Touching Base - 11/26/07

As is generally the case here in the fall, my blog entries have gone dormant. There have been some topics and ideas about which I thought posting, but then I thought, “Why bother?” All aspects of life need to be lazy now and again. Now’s the time for my blogging to be lazy.

But as I prepare for 2008, I also reflect back. Not just on 2007 but normally about my athletic history. I ask questions of myself assessing my motivation; how can I keep things fresh and fun; what are next year’s goals going to be; what pieces of past approaches are worth taking forward and which can be cast aside in order to make room for trying new things; how is 2008 going to be bigger and better than 2007; and so on. It’s not a questionnaire I fill out. Rather it’s a bunch of nebulous things floating in my head that shimmer into focus, cause me to ponder and then blur out before the next “thing” comes into focus. After so many years, I figure when my body’s ready to take on the new challenges, it will let me know by asking me to ponder these things.

This has been a strange fall. Normally, after a couple weeks off the bike after the last race, I’m ready to get going again. I’m champing at the bit. I’ve got everything mapped out and the Master Plan is set in motion. This off-season has been different. Instead of 2 weeks off, I took 6 weeks off. Nothing inside me was ready to get back at it, so I honored that. I’ve got no form or function to the plan, as of yet. Nothing inside me wants to sit down and map things out. So I haven’t. Maybe this is the trick I’m pulling out of the bag for 2008 – delayed onset of progression and a complete lack of being anal. In the past it’s been about exploding out of the gate early and building momentum right now, even though the important racing for me wasn’t until the following July-September. Now, sitting here, pondering next July all I can think is, “Man, that’s a long way away.”

Don’t misread this. I am training. And I will kick royal ass. As will Feedback Sports. Both of these things are inevitable, like the moon following the sun day after day. But this year’s approach is markedly different to-date. And it’s great. This year’s best kept secret is happening off the bike rather than on it. Anything that happens on the bike will be easy by way of comparison. When it’s time to open the throttle on the bike, hopefully it will open like never before. That’s the goal at least.

Till next time . . . whenever that may be . . .