Your Bucket List. Perspective from 14 days out

Skydiving, climbing Mt. Everest, Seeing the Great Pyramids, running a marathon....These are the types of things to put on a "bucket list"... to do before you "kick the bucket".

With 2 weeks until Ironman Canada, I was thinking what a unique time this is. It's supposed to be taper time, reduce the volume, relax, let the body heal, then come Ironman day, you'll feel GREAT! Trouble is, with 2 weeks to go, this is often how one feels: Doubt; I didn't train enough. Anxiety; My body hurts, and I suffer through "easy" workouts. Fear; I don't think I can finish.

Ah yes, the "magic" of the taper! With 2 weeks to go, and thousands of miles behind you, you feel WORSE than you have all year! And to top it off, this is a likely time for illness and injuries.
It's supposed to be stress free; a healing time of rejuvenation. Instead, it's often worry leading to panic, loss of sleep, appetite, confidence, halatosis, ADD, sexual dysfunction, forest fires, global warming, and just not much fun.

For me, entering my 12th Ironman Canada, I have all of those symptoms, and then some. On top of all this, I have no car (blown transmission), and just completed my first week in my new apartment, in a new town, for my new job (Boys and Girls, can you say "Stress"?)

So back to my original theme, I'd highly recommend you add Ironman to your bucket list. This one item will help you cross off many firsts, which should be on a bucket list anyway. Like trying on a wetsuit, riding 100 miles, running a marathon.

PLUS, as an added bonus, you get to experience this unique time called THE TAPER. If you survive the final 2 weeks of this hallowed time, you can say you can survive anything, and you're ready for whatever comes next!

And what comes next? Your Ironman experience including your finish! And the best of the best Ironmans, is of course, Ironman Canada.