Moving Forward

Ahh sleep has been phenomenal! Which is good to get me through all of the little things that need to be taken care of before I leave Friday :p
Today's non stop at school, no training though so that helps. In a little while I'm off to see Ron for some chiro work. Then after I get out of school at 5 (yes 9-5! ugh), hopefully I can make it to the bike shop for a tune up and buy gels, blocks, etc.
Because my training was so compact for Cancun, meaning I had to pack in A LOT in 4wks, and then last week was a dramatic cut in volume, I've had soo much free time and extra energy. Aaanndd what better way to put that to use than to plan what I'll be doing after graduation?! Yea, so here's where I hope to be in 2009: San Diego!
I miss it terribly and I want to take the "risk" of heading out there with a few bucks in my pocket and trying to make it in triathlon.
I have no other commitments and I'm young. Also, I've put my coaching hat on for at least next season and that gives me extra motivation.
I've decided (I know, I haven't even finished my big race of 2008 and I'm already looking at 09 but whatever) to race Oceanside 70.3 and hopefully snag a spot for Kona '09!!
Throughout this year I've made statements here and there that my focus was to train for the Olympics and thus concentrate on short course. But in all honesty, the short course drafting style racing never clicked with me. London, the Olympics, races all over the globe, representing my country, blah blah...it all sounded great at first but it truly never gave sparked the same passion in me as Ironman. Plus there are other factors that impacted my decision: the drastic swim improvements that needed to start happening very soon, the $ issue of traveling to so many races throughout the yr, and the fact that I've never really lived in Mexico and never want to leaves me little chance at any connection with the national team there.
Ironman got me into triathlon- Hawaii remains the greatest thing in my mind and I couldn't get rid of that as much as I tried. There's just sooo much I want to accomplish on those Lava Fields, whether I have the "talent" for it or not, that remains to be seen, but I have to go for it.
I loved every aspect of race day last October, and though am very pleased with my result, there still remains a lingering "what if" in the back of my mind as to what could have been possible had I not gone through that terrible 1.5wk bout of food poisoning right before the race.
So there it is..the fluctuations of an undecisive "young adult" about to hit the real world. I'll either be working as an Au Pair in the San Diego area, or snagging some sort of "marketing related" part time job that will qualify under OPT (optional practical training) allowing me to stay in the US an extra 14mths after Dec. 2008.
I don't know how I'll make enough money to eat enough haha or buy any type of triathlon equipment but the uncertainty draws me in.
Corporate America and my SMU degree can be stored in a drawer for later use, but my youth cannot.
"The future belongs to those who believe in the power of their dreams"- Eleanor Roosevelt