The Ironman That Almost Wasn’t

When the going gets rough, well, some folks just plain quit

Photo by Author

𝗧𝗼 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗸𝘀, 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝗴…

It is chipped in spots.

It has permanent coffee stains inside.

It’s been banged around, and it’s been dropped.

My wife even suggested at one point that we “retire” it.

The beating on this mug is so damn obvious…

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲 𝗜 𝗦𝗘𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧

I see hours and hours of time spent on my bike in training.

I see countless times getting up early to run my 10 miles, before the sun rose.

I see getting into the pool and practicing flip-turns and swimming countless laps, over and over again.

I see therapy in this mug.

I see falling down and getting back up.

I see pain, and pushing through it, creating and leaving a lifetime of lessons that will never go away.

I see beauty in this battered mug.

𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗮 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲…