When I was laying on the grass in Boulder in 2016, realizing that I’d run down over 250 people and run from 17th to 6th in my age group during the marathon, something clicked for the moment. The idea that I could compete for an ironman qualifying slot became a little more real, while at the same time, a little more daunting. Two months later, at Ironman Chattanooga, I gave it everything I had once again, didn’t quite hold to what I’d achieved at Boulder, but still acquitted myself well. During this time I also decided to retire again. The reasons were complex, but in retrospect were related to my internal quandary between making a difference in something that mattered to me while staying true to my principles (also, a blog for another day). Once again, I thought, an opportunity to focus on training for ironman and preparing to compete for a Kona slot.
My training leading up to Ironman Santa Rosa in 2017 was decent, though not necessarily what I needed to do to achieve my “high bar” goal. It didn’t matter, as whatever training I’d done was derailed by a nasty cold that started three days before the race. I had a so-so swim (imagine doing a 2.4 mile swim with a full blown cold), a fairly solid bike (my ironman PR for the bike, despite slowing down during the latter half of the bike), and then felt the full impact of my cold during the run.
I’d started a new job in 2017, which was part-time and without any major stresses attached. I had no authority or responsibility, and I was just having fun talking about the things that were important to me. I began wondering whether I really “needed” to do Kona. I’d also begun questioning whether it was right to support a race that had been hijacked by corporate interested that didn’t necessarily appreciate nor respect both the iconic nature and the purpose of Kona. But then, the Legacy reality began to percolate. It became obvious that my Legacy opportunity would arise within the next couple of years.
Once I knew that I could be competing at Kona in 2019, I also knew that I still needed to go, that I still wanted to go. At first, it was just as a fulfillment of my thirty year dream. Kona was still the iconic ironman race. It was the birthplace of the demonstration of willpower. It was the highest of bars that I could set for myself from an athletic perspective. It also was my channel for my inner athletic competitor. I’ve loved sports from my earliest recollections. I was never very talented or fast, but the inner competitor in me has craved the ironman concept. And then, life happened again. An opportunity arose to make a difference in my chosen field, and I took it. It consumed my life for over a year, and relegated my ironman training to a focus on muscle memory. Just to throw salt on the wound, I again got a cold 10 days before Ironman Santa Rosa in 2018. In order to hold my 2019 Kona Legacy slot, all I needed to do was finish, which I did. But, I didn’t enjoy it. And, I began to figure out, Why Kona?
No comments:
Post a Comment