The 235 pound Marshmallow Man wants to be an Ironman?

I'm Jon. I was once a 235 pound couch potato. Now my goal is to be an Ironman.

Why? Why not? If that Andy dude on the Bachelor can do it, why can't I? Sure, he's in the Navy, I sit behind a desk all day... he's not married, I have 3 kids.

In Ironman you have to swim 3.8km. You then hit the bike for 180km. Then you run a full marathon (42.2km).

Oh, and you have to do it all in 17 hours or less.

How hard could that possible be? :)

So here's where I'm at.

Weight: down to 190lbs over the last few years, mostly due to cycling and dietary changes. Good-bye pizza, hello whole wheat pitas and hummus. I'm 6'-0", so I still have a good 15 pounds I could lose, that's part of my goals.

So now on to the athletic stuff...

Cycling: Completed century ride, 100 miles (160km) in the fall. Been cycling for a few years, this is where I'm most comfortable.

Running: Started last year, completed a 1/2 marathon (21.1km).

Swimming: I can swim across the pool. And back. Then I stop and gasp for air.

So that's my introduction. I think the earliest I could possibly get there is 2010, but I don't want to just do it to do it, then drag myself across in 16:59 and call it done. I want to do it well. So that means a few 1/2 Ironman distances first (Ironman 70.3), and that's not happening this year...

I'll track my progress here, share my successes, my inevitable failures, and I hope to have a neat blog to look back at to read every step in the journey!

I hope you enjoy it... I plan to!