10 Day Dedication: Y-O-U

With 60 days left until Ironman Coeur d’Alene,
I am dedicating each ten day block of training to important people in my life.Starting with Day 100, ten days of training were for my Dad. Then Day 90, the training was for my Mom. Coach Monster got the 10 days starting with Day 80.  My wonderful Grandparents started at Day 70. 
The next 10 days of training are dedicated to an incredible person.
Y-O-U.

You.  My precious SBM friends.

You.  My real life and virtual SBM friends.

You.  Those of you SBM friends with big dreams… little dreams… and BIG HEARTS.

I started writing in August of 2010 about my raw, scary little triathlon dreams.  And the dreams became bigger, the posts longer (and more full of worries and gripes and whining)… but you all have stuck with me, and encouraged me more than you’ll ever know.

I get emails every day thanking ME for the blog, the book or whatever…. but really, I want to thank YOU!  YOU!  YOU!

Thank you for reading and responding and sending emails that help me just keep moving forward …every day.  Thank you for sharing your stories…  and thank some of you for telling me to “suck it up buttercup” when necessary (and then I, in turn, tell you guys to suck it up… see how that works?)

I have received messages that have made me cry—good and bad tears. I’ve received comments that have made me furious. I have received messages that I am still scratching my head about…. but all  comments and emails have been great lessons and experiences and motivation. 

With 2 months left to my first Ironman… I am in a weird position with my injury and my inability to run… but I am also in a very blessed place… to have all of you rooting me on.  So I thank you.   I truly believe that this 140.6 miles can be crossed… by a speedy swim, a solid bike, and a prayer-covered run/walk/crawl of the marathon.  Because I know you are all going to be there in spirit with me during each mile.

I just received the most wonderful email from a fellow blogging friend who just caught up on all my recent Ironman drama… she wrote something so awesome, I am still tearing up.  It’s probably one of the best Ironman pep talks ever.

Here it is:

“I just want you to know that everything you are feeling – with the hunger, the injury, the why-did-I-sign-up-for-this, the I’m-the-only-one-in-an-XL-kit, the sleepiness, the doubt, the anticipation, etc.  IT’S ALL TOTALLY NORMAL.  It’s what will make YOUR finish so much more magical.  Because you’ll sob like a baby (other people do that right?) when you are a mile out and you know you did it.  You won’t hear a thing as you run down that finish line chute.  You will totally miss Mike Reilly saying “Meredith Atwood, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN”.  You’ll have these visions of high fiving people and rolling over the finish line or dancing down the shoot, but you will forget that you wanted to do that because you will be in some other universe for those 500 yards.  You might trip on the finish line (I did that my first year… literally almost face planted and that was my finish picture from my first Ironman) and you’ll just laugh through the tears and snot that are plastering your already salty face.  The next day you won’t be able to sit on the toilet or might be able to sit, but won’t be able to stand.  That will make you laugh.  You’ll buy overpriced pictures and coats and shirts that don’t just say “I’m an Ironman”.  They say “I’m a badass” and you will wear them proudly for years to come.”

It’s messages like that… that keep me going… in spite of my self, my self-doubts, my fears.

Because of Y-O-U guys… I will just keep moving forward.  Right to Couer d’Alene. 

Thank you.