Hello there....

Well, here I go. I'm not sure what this blog is going to turn out to be, but if nothing else it is a way for me to announce to the whole world that I intend to find out what I truly capable of. I've got dreams, big ones and I am the only one who can make them happen. It is up to me. Let's begin with the end in mind.
There is 780 days until The 2009 Ironman World Championship in Kona Hawaii and I want to be there. There, I've said it! I don't just want to be an ironman, I want to go to Kona. The crown jewel of ironman. To put this dream in perspective, I will need to complete Ironman Lake Placid in 11:00 hours to even be close. As far as I can calculate, that's a 2.4 mile swim at a 1:47 minute per 100yds, a 112 mile bike at 19 miles per hour, and a 26.2 marathon at a 9:00 per mile pace. Cake walk, right? There are people who train for years and never get close. So, why even try? I want to know what I'm truly capable of. If I don't set my sights high, the end result might not answer my question. I guess some people will say that setting your goals too high will just lead to disappointment. I don't know about that.
Disappointment is what I felt when I crossed the finish line of the 2005 NYC marathon. I crossed the finish in a very slow and painful 5 hours and 47 minutes. I wouldn't have been disappointed if I knew that I had given 100% in training and just had a bad day on the course. That happens. I was disappointed because I gave my training only a 50% effort. I let myself down way before race day. I missed that boat. I had all of the opportunity I needed to succeed. I had a great coach, a huge team, all of the family support I could have wanted, but I didn't have me. That was almost 2 years ago. Since that time I completed a few triathlons and fell in love with the sport. I fluctuate between being really committed to being a competitive athlete and a weekend warrior; sometime on a daily basis. I began this year strong and determined to finish the Tupper Lake 1/2 ironman race in June. I began training consistently and started seeing progress. I had a great team, a great coach and this time my head was in the game 100%. March 22, that changed. Doctors found a mass in my partners chest. Tons of tests and one major chest surgery later, she was diagnosed with Non-hodgkins lymphoma. I needed to be with my family, so I let go of Tupper Lake.
Watching Carolynn, endure chemotherapy and move through her cancer has made me very aware that health is a gift. We aren't entitled to be well and we don't "deserve" to get sick, it just happens. I also have observed that just when you think you can't possibly do more, you do. I feel a sense of urgency to get on living my dreams. And why not live the big ones?
So that's it in a nutshell. I have 780 days to do more that I think is possible and discover what I am really capable of. Check in with me every now and then and I'll keep you up to date on my progress. The experiment of one begins here.

779 days to go.