In less than 2 weeks I’ll be attempting to complete an Ironman Triathlon.[1] It’s a 40th birthday present to myself. You may wonder why an event, which could render me unable to walk for a week, is a ‘present.’ But the present isn’t necessarily the finish line itself – that’s just the icing on the cake.
The real present (or are we now talking about cake?!) is the hours of running, swimming and cycling. I love the yoga sessions, the strength and mobility work, the heightened focus on what to eat and drink. I love checking Training Peaks on Sunday afternoons to see what Coach Steve has scheduled for me. I love it all! This time is entirely guilt-free and just for me: a discrete period in which I can dedicate myself to a singular goal and relish the daily affirmation of turning boxes green.[2]
It’s a present because it’s a selfish pursuit. I’ve had less time to see friends and family. I’ve almost shirked all grocery shopping and cooking duties. I’m not raising funds. I’m not volunteering my time. But participating in sporting events doesn’t always have to be altruistic. We need passion projects and side hustles to enhance our personal happiness index. Besides, it will be over soon and I can go back to cooking occasionally. 😉
The timing for an Ironman is also right: I turned 40 a couple of months ago! Whether it’s a Bucket List or a Multi-Day Endurance Event, it’s common to mark a milestone birthday with some kind of epic and self-gratifying goal.[3]
More importantly, I have a window of opportunity. Hubby and I are currently pausing IVF treatments after surviving an exhausting and demoralising few years. In contrast to the doubts and frustrations of IVF, there is great certainty and satisfaction in Ironman training.[4]
I’ve already mentioned some of the things I’ve loved, but here are a few more. It’s been fun achieving new things, like a New Longest Ride or Most Kilometres Run In A Week, or better yet, Higher Tolerance Of The Uncomfortable Bike Seat. I’ve enjoyed the almost constant physical exhaustion, even if I was starting to rely on a few too many double shot coffees to get me through the day…
Ticking off daily goals and tracking small progressions, which suddenly reveal themselves as unprecedented levels of fitness, is totally life affirming. It forces me to focus on what I can do, rather than what I can’t do, which in turn highlights everything that I’m already so grateful for. However, I will also be ridiculously grateful to make it down that red carpet and into the arms of my husband and a new towel. 😉
Nothing left to do now but taper… and hope that I’ll be writing a race report a fortnight from now!
[1] A 3.8k swim, 180k bike ride, 42.2k run. The cut off is 17 hours.
[2] Training Peaks is an online program which enables your coach to deliver training sessions. Each session turns green after completion. It doesn’t take long to form an addiction to making boxes turn green.
[3] I completed a long fundraising swim on the day of my birthday, so the occasion didn’t pass entirely without some form of volunteering my efforts. 😉
[4] While undergoing IVF I have trained for running events and I even started doing triathlons, but Ironman is obviously a completely different level of time, commitment and energy.
kelly runs and eats 
One thought on “Ironman: T minus 13 days”