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In the beginning this man had just completed the Florida Ironman Triathlon 2004. This race consists of a 2.4 mile open water ocean swim, 112 mile bike ride, and last but certainly not least a 26.2 mile run. This race had been built upon by many triathlons over the course of a year's time. Sounds like a nice way to unwind. Not. Most of us cannot imagine the endurance it takes to push the body to accomplish such a brutal task. It took him 11 hours at age 43 weighing in at 197 pounds on a 6'4" frame. That was four years ago. Since then he has retired from his career as a Naval Officer/diver/instructor, been pregnant and given birth adding those natural extra pounds, become addicted to dreams of being Jack Bower with hours of watching 24, started a new career teaching in a 4th grade and later special ed high school classroom all day, endured my not so gourmet cooking in addition to my not cooking at all, had two litters of puppies, wrangled and managed living with six kids, and managed to keep a sense of humor through it all. To say the least his days of hardcore training have diminished over time. The new workout has gradually become a walk with our baby and me, a short bike ride, an occasional adventure hiking over the red mountain, or a quick run here and there. He has gone from Ironman to Pillsbury Dough Man with a 45 pound weight gain over the past four years. No, it is not my cooking. I repeat; it is not my cooking.
I never really noticed he was any different than before. I guess when you live with someone you don't see them gaining weight right in front of your face. When I started trying to lose my baby weight after our son was born, he started to realize the pregnancy had affected him beyond the heart burn too. He gained more weight than I did! His morning sickness was not as severe as mine, but apparently his cravings were.
We jumped on the "let's please not be fat" wagon. His quest for motivation was and is different than mine. He said he needed something lurking in the distance to motivate him into getting back into shape. I believe that to some degree, at least for him, but I also believe the man thrives on this type of thing. He is an all or nothing kind of guy. There really is no happy medium with him. He takes me on hikes that he says are two miles that turn into eight. His limits don't stop with easy once he gets going. I have to slap him around and bring him back to my reality sometimes. "Mr. Bill, we've got a baby in a backpack hiking these trails. We've got to go home now!!!" He is a mountain goat, die hard, suck it up, don't stop kind of person. It's beautiful but also exhausting sometimes.
Back to the beginning. May 2010 will welcome the first ever St. George, Utah Ironman Race. This is the beginning of the journey back to the Ironman. Go Billygoat. :)
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