Name: Dustin Givens
Age: 34
Occupation: Product Development Engineer for Qorvo
Years doing triathlon? 3 years. 2018 was my introduction year that I capped off with an Olympic distance race. 2019 was my “let’s see how far I can push it year” and I capped it off with a full Ironman. 2020 is my “let’s see if we can get to the front of the pack year” if all of the races aren’t cancelled!
First Triathlon? Sampson County Super Sprint (2018). I had learned how to swim 2 months earlier and bought a bike 1 month earlier. I barely made it through the 250 yd swim and thought I was going to die on the short bike. It was one of the more humbling experiences of my life. I was hooked instantly.
Your favorite triathlon? Ironman Lake Placid. If you get a chance, make the trip, it’s absolutely beautiful up there.
Meal the night before race? Trader Joe’s penne arrabiata with ground turkey.
Pre-Race Meal? A banana or 2 and some Tailwind liquid.
Race Nutrition? It depends. I’m always consistent with Tailwind for liquid nutrition, SIS for gels, and some base salts mixed in. For longer races sometimes things get crazy, so I’ve tried pretty much everything you can imagine at one point or another!
Favorite motivational training song? I have an eclectic mix that I listen to on most of my longer workouts. I’m a big fan of reggae, southern rock, bluegrass, and rap — weird combo, I know. My go to song is probably Toots & The Maytals – “54-46 Was My Number” or Bob Dylan – “Subterranean Homesick Blues”.
Favorite mantra? How you do anything is how you do everything.
Key Workout? For the bike definitely sweet spot workouts (88-94% of FTP) for varying times/distances. I’ve found getting comfortable being uncomfortable is, at least for me, the most important mental hurdle to jump before race day.
Best Triathlon training or racing tip? Consistency is key. You’ll be way better off doing a year of consistent training than 10 months of sitting on the couch and 2 months of “focused” training.
Triathlon literature or other sources of information? As a nerdy engineer I’m always interested in books that take a quantitative approach. I recently read “Triathlon 2.0” by Jim Vance, which is a great book if you want to consider structuring your training plan around proven data-driven metrics.
Who inspires you? Volunteers at races. By the end of a lot of races I’m feeling pretty rough. It always seems like the energetic folks in the last miles give me a boost to keep going that is more powerful than any snack or gel I could have.
Future goal or bucket list race? My goal for this year is 10:29:29 at Ironman Maryland, if that race even ends up happening. In 2021, I move up an age group so I plan to be solely focused on trying to get a Kona spot (might need some help from the roll-down Gods), with Kona being my ultimate bucket list race.