The other night I fell asleep at about 10:30. This is good for me (no small thanks to Tylenol PM). At 2:15 I snapped awake with a horrible realization: IM Lanzarote and the AIDS Lifecycle are only a couple of weeks apart! Now I was awake.
Let me explain...
I've been hellbent on doing IM Lanzarote (May 19, 2008) since I fell off the wagon at the beginning of this year and abandoned my training for the 2007 edition. I promised myself that for my 25th birthday (which is only 3 days before the event) I would do it as proof that I could dominate myself, and as evidence to myself that I have it in me to overcome my demons and continue with a life dedicated to fitness and constant self-improvement rather than self-destruction. Oh yes, there have been some bumps in the road that haven't quite made it into my blog.
I've also been determined to do the 7-day, 545 mile San Francisco AIDS Life Cycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles (June 1-7, 2008) since I couldn't do it in 2005 because it conflicted with my college graduation ceremony (Mom: "We've paid for 4 years of college and I want a picture to prove it. I'll make a donation, but you're walking."). Then, this year both Lorraine and Shane were signed up to do it and my heart broke just a little bit that I couldn't do it with 2 of my best friends. When Shane didn't make the fundraising minimum ($2,500) and couldn't start I promised him, "I WILL do it with you next year."
Now as many of your know I've been debating whether or not to move back home and am leaning pretty heavily in one direction (and it's west). Suddenly, at 2:15 in the morning the logistical possibility of getting my butt and my bike to the Canary Islands on May 19, and then to San Francisco on June 1 only 12 days later for a 7 day ride is nigh on impossible. Even if I were to land The World's Most Kick-Ass Job and were able to finance such a 7,000+ mile airline and lodging extravagganza, there's no way the World's Most Kick-Ass Job would give me that kind of time off.
Aw crap, a decision must be made. I hate decisions.
I'm not terribly committed to Lanzarote being THE ironman race, but being one of the few in the northern hemisphere that doesn't sell out in 12 minutes flat, I figured I had some time to pull the money together, and now all the North American races will be sold out too soon. In fact, of the ones that haven't happened yet this year (AZ, WI, FL, Canada), if I don't SHOW UP the day after this year's race to sign up, I'm basically screwed. Those states are all pretty far away. So I went onto K226.com to see what my non-Mdot options are. Now that WAS interesting.
- There was something called the "Big Woody" in Wales. After my first ironman I want to be able to wear the t-shirt with pride, not stick it in my pajama drawer or give it to a friend as a gag gift at a bachelorette party or something.
IronCat in Ampolla, Spain: not a snowball's chance in hell! I volunteered at this race in May and both the bike and ther run are sextuple out-and-backs. That means passing the same 2.5k stretch of road 24 times in one day. I'd hurl myself off the pretty cliffs you run along way before finishing.
I found this little race Triathlon de Levis in Eastern Canada, but that was worse! Bike: 46 laps of 3.9 km, Run: 21 laps of a 2k course. NUH-UH. That sounds like some k'nuck with a big plot of land decided to have people do an ironman in his driveway!
- The Redman in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I have absolutely, positively NO desire to go to Oklahoma, EVER unless it's to avoid Texas (sorry, Greyhound)
going to be Vineman on August 3. There are 2 reasons I'm leaning towards this one. (1) The date, it's not too early for someone training in New England, not too late for someone itching to get this thing started. (2) As I was telling Kat the other day, "I want my next tattoo to be something where I really had to test myself to get it, whether that's a sporting event or something else in my life. I was thinking maybe after I finish my first ironman, but I want something more personalized than the Mdot tattoo. I don't want to tattoo a logo on my body, I want something that symbolizes my process to get there." (No offense to anyone with an Mdot tattoo. Although I may not say it, it does strike fear and awe into my heart when I see you've been branded with a symbol like that). Something about overcoming my alcohol problem in order to do a triathlon through wine country seems to lend itself to just such a symbol.In other news, Shane (mentioned above as my Lifecycle buddy) is coming to Barcelona tomorrow to visit for an unspecified amount of time, so blogs may be scarce in the next few weeks/days. May I suggest you get your fix by leafing through my archives. I don't think I had my first reader for months, so I'm sure there are some undiscovered treasures in there.
14 comments:
Living here in San Diego, I know quite a few people who have done Vineman. Heard nothing but great things about it.
IM Arizona happens every April, so if you're training you'd better have good cold weather gear. Placid already sold out, Kenntucky is new so it might be a best bet, Wisconsin, depends on how terrible the weather is this year, Canada you need to qualify, and Florida,well you might need to get up a 6am and glue yourself to the computer. If you're looking for another non-m-dot iron distance might I suggest the Great Floridian it goes off every October in Clearmont ( literally a half hour from Orlando so it's close to the airport and Mickey ...if you're into that sort of thing.)
Oh come on Claire, Oklahoma is not THAT bad. I've been there before on business. There's plenty to (not) do. You can drive 3 hours from OK City in any direction and see nothing. Better than the Driveway Tri.
Not that I give a damn about any IM distance races, but if you do find yourself in Clermont for Great Floridian, you can pretty much guarantee that I'll be snooping around down there somewhere, trying to buy someone's house on foreclosure. Kinda hilly in Central FL, but compared to the northeast, it's a piece of cake. 300 feet of vertical gain? What???
Good luck with the final debating about the moving.
Have you looked at http://www.trifind.com/iron.html
There are a few more non m-dot iron distance races on there...one in quebec, chesapeakman, silverman and some others...all that are later in the season so that if you end up spending your winter in NE as you are hinting at, you could have lots of training time. Good luck with the decision.
Decisions, decisions... decisions.
I think any Ironman rocks, and I am all for process tattoos. And Tylenol PM.
If you signe up for Great Floridian I will do it with you..( unless I qualify for Kona in which case I will be trying to assemble relay team glorious as my legs recover from big island fatigue) Also when you start fundraising for AIDS cycle let me know and I'll give a shout out and some dough ( hopefully I'll have some big name sponsors by then.)
I think a Big Woody t-shirt would be worth wearing for at least a few years after the event.
Decisions, decisions! So much support = so much pressure!
The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Vineman. I have an old roommate who's from Sonoma who could put me up if I could track him down, it would be an excuse to visit NorCal again, and I'm already thinking about where to put my tattoo. Of course, I have 50 weeks, so let's not get ahead of ourselves!
CV: Thanks for the tip. It says a lot that after something as painful as an ironman people still only have nice things to say.
Bob/Angry: I'll keep the Grand Floridian in mind just in case. Florida kind of scares me though, something about alligators on the swim...
Rocketpants: Thanks for the link. I'll definitely check it out before slapping down any money.
Renee: It'll be the coolest tattoo ever, just you wait and see! Maybe I'll tattoo a mural of a wino holding a bottle of Tylenol PM in the middle of a vineyard on my whole back.
WW: It may be worth volunteering just for the Tshirt. If I'm still in Europe we can volunteer together and hand out Stella at mile 20 on the run. Then I'll watch you wear your t-shirt first and see what kind of reception you get before putting mine on in public.
No offense taken. I don't go to Oklahoma willingly, and while Texas has it's moments, I'm pining to live somewhere with seasons and mountains.
Whatever you decide, it sounds like it will be a year to remember! Can't wait to see the tatoo (if its in a "showable" place - or otherwise if your willing to share, you can borrow my go-go boots;)
Alligators in the swim....I call that natural performance enhancement....
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