Pro Triathlete Simon Shi: Racing Through My Roots: Ironman 70.3 Shanghai and How H2O Audio Helped Me Get There

This is how H2O audio has helped my training and preparations for Ironman 70.3 Shanghai

A typical week of training involves anywhere from 20 to 30 hours of working out per week. I’m very focused and have a dedicated schedule each day to perform my workouts. Some of these training sessions require intense focus and that’s where H2O Audio comes into play.

I have 3 H2O Audio devices: Tri 2 Pro, RIPT Ultra, and RIPT Lite. I mainly use the Tri 2 Pro when I’m cycling and running so I can stay safe while I’m training outside, especially on the road when I’m biking.

I usually train on my own, so there are lots of ups and downs when it comes to how I’m feeling and my mood, but I listen to a lot of music and sometimes podcasts so I can get inspiration from other people. This helps me with my workouts because it distracts me from the pain.

When I left for China, I flew out of Los Angeles so it was about a 14 hour direct flight to Shanghai. But luckily the RIPT Ultra had a wire connection that came with it so I was able to watch movies on the plane with this instead of the cheap headphones that the airlines provided you with. I was also able to listen to music on my phone with RIPT Lite and this made the travel a little bit more enjoyable as I was on this 14 hour flight.

I was already beginning to shift my time zones and my sleep schedule two days before my travel so I was not really jet lagged and timed everything right so that I would adapt to the 15 hour time zone shift as quickly as possible with only four days there before a race day.

 

I had a good prep leading up to this race. I felt great and it was pretty cool to visit my heritage country again since the last time I visited was in 2019.

During the race I had a 24 minutes 45 seconds swim. Not my best swim since I felt some tightness in my chest and had to deal with that issue. I got on the bike and rode 56 miles in 2 hours and 8 minutes, I was nailing my nutrition plan and was ready to see if I could catch up to people on the run. I was 9th place coming off the bike and in the run I didn’t really see anybody until the last 5 km then I started to push myself as hard as possible and eventually caught up and passed 2 people in the last 1 km and finished 7th overall with a time of 3 hours 56 minutes. I ran a 1 hour and 19 minutes half marathon in pretty hot and humid condition. 

After the race, I was pretty stoked to visit my family and Jinhua and enjoyed some time with them before heading back home to the USA. Overall, a great experience racing in China and connecting with family. I’m currently resting and getting ready for Ironman 70.3 Boise at the end of July.