I've come sooo far...

I spent lunch IM'ing with a coworker whose cubicle is about 10 feet away, haha :) I sent her various You Tube Ironman clips, including my favorite here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh1yMnrby3w

She started saying how she could never do this. She can't swim, she can't run, she can't bike that long. And I started thinking. Back in 2000, my best friend and I decided we wanted to start exercising to lose weight for an Arizona trip we had planned to visit one of her friends. We'd meet at the DPS on Lamar and walk around the track there. This was also back when I used to smoke. Yes, I was awful. I'd light up after workouts sometimes cause I was a vehicular smoker. Once in the car, always had to have a cigarette in hand. This went on for awhile. Slowly but surely we'd walk one lap, then two, then three. Then we started "running" probably more of a shuffle. Same thing, let's try one lap, two laps, three.

One of her co-workers, Rolando was doing the Flamingo 5k and she registered, but I was too intimidated. I just showed up hesitant. I thought only "elite" athletes registered and did these races. We jogged, walked and did what we had to do to finish. I didn't cross the line, but it was cool seeing that "normal" people did this. After that, we committed to training for the Cap 10k. We both did that April 1, 2001.

Cap 10k - 1:21:30, 13:06 pace. I ran the whole way, isn't that funny?

I can't remember what I did after. I don't have any race results from 2001 to 2004. 2004, I started back up. I remember my goal was to run a 10:00 min mile. Just one. I started running with the free Runtex classes after work up at the Gateway Runtex. Bruno was the manager there, he now works for Nike. I was the slowest one, but I was doing it. I met Leslie in one of the classes. We became friends and she asked me to be on her running team. I remember immediately telling her, "Oh no.. I'm not elite." I don't know what it is with my mindset of setting limitations on myself cause I'm not "elite". She told me you didn't have to be elite. She wanted me to go home and browse this website.

http://www.teamjustin.com/

They were raising awareness for ALS also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. I cried watching the interview between him and his girlfriend when they were asked about their future. They knew he only had a short amount of time, yet they made the most of it. She loved him no matter what and vice versa. At the next practice, I told her I'd attempt... ATTEMPT the Distance Challenge. If I didn't make it, I tried, but I wanted to be part of her team because it was such a great cause. I had the greatest opportunity in meeting Justin at one of the fundraisers. What a great guy. He was smiling, drinking and having a great time. Leslie and I ran our long runs at Town Lake, loop after loop after loop. This is part of the reason why I dislike running on the trail with multiple loops. I've been there and done that!

Feb 2005, I completed my first marathon in Austin. My parents, best friend, and several others came out to cheer me on. I continued with marathons, found Rogue. Got curious about triathlons and did Danskin after in 2006, the weekend after I ran my 2nd marathon in San Diego. The rest is history. Wondering if I could do the next distance has gotten me to where I am today.

15 days, and I'll be an Ironman. I'm complete the distance of all distances. I've come along way from smoking cigarettes and walking 1 mile loops back in 2000.

If I can do it, anyone can.