For those who have register for races before, I am not sure what the process is like for you. As for me, I am always nervous. You know... the usual question, Should I or Should I not?
Last night, I finally pluck up the courage and sign up for Ironman Western Australia in Busselton on 5 Dec. By the way, those 2009 race not 2010! Yes, there is 8.5 weeks to go....
Committing to a big race like IRONMAN is always so hard. First, it is the money issue, I paid AUD 680 to torture myself, not even counting in the airfare and accomodation bit. It is an irony that I am in this line of business where I charge people to do my race and yet I am really a stinge when I go do other races!
Money is the first hurdle, next is your partner or spouse. We might think we are offering our love ones a chance of an exotic holiday but this is not always the case. My spouse will attest to how selfish and inconsiderate I am on my individual pursuit versus the well-being of the family. The argument never stop there. I remember last year I have to trick her to going St Croix (Virgin Islands... can you believe this and how many of you out there would like to go?) with a nice family holiday with shopping in Florida and Disney World for my son. This time, I am kinda glad that she said she is not interested in going Perth, now this will help me save loads. You see... my point is whatever the case, you still have to ask them if you like to be your support crew and offer the option to consider. This very often leads to complicated logistic planning. Trust me, this is much worse than thinking how you pack your bike and gears for the race.
Then, there is work commitment. In your mind, you will always want the perfect race. Meaning having optimal time to train. Again, this is not going to happen. I have one thousand things going on the same time and still writing this blog at 1am. Working 60 hours week and travelling all over does not help. Remember your priorities in life is always family, work and then self interest. This balance should never be compromised if you want to remain married and employed. So do remember my golden advice to you.
Next, there is this nagging injury. I have laid off running now for 1 month and the heel spur seem to go away. Guess what, today with only a 20min run on the treadmill, it still feel funny. Not good at all... Can I finsih the Ironman with minimal or no run training?
So, my philosophy is train with minimum but race with maximum. Whatever outcome, stay happy. I will still do my best whatever tomorrow brings. The facinating thing is this. Once you click to enter and make your payment, your motivation flows. I shall stop here as I have a 6am bike ride tomorrow!
Stay happy..
Adrian Mok
