Bummed....

Super bummed out this week. I have been really looking forward to the Michigan Cup Sprints for the last few weeks, but I have been fighting a chest cold all week and will not be able to attend the race. I was hoping I would be feeling better by now, but it feels like its getting worse. This reinforces my theory that its tough to be a ski racer with small children. It seems someone always has some sort of germ throughout the winter months and as soon as I up the intensity I catch it. Don't get me started on the unhealthy germ bags I work with either. If you are sick, STAY HOME people! Anyway....enough whining about being sick.

January 2010 turned out to be a very nice month for training. 22 days for the month and I had a 14 day training streak. Looking back to 2009 my biggest month was 12 days!? Is that right? No wonder I'm so out of shape! I didn't make any "resolutions" but I've vowed to live the endurance life again. I love to get out and bike, run or ski. I like to be able to do 2hrs in any of those sports and feel good while I'm doing it. That's the main thing. I also want to get down to my old racing weight of 165lbs. I've been doing pretty good with that as well. I'm at 174lbs right now and hopefully in the next couple months I should reach that goal. I also want to toe the line in some road races this summer. Its been since 2001 and that's too long. I miss the dynamics of roadie racing. It probably makes more sense right now. Their is more time to train in the summer months, adventure tandem rides with the kids on my easy days, and the races fall in the time of year when you are least likely to be SICK!

I got in 10 trainer rides in January(I think that's a record for me!), along with 11 ski's and one icy trail run with the studs. I have more hours skiing than I did all last year. I have done much better on the volume this year. Other than the few races I did last year I never skied longer than 1 hour, this year I have around six 1.5 hr skis in already. Even though I'm sick I've been very motivated to get back to training. This is a good sign, usually sickness deflates my motivation but this year I will not be stopped!

Looking forward to February I need to get outside more on the bike(studs!) and continue with my skiing and running. We need some snow or some warm weather. We are stuck in a SE Michigan El Nino winter and it is sucking pretty bad. Not enough snow for good skiing and too much snow and ice to keep the trails clear. Good thing I have studded mtb tires and Khathola running spikes! Looking forward to the rest of the winter as I plan to do the Michigan Cup Classic if we get some snow down here to train on and maybe the season ending relays. If we don't get some decent snow I will switch my focus to getting a head start on summer.

I've been struggling with a couple options for spring but can't decide yet. Option 1 is doing the spring training series building to the Cone Azalia(Michigan's Paris Roubaix) then take a break and peak for the August crits. Option 2 is a little nutty but sounds interesting, lots of spring running and mtn biking, try to break 20 minutes at the Hartland or Ann Arbor 5K running races. Then use my running and mtb form to place in the Top 3 at the Xterra Duo at Brighton. Then take a short breather and peak for the August crits, with Milford and Cadiuex being the big days. So, either way I will make 2010 a good year.

Get out and do SOMETHING!