”Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles, brag for the rest of your life.” That is the Ironman mantra spoken by Ironman founder John Collins.
Ironman was born out of a contest in Hawaii where swimmers, cyclists, and runners argued who was the fittest. They decided to combine all three races and whoever won would be called the “Ironman”. Sounds reasonable.
Well I can swim. I swam as a kid. I can backstroke, side stroke, crawl. I can swim. NO PROBLEM. I can run marathons and feel little pain after I’m done. How hard can swimming be?
Biking – I loved to bike. I can run 26.2 miles – how hard can biking be.
These are my assumptions but I have no reason to believe they are true. They are private thoughts put down on electronic paper. But it is calling me. My new lifeboat – Ironman.
I’ve eyeballed a couple of potential races. Ironman Maryland is one. Ironman Chattanooga is another. Maybe even Ironman Florida. I’ve settled in my mind that Ironman Chattanooga is the one for me. It has a river to swim in, you swim downstream even, so that makes it a bit easier.
There are decisions to be made, but before I do that, I’m going to take a long weekend, find an indoor pool and see if swimming is as easy as I remember it to be.
Morbidly Obese to MARATHON Runner 