A Journey to the Top (or what's new for 2018)

With 2017 winding down (thank freaking god, did this year suck as bad for anyone else??) I find it fitting to do what any sane person does when confronted with a crappy year....look ahead to what can only be a better upcoming year.  Usually folks wait until the last week of December, but being the forward thinker (ahem) I am, I decided to take the bull by the horns and wrestle 2018 into submission before it decided to follow suit with 2017, that nasty little shit.

This idea started a few months back, so excuse my delinquency, but I had a few mitigating circumstances that delayed the full story :)  Every year, Greg and I watch Lake Placid Ironman with the fondness of our memories there in '10 and '11 - a sort of mixture of remembering pre kids when we could do that shit...and remembering when we were in shape to do that shit!  We hoped to do an Ironman together someday - when Rob and Biz head off to middle school and don't need us as much.  When we sleep through the night.  When Greg isn't working 80 hours a week.  When I am not travelling every week for work.  Ya know.  Life.

Fast forward to the next week.  Registration for 2018 Ironman comes out.  It's the 20th anniversary for Placid.  New promos!  Deferral to 2019 is penalty free till June!  Lower prices for Tri club members!  And...it's on Greg's birthday.  Specifically, his 40th. 

Now, you have to understand that in our marriage, I am the one that comes up with the dumb ideas.  Like hey- how about I do a tri 5 weeks post partum?  Hey!  Let's drive 13 hours with a toddler and run a marathon the next day!  Or even better - let's fly across the country and run a half in the pouring rain the next day?  Ya know.  Things like that.  So I shoot Greg an email telling him we totally should do IMLP 2018.

You know what happened next.

He said "Why not"??  (Dude, you totally dropped the ball on your role).

Gut check.  So many reasons not to.  So many damn. good. ones.  We talked about it.  We thought about it.  We listed out all the bad reasons in the world that parents of two toddlers should not, in fact, dually train for an Ironman.

Then we signed up.

Cause life is too short.  And what else would you do on your 40th "over the hill" birthday than aim to rise for the top? (Of ridiculous climbs??)

That's for Greg.

For me, it's a way to turn the bus around.  This year has been so, so hard for me.  On so many fronts.  There have been times when I have thought hard about walking away and/or just giving up on it all (well, most of it). But then I put sneaker to pavement and it just all makes sense.  Sometimes I can think of a a way to fix whatever is ailing me - my job, my marriage, my ability to find an extra hour to actually do the damn laundry.  Sometimes I can't.  Sometimes I just get that 3....or 6...or 10 miles of serenity to just breath in the air and be at peace with the world.

And that, for me, is what Lake Placid is.  It's the scene of where I first became an Ironman.  It's my happy place.  It's the place to just breathe and be happy, to be alive, to be so very grateful for the opportunity.

And I can't freaking wait.  To train in the pain cave.  To swim at 5am.  To go for evening runs, and reclaim my life one piece at a time.

And did I mention, to party with about forty of my closest tri friends?  Seems everyone has a very definitive "why" for this race - and it will be a Roc party in Placid!

Until then, it's one day at a time.  A journey, if you will, that promises to be every bit as sweet as the actual destination. 

July 22, 2018.  My 3rd Ironman - and you know what they say about the 3rd time!