2011 Ironman Arizona race day morning

By now I will have started my race. I'll be racing in the 2011 Ironman Arizona. My race strategy is to swim & bike moderately then crush the marathon! Through the day I’ll need to remind myself that anyone can go out hard on the swim and bike, but what toll would it take farther down the line? Endurance athletics requires a certain discretion and reserve. It would be easy to let my ego get the better of me early on and bike beyond my means. It would be a mistake that would haunt me as the hours and miles added up. One of the biggest challenges on the bike will be to have the discipline to ride easy, even as other triathletes pass me. And I hate being passed. Today I’ll rely on my heart rate monitor like never before. I’ll use my HR monitor to make sure my pace is sensible.

I'll let you know how my strategy works as soon as I can get to a computer post race! Thanks for tuning in and wish me luck!

For today's race I found a great quote from Theodore Roosevelt:

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again, because there in no effort without error and short coming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and at the worst, if he fails at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."