Ironman Blues.
I had heard the term. It's not a technical term. It's one of those terms that people who have finished an Ironman race have coined because basically after their big race they feel lost in life. They have the blues. They don't know what to do. I scoffed at that thinking "What, how is that possible? You just finished a huge event, live off of that high for life and move onto the next one!"
The Ironman Blues are real.
Life goes on ... always. Such is the same for life after Ironman. Everything I read. Everything I scoffed at. All of it. Me.
I lived it. I suffered it. I've finally over come it.
For 5 months I followed a rigorous schedule of swimming, biking, running, cross training, resting, food prep. I was a robot. Then the day I crossed the finish line, I had nothing left on the calendar to cross off. Sure I had other events lined up for the year but after completing a Half Ironman, the next race I had in store (a Sprint Distance Triathlon), it all seemed, well, pointless.
I fell into a rut. I'd go and swim but just for however long I wanted to. I never went with a distance in mind. Just "Eh, I'll swim for 30 minutes and however far I get; I get." Biking was worse. I touched my bike twice in as many months and hardly got on a bike at the gym. When I did bike at the gym I was sitting there, peddling, but that was it. Not a distance, not a time, just a "Oh hey, I have a few minutes." And running was all I was consistently doing. When I say consistently I mean, I was running, but my pace remained all over the place.
I lost motivation. I really felt lost. I was and still am living in a high of the fact that I did that. I joined 3% of the World's Population and finished a Half Ironman race. Cliche to say, it sorta felt like nothing else mattered afterwards.
I went about life, it moved on. Aspects of my life changed. And yet despite exciting changes in my life and the huge sense of accomplishment I felt. I still felt lost in life. I followed a Sprint Distance training plan for my next race and everyday with that I'd cross it off the calendar and think "That's it?"
I had a conversation with someone and they were talking about triathlons. Now mind you this person does not do triathlons. In fact he said "My sister-in-law did one of those Half Ironman things, but she's crazy." My eyes lit up. The person I was with smirked at me and nudged me to continue talking in conversation. I said "I did a Half Ironman in April." The mutual conversationalist simply said "Well good on ya for that."
And I was better! Seriously. It took that. It took hearing that someone I really don't know thought his sister-in-law was crazy for doing a Half Ironman. It took the person I was with to nudge me knowing how proud and happy I am about my accomplishment. And it took someone simply saying "Well good on ya for that."
I got back in the pool and I remember how at one with the world I feel in the water. I say this because no one can bother me there. I don't have to talk to anyone. There's no distractions of my smart phone. Hell, no one really recognizes me when I swim; well unless they know what I look like ... in that case the giant back tattoo gives me away.
I've gotten back on my bike and go out. I love to speed by on my bike. I've grown to be a strong cyclist. Am I the fastest? Oh hell no, come on now, this is reality. But I'm always tweaking things on my bike or my approach and the wind flies in my face. Don't get me wrong as the wind flies in my face, the pavement and dirty fly onto me.
I also have started following a running training plan. I diligently cross things off and record my times. I've even done some speed track workouts. I've figured out how to incorporate swimming and biking into my schedule. And I finally don't feel lost anymore. It's taken me a while to get to this point. In reality, it took me about 3 months to hit the point of wrapping my head around the feat I accomplished and that life has to go on afterwards.
I had heard the term. It's not a technical term. It's one of those terms that people who have finished an Ironman race have coined because basically after their big race they feel lost in life. They have the blues. They don't know what to do. I scoffed at that thinking "What, how is that possible? You just finished a huge event, live off of that high for life and move onto the next one!"
The Ironman Blues are real.
Life goes on ... always. Such is the same for life after Ironman. Everything I read. Everything I scoffed at. All of it. Me.
I lived it. I suffered it. I've finally over come it.
For 5 months I followed a rigorous schedule of swimming, biking, running, cross training, resting, food prep. I was a robot. Then the day I crossed the finish line, I had nothing left on the calendar to cross off. Sure I had other events lined up for the year but after completing a Half Ironman, the next race I had in store (a Sprint Distance Triathlon), it all seemed, well, pointless.
I fell into a rut. I'd go and swim but just for however long I wanted to. I never went with a distance in mind. Just "Eh, I'll swim for 30 minutes and however far I get; I get." Biking was worse. I touched my bike twice in as many months and hardly got on a bike at the gym. When I did bike at the gym I was sitting there, peddling, but that was it. Not a distance, not a time, just a "Oh hey, I have a few minutes." And running was all I was consistently doing. When I say consistently I mean, I was running, but my pace remained all over the place.
I lost motivation. I really felt lost. I was and still am living in a high of the fact that I did that. I joined 3% of the World's Population and finished a Half Ironman race. Cliche to say, it sorta felt like nothing else mattered afterwards.
I went about life, it moved on. Aspects of my life changed. And yet despite exciting changes in my life and the huge sense of accomplishment I felt. I still felt lost in life. I followed a Sprint Distance training plan for my next race and everyday with that I'd cross it off the calendar and think "That's it?"
I had a conversation with someone and they were talking about triathlons. Now mind you this person does not do triathlons. In fact he said "My sister-in-law did one of those Half Ironman things, but she's crazy." My eyes lit up. The person I was with smirked at me and nudged me to continue talking in conversation. I said "I did a Half Ironman in April." The mutual conversationalist simply said "Well good on ya for that."
And I was better! Seriously. It took that. It took hearing that someone I really don't know thought his sister-in-law was crazy for doing a Half Ironman. It took the person I was with to nudge me knowing how proud and happy I am about my accomplishment. And it took someone simply saying "Well good on ya for that."
I got back in the pool and I remember how at one with the world I feel in the water. I say this because no one can bother me there. I don't have to talk to anyone. There's no distractions of my smart phone. Hell, no one really recognizes me when I swim; well unless they know what I look like ... in that case the giant back tattoo gives me away.
I've gotten back on my bike and go out. I love to speed by on my bike. I've grown to be a strong cyclist. Am I the fastest? Oh hell no, come on now, this is reality. But I'm always tweaking things on my bike or my approach and the wind flies in my face. Don't get me wrong as the wind flies in my face, the pavement and dirty fly onto me.
I also have started following a running training plan. I diligently cross things off and record my times. I've even done some speed track workouts. I've figured out how to incorporate swimming and biking into my schedule. And I finally don't feel lost anymore. It's taken me a while to get to this point. In reality, it took me about 3 months to hit the point of wrapping my head around the feat I accomplished and that life has to go on afterwards.
Then again, maybe my M-Dot shirt says it all. This doesn't mean the Ironman Blues weren't a real thing. They were. I'm sure I could slip back into them in no time thinking "This race is so short compared to Florida." But what I can tell myself is to use these short races as training for longer races. Once again, chalk this up to lies I tell myself.
But then again maybe, maybe I'm just using this all to train for something even bigger and better.
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