IT’S TAPER TIME!!!!! This also means Ironman week is here! I feel like it was just yesterday I was standing in line at 3am signing up for this race. All the work is done, so from here on out I promised myself I would just enjoy everything about this week.

They say you learn a lot of things while training for an Ironman and….. you sure do! I’ve had plenty of stories over the last year but I thought these were some of the note worthy ones.

10. You become obsessed with training data and graphs. You’ll even analyze it during class (SORRY TEACHERS)

9. There will be bad training days….. but you’ll survive

8. ALWAYS wear sunscreen….especially during century rides. It takes a lot of work to fix a sunglass tan line. (I’m sorry nose, it’ll never happen again)

7. Stay alert during long rides, you never know when a little dog might start chasing you (I won)

6. Whitney Houston or Lion King Music works great when you have 0 motivation to get out of the car for a workout.

5. Carry a bottle opener in your BENTO box, you never know when you need a MEXI COKE during a century ride. (FYI- you cannot twist off a glass bottle top, no matter how tired you are or how much sugar you need. If you try, make sure you have multiple band-aids with you. Also the foot plate of a wheelchair makes a great bottle opener in desperate times)

4. I will always have nightmares about port-potties. I rode my bike an extra 10 miles out of the way to avoid using one. (I need to get over this fear sometime in the next 6 days).

3. 8:30pm bedtime becomes an usual occurrence… even on Saturdays.

2. The world is a pretty cool place via bike.

1. The people you meet along the way will inspire you, train with you, be your biggest cheerleaders, and catch you when you fall…or get a flat. 

I’ve got a pretty great team that has been behind me from day one. Next Sunday when the gun goes off at 7:30am to begin the 140.6 mile journey, I’ll be thinking of all of you as I make my attempt to finish Ironman Louisville.

LETS DO THIS!

MK