My Body

My body tells me no but I won't quit
Cause I want more, cause I want more

Crush dreams in Kona y'all! Though I can't be there, I'll be suffering with you because I just realized my 50-miler is on the very same day on October 8. My goal is to finish faster than the first place pro male at Kona, and to help me get there, this tune has served me well in training and will be on replay in my head come race day. I hope it serves you well too!

Hell Hath No Fury Like...A Nutritional Bonk

The past couple of days of training, I was reminded of the importance of nutrition. On Wednesday, I had an epic bonk while doing a very hilly trail run with my friend Chris, who is training for a 50-miler. Not only did Chris extend our 90-minute run to almost two hours, but he did so setting a torrid pace. My longest run had been 80 minutes and nutritionally, my body could not take both the distance and pace. The last two miles were not training, it was survival. Upon arrival home, I was nauseous and my stomach was sensitive and I couldn't eat much. I basically had a smoothie and went to bed. The next day, I started what was intended to be a 3-hour hilly ride with some strong efforts. From the start, I knew I had not met my caloric needs from the bonk the day prior, but I soldiered on hoping for the best. Thoughts of turning around and going home crossed my mind, but staying true to my OCD/Type A triathlete self, I pushed on hoping I would come around. Well, 90-minutes into the ride, I was now trying to figure out how I would make it home. Like the run the day prior, this ride was no longer about training but about survival. Hell hath no fury like the nutritional bonk.

The nutritional bonk is absolute hell. It's the reason why you see age-groupers passing fit professionals on the race course, specifically ironman races. Once you are in the nutritional bonk, it is no longer about athleticism. You are no longer trying to move fast, but instead, you are just trying to move, or worse, stay upright. Not only does a nutritional bonk take a physical toll, it wreaks havoc on the mind as well. Your head is in a haze and you can't even think clearly to rectify the situation. At some point during my ride, I realized that I was no longer training but just trying to get home. I was still one hour from home and with two daunting climbs remaining, I somehow pulled a somewhat coherent thought, "Kiet, all you have right now is your attitude. Just keep a good attitude and keep trying..and keep eating." And just like that, I was doing very specific ironman training.

After two days of bonking, I decided to skip my run on Friday (mental note: the threshold for an OCD/Type A triathlete to make a wise decision is two consecutive bonk days). Saturday was a 7-hour training day and can you guess what I absolutely made sure I nailed besides the 3 x 40 min tempo climbs...my nutrition. My teammates were teasing me all day long about the amount of food I was eating. But guess who pulled away during the last 40-minute tempo climb with a full belly and equal amount of energy, guilty. Come Sunday, you would think I would be quite the sagacious one with nutrition. Nope. Once again, a nutritional nightmare but l problem-solved and got the work done. I'm now convinced that when it comes to triathlons, we are a couple of gels short of a disaster. I banked 22 hours this week and most of it, very ironman specific training. And yes, that is an egg on top of two meat patties, waiting for a bun with both bacon and cheese to lay on top. You only have one life...albeit a shorter life after putting that in my body.

SAT Words

gump·tion /ˈgəmpSHən/
Noun: Shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulnes.

met·tle /ˈmetl/
Noun: A person's ability to cope well with difficulties or to face a demanding situation in a spirited and resilient way.

Kiet will demonstrate his true mettle as he tries to prepare for IM Canada armed with gumption and a bit of moxy.

I came upon the word gumption on Meredith Kessler's blog. Given her string of bad luck, I thought I would find an ally in Meredith and see how she might be dealing with her predicament. When I saw the title of her most recent post, I immediately knew I came to the right place. Moving forward, I covet these two words as I prepare for Canada. Thank you to all of my supporters for still believing in me, and encouraging me to keep up the fight...at least one more time.

Recovery was oh-so easy. I wanted to swim, bike, and run the following day but I knew better. When I step back and go outside of myself, it's wild to think that I just swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, and ran a marathon just last weekend--and both physically and mentally, I was jonesing to start back up this past week. Instead, I started back up on Sunday, with a nice and tapered feeling during the swim workout, and carried that feeling to a nice bike ride. Thank you to my PacWest teammates for the great company!