Sunday, June 03, 2007

the waiting game

i am freakin' going nuts.

it's so weird that in the days after a major race like Ironman you tell yourself that you'll never EVER do that race again, but then after about 1-2 weeks you gradually find yourself drawn back to it again. it's like there's a post-race funk and then a return of some strange wonderlust, compelling you to go back for more suffering--not matter how good or how bad a race you had.

that's kind of what i'm in right now.

i'm planning on a family vacation centered around a trip to Ironman New Zealand 2008. but registration hasn't opened, even though they originally said that it would start in the middle in April. the race is March 1, so it's quite a ways away, but Ironman races sell out pretty fast, and given the amount of planning this is going to take (it's not just me going, but also my parents), it's going to be a lot easier (and a lot cheaper) to get the travel plans made as early as possible.

i--and my parents--have never been to New Zealand, and we figure it would be a good adventure. of course, they're not going to do the race (they were never that athletically minded), but want to see me in it (they've never seen me race).

still, that's not really the point.

i've got Ironman in my blood now. i've done 2. and now i want to try and do 1 per year for as long as i can. i figure i can make it a good excuse to see the world: i figure i can do each Ironman race, and use it as a way to spend 2 weeks each year in countries and places i might not otherwise get to see.

that, and other races just don't seem the same since i've started doing Ironman. they just don't have the same sense of meaning or fulfillment. i mean, yeah, they're fun--as in ha ha, fun fun, yuck yuck. but i don't get the same sense of invigoration that i get from Ironman. there's just something about Ironman that fills a part of your life. you think thoughts and ponder things and learn mysteries and uncover secrets about life that you just don't get with other races...and every Ironman has its own lessons and stories. it's just not the same.

which is why i want to do it again.

because i think--i know--there are lessons and stories i need to discover.

and i guess being registered lets me know that this is set to happen, even if it is a year away. it gives an endpoint for another year's worth of lessons, and a publication date for another year's worth of stories. to borrow academic terms, it gives an ontology to the tautology and epistemology of creation's great discourse.

so just when is this registration going to open?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

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