"Ironstruck"

It's official. I needed a new goal and a new challenge, and I have found it! As you may have noticed, the title of my blog has changed to reflect my next adventure which officially starts today and unofficially a month ago. I have registered for the 2008 Ironman Arizona to take place on Sunday, April 13, 2008; mark your calendars and if you are able, come and cheer me on in Tempe, Arizona!

The Ironman is a grueling 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run in one very long day. The course has a time limit of 17 hours so my goal is to complete the race in less than 16 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds. I know I can do it if I dedicate myself to training as I have shown I can do with marathon training. The training plan I have is 30 weeks and I have almost 40, plenty of time (if there is such a thing in Ironman training) to prepare for my big race.

I'm sure many of you wonder if I've lost my mind. Nope! I've been "Ironstruck" as they say. Over the past month I've missed many hours of sleep lying in bed dreaming about this adventure. I've spent hours researching online for books and other triathlon information and finally decided it was time. If not now, when? Live life to the fullest and don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Life's too short to fulfill all my dreams so I must lay out a path to reach these dreams one at a time.

Most of you who know me are probably wondering, "Has she ever even done a triathlon?". Nope! I haven't, but I had never run a road race or even more than 3.3 miles prior to training for the San Francisco Marathon and yesterday, I ran 23 miles! I've got several races penciled in beginning in August and running through November. These races will be great practice and give me a chance to gain some confidence in my triathlon ability. I'm not here to win (that should be obvious), I'm here to have fun, participate and enjoy the spirit of the competition.

In addition to researching books (which I've bought several but still need several more) I've spent a lot of time looking at bikes. Over the weekend I finally ended that search with K2, my new baby. She's amazing! I don't have a picture of us together yet, but it's on the way. For now, I'll just post a picture from online. I scored a great deal on the ALL CARBON triathlon bike! K2 is actually the K-Factor made by Kuota. It's not a brand any of you have probably ever heard of, but they're one of the best. In fact, the winner of the 2004 and 2006 Ironman Hawaii (Normann Stadler) rode the higher end version (Kalibur) of the bike I bought. See how sweet she is in the picture below.

Sure, it doesn't look all that exciting if all you see is a bike, but K2 is amazing to ride, very smooth, very fast and shifts effortlessly. I can't wait to start training on her, so I think I'll start tomorrow, maybe tonight if it's not too dark when I get home.

If there's something you've always wanted to do, I encourage you to make it a priority today. Lay out that plan and make your dream a reality!