This is the recall from 2013 and how the heck myself and 2 crazy friends (Leeanne and June - also known as Sinky - Leeanne couldn’t swim and Scotty - well June is Scottish and myself Splashy...I swam like a spaz) decided that without ever swimming or bike riding that we could train and do an Ironman in 8 months.
The evolution of nicknames.....(January 2013)
Hi there folks....I’m typing this while trying to figure out if my legs hurt more than my shoulders and how my fat can actually be in pain???
This blog is dedicated to 3 gals that had no idea they were going to do an Ironman up until a few short weeks ago...so I figured if I am going to suffer exponentially while hopefully getting really skinny (think lollipop - just a big head on a stick body) with my 2 other crazy friends why not document it???
Let’s start at the beginning shall we?? Every year I have a Christmas party that I invite all my friends to (most of them - including me - are marathoners) and a few have taken the leap to the Ironman...the most daunting endurance event that I can think of doing!! Soooo....my good friend June, (you will only hear of her being referred to as “Scotty” going forward to celebrate her Scottish background, sexy accent and all. I find myself nodding my head a lot when she gets going or after a bottle or 2 of wine) tells me during my ugly Christmas sweater party that she is going to do an Ironman and I should really do it as well. My first thought, maybe one I spoke out loud, was F$@K off....I just had 2 knee surgeries, do you think I’m nuts??? End of conversation.
Two days later I registered for a charity spot on the Mt. Tremblant Ironman website for $1400 dollars - one week before xmas (sorry too much to type the full word...if that bothers you much about my blog will bother you). HOWEVER...I made a small booboo with the payment. After I paid the $1400 I saw this link to race for free - you raise some money ($2100) and you get to race for free...well I ended up charging another $2100 to my credit card by accident so now I was in for a mere $3500 (yes the Ironman foundation folks fixed this for me and super fast as they could tell I was crying, drooling and rocking when I called in a week before xmas). It is bad enough that I paid $1400 to exercise for 17 hours....I guess I am nuts!!!!
I call Scotty and say “I’m in” we are all excited. I have never swam or biked much but I don’t need to do that much, do I??? Ohhhhh it’s a 3.9km swim you say? and ooohhhh it’s a 180km bike ride? So I think to myself “who is dumb enough to do this other than me?”....that night we recruited our good friend Leeanne (going forward will only be referred to as “Sinky”). Leeanne didn’t own a bike and can only do the side stroke....and she sinks when she swims, like a rock, no kidding!! So we started calling her Sidewinder Sinky and of course do to my excessive laziness I shortened it to Sinky.
Now - where did my name come from - Splashy? Well I am the hyper one of the group and a bit spastic in my actions, so when I swim I kinda flail, I kick and splash and old people don’t like me around.
So there you have it...the beginning. I hope you read and enjoy BUT above all this blog and this journey will show you that if we can do this anyone can do this!....maybe I should write that AFTER we finish??? meh.