Wrong hotel, Forgotten Race Belt and Pizza Hut: Adventures of a Triathlete

Top of the mornin' to ya!  This past weekend John and I drove to Waterloo for the Accel Triathlon.  It's so funny to think that a few years ago John spent his training working up to complete this triathlon distance (1500m swim, 40K bike and 10k run) and now it's just another brick in his workout plan on his road to IronMan Louisville.  

Our trip got off to a little bit of a rocky start.  I requested that we make a quick trip to Old Navy because they had all their active gear marked down.  And you know how I feel about ON workout clothes.  John dropped me off while he got gas and of course I took longer than I should have.  It's not my fault, "there was really long line."  (read: there was a moderate line and I just took a little to long to pick stuff out) Hehe.  

Anyways, we drove to the park to pick up his packet where John realized he forgot his race belt.  We figured we'd check into our hotel and swing by the Scheels down the road. We got to our hotel, unpacked the car, and went to the front desk.  Wrong hotel.  Awesome.  

We packed the car back up, drove to Scheels for the race belt.  I got out of the car to realize that John can't find his wallet.  Please keep in mind that pre-race John is extremely focused, serious, and very planful so things like, "Shoot honey, I can't find my wallet." were not coming out of his mouth.  If you know him I'm sure you can imagine his reaction.  I called the "wrong hotel" that we just left.  He left it sitting on the counter.  

We got the race belt, picked up the wallet and headed to Pizza Hut.  Through his own research and some convincing of a friend who is an amazing triathlete himself, John has decided that this is his "pre-race meal".  Apparently it's a good ratio of protein, carbs, fat for endurance races and low in fiber.  Whatever his reasoning I was just happy to help support him by eating pizza too.  

The weather was a little cool for spectators like myself but the report from the triathletes was that it was great.  It did start to rain a little bit as the race came to a close.  

He's in there somewhere...

John and his friend/co-work Josh.  Josh is a great triathlete- came in 2nd overall in the olympic!  

How cool is this?  Instantly you could check your time and splits after the race.  

John's goal was to finish in under 2:40 and he smashed it- coming in a 2:37!  That's almost 20 minutes off his time two years ago!  In addition to his much improved time John had more than enough energy after the race.  I recall a few years ago driving him home so he could sleep and rest he was so exhausted.  This year it didn't even phase him (which is good because mama needed to go lift when we got home).

After the race John asked if we could drive the route a little because he lost a water bottle somewhere along the course.  Of course I wanted to just buy a new one but typical John thought that was ridiculous.  We found it along the side of the road and I'm pretty sure he drank it on the way home.  

I'm so proud of John.  His hard work is starting to pay off.  The difference between his first tri three years ago to today is like night and day.  He looks more confident, comfortable and clearly his times are showing that.  I can't wait until Louisville!  

Your turn: Are you a triathlete?  Have you done one?  Would you do one?  

John's Top 5 necessities for IronMan Training

1.  The Internet.  I know it sounds generic but I can’t imagine taking on an IronMan or progressing in the sport of Triathlon without it.  I don’t like bugging folks and I like to do things on my own so it has provided me with countless Triathlon tips and benefits.  The basic things you would expect like bike and run route information is easily accessible, along with anything else you might want to know about your race or any training needs.  The recent benefit for me is that I won’t have the luxury of riding the bike course in Louisville but I can go to several IM Louisville forums and learn about the route and the challenges it possesses.  Forums also allow you to find quick information about questions you may have.  I am currently considering swapping my tires out for Gatorskin tires due to the rough county roads that IM Louisville talks about and for generally training purposes.  I will be doing most of my long rides by myself so I really don’t want to get a flat in Martensdale or Dexter so I’m considering sacrificing a little speed for some peace of mind.  My question was how much speed do you lose (because the tires are heavier and thicker) with them, the quick answer was it varies but it sounds like .5 MPH which I can live with!  Some of my new and long time favorite sites are below, they are great for finding some quick information and getting an opinion or two.

http://iamtri.com/group/ironman-louisville-2013

http://ironmanlouisville.com

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com

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   2.  Tyr.  Before Triathlons I’d never heard of this brand.  It’s more of a sport specific brand like Franklin is to Baseball or Spalding is to Basketball, those might not be great 

examples but hopefully you get the picture.  They are best known for their swim wear, but also do running and biking training clothes very well.  I’ve had awesome luck with their goggles and jammers.  Their compression shirts are on par with Under Armour and the shirt I bought three years ago has taken a pounding but still looks new.  I will certainly be buying my tri suit for the race through them.  They don’t have as broad of a selection as Pearl iZumi or maybe even Zoot but what they have seems to be consistent and fit really well.

3.  Amazon.  I like a good bargain, a wide selection, and convenience so Amazon is a real friend of mine when it comes to training needs.  Shirts, shorts, socks, shoes, you name it I’ve probably ordered it.  You can find the top brands and with Amazon Prime’s free two day shipping (and free returns) its tough not to go through them.  Obviously I go local for the bike and major items that require multiple trips and a proper bike fitting but Amazon works for pretty much everything else.  It’s also great for your nutritional needs as they have several gels, protein bars, and salt tablet options.  

4.  Triathlete Magazine.  I like this magazine for the same reason I like Money Magazine, it breaks things down in easy to understand terms for the average person so if you are not quite an expert in a field you can begin to learn from their articles.  They also have several editorials each month from the Pro’s about their training plans and/or challenges.  My favorite part is the middle section each month where devote about 8-10 pages to swimming, then biking, and finally running.  These articles focus individually on each discipline and gives great training ideas and also displays some of the new products/accessories available (with reviews) for each discipline.  

5.  iTunes. I of course was the person that didn’t need an iPod or iTunes because todays music is mainly bad (last 15+ years for that matter) and iTunes seems like it would just suck money out of you.  I held strong to  for about a decade but doing long runs for training can get pretty boring so I finally broke down.  I probably only download a song per month but I can’t run without it now especially during the winter when I am cranking out 5-6 miles on the oh so exciting treadmill.  My list is mainly country music and ’80’s rock.  There’s a lot of Montgomery Gentry and Eric Church on the country side, but I certainly saved room for some Poison, Journey, and Mike & the Mechanics to balance my listening out.  If I ever move over to the smart phone world I am sure my running music will change over to podcast listening of yesterday’s Dave Ramsey show or something I can get some family or financial benefit from listening to but for now it helps pass the time.  Runs will peak at 3+ hours this summer so I am sure my list will grow.  The bad news is USAT restricts the use of music during triathlons and its an automatic DQ!  I’d be remised if I didn’t call out one final thing, if you are just starting to ride or are an experienced rider never wear head phones while on a bike!  I think its dangerous and stupid, but that’s just my opinion, and it gives all the bike haters more reason to have an issue with us.