Status Update: No post-race blues here!

My first "A" race of the year is over.  I'm super pleased with how everything went.  I conquered a big demon this past weekend and I find myself continuing to bask in the joyous glow that only the culmination of countless hours of hard work & dedication can bring.

A few blogs ago, right around IMSG time (or maybe it was something that I only posted on Facebook-- can't quite remember), I put the idea of possibly doing an iron distance in 2011 on the table.  At that time I said that I was going to reserve my decision until FL 70.3 was finished.  Since I left Augusta 70.3 pretty much saying that I never wanted to do a HIM distance again, I figured that I should probably see if I also felt that way after FL before jumping in the iron sea with the big fishies.

I crossed the finish line on Sunday with the largest, cheesiest, Cheshire-cat grin ever (as my race pictures displayed today).  Not once during that race did I ever say to myself, "I don't want to do this again."  Not even when I was at a standstill trying to shove ice into every inch of spandex that I was wearing.   Not even while I watched people puking on the grassy trail or while the ambulance removed the walking dead from the course.  Not even when I had to stop and walk one last time a mere 1/4 mile from the finish line.  It never crossed my mind that I might not finish the race.  I would have walked 13.1 miles to get to that finish line on Sunday.  When all was said and done, and while ridiculously dehydrated and sore, all Scott & I could talk about was how excited we were in regards to November's Beach2Battleship.

Alas, successfully completing two half-iron events has elevated my interest in the iron distance to a level that I can no longer ignore.  A dear friend of ours, and someone whom I consider to be a mentor in both sport and in life, once warned Scott & I that taking on the iron distance is a very selfish endeavor and that we need to be prepared for that.  I can clearly see the value in this warning and have not only the utmost respect for the distance, but also the utmost respect for the amount of training that it takes to get there.

That being said, at this point, the lure of "iron" is nearly too strong to resist.  Scott & I went through a bit of regrouping late last year/early this year.  We spoke about backing things off after Florida, having more of a 'life', etc...

Then, about a month ago during the peek of our heaviest training volume, we got to talking:

THIS is what we enjoy.  THIS is how we like to spend our free time.  If we weren't out there training, what else would we be doing?  Watching countless hours of television? Gobbling down buckets of popcorn at the movies twice a week like we used to? Nah.  We genuinely enjoy training with each other, we enjoy being with other like-minded people who love endurance sports as much as we do, we love taking off for a weekend together whether it's for a race or for race-prep.  It's just what we enjoy doing.  Sure, I'm also a computer/book nerd who likes to cook and Scott enjoys fishing & tooling around in the garage, but for us, triathlon is more than a hobby... it's a lifestyle.

So, back off training?  Not a chance.  We've decided to move forward and challenge ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually every step of the way.  We plan to put forth strong, healthy training efforts without the pressure to 'compete' against anyone but ourselves, to dedicate ourselves to the lifestyle that we have chosen and to enjoy every single breathtaking and precious minute of it.  After all, life is too short not to just be who we were meant to be.  We have the loving support of each other and our amazing family... and in having that, we feel like we could fly to the moon!

Six months from now is B2B- a wonderful half iron event that I wish was taking place tomorrow.  I absolutely can't wait and I think Scott is even more excited than I am (if that's possible).  That will be half-iron number 3.  Next year was slated to be an Oly distance year, but we aren't so sure about that now.  A June or November iron distance may very well be on the roster instead.

This week marks the beginning of six weeks worth of fun, unstructured activity.  Other than some very easy swimming, we aren't doing jack squat.  Our legs appreciate the rest, even if our brains do not at the moment.  Next week we'll add a bit of run/bike back to the mix and I'm hell-bent on throwing some tennis in there too (hello, Roland Garros)!   June 28th marks "20-weeks until B2B" and I'm sure we'll be anxious to return to a more focused routine by that time.

There's a lot of 'housekeeping' going on in my life right now and there will be some here as well as I shift the focus of this blog from 'results' oriented to 'process' oriented.  Who would have thought, right?  Bob, I used to shake my head when you would write that you 'raced to train'.  I get it now, my friend.  I really, truly get it.