IronMike's 11 Things to Know

Readers,

IronMike was thinking (yes, he does that every now & again) about your training for your various triathlon & Ironman quests. Of course, this epiphany came to him while he was walking the dog and consuming some liquid carbs. Here's what I came up with.

1. Study, read, listen: but devise your own plan and stick to it. Keep it simple!!!
2. Nail your nutrition early.
3. Know the difference between discomfort and pain. Train through discomfort and mitigate pain.
4. Listen to your body. Rest/recover when needed regardless of the plan.
5. Ensure you get your base. The short, fast workouts are great, but the LSD workouts get you to the finish line.
6. Maintain your equipment regularly.
7. Buy top of the line clothing. Comfort rules.
8. Spend lots of time on the trainer with a long and steady output of RPM's. Forget spin class (unless you don't do what they say!)
9. Participate in sprints and other fun races often enough to remind yourself why you are doing this.
10. Do at least one, if not two, longer distance races to experiment with nutrition and pacing.
11. Realize that the training makes you the Ironman. The race only proves it to everyone else.

So, when you're reviewing what you have to do... keep these in mind...

Train Long, Train Hard & Train Often.