One Day: Ironwoman!

Many of us have a bucket list. Places we want to go to and see and things we want to do or accomplish. My bucket list is quite long, but one of the things on top of my list is to complete an Ironman Triathlon. (And yes, its spelled Triathlon, not with the "a" between the "t" and the "h." Weird, I know!) An Ironman is a crazy distance of 140.6 miles comprised of a 2.4 mile swim, then a 112 mile bicycle portion, and, finally, 26.2 mile run. That's right, after swimming almost two and a half miles and biking over 100 miles, you get to run a full marathon. Sounds awesome, right? Why yes, yes it does. To me.

But seriously, I know this sounds absolutely crazy, maybe even torturous to some people, but to me, it is the ultimate endurance challenge and one I want to complete at some point in my life. One day. And at the very minimum I would want to do the half Ironman. I mean, that's only 70.3 total miles.

This week, some people I follow on Instagram are in Hawaii for the Kona Ironman. They have been posting pictures of the scenery (breathtaking) and the athletes (inspiring) and it has given me an itch. It has also given me some inspiration to keep it going for my last three weeks of marathon training. As if training for the NYC marathon hasn't been tough enough, it's crazy to think there is so much more to train for on top of that for an Ironman.

Now granted, I have completed one sprint triathlon and two indoor tris and have also run six marathons. but these are nothing compared to an Ironman. Not even close. At all. A marathon in and of itself is quite the physical challenge and takes such a toll on my body.  Therefore, the thought of all that swimming and biking before the running component is completely overwhelming. And that's not even counting the training for all of it. Oh yeah, and the little fact that I would need to buy a bike. And gain access to a pool and <gasp> open water to train for the swim. (The lack of a bike (I literally have zero space for one) is one of the main reasons I haven't done more than a couple of triathlons. Otherwise I would def do more shorter distance ones more often.)

If I were to do an Ironman, my full time job would have to be training for it. (Yet another reason to marry rich, natch.) I mean, the time that consumes me training for a "simple" marathon was a lot, so to add two more events to the regimen would be beyond intense. But I do love a good challenge. There are some current obstacles in the way of me doing this (money, time, equipment/facilities, etc...) , but I am sure I could get over them or fix them quickly enough if I did actually decide to one day take on this amazing, incredible challenge. Obviously I would start with some more sprint tri's, then do an Olympic distance (Chicago or NYC, duh), then move on to a half ironman (the still impressive 70.3 distance). I do have Hawaii in my sights though. It's like to be-all, end-all of Ironman's. (Like the Boston Marathon is for runners...also on my bucket list btw.) Hmmm, obviously I haven't thought about this at all. Psshhht. Please. I have thought about it over and over again. One day though. One day.

And finally, if I ever actually am crazy enough to do this, you better believe I am going to get the Ironman tattoo right after it! Duh. It will be well-deserved and I am sure painless compared to what I will have just endured. And let me just say again: One day.