Half Crazy - Half Excited - Half Ironman

Well summer hasn't even officially started around here and I haven't even completed that tri that I signed up for about a month ago.  It is next weekend.  What have I gone and done now....well...in typical Alicia-style, I decided it was time for a new challenge - in the form of a 1/2 Ironman distance triathlon.  Have I ever done one of those...no...Shoot, I haven't ever even biked as far as the bike portion of that race...how far you ask -  a mere 56 miles...hmmmm....
I think the summer heat is getting to my brain and causing me to sign up for crazy things...I need to tell my husband that the next time I bring up a crazy idea to tell me that I'm crazy, not just go along with it. 

It all started because of the Active Schwaggle deal for the Branson 70.3 in September.  I saw that and thought that it was a great price and we could turn it into a family mini- vacation, yada, yada, yada...So I asked on Twitter if anyone else was doing it and it turns out there is one in Oklahoma City that same weekend and that same distance that a few friends were going up to do...so I started thinking...The money I saved using the Schwaggle I would have to spend on travel to get there so why not just do the Redman in Oklahoma City and stay close to home.  I should have been thinking more along the lines of "Can I really do this?" instead of "Oh, I could save money."  So I started looking up training plans on the internet to see what exactly I was getting into and got totally stressed out.  I am not worried about the swim or the run...the bike is another story....so I started doubting myself and pretty much decided that yeh, I was out on this one and there would be another time/place for me to go the distance...this wasn't either...Michelle told me that she doesn't really  use training plans, which made me feel better because I Michelle has it going on when it come to working out...Girlfriend is a machine! So I started thinking that well, maybe I could just wing it on the first one and see how it goes...then I won't get so stressed out.  My goal should be to finish. Then a friend on Twitter who shall remain nameless (NINJA) tweeted me one word..."Badass" -that is all it took for me to think that I could pull this off...I don't know why that one hit so close to home for me...or why it made such a difference in everything, but it did...and I started believing I could do it...

See...I have awesome friends...

I had so many friends that told me I could do this and that supported me.  I am so excited and a little nervous, but most of all thankful for all the people who have believed in me and encouraged me to push the register button.  

It just goes to show how awesome friends can be and that sometimes you don't know how important your words might be to someone in any situation, so choose them wisely...I am so thankful for all my workout peeps...You guys rock!