if only i could have focused this well in school.....

anyone that knows me, knows that if it doesn't hold my attention in the first 5 minutes forget about it.  typically i read only half the article and then spit out stats of what i thought i read.  i read a map but usually pick the wrong direction,  my idea of "fully researching something" is using the phone a friend option and clicking "add to cart".  research through osmosis (thank you bob for helping me buy my first bike, turns out its a pretty nice ride).

that was 3 years ago. 

with an ironman registration comes a lot of emotions. (all before training even starts) happy, sad, nervous, scared and perhaps upon completion of payment, questioning your own sanity. however, what no one told me was that it also comes with a strange sense of focus. 

yes, its true, it might be that it carries some interest to me and that yes the lack of focus in the classroom during those school days was more because i didn't really care why sally and ed rode a train traveling east bound at 80 MPH for 600 miles and why ed's second cousin twice removed missed the train and how long it would take him to catch up to sally and ed in amarillo texas at 1 o'clock the following day.  i hated school and i hated math  (yes, i'm aware that i work in finance, i'm not really sure how i got here either)  

anyway, my point is that i am INTERESTED in IMSG, somewhat obsessed actually.  I've done more research on training plans, road bikes, tri bikes, wetsuits, bike helmets, endurance drinks, BRICK workouts, and the entire town of St. George, Utah (the first mormon temple was built in St. George).  its actually kind of a nice change, this focus thing.  a change that brought me upon my first "real" triathlon purchase (with a little help from mkc)  

my very own wetsuit. 

I'll close with an exert from a racing report: (yes, i read the entire report)

"Before the race, everyone is going to talk about the bike. After the race…they’ll be talking about the run. The IMSG is, in my opinion, the most challenging run on the US calendar."

um.... holy shit.

I can't even spell the word... and you want me to enter one?

There was a time when a triathlon was foreign (this time was not so long ago)
how do they change outfits?
do you run in your bathing suit?
what the hell is a "DNF"?

there are special clothes to wear, special bikes to ride, certain drinks to drink, foods to eat and as it turns out they aren't so cheap either.   i thought i'd help out the lay men (and women) out there and dissect some vocabulary i've picked up so far. 

"a few things you never needed to know about triathlons but i'm going to tell you anyway"

• "curly handlebars" are also known as drop bars (not to be confused with aerobars)
• "trainer" (bike) its not the extra body at the gym counting your reps and making you stay the entire hour on the treadmill.  its a way to bring your bike inside and ride. or in my case a way to ride with clipless pedals without actually having to go outside.  work. in. progress. i'll get there, eventually.
• "clipless pedal"  making your feet stick to the pedals and at first attempt making you fall over (usually with an audience)  on the flip side its more efficient.  (or so they tell me)
• "T1" and "T2" tri code for where you "change your clothes" (i was relived to find out i didn't have to run in my bathing suit after all)
• "a tri, is a tri, is a tri"   not really the case in tri land.   it is true that all tri's are definitely noteworthy and take a great deal of self discipline and endurance to complete. Per the official officials (aka International Triathlon Union) there are four standard distances to choose from;

Sprint - 750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run,

Olympic -1.5 km swim, 40 km ride, 10 km run

Half Ironman - 1.9 km swim, 90 km ride, 21.1 km run

Ironman - 3.8 km swim, 180 km ride, and a marathon: 42.2 km run

most people have done all distances, several times at best.  i've done the first and am about to jump into the last.  why do i insist on always being different???? 

ah and DNF?  well that means - DID NOT FINISH.  let's lose that one from the "vocab" starting today, shall we?
 

Ironman - Till I Collapse

Mantras

a baby, a marriage, and an ironman bring it on 2011 (and the tail end of 2010). 

I'll have a nephew he lives in ethopia but he'll be here soon enough, maybe he can be my bike mantra.
I'll have two nieces, a nephew, and a brother in law, maybe they can be my run mantra.
I'll have myself, alone, confident, and proud. maybe I can be my swim mantra.

Training so far...

Its been a little more adhoc then I would like, an occasional swim with "coach mariss", a daily run, and bike thereafter.  I bought a planner to track it all;  the good, the bad, the ugly.  It starts July 1.  I'll try to track as much of the unboring events as possible on the blog  'ran for 40 minutes, finally rode the bike more than a foot without falling over, and swam outside the slow lane' sort of update.

I've got to divorce the ipod at some point.  I'm just not ready yet.