Monday, January 24, 2011

Refusing to Hibernate

30 degrees and windy is the new 75 and sunny. At least that's what I've convinced myself of. So far, getting dressed and braving the initial cold has been half the battle.  Just add coffee and motivations and I'm outdoors before I know it, enjoying Colorado's riding and snowshoeing in the late single digit, Gatorade slushy temps.  I'm not complaining, just sayin'...

Making fresh tracks to Rollins Pass on a peaceful and gorgeous Monday morning.


Recently I became a first timer to snowshoeing which is so much better than I anticipated.  So good that I dropped some serious coin on some MSR's the next day and returned to Rollins Pass the day after for some more serious fun and shenanigans.  I went wrong instead of right and never made it to the top since I ran out of smuggled snicker bars I usually stash in my sleeves.  Foodless means hunger and hunger means anger.  There's always next week!

Also, I just completed the first century ride of the season along with urban assault guide, Brett Ebben (Thanks brotha!), and traveled the glorious bike paths of Greater Denver.  I'm totally stoked and appreciative of the work done by the city to create the best bikepaths in the country.  This called for another Chipotle Celebration and given that my IQ points seem to dwindle after the longer rides, I just followed my nose on this one.

Speaking of, I do have another visit to Chipotle on Wednesday since it marks the completion of a four week Zone 2 training phase which will hopefully create a great base for the ultraendurance races this summer.  I'm totally sold on the long base miles and Wednesday will mark the close of this base period.  Luckily, I've been able to keep my ADHD struggles in check and managed time well enough to cover 400 road miles for my final week.  Hopefully, next week I can get plenty of sleep (against my will!), recover during a compensation week, and maybe get out to snowshoe, trail run, hot yoga, and what else?!

Happy trails,
Tim