Tri Tuesday: Top Reasons You'll Never Find me in Kona...
1. The 2.4 mile mass start ocean swim. I have no desire to be in a wash cycle for ~ 2hrs
2. The cost of race entry/and trip cost involved. Race entry is ~$500, trip cost...oh...~$2000.
3. The number of hours it takes to train for a full Ironman. It's more than a part time job. Probably ~15-20 hrs a week. This is probably the biggest reason why you won't see me there.
4. I'd need a qualifying time of ~10-10:30 hr to get a slot. Do you know how freakin' hard it is to attain that time?
5. My life would have to become ALL ABOUT KONA. really. I'd have to be so committed to the training, sport and race, that everything (yes, even my kids/family) would take a back seat for most of the year.
And for all these reasons, this is why I have the up most respect for all the athletes trickling into Kona this week to bring their A game for the world to witness.
And who knows? You can never say never right? I mean...my friend SunSafetyBarbie threw in her Kona Ironman towel a few mo's ago, only to pick it back up ~1 mo ago and re-join the Kona Race.
But that's where I stand for now. And now my question for all you tri peeps out there...Do you have your sights on an IM or Kona down the road? Be honest now... would love to know:)
Comments
And yes, it is SO expensive. I should probably start a KONA fund now so that if I achieve my goal some day I won't have to sell my car to get there! (And if I don't make it to Kona, I can take myself on a really fun shopping spree with the money!)
In the IM Louisville program, it had the 'average IM competitor' profile and it said average income was $161,000. Seriously?! I really, really hope that's average *household* income, otherwise, I am severely underemployed!
I have my eye on an IM but I am not genetically fast enough to qualify for Kona.
I think it would be really awesome to do an ironman with a significant other in the future, like a "we're going to turn 40, let's both train and do this!" kind of thing. I gotta find a guy who's awesome like that first though ;) This last guy I was dating would've totally been game for it.
All those are valid reasons but somehow I can just see you itching to do it.
For you? Anything is possible. It's there if you want it and if you don't that is perfectly fine.
LOVE to watch the TV coverage though!
love seeing all of your ideas and responses!
Tough to do, hard to get to but no reason to not aim high.
Not to mention with all these great blogs and posts the inspiratoin and motivation is everywhere.
My fantasy is that I'll actually do Kona after four years of swimming lessons and lots of biking help...so probably when I'm 50 or 55. I'll see you there???
Cheers from Tokyo!
"XTB" Xavi.