Its beginning to look a lot like......

***.the end of cyclocross season; my legs are covered in bruises, my bike and shoes are caked with mud, my running shoes are lonely and my arms are whimpy in the pool, but I have never gotten tired of riding on the trails this fall, even wet and muddy. This weekend was off from racing and I was out training hard on wet trails and crashed a couple time. I am fine only adding a cut knee to the collection of bruises, but I hope my bike recovers by Sunday for Montrose/ IL state champs. I bent the derailleur.


***winter: there are gloves, hats, leg warmers, and gloves and leg warmers without their mates piled on the dryer, dresser, and in laundry baskets. Its dark early, its grey more than its sunny; I’ve started the routine of drinking coffee in the afternoon, and wearing my coat around the house to stay warm and I saw some snow flakes today.


*** festive 5ks: there are turkey trots, reindeer runs, santa fun runs, or frosty frolics every weekend; I did run a turkey trot on Thanksgiving day on run training consisting of 0-4 miles per week for the past month. I’ve scaled my running way back with hopes of adding a little power to the cyclocross legs. The cyclocross, bike racer guys keep telling me so. So I was well tapered for the North Shore Turkey Trot. I had no speed so didn’t even have the capability of going out too fast and dying like usual. I actually hit each mile within a few seconds of each other. I was surprised to win my AG and finish 10th female, but the sad part is with a pace quite close to what I raced 10 miles at in May.

*** end of 2011/beginning of 2012 ; Ive been busy talking to new clients about next season, meeting with current clients about wrapping up this season and setting goals for next year , catching up with friends at dinner and STARTING to think about my own race schedule for 2012 . Yes its time to start doing that I guess. It seems like I just did that.


*** CHRISTMAS! I went a little crazy, and spent 2 days in zone 5 decorating the house, porch and tree for Christmas. Its done. Its festive. It’s a lot of work and I was tired at the end. Hauling huge plastic bins up the stairs, unloading …then hauling them back down the stairs on legs that had been trying to out sprint Adam on the bike was exhausting. But with 4 weeks to go it is done. I’m in training now to be able to put it all away in a few weeks!



Tis the Season …..Enjoy 