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What Training for An Ironman Taught Me About Getting Older
Personally, I thought graduate school was a great idea, but some people just didn't quite get it. My dad, who has never, ever asked me about the men in my life started badgering me about dating. My uncle suggested that if I didn't find someone soon, all the men would be gone. Suddenly, I got the hint that expectations change fast when you're approaching 30.
It was true that most of the women I grew up with in South Carolina were securely married and already pregnant with not only first, but also second children. Meanwhile, at 29, I was a poor student living in arguably the most expensive city in the country just trying to figure out how to afford foodand this comparison started to wear on me.
I felt like I needed to do something huge to mark the big 3-0. Okay, so I don't have a husband or children, but I must have other things to celebrate, I thought. I started thinking about what I could do and what I wanted out of it, and the first thing I asked myself was what do I really love? Well, as a fitness instructor, I love working out.
So eventually I settled on something that would require a lot of working out: the toughest single-day sporting event in the worldthe Ironman, a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and a 26.2-mile run.
Even as a fitness instructor, this was more than a little daunting because:
(A) My swimming experience was pretty much limited to doggy paddle.
(B) I did not own a bicycle.
(C) And, while I do have one marathon under my belt this was going to be like three marathons in a single day.
When I told guy friends about my plan they would say, "Wow, Ive never met a woman who did an Ironman." To date, there are only around 400,000 Ironman finishersand just 20 percent are women.
Yes, this was exactly the kind of challenge I needed; walking across the Ironman finish line would be much cooler than walking down the aisle.
Getting started
First thing, I talked to a swim coach who invited me to one of his classes. My first trip to the pool lasted about 5 minutes. He told me to get out of the water because I was so awful, and then he emailed me an article about the fatal risks of triathlon.
After getting to the hospital, I found out that during the biking part of the race, another cyclist hit me from behind at full-speed as we careened down a hill. I slammed into the concrete multiple times, with my head hitting the ground so hard my helmet split. The cyclist who hit me didn't even stop.
My bicycle frame, the one I'd just bought, also cracked during the race and that meant I had to buy a whole new one, not to mention pay the hospital bills. For weeks I woke up in the middle of the night crying in pain from the headaches.
My Ironman finish
Just six days before my birthday, I found myself at the starting line once again.
I was so terrified of what I was about to attempt that I taped a goodbye video on my cell phone the night before. With 140.6 miles ahead of me I heard my fitness instructor voice again, Just keep moving.
Well, trying to move with 1,200 people in the water at once isn't easy. About a mile and half into the swim, I got kicked in the face, which knocked my nose plugs off. I cant put my head in the water without them, so I did the entire last mile backstroke. By the time I got to the hilly bicycle course, I wasn't afraid; I was relieved.
Then, as I ran the last leg, the entire 26.2 miles, I thought about how far I had come. A year before I could hardly swim in a pool. I had worked so hard to train and then the unexpectedmy accidentblindsided me. Despite my fear, I chose to get up and try again. And that is life in a nutshell isn't it? You can accomplish amazing things if you push yourself to the limit and dont live by anyones rules but your own.
But most importantly, I thought about Jean, who was running this race at twice my age. I realized that it is never too late to achieve what you want, and if you open yourself up to experiences you never know who you'll meet, or inspire.
When I crossed the finish line I couldnt have been prouder of where I was at in my life. The announcer loudly said, Jackie Faye, you are an Ironman, and with tears streaming down my face I wanted to scream, I am 30!
Jackie Faye is a fitness instructor and journalist in Manhattan. She has a MA in Business Journalism from Columbia University and attended Georgetown Universitys Institute of Political Journalism. Her reports have been featured across the country on NBC, CBS, and Yahoo News.