"It's Impossible, That's Sure."

"It's impossible, that's sure. So let's start working." - Philippe Petit

When I think of inspiration it comes from all over. I've mentioned before an album that has no real words speaks volumes to me. I previously wrote some inspiration comes from song, movie, and an Irishman who doesn't know me. It also comes from seeing others. Reading about others. Watching others. In addition to an Irishman who doesn't know me, there's a Frenchmen that people may not know. He may not be a household name. He may be entirely crazy. And his words, his actions, his passion, his honesty. They inspire me. He inspires me.

Let me preface by saying in no way, shape, form, alternate universe, or previous life am I anything like Philippe Petit. He committed what some call the crime of the century. He did what no one else had. What no one else ever did again. What no one else can ever do again. Before the Twin Towers in New York were completed Philippe planned to tightrope walk between the two buildings. If you didn't know that, let that sink in. Visualize it. Feel terror. Be moved. It happened.

Philippe was not a household name for me until 2008 when I volunteered at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina where the James Marsh film, Man on Wire was screened and James spoke after the film. I think my feelings on Philippe, the impossible, what he did were much the same as his in anticipation for his plan. The film later came back to Durham and I saw it again in the theater and it went on to win the Best Documentary Academy Award. Philippe was present at the event and ran on stage and balanced the award on his chin. 

What Philippe wanted to do was crazy. People told him so. He even admitted it was crazy. He didn't care. He had his mind set. He was going to do it, even if it killed him. He said "If I die, what a beautiful death!" No fear. No regrets. Only passion.

While I have a difficult enough time running in a straight line it should be pretty apparent that I have exactly no intentions of taking up tightrope walking. Then again a year ago at this time I had no intentions, no ideas, no knowledge of triathlon. And yet here I am. 

I think of how far I've come. How it's all been unexpected. I think of the fears, how things have seemed impossible and that hasn't stopped me. I don't want to win. I just want to do. I realize that sounds cliche. It sounds grammatically incorrect; in part because it is. And it really doesn't matter to me. 

A year ago at this time I was working on running for more than one minute at a time. That turned into a 5k race. Followed by another. Then I literally jumped (ok, I took the stairs) into the pool to swim for 10 minutes. The rush of energy as I whisked off to go ride a bike for 30 minutes was electric. And then to run for 20 minutes to complete my goal. It was only an indoor triathlon, what some call a "Try-A-Tri". It was that trying that lured me in. It seemed impossible, but I did it. Those 5k races turned into half marathons. That one indoor triathlon turned into another one which turned into two sprint distance triathlons. Riding my bike for 20 miles turned into 50 miles. That original 10 minutes of swimming turned into 6am Master's Swim classes where I improved upon my half mile swim time getting it down to 17 minutes.

If I sit here and think about the impossible I think of Philippe Petit. I think that him saying "Hey friends! I'm just going to go to New York and tightrope walk between the Twin Towers. Oh, and by the way, I need your help, it's illegal, I could die, but let's just go, ok?" If you notice I didn't cite that quote as one from Philippe, but it's my interpretation. 

So this is me saying "Hey friends, family, readers, strangers! I'm going to go to Florida in April of 2016. And while I'm there I'm just going to go do a Half Ironman in Haines City." When I think of impossible the idea of me swimming 1.2 miles, then biking 56, and finishing by running 13.1 seems impossible. And when I think of impossible I think of Philippe walking, tightrope dancing if you will up in the air for the world to see. And while my doing Florida 70.3 in April won't be for the world to see, it will be for me, for my family, my friends, the strangers. It will go from impossible to completed. I will go from impossible to achieved.

It is nearly overwhelming to think of the race itself, not the training and diligence it will take to just get to race day. The next few months of my life will involve more swimming, biking, and running than most of 2015 combined. I'll have to work toward my swimming stroke and maybe finally getting my left arm out of the water. I'll have to focus on kicking, but saving my legs for the two events that follow. I'll have to continue my cycling form and speed. I'll have to continue to do speed work for running a half marathon to finish off the race. And most important, I have to practice everything together. It'll be exciting. It'll be daunting. I'll get upset. I'll cry. I'll scream. I'll yell. I will hurt myself at some point and time. It'll eventually all make sense and if it takes until April 10, 2016 for everything to make sense, well then I call that perfect timing. That's making the impossible rather possible.

Philippe didn't just talk about the impossible. He didn't just admit that he might be slightly crazy. He also seems so wise, so real, so honest.

"Life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion: to refuse to tape yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge - and then you are going to live your life on a tightrope." - Philippe Petit