IRONMAN 70.3 OHIO

Hi Everyone!

So it feels like an eternity since I last posted to this blog, but I’ve been kinda busy.   I became a Volunteer Coordinator and a Race Director for Run Toledo / Dave’s Running.  You can read all about that in my previous blogs. Also, I’ve been Coaching a group of runners in Dave’s Spring MIT (Marathon in Training) program which is now in week 11. Wow, no wonder I’ve not posted.

But the reason for this post is to talk about my major event for this racing season, the IRONMAN 70.3 Ohio Race that I will take part in on July 29th, 2018.  That’s right, I totally dove off the deep end, literally, and signed up for my first Half IRONMAN event.

Because it’s “only” a Half IRONMAN, (LOL, only a Half, like that’s not totally insane in itself) I will have to Swim, 1.2 miles in open water, Bike 56 miles, then run a Half Marathon (13.1 miles).  Oh Yea, all back to back!  In less than 8 hours and 30 minutes, which is the cutoff.

The good news is, I’m not doing it alone.   I’ve hired a Coach!

Renee Small is a Certified IRONMAN Coach, Certified Master Swim Coach, Certified Yoga Instructor, etc, etc, etc.  Not sure exactly how many certifications she actually has, but what’s most import to me, is that she is a 3-time (soon to be 4-time) FULL IRONMAN. That’s right, 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on the bike and a 26.2 marathon.  She is an excellent Coach and I highly recommend her for not only IRONMAN’s (Half or Full) but shorter distances like (Sprint and Olympic) Duathlons and Triathlons as well.

She can write a simple training for you, all the way to individual coaching sessions.  She has developed a personalized training plan for me that fits my busy schedule, she oversees my pool swimming, she monitors my cycling and running.  Her 2018 season is booking up fast, so don’t wait, send her an email at multisportcoachrenee@gmail.com for more information. She’s also running a special right now.  Get your first month FREE!  What a deal.  But act quick, this offer expires on St Patty’s day.

Presently, I am in week-11 of my 16-week Marathon training program for the Glass City Marathon, and next week, I will be starting my 20-week training program for the IRONMAN event.  I will have 5-weeks of overlap with the two programs.   Don’t worry, Renee has it all figured out.  She only gives me a week at a time, which is good, any more and I might freak out.

Renee uses a training platform called Training Peaks to track her clients workouts.  As a Coach, she can log into her athletes’ accounts, enter their workouts, monitor their progress and leave notes on each work out.  Every morning when I get up, my phone tells me what my workout(s) is for the day.

Presently, I’m running 3-days a week, swimming 1-day (though Renee wants to see me swimming more), biking 2-days a week, and doing core / strength training 3-days a week.  Yea, that adds up to more than 7-days, so as you can see, some days I have two workouts.

So I’m excited to take on this new challenge and confident that with my Coach, I will be become an IRONMAN!

I promise I’ll make it a point to post often on my journey.

Thanks as always for stopping by!

Until next time …. Happy Running.

Rich,