New Challenges

It seems like every single day someone asks me what I am training for this season:

"Are you doing Hy-Vee?" (no)
"Are you training for Dam to Dam?" (yes, kind of...)
"What triathlons are you doing this year?" (maybe one or two)
"Are you going to do another Ironman this year?" (not a chance)
"When is your next big race?" (big race??)

And, while I am thankful for the awesome support and encouragement I get from my family, friends, and training partners, it is admittedly hard to answer a lot of these questions. After spending the past five years training for triathlons/Ironmans and running races (with marginal amounts of success), I found myself at a bit of a crossroad. I always knew I loved training for the longer distance stuff (halfs and Ironmans), but it wasn't until last year that I fully realized why.

Swimming has always been a challenge for me, and I made great strides last year - I even looked forward to some of swim workouts! And I've enjoyed running for as long as I can remember. My run fitness improved - I threw down all PRs in my races last year - and I was learning to embrace the pain that comes with speed. Pushing myself beyond what I really thought was possible for me in swimming and running was very satisfying for me.

However, it was the cycling that really put a smile on my face. Cycling fitness doesn't come through running or swimming. One must place her butt on the saddle and turn the pedals to improve. And as the miles and hours tick away, the smile on my face grows and grows! Still as a triathlete, I was not finding the satisfaction in racing that I found last fall in my brief introduction to mountain bike racing. I have found myself in love with a new challenge.