Today, I am an IRONMAN!!!

2 years of running marathons + 7 months of intense triathlon training + having the passion and desire = Becoming an Ironman!

I'm not even sure where to begin. The last 2 years have been such a dramatic change for me. 2 years ago I was the Assistant Director in charge of Housing at the San Francisco Art Institute. I had no idea what I was capable of and I had no dreams of being any better than I already was. I was content with being ordinary. I had no idea that the next two years of my life would involve running 6 full marathons, countless half marathons, 2 tough mudders, 1 olympic distance triathlon, training people and changing lives, and completing a full Ironman!

Today a good friend and someone who inspired me to become an endurance athlete sent me a message that said, "I am very proud of both of you. The two of you have come a long way and I am thrilled to have played a part in your achievement. Michael, you especially have come a long way since we first met." He is right. I have come a long way since I first moved to San Francisco. Everything I want in life is within my grasp. I just have to reach for it now.

First I have to say THANK YOU to the people who have inspired and pushed me the most:

1. At the top of this list I have to THANK my amazing roommate Ilona! 2.5 years ago I registered her for her first marathon and 7 months ago I registered her for her first Ironman. Most people would just tell you to EFF OFF if you told them you registered them for a marathon let alone a full ironman! But Ilona said just laughed and said, "Okay." Over the last 7 months, she frustrated me with how dedicated she was! She hired a coach and trained pretty much everyday and just about every hour she wasn't working or sleeping. Maybe if I had trained HALF as hard as she did, I might have beat her. But to Ilona I must say, thank you for understanding me, thank you for never giving up, thank you for always running by my side (except when you're running ahead of me!), and thank you for not killing me for typing in your name on the registration form! You are AMAZING!!!

2. The next THANK YOU must go to my wonder twin Elisabeth Meany! When we met, I had no idea what I was capable of! You showed me the kind of trainer I was capable of being and you showed me how strong *I* was capable of being. Competing with you to see who could kill each other more pushed me more than you will ever know! If not for you, I never would have been introduced to the Biggest Loser world! That is something I will FOREVER be grateful for. Dude, not just one but TWO at home winners! Seriously?! Anyway, it has to be said, thank you for you :)

3. Barry and Rachel need to be included in my THANK YOUs! If not for Rachel starting that run club, I NEVER would have developed a love for running and had I not developed a love for running, I never would have registered for my first marathon, I never would have become a trainer, and I never would have thought I was capable of doing an Ironman! If not for Barry pushing me in spin class every week, I never would have believed that I could cycle 112 miles! Although I now know that spinning and road cycling are TOTALLY DIFFERENT BEASTS!!!! Barry used to always tell me that I was an athlete. I never really believed him but now I do. To Barry I say, "I AM AN ATHLETE!"

4. Daniel Lord. There truly are no words to express my love for this man! My body would be a total disaster if not for Dr. Sexy! When I lived in NY, I thought it'd be fun to attempt gymnastics again. After landing wrong doing a front handspring and twisting my knee, I ended up in Physical Therapy for like 6 months! It sucked! After that I had constant knee pain and just thought I'd have that pain for the rest of my life. Dan gets a sick pleasure out of torturing me! He took this tool made by the devil himself and used it to "reshape" my knee. I'm still not quite sure what that means but whatever it mean, I no longer suffer from knee pain. If it weren't for Dan, I honestly don't think I could have completed 6 full marathons or the Ironman! I truly owe the health of my joints and bones to Dan!

5. I also must thank Megan Collins. To you I say THANK YOU for seeing something in me when I didn't see it in myself. When I first started as a trainer, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. But you took me under your wing and showed me what being a trainer was all about. You never gave me a hard time for "stealing" each and every one of your workouts, many of which I still use today! You pointed out ALL of my weaknesses as a trainer but helped me to overcome them! You took my droopy hip pushups, corrected my form, strengthened my chest, and never let me look like a damn fool at the gym!

6. My two Biggest Loser Winners, Jen and Mike! Even though Jen chooses not to speak to me anymore for reasons I still don't understand, I cannot discount all the joy and happiness she brought into my life. She introduced me to a world I had longed to be part of! And if not for Jen, I never would have met Mike! Mike turned out to be a blessing in disguise! Jen was totally obsessed with Bob Harper, almost in an unhealthy way, so if information about food or exercise didn't come from Bob (or Dr. H), she really didn't listen to it. But Mike didn't really get a chance to know Bob or Dolvett. When he met me, he was a blank canvas and I was able to turn him into my masterpiece! If I told him to eat, he ate. If I told him to run, he ran! If I told him to rest, he rested. And clearly what I told him worked since he not only lost MORE weight and percentage of body weight than Jen, he also won! He showed me how hardwork and dedication can truly pay off and change your life! Jen may have lost weight, but she really didn't change on the inside. She doesn't know how to trust and that's just sad. Mike lost weight but also became a whole new person! He is someone I truly call a friend and the day I made him run that half marathon after really not having trained for it (I still can't believe he was actually willing to run it!) is the same day I knew I could complete an Ironman. I mean, if this guy who was still 80 lbs overweight was capable of running 13.1 miles without stopping to walk once, then certainly someone like me who was in far better shape could do an Ironman. Thank you to Mike for believing in me and allowing me to help you win the Biggest Loser. I may have already been in training mode for the Ironman when we met, but you helped me realize that I could truly do it!

7. Last but not least, I must THANK Raquel Engelund! Your belief in me has truly changed my life. There are no words to express my gratitude to you.

Okay, enough with the thank yous! Let me get give you a blow by blow of the Ironman weekend! The alarm went off at 3:30am. I took a quick shower, got dressed, and packed up the car. We arrived to the starting line at around 5am and dropped off our bikes and started to get ready for the swim. We got our wetsuits on and went for a quick 3 minute dip in the river. The announcer called out, “Wave 1 get ready, Wave 2 in the corral” (I was in Wave 2). After Wave 1 started, all Wave 2 participants had to enter the water. For some insane reason I thought it would be smart to start at the front of my wave. HUGE MISTAKE!!! When Wave 2 started, I got trampled in the water! At one point I even got kicked in the face! It was HORRIBLE!!! I kinda thought I wasn’t gonna make it. I started to panic! But I stopped for a second and told myself, “Michael, you’ve already done this exact swim twice before, YOU CAN DO IT!!” So I just started swimming and tried not to think about the hundreds of swimmers in front of me, next to me, and behind me. It must’ve worked because I finished in 1 hour and 22 minutes! Talk about shocked and confused! My worst event when I started training ended up being my strongest!

After I got out of the water, I ran to my bike, ripped off my wetsuit, dried off the best I could, and just hopped on my bike and started cycling! I wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on. I was just peddling. I figured with 112 miles ahead of me, it was best to just let my mind go blank. I tried to make sure I drank an entire bottle of Gatorade and had at least 3-4 shot blocks before reaching each of the aid stations. At mile 75, I had to stop and use the bathroom. I wanted to hold it but I figured going poop would make the remaining 37 miles more enjoyable, which it did! It was crazy, throughout the ride I kept looking for Ilona. I kinda thought she’d pass me up by mile 20 because she’s a much faster cyclist than I am. However, with the 10 minute head start I had plus the 13 minutes faster in the swim I was than her, she ended up not being able to catch me until about the 95 mile mark! I am actually really glad she caught me though. It forced me to speed up to keep up with her. She helped get me to the 112 mile mark at least 10-20 minutes faster than I would have alone.

Which brings us to the full marathon! This was by far the worst marathon I’ve ever done! Ilona and I were going to run it together but it took my feet about a mile for them to realize they weren’t on a bike anymore. Ilona didn’t want to wait for my feet to realize it was time to run so she just took off without me. Big surprise, I know! Haha! As for the run, it was painful, hard, and I walked a good portion of it! I definitely utilized a run/walk strategy. I would tell myself, walk to the mailbox and then run to the aid station. Walk to the fence, then run to the aid station. Luckily I started talking to this guy, Jarie. He was 41 and it was his first Ironman as well. I think we met shortly after mile 1 and pretty much kept each other company for just about the entire marathon. We helped push each other. Honestly, if it weren’t for him, I probably would’ve walked the entire thing. As we were starting the 2nd half of the 2nd loop, which was also the halfway mark, he pointed out the time and that we could still finish in under 14 hours. This was the exact motivation I needed to push through the pain and pick up my pace! After passing the 2nd loop, it was on! I made to the turn around and started sprinting! Well, what I would define as a sprint at mile 22 of the marathon portion of an Ironman, haha! My normal sprint is probably a 6-min mile pace. My sprint during the ironman was closer to a 10-min mile pace! I told Jarie around mile 25.5 that I was going for it and started running like the wind! Right around mile 25.9 I was seriously ready to collapse and started walking. Someone running behind me yelled at me, “SERIOUSLY?! THIS IS WHERE YOU CHOOSE TO WALK?!” I wanted to flip him off but he was right! I was so close I couldn’t stop there so I said to myself, “YOU DON’T STOP WHEN YOU’RE TIRED, YOU STOP WHEN YOU’RE DONE, DAMN IT!!!!!!” And I started running again and didn’t stop until I heard them say, “MICHAEL FRIEDMAN, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!”

Biggest highlights of the day:
1. Beating Ilona in the swim! I was thrilled to have a 10-minute head start because I thought she would beat me in every segment of the Ironman.
2. Staying ahead of Ilona for the first 95 miles of the bike ride! (Can you tell I'm competitive, haha)
3. Completing the swim in 1 hour and 38 minutes FASTER than I thought I would.
4. Getting to the 2nd loop of the bike ride by 11:30am and completing it by 3:10pm.
5. Meeting Jarie during the run! Ilona said she didn't care about her time and that we'd run together. She lied! Once we started the run she took off and left me to eat her dust! If it weren't for Jarie keeping me company, I probably would have walked the entire thing! But he pointed out that we could both still finish under 14 hours if we pushed ourselves so we just ran and did our best not to stop!
6. Meeting the woman during the run whose daughter had died the previous week due to complications from diabetes. It was her only daughter and it was a like 2 weeks before her 28th birthday. Talk about inspirational! She was determined not to walk a single step of the marathon in memory of her daughter! She has more strength than I ever will!