98 Days to Ultraman Mexico: Non Zero Days

The only thing harder than a long training day is a day without one.

Rest days feel like they should be easier, but when I’m not swimming, biking, or running, I’m prone to feeling off. The fear I’m not doing enough grows in my mind. I combat this feeling with 20 minutes of mobility work every day. It trains my mind more than my body. That practice started long before Ultraman. It’s my baseline. A daily promise to myself. Hard evidence that I am focused on what matters to me. That I’m getting better, not worse.

Past injuries left me with muscular imbalances. At this level, small issues get magnified. Setbacks are costly. I can’t don’t build the capacity to finish an Ultraman with one great workout, but one bad move can knock me out of training for months. It took me three years to come back from my last injury. Getting started after that kind of gap is brutal. Once I got going, all I could think about was how much sooner I could have come back. But that’s a story for another day. I’ve been back on the horse three years now and I am loving the process.

What I love about long distance racing is that it forces me to make sacrifices. I have to consistently evaluate my priorities. This daily requirement keeps me aware of how fortunate I am. A mind that wants to train. A body that grows in response to challenge. Friends and family that support me and listen to my endless thoughts on training, the performance of athletes they’ve never heard of, and the change in my swim form that shaved a second off my 100yd time.

Training Log

Mobility: 20 minutes

Shoveling gravel: 4 hours