I used to think I was at least part-time awesome

Now I know better. Waaay better.

There are only 4 people from Houston doing Ironman Wisconsin. 4! I thought folks were scared of hills and only the baddest of asses would race on terrain they have 0 access to. Now that it’s August, I realize that the reason so few H-towners hit up Madison is because it feels nearly impossible to train in 100+ heat every day. Who knew? At least I can kind of chalk up my stupidity to the fact I was living in Ohio when I signed up and simply forgot I was returning to my hotcake city in a few weeks. Live and learn I guess.

But yeah, it’s really hot. I reserve the right to complain this summer since it’s my first full one in Houston, but I’ll have to stop soon since it’s SO hot that no one even complains about it. Last night when I rolled up to the high school to do my intervals at 6:45 it was 97 with the heat index. “What is wrong with me?” I thought as I got out of my sweet air conditioned truck. Whatever it was, it’s the same thing that was wrong with the group of ~20 Houston Fit folks already doing intervals. It’s miserable for everyone, not just me… and yet, lots of people are out busting their hineys to get in workouts in the great outdoors. It’s rather inspiring.

But running a few intervals for a fall marathon and riding 95 miles in the middle of the day are a little different. One is tough. The other is ignorant. I’m never doing IM Wisconsin again simply because training for a September race on the gulf coast is too much for my blood (and my electrolyte balance). That said, the calendar turn has really been as wonderfully motivating as I imagined in July. It sorta doesn’t make sense to me--why does it get progressively easier to train for a race when what your body goes through gets harder? Maybe that’s a sign I’m in the right sport despite disliking biking (by the way, why don’t people question why non-swimmers are triathletes? They still only like 2 sports, same as me. I’m minorly offended every time someone questions my reasons for triathleting) (no, triathleting is not a word). As a comparison, I hate training for marathons and have yet to put in more than 4 weeks for one--my first--yet months of IM training comes with only a little self-prodding. I will say part of the problem with marathons is that now that I’ve done an ironman I mentally can’t commit to *just* running 26.2. Dude, not only am I a dumbass--I’m also a snob. Oh, and anything but awesome.

(By the way, I can't chew gum when I run. It makes me violently gastrointenstinally "stressed" afterward. Just wanted to share. :-)