Ironman thoughts and reflections

I completed a full Ironman 4 years ago today.  Hard to believe it's been that long.  I'd consider it my entrance into real longer endurance.  I had only raced 5 hours up till that point, so to ponder 12 was a lot more. 
It was an incredible training journey.  My friend Charity wrote me a training program and I was diligent with it, probably the most diligent I've been to any program.  I'm really proud of it.  I was so fit and prepared. I think back on it now and marvel at how dedicated I was and hope I could do that much again swimming and biking again when I do another Ironman sometime.  I ran into a calf injury 3 weeks before race day and was really worried about it, but I put a lot of work into healing it and amazingly I was able to run the whole challenging run course and really in a time I would have expected pre injury.  I completed the original Ironman St George, a course that was hard and I loved it for that.  It was such a big experience for me, my whole family was there. I felt so accomplished and like it was a really big deal.  I wish I'd been able to do it one more time before it went down to a 70.3. 
I haven't been able to do another Ironman since IMSG 2010 mainly due to their cost. Yes I wanted to venture into ultra running, but after Ironman St George in 2010, throughout that year and in 2011 before I got and stayed pregnant I was really motivated to do another.  WTC races cost almost $700 and there are cheaper races out there about half that cost through Rev3 and HITS, but even $100 was a stretch as we were starting Altra around 2010.  And let me tell you, starting a company is a great way to not make money.  The next several years were probably the hardest in our whole married life.  They were so hard. We're still recovering. There was in no way an extra $300 plus travel for me to go have fun for 12 hours.  And that's ok. I did race a fair amount in those years, but it was mainly races I volunteered with and got an entry to or races we sponsored and we worked the expos of (Ironman doesn't work that way).  I am very grateful for all the opportunities I've had to race and realize what a privilege it's been. 

So now that we're at least in a position to save up for it, doing another Ironman in the next 2 years is on my mind.  Every time I see friends do it and report back, and especially every time I go back down to St George and watch, I'm sucked in.  I'm not worried about the running, can fake the swim if need be since I came from a swimming background and it's such a short part of the race anyway, but I would need to focus a lot on the bike to do as well as I'd like. So we'll see what life's like the next few years and if another 140.6 will be possible. For now I'm thankful for my healthy body, the running I'm enjoying and the occasional swim and trainer ride I get in. But triathlon is calling me back ever so quietly 

My 2010 IMSG post and a reflection 1 year later