A PGA Professional's Road to Becoming an Ironman

The final day is here... The last day before I get see if my months of training has prepared me for my race. I have come a long way since I orginally signed up - very little experience on a road bike, nevermind a tri-bike, lack of running knowledge and an amount of self doubt. I have learned alot about myself over the past eight months. My main reasons for doing this race was to prove to myself two things: I can make a long term, self fullfiling commitment and keep it and to see how mentally strong I really am. It is very easy to say you are going to do something that's a year away and have it sound good, then during the time leading up quietly back out. I wanted to make sure this did not happen. If I signed up for this race and didn't show up, nobody would know. Nobody would care- except me. All of my training has proved to me that I am a strong person mentally. I did those early morning workouts and even got some in after working for 15 hours. I am ready. I am prepared. I will finish this race. The excitement has been building this entire week and I can't wait to jump in the water at 7:42 on Sunday morning. 6 hours later, I will be half way there.

Here are a few pics some people sent me showing the transition area on Friday:

Swim exit

My next post will be on Monday with a full race report. I will warn you, it will probably be a long one. You can track my progress live at www.ironman.com.