Aren't You Afraid?

Aren't You Afraid?

Early in 2011 I was talking with the lovely Francine's brother Randy at Happy Hour one Friday evening, when he told me about the Rev 3 Ironman-distance triathlon he had just signed up for.  They even still had openings.  I managed to hold out until Tuesday before signing up.  Then, as I keep telling people to do, I told everybody I was doing it.  

A couple weeks later on a Saturday morning run from John Ball Park, a friend came up beside me and said, "I'm really proud of you."  "OK, what did I do?"  It was about signing up for the triathlon.  

Then she asked me a question that surprised me:  "Aren't you afraid?"  

"Huh?"  

"What if you fail?  What if you can't do it?"

Wow.  I hadn't considered that.  I suppose there's that possibility, but what if I did?  

Truthfully, I've had things that didn't quite work out before.  I had already tried to break the world record for running the seven continents TWICE.  Still hadn't done it.  I was going to be a millionaire by the time I was 30.  And 40.  And 50. Maybe I'll make it by 60.  But what if I fail?

Some people have questions like that going on in their minds when signing up for a marathon. There's a possibility that you'll fail. But you probably won't.