Do it now, find time and dying at a faster pace

“Whatever you're meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.”
― Doris Lessing, Author and Nobel Prize winner 

Hi all,
IRONMAN recently released a report with new survey data offering insight into global athlete trends within the IRONMAN triathlon community. Surveying 10,000 individuals across 97 countries, the findings reveal a familiar barrier for many women: time. Specifically, women cited the demands of family life and the challenge of finding childcare as key reasons behind the barrier of "finding time" to participate in triathlon or endurance sports.
Currently, women represent just 18% of IRONMAN triathletes worldwide. In ultrarunning, while women have made up just over 30% of race participants (across all distances) since 2021, that percentage has remained stagnant for more than a decade, according to Ultrarunning Magazine.

The report also includes data from USA Triathlon showing that while men's participation in the sport has rebounded to 91% of pre-COVID levels, women’s participation has only reached 71%.
Now, I would love to wait until society fully values women’s work—until household responsibilities are shared equally, and women’s sports receive the recognition and support they deserve. But we can’t afford to wait. Until those systemic changes come, we only have ourselves.
So, I ask:
Are you valuing your own participation in sport enough to set boundaries, ask for help, and make space for your goals? Can you separate what is yours to carry and what you have been carrying for so long you forget others can do it too? (simple to say, so hard to do, but we can do hard things, right?)
And if you’re not the one trying to “find time”—are you helping your wife, daughter, sister, or mother carry the load? 
The conditions are always impossible. Do it now.
BARRIER FREE, I MEAN AS BARRIER FREE AS I CAN 
I know going to the gym is a barrier for many, so join me live to your screen for Strength Training for Runners. Class is always free knocking down the barrier of cost, commute and fear of gyms. See you on Wednesday nights. During the height of the pandemic multiple sets of moms joined in with their kids. Feel free to bring kids mature enough to do a decent lunge! If I see a kid onscreen, I promise to help modify the workout as needed and keep the language clean.  

A LABORATORY FOR VIRTUE
This podcast with guest Sabrina Little, discusses running as a laboratory for virtue and other deep thoughts including, “fitness is feeling like you are dying at a much faster pace than you used to feel like you were dying at.”
― Sabrina Little, The Examined Run: Why Good People Make Better Runners

Happy trails,
Dana