The One Thing

I've been thinking alot about Ironman, about WHY in the world I would want to do such a seemingly ridiculous thing. We are at the point in our training when things have kicked in to the highest gear. I have many moments of self doubt, many moments of fear. I know I need to push through those to accomplish this goal of mine. I read an article that talked about mentally preparing for what Ironman will bring. It said that everyone needs their One Thing. The thing that keeps them going when everything else is telling them to stop.

During my run the other morning I was thinking, really thinking about who I was, who I am and why I am doing this. It has always come back to this and I realized, this is my One Thing. I started writing in my head and this is what I was saying....

To the girl who was an All Star, All State High School Athlete, who made herself sick so she wouldn't have to run two miles in training camp before Varsity Soccer, the one who finished dead last during all the other training runs. To the girl who gained 20 pounds in college and fought with those same pounds for 10 years. To the girl who decided to run a marathon to prove that she could, hated every single second of it and swore "never again".

To girl who was scared to death of the water and thought she'd never be able to do a triathlon, the one who told herself that her body just wasn't made to run more than 13 miles, to the one who took one swim lesson, couldn't even swim one length of the pool and then six weeks later did her first triathlon. To the one who signed up for a Half Ironman triathlon only a year later and spent six months training for it, the girl who decided to give the marathon another go. Then to the girl who said "half Ironman is enough" and two weeks later signed up for Ironman Canada.

To the girl who did 3 marathons and a half Iron distance triathlon in a 12 week period, the girl who does the training, puts in the time, works hard, smiles when it hurts, feels the fear and does it anyway. To the girl who cares way too much what other people think, even though she tries to act otherwise.

And finally to the girl who spent so much of her life hating her body, and honestly, hating the soul that inhabited that body....This is for you. You can be anything and anybody you want.

I am doing this for all those girls. All the ones that I have been over the years, all the ones who made excuses. Now is the time.....to truly live for crazy.

By the way, I asked Trevor what his One Thing was and he said "We do this together. In most marriages neither person could do this, we are both doing it. That's something". I love him. In the rest of my life, he is my One Thing. The reason for all else....