The Story Of How It Felt To Achieve My Ironman Dream

It appears that young Nick Young likes my stories!

Hi! Thanks for coming by!

There is something special about a first! First footstep! First dog! First job! First paycheck! First kiss! First foreign trip! First Ironman!

How does it feel to complete your first Ironman? I’ll tell you my story:

It feels good to know that there are people out there concerned about your safety.

I felt the excitement of the challenge, the enjoyment of a solid workout, the sense of being alive while running in a thunder storm in a foot of water, the dismay of knee surgery, the exhaustion of a category one bike climb leading to a sense of awe at the cyclists in the Tour de France that can only come from completing such a climb, the fear of failure or crashing on a long descent, the disappointment of a poor performance, the nausea of bonking, the anxiety about being twice the age of almost everyone in Ironman training camp, including the coach, the anger of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), the pride of a better swim time in the pool, the wonder of swimming with dolphins in Hawaii, permitted by a high level of fitness, the confusion of a problem unsolved,

FitOldDog’s son, Nigel, during lab testing to set training levels.

the delight in finding the answer, the trepidation of that first race-day morning on the beach, the happiness of hearing my family and friends supporting me from the side-lines, the relief of reaching the finish line, the pain in my thighs as I struggled back to the hotel, the explosion of flavors in my mouth from the best pizza in the world, the satisfaction of a well-earned beer handed to me by a friend, the appreciation for my support team and great coaches, the gratefulness to my son, Nigel, for introducing me to this fascinating sport, the calm of a good nights sleep, awakening the next day to the excitement of planning my next race.

That’s how it felt!

Why don’t you try to discover how your dream feels? 

-k @FitOldDog