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I love this picture. It reminds me how far I've come.

On Sunday of this week, I will toe the line with 3,000 athletes and begin the Ironman triathlon.

An Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. All in one day, all back-to-back.

Once upon a time, when I looked more like this photo, I saw race numbers from 5Ks and sprint-distance triathlons on a co-worker's wall. I remember thinking, "Wow. I wish I could do that."

And I remember being a teenager living down the street from a local college. There was a quarter-mile track there, and once in a while I'd decide I ought to lose weight, so maybe I should go running. I couldn't make it around the track even once without walking.

I was terrified before my first 5K and my first sprint triathlon. Two years later, I had tears in my eyes as I walked down to the water to begin my first half-Ironman.

Even a week ago, while running with my girlfriends up a steep hill, I was overcome by an incredibly strong feeling. "I'm not a runner! What am I doing, trying to keep up with these gazelles?" (In reality, I happen to be one of the faster runners of our group.)

I already have butterflies in my stomach about this upcoming race. I've already felt tears in my eyes as I contemplate what I'm going to do.

Because - as much as I am doing this for fun - it is about more than just entertaining myself. It's about setting a huge, seemingly impossible goal, and figuring out how to attain it. It's about claiming the word "athlete" and really owning it. And it's about silencing the self-doubt and self-imposed limitations on what I can do.

On Sunday, I'm going to get out there and swim, bike, and run with a determination to set a great example for my family: that life is full of possibility. Things you never ever believed could or would happen sometimes do.

Everyone arrives at race week worrying that they didn't train enough. But I put in the time - focused time over the last 24 weeks, but also a gradual build up from when I looked like this photo - February 2004 - to today. 55 pounds lighter, with four marathons, three half-Ironman triathlons, and a whole bunch of sprint-distance triathlons and half-marathons under my belt.

As much as I could be, I'm ready for this.

The race is going to test both my physical and mental toughness. There will be exciting, joyful parts - and I'm sure there will be times when I turn inward and find out if I have the strength to push on when my body is tired and hot, maybe in pain, and nobody is around to cheer me on.

And I hope when it gets tough, I can look back at that girl in the picture and see how she's so full of promise and doesn't even know it. I want to prove to her how amazing she is and how much she can do that she never even imagined.

And then, at the finish line, when I hear the announcer say my name and tell me, "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!" I will truly believe it.