Iron Pol

Members of the Fox Cities Triathlon Club have a mantra developed from a comment uttered by one member several years ago.  "There are no finish lines, only new beginnings."  As triathletes, we all know there is nearly always a "next" race.  Even the final race of a season is simply the beginning of the off-season.

I have been archiving files, and came across lots of old pictures from various races.  It made me realize just how long this journey of mine has been, and I thought I'd share some of the "new beginnings" from the past several years.

This is the photo from the finish line of my first marathon in 2004.  If I look beat, it's because this race took a lot out of me.  In addition to being my first attempt at 26.2 miles, I had struggled with hamstring issues after suffering a minor pull about two weeks prior to the race.  My "taper" consisted of 10 days with no running, plus a trip to New York the final days before the event.

Though I rarely use medications for pain, I took an extreme dose of ibuprofen to help ward off any issues from the hamstring.  That held me through about mile 21, at which point I figured I could walk to the finish if I had too.  Obviously, I was pretty proud of succeeding at the distance.

At some point in my marathon training, I started blogging about politics and running.  One of the many friends I made through my original blog was a cancer survivor battling a second bout.  Her medical challenges prevented her from participating in the marathon for which she was training, so I ran the 2005 Chicago Marathon in her honor.

I carried a camera with me, stopping along the way so people could get some pictures.  The shots I got at the finish line were pitiful.  This one of me and the Elvis impersonator is far cooler.

Prior to even completing the Chicago Marathon in 2005, a group of eighth graders challenged me to participate in a triathlon.  They felt that "one more marathon" wasn't really a challenge, while a triathlon would be something new.  I hit the pool, put my mountain bike through the paces, and signed up for the Trinity Triathlon, a local sprint race.

Breaking a cardinal rule of racing, I bought a tri-bike that was unavailable until race day.  With little more than a ride around the parking lot, I took the bike out onto the course.  The price to be paid for that little mistake was running about seven miles of the bike course, barefoot, after breaking the bike's chain.

I was dead last, but finished the race.

After completing my first triathlon in June of 2006, I signed up for two others in short order.  The first was a race with a co-worker, and the second was the Oshkosh Area Triathlon Olympic distance race.  The Oshkosh race was basically a challenge to myself.  The main goal?  Complete the entire swim without breaking freestyle form.  In my first two races, I struggled through the swim, completely freaking out in the first.  The picture shows that I survived what was my longest race at that point.

And yes, I completed the entire swim without breaking freestyle form (sighting and turning aside).

In September of 2006 I participated in my fourth marathon and second Fox Cities Marathon.  I had lost a great deal of weight, learned a lot about running, and become considerably more fit than when I ran my first marathon in 2004.  I returned to the Fox Cities Marathon.  My goal was to cut nearly 45 minutes from my PR and go under four hours.

This picture says it all.

In my fourth marathon, I broke four hours.

Shortly after the 2006 Fox Cities Marathon, a chain of events resulted in my racing the 2007 Spirit of Racine half-Ironman race, my second 70.3 distance race.  This is another event from which I didn't have a good finish line picture, but Iron Wil's husband James treated me like a pro getting some awesome action shots, like this one of me leaving the water.

I appreciate pictures like this, as swim and bike pictures are so incredibly challenging to find.

In September of 2007, I crossed the finish line at Ironman Louisville.  It is one of the proudest (and most tired) "new beginnings" in my endurance race career.  While many consider an Ironman finish the culmination of a long journey, I viewed it as just one more step in an on-going mission.

I truly hope that this is only the first Ironman finish, rather than the last.

In 2008, my focus shifted from ultra distance triathlons to ultramarathons.  After completing marathon number six and half-Ironman number three, I began training for The Fall 50 ultramarathon in October.  Along the way, I completed the Fox Cities Marathon for the third time.  This time, I ran the half-marathon course from the finish to the start prior to the beginning of the race.  This is the finish line of that race, and I think I look alright for having just completed 40 miles.

One month later, I completed that 50-mile race in just under nine hours.  I don't have a picture from that finish, but that's okay.

In the end, it was just one more new beginning.  There are more new beginnings coming in 2009.  With a marathon, half-Ironman, and double marathon in planning, I hope to cross a lot of finish lines, this year.

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