My Public Declaration of a Private Truth

Years ago I remember standing in some body's house, a friend of a friend, and looking at her framed marathon display; pictures of her at various times on the course, her finishing time and race bib. I thought I'd like to do that. I've watched a 2 hour documentary on first time marathoners and cried at the end. I thought it would be a neat, but mostly impossible goal for me, the lazy, non runner, couch-lover. I researched it. I looked into Team In Training. I was jealous of people who had done a marathon. It was so far out of my reach; I hate running. After I did the Ramblin Rose, I felt like I could do anything, so I signed up for a half marathon to see how it would be...with the idea that if it wasn't that hard I would do a full marathon. I've been running, a lot, and lately, running hasn't been that hard. I've found that with training, I am pretty sure I can do anything. I'm not going to win, and will probably be finishing as most other racers are finishing up their showers and post race meals. But I'll start and I'll finish and I'll have a race medal to show for it and the inner knowledge that I set a goal, worked hard to accomplish it and did it. (Race medals are the coolest race perk. When you finish an endurance event, you get a medal. They differ by event, place and having a cool medal is a goal of most event planners. They are quite heavy and are a source of pride for many people. I didn't know about the medals when I started this all, but now I have to admit I want to build my collection of bling! Here's what my half marathon medal will look like.)

I've talked about Alyse Kelly-Jones and how motivational she is to me. She did an iron man...a 2 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and then a marathon. The first time I heard of an iron man was in 2009 when I was training for my first triathlon. I had to look it up online. My friend Courtney and I stared at the screen in disbelief. They can't mean they do that all on one day? I looked up results to confirm that yes, they do that all in one day, usually a 7am-9pm kinda day. Impossible, I thought.

But then I let it mull over in my brain. I spent a meeting looking at Alyse and thinking...she did it. She doesn't have a cape or other superhero tool. She has a family and a job and a belly. If she can do it....well so can I. With training, I am pretty sure I can do anything. I'm going to do a half and am pretty sure that the once impossible marathon is completely do-able. If that once impossible goal is now possible, well it opens up a host of events including an iron man. I talked it over with Joe. Training is key and you can imagine that if it takes 18 hours to complete an iron man, the training time is monumental. Training for an iron man means no weekend couch fests. I will spend an entire day riding, or running or both. It means early bedtimes, skipping parties and not a lot of drinking because I probably have a long ride/run/swim the next day. It means sore muscles, ice baths, iced knees and a bottle (or seven) of ibuprofen. (Check out this video...hysterical because it is true) Joe knows all that and even though I don't think he understands it all, he is very supportive.

So here is my public declaration of the thing I have known in my heart I've wanted to do for at least a year; I want to complete an iron man by the time I am 40. Here's my plan:

• 2011 (37 years old) - half marathon, improve running, international distance triathlon and open water swim
• 2012 (38 years old)- full marathon (probably the Flying Pig (www.flyingpigmarathon.com) I want my first to mean something...and the Pig, while horribly hard and hilly, is like running through an episode of Amy...This is Your Life. I will run by my high school, where I had my first kiss, my first job, etc. )
• 2013 (39 years old) - half iron man (Ever see a 70.3 sticker on a car and wonder what it meant? That is the total mileage for a half iron man.)
• 2014 (40 years old) - full iron man (That would be the 140.6 sticker.)

I wish I could say why I want to do this or why I feel the need to essentially push my body off the comfortable couch. Sure, I'll get cool medals. But it is something deeper than that, something that is so personal for me. It has nothing to do with the competition and I am surprised by that fact. It's almost as if I feel "Of course I can do that...so why wouldn't I?' I know people think it is crazy, but for me, it is the most logical, sane thing I could do. I just know that I have to do it, or I will always wonder. My brain certainly has very high expectations of me, and I'm OK with that. And if you have read this and thought I am crazy, that's OK. But if in a couple weeks you are still thinking about it, well sorry to say you might be doomed, but let me know. I'd love to have a training partner!