Humbled and Rethinking

My mantra this year has been Putting the Lumber to Personal Challenges. That idea came from a time when I was listening to the radio during last year's football season and the sports-talk host referred to a team that "Really put the lumber..." to another team. I thought that was a clever way of saying "Giving a thumping" or "Throttling someone" or the like. Well the irony is that yesterday at the Tawas Triathlon Festival, I did the 1/2 iron distance event and it put the lumber to me.
During the run I was walking because my energy stores were low, my mental toughness level was non-existant, my right Achilles tendon was tight and sore, and the top of my foot had hints of "stress fracture". During that time I began to really question whether or not I am cut out for long distance triathlon.
This past season I mostly did short course events and I found success. I consistently performed in the top tier of the competition. These were red-lining, hard efforts, but they were exhilerating. However when the race distances increased, my relative performance decreased.
This is not to say that I don't find satisfaction and a sense of accomplishement when I perform in long distance events, it's just that I'm not as strong in these events. It's difficult because although I enjoy the experience of a half ironman and of an Ironman because of their difficulty, they really beat me up and I get spanked by a good portion of the field.
Now, this brings me back to the conversation of how "success" is defined. There is obvious external success such as placing in the top ten overall and/or top three in my age-group, but there is also internal success in simply accomplishing a difficult goal like finishing a half or full Ironman, never mind my place or time. This is not to say I don't experience internal success when also achieving external success.
Over the next few hours, days, and weeks to come, I will be weighing these things. I need to consider if having Ironman as my main focus next year is the right choice for me or not.
So, what does this mean for The Road to Louisville? Well, I'm not sure yet. Right now my thougts are all conflicting. I'm not sure if I should focus on short course and Olympic distance events again next year and maybe insert a 1/2 ironman, or to look at a path that will lead me to Louisville again next August. Maybe I will find a balance involving both. This is all very uncertain to me right now. What I know is that I was humbled yesterday to the point that these issues are something I really need to contemplate.
I was anticipating changing this site the The Road to Louisville as early as tomorrow, but now I can tell you it won't be that soon.

I'll work on a race report hopefully today, but if not, later this week for the Tawas event.

Peace.