And so it begins...

The year of the Ironman. Well, actually it began 12 days ago. September 14, 2009. The day after the 2009 Wisconsin Ironman/the day we signed up for Ironman Wisconsin 2010. {Affectionately called: IMMOO. As in IM (Ironman) MOO (what a cow says)}

Anyways, here we are with our confirmation sheets.
Yes, dorks, I know, but it was a special moment for us. To actually, finally be in. "The dream" started about 6 years ago for us. We watched the Kona IM championships on t.v. and saw how incredibly cool, exciting and rewarding the experience could be. Ross said to me "If a 75-year old nun can do it, we can to do it." {Yes, there is a 75-year old nun who has finished over 33 IMs.} Anyways, I laughed and told Ross once he finished a marathon, I would start to take him seriously.

Side note: It's not that I don't believe in my husband, it's that he has a way of putting ideas in my head that I get really excited about, only to come and find out that he really doesn't have the interest or want to do the amount of work to get there. No biggie, I just didn't want that to be the case this time.

Anywhoo, in 2004 Ross ran his first half-marathon and in 2005 he completed the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon. After the marathon, Ross turned to me and said "I am not going to run another marathon until we do our Ironman." OK, so I knew he was still into it and chances are we WERE going to do it. With one little on in the crib, I knew IM wasn't anytime in the immediate future, and we started talking about how we would do it when the kid (turned into kids) got older. In 2008, knowing that we were moving to Colorado, we decided to go and spectate the Madison IM. After watching it, we were more excited than ever and it was then we put a year on it-- 2012. It was the year both boys would be in school and we would have more time to train. However, when we got out to Colorado, the school systems were a little different and we realized with both kids in 5-day, full-day pre-school, THIS may be the time to train.

So, Spring of 2009 we set a race schedule that included 3 triathlons with the final triathlon being a half Ironman distance in August. If we finished that successfully, and feeling good about it, we would sign up for Wisconsin IM 2010.

We had a great, self-coached season this past summer. Some ups, some downs. LOADS of training. Tons of new experiences. We tried to integrate ourselves with other triathletes and learn as much as we could along the way. And, as a result, we did finish our halves in GREAT times (for us). So... onto Wisconsin the next month for volunteering, spectating and sign-up.

So here we are. $1100 in the hole with two pieces of paper confirming that we are crazy and about to have the most athletically challenging year of our lives thus far. Scared? Yes. Anxious? You bet. Excited? YOU CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE!!!!