rejoyce: Monday Inspiration: IRONMAN Wisconsin

I recently noticed a trend while talking to a few peers. Chatting about life to a 20-something involves every other sentence starting or ending in varying phrases of uncertainty. Examples:

"I like my job but I'm just not sure about..."
"I don't know if I could live (insert city here) forever, you know?"
"I just really don't know if my boyfriend/job/location/hobby is something I'm interested in long term."
Et Cetera.

But - that's not the trend I wanted to talk about! That's just inevitable cold, hard truth of talking to a twenty-something about life. The recent trend I noticed is (I think) more"fixable." A couple of my friends said "I like my job/life/etc, but I just don't feel challenged."

Therefore - for anyone who is searching for a challenge - I present to you the physical challenge of all challenges:

2.4 mile swim. 112 miles bike. 26.2 mile run. Feeling challenged yet? Or just nauseated?

Over 2,000 athletes took over Madison this Sunday, September 7 to embark upon this challenge. The fact that so many people (adults!) would take on such a physical feat amazes me.

I personally have never run farther than 5 miles consecutively (not ashamed), so I find the Ironman very inspiring. I ran a sprint triathlon in June, and enjoyed the experience. But - it was hard! It really put into perspective just how far these athletes were going.

Stephen and I woke up at the crack of dawn (6:45am!) on Sunday and scurried over to Lake Monona to watch the start of the swim at 7am. It was incredible!

sun rising and volunteers out there ready for the swimmers

and they're off!

So many people swimming in the water and so many ironfans cheering them on:

I got tired just watching them!

volunteers supervising

After the swimmers swam to the other side of the lake, we walked up a bunch of the steps to get onto the Monona Terrace. {5 flights of stairs before 8am on Sunday? That's my own personal version of an Ironman.}

We headed over to the transition area where we waited for people to emerge from the lake....and gazed at a collection of road bikes fit for kings. The maseratis of the bicycle world.

I definitely want to get a road bike before doing my next tri (any suggestions?), so I'll likely buy one before next summer. Fun fact: I actually bought hybrid bike used from a friend – and that friend completed the Ironman yesterday! (Go Mel!!)

When the competitors started exiting the water and transitioning to the bikes it was so exciting! I cheered Melanie on as she moved from the swim to the bike - and as she headed out on her 112 mile biking journey, we headed home. And, at around 9:30am, I took a much needed nap. The life of an ironfan is no joke, you guys.

I did wake up and was inspired to go for a run. I put on my triathlon tee (why not?) and meandered around the streets of Madison while listening to "Kanye West" radio on Pandora. Then, I stumbled upon this sign (as part of the bike course):

And took it as a sign from the higher-ups that it was time to turn around and head home. I certainly didn't want to over do it ;)

Two meals later, we watched runners (after swimming and biking) start their marathons! Crazy! This was around 2pm...it had been 7 hours since they began the race.

I have no grand delusions of ever running an Ironman, but do have the goal to run a real 10k. It may seem tiny in comparison, but I think it's a good fitness goal for ex-basketball player me! Watching the triathletes made me want to set more fitness goals for myself. Do you have ideas for any new fitness-oriented goals I should add to my list?

I offer you two different perspectives for reading this post:

Perspective 1: How inspirational! I think I'm going to set a new physical fitness goal for myself...maybe I'll do the Ironman next year!

Perspective 2: Holy sh*t. I'd rather be at work on a Monday than swim, bike, or run half that much.

Either way, happy Monday, friends!