This is my last morning in Hawaii. As I sit here at Lava Java, enjoying an incredible cup of coffee, sitting only a few feet from the ocean, watching the waves roll in, I realize how truly blessed and grateful I am for what has been an incredible journey.
I came to Hawaii to prove to myself that indeed I could finish the Ironman. In doing so, I found out much more about myself and proved much more to myself.
I’ve thought this a few times – but I believe everyone should do an Ironman, to find out how much it takes, to find out how much you can take and to find your breaking point. And if you choose to do one, go for the big thing, go for broke, and shoot for Hawaii. It’s completely possible and it’s only a matter of how bad you want it.
I finally have found what it means for the race to get under your skin. It may have taken a day or two but yesterday as stood at South Point, watching the waves crash and rumble from all directions, I thought to myself that I could see myself coming back here one day. Visions, what if’s, ideas start crashing in your head, like the waves, and you realize that if you wanted to come back you could because you, like the ocean, have all of the power in the world to go out and get what you want. Yes, I could see myself coming back here one day, next year, coming to take on the top 5 in my age group, to one day break 10 hours, to shoot for the next big thing. I believe the second time you do an Ironman, you could probably take off 30 minutes just on experience alone. Position on the swim, knowing which pace to push on the bike, and running yourself to the edge for longer on the run. It’s thoughts like this that make you hungry to come back, that make it crawl under your skin and want to come back for more.
Thanks to everyone for all of the great e-mails and congratulations. It meant a lot to read them this morning and to know that I came to the mind of so many people.
I’m going to sit here and draw out this cup of coffee a little longer and then reimmerse myself in the real world back at home. Until then, aloha and mahalo!
