Important Announcement!

Oops--I said this on Facebook, but sometimes I forget some people only read the blog.

The pieces are falling into place. I always said I wanted to do Ultraman Kona. Well, at least since I started doing Ironman. IMLP is my last "official" Ironman for the time being. I'm not saying "last ever" because who knows, I might change my mind!

Once I decided to bag IMC and do Revenge of the PirateMan, and also knowing I'm not signing up for an Ironman in 2010, I guess the brain started thinking about things, and it was Monday evening in the middle of the night when I had a flash that if I am going in this direction, shouldn't I be looking at Ultraman for 2010?

So yesterday I start looking into things...first Ultraman Canada and then Ultraman Kona. Turns out Ultraman Kona is changing things next year and you have to qualify by first doing Ultraman Canada or else have already done Ultraman Kona before they changed the rules. So I decided that if I complete Revenge of the PirateMan, then I am applying for Ultraman Canada 2010!

And then things just sort of fell into place today--I started making a sketch of a schedule of things I want to do next year, and it is looking good on paper, but I need to know the exact dates of Ultraman Canada (UMC)!

So I do IMLP, then I do Revenge of the PirateMan, then a 50-mile trail race, then Goofy Challenge, then I start ramping up for UMC!!! How exciting is that?

Even though it might seem that this has come out of the blue, it really hasn't. I have just been listening to signs and perhaps some higher guidance that has come to me over the past few years. I can remember that at 2006 MiamiMan I met Michael Hanreck, who was 2nd at Ultraman Kona in 2005. He told me I should do it. Well, at the time, I didn't feel ready.

Last year at IMFL, I met Peter Kotland, who had pulled out of IMFL halfway through the marathon, because it was a "training day" for him. He came in 4th at UMK in 2008, and he holds the UMK run record of 5:33 for 52.4 miles! Here's a pic of me with him from last November:
Now don't I just look like someone who should do an Ultraman? Well, maybe that day I didn't, but I'm starting to feel like that person.

And then earlier this year was when I was discussing a "TotalMan" concept with someone, although I had started out with the Revenge of the PirateMan concept. And it was something I thought about doing next year.

Well the time has come to begin dipping my toes into the ultra territory. I might fail--I might not--but if I don't start looking beyond Ironman it will never happen. I still need to finish one thing at a time, and so I am happy that I am starting the move into ultra territory. I will draw upon anyone I know that has been there in some form or other, and I think it is going to be something else!