During this 50th year of my life I am on a quest to share with you the Top 50 reasons to love Ironman Triathlons. Now Ironman distance races are crazy long, they can be crazy fun and take you on a journey that will lead you to great places. This has happened to me and I hope it can happen to you.
Reason #48 is about the outdoors. I have to tell you that I have never considered myself someone that always loved the outdoors or couldn't wait to get outside as a kid. Growing up in Toledo, Ohio we had some harsh winters, wet and gray falls and late springs. I remenber a huge snowstorm one Easter but I digress.
Training for Ironman here in San Diego obviously has huge advantages. We have great weather year round, incredible places to swim from Masters Swim Teams to the Ocean, amazing trails to run on, and one not often discussed topic is our great bike lanes.
Swimming outdoors year round it just an awesome perk of living here. I literally look at palm trees when I am swimming either at Mission Valley Y or Coronado Muni Pool. The view from Coronado is breath taking. Masters swimming is also available when I travel and all clubs are so welcoming of visitors. A great resource is their website, www.usms.org.
Spending time outside on the bike is my favorite. I enjoyed riding my bike as a kid and being able to ride was really my first dose of freedom. I could ride to different neighborhoods, visit new friends and explore my town. I still enjoy this today. When you can travel 30 to 40 miles in one direction away from home you can experience so much. For me, I can get to the ocean or the mountains and take in a very different view and landscape that I never get bored.
When competing in races, I always take time to look at where I am riding and see the beauty this country has to offer. This year I will be racing in Boise, Idaho and Lake Placid, New York and both offer stunning views and of course challenging terrain. I think one of my favorite rides is Ironman Louisville. The bike course takes you out to some wonderful horse farms and the rolling open terrain is amazing. I have a true appreciation for that area since I have completed that race three times, I know it quite well. Here I am in 2012 at IM Louisville:
Running really gets you close to the outdoors and as slow as I run I get to see a lot of it. I like to joke that I am just getting my money's worth when doing Ironman since I take so darn long!
I am truly blessed on where I get to train for my running. 95% of the time I run close to home. We have amazing trails and in the picture below I am out running near Otay Lake. This lake is right next to the Olympic Training Center so I do cross paths with amazing athletes like Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezighi.
My favorite run course in Ironman is Texas. This race takes place in the Woodlands area of Houston and it is three loops around some beautiful areas. There is a small lake that is surrounded by beautiful homes, a long stretch around the finish line that has tremendous support and a short part through a canopied area that makes you feel like you are way out of town. A truely wonderful course.
To sum up, seeing and experiencing the outdoors has been so much fun for me and a wonderful learning experience. Training for Ironman takes me up to 20 hours per week of time and through it all I get to enjoy our world. How lucky am I?
Recent Comments