) and October half to complete the trilogy, and I completed the challenging, hilly White Mountains Half-Ironman. I'd say I have the shirt to prove it....but that's a long story.
Next year I was more thorough in my search. Keeping the price reasonable and the race nearby-ish were still priorities, and I went with Musselman in Geneva, NY. Best race ever - check my review. I picked a flat bike and run course that suited me, and crushed it. Sprint on Saturday, half-iron on Sunday for a total of 88.7.
The step from a sprint (1:45) to an international (3 hours) to a half iron (7 hours) has been a pretty logical progression (actually, I started with the international/olympic after trying a sprint distance tri at my gym and believing I could do more). Jumping from half to full is a big adjustment. I trained 5-6 days/week for six months for both half-irons, and I've always been someone that undertrains. Most serious triathlon plans call for 9 workouts per week, 3 in each discipline. I aimed for 2+, and sometimes did less. I wasn't sure if I'd ever make the jump up to a full Ironman. But this is the right timing, and the right course, and the right price ($404 including all fees!). I had to register by 12/15 to lock in the price, so I have a head start on this resolution.
I took 2016 off in a lot of ways. First it was recovering from the fall marathon, and then it was winter cold and laziness, and then it was BostonBucketList, spending my weekends with friends exploring New England before I moved away. Returning to rugby reminded me how good it feels to work out, and how bad it feels to be slow. I'm excited. Training begins today.
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