Training and completing and Ironman much like striving to become debt free.

I started running a few years ago – at the time, I couldn’t run 2 blocks and HATED it, but liked that it got me into shape.  Four months later I remember being so nervous and full of anxious about running my first 6 miles on a run, but I did it anyways.  I decided right then and there that I was going to do a marathon and I did it just 6 months later!  While I don’t have a passion for running, I very much enjoy the people you meet as they are usually pretty upbeat.    I especially love the 5k runs as it brings out many positive families, especially if is sponsoring a good cause. 

My true passion is biking and triathlons (because I get to bike!).  2 months before Robbie was diagnosed, I was beyond blessed to have gotten to train for a full year to complete my first Ironman Triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and 26.2 mile run – start at 7am and HAVE to be done by midnight) in November 2008.  It was an exhilarating time in my life as I did something I didn’t see as possible before I started training. When I did my first tri, I found out I had a deep fear of lake swimming just 2 weeks before my first event. I started hyperventilating in waist high water!! I got over it and got my first tri completed.  To this day, I still have a huge fear of swimming in lakes and the ocean as I just KNOW something is going to bite me someday, but I don’t let myself think about it until my toes hit the starting line. I know I am going to panic for a few minutes and then just settle into a swim so I can get the heck out of the water. 

 It was a full year to train for this 1 day Ironman event in Panama City, FL.  I was a wife and mom of 3 little kids (ages 8,7, & 5 at the time) and working full time at the time. Most days I was very tired and had my days planned out before the alarm would go off at 4am.   There were no social activities outside of my family and work for about 9 months, but I knew this was a small sacrifice for a small amount of time to accomplish a lifetime achievement.

Did I still have doubts about being able to finish?  Did I think I was going to possible drown or get eaten by a shark in the swim portion?  YES, I did and thought about it every day for a year before the event. Did I let this stop me?  Nope, I knew I had a plan that I was faithfully following and I was going to just train day by day and not think about how far I had to go.  It would have been too overwhelming. 

I relate our personal finance journey to my Ironman experience. There are days when we are tired just don’t feel like doing it anymore and if we look at the overall amount of work that needs to be done, it is overwhelming and would be easy to stop. We have faith however that we WILL accomplish our goal by sticking to our plan day by day. During these past 27 months, there have been many sacrifices including time with our family.  Has it been worth it? YES IT HAS.  We still feel like we have a long ways to go and just want to be done RIGHT NOW which drives us harder to watch our budget and earn money when and where we can.  The journey hasn’t been perfect, but it is the act of making strives in all the little things each day to move us forward to our goal of being completely debt free even when we get bumped back a few notches. 

 I hope you follow us along on our journey.

God bless and thanks for reading.

Jen

www.fieldofdebt.com