When I finished training and competing in the full Ironman back in 2018, I vowed to myself that I would NEVER do another longer distant triathlon. Ok, let’s be honest- I had never planned on doing another triathlon in general. I hated swimming laps, my knees and lower back are wrecked from running and the longest I have biked since then has been 40 grueling miles which was supposed to be 60 but I had to drop early. Even at that point (this ride was in fall 2023) I was very much in the mindset that my competing days were over and I had come to grips with that.

Fast forward to February 2024 where JD and I are doing dry February. Now I won’t get into why we did dry February, how it is going, and what drinking looks like for us after the fact though I will say that even though I do like booze, it is poison and the devil. I’ve had some clarity over the past few weeks and love it. This newfound lifestyle has left me wanting to do yet another physical challenge so I started pondering.

When I was training for my full Ironman, I was in a very fragile mental state and therefore did not enjoy swimming laps being in my head the whole time. It was a very negative state of being and not pleasant, to say the least. If you haven’t read my blog on my full Ironman journey, that race was more about the journey to get mentally healthy and not about the competition at all. Now I’m happy I went through and finished but water training was brutal for me during that time. I am in a much better mind space so currently, I have been enjoying the time to be alone with my thoughts. Never thought I would say that ever.

The other challenge I have to face is not from a mental standpoint but a physical one. I haven’t actually run in almost 2 years and the last time was a 5k. I have been going to the chiropractor for a few months now for alignment maintenance. I had them x-ray my hips a couple of weeks ago as I believe my left leg is shorter than my right and that is causing issues with my spin and muscle tightness. I find out next week (2/20) if I need a lift (which most likely I will) and what thickness that needs to be. I am holding off running until I fully understand what is going on with my lower back and body. Stay tuned for that!

Biking is the only event that I have kept up on. However with that said, I wasn’t able to get outside to bike much this past spring/summer since it was just easier to do it on my trainer which I’m grateful for but it isn’t the same. I actually haven’t been on my tri bike since October 18th, 2018. It has been a very expensive accessory in our homes. At least there are a bunch of organized rides throughout the summer that I can participate in for training thanks to Trailnet.

This is how I feel when I’m biking inside.

Though I have been gearing up the past couple of weeks on my workouts, next week marks the first official week of my “training”. No, I’m not going to get a coach. I’ve done this distance a handful of times so I know I can handle the distance without a coach. Hell, I didn’t have a coach for the full and I did just fine in that so why waste my money?!

Stay tuned on my journey through hell yet once again.