The Popularity of M-dot

IM Lake Placid took place yesterday and registration for next year opened today. I had assumed it would fill quickly and my intuition was correct.

It's quite amazing how popular the M-dot races have become, especially the North America ones. $475 to sign up for 10-17 hours of exercise and test of human will. But for so many of us, this idea seems quite logical and we don't think twice about rearranging our schedule to be on-line during the sign up period.

Last November one of our friends was in Korea during the 20min time period when IM FL was opened for online registration. I sat in the house with two computers, ready to go as soon as the clock struck 9am. I got him in but it filled up so quickly that my idea of signing myself up was a lost cause.

In hindsight I am thankful for that because I know I need a bit of a break. Over the past few weeks I've had the chance to take a step back and really think about my plans for Ironman. I'd given some thought to signing up for LP today but realized I would be signing up b/c it's what I do; not because I wanted to do that race next year. People have asked me when the next Ironman will be. I know there will be others but for now I'm not positive what the next one will be. I'll just have to wait until I am truly excited about the idea of doing it again, then I'll sign up for another.

Somewhat related to that is today's picture of the day, which comes direct to us from Osh Kosh WI...