Since Ironman I’ve been loving having my life back! I’m doing things with my spare time because I want to do them, and not because I have to for my training. In the days after the big race I had a lot of people ask me about Ironman Wisconsin and whether I will do another one. I’m definitely not saying that I won’t ever do another Ironman, but just not anytime soon. People tell me how amazing it is that I completed that 140.6 mile trek, and in my head I reflect back on the day thinking it really wasn’t that big of a deal physically for me. The most difficult part about Ironman is the commitment to complete all of the necessary training. It’s time consuming, and physically and mentally challenging to put yourself through 9+ months of training. Not to mention the potential physical injuries that you have to deal with.
I was asked if I did it all over again what would I do differently, and I responded with, “I won’t get married, change jobs and move all within one summer while training for Ironman.” While I am proud of myself for accomplishing such a crazy goal while dealing with my crazy life, I could definitely see how training would have gone a lot smoother if I didn’t have all of that extra stress happening alongside it.
The last few weeks before Ironman I was very burnt out from training, and I knew that post-race I was going to need to take a break to get myself back to a mentally-ready state for next year. So what have I been up to?
Well, the day after Ironman I knew that I needed to keep myself busy so I decided to start horse back riding again. For those of you who didn’t know me before I got into triathlons I was very much obsessed with horse showing. Ask anyone I went to high school with and what they remember most about me. They would say that I loved horses. It felt really good to get back in the saddle and do something that is physically active but completely different from triathlons. We even traveled to a horse show in my favorite town of Winona mid-October to see if I’ve still got it in the show ring. For my first show back, I chalked it up to a huge success and I had a great time showing (Thank you to the in-laws for letting me borrow Pokey). Here are some photos from my return to the show ring.
Ironman cowgirl
Can’t visit Winona without a Bloedow’s maple long john donut!
I’ve also started a new winter project, making a t-shirt quilt using all of my triathlon and race t-shirts that I’ve acquired over the past five years. I’m so excited about making this quilt. It will take me a few months to complete, but stay tuned for a how-to blog post on making a t-shirt quilt. It’s different than some that you may have seen on Pinterest or other blogs, and easier if you ask me.
With the cold winter weather already here in Minnesota, I finally started exercising again at Mayo’s Healthy Living Center. I took a cycling class earlier this week which felt really great. They have great cycling equipment that measures watts, RPM, speed, distance etc. It will be good to get back into some sort of routine, hopefully I’ll be able to get some friends to join me at the gym to make it more fun. I’ve been slowly starting to think about next year and decide on some goals and events I’d like to complete. It will definitely be a lighter year and focus on just completing a couple sprint-distance events and possibly trying out an aquabike event (swim and bike only). I need to focus on spending more time with the new husband, I think he was feeling a little neglected this past summer. We also just moved into our new home in Rochester, we LOVE it. There will be plenty of outside home projects that we will want to complete this spring and summer. Much to look forward to in 2015!
