2009 Season Planning (in case you were wondering)

While I was taking a long walk on Friday morning by myself before others arrived, I picked up a cycling newspaper labeled for the "midwest." I thought I lived in the Midwest :) You know--Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, that sort of thing--but they had a completely different idea. Anyway, I landed on this cycling event called RAINSTORM, and it called my name. I mean, come on, 5 century rides in 5 days followed by a 160-mile ride? What more could a cyclist want? So I'm beginning my hunt for a roommate to accompany me on this epic adventure. Anyone who's interested, let me know, as I want this to be a sure thing.

I'll kick off 2009 with Triple T racing solo again (I know of a woman aging up into my category and I will need to train hard so I can kick her ass), and then I'll do RAINSTORM, and end up with Ironman Wisconsin. Sounds like a ton of fun to me!

I'm a bit fatigued from Triple T, but hey, that's to be expected--I think I'll go swim in the outdoor pool this week--so what if it's only like 68--it will be WARM as compared to what we swam in this weekend!

I promise I'll write some sort of race report--right now, I'm just basking in the glow of having put out a good effort, PR'ing my 1/2 Ironman there and PR'ing the drive back home (6:20). I think it tells you something about Triple T that I was the oldest female competitor there, but (as I think the results will show) that I was faster than some solo participants and teams who were able to draft one another on the bike during races 3 and 4. I'm still a slow, old lady, but I'm happy to be able to do this. I will say there were times when it felt a bit lonely out there, and I really had to battle the demons in my head telling me to stop, but then I would start having so much fun riding the bike or pushing myself on the run that it didn't matter. I know all that training paid off in spades. I would hear other competitors remarking how this or that hurt. My everything hurt, too, you know, but so what the hell? You just keep going.

And that is life...you just keep going. I sported an Energizer Bunny fake tattoo on one of my arms, and that reminded me of the sentiment.

So if you are ever feeling bad or sorry for yourself, there are 2 things you need to do:

1. Harden The Fuck Up
2. Keep Going

Time for some sleep :)