Being that I'm a former fat guy with zero previous athletic background, it's a bucket listing crowning achievement that will probably never be equaled.
But, as someone noted, for a guy like me, it was just a long, controlled day of pretty much enjoying the moment on the back of all the work I did leading up to it over the preceding months, and in fact, the preceding years.
-The 100+ lbs of weight loss.
-The volume of training and the days that required pushing yourself to swim faster in the pool, or speed drills/hills to make me a marginally better runner. The days when sweat was just pouring off you and you thought you were done, but pushed on for another 5 or 10 or 15 minutes.
Both of those featured days of intensity and required physical grit that I did not experience on my IM day (or at any other point in my life). My IM was like a beautiful cherry on top of that massive sundae.
And now as I respond to marathoners who seem 'impressed' with my IM, I always respond with something I probably read here. "Yah, well of course I 'ran' 26.2 miles just like you. Sure after a long swim and a bike. However, you marathoners are nuts. Your goal is to run it as fast as you possibly can. Me? All I'm trying to is not go too slow. Big difference."
But, as someone noted, for a guy like me, it was just a long, controlled day of pretty much enjoying the moment on the back of all the work I did leading up to it over the preceding months, and in fact, the preceding years.
-The 100+ lbs of weight loss.
-The volume of training and the days that required pushing yourself to swim faster in the pool, or speed drills/hills to make me a marginally better runner. The days when sweat was just pouring off you and you thought you were done, but pushed on for another 5 or 10 or 15 minutes.
Both of those featured days of intensity and required physical grit that I did not experience on my IM day (or at any other point in my life). My IM was like a beautiful cherry on top of that massive sundae.
And now as I respond to marathoners who seem 'impressed' with my IM, I always respond with something I probably read here. "Yah, well of course I 'ran' 26.2 miles just like you. Sure after a long swim and a bike. However, you marathoners are nuts. Your goal is to run it as fast as you possibly can. Me? All I'm trying to is not go too slow. Big difference."