Ironnman: When Did it Become the Goal?
It’s hard to place a specific time that Ironman was the goal. I would hear my dad reminisce about races and the stores from the Ironman races were always the best. I enjoyed hearing about how tough it was but somehow, he would finish the race and would put some sort of comical spin on the story, which made it that much more appealing to me.
I remember a pre-race meal at a Mexican restaurant on Ali’i Drive a few days before the world championships in 2019, my father’s best friend said, “Rachel, you do know that if you wanna come back here your gonna have to qualify while you’re still young if you want your father to pay for it or your gonna have to take the long route like he did and go legacy.” Was it that occasion where it became the goal, I don’t know.
I think it sort of just became the goal organically over the years until one day in 2020, my dad asked if I wanted to do Ironman Tremblant (IM MT) in 2021 and I guess at that point it officially became the goal. Due to COVID, IM MT 2021 never happened, and we (my father and I) did IM 70.3 Muskoka and even tried a new sport, Spartan Obstacle Course Racing. We did the beast distance (21.1km) that year (2021) and it was tough, I mean, really, really, tough. Finally, in 2022 I was able to do IM MT and complete it.
Balancing the schedule to train as a college student and working at McDonalds as an Area Manager proved to be difficult at times. However, my dad (coach) has been able to make it work for me. It took telling my dad when I worked, when I had class, and a whole lot of brainstorming together to figure out the right time. I was able to have a flexible schedule with my job so I could give myself a little more time to train. My schedule would be filled to the brim with training, school, and work.
There were times that I would do a 6-8 hours training day and then I would need to go and work a 4-6 hour shift or sometimes even an overnight. Those days were really difficult with achy tired legs and eyes that did not want to stay open but that helped build the mental toughness required for Ironman.
Doing an Ironman takes a lot of time and dedication. There were times where I wondered if it was even worth it. But I knew it helped me feel good and accomplished so I stuck with it. I can now apply this knowledge I learnt and my story to motivate people when I’m training at InsideOut.