"When I was 38, it was a very good year"

It was a very good year. I'm ready to be done with racing and training; for a while.

Low Down:
one ironman
one half ironman
two 5k running races
three open water swims

I decided that I'm not going to sign up for Ironman Arizona. I want to do other things like backpack, nordic ski, swim for recreation, hike, write, read, and learn about wilderness.
Ironman is a huge commitment. I did it in 2009 and will do it again; just not in 2010.

Indecision

Every day I flip flop back and forth about Ironman Arizona 2010. Most days I know I will sign up for in next month. Then there are some days when I think: June 21, 2009 was such a good day; I want to keep that good memory. Or I think, I could spend $1000 a different and better way. Or I think I could do something else: a backpacking trip, visit my family, pay some bills and work.
Ironman is such a huge commitment for 6 months. Can I do it again? Do I want to? I even think if I’m questioning signing up, will I question it for 6 months?

The fact of the matter is that I love training. I love having a goal and completing it. I think I can do shorter distance triathlons in 2010 and concentrate on other interests in the spring and summer like hiking; exploring the wilderness areas around my house, pretend I’m Aldo Leopold and journal about all the natural world around me. I want to do all of this and write about it.

I’ll make a decision come November 23, 2009, sign up day.
In the meanwhile, training continues for Rim Rock, 4 weeks away.
Good luck to all the runners on Sunday in Denver. I hope you have great weather and lot of fun.

Training in Grand Lake

Today I ran an hour through Grand Lake following the trail from the Buffalo BBQ 5K this summer. Then ran another hour in the park (RMNP).

I did the Green Mountain Trail to Big Meadow; it was hard. But I'm glad it was hard because I just learned the first 6 miles of Rim Rock are all uphill.

Will try a longer loop next week.

From Endurance Nation

As the dust settles and your season comes to a close, remember this:

Don’t let HOW you did take away from WHAT you accomplished.

My season's not quite over, however, once it is, I'll post what it all meant and what's in store for me next year.

Running in Rocky Mountain National Park

This week I got to run with a new friend, Caroline, in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and not too cold. Caroline is training for the Denver Marathon and is hoping to finish 3:20 and qualify for the Boston Marathon. I can't wait to see how she does.
She really pushed me for 12 miles. Her pace is faster and she never walks. It's was a good training run.
Next week we are running the loop at the Onahu Trailhead on the west side of the the park.

In the meanwhile, I'm running almost everyday. My plan was to swim on the off days until I found out the YMCA is closed until Thanksgiving. That sucks.

Today's Theme Song

As I'm running this late morning in the golden aspens and listening to Alanis Morissette on my mp3 player, I think of the theme song from Cheers. This just may be my theme song today:

Training Log

Ran 5 miles today and 3 yesterday. It feels great to be running again after a week break. I feel less lean (read: fat jiggling when I run).

7 Weeks until the marathon.