I've decided for the time being that I miss blogging. Writing my race report reminded me how helpful it was and how much I enjoyed it. Reading my old entries really brought the whole Ironman experience into perspective.
It's been three days since the Ironman. I haven't experienced my usual post race let down. I'm surprisingly calm and happy. I find myself a little more easy going at home and at work. It's a nice feeling. Mostly I just miss the people, not the race. I had such a good time that regular life seems ordinary.
Most people are amazed at the distance. Each of the three seems to overwhelm them. Putting them together makes it a mystery. It's hard to explain to people why you like endurance racing. Sometimes I can't even properly explain it. It's all about the suffering and getting through it and trusting yourself not to give up.
I pretty much destroyed my left pinkie toe during the race. I'm trying not to mess with it, trying to let it come back from "omg that's blister is gross" territory on its own. My scratches and bruises are fading. I'm still wearing my participant bracelet. Because I want to, that's why.
I'm still not very hungry, it's hard to explain. Maybe I actually met my caloric needs with nutrition and fueling beforehand. But not being hungry is putting a damper on food amnesty week for sure.
I have a lot of nothing planned for this week. Catching up at work, catching up at home. Maybe going to the gym for the elliptical or swimming. Eating what I feel like when I feel like. It's a nice kind of freedom. I have a lot of sitting and reading to do about training and races and putting together something for next year early enough.
Instead of just guessing what I want to do, I know what I want to do. I want to look at taking the steps to do what I want to do in triathlon instead of just hoping to get there along the way. I'm enjoying the clarity.
I'd really like to get some swimming lessons, because that's where I differ from some of the better athletes. That's where my time goes. I really want to work on my 5k speed again. I'd like to be able to run 10K below 7:00 min/mile. It's possible, I've run that fast before. I just need to be diligent and work on it.
I want to run a spring marathon. To keep in shape over the winter. To qualify for Boston. I find that improving my 5K time and marathon training actually pair well for me.
But for now I'm thinking about getting out on these cool weekends and enjoying some time on my bike until the winter comes and I'm banished to the Pain Cave on the computrainer. And the only thing I'm racing to is dinner.
