Mid Life Crisis?

Exactly how do you define a "Mid-Life Crisis"? What form does one normally take? Sure I have heard of guys going out and buying fancy sports cars, or running away with their sexy little 20-something secretaries. Some have even done both! Now, me being very content with my current ride (even though it is a Toyota), and even more content with my current wife, neither of these is even a thought for me. But I am trying to define what this might look like so when I find it I will know, because I have a feeling...

Year after year I sit and watch countless hours of mindless TV interspersed with the great sport of hockey. Some shows are "must see", like the Amazing Race, or the Stanley Cup Finals. But there is one hour of TV each year that, should I miss it, aggravates me to no end. That show is the Ironman World Championships from Kona, Hawaii. Each year I watch as elite athletes boggle the mind with their athleticism. I watch as age-groupers, all with some kind of story to tell, cross the finish line to hear their names announced over the PA system, proceeded by "You are an Ironman!".

Each year as I lay on the couch and listen to their stories I get inspired. I watch as Jon "Blazeman" Blaise, suffering from ALS (Lou Gerig's Disease) reaches the end, lays down, and rolls across the finish line in 2005. I am also sitting on that same couch in 2007 watching when another anonymous age-grouper reaches the end, lays down, and rolls across the finish line. Then hearing the news that this was in memory of Jon Blaise, who passed away earlier in the year as a result of complications from ALS. Jon Blaise, you are an Ironman!

There is the ageless Madonna Bruder who began her quest of doing Ironman races in 1985. Each year I see her story play out on the glowing box. In 2007, with under a minute to go until the 17-hour cut-off, she crosses the finish line. Sister Madonna Bruder, you are an Ironman! That's right, Sister.......she's a Nun. Oh, and she was 76 years old at the time.

Then there is Team Hoyt. The Father/Son team of Dick and Rick Hoyt who have competed in six Ironman competitions. Rick always edging out his father Dick by a split second. Know why? Rick is the one in front riding in the custom made running chair. You see, when Rick was born he was deprived of oxygen for a period of time, causing him to be born a quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. Rick rides in a raft pulled by Dick during the swim. He rides on the front of Dick's bike over the road. Rick rides in his custom running chair for the course of the marathon. The epitome of a parent-child relationship with the parent always putting the child first. Rick and Dick Hoyt, you are Ironmen!

Each year I watch and think to myself, "Kevin, you can do that". Then I grab a sandwich and hope there's a hockey game on next.

Fast forward to present day 2010: About two weeks ago my wife was having an online conversation with a friend of our on the East Coast. Since I was not part of the conversation initially I can only speculate how it went. All I DO know is that it ended with a question being posed to me as such, (My wife standing in the kitchen making dinner, and me laying on the couch in the family room......you'll see the irony here in a second.), "Hey Kev, Laura wants to run an Ironman and wants someone to run it with her. Want to join her?" My retort was, "Ummmmm.....sure." Then there was the realization that there was no taking it back. It was out there, and I said YES.

After some time to let it sink in I realized something. I didn't want to take it back. It has become what I believe to be MY "Mid Life Crisis".....I just have a feeling.