This thing just got real for a second time...
Race number for IMKY 2012 have been officially issued.  Now as I look back on the road to this race, I realize what a windy path it has been.

It all started close to 3 years ago on a snowy sunday evening when my wonderfully supportive wife, Maria, and I were watching a special TV about the former biggest looser contestants and where they are now.  Matt Hoover was featured doing Ironman Kona.

Fast forward 8 months and you would find me doing my first Ironman in Louisville, KY.  What a day that was.  Oh, the things I learned about myself that day...  Never before had I ever been put in a situation like that, where I wanted to finish but really did not believe I could physically.

As I was training for my first IM, I did very little research about nutrition, which would ultimately come close to leading to my demise.  Severely dehidrated and extremely salt depleated, I came very close to missing the final cut off at the Midnight closing of the finishing line.

Being the very last person to be allowed to cross the finish line right at midnight left me plenty of room for improvement.  Yes I fnished, but barely.  Over the next couple of weeks, I vowed to do another Ironman, only this time the goal would not be to simply finish.  My goal would be to finish decicivly with a time that would not only be respected by my friends and family, but with a time that would also be respected by my piers in the triathlon community.

At a Christmas party for our local tri-club in December of 2011, I along with three other friends committed to the completion of an Ironman in 2012.  One friend even went as far as to sign up for IMKY on a borrowed laptop at the party.  The summer was set.  No small races this year as our main goals, we were going for Iron.

Knowing the problems I had last time, I have now done a lot of research, and spent countless hours of training, and experimenting with different kinds of nutrition.  Now that the race is only weeks away, I am confident that I have a solid race plan, as well as a very good nutrition plan for the race.

I have had a lot of people ask me why I would ever do the Ironman in Louisville again.  Why wouldn't I choose a different IM somewhere else?  I had so much trouble in the heat, and the hills were so hard on the bike, why would I want to go through that again?  Why not go to Florida, where it is 68 degrees and flat?  The answer is quite simple.  I have a score to settle with Louisville, and Florida just won't do it. 

I would rather live one day as Lion, than a lifetime as a Lamb.
18 days to Iron.