Revisiting the Sabbatical

The purpose of the sabbatical was to satiate the restless part of me: the curiosity to live abroad, the obsession to race an ironman under 10 hours, and the romantic notions of traveling, meeting new people, and living a different lifestyle. Post-sabbatical, the plan was to retire from racing, be sensible and buy a home, and slow life down enough to make room for a pooch. During my long ride yesterday, I realized that the sabbatical pushed me further away from these post-sabbatical plans. I find myself even more restless, and I want to race more ironmans, visit the friends I've made abroad as well as meet even more friends, and I definitely don't want to be tied down by a home-I need the cash to travel, race, and live. And so the adventure continues.
I have to admit that pre-sabbatical, I was starting to feel my age, in other words, a bit old. I felt like I lost the spunk I had in my twenties and early thirties. Living and traveling abroad required me to meet new people on a daily basis. Unlike old and familiar friendships where you rarely need to define yourself, new friendships require you to "sell" yourself a bit; and in the process, you are reminded of who you are. I learned that I still have spunk, maybe not as much as I did when I was in my twenties, but I've got enough spunk to try new things and have a grand 'ole time. I highly recommend traveling as a means to learn what you're made of and who you are. The following are videos and images of my most memorable days during the sabbatical. I'm looking forward to viewing these videos and images when I'm much much much older.
On tap this Sunday is a speed session in the form of an olympic distance race. It's in the hood and I get to run across the Golden Gate Bridge; but I'm not looking forward to swimming in the SF bay. The focus is my ironman at the end of July so this has been a volume week. I'm not too worried as I've raced well in the past on tired legs. Also, the race looks low-key and very grassroots triathlon-love those, they always remind me of my early years in the sport.