IronMan Florida 2004 Race Report
By: Pam Neef

 OK, so here is my story.  It will not be the usual story because, well, I am not the usual person.  By the way, most of you who are reading this aren’t either!

 “Only those who attempt the absurd, achieve the impossible.”  That really sums up my entire triathlon experience in a nutshell.  I first told myself a little over 4 years ago that I WAS (the capitals are intentional) going to do an Ironman.  I had just finished my first triathlon by side stroking 800 yards and doing OK on the bike and run and it really seemed an absurd thought.  However, I knew something about myself that most people had not figured out (expect my daughter, or maybe they had figured out but thought better than to ever tell me to my face).  I am one of the most stubborn persons who have ever walked the face of the earth.  Now stubbornness can be a very positive or a very negative trait, so, for better or worse, I possess it.  Absurd as the thought may have been, there was no other outcome to this challenge but to finish, end of discussion.

Please do not think this an arrogant statement.  I know you don’t if you have ever seen me swim or run. OK, OK, I am a very good mediocre bike rider.  

I told no one about this, except my daughter, for fear of ridicule.  I simply began training with people who I knew had the skills and knowledge I lacked.  Like the typical A+++ (anal) person, I am, I set TIME LINES.  I WOULD complete a half Ironman before I turned 50 and I WOULD complete a full Ironman before I turned 51.

 After two years of doing sprints and running half and full marathons, I finally began telling people that I was interested in training for a half Ironman.  I figured by this time ya’ll had figured out how determined (stubborn) I was, so, what the heck.  All I needed was a PLAN, an organized set of steps for me to follow methodically, systematically, and faithfully, and I would be on my way.

 Please do not think that my stubbornness meant that I did not have days of despair and thoughts of quitting, as that would be a total falsehood.  I would come back from swimming practice or running many times thinking I could never do this.  I would see people I had encouraged to enter triathlons and within days it seemed, far surpass me. I was never quite sure my lack of talent could be overcome by my drive to succeed.

So on the morning of November 6, 2004 when John Fell said I was the calm before the chaos for him, he did not realize that I had buried my feet in the sand so deep that I could not do what my head told me to do.  I could not run back to my hotel room and hide under the sheets.  I may have had a very calm exterior but if he could have seen what was going on inside of me, he would have been shocked.  I can say this. When the music started and the race began, I felt a sudden calm come over me and I knew that I would have a wonderful day and I WOULD ACHIEVE THE IMPOSSIBLE!!   

 I would love to give a blow by blow of what happened to me during the Ironman, but if anyone of you ever had an out of body experience you know that it all seems like it is happening to someone else and you are just observing from the world’s best vantage point.  You know, like when they strap a camera to a racecar driver and you feel like you are in the driver’s seat.  Well that is how I felt.   

I do want to thank everyone who made this journey with me. And I mean those who ran the very first miles about 5 years ago, to those I met only a few weeks before the race.  You have forever and profoundly changed my life.  I would like to thank my daughter, Leah, for putting up with me and teaching me how to laugh at myself or as she put it, to “get over myself”.

 So, to quote John Frost, “Two roads diverged in the wood, and I---I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”  The truth is, that it is all of the people who have chosen this same road that I have met along the way who have made all the difference.  To you I offer my sincere respect and admiration, for you obviously know it was one of the most difficult but rewarding decisions you have ever made. 

 See you on the road!!

 Pam :o)