How it started...

Everybody has a bucket list., "things to do in life before you die" kinda list. Honestly I really didn't have any. It seems like when I think of something cool to do, I almost jump on it right away. Like running a marathon, I started running in Feb 2006. I started with 2 miles on a treadmill twice a week and then it grew to 4 miles. It felt great. Running became more frequent and longer when I got a job transfer from Des Moines to Atlanta. It was a huge stress release. Moving to a big city (well... compared to Des Moines) by myself, a new job, and the fact that I didn't know anybody in Atlanta, except a couple people from work, were pretty stressful. I didn't have a friend who had done a marathon before until I moved here and met with Colleen. That's when I started entertaining the idea of running marathon, which I found out that the distance was 26.2 miles or 42KM. That's a long way to run. Fast forward 5 months later... I ran my first marathon, ING Atlanta, in March 2007.

After ING, I was tired of running and wanted to do something different. Welcome to triathlon world. After I bought my first bike in July, I completed a sprint tri in August. My bike speed was 13-14 MPH. It exceeded my expectation since my goal was not to fall off the bike. It was a great experience but I went back to running and training for Rock 'n Roll Arizona Marathon in January 2008. Late that year, I signed up for another season with Team in Training and this time the event was St. Anthony's Olympic Distance tri. That was my first season training seriously for a triathlon. I was hooked since then. I did many tri's including 3 Half IM's in the next 2 years.

I thought about Ironman when TNT had a team for IM AZ last year. I wanted to do it but I just knew it wasn't the right time. I just got a new job in the trading room and I wanted to take CTP in 2011.
At the recommitment party for the Fall season, Susan shared why she joined TNT and she also mentioned that she would do an IM next year. I was impressed. I didn't know that she was interested in doing one. So, when I saw her at a training ride, I asked which event she signed up. It was Canada. The registration was in August. She planned to sign up when it opened. I was pleasantly surprised when she asked if I wanted to do it too. I never thought I was an IM material. After the ride, I went home and checked out the bike course. Holy Molly! There were two mountains on the elevation chart. There was no way I was going to sign up for IM Canada. The next time around I saw Susan. I told her that I wasn't going to sign up. She said, the course was beautiful. She was there before spectating for Ellen's brother. Then, I found out also that Mark Helton did that course 5 times. That was nuts. I know the course was pretty but if I couldn't get up those mountains, who cares how gorgeous the course was? I wouldn't enjoy myself laying on the side of a beautiful apple orchard. Canada was off the list.

A couple of weeks later, we had a tormentor swim. Basically we were swimming in circle and the mentors were trying to be disruptive. It was to practice open water swim. I didn't swim so I was on the deck. In the middle of the work out, Susan got off the pool. Her blood sugar was low and she decided it was time to eat some gel. She became a type 1 diabetes after her pancreas was removed. I ended up talking to Mary Doyle and Susan. IM CA came up again. I told Mary that I wouldn't do it because the bike course looked so tough. She looked at me and said "of all people, you who weigh 4 pounds wouldn't do IM CA because of the bike course. It wasn't that bad." I just laughed, but it made me think of Canada again. I guess I wasn't sure of my decision yet. The con was tough bike course. The pro's were the bike and run courses were gorgeous, I have Susan as my training buddy who was at my bike pace, this is once in a lifetime thing for me, why not go all out, pick a great place to suffer for 16 hours. I was just looking to finish in one piece within 17 hours. So, there you go. I made up my mind. I signed up for IM CA the day after the race. The registration was open at 12PM Penticton time, which was 3PM EST. I was so nervous sitting in of my computer at work. I hit refresh several times until it let me in a few seconds after the clock turned 3PM. I filled out the form like crazy, typed in my credit card numbers, and hit submit. Then.... I was IN. Is that it? "What have I done" thoughts were in my mind. Yup. That's it. Now comes the tough part, training. This blog is to document my soup to nuts experience during 2012 Ironman Canada training. I know it will be a tough long journey but this is what I sign up for!