More than a year ago, I was on a run that would change the course of my life over the last twelve months. My friend Karrie caught me in a moment of weakness, and I agreed to start training for an Ironman. Now mind you, I could hardly swim, and beyond a few trips on my mountain bike with my husband I had very little bike training in my background. So here I was a runner (and not a very fast one at that) attempting a race that few would even consider doing at all, and I really only knew anything about one leg of that race.
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!
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!
This is what week 21 looked like. This past weekend was the dreaded week 21. On Saturday I was on my bike trainer by 5am, so I could get in two hours of riding before my husband and I left to complete an additional four hour ride from Fallbrook to Solana Beach and back. He had calculated that the route would take us approximately two hours out, only when we arrived at the halfway point, I had only clocked about 1 ½ hours, which was not nearly enough. I had to go another fifteen minutes down the coast if I hoped to get all my biking in. While that doesn’t sound like much, it is always difficult, mentally, to add on more to what is already such a challenge. In addition, I was trying this extra by myself and without music. I was getting a little worried about completing it all--and that is when Yoda spoke to me.
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!
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!
So proud that we survived our toughest training weekend!
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