It occurred to me yesterday that I've done my last race in the 35-39 category. It hit me like a brick wall. I mean, no big deal but when you do the math and then realize that you are now in the 40-44 category....aw f#@k. I'm not 40 yet!! This can't be true. Did I mention that I'm not 40 yet? This is like hitting the wall twice: first for racing and then for real. Great, this is going to happen again when I reach 45. This all comes at a good time actually. With a year off of racing, I'm taking this year to reflect and assess my approach to racing (as well as life). They "whys" are just as important, if not more important, that the "whats" so knowing why I'm racing is integral to the entire process. With an entire year to reflect on why I spend thousands each year to do this combined with the fact that I'm at mid life (theoretically), hopefully I can get all this angst out at one time and be able to move on without having to experience this all over again until maybe my children are grown and I'm facing empty nest. To keep me on the right track, I hired another coach. The last one worked very well because he took the guess work out of it for me. His mentorship and guidance we a bit limited, however. Basically unless I asked a specific question, I wouldn't get any answers. This isn't necessarily the way I would approach coaching. Sometimes the hardest thing about being a student of anything is knowing what questions to ask. In starting out triathlon, all the basic questions were asked (because most of them are obvious) but this leaves the layers upon layers of stuff that you would never realize/reach unless you were a) in the sport for years and b) has a mentor who has been in the sport for years. I'm with Scott Jones who is a Navy Reservist, P3 pilot who works for one of the commercial airlines. He hasn't been doing IM that long but I've met and trained with him personally last year during my winter training camp prior to IMAZ. A 10-hour kind of guy and philosopher to boot, he's just the ticket. http://www.imjcoaching.com/ His wife, Teresa, is still a master depsite being a Master and ran a 1:25 half marathon as early as a year ago. That's not too shabby. She's also a nutritionist so this all works well. I love it when a plan comes together. His motto is "Train with joy or not at all" and I think that's my answer for continuing this pursuit. As I sit and spin (so not like the old days of sit 'n spin for those that remember your childhood toys!) watching the tour, it's very cool how enjoyable this still is despite having been riding since I was 16 and racing since I was 19. Never a fan of racing, it's nice to know that I will probably have the ability to at least spin until the day I drop. In going over my goals for the coming years, I'm getting remotivated all over again. I've decided that before I quit, I'd like to accomplish the following:

1) a sub 5 hour half Ironman. Doable on the right course but it's going to be a lot of work on the swim and run. 2) a sub 1:10 IM swim. This is going to be a challenge. For my swimmer friends, this likely seems silly and "oh yeah, totally doable!" but taking 10 minutes off of a time of 80 minutes it greater than 10%. It's going to be a challenge, especially considering I'm not getting any younger. That only leaves stronger and fitter... 3) a sub-11:15 IM. Again on the right course, I think I can do this. I need to take off 20 from the run and 10 from the swim and I'm in there. The only problem is that I have to do another IM to find out. Ouch. A quick perusal of the Great Floridian indicates that I would....kick....major...ass in the 40-44 age group with an 11:15. In fact, with my mediocre 11:45, I would still kick ass. In fact, if I'm reading it right, an 11:15 would pretty much win that race. Granted I'm no Sandy Ferrier but then, few are. I've decided that instead of being a bad thing, this is actually pretty good. An 11:15 at Kona would put me in the top 25% of the 40-44 field. If I can hang in there long enough, maybe I can break some of Cherie Gruefeld's records. And before you remind me that all the women who were in the 35-39 that beat me before are now going to be beating me in the 40-44, I'll just say that persistence is under rated and one day they make break for good leaving me as the "best of what's left". You never know...it might be good to be "40".

For the record, the pictures included above are what may be my new rides when I get home from jail. Mmmmm....bike porn... What better thing to keep you going than a new bike. I may be old but at least I have money.