Number Forty-eight

Today is my BIRTHDAY! I'm 48.

Birthdays are important milestones to many of us. They offer us a stopping point for reflection, and prompt us to direct our thoughts to what we want to accomplish in the future. I'm not yet sure what Number Forty-eight signifies. But I'm working on it.

Tri-mama posed some excellent questions for me to think about at this time (post-Eagleman): "In retrospect do you think you bit off more than you could chew?" And "Do you like that you pushed yourself for that long a distance at this point in training?"

The other important question that I need to give some serious thought to is, "Should I attempt an Ironman next year, before I turn fifty?" If I do attempt one, it will probably be Ironman Florida in November 2006, for the reasons I've listed, with perhaps our local non-m-dot Chesapeakeman in October 2006 as a backup if I don't get in.

These are important questions, and merit some reflection. I don't want to succumb to a hasty "Yeah, sure, go for it". I want to think this thing through carefully before I truly commit to it. It's a big big big project to take on. If it weren't, everybody would do it, right? Doing a marathon is hard, and a big challenge. Doing an Ironman is like that same challenge, only cubed. Is it even realistic to consider, given my past training performance? One thing is certain, if I set off down that long road towards the Ironman finish line, I absolutely positively don't want to miss the cutoffs, or end up as a DNF for any other reason. I'll give this all some deep thought and post about it soon.