Ironman!

            In case you don't know, an Ironman is a race that consists of a 2.4mi swim, 112mi bike, and a marathon (26.2mi run).  Yes, all in one day and one right after the other in that order!  It's something of a dream of mine to do since signing up for my first triathlon a little over two years ago.  The thought of traversing 140.6mi using only your body's energy in about half a day is intriguing to me, if not a little crazy!

            Well, my first tri was a sprint (600yd swim, 15mi bike, 5k run) and just about everything I've done since that race has been a build up just to get the nerves to decide on signing up for an Ironman.  I’ve completed a bunch of running races from 5k to half marathon and I’m currently training for a full marathon.  For triathlon I’ve finished 3 sprints, 2 olympics (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run), and 2 half Ironmans (1.2mi swim, 56mi bike, 13.1mi run).  I still remember that during the run leg of my second triathlon, which was a sprint in Budapest, for some reason I was wondering about the distance of an Ironman and thought, “Whoa, an Ironman is like doing almost 9 sprints!”  So, even though the dream was there, it still seemed like either I would never get there or it would take a lifetime achieve.

            I had to get there somehow so about a week or two after doing my first tri in June 2010, I signed up for a half Ironman that took place on May 15, 2011 in Orlando.  I guess completing that race gave me a little more to go on, although I was still thinking “Whoa, an Ironman is double that?!”  But, it was ok, I knew that with my school plans I may not have a chance until 2013 to sign up for one anyway.  So, I trained for a few olympic distance races and another half Ironman in 2011, a good year by the way, and built upon the fitness I gained for the Orlando race.  And I tell you, if you want to be all around fit, triathlon is the way to go!

            Since that last half Ironman I did with my brother in October I’ve only been running.  Again, because I thought I may be starting nursing school in June 2012, full on triathlon training had to be put on the back burner for a little while.  I raced a half marathon at the end of October and had a huge PR which gave me the idea that if I put everything into running for the next year I may be able to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  I’ve only run one marathon and that was back in 2000!  I couldn’t just expect to go out and qualify on my first one so I planned on running two…a practice marathon in April and then I would go for it at the Chicago Marathon.  Well, with just a few months into training I was starting to get tired of the monotony of only running, even though it’s my favorite between swim/bike/run.  Also, it seemed that if I attempted to qualify for Boston that I would come up at least 5 minutes short of my age group’s qualifying time. 

            As quick as registration opened up for the 2012 Chicago Marathon, it filled up even quicker!  I didn’t sign up and was actually relieved that I didn’t have to go through this crazy marathon training again (I needed something crazier!).  I have to admit, one reason that training is tough right now is winter, even though it’s been quite mild but I don’t do treadmills.  I run outside everyday, rain, snow, ice, freezing temps, you name it I’ve run in it.  That plus missing my bike and getting into the pool, I’m ready for triathlon again.

            Now it turns out that I have to change my plans for school since I just learned I needed 2 more classes to get into the program I’m going for so I’m pushed back another semester, which actually turns out to be the only bad thing about it.  Once the program starts I have a lot of rearranging to do in my life since it would take up most of my time (I’ve seen my brother go through the same program so I’ve got an idea of it).  Then…light bulb!  That leaves lots of time this year for Ironman!  Now I’m really glad I didn’t sign up for the Chicago Marathon. 

            After a few days of thinking of training, when I should race, and then looking for a race that isn’t full (Ironman brand races sell out really quickly, sometimes in only a matter of hours) everything pointed to Ironman Cozumel.  It couldn’t be more perfect actually.  Training starts exactly the day after the marathon in April, goes through the summer and should never get cold enough to complain.  I’ve heard good things about IMCOZ and videos of the race look great.  A few days later I registered, beer in hand to calm my nerves about clicking that “pay now” button (Ironman is not cheap!) and asking my friends on Facebook for some encouragement…thanks to all of you who helped me out in that moment!

            As I’ve mentioned, this is a big deal to me and well worth the time to document it.  I want to put this out there for others to see as I hope someone may find it inspiring.  I’m an ordinary person, nothing special, I was not born with some crazy aerobically enhanced gene-set or ability to not feel pain.  Everything I’ve done up to now is a product of hard work, consistency, and a will to be better than I am.  This goes with anything in life.  You may not want to be an Ironman or even complete a sprint triathlon but I’m sure you can take something away from here and apply it to your own life.

            Ok, that’s that, you know how I ended up registering for an Ironman.  The journey begins!