smackdown

Today I would like to call someone out. Call them a rival. Call them a competitor...... I will be calling this person my next VICTIM.

In my long and storied triathlon career I have done just about everything, I have beaten the other girl, raced alongside Ironman World Champions, I was once third off the bike in Muskoka behind Smyers and Bentley and all I could say to the camera following me on the run was:

OH MY GOD I AM BEHIND MY IDOLS!

No one ever said I had a lot of class. A lot of people have said I have a lot of guts.

Damn right I do.

I have lost races in transition, I have lost races to people I can't stand, I have even.... DNF'd. Man I even DNF'd the Ironman once. I have beaten pros, I have beaten my idols. It doesn't change your life I hate to tell you. (The Syracuse Psycho has yet to learn that, don't worry.... she will ;-)

Guess what..... not only am I still alive but never have I ever given up. I have never stood down and I have never quit. This season I know one thing: all eyes are on me. What will happen as Mary is working with The Wizard? What can she do? Will she fail or succeed? I can only tell you one thing: I've been there and done that so I have absolutely nothing to lose. I have my sights set on one thing, one person, whom I have been working my ass off to catch. They know I am coming for them, they have looked over their shoulder and they have admitted to me that they are scared.

First we have a season to finish, one sprint triathlon and 2 more 1/2 Ironmans. I am going to the 70.3 Ironman World Championships, or whatever they are calling it now. Maybe it is sponsored by McDonalds like Duathlon World's was in 2007 ago. By the way my favorite quote that day was from Tim Yount... "I'd eat there!"

And then comes 2010 where we have been lining up the plan already.

I care enough about my goals and to catch this one person that I am willing to be as anal as I have to be about it. If it means that I have to exist on mango's and brussel sprouts for the whole time than I will. And I will do it with a smile.

Taking aim is damn fun. Taking aim gets my blood flowing. Taking aim gives me something to do when I need balance to being a Mom, a wife, a nurse, a yoga teacher , a grad student and a coach. Taking aim lets me blow out the static from the attic, see what I've still got and what I still have left to be discovered. It let's me find out who I really am.

So who is this victim I have my sights on? A triathlete with an absolutely world class resume. Has been a USAT All American for 20+ years straight. Hawaii.... done it. World Championships? Sprint Tri, Intermediate Tri, Duathlon........ done all that. Have they won races? Sure as hell. Has won title after title after title. Kicks local ass almost on a weekly basis.

Is my absolute hero.

Understand that when someone sets their sights on you, wants to kick your ass.... it's a backhanded compliment. It really is. It means they hold you to a different a better and faster standard so to speak. You are their inspiration. Their desire to conquer you isn't built out of hatred or cruelty but built out of admiration.

And damn I admire my next victim.

So who is this? Don't worry ladies, I am not after you. I am after a man.

My husband.

Curt Eggers. I am coming for Curt.

At age 52 he broke 10 hours in the Ironman, who is to say I can't do the same? I am thirty freaking five!

(Whoa...... whoa....... whoa...... hold on here....... 53....... 35........ oh my gawd! CRADLE ROBBER!)

Did I say it would be easy? Good Lord it will be hard. It already is. I will vomit my intestines more times than I will want to admit. I will hurt worse than I have ever hurt before. He will continue to be the carrot, he knows he is the carrot and the sneaky little bastard will do what he has to do to stay away from me.

I will regain the crown of the Eggers' fastest Ironman. I will regain that crown. It will again be his picture in the shark's head.

So I put on my QT2 Jacket. I've got my QT2 manual and my veg tables and my power meter and my Garmin and my damn heart rate monitor.

And Curt's got..... his perceived exertion. It's what he's always had.

I've got my gear and my tools and my mojo. Because every back of the pack underdog knows one thing. That passion trumps logic. That this is not a math equation. This is about heart.

And for god's sakes this man has got to slow down at some point!

I see you in front there smiling as you are turned away from me. You know you are helping to raise my bar. I see you smirking as you control your pace on that bike and go just fast enough for me to catch you and have a glimpse before you rocket off again and leave me in the dust. I know that you know what you are doing.

I am here to tell you one thing Curt Eggers. "We've got ourselves a game here." And you'd better keep looking. Someday and someday soon I will be right there after you try to rocket and drop me. I will be right on your heels,

I'm coming for you Curt!