Intestinal Fortitute

Greetings! On my ride yesterday I got to thinking about a high school soccer coach I had who used to preach the importance of having “intestinal fortitude” to be able to dig deep when you needed that something extra. We really didn’t get it as teenagers. But somewhere along the way of 30 years of racing, 12 Ironman finishers, 26 marathon finishes, a couple of DNFs, and 54 rounds of chemotherapy, I got it. Intestinal fortitude will lift and carry you over rough spots that you didn’t think you could get through. Training may unravel, a race may fall apart, a nutrition plan may fail. But intestinal fortitude will never let you down, unless you consciously decide to let it.