To Be or Not to Be

At the beginning of the 2011 season, I made a promise to myself that I would seriously consider what I wanted to do in the sport of triathlon by the end of the year.  With that in mind, I figured I would either have a great year, decide to quit work, and do triathlon full time; or, I would potentially not have a great year and decide that I should still continue working and competing at the same time.  Even with this decision looming, I didn't feel like I had any added pressure on myself because I was really alright with either of the outcomes.  I just wanted to train hard, race hard, and figure it out as the year went on.

If you have been following my results/blog/facebook/twitter this past season you would probably think that I came to the conclusion to continue working my current job.  I did not have what I would call a stand out year; but I did have some good results mixed it.  I had to overcome some adverse situations such as penalties, flat tires, travel problems, nutritional problems; many things that are to be expected in this sport.  Unfortunately, some of these problems occurred in races where I was having a great race, but didn't get the result that I thought I could have achieved.  With that being said, my training in 2011 was significantly better than it had been in previous seasons, and I knew that I was getting faster.  I did have a few races that I thought reflected my fitness and the one that I was most pleased with was finishing 5th at Vineman 70.3.  After having a mixed year, I had a very difficult decision to make as to what I wanted to do with work and triathlon.  After discussing the options with my family, coach, co-workers, and friends; I decided that I had a unique opportunity to try my hand at being a full time professional athlete.

I have received a lot of support from the most important people in my life regarding this decision and I am very excited to embark on this journey.  I would be lying if I didn't say that I had any apprehension or that I am nervous about my new profession.  However, I am extremely excited about my new future and I cannot thank my friends and family enough for their support.

You can follow my journey here on this blog and I will be making some exciting announcements for my 2012 season soon!