Breathing Fire

I suppose it's THAT time this gets posted.  I wish I could take credit for writing this, it's pretty powerful.  I was given this last year before IM Arizona by a wonderful person and it sits in my office where I see it daily.  It means so much to me...

Why have we come to such a STRANGE place at such an early hour?  Gathered together in POWER, each of us full of FUEL and ready to IGNITE  We have been drawn out almost explicably by some great COSMIC force within us We have come, I believe, to experience something TRANSCENDENT and to celebrate our VITALITY But, there is something else Ultimately we have come here because we want them to KNOW We want you to know We want to know and discover for the first time (or be reminded of the fact) that we are REAL That we are CAPABLE of breathing FIRE That we are FEARSOME and legendary That we are FORMIDABLE And with each heaving BREATH And every desperate stroke And as one foot falls in front of another, time and time again Something inside of us is TRANSFORMED We come to the knowledge of a deeper truth A TRUTH that goes well beyond any finish line A truth that cannot be defined  by a chip or a clock We perceive the value of LIFE and LOVE and FRIENDSHIP And for a brief moment (if we are so BLESSED) in this place where we have laid bare our insides Time will cease to exist The edges will BLUR and we will SOAR IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2013