How It Happened

Signing up for the Ironman this year in Lake Placid wasn't exactly a well thought out plan, to say the least. I had talked to Rebecca several times about stepping back up to the Ironman distance, a distance I hadn't raced since 2004, which seemed like a lifetime ago. In 2004, I was single and had all the time in the world to train as much as I wanted. Today, I have an amazingly supportive wife and two great kids, Grace and Liam. Rebecca and I had talked about 2013 as a target for me to head back up to Lake Placid, but, having followed several friends online throughout the 2011 edition of the race and watching a bunch of Ironman videos on YouTube, I was bitten by the bug to, once again, take on the challenge of doing an Ironman.
Online race registration for the 2012 Lake Placid Ironman began at noon . . . and I was scheduled to be at work in the O.R. Well, I had Becca try to get me in in the event I wouldn't be able to do it myself. As it happened, I was able to get another RN to cover my room starting at 1145 in the morning, which allowed me to get the registration page up and ready on my iPhone while Becca was attempting to get me into the race at home. I began frantically entering all my information as fast as I could into my phone (Ironman races typically sell out very quickly, and the race in Lake Placid has sold out within minutes in years past) when I got a text message from Rebecca that I had been successfully entered into the 2012 Ironman in Lake Placid. "Holy shit" was all I was able to say for the next several minutes and, even now, I am filled with a mixture of angst, excitement, and anticipation as the race approaches.
At this point in time I have completed 2 blocks of my periodized training and am about to begin my 3rd block, all in preperation for the cannon going off at 7 AM on July 22, 2012 . . . and concluding, hopefully, with my crossing the finish line sometime that evening.