Throughout my twenties thus far I have learned to scratch that itch, chase the dreams you were once scared of, and be the version of yourself you always dreamed of. This next goal is something that maybe I am jumping the gun on, maybe something I should wait a little while before tackling. However, why wait? Why wait when you go chase the dream of yours. With that said, I have decided to scratch that itch of becoming an Iron Man.
“Connor, you are twenty one years old. What would make you want to do something like this?”
That’s a fair question. To put it simply the dream of becoming an Iron Man stemmed a little from why I started to even run in the first place. I would see ads for it on social media and come across these documentaries about people tackling this race. The biggest hook for me was seeing how they felt crossing the finish line. It looked like the biggest high in the world, it intrigued me. However, I knew if I ever wanted to experience becoming an Iron Man….. I had to start doing more cardiovascular training.
So, fast forwarding to now after running my first ultra and marathon. I knew this was the next big goal for my fitness journey. However, I just never knew when this goal of mine would become reality. So, it wasn’t a matter of how, it was a matter of when. Starting this May when my final lacrosse season is over I will be able to start training for my first Iron Man.
However, there is a catch to this plan of mine for accomplishing this dream. I will be doing the half distance of an Iron Man to prepare for the full distance. I circled the Jones Beach Half Iron Man at the end of September to race. Almost five months of training would get me in good enough shape to complete this distance rather well in my opinion.
I should clarify, I obviously have a background in running(now) and surprisingly swimming since I am a lifeguard over the summer. However, when it comes to cycling. I am very new to that portion of the race. When purchasing my bike it took me quite some time learning how to clip and unclip my shoes into the petals. So, this summer during the training I will be tackling something new again which is always exciting.
It is something about these endurance races that keeps me coming back to registration websites. It took me a while to realize why. I realized during writing these past columns that the reason why I keep on challenging myself with these races is a couple of things. However, one big important reason is the high you feel that I mentioned earlier.
It is kind of impossible to explain just exactly what you feel. However, it is a representation of the compilation of everything you have sacrificed to achieve this goal. Before starting this journey it was hard for me to feel like I belonged somewhere. Like I never had a feeling of knowing that it was something I was meant to be doing unless it was writing. Starting this path to becoming an Iron Man taught me that. That high that you chase during your fitness journey whatever that may be. It is a feeling of knowing you belong to be here at this moment doing exactly what you are doing.
I chase this high every workout, early morning wake up, long run, race, you name it. It is a big reason why I want to do these insane races and challenges. So, starting the end of May I am finally and officially scratching the itch of becoming an Iron Man.
