Been a while since I’ve written and thought I’d give a little update.
I’ve been training for Silverman iron-distance triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) on November 8. Silverman is branded as the toughest course in North America. I personally believe it is ranked top 5 most difficult among all the other iron-distance races in the world.
What makes it tough? There are the course factors. The bike has 9,700 feet climbing, the run has another 2,300 feet climbing, for a combined 12,000 feet overall. On top of that, race director Frank Lowery seems to make a special call to the weather gods every year, as athletes on race day battle choppy white-cap waters, 40+ mph wind gusts, a strong nonstop headwind the first 50 miles of the bike, rain, and cold temperatures.
Then there are the mental factors. The race is in November; depending when your season started, having a late season burnout is a possibility. Most of my friends are also done training around mid August; doing long, sadistic workouts by yourself is lonely and pure mind torture. Days also get dark earlier. Any of the above can cause the wheels to fall off your training plan.
I’ve completed Silverman twice. Both times, stomach issues have almost brought me to my knees. My last stomach incident at Vineman leading to a DNF (recap) was a blessing in disguise. It has really forced me to rethink and redo my nutrition; I would have made the same mistake this year at Silverman otherwise. I believe I’m closer to figuring out what keeps going wrong. As soon I know for certain, I’ll share it here.
Having said the above, I believe I’m right where I need to be at the moment. I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work the past few weeks and my body has been really responsive. Today, I celebrated Labor Day by doing a solo, epic, windy 104 mile bike ride with 9,500 feet climbing. It was one of my best rides ever and I’ve never felt so strong at the finish. Consistency week after week has really paid dividends.
I’ve been very lucky to have some great people to train with at times. I continue to help coach the Team Asha marathon group, a group of beginner runners that raise money for under-privileged childrens’ education in India. Last weekend we ran 19 miles together. I’ve also been tagging along with my friend Mita, an athlete training for Ironman Cozumel in late November. Although our races are polar opposites (Cozumel has 12,000 less feet of climbing than Silverman), it has been working out great since my recovery days are her build days and we keep each other honest out there.
That’s it for now. Will update soon on my training progress and some of my key workouts.
Train smart, train safe, train hard, and be incredible.
