Integral Triathlon

This weekend is Team Integral's first ever triathlon. It's a culmination of a summer of training and personal development for each of the team's members:

Robert Macnaughton, Scott Rainey and myself.

Why?  How did we get to this point?

In April of this year, I was hired by Robb Smith and Scott Rainey as a web developer for Integrallife.com to start work on the new website.  One of the highlights of the benefits package was the "personal development time" provided by the company.  This was one of many methods for Integral employees to "walk the walk" in terms of personal growth and development, instead of just talking and writing about it.  So, everyday I'm given an hour of my work time to spend on personal growth, whether it's yoga, meditation, stretching, training, etc...this is my time to work on accomplishing or developing my personal goals.

Triathlons consist of three events: a swim then a bike leg followed by a distance run.  My first ever triathlon was a "sprint."  This is the shortest of all triathlon categories.  

Sprint Distance:

• Swim - 500m
• Bike - 16miles
• Run - 3.1miles (5K)

This distance is a great intro to the sport.  Over the coming years I started training and racing in various Olympic Distance Triathlons:

Olympic Distance:

• Swim - 1mile
• Bike - 26.2miles
• Run -  6.2miles (10k)

This distance has been where I've found the most balance. I'm able to train consistently, while still work, spend time with my family and continue to climb (my first passion.) 

Over the last year or two, I've become increasingly interested in challenging myself to extend the distance and eventually compete in a Full Ironman Triathlon.  I've always wanted to push and challenge myself to enter and compete in one of the toughest physical challenges on the planet. 

Half Ironman:

• Swim - 1.25 swim
• Bike - 56 miles
• Run - 13.1 miles (half marathon)

Full Ironman

• Swim - 2.5 mile swim
• Bike - 112 miles
• Run - 26.2 miles (Full marathon)

The problem has always been the amount of time it takes to train for such and event.  So, with this new job, I spoke with Shauna and my family about attempting this goal.  I believed it would consume about 15 hrs a week for 6-12 months to train properly.  Utilizing my 5hrs of lunch and 5hrs of  "personal-development" time at work, that would mean I would just need a few early morning run or rides on the weekends to fullfill the time requirements.  Since Shauna and I often ride together anyway, this would work out perfectly. 

The next step in this training was coming up with a list of races to "test" my progress.  But, I also wanted to include a few "FUN" races.  These would be races where a few of us got together and raced a triathlon in RELAY style. Which means one person competes in each leg.  This is where TEAM INTEGRAL was born.

I sent an email out to everyone in the Integrallife office and asked if anyone was interested in trying or attempting a triathlon.  I got a few replies and next thing we knew TEAM INTEGRAL was registered for an Olympic Distance Relay just outside Las Vegas Neveda on September 28th, 2008.

So, this Sunday, we'll all awake around 4:30am and head to Lake Mead.  As the night fades into the dawn, Scott Rainey will enter the water, energized by the rising sun, emerging colors and beautiful landscape view reflected off the lake in front of him.  The gun will go off and he'll start out on a 20-30min sprint across the lake, with 500 other men and women. 

As he arrives back on land, his feet will enter the cool sand of the surrounding beach and he'll begin a 200yd sprint up the temporary path towards the first transistion, where he'll hand off his role as lead to myself to start the bike leg.  I'll pop on the helmet, grab the bike and race for the other end of the transistion area.  Saddle up and race 26 miles across the desert along a rolling highway that takes us to the second transistion area, where Robert will be psyching himself up for the 6.2 mile run to the finish line.  He'll encounter water stations along the way, which will be well needed as the desert sun rises directly above him, beating him down at every mile marker!  As Robert crosses the finish line, Scott and myself will be there to meet and congratulate him.  TEAM INTEGRAL will have accomplished half our our goal....remember we're in Vegas....the other half -- FUN -- is still to come! 

Wish us luck!