# Goals



## monemi (Jun 24, 2013)

Recently feeling inspired to go for a real challenge. I've been doing my usual routine just to maintain a basic level of fitness for a couple of years now. I'm umming and uhhhing on my next goal. I'm on the fence about trying the Iron Man. I've done a marathon and triathlon and a marathon swim. I came in the center pack for my age group. My mother pushed me to do the first two with her and a friend did the swim with me. I haven't actually gone out on my own and decided to try one of these just because I want to before. 

Admittedly, I'm a bit intimidated at the idea of trying it. I was confident doing the others. When I get my arse in gear, I'm a good athlete and always complete what I start. I've never failed to complete anything sports related. But Iron Man looks a lot tougher and I'm wondering if maybe I'm a little crazy to be thinking about this. I want to know if I can do it. But at the same time, that's a lot of punishment and what if I can't? I haven't tried something I don't know I can do before. I've never taken myself to anything that far before. I've been reading up on it and losing 5% of my body weight in 12 hours is a bit worrying. Along with bodily wear and tear. But I'm really really curious. 

I'm wondering if it's just because of the heart problems earlier this year and that fear I wasn't going to be able to do any hardcore sports again. It's kind of lame, but it bothers me that something could come up just like that and I'll never find out just what my limits are. I regret that I didn't push myself harder on the other races. My goal was to complete. I didn't give much thought to racing. I enjoy races and competition. I need a competitor to go up against to push me to go harder. But when there are just so many people there, it doesn't really feel all that competitive. If I try the iron man, I'm on the clock and if I don't do the sections within the allotted time, I'm dropped. That's a good reason for me to move my arse. 

There's all this curiosity about trying it. I started training a week ago for a long course triathlon in September. I'll see how I do at that. I'm naturally good at distance events. Probably because the thought of stopping or giving up doesn't actually occur to me. I suppose I'm not that smart during these races. But I know people a lot tougher than me that didn't finish the iron man first time around. I really just hate the idea of not finishing. I publicly fail at stuff all the time and laugh it off. I don't know that I could laugh that off. I mean, I could put on a public face. But it would be fraudulent. 

Is this a really stupid idea?


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## Psychophant (Nov 29, 2013)

No, I'd go for it. Failing sucks, I admit, but not trying and later regretting it sucks a lot more... at least in my experience.


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## FallingSlowly (Jul 1, 2013)

Did you get the all-clear for your heart scare?
If you did, go for it - if you don't, you'll regret it.
If you didn't, obviously don't, it'd be too dangerous.

I know triathlon in general wouldn't be for me, but I started a motor-sport to overcome certain fears, and I'm really glad I did, it's the best experience ever. So I should talk about not risking your life. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if it's a calculated risk, it's okay, and you should definitely do it. Calculated is not crazy though 

I deal well with failure, so failing at something wouldn't really be a problem. I'm really one of those people who thinks the only failure is not trying. I admit though I'd have been a bit disappointed if I had noticed I really couldn't do it at all, because I wanted it so much, and I know I don't make half-arsed attempts. So yeah, trying hard and it not working out is always an option, and that sucks. I guess if it had really all gone Pete Tong, I would have been disappointed for a while, but I'm also pretty sure I'm resilient enough to move on. 

The question is if you really think you couldn't deal with not finishing at all. Maybe if you tell yourself there's nothing to lose (provided your health is okay), you can change your outlook a bit? I mean sure, you'll be gutted if you can't finish, but it happens to really experienced athletes, too. So looking at it from that angle, what is there to lose? I still believe that trying and failing is better than not trying at all (and asking yourself: "What if?" for the rest of your life. Having regrets is awful). 

You sound experienced anyway, but can you maybe get a trainer to show you the (specific) ropes, so you don't do anything silly if your natural tendency is "not to be smart"?


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## monemi (Jun 24, 2013)

@FallingSlowly - I can talk to my mother as a semi-trainer. She's a health nut with a degree in biology and a background in sports medicine. I got the okay for my regular sports. But I have been told to come in again if there's a change. They didn't find anything technically wrong with my heart aside from an irregular heartbeat. It's strong, just doesn't have a steady rhythm. They had no idea why I was having chest pains. It's a very similar issue as my uncle (mother's brother) who's as crazy into sports as she is. They've never found an underlying cause for his arrhythmia either. He's pretty competitive in sports and hasn't had anything worse than your average sports injury and dehydration, so I'll just check in and should be good to go. (I think hospitals just freak me out more when they keep testing and testing. As though it's worse than I imagined. Any moment now they're going to come back and tell me I have spollyollydiddlytiddlyitits. Truth is they have no idea. They _practice_ medicine. It's as much art as it is a science. I'm convinced a lot of the time they're making is up as they go along.)

It would really suck to not get to find out. I think one of the reasons it would suck more than other attempts is because I'd have to travel to do it. Quebec or BC or the US. Nothing near me. It's hard to make a big deal out of something and then shrug it off. I don't think I'm bad at handling failure. It's just harder to do when there's a lot of advanced planning and time to think about it and a high chance of failure. It's much easier to jump into things in the moment. There isn't "jumping into" an iron man. It would be very much a conscious effort with a lot of time to psych myself out. It's a lot of planning. I suck at planning and something that has to be planned that far in advance freaks me out more than other things. If someone threw a race at me next week, I'd give it my best shot but be okay that I hadn't really had time to plan for it. Getting ready for something that would take me a year or more preparation is a lot scarier. I have lots of time to freak myself out.


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## bluekitdon (Dec 19, 2012)

I'd be cautious if you are having heart issues. There are a lot of studies now linking heart damage to people who do marathon or longer distances similar to those who do no exercise. I've been considering cutting back a bit, this year will be my third and possibly final tough mudder http://www.toughmudder.com. Fun but took me more than a week to recover after running them the last two times. Check this article out. Negative Effects Of Running A Marathon - Business Insider


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## monemi (Jun 24, 2013)

bluekitdon said:


> I'd be cautious if you are having heart issues. There are a lot of studies now linking heart damage to people who do marathon or longer distances similar to those who do no exercise. I've been considering cutting back a bit, this year will be my third and possibly final tough mudder http://www.toughmudder.com. Fun but took me more than a week to recover after running them the last two times. Check this article out. Negative Effects Of Running A Marathon - Business Insider


Interesting. I've always been a runner. I wonder if that's effected me and my uncle. We have similar heart arrythmia's. I'll discuss it with my doctor when I check in.


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## yentipeee (Jun 19, 2013)

monemi said:


> @_FallingSlowly_ - I can talk to my mother as a semi-trainer. She's a health nut with a degree in biology and a background in sports medicine. I got the okay for my regular sports. But I have been told to come in again if there's a change. They didn't find anything technically wrong with my heart aside from an irregular heartbeat. It's strong, just doesn't have a steady rhythm. They had no idea why I was having chest pains. It's a very similar issue as my uncle (mother's brother) who's as crazy into sports as she is. They've never found an underlying cause for his arrhythmia either. He's pretty competitive in sports and hasn't had anything worse than your average sports injury and dehydration, so I'll just check in and should be good to go. (I think hospitals just freak me out more when they keep testing and testing. As though it's worse than I imagined. Any moment now they're going to come back and tell me I have spollyollydiddlytiddlyitits. Truth is they have no idea. They _practice_ medicine. It's as much art as it is a science. I'm convinced a lot of the time they're making is up as they go along.)
> 
> It would really suck to not get to find out. I think one of the reasons it would suck more than other attempts is because I'd have to travel to do it. Quebec or BC or the US. Nothing near me. It's hard to make a big deal out of something and then shrug it off. I don't think I'm bad at handling failure. It's just harder to do when there's a lot of advanced planning and time to think about it and a high chance of failure. It's much easier to jump into things in the moment. There isn't "jumping into" an iron man. It would be very much a conscious effort with a lot of time to psych myself out. It's a lot of planning. I suck at planning and something that has to be planned that far in advance freaks me out more than other things. If someone threw a race at me next week, I'd give it my best shot but be okay that I hadn't really had time to plan for it. Getting ready for something that would take me a year or more preparation is a lot scarier. I have lots of time to freak myself out.


I don't mean to alarm you but chest pains should never be ignored. My wife died in her 40s after complaining of chest pains. She was 5'10" & very healthy otherwise. 

5% body weight doesn't seem like a lot, I lose that much every day going to the bathroom.


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## monemi (Jun 24, 2013)

yentipeee said:


> I don't mean to alarm you but chest pains should never be ignored. My wife died in her 40s after complaining of chest pains. She was 5'10" & very healthy otherwise.


The thing is, most of what the medical community know about the heart was from studies on men. The same is true for a lot of things. So, we're guessing. I didn't ignore my chest pains. I went to the hospital and had them checked out. They didn't have answers. 

Anyway, I have an appointment coming up this week and I'll discuss with my dr then.


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## Impavida (Dec 29, 2011)

Meh. I've had an irregular heartbeat for most of my life. It runs in my family. Whatevs :shrug: An arrhythmia doesn't automatically mean there's something wrong. 

I haven't done an Ironman, but I've done Olympic distance triathlons (actually just getting back into them again) and I've been doing long-distance running off and on since I was in primary school.

If the docs don't see anything major going on, I wouldn't worry about it. Just pay attention when you're training and stop if anything feels off.


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## monemi (Jun 24, 2013)

I followed up with appointments this week. First family dr and then the heart guy I dealt with before. A little odd. He noticed I have a lot of eyelashes. I was looking at him pretty damn weird at that point. He diagnosed me with distichiasis that's supposed to be connected with lymphedema and congenital heart defects and stuff. I don't have lymphedema. I was pretty horrified looking at the pictures online. I definitely do not have that and neither do my kids. I wanted to argue over the diagnosis but looking up distichiasis online and then checking my lashes in the mirror, I have to concede the freak eyelash growth. 

All that to say, I'm not getting the all clear on an Ironman. I'm still going to push for an okay on the triathlon. I'm not sure if it's the ironman they have an issue with specifically or that there's been a significant increase in the chance of me having a real heart problem instead of an arrhythmia. Wait and see. I'm feeling one part disappointed and one part failure. Which is dumb because I wasn't even sure if I wanted to do it.


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## FlaviaGemina (May 3, 2012)

Hey, @monemi, I've just stumbled upon this thread and got interested in this distichiasis thingy, because I'm a professional hypochondriac and I've got lots of eyelashes and never thought about how many you are supposed to have until I read this. 

It says on this website that you can have the freak eyelashes in isolation without any of the health problems associated with lymphedema. Medscape: Medscape Access
It also said on another website that _most_ people with this syndrome develop the health problems during puberty, although some people only develop them in their 30s/40s.
Also, it said that lymphedema-distichiasis syndrome is caused by a mutation in the FOXC2 gene. So I'd like to know how your doctor can diagnose you when you haven't even got most of the symptoms and he hasn't tested your genes and found the mutation?


This is the weirdest thing ever: I checked my eyelashes just out of hypochondria and it turns out I've got like 5 full sets of them, although none of them grow out of the inner lining of the eyelid, but not really on the outside either. I'm going to ask my friends how many rows of eyelashes they have.


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## monemi (Jun 24, 2013)

FlaviaGemina said:


> Hey, @_monemi_, I've just stumbled upon this thread and got interested in this distichiasis thingy, because I'm a professional hypochondriac and I've got lots of eyelashes and never thought about how many you are supposed to have until I read this.
> 
> It says on this website that you can have the freak eyelashes in isolation without any of the health problems associated with lymphedema. Medscape: Medscape Access
> It also said on another website that _most_ people with this syndrome develop the health problems during puberty, although some people only develop them in their 30s/40s.
> ...


The difference between lots of lashes and distichiasis is having the lashes below the waterline of your eyelids.


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