Thursday, September 21, 2006

Ironman on the mind

ad‧dic‧tion[uh-dik-shuhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
noun the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.

Hi my name is Commodore and I am a addicted to thinking about ironman.

Hi Commodore. Keep coming back. It works.

I simply can't get this ironman thing out of my head. Work is sliding. I have simple projects that become big deadlines because I'm scatter brained. I have scrap after scrap of paper in my pockets reminding of things to do.

Typical conversations I may have throughout the day.

"Did you see Mo's shoes?"
"Ironman?"

"Um, yeah, did you file those TPS reports?"
"Ironman?"

"What do you want to drink with your meal?"
"Ironman?"

"What name do you want your coffee under?"
"Ironman?"

"Sex dear?"
Snoring noises.
Sharp elbow to the ribs.
Snort, "Crap did I wake up late for my bike ride? Hey wait a minute its only 8:30 pm."
"Sex dear?"
"Ironman?"
---okay I made this one up. A sharp elbow to the ribs wouldn't wake me.

It seems all I think about is Ironman and thats not a good thing. I mean I interact with people, I am not a vegetable if I am not in my gear but for goodness sakes this is getting even a little bit bizzare for me.

I mean its all done now. I trained as best I could. I prepared for the trip as best I can. I tried to be there when it counted. Oh sure anything can happen on race day; expect the unexpected but gee whiz all thats left now is a smart taper and staying healthy.

Do any of you past, current or future iron distance competitors have this addictio?. Its almost a tourette's syndrome response to questions, "Ironman? I'm sorry what did you say?"

10 comments:

stronger said...

Whatever you do, DON'T buy IM coffee. Seriously.

Brad said...

I am living your life. I can't stop thinking about Florida! Point in case...I'm at work reading your blog. Please someone help me! I need November 4th to get here.

JC Hyte said...

"Hey my name is John and I'm addicted to thinking about ironman races."

I can relate to your situation Comm's or better yet my wife can. She's almost as sick of hearing about you doing IMFL as she was about me doing IMAZ. Don't get me wrong she doesn't have a problem with the actual events just every other sentence having to due with the Ironman, training for the Ironman or even how others are coming along with their training.

"Do you want pasta for dinner?"
"Hey , Commodore did the IM swim today in 92 mins. He's kicking butt." and sure pastas fine.

I think the entire month of March and April I didn't get any work done at all.

Jessi said...

I have this problem with triathlon in general.

Flatman said...

I am not even going and it's all I can think about...

43 DAYS!!!!!

Kona Shelley said...

43 days?? How the heck did that happen? I still have a few 100 mile rides to get in..and lets not even get me started about swimming and running...IRONMAN..heh!! Yes Comm it's normal it means you love this sport and that's super fantastic ain't it?? :-) I think so..so what did I say..IRONMAN..blah, blah, blah is all you heard right..LOL

Glen said...

We all have you pain buddy. I'm still 7 months out from my race and it all I think about. I dont know what I'm going to do when it gets down to 40 days like you, I dont know if I'll be able to handle it. Just think you will kick but in Florida and then it all startes again one week after that as you start to train for Arizona.

Nancy Toby said...

I think that's called an obsession.

Yeah, it's mental illness all right.

From a fellow sufferer....

Cliff said...

Commodore...

to not think about ironman is hard :). But yeah i do know that i am overboard at times.

The best I can do is to when it is not training and spend time with family, i try to focus on that.

I don't talk about Triathlon or anything related to it. I purposely stay away from it. So when i come back, i am fresh and ready to go..

This is the plan but often u and i know it rarely works....(especially when u are introduce to a friend that you are a triathlete or ironman)

....ironman instead of sex..i think that's beyond addiction :)

the Dread Pirate Rackham said...

yeah, what Jessi said. But then, I'm a newbie, so there's still time.

I have a voodoo thing about the I-word. I will not speak of it. Let's just say that Triathlon seems to inspire everyone's inner OCD freak.