So I was able to achieve an Ironman finish. That in itself is a huge accomplishment and I couldn’t be more proud of my myself. I took a few weeks off and decided to do something else I never thought was possible; run an ultra (50k). Somehow, even with a missed turn, was able to squeak out a finish. Not the best time, but to me it was more than time it was the idea of finishing another race that looked unbelievable impossible to finish.
So what have I decided to do next. I thought about what my goals/drams have been since I started running and what PR or race I wanted to tackle. I think back to the runners and athletes that I look up to in the community and they all have been to Boston. Can I do that also? Is this something that even can become a reality, or at least plausible?
Made the decision to not do another full IM until I qualify for Boston. In order to achieve a dream, you must put aside some others. As much as I’d love to line up for another Ironman, doing both of those is just not smart.
Next year I plan on racing the Toronto Marathon in May as a measuring stick to see how far away I am from 3:07…Intending to do a late fall Marathon like Philly to see how close I can get. If I am not that far maybe and hopefully qualify Spring of 2017 and run Boston in 2018. So you see, this is not a short term oh ill go out and run now and get in for next year kind of goal. This is a goal where I need to work my ass off in the next 1.5 years and then wait almost a full year to line up at the starting line of Boston. If I can qualify Spring of 2017, I’ll then think about doing a full IM in 2017.
I am not going away from being a triathlete though. I will still be doing (2) 70.3′ s next season; even shooting for a sub 5 hour finish at one in Montreal. But this year will be a run focus/get faster kind of year. I am hoping for a lot of speed work and strength/core work, along with a lot of biking and swimming to keep me healthy and from over training.