Reed at the 2011 Ford Ironman World Championships/Photo by Delly Carr

As endurance athletes, we’re supposed to be the kings and queens of going long. When the going gets tough, we not only get going, we keep going. Sometimes though, the only things that seem to wind up gone are free time, friends, family and funds.

It took spending several weeks away from triathlon training recently to realize I’d also been missing out on some other f-words—the printable one being fun.

While the constant reassurance of a detailed weekly training schedule had sharpened me physically, my sense of perspective had been dulled. It took my wedding and honeymoon to jolt me back to this epiphany: There’s more to life than Ironman.

Reed exiting the swim this year in Kona/Photo by Sammy Tillery

I wrote in my last column about going faster at future Ironman events, but I’m here to admit that for 2012, I’m not sure I have the heart to follow through. Instead, you’ll find me toeing the line at International-distance races and a few half-Ironmans. I want more time to work on those missing f-words.

Olympic athlete and former USAT National Champion Matty “Boom Boom” Reed is going through a similar experience. After finishing 27th at the Ironman World Championships earlier this month, Reed revealed to me that he thinks he may have raced his last Ironman. “I’ve done it and I got it out of the way,” Reed said. “I wanted to try it once and if I liked it and did well then I’d pursue it even harder. I didn’t enjoy it enough to want to go back.”

Reed said he struggled mentally with spending 35-40 hours a week training this year compared to short-course workouts that allowed him to “get it done and get home.” Being gone almost all day every day simply didn’t appeal to him as much. Of course, Reed had every reason to get home quick as he and wife Kelly are raising three small children—probably the only time in their lives the little ones will be called that as Matty stands 6-foot-5. If it weren’t enough to squeeze kids into training, the Reeds just opened a yogurt shop in Boulder, Colo. (Boom Yogurt Bar for those of you in the area).

Reed said that after checking Kona off his career bucket list, shorter course racing is where his heart is. He’s going to use 2012 to return to his 2008 and 2009 form, when he won 15 combined races and participated in the Summer Olympics. It’s also a decision designed to help the family pocketbook. “Hawaii is an expensive race,” Reed explained. “If you’re not in the top five you’re losing a lot of money. I missed a lot of races I loved to do and put everything into Kona. I wasn’t successful and lost lots of money.”

Reed felt no pressure at home to switch back to short-course racing. Kelly and their kids were going to support his race goals no matter what. “Ironman is a balancing act for both the athlete and the spouse and family,” said Kelly, adding that Matty’s intense short-course training helped prepare her for the step up to Ironman workouts. “My kids love Matty racing and love being a part of his daily training. It’s hard not to feed off their enjoyment. Matty’s life is train, kids, eat, repeat.”

Reed will race some of his favorite events next year, including the Life Time Fitness Series. He’ll also go for the Rev 3 Triple Crown and place the same priority at winning the HyVee 5150 U.S. Championship as he did with vying for an Olympic medal and a top 10 finish in Kona this year. Judging by his 1:49:56 win at the Galveston 5150 this past weekend, Reed is on track to return to his winning ways. “I’m excited because I don’t have an Ironman in the back of my head,” Reed said. “I wasn’t giving all my focus on the short course. Now I know what I want to do—it’s all about speed.”

In other words, Boom Boom is set to go VROOM VROOM in 2012.

For that matter, so am I. With a little extra free time to spare.

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Ryan Schneider is an Ironman triathlete and blogger who works in brand development when he’s not swimming, biking or running. You can read his blog at ironmadman.com, follow him on Twitter (@theironmadman), and read his monthly column here at LAVA.