IM or Maybe Not

I am certain that the big goal for many triathletes is to complete an Ironman – 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run.  I have been on the fence and I can honestly say that starting out this was not a goal of mine.  Just a few weeks ago I said the words – “I am 90% on the side of not doing one”.  Naturally, the other 10% is coming into play now.

This summer I did the Branson 70.3 Half Ironman.  Training for a half-IM required around 10 hours of training a week, but I was able to fit this into my life and my family’s life pretty well.  This lifestyle requires a personal commitment and a HUGE family commitment.  During my half-IM training I would be gone from home for 3:30 hours for a bike ride on Saturday and then a 2 hours run on Sunday.  This is on top of training during the week.  While training can be difficult at times, I know dealing with a 5 and (almost) 3 year old is 10 times more difficult.

So, 10 hours for a half.  Let’s double that at the peak for a full.  Ugh.  I have no doubt that I can do an ironman distance race (I refer to “ironman distance” for a reason, more on that on a later post) and it would be amazing, but I worry about the time required to train.  Big time.

If…  IF!…  there is an ironman in my future it will be a family decision.  Maybe now is the right time, before the kids get crazy busy with activities.  I don’t know.

We shall see…

 

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