A week after

One week ago at this time I was about an hour into the bike of my first 70.3, on my way to having a great day. Right now, I'm sitting on my butt, drinking coffee, eating a nice big homemade breakfast.

I haven't had much to say this week because I haven't done much except sleep, eat and relax. I've run twice: one very easy, humid run with my dog, and one longer, mini-speed run with a couple mile pickups in there. I've slept in every day. I've taken both dogs out on long walks. I worked in the garden. I spent time with family. I've watched a LOT of Boardwalk Empire. (Gotta re-watch before the season premier next weekend! So excited.)

When people ask me about my 70.3, they usually have two questions: "Would you do it again?" and "Would you ever do a full distance?" My answer for both is pretty much the same: "If I can dedicate a lot of training time to the bike."

I am clearly lacking on my bike work, and I knew that going in. I was able to hold my own for the entire 56 miles, but I definitely have room for improvement. Unfortunately, my schedule is such that I can't really take my bike on the roads during the week, so right now I'm limited to one weekend ride outdoors. Unless something changes, or I can invest in a real indoor trainer, I see myself making slow gains there.

As far as the swim goes, that's probably just a matter of swimming more and longer. Swimming an average of three times per week, I never got my times down to what they were last year when I committed to four times per week. But I'm OK with that: What was more important to me is that I swam smoothly and calmly and felt fresh for the bike. If I can make a few speed gains, fine, but I don't think I'll re-haul my schedule just to get a few minutes faster overall.

And as for the run, I'm taking an "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. Sure, I can always run more, and do more speedwork, and slack off a bit less. Who couldn't? But considering how good I felt on the run, how many people I passed, and how high I ranked for that discipline, I'm happy with where I'm at.

Michigan Titanium was a fun, great, challenging race. I'd do the half distance again, for sure. I don't know if I could mentally handle the two-loops-to-make-a-full-distance arrangement -- to get so close to the shore/transition/finish line and then have to turn around and do it again would be tough.

But I'm not thinking about a full right now. Right now I'm concentrating on recovering and maybe, just maybe, a comeback next year. We'll see.