Studying: Ironman 101

Well, I have spent the last few days with my nose glued to 2 books that I received for Christmas.  They are must reads for any Ironbound athlete or anyone that is looking for a cup of inspiration.  The first book is called 17 Hours to Glory by Mathias Muller which I was very excited to dig into as I thought it was going to be about other triathletes that completed the Ironman close to the 17 hour cut off.  That is exactly what it was not!  It was a book about inspiration and extraordinary athletes that perservered to qualify and set records at the Ultimate Ironman in Hawaii.  The stories were about many of the top professionals and inspirational athletes with disabilities and their journey not only to get to Hawaii, but to set personal and course records as well as their journey to the TOP.  In the end, their trials and tribulations are not much different than the average Joe triathlete.....just a lot faster!  I hurried through that book and was excited to get to the ordinary athletes in the second book called YOU ARE AN IRONMAN by Jacques Steinberg which was a story of ordinary people who decided to take on an extraordinatry feat and it so happened that the  5 people that Steinberg chronicles were training to do the Arizona Ironman.  Both books were full of stories of people searching for greatness within themselves or finding a way to make themselves great.  It was about the decsion to take on the challenge of something big and the journey toward it.  I could relate to so much of what each athlete was going through and was happy to read a book about ordinary people.  I highly recommend both books.

Warning:  If you are looking for pure confidence, you might want to find some other book to read as there are many trials and tribulations including bike crashes, accidents, overuse injuries, bad luck, fears and phobias and environmental factors that might cause you to think twice about training for the IM.  However, I am not going to let fear control me.  It is part of the package and the difference is that a champion faces his fears and conquers them head on.  Happy Reading. 

Things Don't Always Go As Planned: Expect the Unexpected and Plan for it!

This week has been a reminder that things don't always go as planned so prepare for the unexpected.  My plan for the weeks before beginning training with the group that I signed up to train for IM on January 18th with were to be focused on recovering from my previous season, getting lots of rest, maintaining a base and focusing on weight training.  During the hustle and bustle of the season, I caught a bug, so I have been trying to do the right thing and just take it easy instead of sending myself on a downward spiral.  I have been taking more rest days and doing short workouts and my mind is going crazy as it does not like rest.  Here's hoping that I will get back on track soon.  Then I thought that this bug might be a reminder about always having a plan about how to proceed when the unexpected arrives, because if you do triathlons, you know that it will.  In my case over the last 2 years I wanted to complete a half ironman.  The first year when I was ready to do it, our dam broke and the lake that holds the big event was drained.  Then one of our local racing companies added another half IM distance event in the spring after the dam was repaired and the lake was refilled.  So I trained again and the night before we had rain which caused the swim portion of my first half to be canceled due to the city's rain policy and testing for e.coli!  As down as I felt about it and the mental struggles I endured during the triathlon that turned duathalon....I realized that there will always be factors that I will be unable to control and so I need to have to have an emergency response system built into my mind and body. 

In the midst of the hustles and bustles of the holiday season, my Santa brought me lots of motivational tools including my first Ironman Poster which reads BELIEVE, IRONMAN AZ 2012.  WE SUPPORT YOU!  signed by all our house guests.  In addition, I also received a bike trainer for indoor cycling when weather or darkness try to prevent a workout, bicycle cleaning supplies, socks, clothes and trinkets, motivational IM books, a super duper blender for my nutritional needs and best of all a turtle hanging on for dear life on a tire swing with the words:  TURTLES DO FLY, JUST LET GO!

So trying to put this cold behind me and clear out the clutter in my head and my house so I can resume my search for a TRI bike, I head into the final week of 2011 setting intentions to gradually get back into action and return to good health so I can start training hard.

FIRST STEPS:
1.  Signing up for IM (CHECK)
2.  Getting all the gear.  (IN PROGRESS)
3.  Joining a group and getting some professional coaching (CHECK:  Starting date January 18, 2012 with racelab (racelab.com) )
4.  Letting go, so I can FLY!

How this tale got started.......

A building thought in the back of one's mind when the turtle is soaring through the water, wind and sky during a work out or an event.  (she hears a soft steady whisper in her ear...Ironman, Ironman, Ironman).  Then reason returns and the mind quiets.  The thoughts return and on a whim, the turtle stops and asks WHY NOT, instead of why.  Courage builds after completing a 3000 meter swim in Tempe Town Lake and a 111 mile bike ride at the El Tour de Tucson.  Now the pressure is on to get into the Ironman AZ event as it has become a popular stomping ground for pro and amateur triathletes and is the turtle's home turf.  The competition begins as hundreds of people sign up to volunteer for the event in order to get priority registration the next day at 5 am to be one of the 2500 lucky ones to compete the following year.  The turtle makes the first CUT OFF and is officially registered for 2012 AZ Ironman.

And that is where this story begins......come along for the ride!