Ironman Lifestyle and the Eternal Flame

THE ETERNAL FLAME



Corona, Me, Mary & Ken

So, you've signed up to do an Ironman. Do you think you are Iron enough? 140.6 miles is not that bad, you are an athelete...right? Wrong! God given natural ability to excel at certain things are given to the lucky few. Look at Tiger in his prime (just don't look at him in his current state) and Michael Jordan. Both ended up being great at their respective sports of choice. One was a natural born athlete who was gifted the ability to hit a golfball with the accuracy and strength reminiscent of Robin of Locksley. The other became arguably the greatest basketball player to ever step on the court, but you could say that this players talent did not come so easy at the beginning. My point that is in both cases Tiger and Michael became the predominant athletes in their chosen sport. Tiger started with some gifts and natural abilities that were unlike those before him. Tiger was taking down skilled professionals at a ridiculous age. Just look at those videos of him playing golf with his father when he was about 4 years old. He hits the ball, and scores better than I ever will. Michael started basketball by being immediately cut from his high school basketball team. Mind you his team might have been pretty talented but still, he was CUT. He was not good enough to play high school basketball. Well this lit a fire in Michael and the rest is as they say "History". In both cases each athlete achieved other worldly success and this success was achieved because they wanted it! Both athletes were willing to work harder than the rest. But why were they able to put in the training hours, swing the clubs 1000 more times, shoot the ball 1000 more times? I have to believe it is because they had a fire in their belly that could not be extinguished. It was more than a spark that just lights up real bright and burns out, it was an everlasting flame like the one that burns at President Kennedy's grave. It will always be with them, just look at Jordan. He can't put together a good basketball team to save his life, why? I think because he believes he can still hand them all an ass whooping and that is a bit of an ego trip when your scouting for talent...but that's just me. Anyways, each of these athletes had and have the personality traits that allowed them to become great at their chosen profession. One had natural talent, one did not. Both ended up on the Mt. Rushmore of their respective sports.


Corona - AKA Cusetri

Why do I make this comparison? I make it because when you think about this, it relates really well to the triathlon lifestyle, and in particular the Ironman events (70.3 and 140.6). In each events naturally gifted athletes and "grinders" for the lack of a better word participate together, virtually at the same level. Endurance becomes the great divider. Endurance? Yes, Endurance! Endurance because it not only comes into play during the race but it comes into play each and every day the athlete wakes up. In the sense that a half or full ironman takes endurance is easy to see. An athlete can be awesome at an individual event (ie swimming, biking, or running) but the winner is the one that can be the most consistent. The athlete that can not slow down the most is the one that will come in first. Thus, the great equalizer to pure-bred talent becomes who can go the longest without breaking down, who can take on the most pain and flush it away, who can keep one foot in front of the other, who's using their head? Endurance also comes into play EVERY SINGLE DAY, not just race day. I would wager to bet that an elite cross country champ in College who only trains when he feels like it, or rely's solely on his past abilities would get dusted by the AG'er who dropped 80 lbs in his mid-thirties and has been bitten by the triathlon bug that all he does is eat, sleep, and drink triathlon. I'd take the AG'er anyday! Why? Because he has that eternal flame now. It may have taken him a while to figure out "what the heartburn was" (silly analogy I know, but I thought it was good) but now he realizes that all along he was made for this sport. That's the beauty of triathlon. It's not about how good you were, how tall you are, how small you are, how much you weigh (just look at White Hot), or what you have done in the past (again look at White Hot, he got chicked by my Coach and everyone else in the known world at his first IM...and umm yeah he has gone on to qualify twice in the 2 subsequent years and throw down bike splits that would make Craig Alexander and most of the other pro's drool). ENDURANCE is sooo freaking key. Endurance is about waking up before work to get your training in. It's about being internally motivated to WANT TO get up at 4:30 AM on a cold wintery day in January while living in upstate NY. You know that you won't be riding outside, and you know that its going to be a long 3 hour ride on the trainer...along...with no music or tv...BUT YOU DO IT BECAUSE you are driven by yourself. For whatever reason it is what makes you happy. Many a 12-15 hour Ironman will be happy going through the motions during these days. They will fool themselves by slogging through a crappy workout, or even just skipping a few. But the one's that go into the 11'2, the 10's, the 8's...they are the one's that wake up with a gosh darn smile on their face chomping at the bit to get started. Without a thought to the insanity, they will get up at 3:30AM to go on a 6 hour ride just to make it home so that they can be with their family. And they do it because they need to suppress that eternal flame that is burning so steadily within them. Triathletes are like crack addict's...they are always finding ways to get their fix.

So...I ask again, Are you Iron enough? Are you willing to wake up to early to do a workout that seems to be to much? Are you willing to suck it up and change how you eat? Are you willing to go to bed early instead of watching tv? Are you willing to give up some nightlife for extra sleep? Will your social circle clash with your triathlon circle? Do you have to many external factors in your life? I say this because getting into the Ironman lifestyle is not a decision that can be taken lightly. I did...however, I am 24 yrs old with no responsibilities. And even so I have faced many a challenge this past year. Many times I thought "how the hell can I get everything in"..."am I really going to be ready"..."damn I hate being injured"...being injured was the WORST...definitely the worst! Luckily for me (as with some other good people I have come across this past year) I/We have this eternal flame. I enjoy early mornings and getting the work in. I don't do it because I have to...I do it because if I didn't do it I would lose my freaking mind. Jordan Rapp, and my friend Kim Ammon said it best to succeed in longevity and basically to succeed in general in the sport of triathlon a really good mindset is; "I Race to Train". Just think about that one. Think about all the friendships that you have developed through triathlon, even through online forums (ie slowtwitch). Its incredible when I think about how my life has changed over the past year. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. I have gone from nagging my current coach via email to take me on to one of her clients who she will be racing with at IMFL. It will be my 2nd and her 6th (I believe). And just think..last year I had only done the Musselman and Keuka triathlons at this point. What a difference a year can make! But I say that with a word of caution. Be careful what you wish for! If your not dead set on triathlon I highly advise you to take stock in what you are willing to sacrifice. Are you shooting for a sub 12 hour time? Are you being realistic with your expectations? I have read a lot about being realistic with your expectations in magazines/books and the general consensus, which I agree with , is that you need to be realistic. If you are realistic than you will never suffer the extreme lows of missing your goal by a mile, or exceeding your goal by 50%. Instead you will steadily improve and soon enough you'll be on the podium..ITS ENDURANCE PEOPLE! Never get to high, never get to low...the energy spent at each is to great and could be better used in your middle ground.

Did I scare you? I know I scared myself. I realize that I am still a fresh triathlete with big eyes towards the sport. I get giddy when pro athletes are around me. I get giddy when I go to a race..I get giddy when I go to train, I can't sleep the night before a long workout because I am so excited, I get giddy when writing blogs like this at 4:30am because its like adding kerosene to my eternal flame...I've found something that I love so darn much that its just incredible. My mom and dad of course understood this the second I started but where you can really start to see my dedication and love take hold is when I talk to my cousins, and aunts, and uncles, and brothers and sisters..and they are all starting to talk tri with me. They who have never been interested in the sport are starting to follow me and that I take as an extreme compliment because it shows that I have stuck with something long enough to gain their respect. I think that they have begun to respect my determination and my drive...and most importantly my love for the sport(s). Now all I have to do is keep this up for another 50-60 years and I might have a a Kona shot :)

So please don't hate on my if i have angered you with this post. I only want to advise the people that "want in" that the Ironman is a big big challenge. Sure it can look easy on race day..or it may not (haha) but the fact is..the people that succeed are the ones that bust it every day. They bust it by taking the EASY DAYS EASY and the hard days hard. They bust it by keeping their endurance up..sure they might have to miss a workout because of family, sickness, pool's closed, work..but their consistency is paramount. No matter what they will keep coming back undeterred.


Jim Cornell and Mary Eggers (Jim is scoping LP out for next year!)

Thus, I challenge you all to make me believe your an Ironman. Shove it in my face that you have the guts to do it! To train, to sacrifice, to have an immense amount of fun along the way. 8 months ago Mike, Don, Chris, Ken, Mary, Kim, Travis, Jochen, Matt K (I've actually got a special blog about you in the near future, you've got a special place in my career), and sooo many more...you all probably thought I was a complete idiot (you probably still do) but I hope that over the past 8-10 months you've seen that regardless of my newbie-ness that I am here to stay. I love this stuff and I want to keep doing it over and over again. I'm the real deal in the sense that triathlon isn't just something I am willy nilly doing. Even if I came into it willy nilly. I have completed an Ironman so I can say that I have seen the outer lining of what the sport demands. I say the outer lining because I believe I am only touching the surface of what is to come. Just like the rest of you I want more and I believe that I have the determination and willpower to keep going. The best part of this is that you all (those I listed and the many more like Joe, Josh, Mike N., Scott L., Jay, etc...) are now on my side. You guys provide me with so much damn motivation its crazy. I look forward to training and talking with you all so much. I'm invested in this sport and with no regrets. I can't wait to train more, race more, and meet new people like Jim Cornell who is going to help me mold my new bike shoes with his high tech shoe molding air sucking machine made for speed skates..don't ask...its legit....and he's legit too! A professional level speed skater who does triathlon. He is fast! Unfortunately I have yet to see his blaze in a race because he had an unfortunate training accident this spring. However, I have fortunately come into his acquaintance and will not hopefully have the chance to train with him. Only way to get better is to train with the BETTER! :) So its stuff like that which keep me rolling along. It's the fact that I got up at 4:15 today to drink coffee and think about if I had anything good to write about. I have missed writing a good long blog post because to me it is a detox. It's a cleansing..it gets things off my mind and lets me relax..it also helps me get ready to train, which by the way I need to do RIGHT NOW. I have a big 30 min core and 30 min swim this morning..haha...BIG! I'm def itching to get back to the longer stuff but I know that all in good time. I've come to a point where I know rest and recovery is paramount. That's why I am going to bed at about 7 every night I can, that's why I am fighting extremely hard to get my eating under control. I have miles to put on these legs, pounds to drop, endurance to gain, friendships to gain/strengthen, blogs to post, learning to be achieved and work, time to shed off my race times.....I've got all of these things....I've got a couple months to put them together for a great end of the season....THEN I have a lifetime to keep at them. I am not just in it for the short term. Whether you like me or not, whether you think I am obnoxious, boring, someone who talks to much without backing it up...I am here to prove you wrong. But if your on my side...WELL JUST CONSIDER ME YOUR NEW (or old) BEST FRIEND!

OFF TO THE GYM AND POOL! It's looking like a great day is in store.