Already Well Into February

This year is flying by and I am not doing a good job of keeping this here blog up to date...

Lots of stuff going on these days as the riding (mtb, dirt/gravel, and road) is pretty consistant and progressing well and I feeling really positive about the upcoming spring/summer lead up to next fall's main objective.

Last weekend Ira and I (Jake was swamped with college work, welcome to real life, and couldn't make it) ran the Sylamore 25k trail race in Arkansas on a fantastic morning. It was the first time that I just couldn't get motivated to train/run (simply itching to ride more) to condition myself to be competitive so after not running a step for the last three weeks leading up to the event I was simply going to enjoy the morning and slip thru this will minimal sufferage and accept being a 'mid-pack' runner (and that's what I did). Pretty cool trail and was able to run with a couple of folks that kept it interesting.

After lunch and a quick nap Ira and I jumped on the mtb's and knocked out 3hrs (legs were cooked at the end). We planned to ride 5+ hrs the next day but a huge storm came thru and we chose to head back home and Sunday ended up with 3 hrs at Sac. All good stuff. Bike handling and flow is way ahead of this time last year so that's a good sign.

Watching my intake (eating) a little closer over the winter and am near 10lbs lighter than this time last year, which is odd as I am typically a guy that appears to have 10lbs to shift around, but I feel pretty stinking lean and the strength has not suffered so another reason to look forward to upcoming events...

Monday (Pres' day) we all slept in late then headed to SGF for some zoo time. The boys (along with Deb and I) enjoy zoos and although SGF's suck it's better than nothing.

Ian had a couple ball games later at The Courts and that seems to be mostly how our evenings go as of the last 5 months with a couple more weeks of playing on two teams then it drops to just one so that will be nice. The little guy hopefully will have soccer and baseball coming up soon.

This clip was shot one random Friday night (8:30pm) when I was ready for PJs, but E-ball said there was work to be done at the gym:



Speaking of the little guy, the 'system' is moving along at snail's pace, but that's ok as it gives him ample time for everyone to settle in with each other more intimently. A couple weeks ago was the first time he told me he loved me (that was huge) and he is calling me Dad pretty consistant now. Next court date is in March and hopefully the goal with move toward adoption, but you never know what will come up (but fingers are crossed).

Jake, as mentioned earlier, is getting a taste of a heavy load as he is taking 18 hours while working a couple days a week. Good experience for him as he's learning prioritization and balance; I've all the confidence in him and while he looks frazzled from time to time he'll come out the other end in good shape. He is absolutley loving his long board and cruises all over on that thing (I need to snag one as its lots of fun carving).

Well, that's about it. Frozen Waffle training race in early March, but it's purely a low-key training event so no need to put emphasis there. Will be a good early measure of fitness though so looking forward to it.