What's Next?

Once again conjuring up my inner "Josiah Bartlett". :) (Miss that show!)

In 2013 I planned to complete a spring marathon, a century ride and a half marathon. The last two in the same weekend. HA! Life sure has a way of humbling a person doesn't it? It's all good. I learned a lot about me and my body in these past two months; and I'm not done.

So the marathon didn't happen. The bike ride won't either. I toyed very briefly with the idea of doing a shorter distance but bagged that pretty quickly. I haven't put in any significant bike miles in over three months so I have no idea where I'm starting from. I notified the MS folks yesterday and will volunteer for the ride instead. :)

I've also decided that I won't be doing the Ocean City half either. I'll be in Ocean City on September 29th, I'm just not running. I love OC and the race. I'll cheer on my friends and a few hundred random strangers instead. A good time will be had by all!

I've decided instead to take full advantage of this opportunity I've been given to reboot.
Without any events to get ready for I can spend time building/re-building my fitness slowly and developing a strong base for whatever I decide to take on next year. Without any events to get ready for I can experiment with different mixes of time in the saddle, time on my feet, along with strength and flexibility training without worrying that I'm not doing the right things for a race because for now there isn't one. 

If I want to give trail running a try I can. I could before but I always worried I was cheating on my non trail race prep. I can swap a long run for a challenging hike if I want. I can test my strength and core and if I make a mistake and do too much I can swap in a different exercise while I recover from that. I'm excited to get some ride time in on my still new bike and really learn how to work with it and ride with a group without the worry that I'm not learning fast enough.

The challenge will be to keep working out even though there is no event goal. I think I can manage that. I'm certainly type A enough for it. It may even prove easier without the stress of a deadline. It will be a fun challenge to figure out how to adjust my new eating habits to work with the requirements of building fitness. I still have to pass my treadmill test (July 19th) but the doctor only held me back from running and biking he encouraged everything else.

Today is the first of the month. I love new beginnings. Mondays also happen to be my natural rest day ( along with Fridays ). But it isn't a complete rest day. I'm not old but my joints are. So everyday I have to move and smile (through my teeth on some days) at least 30 minutes of gentle stretching of at least my neck, shoulders and hips.

Looking forward to what's next and seeing some of you out on the trails. :)