KC Triathlon….Part 3

Overall, my training and performance for the triathlon went pretty well.  I finally achieved a long sought goal of finishing.  But it’s never good enough to just reach that goal, is it?  With a competitive spirit, I don’t just want to finish….but compete.  And I suppose that I didn’t do too bad considering I did very little endurance training.  But I would have really like to have finished in the top performers instead of the middle.  Some of the things I learned from this race:

1. Nutrition is key….not just during a race but in the training aspect also.  I have followed a Paleo diet the last few months and have seen dramatic differences in performance, recovery, and body composition.  On race day, I would surely have benefited from a snack on the bike portion.  In the next triathlon, I will be sure to plan a little better.

2.  You can’t replace experience.  I prepared myself the best way  I knew how.  I trained hard….even had a stretch where I was over-training.  But with all that behind me, nothing could have prepared me for the mass hysteria of a swim start.  It’s just something you have to go through.  Next time, I know it won’t be such a surprise and I’ll try not to let it take me out of my game plan.  I imagine that will improve my race significantly.

3. Train for your sport.   Cross Fit is an excellent training methodology to attain optimum physical conditioning.  It prepares you for a wide range of activities and is my primary training regimen.  However, a little extra time was required in sport specific training.  I didn’t know how to swim farther than one lap in a pool several months ago.  Cross Fit wouldn’t have fixed that but it did give me the conditioning so that once the skill was learned, I was able to compete.  I plan to continue using Cross Fit as my training method and incorporating Cross Fit Endurance workouts several times a week.  I  will gladly endorse it over any long, slow, distance training.

4. You need goals.  Having something to work towards made all the difference in training.  No way would I have hit the training that hard and benefited so much if I hadn’t signed up for the triathlon.  Whether the goal is a 1000 lb Cross Fit Total, a pull up,  a bike race, half marathon…whatever, make a goal that seems slightly out of reach and do what it takes to make it happen.  It’s worth it in the end.  Triumph comes from overcoming obstacles and nothing that’s great ever comes easy.

5.  Identify and work on the weaknesses.  I thought my biggest weakness was going to be the swimming.  As the race started, it seemed that was a correct assumption.  But when I finally separated from the group, it turned out to be one of my stronger events.  I overlooked my cycling skills and now understand that a little extra training time will be needed on the bike.  When training, find the thing you hate the most (thrusters or burpees for example) and get good at them.  Make your weaknesses your strengths and build yourself into a better athlete.

6. No excuses.  It would have been easy to chicken out of this event.  Heck, I’ve pretty much done that my whole life.  I can’t believe I waited until my mid 30′s to start this stuff.  I’ve got plenty of reasons of why I shouldn’t be training this much.  I work three jobs, have three kids, and have little free time.  I decided to make this a priority in my life and made it happen.  Life’s too short to waste.

The next event I signed up for is the Shawnee Mission Triathlon on July 11th.  This time, I will be doing the long course instead of the sprint.  I have six weeks of training to hone in my skills prior to the race.   A couple of weeks after that, I have an Adventure Race to compete in and then one last triathlon this August.  I hope to keep plugging in workouts and trying to achieve maximal performance.  I want to say thank you to those who have encouraged me and helped me out.  Even the smallest word of encouragement can provide a lot of motivation.  And most importantly, I would like to thank the Lord for my continued health and the abilities given to me.

Thanks for reading.  I’ll continue to post occasionally about training if anyone cares to read.

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