Indoor Training's Comming to an End

Well, almost.

As I sit here on this beautiful Saturday morning planning to hit the Stony Creek Loop for a nice 6 mile run before work, I'm amazed how my plans for the morning have changed so dramatically from just ten minutes ago. I woke up, made coffee, opened the windows to this lovely, cloudless morning, and checked my weather station to get a feel of the temperature. Just as the aroma of the beans hit my nose the frigidness of the morning hit my brain - 12 degrees. The weatherChannel.com can't leave it at that - I might have still gone. No, it has to go a bit further; it then proceeds to inform me that it feels like 3 degrees and windy and heavy snow flurries. Back to the Gym I go.

But, I can wait it out. February is coming to a close and with March comes rain, mud, getting on the trails, and racing season for 2009. I've had some great fun throughout 2008 and am looking forward to 2009 and all of the new challenges that I hope to overcome.

I've been Mountain Biking since 1991, serious since 1997, and have never participated in one race. This year will be different; I've joined the Rochester Bike (Sport Community) Team and plan on racing with them throughout. RBS has already started training at the store, and I've been able to meet up and train numerous times. The group seems to be a bunch of good people; fun to be around and excited about biking (I think the coach is tring to kill us).

I've been running since December of 2006. I entered my first race - a trail half marathon - in September 2007, and loved it. Since that time, I've entered multiple races throughout 2008; ending the season with the Detroit Marathon this last October. I've met many great runners and running groups, and hope to do a lot of miles this year with them. These 8:00am runs need to end, though.

I've got two goals this year; Running - to qualify for the Boston Marathon, Biking - to finish the Iceman Cometh race in the top 10%. That’s it, not to much to ask for. High expectations when the coffee kicks in.