Apologies everyone for the delay. I decided to finally jot down some thoughts about this whole experience...
There's something about the days following an Ironman, or any significant personal achievement for that matter, that is bittersweet. For the months prior to the event, life had a strange, narcissistic purpose. After all, I was training for an Ironman! During the peak training weeks, I was too tired to think about anything else. During the taper period, I had nothing else to think about. But now that it is over, and since my legs hurt too much to move around much, I have had plenty of time to struggle with this concept of purpose. What did the 10 months of my life mean? And perhaps more importantly, what's next?
Let's take for granted that people who do Ironman races regularly are well above what is "recommended" for maintaining physical fitness. So why do we do this? There's a definite thrill in accomplishment, in achievement, in chasing an ever-rising bar. But therein lies the problem: there is always a higher bar. I went into this experience thinking that I have got one shot to meet this target, hopefully grab it, and then sail into the sunset. Yet, I found myself today looking up swim coaches and tri clubs in the Seattle area (where I'm moving in July) and thinking, "well, if over the next few years I could cut 5' off the swim, 2' off transition, 15' off the bike, 10' off the run, I could come close to breaking 9..." before slapping myself in the face.
After all, we are age-groupers - by definition people who do this sport as a hobby, likely ranking tris behind other priorities like family, jobs, etc, and therefore always unable to reach our "true potential". So in that light, having a singular focus on chasing goals is almost an artificially handicapped construct. You can always make decisions that will enable you to train longer and harder, but there is also the rest of life that should matter, and probably more. A semi-pro climber friend of mine wrote that the only way to overcome the depression that kicks in after finally conquering a route is to embrace the journey and not just the destination. I like that. There will always be faster people, higher benchmarks, and I need to learn how to be satisfied, not just in the moment after a milestone, but in the 99% of time I'm not racing. Swimming workouts should be satisfying. Biking should be satisfying. Running should be satisfying. And of course, crushing races will always be satisfying. All this is true, but there was one moment, in the finisher's chute, after finding out the 3rd place finisher was passing on his slot, that I felt such a surge of emotion, of elation, of joy, that made the whole journey... just perfect.
After much delay, here's my initial write-up for IMTX (linking to blog to avoid what could be the world's longest ST post): http://www.xiao-wang.com/...an-texas-race-report
As an epilogue, there are definitely some people who deserve thanks in this thread. In alphabetacle order:
There's something about the days following an Ironman, or any significant personal achievement for that matter, that is bittersweet. For the months prior to the event, life had a strange, narcissistic purpose. After all, I was training for an Ironman! During the peak training weeks, I was too tired to think about anything else. During the taper period, I had nothing else to think about. But now that it is over, and since my legs hurt too much to move around much, I have had plenty of time to struggle with this concept of purpose. What did the 10 months of my life mean? And perhaps more importantly, what's next?
Let's take for granted that people who do Ironman races regularly are well above what is "recommended" for maintaining physical fitness. So why do we do this? There's a definite thrill in accomplishment, in achievement, in chasing an ever-rising bar. But therein lies the problem: there is always a higher bar. I went into this experience thinking that I have got one shot to meet this target, hopefully grab it, and then sail into the sunset. Yet, I found myself today looking up swim coaches and tri clubs in the Seattle area (where I'm moving in July) and thinking, "well, if over the next few years I could cut 5' off the swim, 2' off transition, 15' off the bike, 10' off the run, I could come close to breaking 9..." before slapping myself in the face.
After all, we are age-groupers - by definition people who do this sport as a hobby, likely ranking tris behind other priorities like family, jobs, etc, and therefore always unable to reach our "true potential". So in that light, having a singular focus on chasing goals is almost an artificially handicapped construct. You can always make decisions that will enable you to train longer and harder, but there is also the rest of life that should matter, and probably more. A semi-pro climber friend of mine wrote that the only way to overcome the depression that kicks in after finally conquering a route is to embrace the journey and not just the destination. I like that. There will always be faster people, higher benchmarks, and I need to learn how to be satisfied, not just in the moment after a milestone, but in the 99% of time I'm not racing. Swimming workouts should be satisfying. Biking should be satisfying. Running should be satisfying. And of course, crushing races will always be satisfying. All this is true, but there was one moment, in the finisher's chute, after finding out the 3rd place finisher was passing on his slot, that I felt such a surge of emotion, of elation, of joy, that made the whole journey... just perfect.
After much delay, here's my initial write-up for IMTX (linking to blog to avoid what could be the world's longest ST post): http://www.xiao-wang.com/...an-texas-race-report
As an epilogue, there are definitely some people who deserve thanks in this thread. In alphabetacle order:
- Amgray13: great race again and thanks for helping me actually enjoy Saturday night.
- AngusW: thanks for sharing your own journey. I hope to one day sniff the swim gains you were able to achieve!
- Bryancd: thanks for your engagement, skepticism, advice, and encouragement all made an impact on me. Thank you for sticking with me on this journey and you were right - despite my lofty ambitions, I couldn't quite beat your best B+R time :)
- Colinlaughery: thanks for being a supporter since the beginning. Great meeting you in person and we'll definitely grab a few drinks in Hawaii!
- Desert dude: thanks for chiming in with your wealth of experience and knowledge
- EricM40-44: thanks for the training advice, overall newbie race guidance, and the Eminem gif (P.S. what happens when you age up - do you change your username?)
- Fleck: thanks for both your advice and wisdom. Enjoying the journey turned into watching every episode of Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and House of Cards while on the trainer all winter
- GA_TRI_DAWG: truly honored that you'd offer to help with Kona but I'll have to decline - buy me a beer if you're in Hawaii and donate the other $20 to charity :)
- Hayley0: I think green coffee beans sound delicious.
- HKoldtimer: thanks for sticking with me along this journey and all of your detailed advice. Good luck with your own race later this year!
- Irontri: you really put effort into giving out advice to total strangers. And we in the total stranger community should really put effort into thanking you.
- MDD1997: for actually starting a prediction thread and for your advice, encouragement, and words of support
- Motoguy128: Also one of those who's been participating since the beginning. Thanks for your words of advice!
- Racing Yoda: great meeting you in person and for paying attention to me on your own KQ race day!
- Snackchair: thanks for the detailed assessment/analysis of Lobsterman and advice on cleat position - calf didn't cramp at IMTX! (everything else did though...)
- Sylvan: thanks for announcing that there were to be 3 slots, for taking the video, for being awesome in general
- Thread revival team (dooley34, ontheuptick, Joe Public): thanks for being interested and caring about my progress - that really meant a lot to me.
- Race-day cheer crew (sciguy, tjbingha, lakercr, noofus, blueraider_mike, JimMoss, Furious D, PeteDin206, badgertri, afbadbrad, Staz, BCtriguy1, dreaming~big, IMPBAZ, others too many to name): it's remarkably touching how y'all were engaged in watching the race of someone you've never met. Thank you for just being awesome.
- All the post finish supporters (way too many to name): every one of your notes means a lot to me
- All the women who questioned my masculinity due to allowing my wife to tell me what to do... where were all of you 10 years ago? :)