an ironman is NOT fun

if i have ever said that i have had fun doing any type of triathlon then i would be lying.  they are not fun and a full 140.6 ironman is at the top of the non-fun list.  this applies whether you are fast or slow.  whatever the speed they are not fun but i guess this can depend on your definition of what is fun.  i think there are certain parts of a triathlon that i enjoy.  i can enjoy the swim and i can also enjoy the bike.  i dont think i have ever had fun or enjoyed the run.  so why do i keep doing it ?  it is all about the challenge and doing something that makes you uncomfortable.

this subject came up because i was tracking a posting on a chat site.  a girl asked the question about what training she should do three weeks out from an ironman when she had done very little training prior to this.  i will admit that i am a type A personality and if this had been me i would have withdrawn - whatever the reason for not being able to train.  there is no way i would put myself through it and certainly not if it was my first ironman (which it will be for her).  the response varied from withdraw and save yourself a whole bunch of misery and perhaps further injury etc to the rest who said go for it and that being at the back of bunch is so much FUN.  so this begs the question of what exactly is it that you would say (being out there for 17 hours) is fucking FUN ?

i follow a few triathlon chat sites and there is a distinct difference between the australian sites and the american ones. the aussie sites have this attitude through all of them that she will be right mate whether you have done the training or not.  it actually can be very misleading but i get it as it a very aussie attitude.  while the americans sites have more type A personalities and are very serious.  i dont think i have ever read an american  race report that includes how little they trained but what the fuck i still gave it a go !   they all seem to train their butts off and i dont think fun is ever mentioned.

i went back today and read over my postings from busselton last year.  what a fucking newbie i was. probably still am.  i got the impression that i was slightly too serious, too scared to take a risk and when it came down to it not very tough at all and i crumbled at the first sign of pain.  i know the main goal of the first one is to finish but to me (reading the report) it just feels like i had a really boring race.  so while it is not going to be FUN i want to enjoy this year but i will even give that up if i means i will finish with a time i can be over the moon about.