as God intended :)

well as I mentioned previously, I am injured. I was out on a 6 mile trail run and fractured my foot. Sucks... I was preparing for a winter marathon, and feeling good. I'l be CRAZY if I attempt the marathon in January but the vacation is still on. So I spent a week on crutches with a brace, proceeded to dump the crutches this week, and managed to get on the windtrainer for 30 minutes a couple days ago. Felt ok on the bike, but still notice the pain when walking. Running right now is out of the question, and yesterday I seen more runners out than I have in a long time. It was crazy, and made me want to get out there. I guess even though I btich about running, I will always do it for a LOT of reasons. Anyway I'm happy I could at least hit the windtrainer, but JEEZ riding the trainer in November is evil. (It's a long winter....) So like I said I may not be able to walk comfortably yet, but am able to ride (as God intended...)

Check my Brain!

NO not the Alice in Chains way cool tune :)
When I think of riding be it a road bike or mountain bike, I come from a roadies mentality. Simple light rigid and efficient. Thats the reason I've never raced any other kind of bike off road except a hardtail. All that has changed after doing some homework and realizing full suspension WILL outrun a hardtail.
I'm lucky enough to have a really nice friend who owns a shop, and I got lucky and am getting my hands on a full suspension ride with something known as brain technology for the suspension. Bottom line is you dial in a few pressure and weight settings and your set. The design is PERFECT for riders like me. The bike rides like a hardtail until a threshold is reached and then absorbs the impact acting as a full suspension. SWEEEEEET! Black and Blue, an upgraded groupo, wheels etc. Should be just what I need to enjoy some rides/races I hope to do next year. I'l probably never race on the road locally ever again, but already know mountain bike racing is doable and enjoyable, and in my sights to continue next season. Looking forward to it. And like I said its cool to have a great longtime friend who owns a shop :)

OK time for the off season - not my choice

Note to self, I will not volunteer to coach football again. I absolutely without question LOVE my little people but the time involved, the attitude a "football coach" is supposed to have, and my own skillset has proven to be something better left to a REAL football coach. I can't get past the yelling at little people thing. Anyway, I'm sure it won't even be an issue next year, and next time I will "just say no". It will also be nice for my summers to extend beyond August 1st. :) SO... the last 3 months have been a personal struggle for a variety of reasons including the toll my moms health issues took on my entire family. Started back in May, and as of last week we finally got good news as to her health. TRUST me we were all fearing the worst. It's probably been one of the toughest periods of my life. It opened up a whole can of worms as far as middle age and longevity existence you name it. Thank GOD she is OK.
Fast forward to present day, I was out running in the forest yesterday for what was supposed to be a 6 mile run. I rolled my ankle 3 miles out and now its fractured. UGH... It all happens for a reason I guess. Time for a little R and R...

denied...

Man, it was crazy to get myself there (Olympic decision) but I did. It was packed shoulder to shoulder. I was there at about 10:15 when the IOC on the big screen instructed the judges to vote Chicago was 4 Tokyo was 9 etc. About a minute or 2 later the same judge declare voting closed. He stated voting will now proceed to round 2 and Chicago will not be participating. DENIED....
Talking about a party stopper. I did manage to get a souvenier bandana showing I was THERE. LOL

no grander venue

Today they announce which city will host the 2016 olympic games. I've been excited and PRO Chicago ever since news broke that we have the opportunity to be the hot city. Been wearing my Chicago2016 bracelet for weeks now. CAN'T WAIT! to see who wins. I've got every intention of seeing it all go down live :) That will be way cool....

good foundation and time for improvement

It's a blessing that I have a number of years of running experience. Right now my schedule calls for a time commitment coaching every night. I don't have the time to get in the training runs that are scheduled in the beginning of this latest training plan(doing the disney marathon in January). What I'm doing is use my existing aerobic base to my advantage and running a slightly longer run midweek as opposed to the shorter runs scheduled. It's carying me thru the first few wekks. Long runs on the weekends are still happening. I'm helping my long time personal manager prepare and run the marathon, and they are currently forced to find a cross training activity to take the place of some of their runs as well. SO I turned them on to a windtrainer for their bike. I'm confident that the newly found benefits of becoming a cyclist will improve their running. I'm excited to watch the improvement. BUSY times yes but if we are smart about how we train we will pull this off no problem :)

It actually happened

Yesterday I came home and decided not to run. I was not up to it. I'm down....