Criteriums

Lisa and I had a chance to catch up before Bible study (learning about Esther and her teachable spirit and obedient attitude), and she shared with me some very encouraging information: Not doing the crits next year is a good decision. Earlier this month, I decided to not race in the criterium series that I've won the previous two years. I made this decision based mainly on four things:

1. It felt like the right decision (i.e. I prayed about it and thought God was directing me elsewhere; black and white issues are easy for me because they're directly addressed in the Bible, whereas gray areas are more difficult because they are not specifically addressed, but I did seek Him and His guidance).
2. I want to focus on triathlons.
3. The bike skills, aerobic/anaerobic work, time, and distance of crits don't translate well to triathlon training.
4. Brian, a former-pro-triathlete-and-coach friend, suggested I not race them.

Sometimes it's also nice to hear from other learned people, those who have competed professionally and coached excellent athletes and know the ropes, that your decision was indeed the right one. Lisa had talked to Todd over at Endeavor Performance (he's her coach) and told him what I was focusing on next year; she couldn't believe I wouldn't do the crit series and wanted to hear what he had to say. He said it was absolutely the right decision. She didn't tell me whether he'd said why, but I was definitely glad she shared at least a little.