Moving Toward Florida

The Bird, Jim, and Rand

Some of you used to read my blog on a regular basis. I had a computer crash a few months ago and stopped blogging. For several reasons, even with a new computer, I chose not to resume that blog. I may go back to it later, but for now I am considering releasing some of my writing urges in this place. 

My target audience for this blog is considerably different than my other blog. I don't know if I had a target for it, but it was read pretty broadly by a pretty diverse group of people. Some did not understand nor appreciate how endurance athletics fit into a broader life. Hopefully everyone who reads this has some appreciation for one of my passions. 

The title of this blog comes from two huge goals in my life. One is done. The other is to come. I am blessed with some athletic ability but not as much as some of you. Qualifying for Boston was difficult for me, so I was proud of the work and effort to achieve that. I could not have done it without many of you, friends who encouraged and pulled me along. Ironman? Totally unthinkable just 3 years ago. Ironically, it was my ill-fated RAIN ride of 2011 that put me on this path toward Ironman. You can read about it here.

How did this RAIN ride lead to Ironman? I always thought I could not endure much more than 4 hours of endurance work. This came from how I felt after several marathons. The thought of enduring a 14-15 event, plus the totally inability to swim, made Ironman impossible in my mind. 

My RAIN disaster had me on the course for around 14 hours. As I recovered from that, I thought about how I was out for about the same amount of time as an Ironman event. I was fine for most of that time. This allowed me to change my thinking from "impossible" to "possible." There was one big obstacle in the way, however. 

I could not dog paddle to save my life. Literally! Rand can testify to my first night in the BNL pool, back in February of 2012. Thanks to him, Bill, Jimmy, Tim, and a host of other encouragers/teachers, I am on track to do the 2.4 mile swim on November 1. The word miraculous has been used - ha ha.

OK, I think that brings you up to speed. I am moving from one huge accomplishment toward another one. I, like many of you, am goal-oriented, task-oriented. My life is often measured by what I achieve and accomplish. That's not always healthy, perhaps, but it is a reality. What I hope to do here is share some of my thoughts and activities as I move toward November 1 and Ironman Florida.

I would love for this to be interactive, where you comment and add your experiences. Bill's great blog usually does not get comments, so I do not have my hopes too high - ha ha!

I used to blog everyday, and I may do that here. Check back often, if you are interested.