It's been so long!

Wow.....so long since I have gotten of my arse to try and write something here that (i) I hadn't realized my last post was the JFK 50 race Report and (ii) I'd forgotten my Google password.

Since the JFK it's been time to heal the broken body and actually spend some time relaxing. Legs took a surprisingly long time to heal! They never felt really bad but nagging aches and pains that let me know I am getting too old for this foolishness (yeah right). I've done a couple of short (5 mile) runs at comfortable pace but been sore the next day - this running at faster than 10 min/mile lark sucks.

Mother nature has taken care of the biking thing to a large extent. No night rides for past three weeks cos of rain and this week looks like another wash out. Got in a couple of Sunday morning rides at Patapsco - one of which was in the wet. Too wet really to be riding, but the rain started just as we got to the trails and as we were there..... It was cold (in the 30s) and damp/wet but as four of the group were from Europe (two Brits, an Irishman and a Dutch guy) the cold and wet didn't seem such a good excuse. Trails were not muddy but as slick as hell. Plenty of slick roots and logs, many obstacles were just plain unridable - as such a short miserable ride. This was the first time this group has ridden together (an amalgamation of Biker Sean's friends and the usual Sunday group) so nobody wanted to be the wimp would complained first. Due to riding conditions the pace was painfully slow and so only a short ride. Last Sunday fortunately the temp was ow enough to keep the trails frozen for much of the ride. Last 15 min were a bit dicey and a friend who rode later in the day confirmed that once thawed the trials were a mess. But at 8am conditions were pretty damn good and it felt great to be back on the bike. Mojo was in full flow and we took everything the tail could throw at us. Small Intestine, Belmont (including riding the log), Ridge and Cascade - beaut!

On the was down Belmont hill came across an arrow embedded about 8 inches into the side of the trail. Nice carbon (oddly Easton, I thought they only made bike bits) shaft and a razor head. Bit of a worry that from the angle of impact the arrow must have crossed the trail before burying itself in the dirt! That would have ruined a ride if it had hit a biker.

Other than the two rides and two runs the majority of my training has been in the pool - half a mind to aim for an Ironman in 2009 (MLW is not too convinced). We'll see, swim twice a week during the winter and see how it's going by Easter.

Well, I'm back in writing mode and hopefully there will be more to talk about once the weather gets cold and the trails are good a solid!

Cheers

DogzBollux.