It started two years ago when a buddy and I had to figure out what challenge to complete in the summer. We had done the West Coast Trail the summer of 2011 and wanted a new challenge to look forward to. The idea of an Ironman triathlon came up so we looked into it. 3.8km swim, 180km bike, followed by a 42.2km marathon...all one after the other. It seemed daunting but nothing could get in the way of young kids with an overreaching ambition. So we looked into it further...$700 to register?! OK NEW PLAN....
Turns out there's a half ironman, which is half the distance but around 1/3 the cost. Now I'm no genius but that is a pretty sweet deal to me; so the training began and before we knew it July 29th rolled around and we were racing. It went horrible, the race was an hour and a half longer than I wanted it to be, and clearly the animal that was Ironman (let alone half ironman) was a bigger beast than we thought. The race didn't go well but I was hooked. The sport that I'd been looking for all my life was staring me in the face, and it didn't even have scores!
Bike leg during the race at Calgary 70.3
So that's how it happened, that is how I ended up spending way too much on a bike and way too much on running shoes. But they're all I need and all I seem to want. The pursuit begins.