Failure is NOT an option

It really hit me earlier this week that failure is just NOT an option in my book. It just isn't. Period.

About 3 - 4 weeks ago, my hip finally healed and I was able to start running again. Last week, I got done running 4 miles on the treadmill and as soon as I stepped off the treadmill I could feel shin splints coming on. I couldn't believe it! Seriously? That's the last thing I need right now.

It just seems like if it's not one thing, it's another. I record on Daily Mile all of my workouts & I've got friends on Daily Mile. I see people running at a pace of 8:30, 8:15, etc. Man am I jealous.

I found myself saying last week when I got my shin splints, if I didn't want to hear "Ara...YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!" SO bad, I would totally give up on this running, etc. It seems like if it's not one injury, it's another. But, you know what? You will NEVER see me give up. NEVER.

How Do They Afford It?

I read one blog of a gal up in Oregon that does triathlons. She is SUPER enspiring. So far this year she's don IMCdL, she did Augusta 70.3 and she's getting ready to do IMAZ.

It's not just her that does alot of Ironman's. My personal trainer did IMSG this year (he always does) and he qualified for KONA, so he went over to KONA too. Plus he did a bunch of Olympic distance triathlon's.

I've looked to see how much registration fees are for an Ironman and they are EXPENSIVE!!! If I remember correctly, they are close to $600...for one race!!! HOLY CRAP!!! Granted, it's worth it. It's definitely worth it when you cross that finish line and hear that YOU are an Ironman.

But good grief, how do people afford to do multiple Ironman's in a year? I wish I had the money to do a couple of Ironman's a year AND have the money for the traveling expenses too.

Next year, all I'm going to do are Olympic distance triathlons (with the exception of a full marathon and the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay) and Olympic distance triathlons are expensive. They're usually around $70-80 a race. I'm definitely having to scale back how many races I do.

The year that I do my Ironman, unless I strike it rich between now and then and win the lottery, that will be THE ONLY race I do that year.

I just don't get how people have the $$$ to do all these races. I guess they all have better jobs than I do and make more money. :)

IMCdA in 2013?

Earlier this week a neighbor of mine posted this article on my Facebook wall about the Ironman.

I showed the article to my friend Christy that lives up in Spokane and she said that she thinks it would be awesome if her & I did an Ironman by the time we're 35. I had originally set a goal to finish an Ironman by the time I was 40 (8 years away), but after reading this article I decided that yeah, I could do it by the time I was 35 (3 yrs away).

Well, last night I was chatting with my friend Christy on Facebook and we decided that 2013 will be the year of the Ironman. Our goal is in 2013 to do the IMCdA!!!

That doesn't seem very far away, but I know I can do it! I'm gonna have to register in 2012 and it costs $600 to do it, but I think it would be worth every penny. Next year I'll have to do a 1/2 Ironman to get ready for it and then just do only Olympic distance triathlons.

I think it would be AWESOME if I can finish an Ironman in the alotted 17 hrs. When I do the IMCdA, my first hurdle will be to finish the swim of 2.4 miles in 2:20:00 or less.

I figure if the guy in this article can do it, so can I! I'm so excited!!!

Ironman St. George 2011

Yesterday, May 7, 2011 was the Ironman St. George (IMSG). My personal trainer, B.J., competes in it every year in hopes of qualifying to go to Kona, HI for the Ironman National Championships.

I was supposed to volunteer at the IMSG this year, but when it came down to it, I wasn't able to afford to go. :( I was really sad because it would've been so inspiring. I was thinking of all the athletes yesterday and wondering how they were doing.

Last night I had my dad look up B.J.'s final time and he did awesome! He finished in 9:48:49. He qualified to go to KONA. Here are his times:

Swim: 56:05
Bike: 5:35:57
Run: 3:12:16
Final Time: 9:48:49

He came in 6th in his age divison (out of 22). Overall, he came in 28th (out of 1310).

I just looked at his pictures on Facebook, and it seriously brought a lump in my throat. It was SO inspiring.

THIS is why he is my personal trainer. One day I am going to be right there competing in St. George at the IMSG. THIS is what pushes me to be a better athlete.

Not This Year

I had to send 2 emails tonight that I REALLY didn't want to send. I was looking online and doing research to find a hotel down in St. George for 5/6/11 - 5/10/11 because I'm supposed to volunteer at the Ironman St. George.

After looking at prices of hotels, I just can't justify spending $300+ on a hotel right now. I've got other things I need to purchase for my races, etc.

Honestly, I'm VERY concerned about money right now. I just don't seem to have enough money for everything. It really irritates me that people at my work think I make more $$$ than I do and just because I live at home, they think I don't have any bills. Money is just a major concern for me right now and spending $300+ on a hotel, I just can't do it.

So, tonight I had to send an email to the volunteer captain people at the Ironman to see if I can back out of volunteering this year. Hopefully it's still far enough away that I can back out.

I'm actually really quite upset that I can't volunteer this year now. I can only imagine how inspiring it would be to go down and volunteer at the Ironman and be in the presents of these amazing athletes. Oh well, I have to do what I have to do, you know? There's always next year.

I hope they get back with me soon.

I'm Closer Than I Thought!

I'm SO excited. I'm closer to competing in an Ironman triathlon than I thought I was.

Last week I got an email from active.com and it was their newsletter. Normally I don't read the articles, but there was an article entitled (How to Train for Your First Ironman) (you can find the link here) As I was reading the article, I'm quickly realizing that I'm closer and closer to doing an Ironman.

In the article, it says you need to be capable of swimming 3 times a week for an hour each time and you need to be able to swim 100 yds in 2 minutes. I can do that!

It says you need to be able to bike comfortably for 1 1/2 hrs or so and keep a pace of 15-16 mph. I can do that too!

It says you need to be able to run a 10-11 minute mile. I run a 9:40 mile!!!

This would allow me to complete an Ironman in 13-14 hrs and they give you 17 hrs to complete an Ironman.

So, what did I do? I entered a contest to get free entry in to the St. George Ironman this year. I'm like 99% sure that I won't win, just because SO many people enter that contest, but I figured, hey, why not?

Also, currently, I'm debating on entering the lottery for the St. George Ironman in 2012. It costs an insane amount of $$$ and you're not guaranteed to get in, so I'm not sure about that yet. Plus, I'd kind of like to do a full marathon, a century ride and a full marathon before I do an Ironman.

I don't know. We'll see where this takes me. I just know that I have now set a goal that before I'm 40 yrs old (8 yrs away), I will compete in my first Ironman.

Volunteering at Ironman

I'm SO stinkin' excited. Every May, they do the St. George Ironman. This is a qualifer for the big race over in Kona. My personal trainer, BJ, does this race every year.

This year, I'm volunteering at the St. George Ironman!!! I'll drive down the day before the race and then the morning of the race I'll be a body marker in the morning (write their bib # and age on their arms and legs). And then, 12 hours later, I'll head to the finish line and I'm going to be a catcher!!! If you're unfamiliar with what a "catcher" is, basically after you're done competing in an Ironman, your body is like Jell-O, therefore, they have the "catchers" at the finish line to help you walk over to the transition area/family/first aid/food, or whatnot.

I'm SO excited. This is going to be very inspiring. One day I hope to not be volunteering there and actually be a participant.

What if I Can't Wait...

My next race isn't for 4 more months!!! That seems like an eternity away! What if I can't wait four months?

However, I do have some pretty cool races planned for next year. I plan on doing a 1/2 marathon up in Seattle (I can't wait!) and I plan on volunteering at the St. George Ironman!!!

4 months just seems like an eternity. Gah! I hope I make it that long without going through race withdrawls. Lol.

Guess Who Has a Personal Trainer?

Guess who has a personal trainer? Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!!!

Last month, for my birthday, my mom and dad gave me 2 sessions with a personal trainer named BJ Christenson at the South Davis Rec. Center. Before my birthday, I told my parents that if I were to ever have a personal trainer, I would want it to be BJ.

BJ is a freakin' machine!!! He does the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii! He did it last month I believe.

In the Ironman Triathlon, they give you 17 hours to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles. BJ did it in a little over 9 hours!!! He swam 2.4 miles in less than 1 hour.

My ultimate goal is to do the Ironman Triathlon over in Hawaii. Currently, I've only done sprint triathlons. And, for example, where it took BJ less than 1 hour to swim 2.4 miles, it takes me about 50 minutes to swim just 1 mile!

Eeeek, I've got a long ways to go, but I know that BJ can help me get there.

St. George Triathlon

Eventually, I want to compete in an IronMan Triathlon. That's my ultimate goal. I think it would be alot of fun and such an energy rush.

Competing in an Ironman, you have to do the following:
-Run/Jog 26.2 miles
-Cycle 112 miles
-Swim 2 miles & 365 yards

The BIG Ironman is held over in Kona, Hawaii. I think it'd be alot of fun to compete in that race, but you have to qualify for it. You can qualify by doing these other Ironman's, like the one in St. George and they have on in Couer D'Alene, ID as well. I know they've got more around the country, I'm just not sure where.

Well, my boss, she has a friend that has competed in an Ironman. This last weekend was the Ironman down in St. George, so my boss and her friend went down to volunteer at it. I don't know what they were doing, but my boss was stationed at the finish line.

When you compete in an Ironman, you have 17 hours to finish the race. If it takes you longer than that to finish, then you don't "officially" complete the race. In the Ironman this last weekend, the last participant to cross the finish line, crossed with an end time of 17 hours and 2 minutes. Unfortunately, he didn't offically complete the race, but what is inspiring about the story is...the man was 74 years old!!!

I would LOVE to meet this man. What an inspiration. I hope I'm able to do that when I'm 74 years old.