"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence and then success is sure." ~Mark Twain
It's hard to believe that we can now say "we're doing an Ironman next year." Next year seems so...close. And I still can't even completely wrap my head around doing an entire Ironman. I start to panic when I get past the 2.4 mile swim and envision the bike ride of 112 miles. What does that even look like?? Let alone the 26.2 mile run for dessert!
The only confidence I have is that I'm so ignorant, there is no way I'm not going to succeed. In 2007, I said I was going to run a marathon. I didn't know a lot of marathoners. I didn't grow up with marathoners. But there was this desire--and a fair amount of ignorance--that spurred me forward. And so I ran a marathon. In 2012, I said I was going to do a Half Ironman. I don't think I knew a single person that had done one. But, with my ignorance in full display, I did a Half Ironman.
And next year, I'm doing a Full Ironman.
What did 2018 look like? There were a lot of miles. And some fun moments. There were a few tears and a few setbacks and some tough conversations. But overall, it was an amazing year. I learned a lot of what it's going to take--physically, mentally, emotionally--to do this. I have settled into a routine that will (hopefully) keep me sane. And, for the first time in a long, long, time, I am excited for what's going to happen.
We ran two marathons in 2018. The first, Ogden, I felt like I was trained pretty good for, but at mile 14, I hit a wall and crawled to the finish line. I wasn't that disappointed in my time--it was my 2nd fastest marathon--just frustrated with how I can take people and train them to do their bests but I struggle with racing myself. I let go of the structured workouts and the paces and just ran through the summer. We found some amazing routes that took us places few people we know have seen by foot. Every week I would discover some place new we had never been and we just didn't care about our pace. We spent a lot of time at Kneaders afterwards. It was an amazing summer of running. So, there was not a lot of expectation when we toed the line of our bonus marathon in August. We were there for Shanon and in memory of her dad. So imagine my surprise when that turned into the best marathon experience I have had. I enjoyed almost every moment of that race. The hills, the dirt out and back, the scenery. The friends. And I felt incredible. Before, during, after. I feel almost guilty with how much I enjoyed that race because I may have been the only one. But, it inspired me to just be happy. Be happy with where I am. Be happy with who I am with. Be happy that this is how I spend my Saturdays. Just: happy.
In October, Hillary and I went down to St George and attempted the bike course for the Half Ironman in May. It was a humbling, life-re-evaluating, demoralizing ride. Coming home, I knew I needed to change some things in order to make it a good race. And I was finally in a spot where I wanted it bad enough. I hired a nutritionist, got myself on a diet, and fought hard for two months. In those two months I dropped 20 pounds. I started eating healthier. I gave up the sugar and the Diet Coke and basically everything that tasted good. I joined the Masters Swimming class at the pool. They meet twice a week at 5:30 in the morning. I am the slowest swimmer there. Even the dude who could barely swim when he started in September has passed me up. But I keep going. I'm not out to beat any of them. I am only out to beat myself.
In November, I put together a 6 week training plan that was designed to see how far I could be pushed physically and mentally. I swam and biked four times a week, ran three days, and did strength training twice. For four weeks, I felt incredible. I was killing it! The last two weeks were a struggle though. But, I only missed two workouts the entire time--one swim because my shoulder was hurting and one strength training session. I had finally honed in on what it was going to take to complete this goal and I think I found my limits. In addition, I dropped another 10 pounds for the year (I lost 40 pounds total in 2018!) and am 6 pounds away from where I was in 2012. I can *almost* zip up my wetsuit. Someone once said that "Nothing tastes as good as being skinny." That's a lie. Thousands upon thousands of things taste better than being skinny. But, if I workout 3 hours a day, maybe I can have both. :)
This blog is going to become a more regular fixture in my training. I want to be able to look back and see how things have changed and what all it took to get to that finish line in Wisconsin.
A friend this morning on our run said that she admires that I dream up these big goals and I'm not afraid to do them. I told her it was probably because I am too ignorant to know any better. But she's right. I do dream big. And so far, I'm smashing it!
It's hard to believe that we can now say "we're doing an Ironman next year." Next year seems so...close. And I still can't even completely wrap my head around doing an entire Ironman. I start to panic when I get past the 2.4 mile swim and envision the bike ride of 112 miles. What does that even look like?? Let alone the 26.2 mile run for dessert!
The only confidence I have is that I'm so ignorant, there is no way I'm not going to succeed. In 2007, I said I was going to run a marathon. I didn't know a lot of marathoners. I didn't grow up with marathoners. But there was this desire--and a fair amount of ignorance--that spurred me forward. And so I ran a marathon. In 2012, I said I was going to do a Half Ironman. I don't think I knew a single person that had done one. But, with my ignorance in full display, I did a Half Ironman.
And next year, I'm doing a Full Ironman.
What did 2018 look like? There were a lot of miles. And some fun moments. There were a few tears and a few setbacks and some tough conversations. But overall, it was an amazing year. I learned a lot of what it's going to take--physically, mentally, emotionally--to do this. I have settled into a routine that will (hopefully) keep me sane. And, for the first time in a long, long, time, I am excited for what's going to happen.
We ran two marathons in 2018. The first, Ogden, I felt like I was trained pretty good for, but at mile 14, I hit a wall and crawled to the finish line. I wasn't that disappointed in my time--it was my 2nd fastest marathon--just frustrated with how I can take people and train them to do their bests but I struggle with racing myself. I let go of the structured workouts and the paces and just ran through the summer. We found some amazing routes that took us places few people we know have seen by foot. Every week I would discover some place new we had never been and we just didn't care about our pace. We spent a lot of time at Kneaders afterwards. It was an amazing summer of running. So, there was not a lot of expectation when we toed the line of our bonus marathon in August. We were there for Shanon and in memory of her dad. So imagine my surprise when that turned into the best marathon experience I have had. I enjoyed almost every moment of that race. The hills, the dirt out and back, the scenery. The friends. And I felt incredible. Before, during, after. I feel almost guilty with how much I enjoyed that race because I may have been the only one. But, it inspired me to just be happy. Be happy with where I am. Be happy with who I am with. Be happy that this is how I spend my Saturdays. Just: happy.
In October, Hillary and I went down to St George and attempted the bike course for the Half Ironman in May. It was a humbling, life-re-evaluating, demoralizing ride. Coming home, I knew I needed to change some things in order to make it a good race. And I was finally in a spot where I wanted it bad enough. I hired a nutritionist, got myself on a diet, and fought hard for two months. In those two months I dropped 20 pounds. I started eating healthier. I gave up the sugar and the Diet Coke and basically everything that tasted good. I joined the Masters Swimming class at the pool. They meet twice a week at 5:30 in the morning. I am the slowest swimmer there. Even the dude who could barely swim when he started in September has passed me up. But I keep going. I'm not out to beat any of them. I am only out to beat myself.
In November, I put together a 6 week training plan that was designed to see how far I could be pushed physically and mentally. I swam and biked four times a week, ran three days, and did strength training twice. For four weeks, I felt incredible. I was killing it! The last two weeks were a struggle though. But, I only missed two workouts the entire time--one swim because my shoulder was hurting and one strength training session. I had finally honed in on what it was going to take to complete this goal and I think I found my limits. In addition, I dropped another 10 pounds for the year (I lost 40 pounds total in 2018!) and am 6 pounds away from where I was in 2012. I can *almost* zip up my wetsuit. Someone once said that "Nothing tastes as good as being skinny." That's a lie. Thousands upon thousands of things taste better than being skinny. But, if I workout 3 hours a day, maybe I can have both. :)
This blog is going to become a more regular fixture in my training. I want to be able to look back and see how things have changed and what all it took to get to that finish line in Wisconsin.
A friend this morning on our run said that she admires that I dream up these big goals and I'm not afraid to do them. I told her it was probably because I am too ignorant to know any better. But she's right. I do dream big. And so far, I'm smashing it!
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