Better

It's become fairly obvious to me that people are angry with my decision to not do nationals.  I'm also beginning to understand, however, that it doesn't matter what other people think about this; they don't know how much it hurts, and they don't know what really went into my decision.  They don't have to like me, and they don't have to believe me.  That's perfectly fine with me because I know that I made the right decision.

I wanted to do triathlon nationals.  I wanted it to be my last hurrah in the triathlon world before embarking on the life of a roadie.  In February, my training was on track, and I felt like I was setting myself up for a great race.  But then I got busy bike racing, and then I got injured.  I'm doing well with cycling this year.  I'm currently ranked #1 in the conference.  I planned to do some last minute, super intense training during these two weeks prior to nats to jump start my system and get back on track for a good race.  The problem is that I cannot do this.  I cannot run or swim.  It may improve in the next week or so, but by then, what's the point?  Why should I waste my efforts on something that I'm not prepared for and will put me in excruciating pain when I can focus on something that I am prepared for?  I had to make a decision quickly so that I could focus my efforts on one thing, not both.

It's true.  I was torn over doing nationals instead of regionals, but I was going to do it anyway for the team and for the experience.  When this injury prevented me from training properly for nationals, it no longer became worth it.  In the mean time, our cycling team is on the brink of qualifying for nationals.  This is something we haven't done in probably 10 years, and it probably won't happen for another few years.  Instead of wasting myself to finish a triathlon that I won't do very well in, I'm going to help my team go to cycling nationals.

Otherwise, training is going well.  Yesterday I lead a "moderate paced" ride which consisted of Kyle and Pete Schilling going really fast for the whole Whitmore Lake loop...I felt good, though, despite not doing any work. Ain't towin. Today I rode about 25 miles in the rain and did about 8x15 second flat sprints.  I shifted into a hard gear, slowed down, and just sprinted as hard as I could.  I'm getting more used to sprinting in the drops, which is good and that was my main objective for the workout.