The love of my life. Triathlon :-)

 Once again, please listen to this song as you read. I like to hit as many senses as I can :-) Right click on the link below. Click 'Open Link In New Window'. It should start to play from there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMgMqs33WAs

 Well here I am. Two weeks away from competing in Ironman Canada. And in case you forgot, Ironman consists of a 3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run = 226km in under 17 hours. Sounds like a nice way to spend a whole day don't you think?


Ironman Canada bike course. It's a tough one.



It seems like yesterday when I was booking flights and making arrangements with friends to head out to B.C. to signup for Ironman Canada. I can't believe a whole year has past. It seems like it flew by. With so much training week after week over the past year, I guess I did not really take time to stop and live in the moment... So here I am, as ready as I’ll ever be for Ironman. Not to say I could not have pushed harder, or spent more hours training, but just that right now, for what I want and what I did, I am as ready as I can be. And that makes me feel pretty good :-)

 Everything is pretty organized at this point. My flight is booked. Hotel booked. Car rental booked. I am shipping my bike out to B.C. Just have to drop that off next week in Burlington. Wheels are enjoying some new tires. (More expensive than my car tires). Wetsuit is getting a hole fixed as we speak. And all info I need is neatly printed out in a folder on the table. i.e. Maps, confirmations, ect. So at this point, it's pretty much here. I wish it was here. I wish the race was tomorrow. I just want to be getting off the bike and heading out on the run portion. So that way I know the finish is only a matter of time away. It's scary heading into the unknown sometimes. But that's what makes me want to go.

 I have a lot to say to a lot of people. I just mean that so many have helped me in different ways along the way. I owe everyone a drink or something. Or at least a hug :-) I even owe a lot of people an apology. For being more into my own thing a lot of the time, and not taking time out for the important things sometimes. Just know the ways thing were, were the ways things had to be for me to get through this... This wont be my forum for thanking and apologizing to people. I'll do that in person. But please know that I could not have done this without my friends and family. No joke. The kept me up when I was down. And kept me on the right path when I needed guidance.

 I've learned a lot over the past year while training for Ironman. The long hours spent alone force you to become best friends with yourself and reflect on a lot. Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes I want to jab something into my eye socket I piss myself off so much. lol. You have to take the good days with the bad days. The ups with the downs. I found myself having more down days than up days in the past few months. My training, work, social life all made it hard to be on top of everything. I tried to not force myself out of those dark days, but just know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. And that a good bike ride on a new road always fixes everything :-)

 But one of the biggest things I learned in my journey, was that I found love :-) You see, for a long time I thought I was missing that special ingredient in life. I don't have a girlfriend. And I’m not married. But what I learned is that love does not have to be something that is shared only between Two people. There are so many things and ways to love. The love for a husband or a wife, a boyfriend or girlfriend. The love for a child. The love for a pet. The love for yourself. And this, this is my love. It is mine. And it fills me and defines me. And it compels me on. And like any relationship, we have our ups and downs. But no matter what, this is for life :-)

 2 weeks... Failure is not an option. Hearing the words "JESSE BROWN, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN" as I cross the finish line in Penticton. B.C. is the only way this story is going to end.