Chipping away at winter

January 2012- so far so good!  We got our first 'real' snow on Saturday.  By 'real' I mean snow that actually stuck around after it stopped falling.  Although today they're predicting Freezing Rain which will either melt what's left or turn it into ice. 

I always consider March to be the unofficial start of spring.  Dec-Feb = Winter.  Sure, it's going to snow in March.  Maybe a lot.  But by March you can count on some decent days.  You know, upper 40's.  Clear trails.  So to have made it mid-way through January with only one significant snow bodes well for having fitness going into road racing in the spring.  (We're not like Tahoe out here - we don't depend on snow pack the way you do in the mountains.)

Since my last post I have:

• Gone to see the Patriots crush the Buffalo Bills in Foxboro.  (Thanks Cody!)
• Run about 2x week.
• Crosstrained at the gym 2x week.
• Gotten in 3-4 hour rides on the weekends.
• Drove solo to Montreal for SBCU Fit School.

Erm, that's it.  We were visiting with some friends who'd been away for the last month and they asked, "so, what've you guys been up to?"  And the honest answer was " . . . .uhhh?"  But it's nice to have time to hunker down and focus on making the most of the "off season" with no stress, no pressure. 

Yesterday we had a gluttonous breakfast of fried potatos, scrambled eggs from the chickens in our back yard, and toast (gluten free for me, with lots of strawberry jam).  I threw on more layers than I care to recount, strapped a rear fender on my CX bike, and rode to Newburyport.  It's usually about 1:15 to get out there, but with the snow, headwind, and thousands of layers restricting my movement it took closer to 2 (this the season to ride hella slow).  I stopped in Newburyport for a soy mocha, and to restore feeling to my toes, and rode home.  The return trip went much faster, and my ride was about 3.5 hours.  Perfect.  We had a little playoff party, with some friends stopping by to eat pizza, drink beer, and watch football.  Cody ordered some "normal" pizzas, and I cooked some GF flatbread to make my pizzas with.  I splurged with Daiya vegan mozzerella cheese, garlic and sundried tomatos.  It was amazing.  Yesterday was a splurge kind of day.