Southern Sole Sisters

1. MY IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA JOURNEY AND WHAT IRONMAN MEANS TO ME

   Due to some technical difficulties, we are reposting this blog from our BRF, Rose. Originally published on October 10, 2014

   
   

   In the past, I’ve often written and shared race recaps of my major milestone races. I considered doing that for Ironman Chattanooga, and I’ll probably write up something for future training and racing purposes, but Ironman is really so much more than a race, and a simple race day recap really wouldn’t do it justice. What Ironman is, is a transformative journey that takes most of us a year to complete and culminates in a grueling day and crossing a finish line to hear Mike Reilly say the famous, coveted line, “You Are an Ironman.” There is so much emotion at that finish line, for every participant and spectator – and for folks back home tracking and watching. Deep down we all know that something amazing has happened – but it is the story leading up to that moment that captures the real magic of Ironman.

   For me the journey began 5 years ago with my running girls who brought me back to fitness and running races after a hiatus to have kids. This lead to participating in my first Sprint Triathlon in Acworth and the feeling of success and accomplishment that day had me hooked and I quickly progressed to increase my distance and became a bit of an endurance junkie. During that time, I ran a handful of half marathons, tackled several sprint and Olympic distance races, two Half Ironman races, and my first marathon -- and I joined a great team and coach at Dynamo. All the while I knew, deep down, that Ironman was calling me but I was unsure of when, where or how it would happen.

   I remember the day clearly from last year – a beautiful fall day in September on my way to meet a triathlete friend for lunch when the news posted on Facebook, came in my email and suddenly in texts and calls from friends – they were opening a new Ironman in Chattanooga. I’ve always loved Tennessee – having lived there as a small child, attended Vanderbilt University and raced in Chattanooga several times. I knew this was my race and when I managed to get a spot to race in the inaugural Ironman Chattanooga – which sold out 3 minutes after opening – it seemed more meant to be than I could have imagined. And then the work began.

   I love to train and I was never daunted by the schedule that I knew I would work toward. I enthusiastically attacked my training schedule, embraced the aches and pains, the fatigue that came later in training – the juggling of my schedule as a working mom and an Ironman-in-training and the work of maintaining balance. Toward the end, I let Ironman take over my brain as I meticulously planned race day strategy, nutrition, equipment, hotels, and schedules. I fought off a cold at the end of my taper that left me paranoid and neurotic worrying that a simple cold was going to ruin my year of dedication.

   What happened along the way -- as I tackled those long rides, labored through long runs and walked around in a chlorine induced haze – is that I reached a new clarity on who I am at my core -- and I found my people. Let’s face it, people who race endurance are an odd breed, and I am no exception. I have many great friends who have loved and supported me through many times in my life.  But the great gift of Ironman for me, was finding people who really understood me with very little explanation needed. The community of triathlon is a unique and diverse place. No two of us are exactly alike. We come from all over the world, we are men and women, we have different kinds of jobs, some of us are married, some have kids, some are single. But there is something indescribable at our core that bonds us. Finding a community of people who accept you for all your strengths – and all your weaknesses, which they surely get to know on 100 mile rides -- is an amazing gift.

   For me, this gave me the clarity to really understand myself, more than ever before. To stop trying to define myself by my surroundings or fit into the prescribed box I should belong in. It gave me the freedom to freely explore who I want to be, what I want in my life and what I want to pass along to my children. I found pride in what is different about me and a belonging, unlike I’d ever know before. And I came to realize, in a real and practical way, that it is when people embrace your faults that you find the confidence to let your strengths soar and grow.

   It was with this foundation of friendship and support, built over the year and many miles of training, that I arrived in Chattanooga to successfully race 144.6 miles. It was two weeks (or more) of supportive listening and encouragement from dear triathlete friends, promising me I could do this when doubts began to creep in; it was the smiles and cheers of encouragement from Dynamo teammates and a tightly clasped hand of my friend Maria as I anxiously began to cry before the swim; it was encouragement and concern from friends, Reiko and Teesha, as I flustered with a flat just out of transition; it was riding side by side with a teammate up the hill before Hog Jowl road – and another teammate standing there all day, by himself, to cheer us on; it was seeing Andrea at the end of the race on our way to the finish line and her encouragement and deep understanding of where I was at; and it was the larger triathlete community and our supporters – quite literally willing me through a brutal run – this is the magic of Ironman. While that day alone changes you, with its amazing highs and its deep and painfully dark lows, it is really the journey that leads up to that moment, and the people surrounding it, that define Ironman for me.

   I was speaking to a friend the other day who became an Ironman many years ago. She said whether you go on to do more Ironman races, or you only do one, it is always a part of who you are. I definitely think that is true. There is something about knowing how deep down you can go - how far you can push and still come back - that prepares you in a unique way to face life’s challenges. For me, I will return to Ironman. Again, I am not sure when or where or how just yet, but I will return - I suspect many times. And whether or not I am out on an Ironman course in 2015, I know that the friends I have made on this journey will now be riding alongside me for many years to come as we support each other on and off the road. This is the one of the most precious and lasting gifts of Ironman.

   
   

   From Rose, who is currently searching out her next adventure . . . stay tuned! 
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