posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Ironman

I made the decision to sign up for an Ironman in late June/early July 2013.  I had completed my second half Ironman in early June (Raleigh 70.3 inaugural race) and the thoughts of Ironman really continued to bounce around my mind.  After the process of selecting the race, signing up and being both emotionally and financially committed (all the details on race selection and registration will follow), I decided that I would like to keep a training journal.  This journal would not be used to maintain workouts and stats (I use Garmin Connect for that), but to log my thoughts and experiences from training.  From my triathlon training (from sprints, olympic distances to half Ironmans), I learned that it is a roller coaster ride.  Lots of hard work and feelings that range from “I am going to kick some serious booty in this race” to “there is no way I am going to be able to run 13.1 miles after pushing through 56 on the bike”.  There are times when I wish I could go back and remember the details of some of those experiences.  Pushing through tough training days and basking in the glory of “good” training days, allows individual growth in ways that I would have never imagined.

Keeping a journal is something I considered.  However, with knowing all the hours I will be spending in training, I feel I would probably start off well with logging my entries, but then fall off as training picks up.  Then I figured if I blogged about my experiences, instead of just writing it in a journal, I might be a bit more accountable.  So, that is what I am going to do.  Enter “Tri Inspired Life”…

Early last year, I suggested to a friend to write a blog while he trained for the Ironman World Championship.  He thought about it and initially questioned “who will read it”?  Well, he ended up blogging all through his training and I read every post and thoroughly enjoyed tracking his training (even though I saw him regularly and even biked and swam with him on occasion).  I think his family and many other friends also enjoyed his regular updates and being able to support him from wherever they were.  In addition to my friend’s blog from last year, I follow many different blogs about triathlon, running and food (both healthy eating and the ones with the cupcakes flowing), and really enjoy reading their experiences and learning new things.  You somehow “get to know” a person through their blog and there are several blogs I try to read on a daily basis, so I don’t miss any new stories!

So, here is my attempt at “blogging”!  I welcome any comments, support or advice as I train and live my life to attack this beast called Ironman!