08/30/07: What's your challenge?

What is it that makes Ironman so special? Is it the World Championships in Kona every year?

Kona hosts some of the most athletically gifted and genetically endowed men and women on the planet each year. Although awed by their abilities, I'm not one of them, never will be, and could care less. That's not what this is about, at least for me, although I may decide I want a lottery spot to Kona later in life (or I may not).

For me it's how hard the journey is to get there. The harder and more challenging something is, the bigger the payoff in the end. Although anyone CAN do an ironman, very few actually will. For me the payoff is in the challenge, so to speak. To a certain extent, if it were easy, then why bother?

For me this journey began back in January 2005 when I started training for my first marathon. Back then the thought of consistently running 4 days a week was a bit overwhelming, and the thought of running 10 miles the first time was totally intimidating.

Two and a half years later, there are no 4 day training weeks, since even recovery weeks have me training 5 days. Now I consider ten mile runs and 40 mile bike rides short. Consistency and determination are the keys to endurance events, nothing more, nothing less. Well, ok, you need a good training plan that'll get you from where you are fitness'wise to the starting line injury free, but I digress.....

Some love swimming, or biking, or running for hours on end - me, not so much. Some use it for social purposes - I prefer training alone most of the time.

For me, one thing I've grown very certain of is that this is about the challenge, and in two months and three days this challenge will reach it's peak: 140.6 miles in under 17 hours.

It doesn't really matter whether the subject is endurance events, or relationships, or spiritual, or financial independence, or any other area of life, it's the same story for all of them. In the end, it's not the race that's important, it's what we went though to get there and who we become in the process that really matters.

So what's your challenge?

Now back to IM training, already in progress........

Live with purpose....Enjoy the adventure