Believe that you can, decide that you will

So it's now May 5th, and it's been two weeks since Easter.  I'd like to say that I've made progress, but that would be factually inaccurate in all senses.  This past week created some new significant challenges which I'll have to address in the near future.

On the positive side, I've run two races in the last two weeks, and that's kinda cool!  Neither race went really well - the first was a trail 10K, and I finished in about 1:35, thanks to 1) being at the back of the pack from the start, 2) I'm undertrained, and 3) the calf-deep mud and the waist deep water were a challenge for everyone, that created delays as people tried to pick through the mud rather than just running through it.

The second was a 16 miler, in the form of a 5K followed by a half-marathon.  I bailed on the 5K earlier this week, so I was only going to do the half, but after the week I had, I dropped from the half-marathon to the 7-mile version in the morning.  This race was a rainy mess, and about 2 miles was in mud again.  Only 1/2 mile in, I knew the day was not to be mine, and pulled it back to a slow jog to talk to my fellow runners today.  7 miles, 1:17, that's an 11:00 mile pace - not horrible, but not where I want to be. 

And that leads to the week that was.  On Monday, I found out that my boss was going to be fired....well, at least transferred to another area (same thing, trust me).  And while he indicated that it wouldn't stop me from moving (I've been in my job for almost 5 years - a record for the position), the new boss immediately asked me to stay on for another 6 months to a year.  That all set off a series of emotional roller coasters, terrible sleep (about 4 hours a night all week) and a load of stress on top of my normal stress load (it's not the most fun job, even though I'm really good at it).   So no good workouts, no good sleep, no good peaceful downtime; it's been a rough time. 

But, the past is the past.  What do I do now?  Well, I have 17 weeks until my Ironman, and between here and there, I have at least one 5K, a sprint triathlon, a (nother) quarter close, and other potential developments, both professional and personal (maybe more on those later, too).  It's time for me to get rigorous in my training and nutrition, jettison a few side projects which are coming to completion during May, and put my priorities first, rather than always those of other people. 

Can I do it?  Yes, I'm sure I can.  Will I do it?  That's often another story......