I'm quickly finding out what a small world it is. Recently I stumbled across a guy that grew up down the street from me when we were kids. He moved away around high school but last year I started to see his name pop up in a lot of the triathlon races that I was doing. I haven't seen Peter A in decades and wouldn't recognize him if I tripped over him. Recently, Glen (my bro) sent me an email of all the people racing IM Canada from Markham (yes, he has too much time on this hands) and Peter's name was on it. I also saw his profile on Linkedin so I flipped him an email wishing him good luck. We traded emails and finally got together for lunch yesterday. It turns out he lives less than five minutes away and has two kids that are a couple of years older than mine. I was most interested in how he trained for an Ironman with young kids.
Peter pretty much trains the same way I do, usually very early in the morning and by himself. We even ride the same routes. A couple of things I've learned from our conversations.
1. My insomnia problem is very common in triathletes as the body is too wired to rest
2. Taking salt tablets is critical during longer races (ie HIM or IM) as the body can't digest the nutrients from gels etc once the sodium levels drop which leads to stomach problems. During IMC, Peter took 12 tablets and didn't have any problems. I took two during Muskoka and was ok other than the fact I was very thirsty.
3. He had a friend who volunteered at IM Lake Placid this year hoping to get an entry for 2011. Volunteers get first priority when signing up for next year's race however he had to camp out overnight in the line up.
4 The training for an IM versus a HIM isn't all that different. In fact his mileage really didn't start ramping up until a couple of months before the race and it was only the long bike and long run on the weekends that made the difference. Peter only did three 6 hour rides. That said he's not planning to do another Ironman next year
Interesting information
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