I’m Matt Kritzer, from Tuckahoe, NY and I'm fundraising to support Israeli victims of terror by participating in my first Ironman in a few weeks. Here’s why:
Why do an Ironman?
The seeds for my Ironman quest started last year. Exercise in general had helped me come out of a difficult period where I felt listless and off-kilter. I started trail running with a good friend, who remarked “It will change your life!” (he always says everything with an exclamation point) and well, it actually did. We set a simple goal for me: run a half marathon trail race. That actually went quite well and the question was “What’s next?”.
Those of you who know me know that outside of being able to throw some sticks down a ski hill, I’m not much of an athlete. My one athletic “skill” I guess you could say is that I’m like a camel. I can just go and go and go, but not too fast!
Prior to this, I had never swam a lap in my life and the last time I rode a bike, it was a mountain bike in Israel as a teen. But outside of running a marathon, which I kind of ran during the Super Storm Sandy year of the New York Marathon (the marathon was canceled, but I ran the full distance in training, which you’re not supposed to do. Oops!), I didn’t know what else to tackle. Fast forward a few weeks and there I was walking out of a bike shop in a daze, the owner of a new triathlon bike (shout out to the good people at Pacific Cycling & Triathlon). Ok then, I guess. It was on!
My training began in earnest in March. Every week has been a build in terms of duration and volume, but you actually start off doing a modest amount of work. Like working towards any big goal, the process of realizing it is to put one foot in front of the other and not look too far ahead. It’s been amazing to me to see how my body has absorbed and adapted to the increased load and strain I’ve put it under. It’s affirmed for me that the human body is an incredible instrument, capable of becoming more and more refined, and this kind of bodily progress is available to anyone of healthy mind, body and spirit. We can all do big things. Anything is possible!
I ran the Half Ironman at Jones Beach in September in what can only be described as wild conditions from a tropical storm and set my sights on Ironman Florida, coming up in a few short weeks (Nov 4th). I’ve just come off my biggest week of training with almost 20 hrs of exercise put in across all three disciplines. Who knows what’ll happen on race day, but all the preparation has been done. Now it’s time for a bit of seasoning till race day on Nov 4th.
Why Israel?
Israel has always held a spot close to my heart. From becoming Bar Mitzvah there to spending a formative summer as a teen in the country, it’s a part of me. I’ve felt pangs of regret over the years from being too distant and the terror attacks of a few weeks ago have really exacerbated that feeling of distance.
With everything happening, the Ironman candidly feels much less important. I decided to donate to the families impacted by the terrorist attacks and thought that perhaps there’d be an opportunity for others to join me. Maybe nothing will come from this attempt but I feel like I need to try to do something, anything, to just play a small part in attempting to put the lives of those impacted back together.
I’ve seeded a gofundme with an initial donation. All proceeds will go directly to the United Jewish Appeal Israel Emergency Fund. The fund provides emergency cash assistance for victims of terror, critically needed trauma counseling, care for children in shelters and supplies for hospitals and first responders. If you feel like donating, I’d be honored if you joined me.
guidestar.org/profile/51-0172429
charitynavigator.org/ein/510172429