It’s official. I’m in. Training starts July 1, 2011 for the 2011 ING NYC Marathon. My first New York City Marathon since my 3:58:03 in 2006. I can’t wait. It’s gonna be epic. ING NYC Marathon 2011 I think the training is also going to help me a ton mentally, as well as the obvious physical benefits. See you November 6th, 2011. Let’s do this.

Where do I even start? Because I know that many of my thousands of readers would never even think about doing a triathlon, and read me for other reasons, I’m going to try and incorporate some of the lessons I learned in this Ironman triathlon in this post, and see if they can’t be sewn into life, as well. Shiny Ball ADHD Version: I finished my first ever Ironman in 15:45:41. I’ve never been more sore, I’ve never hated headwinds more, and I never, ever thought I could be as happy as I was when I crossed that finish line. People talk about maybe doing an Ironman the same way they talk about running their own company, or being rich, [...]

More later, including photos, videos, etc. Right now, I’ve gotta find a way to ignore the pain my body is in and get some more sleep. I DID IT!!

So this is it. Six months of training comes down to tomorrow morning. Six months of going to sleep early. Six months of swimming. Of biking. Of running. All for this. It all comes down to tomorrow. From 7am to midnight. I have 17 hours to prove myself on my field of battle. I will endeavor to do so. And while I am unsure of the outcome, I have never been more sure of one thing as I am of this: I will not quit. I will not quit. I will not quit. I WILL NOT QUIT. There are three things that can take me off that course tomorrow. I will cross the finish line in under 17 hours. or [...]

Quote of the day: “So Peter… Are you sure you really consult to NASA?” Said by my friend and fellow Ironman racer Damien of Candid Wines, as he noticed that I was putting every single piece of my bike on backwards. Today was a long day. Woke up around 6am to get over to the park by 7 to go for a practice swim. Everywhere I went today, there were reminders of what I was about to do, and these reminders were scary. I tried to make the best of the fear, and laugh at it. It worked. Walking into the park area where the swim was to start, the first thing I noticed was how big the water was [...]