The Skinny Lady has Sung

The aria sung, the curtains closed, the floors swept. The 2010 Ford Ironman World Triathlon Championship is history, to be looked at, examined, dissected and discussed for days, weeks, to come. Mike Rielly's baritone echoes as backdrop as does 120 degrees of radiant asphalt heat from the Queen K. We spend one complete day every year traversing 104.6 miles to determine who can overcome, sustain and manage pain at world class levels, the critical mass of aerobic effort.

Yesterday it was a pair of Aussies, Chris McCormack and Mirinda Carfrae getting back to the pier first. Chris has been here before winning in 2007 before Craig Alexander's terrific two year run, and for Mirinda, her first.

We would like to take this post event opportunity to congratulate the World Champions, those in the top ten, age group winners and all those who braved the day to set a PR, on this course, or any.

But perhaps more importantly, and certainly more important to me, is my sincere congratulations to every participant who made it here. To the big dance, the closing night in a operatic run that started for many over a year ago. You made a commitment. You created consensus with those little voices inside and said to them, 'we are going to do this.' You trained hard, smart and consistent. You bettered your eating habits and incorporated quality rest and recovery into the routine. You managed stress. And all through the bricolage of this training you kept your day job and even improved your personal relationships. Only on a couple of accessions did you bark at the ones you love. You never kicked Fido, and perhaps even found a new running partner. Over the course of this amazing journey, color, sound, vision and smell improved. For the first time in years the mirror didn't have to lie. A hypercatharsis was under way, from man to Ironman. From thorn to rose. From the former to the latter. You: New and improved.

It is a process. No map can guide you there overnight. Garmin has no coordinate. Of the 1,800 athletes out in Kona yesterday, there are 1,800 stories of how. They all share a single thematic commonality. Here it is:

Get started.

Take the first step.

And then another.

And another.

Keep going.

Do not stop.

Eventually, you will get there.

Aloha.

Pix: AG'ers hammer the Queen K opposite direction of Montana's Pro Linsey Corbin.