One _____ at a Time: DWYRMAN 2012

Muskeegon, Michigan on our way across Lake Michigan via The Badger

My wife and I just got back from a little family getaway to northern Michigan and from a friend's wedding in Elkhart, Wisconsin. Yet, as wonderful as the vacation was, I always enjoy the act of coming home-- ahhhh. Sometimes I need a vacation from the vacation. Is that just a case of the grass being greener? 'Cause I chronically suffer from it. But the suffering is great training for what's in store next weekend. Playtime is over. Or is it just beginning?

It's DWYRMAN time.

Today, I suffered from it some more-- green-grass-ping-pong-pick-a-daisy syndrome. What doest that mean? It means my deep yearnings and their oscillations between two extremes of "arriving home" versus "venturing out"; it's "rest" versus "hammer-fest"; "work" versus "play". I love them all; I love them not; I love them all; I love them not. Contentment is the elusive attractor at the bottom of this pendulum swing that never quite settles down in me. Even this morning I felt like I was on the outside looking in on a triathlon smorgasborg-a-palooza. LET ME IN!

I reeeeally wanted to race today with my friend Franklin at Ceasar's Creek Triathlon, but I just didn't have peace of mind to spend $75 after all that unpaid vacation. So, I decided to just tag along with Franklin's too-cute family and cheer him on. What do you know--my cheering WORKED! Franklin put together a stellar performance and ended up winning his age group! I was so happy...and yet I was so sad that I didn't get to race. But it was probably best that I save my energy for next weekend.

Franklin at the finish. Victory!

After his victory, Franklin was studly enough to do some course reconnaissance with me for next weekend's most epic summer adventure of all time-- the first ever DWYRMAN.

DWYRMAN is my do-it-yourself adventure race next weekend that was inspired by the convergence of several winds of inspiration:

1) Ironman is the ultimate athletic stage, in my opinion, but good golly it's expensive and corporate-feeling. And who are these white people with the $10,000 bicycles? Is there a way to fulfill the challenge without giving $630 of race entry fees and $500 of hotel fees to someone else? It should be called a quadrathlon since the 4th and most challenging event is managing the finances it takes to put this race on your calendar. I want the DWYRMAN to be a stick-it-to-the-Ironman of sorts.

Menona Terrace bike transition Ironman Wisconsin

2) The feelings of fitness and freshness rarely occur at the same time. For many, the feeling of either fitness or freshness would be miraculous on its own, but to experience both simultaneously, coinciding with the particular date on the calendar that corresponds to the day of the $630 race...now that would be like Shakira and Enrique Iglesias having offspring together on a lunar eclipse in my backyard within my finished privacy fence. Simply the ultimate project taken to 100% consummation. That is why I wanted better control over exactly when my A-race of the year would take place. It's a cool feeling when all the training, nutrition, sleep, friends, and post hole digging come together.

3) Rich Roll's blog, and then his New York Times best selling book, Finding Ultra, about his journey to and participation in the inaugural Epic-5 Challenge deeply inspired me. A great read, if you get the chance. His quasi-spiritual DIY adventure was an attempt at conquering five iron-distance triathlons, over five days, on five different Hawaiian islands, with his one-armed amigo Jason Lester.