Excitement For Things To Come

I know after my race report I wrote yesterday for the Psycho Psummer Trail Run many of you are thinking I'm a little discouraged by how the race went.  I've always said on here that if I'm not honest this blog needs to be shut down, so I laid it out there.  I was pretty unhappy with that race and I included those feelings in the report.  But I want to express how I've been feeling about things in general lately and make sure you all see that the race did not deter my attitude.  The last few months have been challenging, but amazing!  Some things have been great, some horrible; new worlds have opened and new goals created.  To think my attitude has turned negative after this race or to think that I am discouraged by one race couldn't be further from the truth!

My much more colorful calendar (click for larger view)

First of all, I've opened up my world to many new things and new activities.  I've considered myself a runner for over 2 1/2 years and my Garmin Connect calendar has reflected that.  For those of you that do not use Garmin Connect, the calendar color codes workout types (running = blue, swimming = yellow, cycling = red, other = grey, and so on).  Until recently, my calendar has been almost entirely blue; just running.  At the beginning of April I bit the bullet and decided to sign up for a triathlon, and got a membership to a local pool so I could start swimming.  I was swimming once a week, more if I could, and cycling some as well along with my running.  Color started to show up on my calendar!  I have come to really LOVE swimming; almost as much as I love running.  I'm learning to love cycling.  It started with toleration cycling, to liking it, now I'm starting to get to where I look forward to a ride.  I've now also started taking hikes, kayaking, and have opened up to the idea that there is more activity in life than just running.

On July 8th I completed my first triathlon!!  The Shawnee Mission Triathlon was AWESOME!  It was a short course (500 meter swim, 9 mile bike, 2.4 mile run), but the sense of accomplishment was through the roof!  It felt almost as good as completing my first marathon did.  Coming across that finish line opened my eyes to how awesome multi-sport events can be.  I had run a duathlon but didn't really enjoy it much, but this was a whole new world opening up right before my eyes.  I started planning ('cause that's what I do) for bigger things.  I'm now planning to run the Kansas 70.3 (half Ironman) next June and want to do a full Ironman in 2014.  Lots of work to do both on swimming and cycling, but I'll enjoy the journey and enjoy watching myself improve.  I'm now starting to swim & cycle more often than I was so I can have a good base built.  I will have bout 15 weeks from RR100 to the Kansas 70.3 and I want to be ready for the training.

The aid station I captained at Rock On! Lake Perry

I've also started to do some hiking on the trails and kayaking on the lake at Shawnee Mission Park.  It's a great workout for sure, but it's so much fun to get out on the lake in the sun and just enjoy time outside.  I've also been volunteering at more events this year and loving every minute of it!  I've probably volunteered at close to 10 events so far this year.  It's so much fun to see people accomplishing their goals and to be a part of helping them get there.  As a runner/triathlete myself, I know how important the volunteers are to the success of my own races so I love playing that role for someone else.

I expected a big & exciting year at the start, but as the year has gone on it's become even better than I imagined!!  I've had fun expanding my horizons.  This summer has been the hottest since 1980 (or so I've heard) and 1980 was the hottest since the Dust Bowl.  That means this is the hottest Kansas summer since the Dust Bowl.  That's made training for 50 and 100 milers tough and I've had lots of long runs that were way slower than I'd have liked or are cut short due to the heat, but in a summer like this it's important to be safe and take care of your health.  That has had a bit of a negative impact on my confidence and training, but deep down I know I'm getting stronger through this and this will turn around and be awesome.  The race on Saturday was definitely effected by the heat and humidity and that was a tough pill to swallow.  That has NOT; however, deterred my determination to continue to grow, train, work hard, have fun and experience new things.  I just want all of you that read my report to know that I'm feeling great and confident and having lots of fun!