Did I Quit Ironman, or Just Stop?
Did I Quit Ironman, or Did I Just Stop?
Sunday, I spent the day volunteering and coaching at Ironman Chattanooga watching 100s of athletes crossing the finish line, celebrating their accomplishments and remembering exactly what that feeling is like.
I Miss the Ironman Finish Line
And, to my surprise I miss it. I miss the finish line emotion running over the red carpet hearing YOU ARE AN IRONMAN, AGAIN.
When I trained for Ironman, the bike was my favorite part and now, one reason I don’t train for Ironman anymore is because I don’t want to bike that long
Why Did You Quit Ironman?
At the end of the day on my walk back to my car, I ran into a family whose participant had just finished. I shared how much joy I have cheering and how much energy I still receive from being at WTC events and shared my history and told them my last Ironman was in 2022 and they asked me a simple question. “Why did you quit doing Ironman?”
My reaction was I discovered trail running Ultras and dont like to spend that much time riding indoors. Then the next day, could not stop thinking about the word QUIT sounds like a negative word.
Chattanooga 140.6. was the first Iron distance I’ve been to since my finale in Kona 2022.
And, really, I don’t think of not participating in Ironman distance anymore as quitting since I finished the last one I started.
It got me thinking of what quitting means.
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>What Does Quitting Actually Mean?
In 1995, I started teaching math because I thought that’s what I was supposed to do. Two weeks later, I called my supervising teacher and told her I was not coming back. I QUIT. It was one of the hardest decisions I’d made at the time, and a good one because my passion was not into that responsibility of teaching MATH
In 1996, I quit my one and only triathlon, Age Group Nationals in Orange County, California. I went into the race with an injury and was in too much pain to run so I walked out of t2, I quit that race.
Is Stopping the Same as Quitting?
In 2011, I was pulled off the course at mile 75 of my first 100 mile Run Rabbit Run attempt, was that quitting? Stopping something while you’re in the middle of doing it.
Regarding Ironman, I haven’t stopped or quit doing triathlons and Ironman is a triathlon.
I’ve not missed a race in 34 years and I do enjoy swimming, biking and running off the bike, I just dont focus on the typical Ironman training.
While thinking about quitting, the thought of not doing Ironman after doing if for decades would be burnout?
Burnout is defined as being tired and deciding you don’t want to do something anymore. Training stress that lead to mental and physical fatigue and loss of motivation.
I don’t know if I’ll ever race another Ironman. I haven’t quit multisport training or racing.
It is okay to stop.
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Wendy Mader has been immersed in endurance sport since her Division I swimming days at Eastern Michigan University and has raced triathlon since 1992. She prefers the training over the spotlight of race day. With a master’s degree in Wellness Management, where her research examined eating disorders among triathletes, she brings both lived experience and academic insight to the conversation around performance and health. Hee decades of experience navigating setbacks, she coaches athletes to chase growth, she believes longevity, not metrics, is the real measure of success. As founder of t2coaching, she guides ambitious athletes to execute, think long-term, and stay in the sport for life.
