Have you seen this?

It pretty much says it all.I saw this over at Karen's blog Working it out. It comes from Trifuel.

Fact: you will not become efficient at swimming, biking or running over night. Sorry to burst your bubble. This is NOT an easy sport.

Check your ego at the door because chances are someone fifty pounds heavier than you will lap you in the pool. Not to mention she will be ten or fifteen years older than you.

You will be passed on the bike many times and you will never be the fastest runner in your town.
You will have early morning workouts. Really early.
You will plan your weekends around your swim, bike and run.
You are up while others are sleeping.
You are training while others are sitting.
You will discover others who also follow this blood, sweat and tears cult.
You will eventually get a flat tire... and have to change it all by yourself.
No matter what you hear, triathlon is NOT an inexpensive sport.
Warning, it is extremely addictive, hence the impulse spending on wetsuits, bikes, running shoes, aero bars, aero helmets, speed suits, power meters, GPS heart-rate monitors and many other ‘gotta have items.’
You will hate swimming more times than you like it for the first year.
You will suffer through road trips with whiny fellow triathletes.
You will suffer set backs.
You may experience an injury.
You will develop a love/hate relationship with a foam roller and ice baths.
You will at some point realize you need a coach.
You will hate swimming for the first year.
You will wear tight clothing.
You will not like how this tight clothing fits or looks.
Your age will take on a whole new meaning.
You will discover a whole new meaning for tan lines.
Food will become an extremely important part of your life.
You will learn new words such as GU, cadence and brick.
You will hate swimming for the first year.
You will spend more time on your bike than on your couch.
You may lose a friend or two because you spend too much time swimming, biking and running, and they could careless about your heart rate training, foam rolling pain or 20 mile bike ride.
You will learn patience.
You will be humbled.
You will start to realize you are paying money to put yourself through pain and suffering, but for some odd reason, you LOVE it.

This sport called Triathlon, becomes a part of you. You start to plan your entire year around sprint, international, half-iron or full-iron distance races. Your vacations become racing, and you start to realize that this sport called triathlon could become a life-long adventure.
Many people settle for things in life. They settle for a crappy job, marriage, friends, food, place to live and overall fitness and health.

Those who desire more or those who want more out of life than a drive-thru window and boring sitcom, will choose triathlon or an activity that makes them happy. An activity that will change their life. Triathlon will change your outlook on life, your career, your marriage, your goals, your friends and many other things you thought you had figured out. It’s not just crossing a finish line or a boring finisher medal. It’s the countless hours that got you to that point. A moment in time that you will NEVER forget. A moment that you will discuss with your family and friends for hours if not days after the event. These discussions will most likely be about how you could have done better. At what point could you have swam faster, biked harder or ran more efficient? This is what will go through your head everyday until you get the opportunity to suffer again.

So you wanna be a Triathlete? Enjoy the ride and train hard!

Nick Clark, Clark Endurance Training

Going to the big Dance!

Pretty good week training I must say. I actually got in 3 swims this past week...ummm that's almost unheard of for me! I went 2 times before work which only allows for 30 minutes but every little bit helps and I did get in a 45 minute swim this weekend. Only two rides in but that's ok one of them was OUTSIDE! Three runs just short ones as it's my last easy week before the 1/2 marathon. However I met up with a couple of people from BT and had a really nice time meeting them. I ran on my own for the first couple miles and then was joined by one of the girls and she kept me moving right along. It's pretty obvious to me that running with other people seems to be the key to bettering my run. She kept me at a good pace and I finished up the 5 miles with an 11:30 average which is darn good for me especially considering I was holding a conversation!

Speaking of BT and meeting up. Looks like we are going to try for a meet up this Sunday on the 20th. So any of you Colorado folks that might be interested check out the link or drop me a line and I will fill you in as plans are made...just let me say that there is talk of bottomless mimosas after the run. Several of us are planning for around 10 miles.

And now I just want to share an inspirational March Madness story. If you have a few minutes go watch this video it's about 5 minutes long and tells the story of a young man who has over come many obstacles to become the Big Sky Tournament MVP as well as First Team Academic All-American. He has helped to lead the Bears on their trip to big dance and has inspired many. Not only is he an inspiration but his mom who I have worked with for about 5 years is an inspiration. They have faced some really rough times and have come out on top. So I just want to say

GO BEARS!!!

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

All week I've been doubting if I could do this ride in Boulder. Although I've done the first 6ish miles of this ride last year, I kept doubting that I could do the rest. It looked like much climbing, the downhill looked great but that climb! Could I do it? I kept telling myself that once I passed Neva Rd I could turn at Nelson if it seemed to hard. If I was doing ok I would continue on to St Vrain Rd. I passed Neva and kept waiting for it to get difficult, and kept waiting and waiting....What? I'm at St. Vrain already? Where was the hard part?

I love the Boulder views.

If I had to pick hard parts I would say it was the first 6 miles as you slowly climb up. I altered this route some by starting in a different location and cutting back over to 65th/63rd instead of going all the way down 75th. I would say that the last part on 63rd was a little rough but not bad and certainly not to a point where I didn't think I could do it. Now here is a the elevation view from my ride.

Doesn't look near as scary does it? The difference between 50' and 200' increments makes a big difference.

Believe in yourself, you can do more then you think.