Kelly the Culinarian: One year Ironman-iversary

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

One year Ironman-iversary

I was looking through my timehop app last night, marveling at all the wonderful things people wrote to me as I made my 140.6-mile journey around Wisconsin. It was the day I triumphed and finished what I started. It was the day I've felt the most loved, by friends and family and strangers and volunteers. It was an amazing experience that I will never, ever forget.

It makes me a little regretful that I'm not tackling Ironman Wisconsin again next weekend. I remember the anxiety of this week like it's still happening. Tapering, packing, leaving work, traveling, planning meals. It was what kept my mind still in a very dark time.

But, what's replaced the double workouts and endless laundry and soreness and tears makes the change all worth it. I had a lovely weekend in Michigan during which I ran zero miles, left my bike at home and "swam" in shallow water for less than 100 yards. I've recaptured the illusive work-life balance by easing up on training, changing jobs and re-prioritizing.

It's weird to sit here and think that a year ago I became an Ironman because in many ways, it was a lifetime ago. I crossed the finish line with a different last name, and in many ways was a different person.

Which is yet another reason to do it again. I want vindication over last year. I want to train better, get faster, and prove that I can do it again without the technical errors. I need to clinch this as Kelly 3.0.
So Monday, I sign up for another year of sunburns and sweaty clothes. Cheers to spending $700 on something that won't happen for a year!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Not a shabby idea on taking a year off in between! You do get a bit burned out after 2 years of back-to-back ironmans, and I have also been working on the work-life balance piece too. Ready for the full balance this fall & winter!

Unknown said...

Ahh work life balance. Is that what you call it when your bathroom gets cleaned once a week?

Now that I've had 3 weeks off, I am ready to start running like 3 miles at a time again. I still am catching up with all my projects that I've been neglecting since like March.

Zenaida Arroyo said...

Already a year huh? Looking forward to reading again about your training.