Refocusing

Man... these past couple of months sure have been "interesting." LOTS of change!

I ended my season, or should I say, my season was ended for me, prematurely last year when my right knee started giving me problems. It took me a few months of no training/rehab to get back to the point where I could actually start training again, but just as I was beginning to do so, life stepped up to the plate and threw me a bit of a curve-ball; Michelle and I pulled the trigger and bought a house!

I guess that I didn't know what I was getting myself into, because the entire process, between our initial look at the place way back in January, to now, sure took A LOT out of us. Our house (see Michelle's blog for pics/story) is the quintessential fixer upper: GREAT price, great location (I'm looking at the water right now as I type), good size lot (>1/3 of an acre), good size (roughly 1900 sq. ft), TONS of potential but... In need of A TON of work.

The bottom line: Your priorities suddenly shift when you see water dripping through your roof and pouring down your walls during the first rain storm, an interior that desperately needs rehab in order to even get it to the point where you can safely move in, windows that need to be replaced immediately, etc. etc.

To make this process even more fun, our closing was delayed by about a month thanks to an old plot plan snafu that left us both pretty stressed out. Upon closing, we then proceeded to cram 4 or 5 months of work into 4 or 5 weeks and worked non-stop to get the place in semi-move in condition by the end of April.

Needless to say, serious training turned into a "do what you can/when you can" approach this Spring, and I'm suddenly faced with the reality that it's mid May and I'm a good 2 months away from being in top form.

My biggest obstacle right now though isn't time, it's focus. When you're away from something for a long period of (i.e. the 4 - 5 hour rides, long, hard pace sessions, etc.), and are still pressing hard on a daily basis to keep up with everything else in life (work, house related projects, etc.) it's tough to summon the mental focus needed to bang out the BIG sessions that bring your fitness up to where it needs to be on race day.

I won't lie: Short course prep certainly seems a lot more manageable right now; a 75 min. workout on the trainer or a 1 hour, intensive track workout is A LOT easier to manage at this point in my life.

But... a short course athlete I am not. Although I enjoy the short course prep, I can't say that I really enjoy the races (they hurt too much) and know that relatively speaking, I'm not very good at them. However, given everything else going on right now, short course racing will have to suffice until I'm able to bring my long course fitness back up to par.

As it stands, I'd say that RI 70.3 is in question, and 70.3/I.M. racing very well might have to wait until late Summer/Fall.

The month of May will prove to be a critical block. This past week was a pretty good one for me training wise, but one good week doesn't get you anywhere. I need 8 - 10 good weeks.

So, on that note, time for my Monday morning run. It's easier to stay focused when you take it one day at a time :)