I mean seriously, who does their first ever marathon on a whim and comes in at 3:08? To give perspective on that, I have never beaten 4:20 and I have done several marathons (thats 4 HOURS, fyi). Who decides she wants to journey through Nepal and does a several week bicycle tour through the Himalayas, just because she wanted an adventure? Seriously, who in the world signs up last minute to do a Hood to coast relay (the toughest in the Northwest) and comes in 4TH? 4TH?
It got to a point where I found myself feeling like a schmuck! If this is what it takes to do IRONMAN, I had better just throw in the towel now. I will NEVER run a 3:08 marathon or come in 4th in a multi day relay, or finish a 2 mile swim in 40 minutes. I just won't. But I still want to do an IRONMAN.
I want to read stories about normal people. I want to read about people like me (okay, I know some of you will question my "normal" comparison there). I don't know what will happen with this blog, but the thought that someone, someday might want to hear about one average woman's journey to IRONMAN is the reason I'm here writing all of this.
Chrissie talked a lot about her pedigree which included two very successful and athletic parents with other genetic gifts. It's made me think a lot about my own pedigree. What makes me want to do this? What is it? Where does it come from?
By all appearances, there is really no correlation. I was not raised in a family that ran, or cycled, or swam. In fact, my Dad was always quick to tell me that he would only run when he had to or if he was being chased by something bigger than he. This is not to say he wasn't active in his own way. That man could make daily chores and life an olympic sport, but I say again, he was NOT a marathoner, or a 10ker or even a 1 miler. He was not a cyclist or a swimmer. Not his thing.
My Mom was not a runner or a cyclist or a swimmer either. Not her thing, but she was not an unknown to the world of endurance. Mom was and still is a horsewoman and loved to participate in endurance events. She would spend the entire weekend on the back of a horse traversing crazy terrain and mountain obstacles. Before about age 16 riding a horse for 2 hours was considered an endurance event for me, the only one I would have even considered possible.
I was an overweight kid, and really quite sedentary. I was not competitive unless you consider being teacher's pet a branch of competitiveness. That or seeing how many movies one could watch in one day. To this day I am still known in my family as the "Movie Queen." Even with these accolades I have always been driven to achieve, I guess that is the nature of the people pleaser, but sports were definitely not my thing. Sure, I ran for field day and when I was on the playground. I was actually quite the sprinter and would go toe to toe with one girl during field day, Stephanie was her name. I was fast.....for 50 yards, but I was not what you would consider an athletic kid.
By the time I entered high school I was a 14 year old kid weighing in at 141 pounds who desperately wanted to be a part of the cheerleading squad. DESPERATELY. As a freshman I couldn't be part of the team until my second year so I would watch their practices and dream of the day I could be a part of those jumping, dancing, cheering ladies. For the first time I really became aware of how out of shape I was and began this journey towards a better me. I can remember a friend on the cross country team in high school telling me that they had to run 8 miles for practice. I couldn't believe it, how could anyone run that long....for practice? Never, no way, not going to happen. When my PE teacher told us we were going to have to complete a mile run I nearly cried myself to sleep. I did it at about a 12 minute pace and thought I was going to die at the end. I didn't die and slowly began to open myself up to the possibility of running for enjoyment.
I started going to the gym and gritting out 20 minutes on the treadmill, and getting 1-2 miles outside if I could. I can remember to this day the day I ran 3 miles....around a track. I felt like a million bucks. As I began to prepare for cheer try-outs I began the transformation into an athletic person, but it was hard....so very hard. I made the cheerleading team and was instantly thrust into a new world of working out 3 afternoons a week. I continued to run and got stronger as I began jumping and throwing 100 pound girls in the air. I hurt, but I felt so good. This getting in shape thing was fun!
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