Last week I made the decision to discontinue the triathlon lifestyle to pursue a more balanced lifestyle.  I've got a lot of items on my "list" that I have no chance of getting to while training at the level necessary to race in the pro ranks.  This past week was the first time in quite a long time that I've been able to do whatever I wanted to without worrying about how it will affect my triathlon training.  The feeling was like a weight lifted off of my shoulders.

Here's my "list" for the remainder of my 30s:

* Great husband and father
* More time w/ friends that make me laugh
* Stay on top of latest development technologies
* Vacations w/ family & friends in bad ass locations
* Handy man - work w/ tools, fix, and build things
* Mountain biking
* Football
* Basketball
* Learn spanish via Rosetta Stone
* Water skiing and wake boarding
* Salsa dancing lessons w/ Jen
* Cooking - Master breakfast & grilling first
* Certified sky diver

This past week I started to work towards a few of these items on the list.  I played basketball five times last week and on Thursday while shooting around I hit 24 free throws in a row and 16 three pointers in a row.  My shot seems like it's coming back nicely.  I went mountain biking on Sunday and got a feel for the trails again.  I fell a few times and ran into one tree but mainly because it was very slick out there.  In hindsight we probably shouldn't have been out there because it probably wasn't good for the trail.  No more riding on slick trails.  I'm going to look into getting some knee, shin, and elbow pads because I can foresee myself falling quite a bit during the first few months.  The problem is that I've got a really good cycling fitness base so can go fast but don't quite have the instincts and agility on the trails to stay upright.  Fast + poor skills == biting it big time.  My left knee is still a bit sore today.  The only other thing that I started to work towards was becoming a better cook.  Jen and I signed up for a weekend grilling class for next April at Johnson & Wales culinary school.  I also asked my friend Brooke for some ideas as to which books he would recommend to learn how to cook.  He recommended:

"How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman
"The Best Recipes in the World" by Mark Bittman
"The Barbeque Bible" by Steve Raichlen

This past weekend we also went out to dinner for Clarke's birthday and on Sunday we went to a party for one of our triathlon clients for finishing his first Ironman and having a great season.  Next week I plan on putting all of my triathlon gear up for sale within the Charlotte community and then will post it to the masses on the web.