Ironman Oceansideline

Things aren't really real until they make it to the blog, so I might as well make it official: I'm dropping out of the Oceanside California Half Ironman next month. The reason is actually quite simple: it's a tough race and I don't want to do it. I did it last year; it's a cold, choppy swim, a hilly, windy bike, and the run - well the run is pretty flat but it's still 13 miles. I'm 40 years old, and if I don't want to do a race nobody is gonna make me. So there.

The bigger picture is that I am doing Ironman Wisconsin in September. When I was getting ready for Coeur d'Alene, I started getting excited about 18 months before the race. Wisconsin is 6 months away and I feel... nothing. I am completely neutral about it. I am not excited about it, I am not nervous about it, it's just another reason that I'm going to have to get on an airplane. And that's not good.

When I started training for Oceanside, it wasn't getting me psyched up for triathlons. I was resenting the workouts. I resented the fact that it was cold or wet or early and yet I "had" to do a workout to prepare for a race. I WILL have to get into that mindset for 4 months of Ironman training, but there's no way I was going to add another 2-3 months of that because of Oceanside.

I am still going to the event. I paid my entry fee. I will pick up my race bib and I will have complete access to the transition area and all the food at the finish line. And I can cheer Robert (his first Half Iron) and some other people from my team. So instead of it being a stressful race day, I can just have fun. (Well, I STILL stress out watching races, but it's a different kind of stress.)

I'm sacrificing Oceanside for Wisconsin. I think it's the right move.