Ironman, it still brings tears to my eyes...

Watching the Ford Ironman World Championships today on Television brought back a lot of emotions for me since I finished my first ironman in Lake Placid this past July. The tears came when I watched how so many people just pushed through whatever hell they were going through, pain, dehydration, cramps, disabilities, whatever, and all they wanted to do was cross the finish line. It really is the most amazing experience and I get even more emotional because after crashing my bike at mile 60 it really was all about just finishing at that point and hopefully not killing myself by the end. Looking at the scars on my right shoulder and back are a constant reminder of how much I really did hurt myself and the fact that it took me over a month to heal from the burn wounds and the hip and knee injuries from the crash, it really does amaze me what we do to just finish.

When you look back at all the training time, sometimes over 20hrs a week, time away from your family, the brutal workouts the physical therapy the injuries the diet and nutrition, everything you put into just one day and it can just disappear in one second, a crash, dehydration, weather conditions, whatever, it amazes me that we go back for more. I wasn't going to let the crash stop me from trying to finish, I wasn't going to do that to my family, especially my husband and not too my ever so supportive coaches and friends who were so awesome during my journey..

I'm hoping for some redemption this year on that course, but you never know what is going to happen on the day, the weather could be awful, your bike could malfunction, anything, you have to do this because you love it and nothing more and know that all these things can happen to you and you have to be okay with it.

Ironman truly deserves the name, I can't wait for another go at it.........