To start: “What is IronMay?” IronMay is a challenge to run/bike/swim the distance of an IronMan over the course of the month of May.
An IronMan consists of:
- 2.4 mile swim
- 112 mile bike ride
- 26.2 mile run
Sound like a lot? Sound doable? I have 31 days to find out!
Why did I decide to take this challenge? Primarily, I saw it on a friend’s Instagram and thought it was a fun concept! I was surprised I had never heard the term before. There were a few other reasons as well:
- I haven’t had a numerical fitness goal in a long time. I always want to be “healthy” and “in good shape” but sometimes it’s nice to be working with a concrete goal in mind.
- I have a race next week in which I’ll be running 7.5 miles. That’s almost 30% of the running in one day!
- Every few years I tell myself I’m going to get into swimming. [It’s a great full body exercise. It’s easy on the joints. It’ll be a great way to start the day.] So every few years I swim about three times and call it good.
- I’m not saying it’ll be different after this May, but I’ll at least have 2.4 miles done and can revisit the idea again in 2020!
- Seattle is SO nice in May! I can’t wait for my first *warm* lap around Green Lake.
IronMay is a goal you could take up on your own, but I decided to register with an official “race” through my friend’s link on Instagram (www.IronMay.com). Even though I don’t know anyone else competing, it had the right level of small town fun and camaraderie that I wanted. Miles are logged on the honor system and it can also be completed as a team. Plus, it was only $11 to enter and finishers get a t-shirt (I think?!).
Fun Fact: The world record for completing an IronMan is 7 hours and 45 minutes. Wow!
Have you ever completed an IronMay? What about an IronMan?
Green Lake, May 2017