To begin the run, I left it on your normal treadmill mode to get a feel for it. This just means I had to adjust my pace manually like you would on a normal treadmill. After warming up, I selected the Run Free mode, and wow! The first couple of minutes were awkward as I almost forgot how to run! I had to remember that I was in control of the pace now and it took a second to get the hang of it, as well as where to run on the treadmill, as the treadmill sped up or slowed down based on what I was doing.

Before I started coaching, I had a job that worked me 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. I was on my feet literally all day and spent the majority of my time interacting with customers and staff. I was training for my first Ironman race, had only been married a couple of years, and my husband was working full-time while finishing up his master’s degree. To say our life was busy would be very accurate! That year was a test to my ability to plan and schedule as I had to figure out how to balance work a full training load and family time around two very hectic schedules. This is where having a coach really helped.

The last few weeks we have been trying to use up every available training hour he has in between work and work travel. He has had a couple 14 hour training weeks, which has been really good for him. His final preparation has been getting very race specific as we dial in race power for the bike, and race pace for the run. Here is a look at a key session in the swim, the bike, and the run.

I’m so excited to bring you another athlete training series. The season spent following Kelly’s Ironman journey had several folks reach out to me telling me how much they enjoyed the series. Kelly inspired many athletes to keep training through the high’s and low’s of a year dedicated to Ironman; isn’t that amazing? He also inspired one BEST athlete of mine in particular: Jason Spruiell. Jason reached out and volunteered to have his journey documented this year! So, while Jason gears up for Ironman, we are going to document his training. The good, the bad, the ugly. I hope you follow along for this ride as we get started.