Achieving Greatness

I know July isn't quite over yet but August is right around the corner. I have a lot coming up in the next few months which means I am going to be pretty busy. I have been really inspired by fellow bloggers who maintain really busy lifestyles and still train for hard races. Emily just recently completed her first Ironman while working full time, and Lauren and Emily are training for their first Ironmans too. As I was reading about their journeys I started thinking that someday I would like to finish an Ironman. The problem is that the longest race I have done so far is a 5K, and I have never done a triathlon. So why would I want to do an Ironman?

Growing up I was a competitive swimmer for 11 years, and I was pretty good. However, I was unable to achieve greatness because I was sidelined three years in a row for devastating injuries that ultimately left my unable to compete anymore. I was ripped out of the sport right when I was just starting to reach my potential. I may not be the best athlete but I know I am destined for greatness. I have a fire inside me and a burning passion to compete. Lately I feel like I have been holding myself back. I wanted to achieve greatness in swimming, but just because I can't compete anymore doesn't mean I can't achieve all that in running or triathlons. I have always come up with excuses as to why I shouldn't train harder or put more time into the sport. But I am done trying to cheat myself.

I want to pour my heart and soul into my training and find out how great I an really be. Now this does not mean that I am going to give up my social life or let training consume all of my free time. It means that I am going to make all the right decisions regarding my training and stop half-assing things. I don't want to skip a workout for silly reasons, but I will skip workouts for being injured, sick, and extremely tired. My ultimate goal is to complete an Ironman within the next few years but I will see where my training takes me.