And so it begins
To be honest, to say my journey towards Ironman Florida begins today would be anything but the truth. I remember, vividly, the first time I the thought of completing an Ironman crossed my mind. I was sitting at my desk at work, just over two years ago, having just completed my first marathon and I read something about this elusive Ironman. I knew that I didn't have it in me at the time, but said to myself "one day."
I decided that day would be November 2, 2013, on September 30, 2012. I told myself I wouldn't even think about a full 140.6 until I completed my first 70.3. That happened in September. A week later, I was meeting with a coach. He told me he thought Florida would be a great first race, and that was all I needed to hear. I was on the computer, ready to hit the big green register button on Active as soon as registration opened. But that was the easy part...
Now comes the part that makes or breaks you. The training. You only get one first Ironman, I want to remember everything about training for that day. The ups and the downs. The moments I feel like I could ride or run forever and the moments I feel like I could take my bike, which I absolutely adore, tear it into little pieces and shove them one by one down the garbage disposal (too aggressive? sorry about that). I have an efficient system in place for logging my workouts and the details of each one. That's not what this is going to be about. Sure I may talk about a workout now and then, about how it made me feel alive or unbreakable or like I want to ride my bike to a really tall bridge and throw it off (where is all this aggression towards my bike coming from?), or how I loved the workout or how I hated it. But mostly, I want to document how this process affects me, Rosalyn. How it breaks me, beats me down, and spits me out the other side a stronger, more alive person. I feel like I'm ready for it. That I'm finally in a place where I can handle the training and am willing to make the necessary sacrifices to crossing that finish line in November. I'm ready to hurt and I'm ready to work hard. Like I've never worked for anything in my life.
My coach told me that my workouts for Ironman will make me wish it was race day, because race day is going to be easy compared to what my workouts will put me through. I hope he's right...
I decided that day would be November 2, 2013, on September 30, 2012. I told myself I wouldn't even think about a full 140.6 until I completed my first 70.3. That happened in September. A week later, I was meeting with a coach. He told me he thought Florida would be a great first race, and that was all I needed to hear. I was on the computer, ready to hit the big green register button on Active as soon as registration opened. But that was the easy part...
Now comes the part that makes or breaks you. The training. You only get one first Ironman, I want to remember everything about training for that day. The ups and the downs. The moments I feel like I could ride or run forever and the moments I feel like I could take my bike, which I absolutely adore, tear it into little pieces and shove them one by one down the garbage disposal (too aggressive? sorry about that). I have an efficient system in place for logging my workouts and the details of each one. That's not what this is going to be about. Sure I may talk about a workout now and then, about how it made me feel alive or unbreakable or like I want to ride my bike to a really tall bridge and throw it off (where is all this aggression towards my bike coming from?), or how I loved the workout or how I hated it. But mostly, I want to document how this process affects me, Rosalyn. How it breaks me, beats me down, and spits me out the other side a stronger, more alive person. I feel like I'm ready for it. That I'm finally in a place where I can handle the training and am willing to make the necessary sacrifices to crossing that finish line in November. I'm ready to hurt and I'm ready to work hard. Like I've never worked for anything in my life.
My coach told me that my workouts for Ironman will make me wish it was race day, because race day is going to be easy compared to what my workouts will put me through. I hope he's right...
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