It all starts with belief...

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.
- Buddha

It's amazing to think that it is over five months into 2006 already. I feel like I woke up yesterday and it was January 1. It was winter, the air and water was cold, the indoor trainer was my best friend, the sun set at 5pm, and any workout was a good workout. I made a few challenges to myself to start the New Year:
1) To make this year something memorable.
2) To try something new.
3) To savour each moment.
4) To be 100% committed to those things I was committed to.

I started off the year with a pledge and a commitment, with a friend of mine, to take an ocean dip every weekday for as many days as possible. It started off with a friendly dare to jump in the ocean on January 2nd... And it turned into a streak of consecutive days, lasting all the way until the end of March. Now, in truth, there were a couple of days in there where it was not possible to get a plunge in and, in those cases, the rule became to go in twice the next day. But, all in all, it became something of a mark of pride to get the guts together to get out of my work clothes and jump into very cold water, during fairly cold mornings - of which we have had a few - for a few minutes. Often, I would go up to my waste only, but occasionally the need was there to dunk myself completely.

I tell you, nothing gets you up faster than a jump in the cold ocean...

Why did we do it? Honestly, I think it just was something to break up the monotony of each day. After all, how can you take things so seriously when you are jumping in the ocean for no good reason? People would stare at me sometimes on the beach. Dogs would go running in after me as though I had found a stick or something...

I loved it, though. It gave me something fun and playful to do each and every day, despite wind, rain, snow, and cold. It was just that... playful...

I haven't gone much lately. Life has gotten a little busier, the enthusiasm to play has become overshadowed by the need to train more and use my time more effectively. If you recall earlier blogs, I was also boxing at this time too. Well, I stopped that at the end of March as well. The time commitment to do it all (box and train for Ironman) became too much.

But, in the end, I think that it was great to have that time, to just play around a little, and not take things too seriously. And now I know, whenever I need a break, I can just go for a plunge in the ocean.

So, five months have passed. I have friends who started out in January training for the Boston marathon - although it could be argued that they started training for Boston the moment they laced up their first pair of running shoes - who have now completed it. I took a Spanish Class, salsa dance lessons, and my brother got married. Some unexpected heartbreaks already as well, and the loss of my grandfather to cancer, a cousin to a snowboarding tragedy and a friend to an avalanche.

Life moves so quickly, and I have the great fortune of having had few times in my life where I have watched it pass by without engaging myself. This year, so far, I have savoured some wonderful moments already, I've had joy and sadness in a heartbeat, I have seen progress in my Ironman preparation, and I have tried new things. This is a mid-year checkup, and so far, it's been a pretty full year.

The Ironman is coming up fast, but there's a lot of moments in between to savour, and if the first five months are to be viewed as an indicator, then the next five are exciting to ponder as well.

The common-held belief is that we improve ourselves through consistent practice, and not through one-off's and quick fixes. The desire to compete in the Ironman and the ability to do it come at very different moments. The desire creates the momentum to start the change that the body needs to make in order to be able to do the Ironman.

All these New Year's Resolutions and goal setting and all that have their roots in a desire to be more, learn more, and become more. Where we get derailed is when we cease to believe we can do something. It's easy enough to be disillusioned, but what makes the true hero is the person who feels disillusioned, heartbroken, hurt, and has his or her belief challenged and tested, who is able to take that and turn it around, and push forward to the next challenge, the next obstacle.

I remember the people who become successful at any sport, business venture, relationship, etc. (actually, pretty much anything). They all have stories of perservering and many feeling, at one point, like giving up for good. Richard Branson was not made rich on his first go with a business idea... Couples in strong, great relationships, have had their share of relationship mistakes along the way... And athlete's ALL have failed at one point. Most people who qualify for the Boston marathon spend years running marathons before they qualify, and I often tell people to be patient and stick to the process when training to qualify for Boston. It doesn't happen in one four-month program... It takes years of marathon running for the majority of us - it took me 3 years of marathon running and 5 years of running to qualify and, although many people I know think of me as a "Boston marathon runner", about 5 years ago I struggled to break 4 hours and 30 minutes, and the Boston marathon was not even a pipe dream.

My point, for myself and anybody out there, is that you have to start somewhere, but that the process itself may take a lot longer than we may want. I am shooting for a pretty high goal this year, but I admit I will have to be happy getting a solid training regime in. Ironman, for those who want to get better and better, is not a one year thing. It's a process. I realize it will take three years, even more, to get even close to my potential, and that's assuming that I keep the training up and keep trying. Four years away from my first Ironman is a long time to allow to pass, and I'm really starting fresh again...

And we should all be this patient. Those of us training for Ironman this year will have a result this year. It may not be the result we wanted, but it will be a result. What we learn from that is what we use to try again the next time, and the next, and the next, until it is no longer desirable to do this sport, and then we'll take what we've built, a strong, athletic physical body, and turn it somewhere else, and try to improve in that activity... It's a wonderful cycle. But I'm going to go all the way until I qualify for the Kona Ironman and run it. That's the plan, that's the dream, and that's the quest. I won't stop until I am in Kona, at the starting line, some October down the road. And that's why the quote from Buddha (above) found it's way into my blog today... even if by an accidental google search for something else.

And, when I need a refresher course on why, I'll start going for a plunge in the ocean again, daily, to remind myself that it's just good to go and play outdoors..