I read an article about perseverance that struck a chord with me

Lately, this is what gets me out of bed in the morning to swim or run or avoid getting into my pajamas early in the evening vs. going to bootcamp or yoga class. It would be so easy to NOT work out and I could create a million other things to do in place of a workout. This is what will force me out into the cold air and snow-covered streets of Boston for a lung burning run when I am home for the holidays. I remind myself that I committed to a Half Ironman race in July and I have a goal of completing the race in 5:45. My best time in a 70.3 mile race is 6:10."Perseverance is not an issue of talent. It is not an issue of time. It is about finishing. Talent provides hope for accomplishment, but perseverance guarantees it...Life seems designed to make a person quit. For even the most talented individual, obstacles abound, and failures are commonplace. Only when a person matches talent with perseverance do opportunities become avenues of success." By Dr. John C. Maxwellfull article http://www.giantimpact.com/articles/read/article_perseverance/

Merry Christmas! Chang, the reindeer

Day after Ironman (visiting Sedona)

These pictures tell the story of what it is like to walk the day after finishing an Ironman.

Pictures from Arizona (Ironman)

I am an Ironman Arizona Finisher - 14:00:26

Success! I finished close enoughto my goal time to call it a success! Who really cares about the extra 26 seconds??
What an amazing day! Almost perfect conditions for an Ironman race (a little windier than forecasted and chilly water for the swim - 63 degrees). While I was on the bike, I was a little irrational and thought, "I could do another one of these". What a rush it is to actually have my body go through the physical rigors of such an endurance event and transform my mind to think I actually want to go through such torture again ;-)) The commitment to another Ironman is a way off - I quickly realized how nuts the idea was when I got to about mile 16 of the run and still had 10.2 miles to go.

No worries - I am not signing up for another Ironman...I will stick to the half IM distance next year and will be closer to home so my family and New England co-workers can come support me in person and not have to worry about commenting on a blog!

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers...I definitely used all of them on the course today!

Day before Ironman

Bike is checked in, transition bags are dropped off and now all I have to do is eat dinner and get some rest. Looks like the weather will be great in Tempe tomorrow. Forecast is high of 80 with low winds (3 -5 mph).
Finishing in less than 17 hours would be acceptable, sub-14 hours would be a great day for me.

Looking forward to an amzing day and will be thinking of everyone back home to motivate and inspire me.

Ciao!

Friday night in Arizona

We arrived in Arizona on Wednesday night after 16 hours of driving which included multiple rest stops (3 girls in the car) and only one speeding ticket in New Mexico. It would have been great to know that New Mexico police are sticklers for going exactly the speed limit.
The landscape and terrain is amazing and so far the weather has been okay, low 58 degrees and high of 86 degrees. Today the wind picked up which cooled the air, but we were told by my coach that the forecast has little to no wind planned for Sunday. Water temperatures are in the low 60s - quite chilly, but manageable in a sleeveless wetsuit. .
Laura and I got a run in on Thursday and swam in chilly water this morning. We will swim again in the morning and take a spin on our bikes tomorrow prior to checking our bikes for the race.

Off to dinner, so I will write more tomorrow!
Thanks everyone for all the motivational message wishing me a great day on Sunday!