Karen writes: Signing in for Ironman
It all seemed a bit of a fizzer entering online this time. Last time I remember we were both soooo anxious, so jittery about actually pushing the button which committed us to what seemed like complete madness. Afterwards I felt physically sick and had to walk around a bit with "what have I done" running round and round in my head. I'm not sure anyone in the office actually believed at the time we were going to really sign up, including us!
This time the anxiety is about not getting in rather than the event itself. Although we have been promised guaranteed places, the worry is more along the lines of "what if I made a mistake?", or "what if the computer malfunctioned?" and it turns out I'm not entered at all (and Kate is!).
Last year the unknown was part of the excitement of the process of our first ever Ironman. This year, its a peculiar hybrid of the known and the less known...we know we can complete the training, we know what we need and how to use it, we are pretty sure we will complete on the day... injury... infection... catastrophic occurrences and natural disaster allowing. I visit the Ironman website or read the manual and it is now familiar stuff, not full of arcane and terrifying references like it was before, and I'm not searching the internet looking for answers in other peoples training experiences like I was before, I've now had my own. Likewise when we get down to Taupo next year we will be retracing our steps rather than forging new territory. That's the tiniest bit sad really.
So it is our first, and it isn't. At risk of wishing my life away, roll on June when we can really start winding up for 2013.
This time the anxiety is about not getting in rather than the event itself. Although we have been promised guaranteed places, the worry is more along the lines of "what if I made a mistake?", or "what if the computer malfunctioned?" and it turns out I'm not entered at all (and Kate is!).
Last year the unknown was part of the excitement of the process of our first ever Ironman. This year, its a peculiar hybrid of the known and the less known...we know we can complete the training, we know what we need and how to use it, we are pretty sure we will complete on the day... injury... infection... catastrophic occurrences and natural disaster allowing. I visit the Ironman website or read the manual and it is now familiar stuff, not full of arcane and terrifying references like it was before, and I'm not searching the internet looking for answers in other peoples training experiences like I was before, I've now had my own. Likewise when we get down to Taupo next year we will be retracing our steps rather than forging new territory. That's the tiniest bit sad really.
So it is our first, and it isn't. At risk of wishing my life away, roll on June when we can really start winding up for 2013.
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