FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE...

Here's my funky-different Ironman tattoo, just above my ankle! I didn't want the typical M-dot because it wasn't an M-dot race. So I had to doctor it to convey the message without being the actual trademark. A black-eyed Susan, Maryland's state flower, seemed appropriate. I got one off the Internet that wasn't too perfect, missing a few pieces and a little off-center, not quite what people would expect... like me. The artist said it will brighten up and be clearer as it heals.

I got it on my left leg, to be more visible those who pass me on the bike and run, and on their return from an out-and-back where I'm still on my out trip.

What I didn't realize till I saw the picture is... do I really have all those freckles on my legs??? I had no idea.

The artist himself was a trip. Really, really nice guy, clean-cut looking and sounding. He had the radio tuned to a Christian station, which was the last thing I expected to hear in a tattoo studio. He wore a t-shirt printed with one of those name tags you wear at a meeting, the stick-on kind that says, "Hello! I'm..." and in the name space was the word "Forgiven." We talked theology while he did my tattoo.

And yes, I was satisfied with all the pathogen-precautions, cleanliness and technique. I'm a nurse and it all met the standards I have learned and practiced myself.

I went through a few thoughts of, "Suppose I don't want this anymore later in life," but then realized, hey, this IS later in life... I'm already more than halfway through my life. Even if I don't stay in triathlon till I'm 80, I'll always have this emblem that says, "I DID IT!!!"