Crew Trust’s Executive Director, Brenda Brooks, traveled to Panama City Beach to participate in a full Ironman Triathlon on November 7th.
Thousands of cheering spectators formed the backdrop for what many consider one of the toughest endurance events in existence with nearly 3000 athletes competing from around the globe.
Brenda approached this difficult sporting event with the same enthusiasm and criteria that she feels is necessary for the success of the CREW Land & Water Trust, passion and enthusiasm for helping others and forming beneficial partnerships that work in cooperation to 
benefit all. Brenda participated in the Ironman Triathlon, constantly encouraging other athletes, stopping to lend assistance, and keeping an ever-present positive attitude built around having fun and enjoying the experience while testing her own resolve.
Lasting over 16 hours she swam 2.4 miles in rough seas with 4-5 foot breakers, biked 112 windy miles and finished by running a full marathon (26.2 miles) into the night, crossing the finish line in the rain for a total of 140.6 miles.
Smiling and elated she accomplished not only a difficult personal goal but in the process truly touched the lives of both athletes and spectators alike.
Congratulations Brenda on a job well done.
Brenda Brooks, YOU are an IRONMAN!
To read more about Brenda’s training leading up to her Ironman visit: http://www.naplesnews.com/community/outside-her-comfort-zone-crew-director-brenda-brooks-to-compete-in-her-first-ironman-ep-1290726433-331144341.html
We REALLY don’t have an energy crisis in Florida – we just need to hitch you up to a generator somewhere!
Your first triathlon is going to be tough. Their is no way to sugar coat it. Go into it with the goal of hianvg fun and finishing it. Focus on your strengths. Running. Run 4-5 times a week and mix 2-4 days of biking in there. Make sure you do some brick workouts (ie. bike and then run workout right afterwords). Mix in some swim training when you can, and make sure your comfortable in open water (lake, ponds, river). This is prob more important than actually being good at swimming. Also, practice your transitions (taking off wetsuit, getting on bike, putting on running shoes), you can save alot of time, just by being good in between the swim, bike, and run.The training program you mentioned is decent, but it depends on what the distance of the triathlon is. Sprint Distance, Olympic Distance, other? I would personally always take one day off a week. I also don’t substitute strength workout for a cardio workout, because the cardio is much more important in triathlon. The min amount of time you should spend training each time on the bike is 1hr, run 30-45min, and swim 30min.Hope this helps.