Day 570 -- 2011 Ironman World Championship
I am determined to have a better post today. I think that it helps that I'm writing it before 11 pm.
The past week has been exceptionally difficult, mostly, I think due to the fact that I am constantly preoccupied with the looming race on the horizon. Every day brings me one step closer to facing this dream and I won't lie: I'm scared. I'm trying to embrace the fear and let it motivate me, let it make me feel like I'm really alive -- but mostly it's making me feel like I'm walking around in sort of a daze, not fully paying attention to anything else. It's exhausting, and I find myself tired beyond comprehension despite a much-reduced training load.
So, I am thankful that today the 2011 Ironman National Championship was making an encore appearance on NBC. I think it was totally God's way of showing me why I decided to take this on in the first place. I just happened to see that it was playing this afternoon as I was on the Ironman website, checking out the athlete tracker. Which, by the way, is totally awesome. A week from today, you can go to www.ironman.com, click on "Live Race Coverage" in the upper right hand corner, type in my bib number (483) or my last name for Lake Placid, and see where I am on the course. If you don't mind, would you pick a time of day to check it and at the same time say a prayer for me? Thanks.
So, anyhoo, I just happened to see that the coverage was airing again today on NBC, so we all went over to my dad's house (hello, air conditioning!) and watched (okay, just Colby and I watched...the kids watched Disney Jr. in the other room). Sitting there watching it with tears streaming down my face, I was amazed and inspired. I was still scared, but the thrill of watching athletes cross the finish line gave me renewed sense of awe and wonder. The commentator described the finish line of the Ironman as a "human pot of gold", and I can't wait to be there to experience it for myself. It was exactly the emotional buoy to keep me afloat for the next few days.
It's over an hour long, but if you want to watch it, it's here. It's pretty amazing, especially when you get towards the end and see the "age groupers" finishing. To see an 81 year-old man finish in the 17th hour is pretty breathtaking, a double leg-amputee cross the finish line astonishing, a woman battling stage 4 colon cancer just flat-out incredible (imagine training while going through chemo and radiation). If nothing else, just watch the last 15 minutes!
I'm thankful that God gave me this chance to get excited again. After all the training, unexpected expenses, and fear that has gone on lately, I really, really needed this.
Thank God for the 2011 Ironman World Championship!
God, thank you for giving me inspiration and hope today. Please help me to have courage and strength over the next week and embrace all the living that will come out of this experience. Please help me to get across the finish line to be a part of the human pot of gold. In your name, Amen.
The past week has been exceptionally difficult, mostly, I think due to the fact that I am constantly preoccupied with the looming race on the horizon. Every day brings me one step closer to facing this dream and I won't lie: I'm scared. I'm trying to embrace the fear and let it motivate me, let it make me feel like I'm really alive -- but mostly it's making me feel like I'm walking around in sort of a daze, not fully paying attention to anything else. It's exhausting, and I find myself tired beyond comprehension despite a much-reduced training load.
So, I am thankful that today the 2011 Ironman National Championship was making an encore appearance on NBC. I think it was totally God's way of showing me why I decided to take this on in the first place. I just happened to see that it was playing this afternoon as I was on the Ironman website, checking out the athlete tracker. Which, by the way, is totally awesome. A week from today, you can go to www.ironman.com, click on "Live Race Coverage" in the upper right hand corner, type in my bib number (483) or my last name for Lake Placid, and see where I am on the course. If you don't mind, would you pick a time of day to check it and at the same time say a prayer for me? Thanks.
So, anyhoo, I just happened to see that the coverage was airing again today on NBC, so we all went over to my dad's house (hello, air conditioning!) and watched (okay, just Colby and I watched...the kids watched Disney Jr. in the other room). Sitting there watching it with tears streaming down my face, I was amazed and inspired. I was still scared, but the thrill of watching athletes cross the finish line gave me renewed sense of awe and wonder. The commentator described the finish line of the Ironman as a "human pot of gold", and I can't wait to be there to experience it for myself. It was exactly the emotional buoy to keep me afloat for the next few days.
It's over an hour long, but if you want to watch it, it's here. It's pretty amazing, especially when you get towards the end and see the "age groupers" finishing. To see an 81 year-old man finish in the 17th hour is pretty breathtaking, a double leg-amputee cross the finish line astonishing, a woman battling stage 4 colon cancer just flat-out incredible (imagine training while going through chemo and radiation). If nothing else, just watch the last 15 minutes!
I'm thankful that God gave me this chance to get excited again. After all the training, unexpected expenses, and fear that has gone on lately, I really, really needed this.
Thank God for the 2011 Ironman World Championship!
God, thank you for giving me inspiration and hope today. Please help me to have courage and strength over the next week and embrace all the living that will come out of this experience. Please help me to get across the finish line to be a part of the human pot of gold. In your name, Amen.
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