Spinning

"Take me back, just before I was spinning.
Take me back, just before I got dizzy."

--Dave Matthews Band, "So Damn Lucky."

So, once I was in a bike shop in Madison, Wisconsin, and I picked up a book for training for an IronMan triathlon. The schedule was something like "Get up at 4 AM, ride your bike for way too long, go to work, take a nap, eat some food, go back to work, go for a long run, and go to bed at 9 PM."

I remember laughing out loud.

I also remember volunteering for the Ford IronMan Wisconsin 3 times and watching people get off of their bikes with such blank stares, you knew there was virtually no brain function except that which kept them breathing.

This one dude dismounted his bike (which he had been on for 112 miles), and said, "Where do I go now?"

Someone guided him to T2. I remember thinking... "You have to go run a MARATHON NOW!!!!!!!"

Currently, I am training for a Half IronMan. The math: a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike, and then a half marathon. My race is in 29 days. I got up this morning at 5 AM, biked to the gym, dropped of my gym bag, and then pounded out 42 miles at Hains Point before heading back, dousing myself with water and perfume, throwing on some clothes, and then collapsing at my desk, where I've been for the past 6 hours.

I AM BRAINDEAD. I know that someone will tell me I'm not getting the proper nutrition, and that's why I'm so braindead. I don't want to overcaffeinate myself.

And yet.

This weekend I got tempted--truly tempted, for the first time--to do a full IronMan.

Someone, please remind me of this moment when I am about to put $500 down on a race that will, for all intents and purposes, ruin my life.

Please.