Take The Good With The Bad

OK, I'm done whining about the cheaters in Florida. I'm still a bit bitter about the race - I actually don't even consider it a race. That was in no way, shape, or form an accurate depiction of who was fastest. Some have said to me "you still had a solid time." I don't even consider it valid. My time on that course had I raced from point A (swim start) to point B (run end) would have more than likely been different. Doing the math in my head beforehand, I felt ready to do a 28 swim, 2:08-2:10 bike, and 1:19-1:21 run.

Anyway, back to the point of this post. I still had a positive experience believe it or not. My focus this year was more on my trip to France. Then, I decided to try Timberman and felt really good about that experience. After qualifying for the 70.3 World Championships there, I gave some thought to racing in Florida. I decided to for the following main reasons:

1. I wanted another late season goal to train towards. Something that would provide motivation to stay fit and in race shape, and so that I would train hard and consistent until November. For me, without that goal, I tend to feel lost in no mans land. I always keep myself in somewhat decent shape, but there is a difference when I'm training towards a key goal. In 2000, my key goal was IMLP and I didn't plan much else for the rest of that year since Lisa was pregnant and due in October. I felt lost and lazy not having a late season big race.
2. Since 1998, I try to drag my father with me to one destination race each year. It's been a great opportunity for me to reconnect with my father as an adult. We always have a fun time and learn a bit more about each other.
3. I wanted to test myself against the best in my age group.

All these things were accomplished, plus the weather was beautiful in Florida, I ate at some really good restaurants, I got to hang out with some good guys like Ed and Mark, I turned Big Rocks onto Jamba Juice, I was able to test out the My Athlete units further. It's all good! Well, almost all good.

For the rest of 2007, I plan on staying somewhat active at a much lower key level, with mostly running and strength training and maybe even jumping in a few 5K's.

On another note, I don't know if anyone reads my dribble here. Seems to be a few. I never get any responses and Scooter informed me that it was a pain in the ass to register to leave comments, so I looked into my settings and what do you know, I was able to switch it so that it's quite easy to leave comments and you can even remain anonymous! Maybe I'll get a few.

Cheers,

EH