What’s Next? The Hail Mary Pass, Of Course

hail mary passSo, what’s next?

After my close call with a Kona qualifying slot at Ironman Lake Placid (race report here), I’ve asked myself this question quite a bit, as have my family and friends.

I didn’t make any plans for races after Lake Placid. I poured every ounce of mental energy I had into that race, so when I came up short, I had no idea what the answer would be to this question.

The day of the roll down at IMLP, our friend Eric texted John to find out if I nabbed a slot. When he got the news, he replied: “IM Lou?”

At this time, it was July 29th, and Ironman Louisville would be just 28 days after Lake Placid.

While the race was not sold out at that time, I responded: “Absolutely not! That’s only 4 weeks away! How could I possibly do another Ironman in just 4 weeks?”

That first week after Ironman Lake Placid, I dismissed thoughts of Louisville, and I toyed with my options.

Ironman Cozumel in December wasn’t sold out. That would allow me to make an early bid for the 2014 Kona. I could do that and Ironman Coeur d’Alene (for which I’ve already registered in 2014). That would give me another shot in case Cozumel didn’t work, as well as another Ironman adventure.

That first week after Lake Placid, the Cozumel-CdA plan seemed to be the approach I would take. But, my 2013 dreams weren’t quite dead yet.

I started thinking a bit more seriously about Ironman Louisville. Instead of thinking of all the reasons why not to do the race, I started to consider the reasons why it was a good idea:

  • I have the fitness.
  • I tolerate heat fine. I don’t love it, but I can manage it. And, humidity? Well, South Jersey is a swampy armpit. Let’s just leave it at that.
  • All of my super long workouts are done. Nothing quite like an Ironman to prepare for an Ironman.
  • Ironman Lake Placid was my “warm up” Ironman.
  • I am still mentally in the game for the challenge.
  • I haven’t even unpacked all of my IMLP gear. I can just throw it all back in the car and go West instead of North.
  • I have never been to Louisville (or Kentucky) – what better way to get to know a place then to do an Ironman there?
  • Fast horses run there. I like to think of my legs as “horses”. Let the horsies run free in Kentucky. (Okay, I was starting to run out of reasons why and started reaching…)

The second week after IMLP, I texted my coach Vince, “What do you think about Ironman Louisville?” Ironically, he had already started thinking about it as an option as well, but didn’t think I’d want to do it. We were barely done analyzing Lake Placid, and we were on to talking about Louisville.

After extended discussion of the benefits and the drawbacks with John and Vince, I made my decision.

IM LouisvilleA week and a half ago, I signed up to compete at Ironman Louisville. It’s my Hail Mary Pass for earning a qualifying slot at the 2013 Ironman World Championships. John also signed up because, you know, stupid loves company, or something like that. (He completed the Vermont 100 just 5 weeks ago. His race report can be found here.)

I know, some of you may have questions. These are incredibly reasonable questions, ones that I have asked myself.

“Can you actually do that?”

“Is it possible to be recovered enough in just 28 days?”

“Is that good for your body?”

“Can you really expect to have a top performance after giving it everything at Lake Placid?”

I don’t know the answer to a single one of these questions, or any other questions like them. I do know that if I don’t do this race and give my dreams another shot at becoming reality, I will always be stuck with one nagging question:

Can I do it?

And, I know I don’t want to wait another year to find out the answer to this question.

This will either be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, or it will be a stroke of genius. We will all find out which is the case on Sunday. No matter what happens, it’s an adventure, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to go for it.

And, as an old Catholic school girl, I don’t think it will hurt to throw in a few Hail Mary prayers on Sunday.

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