What Next?

It's always difficult to finish a major race and find the motivation to keep training at a decent level, and for some people to train at all. There has to be some mental and physical down time. But, depending on how you did in the race, it's not always easy to convince yourself that is exactly what needs to be done. This is especially true if the race was a long event, like a half-marathon to ironman distance.
What if you fell short of a goal time? Do you pick up training where you left off and look for another race? Once I ran the Marine Corps Marathon missing the Boston qualifying time by 63 seconds. A week later I felt pretty good, was desperate for a BQ time and signed up for the Philadelphia marathon. Three weeks to "train". In hindsight Philly was a good race for me, but I fell apart around mile 19 and missed qualifying by 8 minutes.
Eight days ago I completed a goal race, the Tinman half-ironman. My finishing time was about 30 minutes slower than the slowest I thought possible, but I am still proud of myself. All sorts of thoughts go through my head; do I spend six months next year or the year after and try again, hoping for a better time? It's always a crap shoot for the weather, staying healthy, and even if I cut 30 minutes off my time, so what? I'd finish in the top 30% of my age group instead of 50%? I can't find the motivation to think about that.
The immediate goal now is running the Marine Corps Marathon in 16 weeks. It's great to have a plan in place, not fall into some depression because I don't know what to do next. Exercise needs to be a continuous life-long process. Having goals helps keep you motivated, whether it's the local 5k, a sprint tri, trail running, or incorporating a race with travel plans. It doesn't even have to be running. Sacrilege, I know, but the body was meant to move, not blob out at a desk, behind the computer or in front of the television.