The night before Ironman

Well, tomorrow is a long day coming.........so it will be, a long day. Here in Ironman village and hotel, there is an interesting energy combined with a calmness. All different walks of life have led to this path. From all corners of the world. Some to win, some to dive into a personal agenda. Some unfinished turmoil that needs to be let go through the exhaustion and intensity of a day of Ironman. You can see the different stories in people's eyes as they walk, talk and stare..........

I have been a triathlete for over 18 years. Truly dedicated to the sport. I love the competition, the people, and the well roundedness of the sport. Maybe the Libra in me! THIS will be my first Ironman, though. And with it comes a new feeling. There is a definite thoughtfulness and respect for the race I will do tomorrow. Maybe not so much "the race" but the distance. Whether it takes me 9 hours or 13 hours I will be going much slower than what my brain typically considers racing. I will try to set my body like a metronome and just cruise. And hopefully set the count right!

There are families here. Support systems that only they can describe. There are friends from clubs, and there are lone rangers. All have a familiear stare and look in their eyes. You do not have to ask who is doing the race tomorrow, it shows in their face. I wish my kids were here to sense this energy and learn from it. And to know what the training that they have seen me do, ultimately turns into. But..............

I have been fortunate to have many friends and family that have called me to wish me luck and to have a good race. It reminds me that with the everyday life we live, people notice.........And with that, it gives me a greater humility and sense of being. Because it is not just with Ironman training, or any race training, it is with life that people notice and are in a way influenced. We all notice the good people do..........We all notice the bad people do....... Inbetween is a lot of life that we think goes unnoticed. But is it? Our children notice, our friends and family notice. Work colleagues notice. How we live matters......... We are an example as individuals.

The evening news is full of dread and doom and gloom. But here at Ironman, and maybe in everybody's everday life, we can strive to do good. To make our own good news. I hope the first good news to share is a good race tomorrow.

Thanks, to all my friends and family