Wednesday, February 27, 2008

More Contemplation of Upcoming Season

It never ends, does it? Any racer knows the turmoil that goes through their head during the pre-season anticipation (at least MY deformed brain is in turmoil) ...am I training right, am I training enough (too much?), am I eating right, I should lose a couple pounds but can't 'cause I need the food for energy to train; I wish I could go faster, maybe I should do harder longer intervals, blah, blah, blah. Stop the confusion! I'm still toying with the May 18 weekend -- the long RB winter or the Xterra. I mentioned earlier since I'm doing the 12 hours of Lodi I'll have some good endurance in my back pocket that I shouldn't let go to waste, so I may think about doing the RB Winter 50 miler. On the other hand, what does it matter? I'll lose it if I don't keep it up and that's where my dilemma enters -- I'm not so sure I really want to spend an entire summer trying to maintain long-distance endurance. My earlier posts over the holidays stated I like the multi-sport thang -- I seem to actually have time to do other things. That hasn't changed. This past weekend got me thinking as I hung from the apple trees pruning new life into their branches, enjoying every second of getting my hands dirty in my backyard again...do I really want to ride 4-5 hour rides all summer. No, I don't. I want to start a compost pile again, I want to spread composted horse manure all over everything and watch stuff grow like weeds from the wonderful nutrients in horsy doodoo after its finishing "cooking". 3 hours is my max this year for a good long ride (all that's really needed to train for Xterra racing) and I can get a good 3-hr ride in at 6:00 am on Saturday mornings and be done for the weekend to give me a bunch of time to garden, kayak, run, swim cook, whatever. So yes, I'm think I'm heading back to the multi-sport focus only. My heart just ain't into long biking hours - my heart is tugging at the gardening thang again. And of course kayaking with Mr. Brown. Training will continue to be ready for the 12 hours of Lodi, but after that I'll be heading back to the 3 hr long rides mixed with lots of other goodies. So Chrissy - you'll need to find a wetsuit for the May 18 Xterra!

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