Time for Sap

As I sit here on my comfortable couch, the blanket taking off the extra chill the furnace can't resolve, I think about how strong my desire is to complete an Ironman. I then think about my last tri and wonder if I shouldn't reconsider...

Cue flashback music.

Her feet were moving her forward. The heat was holding her back. It was a complete physiological tug of war and she was loving and hating every minute of it.

The swim and bike were now behind her. She'd been last out of the water, passed no one on the bike and would - without a doubt - not be gaining enough on the run to make a good placing. But that wasn't the point.

At least she looked like she belonged, though, having bought a tri suit a few days before that she thought made her look like a superhero. It was a disguise to hide her lack of credibility, one that might buy her time until it would be her endurance and speed that could earn her respect in the sport.

In the middle of her run, she found herself thinking, "This is so brutal. Maybe I'll just be that triathlete who races Sprints the rest of her life. Yeah, I think that's what I'll do. No longer races than this for me."

End flashback music.

It's so easy to say to yourself when you're not racing, "Yup, I'm going to do an Ironman in the next couple years. Yup, that's what I'm going to do. Yes, sir." But when you're in the middle of a race, you really do have a different perspective on your abilities.

However, I think it is this cognitive dissonance between our dream and our current abilities that makes triathlon so unusual - and so lovable.

It is that gap that we must bridge, spending our days swallowing water, making out with pavement and twisting our ankles on that gnarly tree root on the trail so that we can cross the finish line about which we'd only been dreaming.

So, I'm going to continue to dream. I'm going to continue to train so that the dream dies - but only because it has been replaced by reality.

Ironman Championship 2008

Yes, there's one for triathlons, too.

There are many Ironman events around the globe. Just to name a few, there is one in China, Brazil, Japan, Australia, Lake Placid, France, Frankfurt, Canada, Switzerland, and, yes, even Louisville, Kentucky if you can believe it. The championship race happens in Kona, in Hawaii every year.

At the very end of this post, you'll find a link to the hour-long NBC special about Kona this past year. Even if you're not that into triathlons, it's just spectacular story-telling, and I promise you you won't be bored.

The lady who won the women's race is Chrissie Wellington. She had a flat tire, lost her CO2, had to rely on the kindness of another competitor to give her hers and came back after losing 5 minutes on the bike to win the thing.

There's the story of a former motorcross champ Ricky James. Because of an accident he became a paraplegic. He was racing his first IM.

A Navy SEAL, David Goggins, was racing to raise money for kids of fallen comrades. He said that a Navy SEAL holding a bake sale just wouldn't cut it. He needed "something medieval" to do so he picked the IM. A Major League Baseball player, Jeff Conine, was a competitor as well.

But, probably my favorite story is of Harriet Anderson, a 72 year old racing her 17th IM. I've decided that I want to be her when I grow up.

So, enjoy, be inspired and, as always, thanks for stopping by.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/52585/ford-ironman-world-championship-2008-ironman-world-championships?c=Sports

New Year's Surprise

If you treat the first day of the new year like any other day, it will be any other day.

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The cold weather out my door was laughing at my cowardice, using the wind that knocked against my windows as its bellowing voice.

Each time I responded with a shudder. Each time I lost a little bit more determination.

Then came yesterday. The wind was absent. The sun seemed to offer me its warmth, its energy, its strength. I felt stronger as if today could be the day I break out of my running rut. It was 29 degrees and I'd run and biked in colder weather, afterall. The few weeks I'd missed running outside were over. The new day was offering me a chance to claim my blank slate.

However, even though the wind wasn't present today, I didn't need it to discourage me. It had left enough of a mark within me the last couple weeks for me to take up its flag in its absence. "Boy, it's just so cold outside," was how the flag always began its wave. Today was no different.

Gary and I don't do anything to celebrate New Year's. It's just not that big of a deal to us. However, as the New Year's Day afternoon began to fade, I realized that I simply could not start off a new year with another excuse, with another day of cowering before the cold air outside.

I got dressed and put on my heart rate monitor. "I don't know whether I'll be back in an hour or twenty minutes," I told Gary as I grabbed a bottle of water and left the door.

The first five minutes are always the hardest because they're the coldest. I had quickly decided that I would just run for two miles; however, when I got to my turn-around point, I realized I had the energy to make it three.

I am so glad I didn't give in to the fear. That run was refreshing and invigorating and I am so glad I took that first step out my door.

Even though I try not to make too big a deal out of the first day of the year, the truth is I would have regretted not running yesterday, of giving in to the comfort I wanted to maintain.

I have got to remember that if we spend our days waiting around for the perfect conditions to do something, we may never get it done. Afterall, the sword isn't forged in circumstances that are easy. Stressed under fire and finished by cold water, it only becomes what it's meant to be under the unusual.

I didn't want yesterday to go out as any other day. Whether I liked it or not, this first day was becoming special to me. Now, it's even more so.

Swimming Like a "Standstill" Tornado

They say that if you're on the ground watching a tornado move, and then there come a few seconds when it doesn't appear to be moving at all, that that is the point where you should become terrified...

...because when it seems like a tornado isn't moving, that means that it's headed your way!

Sometimes it's so easy to not see any progress in your training. Sometimes you feel as if you just put in a good workout, but, hey, that's about it.

It is during these times that you can be sure the payoff is coming, that the tornado is headed in your direction.

My first tri was June 28, 2008. It took me 27 minutes to complete the 400 yard swim. During my swim training 2 days ago, it took me approximately 12 minutes to finish up 400 yards.

I am...just...completely...floored. I knocked a little over 50% off my time on that distance.

The girl who won the race was my age. She finished the swim in 9:02. The girl with the fastest swim time was three years younger than me. She finished it in 6:57.

Looks like my training these past few months has indeed paid off, even when I have doubted many times that it ever would.

The tornado appeared to be standing still, but all these months, a faster time was twisting its way into my life.

Every workout is just another step closer to the goal. Even, and perhaps especially, when it doesn't seem like it.

Published Me

Well, Beginner Triathlete published my article about my first tri today. Be sure to check it out. Thanks, as always, for stopping by.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1525