#findingkona was never about Ironman. The true meaning behind it has more to do with the idea of stepping outside your comfort zone. Of taking risks. Believing in yourself. Believing that you are worthy of huge goals. Big, scary goals. Ones that force you to risk failure in order to achieve them. It's about deciding that a dream is worth 100% focus and dedication, no matter how long it takes.
At the time when I gave my dream a name, my goal was to qualify and compete at Ironman World Championships, thus Finding Kona was born. Once I qualified everyone asked me if I would change my handle, and my response was NO. No, because there will always be another dream. Another goal. Another challenge. I have a few on my mind right now, but after those... there will be more! I just don't know what they are yet. And that's the beauty of dreams. I don't ever want to stop dreaming. As the #bff said so eloquently after Ultraman, (insert Boston accent here:) There's always anotha thing.
After I qualified for Kona, I added the hashtag #findingaloha to my repertoire. To me, this represented the idea that I was fulfilling this dream with passion and joy. Finding aloha, or love, in everything I do. And just like #findingkona, it's not limited to my race in Hawaii in 2016. It is my goal every day when I get out of bed. To chase my dreams with passion. To be joyful in the pursuit, even when my body is being beaten down in training, and I'm failing workouts. Remembering that I GET to do this brings everything back into the correct perspective.
I sat down with YogiTriathlete at Indian Wells 70.3 to talk about Ultraman. You can listen to that podcast here. But if you missed the podcast extra on Patreon...
The next big thing is called the SCAR Swim Challenge and it looks like this:
Day 1: Saguaro Lake, 9.5 mile (15.2 km) swim
Day 2: Canyon Lake, 9 mile (14.4 km) swim
Day 3: Apache Lake, 17 mile (27.3 km) swim
Day 4: Roosevelt Lake, 6.2 mile (10 km) swim
In case you got distracted by the individual swim distances, it's a 4 day, 4 lake, 41 mile swim that takes place in April near where I live. My swim training partner and I have had our eye on it for a few years, but with my other goals it was never the right time to take on this challenge. After I was invited to Ultraman Worlds, and qualified to race Ironman Worlds again last fall, we discussed it and decided it was time to throw our hats in the ring. There will never be another time as perfect as Spring 2019 for this adventure.
The swim is conducted on English Channel rules, meaning no wetsuit and actually "no bathing suit past the crotch" so no Sim shorts (aka: cheater panties), no speed suit, no competition suit. Just me, my swim suit, and a swim cap. And a fuck ton of calories.
Each swimmer has a kayaker. I've hired my #bff's husband's bff. :) Say that fast 3 times. I met Kevin when H was getting ready for H2H. He was her crew captain extraordinaire, and when I was talking about SCAR and wanting an experienced kayaker H suggested Kevin. He's already been in the lake practicing so I know I'm in good hands. Apparently in the past some of the kayakers couldn't make the distance on day 3 because the wind tends to kick up in the afternoon forcing you to swim/ paddle against a current. Just a little added bonus.
There are cutoff times each day, but we've been ramping up training pretty quickly and I have no doubt I will be 100% prepared to cover the distance come April. Speaking of training-- I was meant to be a swimmer. There is nothing I look forward to more than double swim days! We've been working on strength-- lots of band work, lots of IM. I've never swum so much butterfly in my life. I hit a wall about a week ago and felt like I couldn't lift my arms out of the water. I *know* that in a couple of weeks my body will adapt and I will feel more normal again, but holy hell, I've never felt my shoulders ache like this in my life.
2 months ago, the thought of swimming 17 miles terrified me. I honestly wasn't 100% sure I could cover the distance (after already swimming 18 miles on the first 2 days). 1 month ago, we worried about the water temps. Would we freeze trying to swim 41 miles in April without a wetsuit? Today I am confident that we will cover the distance, warmed by the desert sunshine. That we will be part of the black cap ceremony (honoring those swimmers who complete the entire day 3 swim within the allotted time). That we will be #findingaloha every minute of those 41 miles because this is an adventure unlike any we've ever taken on before and we are worthy of this dream.
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