A year ago, I embarked on this wonderful journey of running marathons! I had ran in a few half marathons and decided that it was time to challenge myself. Ohio Summers bring lots of humidity and heat which resulted in several runs that began at 6am. Without my MIT (Marathoners in Training) group, I question whether I would have gotten out of bed to run half of them. Before I knew it, running wasn't something I dreaded, but something I looked forward to! Good company and always good conversations took place during these runs. In fact, I can remember running through the rain one morning, and my friend David was talking about signing up for an Iron man. Of course I told him he was crazy and that running a marathon was plenty for me. During our future runs, he continued to talk about this Iron man and said that another girl, Margaret was going to sign up as well. I thought well if 2 people are doing it, then maybe it's not so crazy. I decided to take one step at a time and if all went well at my first marathon, then I would attend an informational meeting. I finished my first marathon in 3 hours and 55 minutes. I was very happy with my time, and ready to move onto the next hurdle.
The informational meeting was wonderful other than the anxiety attack that took place during and after receiving all that I needed to know. My first concern was, how the hell am I going to have enough time to do all the workouts. Second thought was, I need a money tree to pay for all my equipment, races, and travel. And my third thought was, I will just start off with a few Sprint and Olympic Triathlons for next year and go from there. In the meantime, I started swimming with Margaret since I hadn't swam in years. I was also doing a few spinning classes a week since I didn't own a bike or trainer, and of course I continued to run with MIT through snow and ice. I lasted about 2 weeks, before Margaret convinced me in the pool that I was already swimming longer distances than she was when she did a half Iron Man a few months prior. Then she said, "you are already doing the workouts, you might as well just do the Iron man". Without responding, I swam another 50 meters and when we both finished I said "OK". Of course, we both screamed and 8 hours later, I was signed up for the Ironman.
You know the saying, "Time flys, when you're having fun?" Well there most be some truth to it, because I felt like I just signed up for the IM last week! Thus far, my longest distances in each sport have been a 2 mile swim, a 75 mile bike ride, and obviously a 26.2 mile run. We are half way through our training and I'm so excited for what is yet to come. I feel so lucky to be training with such wonderful people like Margaret and David. They definitely make workouts entertaining and fun which keeps me wanting more everyday.
The purpose for me writing this, is to encourage everyone to try something new and challenge yourself! If you would have asked me last April if I thought I could run a Marathon, I probably would have said NO. And then If you would have asked me if I would ever do an Iron man, I would have said Hell NO. But now I have conquered one and I'm half way to completing the next, and I couldn't be happier. My only concern is, what will I do with all my time once this Iron man is over in November?? Only time will tell!
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