In the beginning...

So it's been a long summer and it's not even over yet. I've been contemplating actually stepping up to an Ironman event since May. I've been a runner ever since I was in junior high school. I got burnt out on running after my 3rd marathon and took up cycling for 5 straight years. I decided to start running again and have fun with some dualthons.

I've wanted to compete in an Ironman since I was in high school. It's something that really needs to be on an endurance athlete's resume', just like running a marathon, doing the Boston marathon, and maybe even Western States 100.

So since I'm not getting any younger, I've decided next year is the year. I've slowly started putting everything in place to start the preparation.

First thing was to decide which event to do. For some sort of convenience, I've picked Ironman Canada. It's the last weekend in August so the bulk of the training for it will be late spring and summer. It's fairly close to Portland being only an 8 hour drive away. I believe I can get registered for the event where as other late summer events and Ironman Florida in November book up within minutes online. To get my slot, I'm heading out on road trip to the Ironman Canada 2007 event on August 26th. I'm gonna camp out in line Monday morning to get my slot.

Overall, this may sound extreme but it's just part of the plan. I'll be able to see an Ironman live which will definitely help get me excited and motivated for the hard training days to come. I'll also be able to ride the bike course to see it and stuff it away in my mind as what to expect next year. I may even try to run the last 6 miles or so of the run course to also get a feel for that as well.

Second thing to do is find a pool to train. I've decided to go with the 24 hour fitness center just down the road from where I live. I'll be able to swim most mornings early before work as the pool and facility is open 24 hours luckily enough. Swimming is going to be the biggest unknown as I haven't done any competitive swimming since high school. I competed for one off-season in the 500m swim. It was painful and I stunk. I figure if I can stay focused on swimming for an entire year I should be ready for that 2.4 miles of open water.

I have registered for a half Ironman in May 2008. This registration is done and paid for. It's gonna be in Florida right at DisneyWorld. It'll give the family an excuse for a little mini-vacation and will hopefully get me all dialed in for the full distance.

I've purchased two triathlon training books from Amazon and plan to use them and not a coach for my training. This was how I approached my first marathon and I had great results.

And last I've started this new blog to keep track of everything along the way from simple workout blurbs to more gory details about equipment purchases, and the actual race reports themselves.