You may have heard the analogy: You start off every race with a box of matches. Every time you make an effort, you burn a match (or two, or three). When you've used all your matches, you're done. Knees fall off, collapse, lose. Sprint up out of the swim: matches burned. Surge out of T1 on the bike to impress the crowd: matches burned. Power up that hill: matches burned.

In this article, we'll look at the physiology behind the matchbox, and then discuss the relevance to endurance sports. Understanding this piece of science is critical to your race pacing.

If you've just signed up for your first Ironman or Ironman 70.3 (or even decided that now is the time to spurn pie and arise from your comfy couch), chances are you're going to need to make some changes to your life. And even if you're a seasoned Triathlon or endurance event veteran, one of the simplest ways to improve your performance is simply to miss fewer workouts. So how do we turn good intentions into lifelong habits? How can we make it normal to get out and train every day?