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In July 2022, my colleague Peter texted me, asking if I’d like to do the Lake Chaparral Sprint Triathlon happening three weeks later. Despite not having swum laps in years, I said yes immediately. After that race, we decided to double the distance every year without doubling our time. We completed the Olympic Distance last year, which inevitably meant we were moving on to the Half Ironman. With severe air quality warnings the week leading up to the race due to fires, primarily from the devastating fire in Jasper National Park, Peter and I had the opportunity to compete in the Half Ironman on Sunday. While completing the cycling portion, I reflected on our goal's ambition. With a bit of haziness still in the air from the smoke-filled prior week, I started to think about the speed and scale necessary to meet our climate targets. Both natural and engineered solutions require rapid scalability and must be robust enough to "finish the race." There are three key similarities I came up with between scaling up our triathlon distance and climate action: 1) Starting Somewhere: Just because we haven't done it before doesn't mean we shouldn't get started. The climate crisis is unprecedented, making us all newbies in solving it. Thankfully, some have been working on it for a long time. 2) Breaking Down Challenges: Big challenges can seem daunting and uncomfortable. It's necessary to break them into attainable steps. On hard days, it’s about getting through the day or focusing on taking one more step forward. 3) Fixed Goal Dates: Our goal/race dates are fixed, meaning the more we procrastinate, the worse we'll perform. Thank you, Peter, for encouraging me to start this sport. It’s been a pleasure racing with you! Stay tuned to see if we double our distance again next year with a full Ironman. Carbon Upcycling Technologies Oco The IRONMAN Group IRONMAN Foundation