wise words from pro-ironman veterans

Often a pro-ironman will have insights into the Ironman Triathlon that come from years of competing at the highest level. Here are just a few written comments from some of the most accomplished Ironman Triathletes the sport has ever seen.

DAVE SCOTT--"If you experience a disappointment at a race, don't make too much of it. The worst thing you can possibly do is judge yourself too harshly, because it takes a long time to restore broken confidence. You would be better off congratulating someone who had an excellent race that day: It acknowledges that both of you did as well as you could."

MARK ALLEN-- "It's normal to have fear. It keeps us from doing stupid things. But it can also hold us back from having an incredible experience. My fears--about Ironman, marriage, having a child--could have kept me from giving 100 per cent of what I had to give. If I had given into my fears, even a little bit, I would not have won that race six times."

JULIE MOSS(ALLEN)-- "Fear, all kinds of fear, lurks in inaction: fear of getting started, fear of failure, fear of never being able to get in shape, fear of not knowing how to make a goal happen, fear of how bad it might hurt. The only way to face fears, to transform them, is to get out there and take the first steps."

SCOTT TINLEY-- "You ever wonder what regular people think when they hear that close to 20,000 people are trying to get an entry into Kona? They're thinking all those people must have a screw loose, that's what. Yet, I'd bet 1,000 sit-ups that more than a few of them dream about crossing the finish line, all tan and trim, the crowd screaming, their toothpaste commercial smiles caught and beamed out over the airwaves. And I bet that when they wake up in the morning, more than a few roll over and try to hide from the gnawing desire that they, too, could have that same screw loose. Maybe they are realizing that too many of us die too young or too late. Maybe they know that we pull ourselves up by making money, making the grade; all the while taking less and less time to face the fact that there are some things in life we need to do. Just because.

I think the Ironman is one of those things. For all those people, I can't pretend to know why. Hell, I barely have an idea why I did close to 50 of them myself. But I know people are changed by an Ironman. Ironman finishers leave a mark on the world.

Try to define that. Go ahead. The words will never come. It is enough to hear the stories, to watch the returning smiles. Witness the metamorphosis.

Yeah, there is a price--relationships, jobs, sunburns, missing toenails; there always is for the good stuff. But the call of the distant drum is too loud to ignore, too powerful to pawn off as some midlife crisis of the middle manager or desperate plea of a soccer mom. All they want is their one day. One day full of enough feeling and emotion to last an eternity.

But like war, marriage, tight jeans and stick shift cars, the Ironman isn't for everybody. As much as it can give, it can take. If it were easy, it wouldn't mean the same. Even dreams are fair game in the forecast of one's decisions.

I know there are ways to validate one's life. There has to be. The Pulitzer Prize winning author Katherine Anne Porter once said that salvation can only be found through religion and art. I believe that great feats of physical endurance include both those traits.

And in a world that tries its hardest to separate us from what matters, the Ironman helps us to reconnect with the pulse of our lives. As long as it does that, we will be happy to have made the decision to even attempt the dream."

***Often I read Scott Tinleys comments and one line strikes me as so very, very true.

"The Ironman helps us to reconnect with the pulse of our lives."

Too often, too many of us become so wrapped up in our everyday humdrum of activity. One day leads so quickly into another and before we know it, years have passed and we feel life has passed us by.

I've seen dozens and dozens of people rediscover themselves after taking up and conquering the challenge of an Ironman race.

For some reason, it has the ablility to give life new meaning. It is something that can never be taken away from you once achieved.

Possibly for the first time in your life you will fully realize what you are capable of on a physical, emotional and even spiritual level.

You may become aware for the first time what an amazing person you truly are.

I've put together a few iron-tips that you may find helpful.