Thursday, March 19, 2015

Back to My Roots




After years of being solely focused on triathlon, I’m back to running! This was a decision born from life circumstances but it’s a very welcome return. For years, I’ve had my focus on Ironman triathlon but the pull to the running scene has grown stronger and stronger over the past 3 years. I’ve missed the trails, running with Team C.R.U.D, Sunrise Striders and some of the other amazing groups in our Colorado Springs running community.  Well, I’m no longer being pulled. I’m back and I can officially say “I’m a runner”! I’m more excited about endurance sport than I’ve been in 7-8 years. A big thing that has been burning in my mind is the opportunity to go back and “get things right” in races where I tried and failed because I really didn’t know how to train and prepare. I will do this over the next two years. Triathlon training taught me a lot about how I should train to maximize my specific strengths and weaknesses. When I was focused on running in the early 2000’s, I was just running based on others training plans. I got faster so thought all was good. Being able to look in the rear view mirror, I see all the opportunities I missed in training. That will change.
Team C.R.U.D. at San Juan Solstice 2003. My worst race ever. I intend to fix that.
 I will update this page as accountability for myself. I’m going to write once or twice a week with what I am doing out there to prepare for my races and how this is impacting my life as a whole. This year will see me take on new challenges such as my first 100 miler in September. I will also revisit old challenges like the Pikes Peak Ascent in August (with a big PR as the goal!).  I am fully away from triathlon for a few years, if not forever. I am excited about this new adventure as is my family. My friends are surprised more than anything but support my shift from triathlon as they can see the passion I have for the trails. I look forward to meeting a whole new group of people that I’ve missed out on over the past 10 years of triathlon training. I’d write more but the trail is calling….got to get out and run!!