"I found the program easy to follow and could feel the transformation taking place..."
 
"...the program provided tangible evidence of improvement and motivation..."

Sixteen weeks ago, I joined Tri4Him and the Performance Membership program in preparation for the Buffalo Springs 70.3 Triathlon. Competing in an Ironman event had always been a goal of mine. I thought that it would be a great way to celebrate my 50th birthday. Having never competed individually in triathlons before, the detailed Tri4Him Performance Membership workout schedule provided me the structure and training knowledge I needed to prepare me physically and mentally for Buffalo Springs. I found the program easy to follow and could feel the transformation taking place within the first two weeks of training. The time trails contained within the program provided tangible evidence of improvement and motivation to maintain discipline in the training. The race-day pacing and nutrition guides helped me dial in my race rehearsals so that on race day everything was right where they needed to be. And they were.

Equally important was the fellowship, camaraderie and shared accountability that I experienced from working out with my fellow Tri4Him Keller Community members. Special appreciation goes to Darrick Walls who joined me for the majority of the early morning training. I'm not sure how many of those of those 4:30am and 5:00am workouts would have been completed if it had not been for his committed companionship. Thanks, Darrick...Iron does indeed sharpen iron!

Three weeks prior to Buffalo Springs, Darrick and I competed together in a Playtri Olympic-distance event in Las Colinas, Texas. Finishing 2nd for my age group provided great experience and confidence for the upcoming 70.3 race. With two weeks to go prior to Buffalo Springs, I began the taper as detailed in my program. It provided my body the recovery it needed, and I felt ready for Buffalo Springs. But was I? The week prior to the event, Jeff sent out a final email providing insights and wisdom on how to prepare mentally for the event. One piece of advice he expressed was to anticipate and expect at least 2-3 things to go wrong during the race. Unfortunately, these words came true as I experienced a number of mechanical difficulties that had a very negative impact on my race.

Knowing early in the race that I would not achieve my goal of a top 5 finish was demoralizing. The selfish side of me wanted to quit and feel sorry for myself after sacrificing so much time towards 16 weeks of hard dedicated training. Thankfully, the Lord provided comfort by reminding me of Romans 5:3-5 "we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

This scripture provided me the perspective I needed as God blessed me with invaluable life lessons that were far more rewarding than my individual race result.

"..the Lord provided me comfort..."
 
"...God blessed me with invaluable life lessons..."