The Ultimate Endurance Sport

On November 18th, 2018, I will be competing in Ironman Arizona. Ironman Arizona is a notoriously flat race but a lack in elevation change does not make the event any less difficult. Athletes will have to complete a 2.4 mile swim in Tempe Town Lake where the water temperatures are expected to be frigid in the mid 60s. To put the water temperature into perspective, most pools are heated so they are at a temperature in the upper 70s or low 80s, and many people find pools are a bit chilly to get into at first. Following the swim, the athletes face a 112 mile bike ride, the course is flat but is often subject to swirling winds. The bike course is a 3 loop out and back course and there have been times where riders go out into the wind, the wind shifts and they end up biking back into the wind. The athletes will also have to deal with the dry heat of the desert they will be riding through and proper hydration and nutrition will be crucial for them to complete the run at the end of the race. After the bike, the athletes get to finish their day with a marathon run, if the sun goes down while the athletes are on the run they will have to deal with the large temperature drop in the desert. When the athlete is finished with all of these events, and they met the time limits, they will be called an Ironman.

The event was first created in Hawaii after John Collins, a Naval Officer was debating with his friends over who the most fit athletes were, swimmers, bikers, or runners. Later, Collins and his wife decided to combine the three most difficult endurance events in Hawaii into one and on February 18, 1978, the first Ironman took place. Since the event began, the Ironman has been a proving ground many to show just what they are capable of and every year there are many triumphs of the human spirit, showing people are capable of so much more than they could have ever thought.

I am really excited to compete in my first Ironman, it will be an extremely difficult day and there will be times I am sure I will be asking myself why I am doing an Ironman. What will help push me through is all of the hours I spend training up to the day of the race, and ultimately crossing the finish line will be amazing. I will have accomplished a goal I have had for a very long time. I am not sure what I will do after the race is done, I will have to look for the next challenge to conquer, after some time to rest and recover from the race of course.