Have you ever had weeks or even months where EVERYTHING that you wanted to do is all scheduling on the same week or weekend?? Your friend is having a party but you have to work! Your Boss wants to send you on a great seminar trip, but your brother's wedding is the same weekend.
2010 is the year of the scheduling conflict...
I was slated to do the Miami International Distance Triathlon in March. My mother decided to plan my father's 80th birthday on the same weekend. NEEDLESS to say, I am going to attend my father's birthday party-family comes first.
I am slated to do the St. Anthony's Triathlon in April (one of my FAVORITE RACES) and my 25th College Reunion is the same weekend in South Carolina (Yes..Im that old..ever run past me in a race, you know how old I am anyway!!!). I have figured out a way to go for part of the reunion and still get to St. Anthony's in time to rack my bike and make the race but will it be a relaxing race weekend?? I think not...
So as my husband and I were planning our upcoming 25th wedding anniversary trip and other traveling adventures (because that is our FAVORITE thing to do...we love to travel), we decided to look up my husband's 25th Class Reunion at The Citadel-The Military College of South Carolina.
Nov. 6th, 2010......He looked at me in horror. Oh no....that's....that's....
Yes honey, I said...That would be Ironman Florida.
I decided to head outside to the mailbox to grab our mail for the day where I received a note from one of my college friends. She and her husband have decided to renew their vows for their 25th wedding anniversary...on Nov. 7th, 2010....in Charleston...the day AFTER Homecoming at the Citadel. This is the day I would need to be in Panama City to sign up for Ironman Florida 2011.
My heart skipped a beat. You are kidding me right???
It is in the life that we make choices. When I realized that The Citadel's Class Reunion was the same weekend as Ironman Florida 2010, the choice was easy...but painful. This is the place where I fell in love with my husband. For four years of my life, my world revolved around the hallowed grounds of this Southern Fortress that took boys and made them men. My husband was changed by this place and to NOT go and celebrate that time in our lives would be absolutely wrong.
There will be other races...there will only be ONE 25th class reunion.
When you work for months for a goal, sometimes its hard to shift gears, but this is what makes life so incredibly interesting. The question now is: what do I do?? One of the reasons I have been so successful in my consistent workout routine is that I have always had a goal race to work towards. The intermediate goal, at the moment, is the Gulf Coast Half Ironman in 65 days. I am focused on that but my ultimate goal was to lose 40 pounds by May 8th and consider doing Ironman Florida 2010. That is no longer an option.
There is Ironman Cozumel...but I hesitate to consider an international Ironman for my first race. I could use this year to just lose weight and focus on Half Ironmans and then go for the full Ironman in 2011. I could consider a non branded Ironman distance race...Honestly...I just don't know what to do.
What would YOU do??? Please...your imput is greatly appreciated!!!
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7 comments:
Oh I hate those conflicts!!! My cousin got married on Nov 7 last year, in CA. Needless to say, I was in FL....
I'd been wondering if you were still considering an IM this year... Am I reading you correctly now - if you lose the magic number of lbs you want to do a full IM this year? Well, what about Arizona? although the swim is really cold, you'll see friends/family a lot more often on the bike and the run. I'll even do my best to come cheer for you. There's Vineman out here in CA on July 31, but it's hilly, and the cutoff is 16 hours. Besides, I think you need and deserve to hear Mike Reilly when you cross the finish.
As for the 2011 races, here's what I'd do, bring a laptop with you, wherever you are on Nov. 7. I registered for Florida online in 2008 - for the 2009 race. I just sat at my computer and kept hitting refresh until finally the servers weren't overloaded and they let me through to register. There were still spots a few hours later. If that doesn't work, you can always go with the community fund spot for 2011. OR Arizona.
It's not an official ironman but its an iron distance setupevents.com has beach to battleship on November 13th in Wilmington NC.
There's a few bloggers that had Cozie as their first, it went really well for them. Have fun in Charleston!
You can always sign up for 2011 online. So go to Charleston (one of my favorite cities too!) have fun. Perhaps larger forces are conspiring to keep you out of IMFL this year for a reason.
Maybe that reason is to find your way without having that 'deadline.' I'm sure its a bit demoralizing to know its not an OPTION, right? But, you had promised your sweet husband you'd take a year off....and he deserves it.
Focus on IMFL 2011...and your weight loss goals.
Do Ironman Cozumel!!! I will be there!!! And its My First Ironman! Best swim in Ironman! Flat run! Flat bike! (although windy) That is My Vote!!! COZUMEL!!!!!!!!!
I did two non-IM brand races last year and LOVED them both (Great Floridian & B2B). There were a LOT of first-time ironman folks at B2B as it's a relatively easy iron course like IMFL, ***BUT*** one thing that is very different is the amount of support on the course and at the finish line for slower folks. If you are a 15+ hr finisher who enjoys gutting things out on your own, you will be fine. If you need others around you to help motivate you to keep going, I'd recommend doing an IM-brand race.
Good luck whatever you decide!
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