sporty: June 2007 Archives

As I type this, 2,000 athletes and their friends and families are descending upon a little town in North Idaho for a week filled of excitement and adrenalin and pain and dreams coming true (and some being shattered). Its Ironman week. And I'm not there.

The fact that IMCDA is this weekend also means that it has been a year .. a full year ... since I have been in tip top shape. This year off has been fabulous for me. I've rested and recovered and hung out with friends and moved and gotten back on the trail. And I've also rekindled the desire to train.

Apparently nothing gets you off your ass like a year spent sitting on it.

I've yet to really ride since we moved to Colorado but I have been running and lifting regularly. And it feels SO GOOD to be getting back in shape. After five straight years of taking "Ironman shape" for granted - now I'm able to appreciate it. I still have a long long way to go before I'm even remotely close to where I was, but its just nice to want to do it again.

The fact that IMCDA is this weekend, and the ridiculous rate at which these things fill up, also brings up the question of what happens next year?. My pal Katie has not forgotten that on a slightly drunken night in Denver a few months back we toasted to Ironman Wisconsin 08. I'm considering it (as well as maybe Lake Placid or Canada - but probably Wisconsin). There's a few things I need to figure out first - whether I can afford it, whether I want to commit to something that big right away ... but I'm really excited about the possibility. And it would be really fun to have someone doing the same race at about the same speed to train with. I've never had that before.

Much as I try to deny it, this stuff is in my blood. Its not easy to leave behind. After how horrible last year was for me, I didn't know if I would ever go back. And the truth is, I'm a little scared. Which, for me, is all the more reason to do it.