Keeping the faith

I'm not going to lie. It is getting much harder to stay on track with this whole Ironman training thing I've gotten myself into. Not only are the training sessions getting longer and harder (which is to be expected) but the weather is getting colder and the hours of daylight are getting shorter. All this being said, I am spending more and more hours on my bike trainer - and I AM BORED. I do use this time to catch up on crappy TV shows my husband refuses to watch with me, such as Revenge and the one about the Playboy bunnies. They are mindless shows that help me pass the time. Sometimes I think up ways to raise more money for my charity (plug for American Lab Rescue!), or I just focus on how uncomfortable I am on my bike seat.

In the recent passing of Steve Jobs I have found myself pretty impressed with this man who, until fairly recently, I knew very little about. If you check out his graduation speech to Stanford (http://youtu.be/UF8uR6Z6KLc) in 2005 it is filled with endless quotes of not giving up, doing what you love, and keeping the faith when all else seems lost. Seriously, we had to lose a guy like this!? I would love to have a mini Steve Jobs sitting on my shoulder during the Ironman. I'm pretty sure he would come up with great things to tell me to 1) make me laugh and 2) get me to the finish line.

My favorite quote from Mr. Jobs I've heard so far is, "Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith." Obviously this proverbial "brick" can mean many things to many people. His brick was cancer (or Windows). At one point in his life his brick was being fired from his very own company that he started in a garage. My point is we all have our own bricks. And they hurt. And they are all different things to different people. Just because the bricks are not the same doesn't mean they hurt any less.

Today my brick is actually a brick (bike followed by an immediate run). It hurts and it's hard. Sometimes I feel like I want to throw up and other times I feel like I am going to crap my pants. Sometimes I think, "Is this all worth it?" - the endless miles, the pain? Then I imagine crossing the finish line and being able to look back at all the events that got me to this point - the hours of bad TV logged while riding my trainer, the limping around work on Monday morning because of an awesome 70.3 race the day before, the glorious massages I treat myself to because, dammit, I'm training for an Ironman! That finish line is my iPhone. I am in no way implying that my Ironman finish will revolutionize the world, but I do hope it will help support a great animal rescue group (second plug for American Lab Rescue - click on ChipIn link to the right to donate!!).