Physical strength, spot-on nutrition, mental durability and skillful navigation of the day’s unedited script is what will successfully get you to the finish line of an Ironman. Some people come to just complete the distance and others to race. In the case of today’s guests, we’ve got a few racers on our hands. A spin on our monthly show Ask the YT’s, I assume my role as interviewer and bring to you our very own Head Triathlete, BJ and YT tribe member Marc Eves in an attempt to capture their Ironman Louisville experience while still fresh and ripe for the sharing. I sat down with BJ and Marc just one day after they towed the Ironman line with a shared goal of qualifying for Kona, for Marc that would have meant a repeat performance on the big island. They share their race day recipe and the results it reaped. We met Marc at the beginning of our tour in Lake Placid and today we welcome his girlfriend Chiara, first time Ironman spectator, to share a few words on what its like to be on the sidelines at such a massive event.

We dive into their training prep leading up to the race, nutrition, race-day strategy and how that execution played out. We talk about the emotional moments, the painful moments and the moments just before the gun went off starting yet another 140.6 journey for these men. Another cog in their Kona dream wheel to gain strength and pull experience from for future races.

Athletes of all levels and distances will benefit from their insight and the differences in their prep, nutrition and strategy. Training, racing and nutrition is so unique to the individual and there is no better way to find out what’s best for you than to hear other perspectives and try out new approaches. That said, the thing I love most about Ironman racing is that there will never be a course or even a day where an exact replication of a previous event can occur. All we can do is prepare our minds and bodies as best we can and be mindful in each moment to pull out the best of us for each performance.

We talk about how athletes can be wasteful of their energy and the importance of pulling momentum from the crowds, volunteers and especially the little kids who eagerly await us to give them high fives. It’s so much more than swim, bike and run and I hope we capture that for you in this episode today.