IronMate or Ironman Mates?

I went to Lake Placid on Sunday, July 23rd, prepared to begin my year as supportive spouse of an ironman hopeful. Mike and our friend Julie were prepared to register for the 2012 race on Monday morning, and I was prepared to cheer them on for the next year as they trained. I saw all kinds of people, men and women alike, sporting "IronMate" tees at the race, cheering on loved ones and thought "that can be me...I can wear the IronMate shirt next year and be content...right?..."

When Mike decided that 2012 would be THE year to tackle the big dog of all triathlons, he added on a casual "and I think you should do it too. It would be more fun to train together." Bless his handsome heart for the confidence he has in me, but I just didn't see it being possible. You see, Mike is the ideal candidate for this event and has aspired to be an ironman for as long as he can remember. He was a competitive swimmer growing up, a lifeguard and swim coach, a runner in college, and is now a health and physical education teacher who coaches track and cross country. I took voice lessons, majored in music, and now teach high school band. In other words, I don't scream "ironman".

In my defense, I have taken up running recreationally as an adult, and seem to have a knack for it with nine marathons and a 3:09 PR to my credit. But the ironman, I'm told and am finding out quickly from training plans I've read, has pretty little to do with the run. I have a bike and am a relatively capable cyclist, but to be completely honest I'm a nervous biker. And as I found out yesterday, add aero bars and I'm neurotic! But more about that later. And as for the swim, suffice it to say I had my first lesson in Lake Chalet during Boilermaker weekend in early July. Early July of THIS year:/

We watched athlete after athlete finish that night, each one hearing their name followed by the words "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!", and by midnight (the 17 hour race cutoff time) I knew that ironMate wasn't going to cut it for me in 2012. So, as we set up "camp" (we slept in the Lake Placid High School parking lot that night to make sure we got into the race when registration opened the next morning), I whispered to Mike "I'm going to register tomorrow morning too". And because he's so fabulous, he was nothing but excited and supportive, and never once mentioned my many shortcomings that I'd have to work at over the next 12 months to be able to finish the race.

An ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run. All in under 17 hours. Its so scary. Its so enormous. Its going to be so much work. I've never been so excited.