A lot has happened since I last wrote (in August!). Life and training and racing and fun and coaching and now the holidays. The great news is that it was a fabulous season. The bad news is that it simply got in the way of writing. And, that is really not a bad thing! I have been writing, but I actually blogged the old fashioned way: I wrote about my adventures in diary form in my calendar.
In keeping with that first link, I'll look back this month at some of my favorite memories of 2016. I wrote back then in response to the question: what keeps you motivated? why do you train day after day? Why do you race year after year? As you might have guessed, the answer is similar to back then:
TO FIND MY EDGE: I did two IRONMANs this year. And one of those was in the Alps of France. I hope I never forget that feeling of flying into Nice and seeing those mountains in the distance. I was truly scared that I would not be able to climb them - after a 2.4 mile swim and before a 26.2-mile run. I thought I would fail. I was afraid, discouraged, vulnerable. I was awestruck: a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear.
I also hope I never forget the feeling of getting on my bike days later and facing that grueling ride. I hope I never forget the feeling of riding up a 17% grade hill for half a mile with people screaming for me to succeed and running alongside me. I hope I never forget the feeling of climbing at 9mph on a 8% grade for 90 minutes in the sunshiney switchbacks of the Alps-Maritime. I hope I never forget blazing down the slopes in the rain and thunder. I hope I remember the feeling of finishing that ride on the Promenade des Anglais - the noise, the people lining the streets, the emotion. It was more than pride or relief. It was joy and more awe. This time, a reverential respect mixed with wonder.
I had seen the edge the lineof what I thought I could do - and I crossed it.
