Ironman anxiety

Monday brought on a tremendous amount of anxiety. I had knots in my stomach when I woke up. Why? Not because it was the start of a new work week. Not because it was Thanksgiving week. Not because I had to travel, cook, bake and clean. I decided to sign up for my first 140.6.

A few weeks ago I had changed my mind about what I once decided was the only race I would never compete in - and Ironman. Back in June I completed Ironman Kansas 70.3 and it was one of the most exciting moments in my life. I thought then that it would be enough...until Monday.

So the Ironman I wanted to sign up for, Ironman Arizona (IMAZ), had taken place the day before and it opened up for registration at 1p.m. Central time. I didn't tell anyone I'd gotten onto the IM Louisville website to mock sign-up because I read that IMAZ sold out within a half hour in 2009. I felt prepared that my fast typing skills were going to allow me a spot for November 2011.

I was oh-so wrong.

After spending 45 minutes on the website trying to get my payment to go through, the website gently let me down by linking me up to the Ironman Arizona Foundation slot. General entry closed. I don't think I realized until that exact moment how much I really wanted to do a full Ironman. My husband, Craig, had been busy texting me during that time period asking if I had gotten in. So I called him, completely disheartened, and let him know it was a no-go. He kept my spirits up letting me know that I still had my backup plan - Ironman Louisville. I knew that the temperatures would be hot, it wasn't going to be wetsuit legal and the humidity wouldn't be so fun to deal with either. I waited a few minutes and went through the sign up process again.

Fail. WTF.

Ready to cry, I called Craig again. I let him know that I couldn't get the payment to go through again and that maybe other people had the same backup plan as I did. He told me to try again later and that maybe the website was on overload from all the people still trying to sign up for IMAZ. So we chatted a few more minutes and I tried one last time before going back to work.

Pass. Elation! I screamed. Loud. I'm pretty sure my dog, Aspen, thought I had lost my mind because I was dancing around my living room like I had just won the lottery. I gave her a hug. The UPS lady stopped by to deliver a package. I told her. I almost hugged her. Pretty sure she didn't care, but she needed to know that I was very excited. I called my husband. If he were present, he would've gotten a hug too.

Something I learned from that experience is that there are some really sick people out there. I suppose that I would now be categorized as one of them. 2011 - Year of the IRONMAN.