In November 2018 when Noah committed to doing an Ironman Triathlon in July of 2019, a high degree of mystery lay ahead of those 9 months.  He fear all the unknowns, including the possibility of failure in both the athletic endeavor as well as in his personal life.  Inviting those fears to have a seat at the plant-based dinner table, of course, ultimately paved the way for both hard lessons learned and personal growth.

Eating a whole foods plant-based diet as pillar during the training presented it’s own obstacles too.  For example, Noah didn’t use any of the “Gu” products and other processed foods or energy drinks, so he created his own home-brewed blends of sustenance and electrolytes.  During the highest training loads, he had to find ways to add even more-nutrient dense foods into his diet to ensure he was meeting the calorie and protein requirements his body demanded.

There is no such thing as balance.  Rather, proactively scheduling activities and relationship-time around the training proved critical.  At times Noah struggled with prioritizing his personal relationships while training, and eventually learned that “you don’t just find time,” but instead he had to carve out time to ensure the nourishment of those personal relationships.  As he discovered, Ironman training is anything but a solo adventure, and it takes a village to accomplish this goal.