An Accomplishment 5 Years in the Making

Read time: 7 minutes

Welcome to The Ascend Archives Tuesday Tale, a weekly newsletter where I share a story about a transformation, revelation, or change in thinking that has helped improve an aspect of my life.

Today's newsletter comes to you from 30,000 feet en route back to Austin.

On Sunday, I accomplished the most extreme physical feat of my life: 5 hours 41 minutes and 33 seconds of pushing my body to the limit. The Ironman 70.3 consisted of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, and 13.1-mile run.

Just 6 years earlier, after running a half marathon in Chicago and not being able to walk for days, I pledged to never run that far again.

But here I was, after 47 minutes of swimming in freezing 55-degree water and 3 hours of biking 2,000+ ft in elevation, running that same half marathon at a faster speed than when I ran it on fresh legs.

It's crazy but at the same time, not that crazy.

The Triathlon Journey Begins

Yes, I have been training my ass off for the past 4 months, but this accomplishment was made possible because of a decision I made 5 years ago. And the consistent action I have taken since then…

It started in 2019 when I signed up for the Chicago Sprint Triathlon (0.5 mi swim, 15 mi bike, 3.1 mi run) to have something to work towards to stay in shape.

Then in 2021, when I signed up for it again because the swim got canceled during my first attempt and I wanted to finish what I set out to do.

Then in 2022, when I signed up for the Chicago Olympic Triathlon (0.9 mi swim, 25 mi bike, 6.2 mi run) because I felt like I could do more after finishing the sprint the year before.

Then in 2023, when I signed up for the Austin Olympic Triathlon and set a personal best time after getting serious enough to buy my own road bike.

So when my cousin Josh texted me on Jan 4th of this year that he and his buddies had signed up for an Ironman race, it was a no-brainer, I was in. All those previous races gave me the confidence to say yes without knowing how far this Ironman race was, what training what look like, or how I would fly a road bike to California.

But just like in years past, I knew that I would figure it out.

Training begins in Austin

Before March of this year, I had never biked more than 25 miles in my life. Then one sunny Saturday afternoon, I found a 40-mile bike loop on Strava, hopped on my bike and just started riding. It was difficult. I didn’t go very fast. There was a hill that I could not get up. I had to unclip from the bike and do the walk of shame pushing my bike up the hill. But once I got to the top, I hopped back on and kept going. I finished the 40 miles tired and hurting. But also stoked. Because I knew I could have gone for 16 more if I had to.

As the race got closer, my days and weeks revolved around training. Tuesdays were 75-minute tempo bikes in the morning and 45-minute swim workouts in the afternoon with a sauna session in between. Wednesdays were tempo runs around Lady Bird Lake. Thursdays were an hour on the bike followed immediately by a 30-minute run. These are called brick workouts because yes your legs feel like bricks afterward. Fridays and Saturdays went from karaoke nights and day drinking on 6th Street to early nights watching Survivor or reading a book. That way I could wake up for a morning swim at Barton Springs and have enough energy for a 3-hour bike ride through the Texas Hill Country in the afternoon. I would wake up early and find random time slots throughout the day to work on projects for my clients, write my newsletter, and take networking calls.

Because of all this training, I was burning thousands of calories a day. Grocery runs were getting more expensive with extra packs of chicken, protein bars, and mineral supplements. I had to start tracking my macros to make sure I consumed enough protein, fat, and carbs. I had to eat 3000 calories just to replenish everything I was burning.

But I was determined to show up for this race in the best shape possible. I didn’t just want to finish, I wanted to finish strong.

My Why

On the day before the race, I saw an older guy in a full Michigan triathlon suit. I of course gave him a Go Blue. He walked over, put his arm around me and gave me the classic line:

"You know what they say right? There are only 2 kinds of people in this world: people that went to Michigan and people that wish they went to Michigan!"

Turns out this guy has been doing Ironmans for 40 years and completed over 100 races. This was his last race. I asked him what advice he had for a first-timer:

“You need to have a strong why. When it gets tough out there, you're in pain, and there’s nobody around cheering you on…it's the why that keeps you going.”

Triathlons started as a way for me to stay in shape. But it has quickly become a part of my identity. Don’t get me wrong, there were many Saturday mornings I was not fired up to hop on the bike for 3 hours. But I did start to enjoy the process of doing hard things. The Michigan man made me think…why did I sign up for this race?

I wanted to see what my body and mind was capable of.

I wanted to create memories with a great group of guys.

And I craved the race day energy and getting to be a competitive athlete again.

Race Day

People ask, what do I think about for 6 hours since we aren’t allowed to listen to any music? It’s actually easy to stay present when you are pushing your body to the extreme. I was mostly having competitive thoughts with myself. I put in all the work. I made lots of sacrifices. I paid thousands of dollars in race fees, flights, Airbnb, food, and equipment. I wanted to make the most of this experience and get the fastest time possible.

So on the run when my back ached running up hills, when my feet went numb for 5 miles, and my hamstring cramped on mile 12…all I kept telling myself was that this pain was temporary. In less than an hour I would be sitting in the tent eating pizza and drinking a beer, so just keep pushing.

When your body is feeling like that, there's not much to think about besides getting to that next swim buoy, passing that next mile marker, or reaching the next aid station with an energy gel.

Final Thoughts

I’m living life with urgency. We only get one shot at this life so why settle for anything less than your absolute best? I'm never going to win these races or set any records. But on my deathbed, I want to look back knowing that I said yes to opportunities and didn’t let fear of failure, judgment from others, or temporary pain prevent me from giving it my all.

As I sit on this plane feeling the emotion in my body with tears rolling down my face, I can confidently say that I gave it my all this weekend. It’s one of the best feelings I've ever experienced in my life.

I’m not here to say everyone go sign up for a race, but what is something you could try to accomplish this year that you 5 years ago would have never thought was possible?

If you think of something, I’d love to hear what it is!

Thank you for reading! As always please reply and let me know what resonated, what didn’t, or what you question. I love chatting about this stuff!

Cheers,

Andrew