Proud to be in the 1%

Yup, I said it!  I am PROUD TO BE IN THE 1%!  And if you want to get technical it's LESS than 1%

Less than 1% of the population will complete an olympic distance (or longer) triathlon!  I am determined to fight my body, fight the EDS, and work toward my Ironman Journey!  I've come to terms that I cannot run, it is actually pretty bad on my body.  I didn't give up without trying though.  This year I went from not being able to 'run' for 10 min to completing 3 stand alone half marathons including one with a 2200 ft ascent in the first 3 miles! I completed numerous 5K& 10Ks, and triathlons including another half marathon at the end of a half ironman.  Running kills me, but I'm not going to let that stop my dream.

I have migrated to Aquabikes.  It is a controversial topic in the triathlon community.  Purists think that Aquabike is just a ploy to get more 'annoying people in the way' for  races, and 'make more money'.  I say too bad, aquabike can get many other people OUT THERE. People who have medical issues and can't run, well here's the chance to enter into that 1%!

When I signed up for the Providence 70.3 I knew it would be tough, but I really had an awesome time and when I finished I felt pretty good. (Minus the running issues: missing toenails, blisters, joint pain, etc).  I knew I needed to get closer to my IRONMAN JOURNEY!

Almost immediately I looked for the next race.  I wanted to do a Full Distance, but knew that I could not run.  I found Chesapeakeman Aquabike.  It is an Ironman distance without the run.  WOOHOO!  I knew I would try!  I'm kinda getting annoyed at providing this huge caveat though.  People ask when my next race is and I say "Sept 29, I'm doing an Ironman distance aquabike.  That means just the swim and the bike."  JUST??  JUST?? did I say JUST?  Plus that's a really long sentence.  Well, I feel the need to downplay the fact that I'm doing 2/3 of an Ironman. A small fraction of that 1% even attempt an Ironman so pishah!  I'm not fast, never will be.  But you bet your ass I'm going to try!

I really hate having to give the race a "well it's JUST an aquabike."  2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike is nothing to sneeze at.  I even had a friend correct me when I abbreviated one day, I had mentioned something about "my IM in XX days."  She retorted "I thought you were only doing the Aquabike?"  Well it still is an Ironman Distance! The 99% aren't even trying!

I completed my last workout this morning for Chesapeakeman!

I  am ALL IN!

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