So what is next...

The big question from everyone this week has been "how are you feeling?". It seems so strange to me but I feel just about 100%. I fully expected to be walking like frankenstein for the better part of the week but it just never happened. My muscles were pretty tight on Sunday and I didn't look forward to shoving my toes into work shoes on Monday but other than that nothing. I mean NOTHING. I know... I can't believe it either.



I am told the quick recovery is a good indication that I must have done a decent job of following the training plan. Had someone not brought it up, I probably would not have put two and two together on that one but it does make sense. I follow training plans like nobody's business. I have a fear of not following the training plan so am extremely OCD where it is concerned. The only workouts I skimped on were the 2 or 3 in the final week before the race. You know, the ones that are usually run 20 minutes or swim 10 minutes just to keep loose. I skipped those. *gasp*

Wednesday, I went to the pool and then this morning I played tennis for about three hours but that has been the extent of my activity this week. My plan is to catch up on sleep this weekend and then get back to some sort of regular workout schedule on Monday. I had initially planned on doing the Savannah Rock n Roll Half Marathon tomorrow but ended up not being able to make the trip. It probably was for the best. I could definitely use some chillin' at home time.




The other question was "did you put the sticker on your car?". Can you believe I did not even think to buy a sticker? Never even crossed my mind. I guess I had too many things rolling through my head at the expo to think about it. I did get a sweet deal on a swimsuit and some BBQ sauce though... I'll have to hit up the next expo for a sticker so I can join the sticker club. :)



I went into B2B thinking this would in all likelihood be the “one and only” iron distance I would ever participate in. As I got closer to race day, I had a thought in the back of my head that if things went well I might be interested in trying out IM Florida but who knew what last Saturday would hold for me. It could have been a DNF, I could have crawled across the line at the last second vowing to never do this again or could have wound up in the medical tent afraid to give it another go. Amazingly enough, I had a great experience at B2B which made me want to do it again – and by again, I mean not just any iron distance but B2B. After last weekend, that race has a special place in my heart.



What is even funnier to me is that for weeks leading up to this race, CR kept making remarks about this being my only time to race this distance. Not in an “I don’t want you to do this again” sort of way but more because he worries about me crashing on the bike and getting hurt. Realistically the distance does seem more like something you cross off your bucket list and you are done with it. It would be interesting to see what percentage of people do this distance more than one time. Once I crossed that finish line, all the talk from CR changed to “next time” this and “next time” that. He said things like *we* need to figure out how to get you faster on the bike. Funny how things change. I think we both had a good time in our own way that day.

Right now, I am putting together my plan for 2012. I have my eye on a small local marathon in January and then another in March. After that, I will likely focus on triathlons beginning with a sprint in May continuing with Augusta 70.3 in September and ending with Beach 2 Battleship again in November. It would seem as if I just got bitten by the triathlon bug.

Side note - I do want to sign up for an IM branded race at some point just to have that experience but it is not in the cards this year, possibly 2013. The whole branded versus nonbranded race is a whole other post, wouldn't you agree? While the distance is the same 140.6 no matter what company puts on the race, there is definitely a marketing machine behind IM.