'Tis the Season: Ironman Coeur d'Alene

[Wahine]

Ironman is a huge commitment, so sometimes it's really hard to convince myself that I NEED to commit to anything after doing that for so long

You don't need to commit to anything else and in fact the rule of thumb is to not keep any kind of a schedule after a big event like that for at least 1 month, 2 is best. Just go out and play when you want to. It should all be fun and no stress. Your brain/spirit truly need to rest. If you don't give yourself that mental recovery time you are flirting with burnout. Trust me.

[Tri Girl]

If you don't give yourself that mental recovery time you are flirting with burnout. Trust me.

Agreed!! I've suffered from major burnout after my last two IM. I don't want to even race for a year or so afterward- just want to paint and read and walk and ride my bike for fun.
I call my post IM seasons my "artsy periods"

[colby]

You don't need to commit to anything else and in fact the rule of thumb is to not keep any kind of a schedule after a big event like that for at least 1 month, 2 is best. Just go out and play when you want to. It should all be fun and no stress. Your brain/spirit truly need to rest. If you don't give yourself that mental recovery time you are flirting with burnout. Trust me.

Agreed!! I've suffered from major burnout after my last two IM. I don't want to even race for a year or so afterward- just want to paint and read and walk and ride my bike for fun.
I call my post IM seasons my "artsy periods"

Thank you ladies for the reminder, I am sure my brain appreciates it. I'm avoiding digging up any training plans or anything other than looking forward to a few sprint races (and volunteering in Canada). I am racing a 70.3 at the END of October, which gives me enough breathing room that I don't need to stress about training.

It feels a little aimless and strange, but I think you're right, and I need it.

[kacie tri-ing]

Colby! I am so very proud of your finish! I wish I could have seen you at the end!

Follow your heart on the sign up for the next one. If it feels like something you HAVE to do, don't. If you know you love this part of your life, and you are not ready to give it a rest, keep going!

Check out George's race report: http://mostpleasantexhaustion.blogsp...ce-report.html

He qualified for Kona, and he is STILL talking about that swim. He was telling me that he tried to stay positive, but man, it was tough. He certainly appreciated any positivity you sent his way!

I can't wait to hear how your decompression period goes. Maybe you will decide something else is fun! Maybe half iron, maybe just running, maybe cooking and painting, maybe writing, maybe riding a lot!

Keep us informed as you move ahead! We are all on your side!

[colby]

Colby! I am so very proud of your finish! I wish I could have seen you at the end!

Follow your heart on the sign up for the next one. If it feels like something you HAVE to do, don't. If you know you love this part of your life, and you are not ready to give it a rest, keep going!

Check out George's race report: http://mostpleasantexhaustion.blogsp...ce-report.html

He qualified for Kona, and he is STILL talking about that swim. He was telling me that he tried to stay positive, but man, it was tough. He certainly appreciated any positivity you sent his way!

I can't wait to hear how your decompression period goes. Maybe you will decide something else is fun! Maybe half iron, maybe just running, maybe cooking and painting, maybe writing, maybe riding a lot!

Keep us informed as you move ahead! We are all on your side!

Thanks, Kacie! If I were in my right mind, I'd have suggested breakfast (one of them) or something the day after Ironman so we could actually connect.

George's race report is great. He totally came to run, and he owned that run. What a machine! He was SO ready.

I signed up for CdA next year, I really do love the day, the experience, and it's close to home. I can still change my mind - it's just money, my sanity is worth more, and I really may find something else I want to focus on or love in the next 9-12 months (and volunteering in Canada might teach me that I don't in fact have to race to love it). At this point, I'd like to learn to love running like I love to ride my bike, and lose some body fat. Lofty goals, but I'm not in the mood for much more

[colby]

I'm digging a little into my own thread, but since we left this off at figuring out what the next thing is, I thought I'd add to my post-Ironman recovery.

I have pretty much done spotty "workouts" (once or twice a week running and once or twice a week non-commute riding) and daily commutes (12 miles/day) for the last month. I did a 40-50 mile bike ride a few weeks ago on a whim, occasional longer runs (no more than 6-8 miles). After about 5 weeks, I started to feel full again when consuming normal human amounts of food, which is when I knew my body was finally relatively recovered.

Anyway, I raced a sprint this weekend (with my MIL ) and had a pretty good time. I know I need to brush up on my swimming and running because I am not gaining any ground there (identical times to previous years). I managed 34/1544 overall on the bike split and finished 27/135 AG - 117/1544 OA (holding on to my top 10% finish from last year). If I actually did spend more time swimming and running, I could crack top 15-20 AG but not sure about top 10. I guess I can get a few minutes back on the swim and a few minutes back on the run, but neither of those add up to the 10-15 minutes that I'd need without significant effort (possibly past the "fun" zone).

All of that boring stuff aside, after I finished the race I backtracked to find my mother-in-law and walk to the finish with her (plantar fasciitis acting up meant a hobble/walk). I figured she'd be somewhere between mile 1 and 2, so I chose to go backward rather than repeat the run - turns out she was basically at exactly halfway when I would have caught her so it didn't matter. When I got to a section where I wouldn't be running upstream, I started running with people still racing, and I had an O M G moment where running felt good and I WANTED to do it. I was ENJOYING running. It FELT good (and this was after running 5k at a reasonably hard-but-sustainable pace). This seems really trivial, but this is the first time I have felt that way since Ironman.

At the end of the race, I really felt like I WANTED to do it again, like I had recaptured what I enjoyed. The swim felt low stress, the bike felt fast, the run felt doable. What a difference 6 weeks makes!

I am going to begin a short training cycle for Ironman 70.3 Austin (last weekend of October) to rebuild some of my endurance fitness and finish the triathlon year. After that, I think I actually do want to spend some time with running through about February, when I'll pick back up for next year on all 3 disciplines. I still bike commute 12 miles daily, so it's not like I'll be giving much up (sorry, swimming, you are my first love but we understand each other so well, and unfortunately I cannot swim to work).

I love you again, swimming, biking, and running. I missed you, but I am so glad we took a break from being all business all the time to have some fun and get some rest.