What's Next?

Now that tri season is over and I no longer have to wake up at the crack of dawn for racing and training, the main advantage is . . . now I can wake up at the crack of dawn for a day of hiking!

One thing I've regretted about being so into triathlon since moving to Colorado is that I haven't had as many opportunities to enjoy the natural beauty of my own backyard. As a first step in making more of an effort to get out in the great outdoors, yesterday I joined two friends and hiked 13,375 feet to the top of South Arapahoe Peak in the Indian Wilderness. I was worried about the elevation and that even though I'm in shape, I'm not really in "hiking shape," but I did just fine. Even though it was chilly and very cloudy, the scenery was beautiful and it was great to spend my Friday off in the mountains.

It is supposedly very normal to feel a sense of let down once you meet your major race goals for the season. Last year, I was not sad about the end of tri season, but I was completely burnt out. This year, I feel neither let down or burnt out. I'm not struggling with "what do I do now?" nor does the sight of my bike or the thought of running make me want to vomit. Since I purposely divide my year between "training for a goal" season and "exercising for the sake of exercising" season, I'm content to arrive at the latter. Since I'm a gym rat at heart, I'll happily go back to Zumba, hip hop, spinning, lifting, step, yoga, and Pilates. And, now that my weekends are free from long runs and long bike rides, I'm going to try to get more into hiking and outdoorsy stuff. Also, I'm planning to combine gym work-outs and the great outdoors by trying out Boot Camp at Red Rocks.

Even though this feels very "cart before horse," I'm already thinking about my triathlon goals for next year. Since they are bopping around my head, might as well write them down. I suppose the only post-season disappointment I feel is that I really loved the Half-Ironman distance, but I know I can't commit to training for them too often without burning out. I really want my summer back and I want next year's to be significantly more unscheduled. It would be so nice to be able to say "yes" to an invitation for camping without hesitating because I need to do a 60-mile bike ride or be able to zip down to Austin for the weekend without having to squeeze in a 10-mile run at Town Lake. Therefore, the current plan is to do two triathlons early in the season and then have the rest of the summer to do whatever I like. I'm thinking of doing the Cap Tex Tri (Olympic distance) in Austin on Memorial Day and TriathlON Friday in early June - a new sprint distance in Denver that is on Friday evening so you don't have to wake up at 4:15am!

I'm also thinking of a vague three year plan. I would focus more on biking next summer and maybe train for the MS-150 or some other multi-day rides or centuries. The following year, I would focus on doing 3-4 half-marathons and some 10Ks and see if I can improve my running. The next year, I would put all three sports together again and go for another Half-Ironman or other challenging race. One race I'd really like to do in the next few years is Escape From Alcatraz. It looks like so much fun and is theoretically a good one for me because the most challenging leg is the swim.

And now back to enjoying the rest of my first post-season weekend! A mani/pedi is in order!