IronMan prep has moved into the slumber party phase. We’ve applied out temporary tattoos, we’ve all shaven our legs, and we are ready for tomorrow. Sonja and Michelle came to me insisting that we needed to change our goal to 11:51. I think 12 hr is aggressive enough (phew). Upon digging for a reason for why this 9 min decrease was all of a sudden so important, they both told me that there was a blind lady who had done an 11:51 and we had to beat her. I was a bit suspicious. Matt had told them that Heidi had finished in 11:51 and that was why we had to step it up just 9 more minutes. Upon clarification with math she finished at 11:51 pm with a time of 16:51. I thought that didn’t sound right. I also thought at first that Matt had been pulling their leg to motivate us to be a bit faster as all three of us are very competitive. Nope, not this time.
Today I learned from Charlie that age and wisdom are inverslyproportional (his own words). This guy is my hero, and apron’s too. So far oportunities to hang out with Charlie are one of the best things about IronMan. Here is a guy who was a shop teacher lost his sight slowly over years, developed lots of tools and tricks to cope with his vision loss, once his vision degraded to a degree that he was too blind to teach he decided to start doing Ironman’s. He is now 68 and completing his 7th IronMan tomorrow.
Here is typical Charlie We were just discussing how we should do our best to not create any problems. Not 5 second later I hear “Patricia!!!! Grab something!!!” Charlie had opened up the back of the truck with the intent to start unpacking. A big avalanche of bike boxes, back packs, and other various parts collides out of the back of the truck. He and I stopped the avalanche and clumsily grabbed pieces by pieces in order to secure the cascade. We did fine at solving the problem, and I must say we are remarkably efficient at creating problems.
This past year in Denver we were talking about going skiing. I wanted to go OFCOURSE because skiing is my favorite, and how often do you get to ski at Vail Charlie declined initially, then gets back up at 2 am to tell us all he wanted to go. If I was owing he wanted to go too. He skied behind Kristin, they had a great time, he had one big fall, but he was ok. That guy is made of steel. Only hope at 68 I have half that spirit and energy. He definitely is my example to live up to. Last week he did the Disney half-iron, this week IronMan #7, and next week a Marathon. Few people really make me feel lazy, Charlie is among those few.
All bags are packed, execution plan is discussed, we’ve eaten the right foods, nerves are up and down, so far so good. I have two elite Athletes to guide me, I feel comfortable and completely trust both of them. I think we’re going to have the race of my life tomorrow. Here’s hoping!!!
Blind Ambition Speaking 