Man Up

It has been too long since I felt the excitement of signing up for a race - any race - let alone an Ironman. Sitting at my computer today, waiting for the clock in the lower left corner of my screen to become 1pm EST, I felt the nervous anticipation of trying to beat hundreds, maybe even thousands of other triathletes in cyberspace to the punch and grab one of the few spots soon to be available in Ironman Wisconsin. I'd texted everyone about 10 times each in the hour leading up to registration opening, a slightly higher texting frequency than only high school girls. I was looking for assurance that others would be in this with me. The Ironman is without doubt an individual race, but there is nothing more strengthening and comforting to me than the feeling of knowing I have family out on the course. I needed that assurance now. The last seconds counted down and the window opened. I hurried to put in relevant information like age and address, some not so relevant information like profession and education, and some really irrelevant information like why I was interested in Wisconsin - is anyone really interested in Wisconsin? Then I waited as eternities passed by while the next page loaded. Part of me was thinking I'm off the hook if it's sold out and I'm too late. The other part was thinking how awful it would be if everyone got in and I did not. After another 10 minutes, the payment screen came up and I quickly entered my credit card information, not dwelling on the fact that the entry fee is the equivalent of a base level Tata motor car sold in India, and pressed 'enter'.

I'm in. And now the nervous anticipation really begins. The planning, the trash talk, the advice, the start of training, and marking off what already feels like too many weeks to even comprehend that race day will actually arrive. I love this feeling. I missed this feeling. I instantly feel attached to the commitment I know this requires. I am looking forward to the struggle to stay motivated and overcome complacency. During the day I will look at my coworkers sitting around me sipping their Diet Cokes and picking at the gross remains of the daily office birthday cake, and I will know that I am distancing myself from them in yet one more way. At night I will complain to my wife about how hard it all is, and she will listen to me, then tell me to man up because she has been through it and still holds the house record, oh, and is pregnant too.

The adrenaline of getting an entry will wear off, and the cache of saying I signed up for the Ironman will give way to the reality of the training, but I'm writing my first blog to remind myself of the excitement of putting a race on the calendar, of having a goal and working toward it. This is feeling I will not let fade.