This past weekend I took the plunge and made the psychotic attempt to run an Ironman. I finished (over 14 hours later), and am thrilled that the anxiety of an unknown mountain is behind me. I’m happy I did it, more happy it's over, and further details on my experience are in the podcast (player below). That said, here are a few of the big learnings I took away from the weekend. 

First, Anyone can do it.

Training and preparing for an Ironman takes a ton of work, but anyone can do it. Completion takes commitment and desire; that’s it. I saw some people doing it with prosthetic legs; others were all kinds of ages and shapes and sizes. Everyone is different, and everyone has their own time. 

But that’s part of the secret to finishing an Ironman - it’s “your” time, not anyone else’s. Focusing on you, and what you need to finish the race, is the only thing that matters as people whiz by you. Which brings me to learning number two. 

It’s a mental event.

People talk about the physical challenges of completing an Ironman, but it’s really a mental game, on two fronts. One, and this is fundamental, in order to complete an Ironman you have to believe that you can do it. You are drawing on your capability, your belief that you can put one more step in front of the other. That’s what you build on to complete the race

Second, you have to stay in your lane. Once you believe you can do it, you have to block out everyone else. Everyone is running their own race in their own time. They have different backgrounds, did different training. One person may be on their first Ironman, another on their fiftieth. If someone blows by you on the bike, good for them. Recognizing what you need, and not anyone else, is what gets you to the finish line. 

These mental items are the same for everything else, whether you are starting a business, writing a book, or trying out a new initiative. By focusing on you, and what you need, and recognizing that you are capable of great and crazy things, you are able to take the steps needed to accomplish anything. 

It’s not a peak.

Philosophically speaking, an Ironman isn’t “who you are,” it’s a step along the way. It’s a part of your evolution. We can all set crazy goals, accomplish them, and that becomes part of the person who moves on to the next item. 

And when I think of Ironman like that, it’s now a part of me, and a part of the person who will try some other outrageous item (A book? New business? Who knows?). That, to me, is what’s most exciting. 

We can all make crazy goals, but what’s thrilling and most astounding to me is that we are capable of reaching them. It’s an exciting prospect to challenge ourselves, fight through a bit of pain, and come out the other end as a finisher. I’ll be using this high to make the remainder of the year a bit more productive, and I hope to encourage you to challenge yourself in 2020!

Note: If you are thinking of doing an Ironman (or other smaller event), feel free to reach out and I’m happy to share my training program, or just chat through the random questions people may have.

With my buddy Larry at the end ...