I do not remember the first exposure I had to the sport of triathlon. It was either the time my cousin Andy competed in a local triathlon, or by seeing the crazy mohawk wearing Chuckie V being used in a commercial or some reply of the Ironman World Championships.
In both cases, the idea was beyond my capabilities at the time. However a seed was planted that continued to grow.
Doing a triathlon became a real consideration in 1999 after I ran my first marathon and wanted to continue pushing myself. By nearly all measures I failed running that marathon.
- I ran 45 minutes slower than my goal
- I walked a lot of the last 10 miles
- I ran almost an hour slower the second half, compared to the first half
What I gained from that race was experience.
It also fed my desire to try and qualify for the Boston Marathon.
I ran a second marathon that year. The Chicago Marathon, which is one of the worlds major marathons. Sadly, I failed even worse during that race.
Experience gained, but success was not anywhere in sight. I ended up having one of my college professors support me, who was more well known for coaching marathon swimmers, then marathon runners.
That teacher and student relationship lead me to connecting with many of the triathletes in Lincoln, Nebraska. That was not a lot of people in 1999.
There were a lot of barriers to doing triathlon, or getting better as a runner.
- I did not know how to swim
- I knew how to ride a bike, but I did not own one
- I had no idea what racing on a bicycle meant, nor how to train
The list could go on and on, but I want to end by sharing the one element of doing long distance triathlon that ultimately demonstrated the value of learning from experience.
It was 7 years after I started training, when I decided that I was ready to commit to doing an Ironman Distance triathlon. At the time, I knew what it took to ride a 100 miles, but not race 112. I knew what it took to race a marathon (and had reached my goal of qualifying for Boston years prior). I had no understanding of what it would take to race in open water for 2.4 miles of swimming.
I had completed quite a few triathlons, but what does fatigue feel like and look like, when you're 10 miles from the finish line of 140.6 mile race?
As a student of endurance sports I heard many of the stories. I had training partners who could share their first hand experiences.
As an exercise physiologist, I knew how to calculate my aerobic threshold paces, target heart rates and optimal calorie consumption and macronutrient mix.
All of that knowledge was a great start. But what I ultimately had to do was spend hundreds of hours on weekends, putting in bigger volumes of swims, bikes and runs.
I had to experience what it felt like to run off the bike with legs of jello.
I had to experience the desire to either throw up or shit myself, because I ruined my nutrition plan.
Experience is ultimately the best teacher. But it can only provide the lessons, if you are willing to learn from them.