Monday, June 27, 2011

Iron Idiot, PhD

Well, 12 days ago, I defended my doctoral dissertation and finished up six years of study. It was very nice to finish that, put that stress behind me and look forward to a new and exciting future. Well, I guess I don't do well without stress because it took only 12 days until I threw myself right back into the deep end.

Today I registered for Ironman Coeur D'Alene 2012.

A while ago, I told my friend Jordan that if I ever did an Ironman, it would be a bigger deal to me than getting a PhD. I still think that. Academia comes naturally to me. Being an athlete does not. I suppose that's why it's so important to me to show myself that I can do something amazing like finishing an Ironman.

I was lucky enough to get a general entry spot online. After I registered, I sat at my computer and cried about what I had just done. I am a slow, fat, arthritic triathlete and now I have committed to doing this amazing thing. Wow!

But I know in my heart I had to do this now. I think about it all the time and I knew I would regret it forever if I didn't. I think I can do it and I think my hip will hold up.

This will be a big year for me. I will have to find something inside of myself that I sometimes don't believe is there. But I want to find it, I want to nurture it and I want to show myself that this is possible.

Wish me luck!

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