Ironman: A Queen's Perspective

I am not an athlete.  Never was.

Yeah, I take CrossFit classes. I run.  I've even finished two half-marathons.  But I really don't consider myself an athlete even though I've been accused of being one.

You see, I hate running and I hate CrossFit.  I REALLY hate to sweat.  But I love it. All of it.  And I'll tell you what else I love...I love to eat. Running and CrossFit give me caloric freedoms I've grown to depend on. But I'm not an athlete.

I am, however, married to one.  Not just an athlete, a TRIATHLETE.

Jon Soden runs. He bikes. He swims. He puts more miles on his body in a week than I put on my car. And he's good at it. He strives to become better.  He's an athlete.

When we got married Jon was a powerlifter.  Nobody saw this triathlete thing coming.  He started running one day and then things just "ran away" so  to speak.  I'll never forget the day he told his mother and I he had decided to do an Ironman.

We were in New Hampshire for a triathalon eating breakfast when he broke the news.  I think he figured he had safety in numbers to deal with our reaction.  His mother was there, so I probably wouldn't kill him and there were witnesses.  His Mom and I had the exact same reaction, "What the F$&K is wrong with you?" 140.6 miles.  I told him to get his affairs in order. I was convinced he would die.  He didn't.

And now, this Ironman thing just won't go away.  He is ready to take on #5 in Panama City, FL. Although I do respect anyone who completes a physical competition of this kind,  I still think it takes a special kind of crazy to do this. I've come to find enjoyment in asking the people who have joined this growing "cult" to please take note of the moment they ask themselves on that long, grueling day, "What the F$@k was I thinking?"  Because the fact of the matter  is, I don't care who you are, that question is going to cross your mind.

I won't ever have to worry about asking myself that question because you will never see this "athlete" riding that crazy train and here's why...

10. 140.6 miles.  I honestly don't put that many miles on my car in a week.

9.   I'd rather drown trying to save my cocktail from going overboard than getting kicked in the head at the mass swim start.

8. The last time I rode a bike it had a basket on the front. I probably fell off.  I do that a lot.

7.  Port-o-potties. Or worse yet, not making it to one.

6.  Chafing.  In all of the places.

5.  140.6 miles.  Did I mention that already?

4.  The 17 hour time limit. If I trained for this thing, you better give me a month to complete it if that's what it takes.

3.  The fact that you can simply walk around in the tin foil warmer blanket and people will congratulate you on your Ironman finish.  It happened to me for real.  All of the glory, none of the pain.

2.  The only thing I can do for 12 straight hours (or more) is sleep.

1. I. AM. NOT. AN. ATHLETE.

But, like I said, Jon Soden is.  And regardless of how crazy I think Ironman is (and I do), he seems to "enjoy" it.  There's something to be said about that.  There's something to be said  about someone who has the dedication and love for the sport that enables them to complete countless hours of training and 140.6 miles of competition. There's something to be said about riding that crazy train for the 5th time...voluntarily.

I've stood at an Ironman finish line before.  Sometimes it's pretty, sometimes it's not...but it's a finish, an accomplishment.  And a HUGE one at that.

I guess that's what happens when you're an athlete.

The Queen

Don't Think ... Just Run

"I just have work to do; I just do it." - Ian MacKay


So this morning The Queen woke up early to get her run in before the real heat of the day set in. If you aren't in the Northeast right now, good for you. It is waaaayyyyyy too hot these days. Looking like it will be in the mid-90s all week, breaking by Saturday. Heading to NJ for an outdoor wedding so I hope the weatherman is right this time!!! (Note: I understand the idea of an outside wedding can be compelling but there is too much weather risk. Heat, humidity, rain, snow, hail ... none of that generally happens inside).

Anyway, so The Queen is mulling around the kitchen, clearly thinking about the weather outside. My advice to her: Don't think, just run. 

Lake Carasaljo in Lakewood, NJ

Physically getting started can be the hardest part of a workout. While I learned how to swim as a kid, I am by no means a "swimmer." I learned to swim by getting thrown off a boat in the middle of Lake Carasalgo, not in a pool with a coach on the deck. Staying focused on my own at the pool can be a challenge. And I
cannot tell you how many times I have sat on the edge of the pool just thinking about what I am about to do. Haven't talked myself out of a workout yet, but ... well ... haven't always done what I had originally wanted to accomplish either. I'm not talking about swimming a few seconds per 100M slower because I didn't have it that day. No, I'm talking about not doing all the work planned for that workout. Talked myself right out of whatever it was I planned for that session. Should have just jumped in the pool and got the work done.

And the thing about swimming is that there are really no weather considerations, unless your pool is outside. For me it has never been a problem to get outside for a run if it is at all possible to be outside. There was a time, many years ago, I was meeting G-Boy and Low Jack on a very cold February morning for a long run. Jack bailed and hit the elliptical before I even showed up, G and me were too hard headed to stay inside. It was somewhere around 10 degrees outside, maybe ... not really all that bad ... until ... we turned directly into the wind. O.M.G. was it freakin' cold. Numb legs type of cold. Teeth hurting kind of cold. We eventually came to our senses and cut it short, but we didn't think, we just ran.

The other common excuse for bagging a workout is usually some form of  "I feel like crap" or "I have a pain in my calf/quad/hamstring/name your body part." At 43 years of age, if I didn't have one of these excuses on any given day I would be asking what's wrong. A real injury, of course, is not something to take lightly. But injury isn't what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is the feeling of work in your legs.

Funny thing about this excuse, it tends to not show up when you have an easy 5 mile recovery run on the schedule. Not feeling your best, no big deal, its an easy run. No, this one shows up when I'm heading to the track for a fun, early morning 16 x 400 on the track or when I'm headed over to Applebutter Road for some seated hill repeats on the bike. I always make it out of the house and give it a go (assuming that the pain in my hamstring isn't a pulled muscle), committing to the first 20 minutes before I declare my legs unsuitable for hard work. Almost every time it starts this way, the workout is over before I remember how bad I felt pre-workout. No thinking, just gettin' it done.

Same thing goes for early mornings, late evenings, those horrible workouts in the basement when there is ice on the roads. Don't think ... just run.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon