By Erica
There are two explanations for why I’m doing the Ironman. The first is simple: when I was deciding where to go for graduate school, I promised a friend over lunch that if I went to UW-Madison, I’d do Ironman Wisconsin before I graduated. We recorded my pledge into his iPhone and decided that I would be rewarded a steak for completing it. Here I am in my third year as a badger, and it’s time to make good on my promise and get that steak.
The second explanation is less pithy and situational. I grew up an athlete—I started swimming competitively when I was seven, and in high school I specialized in the 100 yard butterfly. I later switched to rowing did a lot of training & racing in high school and college before burning out. Despite the fact that I quit competitive team sports when I was 20, I remained an athlete. There’s something about keeping your body fit and able that has always made sense to me. Nowadays, humans spend most of their time seated in front of a computer screen or a TV screen or an iPhone screen, and because of that we’ve de-integrated our lives & minds from our bodies. I run, bike, and swim in order to reintegrate. As pioneering long distance runner Julia Chase-Brand said in an excellent New York Times profile, “I feel more like myself when I’m out running. I’m a good animal.”
When I watched the end of the swim leg of Ironman Wisconsin in 2009, I knew I had to do this race. The competitors were such good animals. Seeing them bursting out of the water, their legs and arms pumping as they ran up the ramp to their bikes, was inspiring. It also made me antsy. I started biking more and running more, and this past summer after completing the Half Ironman in Chisago, Minnesota I decided that 2012 was going to be my year. I also decided that Minneapolis is an awesome city, but that’s another story.
(Above: Waiting in line to register for Ironman 2012, approximately 6:30am)
As silly as it sounds, my goal for the race is to be smiling the whole time. For this to happen, I need to put in hours and hours of training, of course. But I also need to be able to reflect; I don’t want to become a triathlon drone, pumping out workouts and obsessing over weekly heart rate logs in an excel document. I started Oak & Iron Bound so that I would have a way to pause and appreciate my adventures.
Please keep visiting our blog to read up on our trials & tribulations as we train for Ironman 2012. In addition to pieces from each of us about our triathlon training, we’ll be posting pictures, videos and other media that help to capture our experiences. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll get to see a picture of Camila’s awesome floral biking shorts.
