70.3 Miiles...In ONE Day!

Mike has become a bit of a triathlon nut over the past 2 years. He got the itch and full on 'rash' after his first tri in June of 2009. Since then, he has competed in many triathlons; mostly sprints and olympic distance...that is, until next weekend. He has signed up for the 70.3 Augusta 1/2 Ironman.

1.2 mile Swim, 56 mile Bike, 13.1 mile Run...in ONE DAY! 70.3 miles in one day...talk about nuts. With only 8 hours allotted to complete the course, Mike plans on finishing between 6.5 and 7 hours. Given this is his first "serious endurance" race as I like to call it...I'm a bit nervous. The sprint tri's he normally does are too short to get into, the olympic distance tri's are about 3 hours and just the right amount of time. This one being 7 hours or so...could get interesting. 7 hours to hang by myself, make some friends with other tri-widows and tri fans and maybe finish a good book or two! What's a tri widow you ask? Oh, it's a wife, fiance or girlfriend who has to do things alone while their significant other trains for such endurance events. This course is a little better than some of the tri's he's done previously because it has a loop so I can see and verbally encourage him more than once on this long race. Here are some pictures from previous races Mike's competed in.

I'm constantly amazed at his focus, determination and drive to do these demanding races. They are physical, yet mostly, I believe a mental race and Mike has the mental side down! So as he finishes up his last week of training for the race, I stand by, let him train and wish him health and strength to finish the Augusta 70.3 Ironman with pride.