Once you are hooked into the Ironman lifestyle it is terribly difficult to get out. There is always something that you can improve upon from one race to the next and you rarely ever get it right. Even if you are in monster shape you can end up having a terrible race if you get your hydration, nutrition, or sodium intake wrong. It's a very addicting sport that I recently decided to walk away from. During my last goal setting session I compiled the costs and benefits of the Ironman lifestyle and realized that the benefits no longer outweighed the total cost. And there are many, many hidden costs. Below I am going to walk through some of the costs associated with the Ironman lifestyle that I tended to overlook when I was "in the mix".
TIME:
The time commitment to train for an Ironman is enormous. I trained year round with weekly training hours between 10 hrs during the off-season and 30 hours during my heaviest weeks. A typical mid-season week would be between 18-20 hours. These hours only include actual swim, bike, run, and strength training time. They do not include time to get dressed, get the bike pumped and tuned, drive to the pool or gym, stretching, massage, creating training plans for myself, reading books, articles, and websites about triathlon, etc.
FINANCIAL (EQUIPMENT & MAINTENANCE):
The money spent on the sport is also gigantic when added up at the end of the year. Here's a quick list of equipment that I have bought over the years: tri bike, road bike, Zipp 404s, Zipp 808s, Zipp disk, long sleeve wetsuit, short sleeve wetsuit, skinsuit, Ergomo power meter, aero helmet, road helmet, cycling shoes, cycling sunglasses, running shoes (new pair every 300 miles), training clothes, nutritional products, self maintenance products, Computrainer, Tacx Flow power trainer, Ironman DVD collection, Triathlete magazine subscription, and on and on and on. Bike and body maintenance are other expenses associated with Ironman training and racing. You need to maintain your bikes with new tires, chains, brakes, cassettes, etc. or they will break down on you at the worst of times. You also need to maintain your body with massage, chiropractic, or self maintenance tools such as Trigger Point products, foam rollers, The Stick, etc or it will break down too!!
FINANCIAL (EVENTS, TRAVEL, AND LODGING):
Each Ironman competition costs $550 for registration and you have to register a year in advance. I typically competed in one to two Ironmans per year along with two 70.3s ($275) and a handful of sprints and olympic distance races which are typically around $60-$100. That's just for registration!! For lodging, I'll give Lake Placid as an example, the minimum night stay at the hotels is 5 nights and the typical price was around $250 per night so do the math and that comes out to $1250 for the 5 nights. On top of that you most likely eat meals at restaurants vs. cooking your own food while at the venue so you've got to add in the price of meals too. On top of that you need to get to the event. We typically drove so the cost for us was just gas and wear & tear on the car but for a lot of races you have to fly which can get costly when you add in shipping for your bike.
RELATIONSHIPS:
It is very difficult to spend as much time as you would like with your spouse, children, family, and (non-triathlete) friends unless they train for Ironmans. Triathlon can be a very selfish sport. In order to do it right you really have to have a near singular focus on it. Since you don't have much free time you want to ensure to spend it all with your spouse (and kids if you have them). Non-triathlete friends and family get the shaft because you no longer have that extra time. Hanging out and drinking a few brews is no longer appealing because you have to wake up early the next morning to train. Even when you do hang out with your spouse, kids, friends, and family you have to be very focused to ensure that you are giving them the attention that they deserve. This is very tough to do because you are so tired from training, work, and other responsibilities.
PROFESSION:
It is possible that your profession could also be impacted by this lifestyle. While trying to fit it all in you may compromise your work to get in an extra workout at times. Even if that doesn't happen you will most likely be more tired than you would if you didn't wake up ultra early to get your morning session in before work. There will also be times when you are thinking about your next training session or race when you should be focused on your work.
VACATIONS:
I get 23 days of PTO for work and while I was a triathlete I used nearly all of it on traveling to and from races and training camps. The only other regular trip that we would make would be to go home to Wisconsin & Illinois for Christmas. I consider that more of a VISIT than a VACATION. Even if the race venue was in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands or Kona, Hawaii you spent most of the time trapped inside getting prepared for your race and only got to spend a couple of days after the race to hang out and enjoy the destination. The only problem with that is the two days after competing an Ironman you are so sore that you don't feel like doing anything!
OTHER HOBBIES & SKILLS:
There are so many other things to learn and enjoy in life. While training for Ironmans there isn't time to tackle some of the other things that you've always wanted to do in life. I used to avoid doing things that had even a mild risk for making me tired or sore for my triathlon training. Now I am now capable of doing those things.
OVERALL HAPPINESS:
At the end of last year I asked myself if I would be happier if I were taking top three or even winning some of the major races. The answer was no. There is always another level to conquer and I wouldn't be any happier even if I reached that level. I think that our achievements can bring us short term happiness but lasting happiness comes from the close relationships that we build. If some of our most valued relationships start to slowly slip away because we have a singular focus on a goal that may not even bring us more happiness then we may need to re-evaluate the situation. I've often seen a few guys on an early Saturday afternoon drinking brews and playing bean bag toss while I was finishing up my 100+ mile ride. I often questioned if I would be happier just hanging out on the weekends enjoying my spouse and friends. There are definitely a lot more laughs when sipping down some margaritas and tossing some corn bags around than there are out on a 100+ mile ride followed by a 4-8 mile run. Smiling & Laughter == Happiness so you do the math.
THE BENEFITS:
Since I've listed out a bunch of costs to living the triathlon lifestyle I figure I better list some of the benefits. So here are a few:
* Friendships built with training partners
* Very fit and healthy
* Sense of accomplishment
* Part of a community
* Travel to areas you likely wouldn't have gone
* Find out what you are made of
This blog post wasn't meant to deter anyone from doing an Ironman. I really enjoyed the triathlon lifestyle for the first 3-4 years when it was all new and the learning curve was so high. I think it's a major feat to train for and compete in an Ironman. This was mainly my way of writing down some ideas that I was hashing out in my head last November when I made the decision to discontinue the triathlon lifestyle. Now that I've stepped away from it for a few months and our baby girl was born it's even more clear to me what a great decision it was.