Nick HutchisonFounder and CEO, BookThinkers

Because of this book— I did my first sprint triathlon! Have you ever competed in a triathlon?

18 Jun 2024 · 1 min

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In this personal vlog, Nick Hutchinson explains how reading the book Built to Finish motivated him to enter and complete his first sprint triathlon. He shares three key takeaways from the experience: (1) conditioning is crucial—he underestimated the combined difficulty of swimming, biking, and running but enjoyed the challenge; (2) understanding bike gears is essential—indoor training left him unprepared for outdoor riders, causing him to fall behind despite strong effort; (3) proper hydration matters—accidentally drinking saltwater during the ocean swim upset his stomach and limited his water intake. Hutchinson set a goal of 1 hour 30 minutes, finishing in about 1 hour 26 minutes, and has already signed up for another triathlon in September. He encourages viewers to read Built to Finish as a source of motivation for tackling sprint or longer-distance triathlons.

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Because of this book and because of this author, I just did my first sprint triathlon, and here were my 3 favorite takeaways. Number 1, the conditioning is everything. I definitely underestimated how difficult it would be to swim and then bike and then run, but I had so much fun doing it. Number 2, I need to understand the gears on the bike a little bit better. I didn't take the time to ride the bike outdoors. I did a lot of indoor training, so I got on this bike and people were flying by me even though I was pedaling my butt off because I didn't understand the gears. And then number 3, I need to do a better job hydrating. Long story short, I drank a bunch of saltwater accidentally during the ocean water swim, and then I wasn't able to drink much water because my stomach couldn't handle it. Overall, my goal was an hour and a half. I did it in about an hour and 26 minutes, so I'm happy about that. And I signed up for another one in September. If I've motivated you to read this book, Built to Finish, you're going to get motivated to do a sprint triathlon or maybe a longer distance one just like me.