Let me tell you, if Ironman Wisconsin is anything as stressful as “registration” for Ironman Wisconsin, I am in deep shit.
Registration opened the day after the race at noon and I was reading stories around the web that said it could sell out in as fast as 15 minutes. There were five of us signing up and I was a wreck thinking that I might be the only one to not get in. It didn’t help that my boss called an 11:00 am meeting out of the blue.
Like most bosses, he is a big fan of hearing himself talk and this strategy session had me glued on the clock. I thought I was good, but he opened a can of worms at 11:47. It wasn’t much of a stretch to act like I was sick and run out of that office at noon, because I was getting queasy.
His can of worms was flying right over my head, and at 11:59 I stood up and declared the meeting over. He looked at me like I was crazy (and I probably was) and asked where I was going. I said I had something to do and that the rest of them were more than qualified to finish the meeting.
It was a bold move and I’m sure there was probably enough subordination to get fired, or at least a red flag in my file, but I didn’t care. I would have quit at that moment and, as it turns out, still might.
It’s not just the Ironman that has me thinking about walking from the corporate world, it’s what the quest stands for. Getting to the point where I actually believe I can do a full Ironman is a major change in my thought patterns. I am turning into a different person, and that person is me.