When I returned home from the Vineman 70.3 I had a very difficult decision to make: go to Canada to try qualifying for the Hawaii Ironman or bypassing it and waiting until next year to race in Kona once again. The little voice that I kept hearing over and over in my head throughout the season telling me not to race an Ironman crept in during the race in California (no, I am not hearing things, it is a metaphor). When I returned home and had my post-race rehash with Coach Phil I told him I did not want to go to Canada, he asked “When did you have a change of heart?” I replied, “I did not have a change heart, I had a change of mind. My heart still wants to compete in Kona this year, but my mind has told me I need some time away and stick with the 70.3 distance.” And, so it is. I will not be racing in Kona this year. It was not an easy decision to come by and I know I will feel pangs of sadness when everyone heads over to the Big Island in October. Luckily, I will keep busy training and racing. I have the Muskoka 70.3 in September and the 70.3 World Championships in November. Who knows, I still may even fit in an Ironman late this year.

I avidly watched the Olympics this year, more so than any other Olympics I can remember, including even the Olympics I participated in. One question that came up time and again was whether it was difficult for me to watch the triathlon, given that I had tried to qualify but came up short. To be honest, as the triathlon neared I was not sure how it would feel to watch it at home instead of participating. For one thing, I rarely watch triathlon when it is televised; I have yet to watch a single Hawaii Ironman on TV. In 2004, I was travelling to Ironman Canada during the Olympic triathlon so I did not have a choice about whether or not to watch. But this year, in 2008, I sat transfixed in front of the TV every night watching the Games reveling in the amazing performances of athletes from all over the world. Would the night of the triathlon be any different? It turns out, no. We hooked the laptop up to the TV so we could watch the live feed and we invited some friends over to root on the American team from afar. Since there was no commentary, I was able to provide some light banter about the race. Amazingly enough, watching it presented no difficulty. I realized that I was perfectly content with the path my racing had taken since the Trials and regret is a waste of time anyway!

Race hard, Have fun.

Sponsors