I've been getting a lot of questions about my participation in the Ironman, so I figured - "Hey, why not use this as an opportunity to actually write another blog post." I thought this would be a good idea, since it will increase my number of posts by 33%!
So, without further ado...
What is an Ironman?: The Ironman is the most popular "brand" of long course triathlon. All triathlons consist of swimming, biking and running - in that order - and the "full distance" is 140.6 miles. It breaks out to 2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles biking, and 26.2 miles running.
Why Lake Placid?: The timing of the event and the proximity to my house made this the ideal choice. It's the only one in reasonable driving distance. While it would be cool to fly to Australia or somewhere, to do one, participating in one that I can drive to is expensive enough without airline tickets and the extra $100+ to fly with a bicycle.
What's the training like?: I started training at the end of November - one week after deciding to participate. In the beginning, I was training for about 8-10 hours per week, and after a couple months that increased to 12 hours per week. The last couple months have been closer to 15 hours. I typically swam twice, biked three-four times and ran three-four times. Throughout the winter I primarily trained for the bike by going to Spin classes (double sessions once per week), and I ran outside at least once each week.
Why are you doing this?: I am doing this to prove to myself that I have the will power and ability to accomplish something that only a few years ago was less than unimaginable. Also, I am doing this to raise money for local cancer treatment and raise awareness for LIFEcycle's mission to promote healthy active living and support local healthcare. By racing an Ironman, I hope to generate interest from my friends, family and others, and hopefully they will learn more about LIFEcycle and decide to make a contribution in support of my significant efforts. Contributions can be made here (http://www.firstgiving.com/trijacob) or here (http://www.active.com/donate/RRR11/JACOBandDANI)
What's your goal?: My goal is to finish. Therefore, my only time goal is 16:59:59 (you are required to complete the course in less than 17 hours). However, my race plan has me expecting to finish somewhere around 13.5 hours, or 8:30 pm -- but that's just a guideline. It is unlikely to be any faster, and pretty likely to be a little (or possibly a lot - which is okay by me) slower.
How can I keep track of your progress?: There are a few ways to follow the race. The most accurate way to see my progress is via the Ironman website, where they will post split times throughout each leg of the race. For this athlete tracker, you can enter my name, or bib #995.
You can also watch the race at www.ironmanlive.com. I am guessing that I will finish sometime around 8:30 pm. If you are lucky enough to be friends with my wife on Facebook, she is usually awesome and posts updates on my progress... She's always awesome - but only usually posts those updates :) You can use that to follow, and/or use it to gauge when to tune in to ironmanlive.com.
Are you insane?: "We all go a little crazy sometimes." ...and Sunday night, my quote of choice from the same movie will most likely be, "I'm feelin' a little woozy, here." First person to name that movie wins a prize!
Do those compression socks/tights really work?: Will the Red Sox go to the World Series?... I believe so, but the answer is still uncertain.
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