Scott Gibson's Ironman Journey

Now that everyone pretty much knows that I am taking on the Ironman, I have gotten a lot of great reactions.  I would say the most common being outward enthusiasm, but an obvious expression of ‘what the hell are you thinking’ was noticeable as well.  Oddly, the more people that doubt me the better.  I already have $100 wager from a guy at work. Sucker.

My favorite reaction was Dawn’s.  While I could tell there was a little surprise, she geniunely seemed excited for me.

Today was a great first day, with the exception of the weigh-in results.  I was a little heavier than I expected, coming in at 216 lbs.  That means I am probably looking lose 35-45lb to get ready.  I ran this evening for a good solid hour and it actually felt really good.  It helps visualizing running the the real thing…very motivating!

I ate well today, having veggies and rice for lunch, a 6″ veggie sandwich from Subway for dinner, and carrots for a snack.  No, I am not going vegetarian, it was what was convenient for today.  After a run to the grocery store, I am all set for the next several days.

Day 1 is in the books and it’s a good start, but there is a long, long way to go.

Current Weight: 216 lbs
Weight Loss: 0 lbs

Over the past two days, I have enjoyed Cracker Barrel twice, some pizza and several beers.  While I don’t feel that was going wild and crazy, it will certainly be a long time before I enjoy all of those things in such a short window.

The hardest part of the diet thing is going to be eating less, more frequent meals.  I will not have any problem eating healthy since I love things like fruits and veggies, its just the scheduling for the meals that will take some effort.

Kicking off things tomorrow, going to do my weigh in and some ‘before’ pics.  I will probably do weigh-ins/pics on weekly basis to track the progress.

Since today’s my last day, think I am going to go enjoy a couple of beers!

As of 4:14PM today, I am officially registered as a participant in the 2009 Ironman – Florida taking place in Panama City Beach on November 7th.

Why am I doing this?  In my life, I have been successful in many things.  I have a great family, a great job, achieved all of my educational goals, but there is one thing that I have never conquered, and that is my health and fitness.

I have tried to do the “I am going to lose 20lbs” or the “I want to work out 3 times a week”, but those goals were never big enough to truly get me motivated to change my lifestyle.  My solution?  Make a goal so big and tell everyone that I am doing it so that I have no excuse but to finally get motivated to make a change.  With getting ready for an Ironman, I can’t help but get into to great shape and become healthier – and that’s the true goal.

There is a lot of work to do over the coming weeks: getting a workout routine planned, setting up a new eating strategy (no more skipping meals, eating big dinners, late night snacking, etc.) and researching equipment.

The workout strategy for the first 2 weeks is going to consist of just running as often and as far as I can.  This will be in an effort just to get in a routine and get familiar with working out again.  I haven’t worked out in….well, years.

I am really excited about setting such a huge goal for myself and hope it leads to a whole new healthier me.