2011 October | See Tom Tri: One man's mental & physical journey training to be a 2012 IronMan®

taper

The next few weeks I have to lessen the amount of exercise (at least the number of miles). The amount I’ve done so far, is the most I’m going to do. If I’m not ready by now, pushing harder the next few weeks isn’t going to help. I know it’s going to be difficult to stop from going further (especially if I have the energy), but that’s just what I have to do. Fun!

show me your teeth

I spend a lot of time thinking about how to become more efficient in swimming, running, and biking. Trying to exercise longer by conserving energy rather than using more energy is my goal.

I’ve practiced many hours swimming as slow as I possibly could to get my arms to memorize where to go with each stroke. I’ve practiced breathing with my face barely above the water. I’ve spent over 60 hours in the water learning a new skill and that makes me smile.

I’ve changed the way I run to avoid overstepping and eliminate the cause of potential . . . → Read More: show me your teeth

Will it be enough?

I have a feeling, no matter how I end up doing next month, I’ll wonder if I should have done more or did things differently. Is that natural thinking? Would it ever be enough, or would the ’satisfactory’ amount make me even more anti-social? Does it really matter anyhow?

certain

I had a little trouble with energy earlier this past week, so getting past this weekend the way I did was wonderful. Having a lack of energy is enough to discourage you from thinking that it will ever get better. To date, the longest run I’ve had was nowhere near long enough. I had to run at least 20 miles to stay on track. The theory goes….if you can run 20 miles, you can complete a marathon. Sounds a little strange, but I’ll buy it. In my mind, leading up to this weekend, I resolved myself to accepting having . . . → Read More: certain

but as the wind changed direction

I was all geared up to take off a bit early today to take advantage of: 1) one of the last few beautiful days before it gets too cold and 2) one of the last few beautiful days before it gets too cold, but that didn’t turn out like planned. Just as I was about to take off for the day to 1 and 2 above, I had customers come in. One after another for another hour or so. The sun was slowly going down as I took off at the usual time to try to get a decent . . . → Read More: but as the wind changed direction

Funny how that is

One minute you’re tired, and the next you are up and doing. That makes me wonder if I was really tired at all in the first place. Is there a trick to get past this ‘tired’? Maybe just standing up and letting the blood drain from your brain is all that is needed. On Saturday hours after the swim (that people are still talking about), I was tired and laid down for a minute. I thought about taking a nap, then convinced myself that was not in my best interest. Not a minute later, my sneakers were tied and I . . . → Read More: Funny how that is

it’s a toss up.

On Saturday morning, I got up early to drive over an hour to get to a swimming hole near Allentown PA. Swimming hole sounded weird, but that’s exactly what it was. A place called Dutch Springs I’m guessing was quarry at one point in it’s life. Their website is geared toward scuba diving but had one tiny paragraph about swimming. When I called the day before, they said I could use the whole hole to swim. It’s 1.3 miles around the perimeter of the water. Just after 9 am I pulled into the empty parking lot. I was instantly happy about that. When . . . → Read More: it’s a toss up.

speed demon (almost)

Check this out: With my new bike and just a 53 tooth chain ring (no long crank arms yet), my average speed increased 1.8 mph over 20 miles. So what, right? What’s 1.8 mph mean in the grand scheme? If nothing else changed, I’d finish biking 35 minutes earlier. I may even have time to eat lunch before I have to run. Run, get it?

The long awaited, much talked about crank arms are coming tomorrow (as long as UPS delivers them), and my ride on Saturday will be the test! I can’t wait. If I can add 1 more . . . → Read More: speed demon (almost)

River of Dreams

My first open water swim caught on video (thanks Chris). I never knew what I looked like from that angle when I swam. I’m proud of having been able to go from just being able to float to swimming like that. I think I look like I know what I’m doing (I even fooled myself). As of right now, my biggest challenge of the three sports will be swimming. I’m going to constantly mentally review this video until I can cross to the other side.

Check out the video.

At least I’m not swimming in circles.

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The first time I….

On Sunday Chris and Steve took me to lake Wallenpaupak in the Poconos to try out my wetsuit for the first time in open water. Chris happened upon this lake like he finds everything else….. and I have no idea how. He showed me a picture of it on Friday and I have to admit it was a little intimidating. It’s a huge lake. There are three or four companies that rent boats that you can take on the lake. The plan was to rent one of the boats, and have them follow next to me in the boat as . . . → Read More: The first time I….