Becoming Iron Tyler
Not for the fitness, the medal, or some misty-eyed journey of self-discovery. I came for a piece of ink the size of my palm-the red M-Dot logo-and I was prepared to wreck myself to earn the right to wear it.
The Tattoo is an irreverent, unfiltered, and deeply human look at the "miswired" compulsion that drives ordinary people to attempt the extraordinary. At forty-two years old, with "junk" in my knees and a nose that required surgical intervention just to breathe, I set out to settle a thirty-year argument with my own history.
This isn't a book about an elite athlete; it's a memoir about what happens when wanting becomes a compulsion. From training in the North Dallas gray to cycling through the relentless banana plantations of Colombia, this is the story of how a sedentary middle-aged man survived a training cycle plagued by three bouts of COVID-19 to stand on a lake shore in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Inside the 140.6-Mile Journey:
The "Humble Bike" Strategy: Learn why winning the bike leg is the fastest way to lose an Ironman, and how I used the "Baby Shark" chorus as a form of psychological warfare against fellow competitors.
Breathing in HD: The strange reality of structural rhinoplasty and how training feels when you finally get a "full dose" of oxygen for the first time in thirty years.
The Pineapple Covenant: A hard-earned lesson from a multi-day rally in Medell n about why you never, under any circumstances, eat fresh fruit before a 100-mile ride.
The Pretzel Alien: A visceral account of the Tulsa marathon, where a handful of pretzels at mile two turned into a ten-mile battle with a literal "gas alien" lodged in my sternum.
The Power of "Unyielding" The emotional payoff of a finish-line release and a tattoo designed by my thirteen-year-old daughter.
"I didn't do it because I wanted to. I did it because I had to."
If you've ever carried an old dream that won't let you sit still, or if you've ever wondered what it takes to negotiate a very expensive peace with your own body, this book is for you. Join me for 14 hours of voluntary physical argument, brown liquid lake swims, and the pursuit of a receipt that never washes off.
"The Ironman is, among other things, the world's most expensive argument with your own history."
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