"Thank You!"

Those two words I say a good bit these days but feel I still need to say them more often and to more people. There are so many people in my life that I need to do a better job of thanking on a more regular basis. I am fortunate to have so many people willing to help me with my journey and I wanted to take some additional time to thank them.

In the past few years there is no way I would have been able to accomplish what I have without the help of others. Though triathlon is an individual sport, as opposed to a team sport, the backbone of every triathlete is their support system. Backbone might even be to small of a word- perhaps I should say that the support system is the foundation of every triathlete. I have a great foundation from which to build on top of. I have help from so many different angles. There are to many people to thank in one blog post so I want to thank someone each time I post a blog...

It is Monday morning and I just woke up from almost a 10 hour night's sleep. My body is shot. I think I could lay in bed all day and be content. That can't happen however as I have to go for a quick recovery run, then grocery shop, then go to work until 8pm. Sometimes I dream of the weeks after my race when I don't have anything to do. This past weekend was by far my biggest volume training weekend ever. The workout on Saturday alone was almost 9.5 hours with Sunday's not to far behind. I literally spent most of my waking hours this weekend on my bicycle. Like I've said before, each day I realize a little more what it is going to take to get from the start line to the finish line in October. I knew it would be tough but tough is an understatement at this point. On Sunday as I was riding there were several times that I wanted to burst into tears, jump off my bike and stop. I'm not trying to be dramatic here- I really just wanted to cry. It was during these moments of near crying that made me realize how lucky I am to have such amazing people in my life that need to be thanked more often.

The bottom, and most important, building block of my foundation is my support crew. My support crew needs to be thanked first. They are the ones who have helped me through these long days and without them at my races I would not have been able to accomplish what I had set out to do. Initially my support crew was my dad, mom and sister (Tracy). For two years they had flown all over the country to support me at my ironman races. Last fall Tracy and my cousin Becky were my support crew for my ultra marathon. Looking ahead to October my support crew again will be some combination of my family. I could not be happier.

The double ironman is an unsupported race. This means that you have to bring your own support crew and your own nutrition. There are no aid stations other then your table and tent where your support crew has set up. Since this race will be run non-stop throughout the day and night my support crew won't be sleeping either. They will be right there with me every step of the way. THANK YOU! This will be no small task I assure you. They are going to be seeing a side of me that nobody else has, myself included. I don't know what my body is going to do. I don't know how I am going to race throughout the night without sleeping. I do know however that with their help and support I will make it to the finish line. There will be times I want to quit. There will be times of tears. It will be these people who keep me focused on what I am out there to do. THANK YOU!

I am out the door to train now...THANK YOU all for your continued support and encouragement.