Most books written about the sport of triathlon are pretty serious-Triathlon 101, Triathlon Training for Women, or Triathlon Training on Four Hours a Week. When I began training to become a triathlete, I looked for books that related to my life situation but could find nothing like Triathlon Training for the Married, Sleep-Deprived Father of Three or How to Do an Ironman without Training at All. When I decided to write a book about the sport of triathlon and the Ironman experience, my goals were simple: 1. Provide myself with another excuse to skip some long training runs. 2. Address significant questions that a triathlete contemplates when sitting in a porta-potty before an Ironman race: Is it really necessary to put Vaseline on my nipples before the run? How can I tell if my kidneys have failed? What should I say to the people just coming out of T2 as I'm finishing the race? 3. Give something back to the sport, which has given me an appreciation for the delicate art of leg shaving, the joy of getting up at 5:00 a.m. on a regular basis, and that persistent feeling that no matter how much training I have done, I haven't done enough.