Ironman 70.3 May Not Be Best Choice For Your First Triathlon

Sanity Check & Preparation is key when signing on up a long-course hella long triathlon. Before attempting a 70.3 race, most people train for a season of Sprint (1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, 3.1 mile run). or Olympic triathlons (1500 m swim, 25 mile bike ride, 6.2 mile run). What had happened was...... I had signed up for an Ironman 70.3, which is half the distance of a full Ironman and consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run. So I was in trouble. I had the triathlon bug bad bad. I thought it was time to graduate to 70.3 distance just after a completing a few races and getting lucky to land on the podium of a local competitive race. So what did I do...I rolled up to Barnes & Noble and purchased a triathlon training book and looked online in training peaks for a 70.3 training plan.

I bought the Be Iron Fit book and choose one of their fundamental 30 week plans they had designed for women newbies who just wanted to complete their first 70.3 race. I loaded up the 70.3 training plan on line on to an excel spread sheet and inputted key training milestones/dates into the calendar and my eyes popped out my head when I saw the amount of training miles I would end of logging over those 30 weeks. Swim = 52 miles Bike = 1500 miles Run = 300 miles
-------------------------- Grand Mileage = 1,852 miles That is a ocean sized amount of training that I had committed to. And then came the spending.....🙄 We quickly went and got a pass for couple hundred dollars to Pure Austin (now LifeTime North Austin) Quarry so I can have unlimited safe open water swimming options when I was not swimming at my YMCA pool.
Then, being the #sportydiva that i am... I need a "few" new tri suits to galavant around town in
- with of coure - matching socks, and bras if needed.

Oh...and let's not talk about the BIKE UPGRADES!

I bought a tri-bike - because - why not...I was fixing to be an ironman (●'◡'●). Hanging around all these 5x+ ironmen in real life and in the pathetics facebook group - I was 1000% sure I needed fast wheels, and then race tires, and will all the extra miles in the saddle, a shorter crank and a new ISM saddle ....and then and then ....

Seemed like each week I was buying something new...a new hydration cockpit so I would not have to stop at the 1st aid station and shave off time time ( in theory - that was the reason I stayed up a few late nights reading Amazon review lol )

Looking back at all the time and money I spent about $2,500+ on entrance fees, gear, and other expenses like hotel and gas. (Please don't tell my husband) Triathlons aren't cheap! Ironman Austin & Waco 70.3 came around..I was as ready and broke as I could be to .... Swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and run/walk 13.1 miles. Would I do it again....probably - but I am much more prepared for the true time and expense it takes to race the half-iron distance and because I am stingy with my time & money now...I'll stick with Sprints and OLY's racing on my expensive custom Tri Bike and 50g front hydration system. 😘