Checking In...

(Pic from this weekend's swim workout)

Liz was looking back at our posts from this time last year and its amazing how different the years have started off. This is pretty much the result of struggling to mentally get our lives back together after Ironman, some poor race planning (Disney's timing wasn't so great and the weather sucked but its a race Joey's had us looking forward to for the past couple years).

I also think last year was different from a training point of view. Prepping for our first Ironman I had no idea what it would take to actually finish...each missed workout or bad meal felt like a weight dragging me further from the finish line. Even the 70.3's from the last 2 years have had some question marks. The heat/wind for Hawaii, the heat/timing/the Beast for St Croix- they all left me some doubt. Now that I've completed some of the hardest races at each distance, its become more difficult to find that fear (drive) that prevents me from slacking off.

For a while I found enjoyment in doing longer distance races but I think my limit has been found at Ironman and hopefully a 50 mile run. Distances I may do once every few years to prove to myself that I can still do them but more than that would be a chore. So now I'm trying to become a more complete athlete: get faster, lift weights, practice yoga, do more cross training activities and overall find more happiness from sport. Hopefully this will mean more local races (I hate nothing more than every hotel being booked on race weekend 9 months in advance) and a better balance in the types of races we do.

Having said all that, the last couple of weeks have been great in that I've actually looked forward to my workouts and can't wait for race season to start. 98 days til Mooseman...