140.6—The epilogue

It’s now been three months since I became an Ironman. In that time, nothing has changed, and yet everything has changed. I’ve cleaned up Tack (took 2 hours and I think I still have work to do) and dealt with the laundry, and my shoes dried out after a couple of days. It took about a week of rest after the race before I got crazy twitchy and needed to do something athletic again—I got back on a treadmill for the first time and had the world’s longest and most sluggish 5K in history, but it got easier after that.

I’ve been back to Madison twice (both for work), and it’s been weird to see the town in a non-athletic light. The second time I was back, I ran parts of the course again—backwards, though, because it seemed somehow sacrilegious to run the actual course for any length. As I ran, I replayed the weekend and the race in my mind—running by special needs, seeing Jenny on the corner, finding my parents, Steph, and Theresa on the ped mall…all very real and yet all memories.

I still train—but way more relaxed and I basically do what I want to do. I ran a half marathon with Theresa at the end of October and had a blast—we ran together the whole time, so it wasn’t a race against the clock per se, but it was a lot of fun to do with her. My run base is still pretty solid, but my bike fitness has dropped off considerably—I’ll get it back, though, of that I’m certain. I finally made it back into the pool a couple of weeks ago—longest half hour of my life, but I did it at least. Amazingly, I still drag my butt out of bed way too early, usually to meet a group at the fitness center for a 6 am run (last Friday, we ran 8 miles in a -7 wind chill), but now I don’t care about time or heart rate—just running for the sheer joy of running. I'd also forgotten what it felt like to wake up and not have a major muscle group stiff, sore, or fatigued beyond belief--that's been a refreshing rediscovery, too.

Vardo and I met in Colorado for what is becoming an annual trip of hiking, shopping, visiting the Coors brewery, and, in general, doing anything but training. While we were hiking, we finally had a chance to share our race experiences, which was awesome, and we talked about what’s next for both of us (I think we’re still trying to figure that out). When we got back, I apparently tried to cram the catching-up portion of my personal life into a few weeks and darn near had a meltdown after being out of town for so many weekends in a row.

I did get the tattoo—a small red m-dot on the inside of my right ankle. Erin and I went to Jade Dragon in Chicago about two weeks after the race, with Sue and Michele tagging along for moral support and/or to laugh at us. I only got the m-dot, though—the flying pig remains at large, so we’ll see if that ever comes to fruition.

So, life is back to “normal” I guess…onto the next challenge, although I’m quite sure I’m OK with a slightly less time-intensive goal for the next one. I’ve signed up for the Indy Mini (half marathon) again, and will be headed out east to New Hampshire for Timberman (half Ironman) with Jenny next August—other than that, my race calendar is empty until I figure out exactly what next year will hold. I can’t wait, though—I love this sport and all it entails, and it’ll be a blast to train for fun again instead of a hugely ambitious goal.

For now, I’m content with the way things are going—having fun, enjoying some down time, and still flying high from my day of glory in September. I’m not sure when I’ll post again—God knows it took me forever to get this stuff posted—so until then, thanks for reading, thanks for supporting, and thanks for being part of this most amazing journey!! Rider off…for now, at least…