When I first mentioned to people that I would be doing this race, many people gave me the look, “Really? You think you can do this?” And to be fair to those people, I was thinking the same thing in my head. There was also that fact that I was not nearly as healthy looking as I am today. I was so afraid of not being ready that I actually started training for my full Ironman in October by doing a half Ironman training plan. Once I completed that plan, I was then ready to even attempt to start the full Ironman training.
I remember my first look at what was ahead of me in my full Ironman training calendar. I instantly zoomed in on week 21—how was I ever going to be able to do a 6 hour bike ride followed by a 45 minute run, and then get up the very next day and swim 4,300 yards and wrap all that up with a 3 hour run? It all seemed so impossible to me at that time. What a difference a year makes!
Yoda reminded me, “ Do or do not…there is no try!” Well okay, he didn’t actually speak to me, but when I saw it on a bumper sticker on the back of a truck parked along the coast, I knew it was just the inspiration I needed to stop complaining and just do it. Because while this sounds harsh, it is a truth I need to face. I either complete Ironman, or I don’t. Sure I can try, but in the end either I cross that finish line in time, or I do not. Luckily, that is just how I have approached my training as well. No matter how hard it has been to get up before the sun to train, and no matter how much I dread spending most of my weekend days training long hours, I just did it. And it is this digging deep that I am hoping will drive me across the finish line so that I can add my name to the list of people that took on this challenge and succeeded. I planned, I trained, and I will conquer!