Getting An Itch

No cyclocross racing for me today. I did everything right to make sure I'd be there but with about 8" of snow at my house, and really slippery roads, I wasn't up for making the 45+ minute drive up to Longmont. Too bad since I did well at this venue last time, and I also like racing in the slop which it was sure to be today. Should be some good stories to come out of this race.

The snow started last night when I was out. Since I knew I would be racing, and the roads were already getting bad, I wasn't drinking. I stayed out until about 12 switching between Cokes and water. Still had a good time and slept great. It's always nice to wake up feeling good instead of groggy and hungover. I went out on Friday night and even though I wasn't hungover on Saturday, I slept like crap. That seems to be the trend for me when I drink. Awful sleep and I wake up feeling unrested regardless of if I'm having Advil for breakfast or not. I'll sleep great for about 3-4 hours and then just wake up and toss and turn. Very frustrating. So yesterday was essentially a wasted day. While Whiskey and I took periodic naps, Tacoma patrolled the backyard despite being rained on the whole time. Odd dog, that one.

When I knew I wasn't going to be racing, I had to figure out what I was going to do with all the energy I had so I came up with a list that's only about halfway complete. Nothing fun, but all necessary. I also realized I need to get a workout of some sort in, and that's when I realized that the itch had begun. That is, the itch for next season. Any workouts I've been doing have not necessarily just been going through the motions, but they weren't with any real purpose either. Now it's time to start trending that way and I'm also looking forward to when the 2010 Xterra schedule of races will come out. Right now the only one I know is Xterra Indian Peaks which conflicts with Boulder 70.3 so I'll have to choose between the two. It could be my first season in a while without a half ironman on the schedule, but with an increased focus on getting some more technical skills on the mountain bike, the shorter stuff will be a good focus. I'm sure it will benefit my cycling strength in the long run and help me race better at HIMs once I get back there. Still a lot to be figured out but things are starting to feel good again and seem to be heading in the right direction.

Even though it probably has little benefit, I moved the furniture around in my family room. It's been too easy to come in and plop down on the couch and get sucked in, either to the internet or the TV. I'm certain the rearranging isn't as good of a layout, but it's not as accomodating for laziness either. When I moved the couch I found 6 dog bones under there! I took each one and placed them on the fireplace and while I was vacuuming, Whiskey would go over and grab one off, chew on it for about 5 minutes and then go get another one until all 6 were scattered around the floor. He was very pleased with what he'd done. I told him he's a shithead. His wagging tail and smiling face told me he was unnerved by my comments.

In addition to my motivation moving in the right direction, my eating has also gotten better. Even though I'm very far from eating great, and never plan to be perfect with it, what's been going in has been a lot cleaner and I haven't gained as much weight this off season. All good things.

With both dogs sleeping right now it's going to be a good time to either hop on the trainer or go finish painting the guest bathroom. There's also some weights I'm going to go push around. Then, since I still have vacation days to burn, I took tomorrow off and in the afternoon I'm heading up to Boulder for a cyclocross clinic with Joachim Parbo, the Danish National Champion. Should be interesting and fun.