Get to the Start LIne

"I know from experience that everyone out there who has a blue wristband has a story about their journey that’s equally improbable and amazing and hard to believe. Ironman is incredible. And it’s made incredible by all of you - the athletes that decide to undertake and endure the challenges of race day - like heat and humidity that make you wish for nothing more than to go stand inside a freezer for a really, really long time. But getting to the starting line is often just as - if not more - difficult than getting to the finish line, although there were times when I wasn’t sure those switchbacks in Riverside Park were ever going to end. "You’re telling me I have to turn around and run the other way AGAIN?"

Jordan Rapp's eloquent victory speech at the IMNY awards banquet was particularly poignant to this triathlete. For many reasons, but the one that resonates with irony is his astute observation that getting to the start line is often just as hard as getting to the finish. 

There will be another chapter added to this theme over the course of the next eleven days. The bib numbers are up for IMC. God willing (that is part of the story) I will be wearing (proudly) number 1929. My buddy Bob is number 1544. I remember the good old days when I was in the 1500 group!

In case you missed it on the YouTube site or over at our FB site, embedded is the four minute highlight from Ironman New York. I am glad to have had the opportunity to shoot some video as it now appears that this years inaugural event might also be the last. Very appropriate for The Big Apple: The One and Only.

Planning to do. Logistics to set. Strategies to formulate. Training to do. Intel to gather. A team to form. A goal to achieve. A journey to make. 

Get to the start line.