"I'll Have What She's Having"

     Admittedly I'm a few years too yong to be a true When Harry Met Sally fan.  However, as an 80's baby, a New Yorker, and a lover of Katz's Deli sang-wiches, I felt compelled to borrow today's title from the movie.  It is after all, one of the most famous movie quotes in history, and certainly a must know for Manhattanites who hang out and about near Houston St.  For the few (maybe two) readers who might not know what I'm talking about, enjoy! 

     Stepping away from Meg Ryan's award winning performance, I'd like to highlight an even more amazing and empassioned performance.  Smply stated, yesterday my friend Jessica Marino completed the US World Championship IRONMAN Triathlon (aka "Kona") in an astonishing 10:32:23!  To quickly put the thought of an IRONMAN into context... it's a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike, capped off by a 26.2 mile run (what some refer to as a Marathon, haha).  To put the Kona World Championships into more simple context... it's the mecca; the creme de la creme of triathlons; it's a race most triathletes could never dream of even qualify for let alone finishing... let alone dominating in 10:32:23.  After Jess swam 2.4 miles, and pedaled hard for 112 miles, she ran a marathon in 3:29:34.  If you do the math that means she averaged faster than 8 minutes per mile in her marathon.  Wow!

     Jess' race day endurance is beyond impressive, but my reason for telling her story, and posting her results is to share "what she's having" with all of you.  Jess was a competetive gymnast her whole life before moving on to play DI soccer in college.  She started working on Wall Street after graduating college, and found the sport of triathlon to be a new outlet for her energy and competitive spirit.  For Jess, it wasn't enough to just participate, and in a few short years she went from a girl who couldn't even really swim that well to the one who just raced among the most elite triathletes in the world.  Jess' focus, determination, strength and honor, and SOUL are unbelivably inspirational.  She managed a stressful job, a rigorous training schedule, a few serious and nagging injuries, and life... and she never made any excuses.  So, it doesn't matter if your goal is to do a triathlon, to lose 5 lbs, to run around the block, to be a better spouse/brother/sister/parent, or even just to have a more positive attitude... I hope that you can be motivated by her success story, and have enough faith in yourself to take a step towards a personal goal that you have.  If you want to "have what she's having" just take a sip of her positive and fearless attitude.  Don't wait! Believe in yourself, laugh at yourself, keep it simple, and start today.  As we know... FAITH trumps fear.