Blog #7 for EndurancePlanet.com - originally posted on 9/2/2009
Forty days from now I will be treading water in Kailua-Kona Bay, waiting for the start of the Ironman. I will be riding 112 miles up the Queen K Highway with some of the greatest athletes in the world. And long after those athletes have finished their race, showered, eaten, and taken a nap, I will be running a marathon that hopefully ends at the finish line on Ali'i Drive.
In other contexts 40 days feels like a long time. If, for example, I was given 40 days in jail. Or if you were to embark on a 40-day road trip. And certainly the history of 40 days would indicate not just a long passage of time, but also a time frame that can produce monumental changes. It took 40 days for the Earth to flood in the days of Noah. Surely I can become a full fledged Ironman in 40 days.
I am on my way. This weekend will see me hit 85 miles on the bike and 17 to 18 miles on my feet. We'll follow that up with 100 miles on the bike the next weekend. And the swim workouts are getting long and more intense. But so is a little of the pressure I'm feeling.
In the past week I've appeared on L.A.'s top morning radio show, "Kevin & Bean," and I've taped an episode of the talk show "The Doctors." Add that to the CNN coverage, the NBC Sports stories that are still to come, and the many many friends who are making the trip to Kona to support my efforts, and it's clear that I'm not just any age-grouper doing an Ironman.
I am a heart transplant at the big daddy, the Ford Ironman World Championship. The fear of failing on that stage is very real.
But at the same time that the pressure ratchets up, so does the impending excitement. Today I'm working out alone and almost completely anonymous. What will it be like to ride the Queen K surrounded by (or more realistically "trailing") a field of 1800 great triathletes? What kind of energy will be generated by the helicopters overhead, the camera that is sure to be in my face for a good portion of the race, and the thousands of supporters and volunteers on the Big Island that weekend to celebrate the Super Bowl of triathlon?
No doubt it will be one of the most amazing, crazy, scary, beautiful, painful, and rewarding days I've ever had. And it now stands just 40 days away.
That in itself is pretty scary.
In other contexts 40 days feels like a long time. If, for example, I was given 40 days in jail. Or if you were to embark on a 40-day road trip. And certainly the history of 40 days would indicate not just a long passage of time, but also a time frame that can produce monumental changes. It took 40 days for the Earth to flood in the days of Noah. Surely I can become a full fledged Ironman in 40 days.
I am on my way. This weekend will see me hit 85 miles on the bike and 17 to 18 miles on my feet. We'll follow that up with 100 miles on the bike the next weekend. And the swim workouts are getting long and more intense. But so is a little of the pressure I'm feeling.
In the past week I've appeared on L.A.'s top morning radio show, "Kevin & Bean," and I've taped an episode of the talk show "The Doctors." Add that to the CNN coverage, the NBC Sports stories that are still to come, and the many many friends who are making the trip to Kona to support my efforts, and it's clear that I'm not just any age-grouper doing an Ironman.
I am a heart transplant at the big daddy, the Ford Ironman World Championship. The fear of failing on that stage is very real.
But at the same time that the pressure ratchets up, so does the impending excitement. Today I'm working out alone and almost completely anonymous. What will it be like to ride the Queen K surrounded by (or more realistically "trailing") a field of 1800 great triathletes? What kind of energy will be generated by the helicopters overhead, the camera that is sure to be in my face for a good portion of the race, and the thousands of supporters and volunteers on the Big Island that weekend to celebrate the Super Bowl of triathlon?
No doubt it will be one of the most amazing, crazy, scary, beautiful, painful, and rewarding days I've ever had. And it now stands just 40 days away.
That in itself is pretty scary.
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