Ok, so I haven’t been updating this site in a while and I haven’t been posting anything on examiner.com, so what’s up??? I’ve actually been pretty busy, but haven’t gotten around to posting any updates. For the “off” season I’ve been focusing on running. Strange, I know, but Annette discovered that she actually likes running and I _LOVE_ spending time with my wife, especially when it involves exercise! Those endorphins go a LONG way! 😉 So, we did the Phoenix 1/2 marathon and the Lost Dutchman 1/2 marathon. I did throw in the Casa Grande century in the mix in January, but it was a pretty uneventful ride. I rode hard. At the beginning I wanted to ride easy and started with a slow group, but two guys past me and I couldn’t resist that draft, so I jumped on the back.
We worked well together and started picking up other riders. At the first stop a few of us stopped to re-fuel, but by the second stop there were only 4 of us at the front. There was a pretty good cross wind blowing and I didn’t have nearly enough base miles in my legs to maintain the pace that was being hammered, so I dropped off. Never saw those guys again. At the lunch stop I saw a bunch of Bullshifters pull in, but I was getting ready to leave. There was a strong head wind on the way back and I was by myself most of the way. About 5 miles from the finish a big group caught me and I pretty much drafted into the finish.
After the Casa Grande century I shifted gears to focus on running for a bit. Annette and I planned to do the Phoenix 1/2 marathon AND the Lost Dutchman 1/2 marathon, which are not too far apart. I was disappointed in the Phoenix marathon. There were a TON of people, but the course… sucked. It wasn’t very scenic and had hills near the end that just killed my right knee. We wound up walking the last few miles. The Lost Dutchman 1/2 marathon on the other hand is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! They changed the route since I did it last year and it’s a lot flatter over all — and the course is extemely scenic! Annette and I set a personal best “couples” time of 2 hours 34 minutes doing a run/walk.
So we’re done with running for a while. I’ve decided to make this year a “rest” year and haven’t defined any specific cycling goals. I’m just going to go with the flow and see how that works out. I’ll be doing Mine Country Challenge in March and a friend wants to get Gold at El Tour de Phoenix, so I’ll ride that with him, but otherwise, no cycling on the schedule. Weird. Annette and I are thinking about doing the Napa 1/2 marathon in July, but haven’t committed on it yet. There are a few other rides like the Taylor House century in Flagstaff that I know I plan on doing, but I haven’t written down any specific goals for the year.
Ultimately I think this will be a year of cross-training and down-time. I’ve been going pretty hard for many years now and am looking forward to some changes. The running is definitely a change! Annette and I just bought a cabin in Show Low, so I’m thinking I may try to add some mountain biking into the mix. Stay tuned for that! 😉
