The triathlon blues (+ a video)

It's been just over a month since the triathlon.  It's the 17th of July today, and the race was on the 16th of June.

Right afterwards, I was on a big time "high".  It was all I talked about for a couple of days, and it was all I thought about for a few solid weeks.   The experience was beautiful, and I won't ever forget it.  The day before the race I was horribly nervous.  I was grumpy and irritable and fidgety.  But that was all out of my system when I woke up the next morning, and when I got to the lake and began to prepare, I was not nearly as scared as I expected to be.  Instead I was calm, steady, ready, open.  The time had come. 

From the Start to the Finish, the whole thing felt like a celebration.  I will never forget how the sun felt warm on my cheek every time I turned my head for a breath:  it felt like God was close by and smiling.  I will never forget the fun-loving banter between the cyclists as we inched our way up the hills and rocketed our way down: it felt like community.  I will never forget the feeling of hearing the announcer's voice in the distance as I ran through the last bit of forest:  it felt like pride and joy and gratitude. 

Like I said, it was a beautiful thing.

BUT the high is gone now, and I'd say I'm experiencing something like the triathlon "blues".  What I miss is not so much the race itself, but all the stuff that came before.  I miss the regular training schedule.  I miss the friends I swam/rode/ran with each week.  I miss aiming toward a goal.  I miss the focus.  I miss the discipline.  The race was great, but it was nothing compared to the lifestyle that it inspired me to live for a while.

So, I'm wondering: now what?  What have a learned?  What will this experience mean for me? 

Honestly, I don't know.  And I'm not just saying that to get out of writing a longer post, because long posts don't scare me.  I truly don't know.  Will I become someone who's always signing up for races, always training for the next big event?  No.  Will I become someone who's more consistent about maintaining her health and strength and fitness?  Maybe.  Have I learned something about working hard, aiming high, and staying focused?  Hopefully. 

In my last post, I promised pictures.  Well, I won't be putting any up... but don't worry!  I have something better to share!  Dave put together a video, and it turned out great.  Here's the link:  http://vimeo.com/68776918.