January.
After the cookies, chocolate covered popcorn and plentiful holiday cheer it’s time to get back to the business of training. For me that’s been a little complicated since I re-aggravated a back injury in mid-December so not only was I unable to burn off excess holiday cheer but I was also feeling old, crippled and generally sorry for myself which just exacerbated the situation.
In the last few weeks I’ve gotten treatment, and although I knew I wasn’t 100% I didn’t fully realize how far off I really was. I couldn’t stand up straight. My face was always contorted into a slight grimace. Worst of all it was tough to do anything for more than two days in a row. Fortunately now I’ve made some real progress and have been skiing and running to work myself back into shape. More than anything it feels good to be an athlete again, and being able to work out means that I don’t feel like I’m embarrassing myself and running in my ski gear looking like a potato in a tube sock.
There’s a race this weekend. It’s in town on mountain bikes, and really I’d be remiss not to go. It’ll be tough to fly the team colors under all of the layers I’ll need to keep warm, but I think I’ll give it a shot.
It’s January, and it’s time to get out the tools.
HI Matt! Hope your back is better. Tried riding inside today. I have lasted 15 minutes with a good France-themed movie. I kept watching afterwards though. I felt, as you say, old. Oh winter, soon you will be gone. LVV
Thanks, Linda. My back is coming along pretty well. Riding inside is always tough, more mentally than anything else but hopefully we’ll be outside before too long.