Life beyond Ironman
Thank you so much for all of your responses and support!
It's been almost 2 weeks since the race, and it definitely has been a roller coaster. This time has given me a chance to look back on the experience and start to look forward.
What's next...
Definitely NOT another Ironman in 2009. I have been given the "get back on the horse" or "if at first you don't succeed analogy" over and over. I know people mean well and are supporting me but when I have to say "no, I didn't sign up for next year." I feel like a quitter. It just adds to my feeling that I don't have what it takes to be an Ironman. I am normally a pretty confident and determined person but this experience has shaken me to the core. I have talked about whether or not I set the bar too high this time, even though everyone else believes in me, I didn't believe in myself. I never wrapped my head around how I was going to cover all that distance in under 17 hours. To address this, I plan on continuing to build my base - run a marathon or two and continue to do some riding. If I ever decide to attempt an Ironman again, I would like to have completed each distance individually so I KNOW without a doubt that I can do it.
Right now my plan is to sign up for Great White North half iron and return for round 4. Training for a half iron can be done around my social and family life. I will be going in to next year looking to have fun and enjoy, not set goals and work tirelessly to achieve them. Achieving goals was amazing and gave me so much confidence but I have now seen the other side of how they can psychologically affect you when you sacrifice and don't make that goal. Which is a learning and growth experience for me. I feel I can achieve personal satisfaction by turning some of my focus to introducing people to triathlon. I am looking at designing and offering a beginner tri clinic to share what this sport has brought in to my life. Helping others achieve their goals will bring a new kind of satisfaction to my life. I would also like to combine my passion for sport with my experience in designing training and public speaking.
And one more challenge....I am still planning on taking up trail riding and possibly doing some races - maybe even an off-road triathlon next year. I love trail riding and am really looking forward to doing more of it!
It's been almost 2 weeks since the race, and it definitely has been a roller coaster. This time has given me a chance to look back on the experience and start to look forward.
What's next...
Definitely NOT another Ironman in 2009. I have been given the "get back on the horse" or "if at first you don't succeed analogy" over and over. I know people mean well and are supporting me but when I have to say "no, I didn't sign up for next year." I feel like a quitter. It just adds to my feeling that I don't have what it takes to be an Ironman. I am normally a pretty confident and determined person but this experience has shaken me to the core. I have talked about whether or not I set the bar too high this time, even though everyone else believes in me, I didn't believe in myself. I never wrapped my head around how I was going to cover all that distance in under 17 hours. To address this, I plan on continuing to build my base - run a marathon or two and continue to do some riding. If I ever decide to attempt an Ironman again, I would like to have completed each distance individually so I KNOW without a doubt that I can do it.
Right now my plan is to sign up for Great White North half iron and return for round 4. Training for a half iron can be done around my social and family life. I will be going in to next year looking to have fun and enjoy, not set goals and work tirelessly to achieve them. Achieving goals was amazing and gave me so much confidence but I have now seen the other side of how they can psychologically affect you when you sacrifice and don't make that goal. Which is a learning and growth experience for me. I feel I can achieve personal satisfaction by turning some of my focus to introducing people to triathlon. I am looking at designing and offering a beginner tri clinic to share what this sport has brought in to my life. Helping others achieve their goals will bring a new kind of satisfaction to my life. I would also like to combine my passion for sport with my experience in designing training and public speaking.
And one more challenge....I am still planning on taking up trail riding and possibly doing some races - maybe even an off-road triathlon next year. I love trail riding and am really looking forward to doing more of it!
posted by Kerry @ 2:50 PM
3 Comments:
At 9:04 AM,
Sonia said…
Hi Kerry!
I'm glad to read that things are finally coming together and that you're making peace with your DNF. I haven't replied earlier here or on RM about IMC because I wasn’t sure what to say to not hurt you more. As you mentioned in this post, some of the comments people left were meant to be positive but were hard to see it like that, and I understand that.
I'm sure you're going to make a great coach!! =) Good luck in your next endeavours and we'll be there to support you and encourage you =)
Love the new bike!!
At 2:00 PM,
Shazam said…
Good for you -- maybe in a year or 2 revisit the dream or you might even find that coaching is so fulfilling that your dreams change. I agree run a marathon or 2 first - it is so rewarding and much different from a 1/2 it is not just double the distance - you have to buy into it mentally - believe you can do it - I know you can. I remember when I ran my first - I did not even register for the race until I had run 37km - my brain just would not accept that I could do it until I had done that distance. After that run I registered because I knew then that I could do it. Please let me know how the coaching goes - it really is super rewarding and motivating. Thanks for sharing so much of yourself and your journey.
Shaun
At 7:12 AM,
Warren Footz said…
great kerry, you sound like you've wrapped your head around this all a bit, and are still getting there. but yeah have fun, and take some to just do that. no pressure, no plans, and just live. read (or re-read) lori-ann muenzer's book (it should be a manual), you've got to get back to making time for everything that you may have had to shelve while training (and training, and training)..and don't make any decisions on what comes next, until your head says, yeah!...coaching's cool, i think you'd be amazing at it (and hey, i could use a good coach, a life coach maybe?)...but keep putting things in perspective. just keep things day to day...for now
w
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