Category: Triathlon

Oct 05 2025 2025-10-05 2025-10-05 by Ross

This Week in Training – Slow and Steady Progress

Posted in Running, Swimming, Training, Triathlon

Swim 🏊

  • Workouts: 2
  • Total Distance: 4,300 yards
  • Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
  • Notes: The final swim on Sunday felt especially good. I’m starting to get some of that feel for the water back. Progress, little by little.

Bike 🚴

  • Workouts: 0
  • Total Distance: 0
  • Notes: Still nothing here. I need to stop procrastinating and get the bike back in the mix.

Run 🏃

  • Workouts: 3
  • Total Distance: 7.89 miles
  • Total Time: 1 hour 19 minutes
  • Notes: Not a lot of mileage, but these runs felt strong for a change. Paces were better, effort felt smoother. That’s a win.

Strength/Other 💪

  • Workouts: 0
  • Notes: 100% failure on this front. Need to start carving out time for it.

Reflections ✍️

Even without much volume, this week felt better. The runs were solid, the swim is coming around, and I’m feeling more confident in my overall fitness. I’m building slower than ever before, but that’s okay — I’d rather move forward consistently than burn out.

Goals for Next Week 🎯

  • Add two bike sessions.
  • Get in at least one strength workout.
  • Travel week — so aim for one swim and extra runs while out of town.
  • Keep the “slow and steady” approach — progress in feeling, not just numbers.

 


Sep 28 2025 2025-09-28 2025-09-28 by Ross

This Week in Training – Slow but Steady…

Posted in Exercise, Running, Swimming, Training, Triathlon

Swim 🏊

  • Workouts: 2
  • Total Distance: 3,500 yards
  • Total Time: 1 hour 12 minutes
  • Notes: Nothing fancy, just steady swimming. It felt good to be consistent and rack up the yards.

Bike 🚴

  • Workouts: 0
  • Total Distance: 0
  • Notes: None this week. I need to start adding cycling back in soon — I can’t put it off much longer with IMWI on the horizon.

Run 🏃

  • Workouts: 3
  • Total Distance: 9.80 miles
  • Total Time: 1 hour 39 minutes
  • Notes: Runs were longer than last week, but I wasn’t sore and the paces felt smooth. That’s progress.

Strength/Other 💪

  • Workouts: 0
  • Notes: None this week. I know I need to start including strength again.

Reflections ✍️

This was a nice build week. I’m making progress, but I’m deliberately building at a slower pace this time. With a year until IMWI, there’s no rush. The focus right now is on a solid, injury-free base. The rhythm feels good, but I need to expand it with cycling and some strength work.

Goals for Next Week 🎯

  • Add cycling back into the mix (even short sessions).
  • Get at least one strength workout in.
  • Keep building slowly on the run while staying injury-free.

 


Sep 15 2025 2025-09-15 2025-09-15 by Ross

And you may ask yourself, my God what have I done!

Posted in Triathlon

So, in a moment of questionable judgment—or maybe sheer desperation—I went ahead and signed up for Ironman Wisconsin.

I’m… fat, out of shape, and can barely run 2 miles without getting injured.

Here’s the thing, though—I need this. I’ve been feeling like life’s been running me instead of the other way around. Stress, self-doubt, struggling with empty nest and adult-child worries, watching the years fly by, while I keep telling myself “tomorrow” is when I’ll get it together. Signing up for another Ironman might be the worst idea I’ve ever had—or maybe it’s precisely what I need to shake myself awake.

I’m not doing this because I think I can win my age group (although it will be the 60-64 now) or even set a PR. I’m doing it because I need to remind myself that I can do hard things. That I can put one foot in front of the other—even if it’s slow, even if it’s messy, even if I question every life choice somewhere around mile 85 of the bike or every single mile of the run.

Will I regret this? Almost definitely at some point. But right now, I feel a flicker of something I haven’t felt in a while: hope. Hope that in training, I’ll not only get stronger physically but claw back some confidence. Hope that maybe, just maybe, I’ll cross that finish line and remember that I actually do know what the heck I’m doing in this life.

So yeah—Ironman Wisconsin. Pray for me. Or better yet, join me.


Sep 15 2025 2025-09-15 2025-09-15 by Ross

Last Week in “Training”…

Posted in Training, Triathlon

I’m putting “training” in quotes because what I did last week barely qualifies as exercise, let alone preparation for a triathlon.  Whatever, I’ve got to start somewhere, even if that somewhere is square one… again.

Here’s the highlight reel: three short runs (and by short, I mean “longer than walking to the fridge but shorter than anything impressive”) and two short swims (quick dips). Nothing special, nothing brag-worthy, but I did it.

Consistency hasn’t exactly been my strong suit lately. Between random life interruptions, “reasons,” and my Olympic-level procrastination skills, I haven’t strung together much more than a couple of guilt workouts in weeks. But the good news is, this time there are no surgeries, tattoos, or trips on the calendar—so I’ve officially run out of excuses.

The plan is simple: survive a month of doing this semi-regularly, then let the bike back into the rotation. I keep telling myself I’ll bike to work, but so far that’s all it is; telling myself.  Haven’t actually done it.

So yeah—five workouts in one week. Nobody’s writing me a sponsorship deal yet, but it’s a start. And if the definition of “training” is “moving your body while thinking about martinis and pizza,” then I’m absolutely crushing it.