Ironworks Multisport Triathlon Tips
While setting up this blog, I’ve spent a little time looking at other triathlon blogs to see what else is out there. One of the best blogs that I’ve found is Chrissie Wellington’s, winner of the 2007 Ironman World Championships. It’s amazing in this day and age, well, any day and age really, to hear someone who has achieved the pinacle of their sport, and still has such a balanced perspective on life. Ironman is such a demanding distance that by its nature it demands complete focus on one’s self and one’s training, and yet Chrissie talks about how the real power of sport is its power to change and inspire. It’s refreshing and inspiring to hear a world champion talking about the power of sport to help people realise their dreams and potential. I think that’s what draws most people to triathlon in the first place, before they get caught up in race results, what sort of new go fast gear to buy, how many calories to consume in the next workout, and all the other endless details that make up a triathlete’s life. It’s easy to get distracted, but now at the beginning of a new season, if it’s your 1st or your 20th, it’s a good time to get back in touch with what triathlon is all about, and why we got into this crazy sport in the first place. My hope for this club is to put Chrissie’s idea into action, and to help encourage people to realise their dreams and potential, and to help sport become a means for people to make their lives just a little better, or at the very least give people the chance to eat pizza or a big plate of wings guilt free because they’ve just been out for a long ride!
A Triathlon Blog
After a wonderful night sleep we woke up, I threw my bag on my back, biked it to the truck, rode back to the house, picked up Amanda’s bag took it to the truck, and we started our day. We got into town, got our bags, claimed our camping spot, went for a dip in the lake, and then rolled back to the tent area to get in a solid nap before we hunted down the food and beer. Looking back, I’m glad we did, it was a lot of fun and the cold meat sandwich + chocolate milk in Stratford was delicious I can say that by the time we got to Webster City, my feet hurt, really bad. It felt like someone was smashing both of my feet with a mallet, repeatedly. Got to town, did the tent thing, took the shuttle-sauna downtown, sat in the grass, got eaten by ants, had ice cream, found an irish pub, had beer, found pizza, had pizza, sat in the beer garden, and finally caught the super-sauna-shuttle back to the campground. Luckily, we got back in time to hear news of a storm headed in. Once my phone popped back into service, I got a voicemail from a friend in Cedar Rapids that we were going to meet up with explaining that he just got out of the hospital and he wouldn’t be able to come get us the next day. Early morning wake up, got a ride from his girlfriend back down to the truck and started on our way. We woke up and headed back to Anamosa to get ready for the final day. The last thing I wanted to do at that point was get back on the bike. We rolled up to the dip site, welcomed by my parents, dipped the tires, took some photos and retreated quickly to the car to start the 2 hour drive back home.
The Women of Ironman
Race.Simply by the numbers, an Ironman race is nothing short of extraordinary. To most, tackling a 140.6-mile triathlon race seems nearly impossible. Over the past four years, international women’s registrations in Ironman races have grown a whopping 275 percent. When most people picture an Ironman, they think of a 30 or 40-something year-old man who is so ripped, his veins are popping out. Over the course of the 10-plus months I trained for the big race, I learned that there isn’t really such a thing as a stereotypical triathlete, because behind every competitor, there’s a story. Watching her race on her Specialized S-Works Amira these days, you would certainly never know that was the case. Mirinda Carfrae, a.k.a Rinny, the reigning Ironman queen, who is set to defend her title this coming weekend in Kailua-Kona at the 36th annual Ironman World Championships, didn’t own a bike either when she first got into the sport. Carfrae went on to represent her country in the junior Olympics for the sport, and slowly progressed to longer distance races. For people like 84-year-old Sister Madonna Buder, or federal prosecutor Kristina Ament, or breast cancer survivor Shayne Findlay, the race is symbolic of overcoming another challenge in their lives, be it a loss of a loved one, fighting disease, or losing limbs. The path leading up to the finish line of my Ironman was one of the most challenging rides of my life-especially those last grueling six miles of the race, where my legs felt like lead blocks and pretty much every part of my body hurt as I ran.
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