Now and later (this year, next year)
Been taking a break from the online side of life to go out and experience as much of the real stuff as possible before the realities of winter hit. As such, when I get done mountain biking, trail running, regular running, swimming, etc. I'm kinda pooped and don't feel much like talking about it.
As I have been roaming around the local woods, I've thought a lot about next year and what I want to do. I think if I have one more good season of training, I will be able to attempt the longest distance I hope to accomplish in triathlon, the Half Ironman distance. This is a 1.2 mile swim, 65 mile ride and a 13.1 mile run. I really think that I will never be able to go farther than this. My body just breaks down. Especially on the run. I think if I could get this distance it would really be something special for me. I have already swam this distance and run the distance as well (more on that in a sec), it's just the bike that I haven't covered yet. That... and putting them all together on the same day...!
The other thing I really want to try is an Xterra triathlon. These are (usually about) a .62 mile swim, a 14-16 mile mountain bike ride and a 3-5 mile run. Again, I can do all of these now, it's just putting them all together that the training will take care of.
The problem with each of these is the same, though... I need a bike. My cyclocross bike did OK as a stand in for road triathlons, but it would never stand up to or becomfortable enough for a Half Iron distance. My old mountain bike (though it could still kick yer ass) is about $1,000 worth of upgrades and fixes away from use. For not much more you can get a decent full suspension bike (mine is a hardtail). So my choices are $1,500-1,800 for a mountain bike (no road triathlons next year) or $3,000 for a good road bike (no mountain bike). I can't afford both. Heck, I can't even afford one! My choices are down to rob bank or sell kidney... Not sure what to do. I may just be doing a lot of training and not much racing.
Back to the road running. I looked at my training log on Friday and saw that with a 12 mile run, I could get over 30 miles for the week. Since this would be the longest weekly total for the year, I decided to go for it. I ended up running 13 miles (longest run of the year) in 1:49.10 which is my fastest recorded half marathon distance by over 5 minutes.
Ya know... Thirteen miles is still a long damn way. I felt great on the run, never tired and relaxed the whole way. But shortly after, I started to feel those old twinges in my hips, pelvis and legs again. Even now, after 3 days and a decent 6 mile run this morning, I am still uncomfortable and feel those twinges and pains from time to time. I just wonder if I will ever be able to go longer distances again.
