Tom “Tommy” Thompson will be participating in his first Ironman competition this weekend – the Whirlpool Ironman Steelhead 70.3 taking place in Benton Harbor Michigan. He’s using the race to raise money for Flying Horse Farms (click here to lend your support) and has been sharing his journey to race day with us:
Well this is it. The last entry before the big day. It has been a great journey and regardless of the results of the race, I have met some great people and feel great about my accomplishments. I am competitive and want to do well; I also have some personal goals for the outcome, but I will get to those later.
First off I want to thank a few people: my friend, Manav Raj, and his partners at Rieth, Antonelli and Raj made a generous donation. Also to my new friend, Robbie, at Stolzmead, worked closely with me to put together t-shirts and my race suit so I can proudly display Flying Horse Farms and my corporate sponsors. My brother, Chris, picked up the tab for the shirts. I have numerous donors who have helped me get closer to my fund raising goals. In addition to getting in great shape and raising money for an incredible camp, I have met some amazing people – folks who have come together for the sole purpose of helping me make this experience as fun and successful as possible.
My training has taught me a lot about what my body can and can‘t, or won’t, do. With just a few more days to go I am putting the finishing touches on my plan for fueling myself during the race. Training has taught me a lot about nutrition and I credit that for helping me feel better than ever – it’s one reason I can take on this task in the first place. Energy bars will be okay for me on the bike. I have even eaten
them on a run. I will also use natural electrolytes some power gels that I found through a bike shop that has been helping me. In short, good nutrition does not have to be for just athletes. There is so much
information out there for a regular person to take advantage of. And trust me, it will help whether you are exercising or doing the daily grind
I have had to endure a lot of ribbing over the years. It is not easy working construction where everyone has their fast food, and I have my turkey sandwich, almonds, low-fat yogurt, and water; carrot sticks and celery for a snack.
My wife affectionately calls me “Bunny Boy” and ribs me every time I eat a half a cookie or a few almond m&ms. Truth be told, Dawn has started running more and is hoping to run several 5Ks next year. I am looking forward to participating with her in running events. We did Emily’s run/walk and it was great. She has also adopted a lot of my eating habits that she used to tease me about. Although if you ask her she will say it had nothing to do with me. (I know honey, it was all your idea and I love you for it.) My wife is awesome.
I do have cheat, which is actually healthy, both mentally and physically. I already have my cheat meals picked out for after the race. It has been so long, but it has been worth it and it is going to taste sooooo good.
With all this training, my wife has been great, but I know that the “honey do” list has been piling up over the last several weeks. That is going to come due after the race, I am sure.
Finally, my goals and obstacles. First off, I work at night and this is going to be the toughest thing to change. I have taken this week off so I can change my body from night to day. I have to change my eating,
sleeping and most importantly my body “functions”. (Looking for a porta-john during the race is going to be less than desirable not to mention hot.)
I would love to tell you that this is all about the camp and leading up to race day, it mostly has been. But I also want to have a good finish. My goal is to finish the whole race in about 6 hours. 1 to swim, 3 to ride and 2 to run. I feel good about my chances.
Think of me this weekend and if you’d like to support me and Flying Horse Farms, there is still time to go to my web page and make a donation.
A Excellent wordpress post, I will be sure to bookmark this in my Propeller account. Have a awesome day.