Race Previews

"It's All About Staying Focused"....

Tuesday, 18 October 2016 23:10

Six things i’ve learned training for kona.

By Erin Klegstad (sweetsweatlife.com - Oct. 7, 2016)

Whoa. Kona is here. How is that possible?! Tomorrow I *get* to race the IRONMAN World Championship – surreal is an understatement!

I arrived in Kona, solo, a week early to acclimate as much as possible and for a little quiet time – bliss for this introvert! I love my tribe and wouldn’t get to a start or finish line without their support, but the alone time was much needed and has been so rejuvenating. You know your pre-race has been relaxing when you read two books in three days! Aside from reading, the week’s been filled with sitting in the a/c, workouts in the heat of the day, hanging out with my rad Coeur Sports crew, drinking all the iced almond milk lattes + kombucha at Kona Coffee + Tea, and cruising Ali’i on my $90 Walmart 18-speed mountain bike....

More on pre-race details later, but first, the six things I’ve learned chasing my light and training for my first

Kona :)

It’s all about staying focused.

I won’t lie… it’s been a long year training for this race. I qualified last September, before Kona 2015, and even though I took a solid six weeks completely off, I’ve still been on a structured training schedule for 11 months. That’s a really long time to stay focused and mentally “on,” scheduled down to the minute most days to fit it all in. Long as the year’s been, though, I wouldn’t change it for anything. Each workout – checked off one at a time because looking at the big picture was too overwhelming – brought me one step closer to October 8. Approaching my training one workout at a time was the best way to keep my head in the game. Because when you’re consistent + focused – even if that’s just five minutes at a time on the trainer – that’s where the magic happens.