WTF is your avatar?

[Buatha]

Believe it or not....IIIII'm still using the same ava-taarrrrr.

[Kraken]

I'm due for a change. Just waiting for inspiration to strike.

[dbt1949]

I think I've had the same one since GoneGold.

[Rip]

I'm due for a change. Just waiting for inspiration to strike.

Quit waiting a pick something, slacker!

[Moliere]

The spirit moved me.

"2 Kings 2:24"
Every time I stay in a hotel I open the bible to this passage and underline it, folding the page down. That way when someone opens the bible it forces them to read this craziness.

[Rip]

The spirit moved me.

"2 Kings 2:24"
Every time I stay in a hotel I open the bible to this passage and underline it, folding the page down. That way when someone opens the bible it forces them to read this craziness.

42 of them, not 41 but FORTY TWO!

[Sectoid]

Mine is an illustration of me by my friend and comic book artist Mark Mariano.

[Zork]

My first (and probably only) tattoo.

[GreenGoo]

My first (and probably only) tattoo.

Ah, the ironman symbol! I looked into getting a similar one.

I'm not familiar with your history. Do you do a lot of them? What's the significance for you?

Btw it's hard to make out detail but it looks very cool.

I also considered 70's style Olympic stickmen similar but more angular and less stylised than yours.

[nasai]

Wo-Hen Nankan, the Asian Prince.

Early meme.

[Jeff V]

I've changed mine to a list of times Trump has been truthful to the American public.

[Zork]

My first (and probably only) tattoo.

Ah, the ironman symbol! I looked into getting a similar one.

I'm not familiar with your history. Do you do a lot of them? What's the significance for you?

Btw it's hard to make out detail but it looks very cool.

I also considered 70's style Olympic stickmen similar but more angular and less stylised than yours.

Congrats fellow Ironman!

I'm 6'4" and over the past 10 years have weighed between 295 and 225 (currently at 235). Played offensive line in college back in the early 90's when I was 290+.

I did my first half marathon in Jan 2011 after deciding I needed to get into shape. I was around 250lbs at the time and finished in 2:15. I felt so wrecked after it that when we got home I plopped down on our couch and told my wife "I'm never doing that again!". I was useless for the remainder of the day.

I'm not sure how, but shortly after that a friend convinced me to try a sprint triathlon in April. I started training about two months prior to the race and was surprised how different swimming was from running. I thought I was in decent shape, but swimming is a different beast. It helped that we had a large group of people who were all training for their first triathlon as well. We did several open water swims before the race and that helped a lot. I finished the triathlon around the 1:40 mark and was surprised how good I felt after the race. No aches, no pains, no shin splints. I actually did a few hours of yard work later that day. After that I was hooked.

Over the course of the next few years I did around 15 triathlons. I worked my way up from sprint to olympic to half ironman and finally decided to tackle the full ironman in November 2014. It helps that I live in Phoenix as there are plenty of races held around Tempe Town Lake. I finished the Ironman in 16:45:27, less than 15 minutes before the deadline. I had originally planned to get a tattoo if I finished, but took almost one year of back and forth debating if I wanted to be "that guy" with an Ironman tattoo. I decided it was a big enough accomplishment to warrant a tattoo and started sketching out different ideas. One day while searching for more tattoo ideas I found the design that I now wear on my right calf (with a few changes). I added some cactus since the race was in Tempe and I added stars to the run since I finished at night.

Here's a larger version of the tattoo:


Since then I've only done a handful of sprints. I don't ever see myself doing another full Ironman. I have afib and don't feel like tempting fate again. I had an afib attack during my Half Ironman in 2013 and it scared the crap out of me. 210+ heart rate while I was walking. Thankfully I was close enough to the end to finish the race, but I did not feel good. During my Ironman race I went with a low heart rate approach. I kept my HR around 140 for the entire race. My pace suffered, but I finished without an episode.

-Zork

[stessier]

Wow, Zork - that's an amazing accomplishment. Well done!

[Zork]

Wow, Zork - that's an amazing accomplishment. Well done!

Thanks!