Well, here we are, two weeks from Ironman Wisconsin. Am I ready??? Yep I am so ready! I am finally feeling the relief from training. I must admit the training in the last few months has been beyond brutal for me. I also must admit that I have begun to not only refer to this as my 3rd job, but truly feel it is a job! Each workout is like showing up and punching a clock. I that of my jobs (yes I do know have two real jobs), this IM “job” is my LEAST Favorite – by a long shot!
In the beginning, the training was fun and exciting. The hours were long but not unmanageable and I could still have a life away from IM, work and sleep. Well, as the workouts got longer, the life away from the “Big 3″(IM, work and sleep), became non-existent. As you know, I like variety, I like fun and I must say I haven’t had much of either this summer. It hasn’t been all bad. I have had some really fun days of training when friends came out and joined me for a swim, a bike or a run. Or I when I get to see a lot of LIVE wildlife while biking up north (not the usual roadkill on the side of the road!!! Stinky)! One morning in about 40 miles I saw a deer with 3 fawn (really 3 not sure how that works), a red fox, a skunk, Sandhill cranes, and a group of turkeys.
I am sure once this event and journey is all behind me I will remember it differently but I felt it was important for me to write how I feel now. Mostly so that I can have a reminder of how I felt in the heat of the training. I honestly do not know how people train year after year for Ironman! Those of you do, Amaze Me and I have a whole new respect for your dedication and work ethic. This will be my first and my last Ironman. OK, last is harsh but definitely my last in my near future (i.e. working life).
As I mentioned earlier, I am working 2 jobs in addition to training. This is a new development and has added a lot of additional stress to the whole situation, but that is life, right? The economy has reduced business at Gathering Waters Design, so I started teaching classes at Western Technical College this spring. In May, a full time Marketing Instructor opportunity came available so I decided to pursue it and got the job!!! So I am now working full time teaching and part time at Gathering Waters Design. Needless to say there has been a lot of juggling and that juggling will continue until I get my new routine down. However, after one week of classes I can say I LOVE my new opportunity and feel very blessed that this has all worked out. Timing wasn’t the best but again “That is Life”.
Finally the important stuff:
- Many of you know I am trying to raise money for one of my passions – Chesapeake Retriever Rescue of WI – in conjunction with my training. So I am going to ask that you take a look at the page Ironman for Chessies and consider making a small donation to help these wonderful dogs.
- Ironman Wisconsin has issued our bib numbers and mine is #736. The reason I share that information is that you when you are bored that day (Sunday Sept 11th), you can track me starting at 7am central time through Ironman Live.
Thanks again to all of you who have provided support to me along this IM journey, it has helped more than you will ever know!
Thank you for all of your support through this training. You have all been awesome and really this blog has been so helpful for me. There are a number of drafts that never got posted because I just needed to “get it out”. Those posts along with the hundreds I wrote will biking and running will probably never be seen. But who knows maybe some will….
This is not my last post – trust me, life is slowing down so hopefully I will have more time to write after this IM is done.
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