I have had so many ask me if I am going to try and squeeze in another race and try to get to Kona...and the answer is no. I have been fortunate enough to qualify the last 3 years and we spent glorious weeks in Kona each October and loved every minute of it except for the last 10 miles of the race when I swore I would NEVER come back. We stay with great friends and enjoy the Superbowl of triathlon. How can you not WANT to go....
At the beginning of 2012, before I broke my leg, bailed out of 2 races and had a sub-par IM in July I was 50/50 on going to Kona....why? Lets start with the practical - it is a really expensive trip- minimum $5k for the 2 of us and with JD starting college in the fall we have a big bill forthcoming..... But honestly that is not the real reason.... I just don't have the burning desire and that is where the question lies...why? You have to have a burning desire to do any Ironman and especially Kona in the heat! To be philosophical.....I have never raced well in Kona and maybe I have allowed the fear get to me? Not sure, but the desire and will is not pressing as it has in years past. The last 3 years I have had a back up race planned in case I did not qualify at my A race and this year I did not and that was intentional. If all went well and I secured a slot we would decide yes or no. I weighed the options around mile 80 of the bike, knowing full well it was not in the cards to happenat IMLP. I could start the run and see if there was a miracle in my legs and if not I could have stopped and used LP as a training day and entered IM Louisville (yes it is still open) or could have grabbed a community fund slot to Canada. But I did not want to....
The other reason and I think this is the most compelling right now is family....Ironman training is a part time job. I have my brother and family coming from Hong Kong for a week and will be in Lake Arrowhead and then JD and Riley come home from their month in Shanghai. I want to enjoy the time with everyone and not stress about training. JD and I leave August 19 to drive to Colorado for college and I want to have some fun along the way. Can I train and have fun? sure but it is different. For the 2 weeks before JD leaves...I want to have the energy to stay up late, go water skiing, camping and hang out with my teenagers.
I also have another race booked...IM Cabo in March. So I have another IM on the books that is not too far away. So I am content, really I am, to take some time off and enjoy my family and friends. I am not hanging it up and I confess I have looked at some 70.3 races in Sept/Oct as I may get a tad restless...but that will be a last minute decision and not a focused A race-more of fun race with some friends.
At the beginning of 2012, before I broke my leg, bailed out of 2 races and had a sub-par IM in July I was 50/50 on going to Kona....why? Lets start with the practical - it is a really expensive trip- minimum $5k for the 2 of us and with JD starting college in the fall we have a big bill forthcoming..... But honestly that is not the real reason.... I just don't have the burning desire and that is where the question lies...why? You have to have a burning desire to do any Ironman and especially Kona in the heat! To be philosophical.....I have never raced well in Kona and maybe I have allowed the fear get to me? Not sure, but the desire and will is not pressing as it has in years past. The last 3 years I have had a back up race planned in case I did not qualify at my A race and this year I did not and that was intentional. If all went well and I secured a slot we would decide yes or no. I weighed the options around mile 80 of the bike, knowing full well it was not in the cards to happenat IMLP. I could start the run and see if there was a miracle in my legs and if not I could have stopped and used LP as a training day and entered IM Louisville (yes it is still open) or could have grabbed a community fund slot to Canada. But I did not want to....
The other reason and I think this is the most compelling right now is family....Ironman training is a part time job. I have my brother and family coming from Hong Kong for a week and will be in Lake Arrowhead and then JD and Riley come home from their month in Shanghai. I want to enjoy the time with everyone and not stress about training. JD and I leave August 19 to drive to Colorado for college and I want to have some fun along the way. Can I train and have fun? sure but it is different. For the 2 weeks before JD leaves...I want to have the energy to stay up late, go water skiing, camping and hang out with my teenagers.
I also have another race booked...IM Cabo in March. So I have another IM on the books that is not too far away. So I am content, really I am, to take some time off and enjoy my family and friends. I am not hanging it up and I confess I have looked at some 70.3 races in Sept/Oct as I may get a tad restless...but that will be a last minute decision and not a focused A race-more of fun race with some friends.
I"m with you, Julie! You have to have that fire to both get to Kona, and then race there. See you there in 2013/2014... whenever I can get my fire back and qualify! :)
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