How it all began

When I started middle school, my parents said I had to pick one sport. I am potentially the most uncoordinated person in the world. Whenever I tried to play a sport that involved a ball, I ended up with a bloody nose or had the wind knocked out of me. I could not connect a foot or a bat with a ball. I was the girl people picked last in gym class. Taking that in to consideration, I (reluctantly) chose running. I was absolutely horrible at first. I came in last in almost every single race I ran for the first year. But for some reason, I fell in love with the sport. I liked being part of a team, but it was a very individual experience, too. Improvement was extremely tangible. By my second year, I was doing surprisingly well, and discovering the camaraderie of the running world, which only proved stronger and stronger as I finished up high school. For some reason, no matter what their other differences may be, runners just seemed to get each other, and become easy friends.

I ran for two years in college, before I decided I needed more time to socialize, aka go out and drink. After graduation, when I started a boring desk job, I found myself missing that part of my life. So I started out by jogging every once in a while. Then, by some twist of fate, I found out the cross-country coach from my high school alma mater was quitting, and I applied for the job. I spent 3 years coaching girls ages 12-18, and I remembered why I loved the sport, and started running more and more.

I started a new job 6 months ago, and the schedule just didn't allow time for coaching. I was sad to let it go, but I decided I'd focus on training for my first full marathon: Disneyworld 2010. And then...

...I went to watch Ironman Lake Placid 2009. It was - well, amazing. That's an understatement, but I can't come up with words to describe it. The entire weekend, the village was full of these awesome athletes, and the camaraderie was glaringly apparent. The tension and excitement level ran high. I had never seen such a palpable level of nerves and emotion as I did at the start of the competition. As an observer, I was giddy. I could only imagine what it felt like to be a participant. These athletes were truly inspirational.

That's when I decided that I would do that someday. I felt like I just had to. I called my parents and told them I wanted to be an Ironman and they laughed. My friends said, "OK, sure." I don't think they believe me, possibly because my "swimming" over the past 15 years has mostly taken the form of floating in a rec pool, and the last bike I owned got run over by my Dad's car 4 or 5 years ago...and I didn't really care.

BUT I am competitive, and once I set my mind to something, I get it done. I have what I am calling a 3 year plan. First year = sprint triathlon. Second year = half Ironman. And third year = full Ironman.

All that while balancing a full-time job and a relationship. Here goes nothing...or should I say, here goes everything?