Ok, I've been away for quite some time - eventually I'll even let people know that I'm 'back' here - but for now just a quick update to tell myself that it's time to blog on.
This blog pretty much stopped dead in it's tracks once the contest and my last Ironman was done back on November 1, 2008. The time since then, while nothing remarkable, has been very fun, and despite race results and stats to the contrary, I've made much forward progress ...
No, I won't be showing up in Kona anytime soon, or likely ever, but the progess I've made isn't something that I can measure in pounds or pace or miles or minutes - it's more in attitude and approach and laughs and my decreased level of angst and frustration. In other words, things have been kinda nice - a far more 'even keel' than what I experienced throughout the 'contest year' as it'll be forever known in my head.
I still run and love it more everyday, I still ride and realized this past year how much I missed just 'riding' - not training, not racing, but RIDING ... it's still the best ...as for swimming - well, ok, at least I still know how - and I CAN if I WANT to, and lets just leave it at that.
There were far less 'medals' this past year than in 2008, but in many ways they each meant more - they were of my own doing, and the events I did were carefully chosen and fully appreciated - they came to me absent of the anxiety, dread and fear of failure throughout my '08 race calendar. Though there was still plenty of sweat and hard work and struggle involved, everytime I crossed the finish line '09 there was the satisfaction in knowing I did something just because I could, because I wanted too - and you don't have to win or qualify or place or PR to be happy about that.
Don't get me wrong, I have no regrets for 2008 - that year definitely took me to places I thought I'd never be and in so many different ways. But now that I've been there? Well I can decide all on my own if I ever want to go back - and at the moment my best answer is 'we'll see.'
To be continued in 2010 ....
