Tired...only 17 more days.

This morning I woke up tired...Think I am quickly approaching overtraining and ready to be done with Ironman. Rode with my good friend, Pat, this morning and then rode with Hal and Leo this afternoon. All and all 50 miles today. My head tells me I am tired and my legs scream they are tired which is all making me very grumpy. This is the worse part before IM. You just want it to be over and then when it is over, you are sad and want to start all over again. You forget being tired and pain and just remember that $1,000,000,000+ feeling when you cross the finish line. I always say if you could bottle that feeling and sell it, you would be a trizillionaire! Not only do you feel good but you forget all the bad stuff! Every time I do IM, about half way through I think...I do not remember this hurting so bad or being so hard...well, it is because of that feeling at the end. Even at the end of IM Arizona in April (which was my worst showing to date), I had that feeling. The day was not the best but I still had that feeling of accomplishment and this time (after 4 times) I finally heard "You are an Ironman." I had never heard it before, although my friend, Elizabeth, is convinced that is what makes your arms go up when you go over the finish line. I hope so! Just the same I finally heard it! WOW!

What does it mean anyway to be an Ironman? HMMM...it means different stuff to different people. Surely, it means you completed the 140.6 mile journey - no matter what your time or where you did it. It does not make you any less of an Ironman to do the race in Kentucky or Hawaii. You still completed the journey. Are some courses tougher than others? Sure but so is life but we all still complete the journey. To me, it means doing something I never imagined I could. It means being out there no matter for how long and how hard it is and making it through. It means that no matter what happened outside training and how much it hurt inside, you did it. You did it. There are more and more people who can say they are Ironmen and Iron women but seriously, it is probably less than 1% of earth's population. So, whether you finish at 8:10 or 16:59, you are still among an elite population. Now, I never think that of myself because I think I am just a regular person who just can do things for a very long time. I often see myself in the mirror as a slow, fat, dumb and lazy person who is able to keep her body and mind doing things for a long time. Which if you knew me in real life, that would not make sense to you at all...I am a little ADHD and I think way too much. So, even people who are little crazy can be an Ironman. We still did the same 140.6 miles that the leader did. Sorry for the babbling post...just pondering...

Best Ironman so far...IM USA in Lake Placid - do this race. The venue is supreme and the people are soooooooooo nice! One of their bike shops is open 24 hours IM Week! The water is pristine!
Hardest course-IM USA
Toughest mental IM (because of life in outside life)...IM Coeur D'Alene
Flatest course-IM Florida, without a doubt
Coldest swim-IM Coeur D'Alene
Toughest/Hottest day-IM Arizona
Most Emotional Finish - IM Wisconsin...the first one is always the most emotional...

Maybe these will change in 17 days...who knows. All I can honestly hope for (beside a PR) is not to drown, fall off my bike and no blisters on the run and to do all of this and still feel good at the end. One of my greatest joys at every IM is that my parents are always there and just as proud of me as they were at the first one. My mom has a hat you can see from outer space and is always there screaming and worrying but she is always there. My stepdad is always there-mostly worrying-and he is always there, too. Thank goodness for parents who believe in you, no matter how crazy they think you are (trust me, they think I am crazy but support me anyway-with t-shirts even). My biggest sadness for this IM is that I hope to PR and it may be my last IM...and my Doodle will not be there to see it but I know he will be there watching on Ironman Live. So is life. All I can do is put one foot in front of the other and have faith that God will see me through it no matter what.

Today, my friend, Pat, said he was a blessed man and he is (although it might just be with crazy women ;) ). It really started me to thinking that I am blessed too. I have spent a lot of my life looking at the bad things and focusing on me and not everyone else. But I made a vow to myself today to really start trying to look for the good in all situations and focusing on others. Thanks Pat! (Of course, this was after our Waffle House breakfast because of a fog delayed ride...it could have just been the grease talking!)