even a little ride is a good ride

Hola all.

(Hola because we got back from a vacation of lifetime to Puerto Rico. Fun place. Saw lots of roadies there. Nice to also see that the bike shop elitism crosses territorial boundaries. I went into a shop in San Juan and none of the employees even make eye contact.)

Still busy as crap. But did ride my bike to class yesterday. It felt so good to just be on a bike and feel the pedals turning. There is something about the integral balance between the body and the bike that I love. Did a couple trackstands at some red lights. Just fun.

Though the air around here does some funny things to my lungs. Only 1/2 hour and I was hacking some phlegm from my chest. Excercise induced asthma or sometime like that.

On the excercise front, I can't actually believe it but I've been running a little. It just hurts plain and simple and doesn't seem to be getting any easier. 1/2 hour-40mins is my limit. Though today my wife goaded me into running with her and it was a lot of fun. Running with someone else is mucho better than alone. With riding, I am quite content to ride along, either road or mountain, or with people. But with this running thing having company really helps mask the discomfort.

It's the off season for many, and every year around this time I get a few emails from people who have been checking out the mtbr archives and are interested in the Morris plan. I've sent out my spreadsheet to several people. Truthfully, I'm a little sad that I'm not on some long planned out program. I'm just waiting a little bit in hopes that things settle down in a month or two and that with some stability I can set up a long term plan.

But to those who are into their off season and looking to an April race season good luck. There was a new letter from Gene Hamilton this week that had some great things to say about short term and long term goals and keeping your perspective. Definitely hit home as a huge weakness in my life is maintaining the proper perspective on issues. His bottom line. Enjoy each day. A victory is great and all but is fleeting. After the victory your life still might suck. So work on all parts of your life and not just the intervals. Cause if you get second, well it isn't a win, but if your life is in order than it won't matter as much.