It's Time to Start...

I flip on my iPod. I look down and double check my runners. Double knots... good. Check the watch. 0:00:00...good. Take a long deep breath, squint my eyes just slightly, enough to give off the "let's do this" look with my half smile cued and ready. I hit play... the words come on "It's time to start".

This Blue Man Group track has been song 1 on my Triathlon playlist for years now and, as the title suggests, it is there for a reason. It's the mental cue, that unconscious response, that subtle kick that gets me excited.... It's time to start.

Last August I signed up for Ironman Canada, a 140.6 mile long triathlon that takes place in Penticton BC on August 30th, 2009. As Chevy Chase said so well "This is crazy... this is crazy... this is crazy". You have to sign up in person, so Jenn and I went last summer and volunteered to get a front row seat for the action and a short cut to the registration table. Putting your name on that line saying "Yes, I plan on completing Ironman" sends all kinds of crazy feelings through your body. You swallow harder, you size up the 500 other crazies waiting in line with you so see who else is slightly mentally off, you dig deep and question your strength, you wonder who else is questioning themselves, you walk away knowing whatever happens it is going to be an amazing adventure and, the truth is, you have NO idea what is coming your way.

This week marks the end of my first "real" month of training. I have been lightly working out all fall and winter, but this week is the first reality check. My first big one. 10-12 workouts a week. 3 swims, 3 bikes, 3 runs, 2 trips to the weights and a hot yoga for good measure. It sounds crazy just writing it. In fact I just opened up my training log to double check. Yup, 12 weekly workouts. 7 days in a week, 12 workouts in a week. This is crazy...this is crazy... this is crazy.... This is my life now.

...I am feeling strong. The sky is dark and the air is cool but I love running at night. I went out fast but I am not yet tired. 21 minutes in and it feels like 15. Tonight I am testing how long it will take to get the 7.4k loop around the neighborhood. Funny how 4.5 miles has become "around the neighborhood". Fast feet, high cadence, fly past the occasional pedestrian and side step the neighborhood dogs. The air feels cold as my skin heats up and I can almost close my eyes and run. I have done this route many times. 26 minutes and I start to feel it. The wall. It happens every run. A weird sluggish time that no matter what I do seems to creep in and fill my quads with lead and puts cement in my shoes when I am not looking. I know it well. It has been my nemesis for years now and this time I decide to fight back. "It's in your head.... It's in your head.... You are stronger than this..." The mantras start and push the lead away. Knock the cement aside. Push the feet forward. Faster. Stronger. Gotta get the green light on the next block. Charge up that hill. Stay in this moment. Leave it all here. "But this is only a training run... you are just testing tonight." No excuses tonight Mr. Selftalk, this one is all mine... I cross the 7.4k line and click my watch. 35:52! 4:50/kilometre! Fastest run yet! That half grin broadens and confidence drips off me faster than the sweat. Ironman here we come....It's time to start!

The blog... No I don't think I am so important that everyone should read what I write. From time to time I put words into an entertaining order that you might enjoy, but this page also has many other purposes. This is a place for me to get all these thoughts, dreams, fears, ups and downs out of my head, and yet still have a place to keep them so I can look back throughout this adventure. This is a place where I can write all the stuff that Jenn is so often forced to listen to being the spouse of a triathlete (I love her for that and for being my biggest fan, but even she deserves a break from time to time!). This is a place I can be as triathlete dorky as I want and post pictures and links and whatever else that gets my spandex clad, protein bar nourished, carbon fibre, strawberry-banana gel flavoured self along this road to Ironman.

Join me if you will. I would love any encouragement and thoughts along the way. It can be a long lonely road out there and the support means more than you can possibly ever understand. Thanks in advance! I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I will. And so it begins, it's time to start...


(Here's the song from my playlist. It's a pretty crazy video, the music geek in me loves this stuff and live it's amazing, but the song is a great rockin' running tune as well! Enjoy!)