Mike Gonda – 2016 season update

I did few races this year. I started with try a tri in Athy that went well, then I did my very first half-Ironman distance in Meath in July(06:27:01). I found it tough as I had Gastroenteritis the week before the race and it cost me the run leg, suffered numerous episodes of cramping, few times I had to stop and massage the cramping muscles. It was fulfilling though as I did for a good cause. After that, I did 2 Sprint Tri’s, Two Provinces Tri(01:26:01) and Loughrea Tri(01:25:49). The last one I did was the Dublin 70.3 IM(05:39:51). I also did few Marathons and Half-Marathons namely; 07/08/16 Rock and Roll Dublin Half Marathon(01:41:31), 1st & 2nd Oct. 2016 Monaghan Forest Marathon back-to-back (1st day 03:54:06 and 2nd day 03:48:02) and 08/10/16 Lusk EOI Marathon(03:58:40). I have a few of Marathons and b2b booked in the next few weeks.

I did my very best to go through the training and, difficult as it may to balance work, family and training, I can honestly say that I did a good job considering that this time last year, I could not swim a length of a pool. One lesson I learned though is to put an effort and time in your training. Get the preparations right, physically and mentally. I plan to focus on my swimming for next season as I still struggle in this discipline. I’m focusing on doing a full Ironman distance next season to try to gauge my capability in preparation to either IM Bolton or Galway Challenge…