Colder Nights

I can always feel when the race season is coming to an end, the days become shorter and nights a lot colder, the long-hard training sessions are over and the taper for IMC is well underway. Well this year I don't have to taper because I'm not doing IMC but I can definitely 'feel' what it's like as the race approaches. I've had some great training swim-rides-runs with a lot of the athletes in town and I'm really going to miss the suffering we've shared together, somehow it makes you feel a lot closer. Sound strange? It is, unless you've done Ironman and you know what it feels like to cross that line. There are a few moments in your life where you will truly be put to the test and Ironman is one of those.

You spend months or in some cases years preparing for one day and sometimes it goes well and sometimes it doesn't, what matters more is how you battle those inner voices that tell you to stop. Ironman is a great proxy for life, do you keep battling when things get rough, or do you stop. I'm not saying that you should keep trying to finish when a reasonable athlete would stop amid some long term health consequences. But everyone from pro to last age grouper will go through some tough times, the key is (just like in life) to just keep going. Good luck to all those doing IMC this year, this is the first year since 2004 I won't be doing an Ironman at the end of August but I'll be with you in spirit cheering you on to that blue carpet where you will definitely understand.