Now what?

Well, I've had plenty of time to reflect on Ironman Coeur d'Alene. Ultimately there were a few things, in my opinion, that ended up with me having a slower than anticipated performance. I have started to address this items. Some of this will take me into next year. For example, I wasn't mentally prepared as well as I could have been for trying to take that race to the next level. There is a huge difference between going 10:45 and 9:45. I will argue that I was in shape to go 9:45, arguably faster, but wasn't mentally prepared. Part of this is due to a lack of racing going into the event. It had been 10 months since I had raced. That was too long. I had forgotten what the pain felt like! Despite that, I would have been OK, until I hit that back pain. That is the second item I'm addressing. I'm back to the fitter next week and am stretching and doing exercises to strengthen my lower back in hopes that it will all help. I'm also going to take up yoga.

So, what to do for the rest of the year. Well, I was going to close out with a half Iron somewhere. I was thinking September, but my coach suggested Lake Stevens and it makes perfect sense! I'm in great form after CDA and am now fully recovered. Lake Stevens is a challenging course that I think suits me well. The harder the bike the better. Well, I say that until my back totally locks up and I can't run! Well, hopefully we will have it fixed by then! After Lake Stevens, well there are some possibilities as to what would be next based on that race. I plan on racing into September and then entering into some serious rest before base work to begin in late October, early November. The plan is to do a marathon early spring and then move into the season well prepared this time. So for now the focus is on Lake Stevens next month! But to shake the cobwebs off, I'm racing in a local sprint tri in the am! I can't wait. As coach and I were saying the other day, I'm racing angry now :) Check in soon,

-T