This year I decided that training for one endurance event wasn’t enough.

So I’m training for a 70.3 triathlon and the NYC Marathon.

Apparently I like making my life complicated.

The two events are both endurance events, but the training is pretty different.

A marathon is obviously focused almost entirely on running. You need to build your mileage, get your long runs in, practice your pacing, and get your body used to being on your feet for a long time.

A 70.3 is a different animal.

It’s a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike, and then a 13.1-mile run.

The run is half the distance of a marathon, but you don’t get to start it fresh. You get to run a half marathon after you’ve already been swimming and cycling for several hours.

That’s where the training gets interesting.

Swimming is a completely different skill from running or cycling. You can be in good running shape and still feel like you have no idea what you’re doing in the water.

That’s something I’ve been dealing with myself, especially when it comes to open-water swimming.

The bike is another huge part of the race. Fifty-six miles is a long ride, and you need to be able to get off the bike and still run.

That’s why brick workouts are important. You have to teach your body what it feels like to run when your legs have already been working for hours.

The marathon has its own problems.

You don’t have a swim or a bike to distract you. You just keep running until you reach 26.2 miles.

And if you start too fast, you eventually get to find out exactly what poor pacing feels like.

The biggest thing the two events have in common is consistency.

You don’t become ready for either one because of one amazing workout.

You become ready because you keep showing up.

Swim. Bike. Run. Recover. Repeat.

That’s the plan.

Whether it works exactly the way I think it will is something I’ll find out over the next few months.