Covering collegiate teams means getting to hear all kinds of music. And while it doesn’t always become my favorite, often the songs get stuck in my head, forcing me to fork over my money to iTunes so I can put the song in my rotation and either decide I love it or get the tune out of my head until the next game.

This, sadly, is how I discover most of my new music.

It is also how I learned the song “On To The Next One” by Jay-Z.

One of my favorite (clean) lines from the song is in one of the verses:

You all should be afraid of what I’m going to do next.

It’s been in my head lately. Because, well, I’m trying to figure out exactly what to do next.

Where does my athletic attention go from here?

Friends have warned me about the post-big race depression. Knowing it was coming gave me a chance to brace a bit for it, but it is difficult. Yes, two training sessions a day and six to eight hours (or more) of weekend workouts are grinding. But you get used to it. It becomes part of you. And you feel a bit lost without them.

So this two-week rest period will come to a close and my next set of goals need to emerge.

But what is it that I want to do the rest of the year? What do I want my target races to be in 2011?

The list of things I want to do is long. Very long. And trying to figure out how to fit it all in might be hardest task.

From a running standpoint, I have some modest performance goals — times I would like to hit in both the half marathon and marathon. From a triathlon standpoint, while I would do another Ironman, I think I’d like to do some more short distance races and perhaps a 70.3 race or two next year. Those goals are fine, but picking the races and the schedule can be a bit head spinning with the growing number of options.

Then there are the fun races — Blood, Sweet and  Gears in North Carolina (an insane bike event in the mountains), the Boilermaker 15K in Utica (a spectacle), the half marathon in Lake Placid (with the hills, forget any time goals!).

And let’s not forget about the short run.

Mark is urging me to participate in Jensen Stables Ultimate XC Challenge — a trail run that’s more an obstacle course where people apparently yell and berate you while you’re running. Long time readers of this space will recall that while I have fallen for trail running I have also fallen while trail running. Every. Single. Time. Do we really want to introduce purposeful obstacles in my path?

The immediate idea is to spend the fall working on my running speed and the 5K distance while enjoying the nice weather for some bike rides and continuing to desperately try and improve my swim. A half marathon in January is a possibility, although the goal time might need to wait until spring, using the early 13.1-mile run more as training and a benchmark than the actual goal.

But right now, everything is on the table.

There are nothing but possibilities.

And as always, I’m open to suggestions.

Because even as I’m deciding what’s on my agenda, really, there are some who should be afraid of what I’m going to do next.