Yes, its true, I want to do another Ironman. I made the decision a few days after we got home from Florida. I just feel I didn't get the true IM experience. Well, maybe I did since many people struggle on the run but since I had so much pain on the latter part of the bike, I couldn't run like I normally do. I suppose that sounds like an excuse to some people but I don't care. I want to try it again.
But its not easy getting into IM triathlons and many of them are already sold out. Florida 2010 is already sold out (too bad I didn't decide this when I was in Florida!).
Which one should I do? Arizona? Cour de' Alene? Louisville? Canada? I had a lot of factors to consider, like time of year, cost, feasibility of my family coming with me (this time i want my kids there!).
The one thing that made sense to me was to not let this amount of training "go". In other words, I want to build on what I already have, in terms of fitness. The thought of letting it go and building it back up was too daunting to me (not that I would let it to all go but I wouldn't maintain it without a big goal ahead of me).
So, as I was making this decision two weeks ago, there were two IM's coming up: Arizona and Cozumel. I chose AZ because in the Cozumel IM, you're not allowed to wear wetsuits! I'm not a good enough swimmer to forego my wetsuit!
But I had a few more questions....how hot does it get in Tempe, AZ, at this time of year, what is the bike course like, and is the swim one or two loops?
The answer to the first question was better than I expected: mid-70's for the high and not surprisingly, low humidity. These are exactly the same conditions we had in Florida and I felt fine biking and running there. It was a little warm on the run but I didn't feel it was a problem.
The answer to the 2nd question was also good news: the bike course was relatively flat. It had a few more hills than Florida did, but compared to Colorado, it was pretty flat. Yay.
However, the answer to the third question was not in my favor. The swim is one big 2.4 mile loop instead of two 1.2 mile loops. Uh oh. That means I would have to swim continuously for 2.4 miles...no beach to run out onto to catch my breath (which I didn't do anyway in Florida!), just nonstop swimming for an hour and 18 mins or so. Could I do it???
I decided that if I can overcome a major fear of open water swimming and a fear of swimming that distance in the ocean (with 2 loops), I could easily overcome a fear of one big loop. Besides, I would have a whole year to train!
So, AZ it is.
And, to get into an IM, you have to sign up as soon as the online registration opens up because they fill up within minutes. So, I will need to be at my computer, credit card in hand, as soon as registration opens up. That will be tomorrow, Monday, Nov. 23rd, at noon Mountain Time. Woo hoo!
And the best news is that two of my closest friends, Sarah Adams and Brenda Lynch, have decided to sign up as well! Yippee!!! They did most of my long rides with me this last year and it would be so much fun to train with them again this year, esp with the same goal in mind!
So here goes, another long, arduous, emotionally- and physically-challenging year to get to that finish line. We'd love the company, whether its on the road training with us, or here in this blog (comments are always welcome!). Either way, I'm going for it!
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