My friend Marjan (onesie wearer on the left) sent me this picture the other day and it made me laugh out loud! It was taken back in July at about 5am while we were getting ready for Vineman 70.3. It instantly reminded me how much I love this sport and these girls.

The 3 of us spent a ton of time training and racing together this year, and I can always count on them to push me to train harder and twist my arm into signing up for races. They both have boundless amounts of energy and inspire me so much. This picture also made me realize how much I miss training, and that I am ready to be healed up and get motivated again. But…their next endeavor has me chewing on my cuticles.

Let me back up a little bit. Kelly (onesie wearer in the middle) has been dealing with knee issues for about as long as I have known her. Every time we would do a long run her poor knee would blow up like a balloon. She has already had a few surgeries on it, but her love of running had completely worn out the cartilage in her left knee. So, after postponing numerous times, she finally bit the bullet and got microfracture surgery so she can keep doing what she loves to do for years to come. This procedure helps repair damaged cartilage by making multiple holes in the surface of the bone to stimulate a healing response. YIKES!!! As you can imagine, this decision was extremely tough for her to make since it entails a really long period of down time (6 weeks of zero weight baring activities and about 5 to 6 months of no running) and this girl does not sit still.

Taking six weeks off from running because of my hip issue has been depressing enough, so I can only imagine what she has been going through. To help keep herself sane she decided that she needed something BIG on the horizon…something that would help her stay focused and accept that the process of healing is only temporary. So she signed up for a FULL Ironman! Marjan signed up too! Ironman Florida, November 2016, no pressure Dom.

I would like to give in to the peer pressure and say I’ll do it, but I just don’t think I’m there yet. Eeek, 140.6 miles, I am sweating just thinking about it. But, when your friends are as determined as mine are it’s hard not to be convinced. Maybe, we’ll see 😉