WHY GO LONG?

Why not? Its something else to add to the "life" list, for the brag rights, for knowing what you can accomplish!

why not.

Because the fun lasts much much longer.....more bang for the buck...hehehe..

Because I've stopped listening to that little voice that says "you can't". 

-C

Because finishing an IM will put you in a club that only a fraction of the population can say they belong to.

And what better way to kill a weekend

After weekend, after weekend, after weekend... You get the picture.

I wanted to do it because I cannot think of a more impressive athletic accomplishment for an amateur athlete.

This sums it up so well!

it's more or less on a whim. so i voted 'natural progression'

i always liked endurance based activities, so when a friend suggested last year that i try out a triathlon i said 'ok, why not?'. i first thought that he was talking about an Olympic one but nooo, he wanted me to do a 1/2 IM. so, not knowing any better, i signed up. i only later learned that that particular one (the Auburn International) was considered to be pretty advanced.

well, i ended up beating my sadisically inclined friend (boy did that feel good!) and somehow the sheer training momentum carried me trough to now go for the full.

that and the post-event depression.

i wonder how i will deal with it after the full IM...

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Edited by JeepFleeb 2005-06-19 9:33 PM

the former i totally agree with.

the latter i hope is a joke. why would you want to flash your accompishment to a mass of people who have absolutely no clue what it means to get there? earn the right to it - k. actually getting it - that's showing off in my book.

i forgot to mention that i get a lot out of the people i met and hope i'll continue to meet during my training. amongst them 2 Western States <24 finishers. those superathletes are relaxed, unpretentious and helpfull without fail.

i got a problem with them bike teamriders. suddenly a herd of geese attacks you from behind with 3 supergeese in front and 30+ goosling flapping their wings in the draft, driving you off the road.

can you tell i'm going off topic with a vengeance?

ok, i'll shut up now.

Why is that showing off? Why not get a tat that means something to you? I have one and the only people that can see it are the people that know I have it and want to see it and other triathletes or swimmers (the only time I have my shirt off in public). I got it because I am proud of what I did, not because I want to flash it to people that don't know what it means to finish.

i misspoke.

getting an IM tattoo is not right for *me*. it's because i come from a background of where tatooing was .. well ... IT.

so don't get me wrong. i'll never think less of anybody who gets the tatoo - but i just can't. i'd probably buddy up with anybody wearing it but me getting one? no.

i just woudn't want to expose that part of myself that way. sure, i'd like to talk about it, but make myself a bulletin board?



Edited by awol 2005-06-19 10:39 PM

I frankly cannot imagine ever doing a IM...

I don't have any tatoo's and have never seriously considered one.

I'd have to lose a lot of weight, and train for a couple of years to have a chance at a 1/2 IM.

If I ever did a IM though, HELL YES I would get a tatoo. It's not bragging if you do it.

BigDave

Edited by BigDave 2005-06-20 10:56 AM

Odds of BigDave doing an Ironman now stand at 2:1.  Why else would he be looking down here?  He's in denial!

Don't worry Dave "it" will get you. I promise. You'll be crazy like the rest of us soon enough.

Go big or go home.

I can't remember what I voted for, but I like all the answers except for the pain.   I think about this question everyday now....Why?   Must think some more about this.

maybe you'd change your mind once you get there.
and since you're reading and posting here odds are you will

I remember watching the Ironman on TV as a kid. the Dave Scott / Mark Allen battles, the Julie Moss finish, and all the other stories. At the time I was running cross country in school and thought that we were doing some "big training". The Ironman on TV opened my eyes to what really was possible. I knew that someday I wanted to do an IM. 5 more days until IMCDA. T

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