My Ironman Journey Begins

Wow the end of 2013 has arrived.   2014, I will be reporting back on my usual running adventures that you have come to expect from me for the past 5 years.  Next year, you might read something about swallowing lots of lake/river water, crashing my new bike, P90X3, or Irene and one of the kids doing their races as well.  Some of you know what that is all about, others might scratching your head and thinking, “What the heck is he up to now?”  Well, on November 16, 2014, as the sun sets in the distance with an interesting shade of reddish orange, with flood lights illuminating the stands filled with cheering strangers standing alongside Irene and Emily, and I eventually will grab Zachary’s and Elijah’s from the crowd to run the last tenth of a mile to cross the finish line that was set up at Tempe Beach Park in Arizona.  After swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles, the plan is that Elijah and I will do a cartwheel together, as Mike Reilly announces, “Noah Lam, You are an Ironman!”

About 2 months after waking up at Stony Brook University Hospital from a seizure caused by sleep deprivation which irritated a malformation that I was apparently born with in my noggin, I turn to Irene and say, “I going to do an Ironman.”   It wasn’t the meds or the frying of my grey matter.  While I have been on my marathon journey to run a marathon in all 50 states, an Ironman was something that I thought about for about 2 years, especially after my friend Scott completed his Ironman race.  Heck if he could do it.  It was something that I added to my long bucket list.  Now I am going to do it!  It was the same feeling when I said to Irene, that I was going to do a marathon.  It was the feeling of endless possibility.  My heart said, “Why not me.”

So on Monday morning after the completion of the 2013 Ironman Arizona, I stood in line at 4:15am with about 2000 others who have dreamt of being called an Ironman for the first time and others looking to perform better than a previous time before.  I was never so excited to hand over my credit card and receive my entry to Ironman Arizona 2014.

The motto of Ironman…”Anything is Possible.”

Noah