As a young kid my step-dad was very involved in the sport of triathlon. I remember as an 8 and 9 year old watching old VHS tapes of the Kona Ironman as we heard the inspiring story of people in their 80's, cancer survivors, and many others, and we cheered as they crawled across the finish line in the dark moments before the race was over.
While as a young child I showed a propensity for endurance sports, often posting top times for races in my middle school and even winning a 1 mile kids run, My interests led me elsewhere for athleticism. My first true sport was football. To this day I can plop down in front of a TV on a Saturday morning during college football season and only get up to grab more food until it is after dark, and be completely happy.
The problem with football though is that it is a young mans game. Okay, so I'm only 25. But still there aren't adult football leagues like you find for baseball, soccer, or basketball. It is just too physical to play forever. And so as football left my life it was filled with.... er... well that is why I started this project at just over 270 pounds. As an avid fan of athletics and for the last 7 years a lapse participator I decided that my time on the sideline needed to officially be over.
Periodically over the years since I was a young child watching people suffer through the Kona Ironman, I would catch a glimpse of the Kona coverage and the dream of accomplishing something so extreme, so out of the ordinary, so above and beyond would briefly return to my mind. That dream has returned again recently, but this time I am going to do something about it. That is where my journey starts, as I switch my role in life from "eternal someday-er" to being a "doer".
Well this summer, I take my first steps. Starting in July of 2013 I have officially begun my journey to become an Ironman. Whatever things I accomplish in this life, will only be due to the goals I set and the wonderful people who support me. Thoreau once said that, "what you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals." And so this race, this distant illusion of a finish line, is so much more than about running a race. I have a beautiful wife who supports me and a handsome one year old son that will cheer me on. I do not expect this to be easy, I don't expect it to be fun or even enjoyable at times, but when I am finished I know that the act of finishing, the result of training, and the choice of continuing when my body wants so badly to quit, will make me a better husband, a stronger father, and more of a man than I was before.
And so the goal. I will, within three years (actually about 3 years and 2 months because of when the races are) become an Ironman. I will cross the finish line with my hands held high. The road from here to there is sure to be fraught with discouragement, injury, disappointment, excitement, achievement and victory. I will take it slow, focusing on one goal at a time, the first of which is to finish a 5K race early in August, but I will always keep my mind focused on the end, reaching for the taste of glory that is, an Ironman.
