Happy New Year (sort of...)

Well at least it is still January, for at least a couple more hours. Obviously keeping the blog up to date wasn't one of my New Year's resolutions. This could be a long post, so feel free to read it in sections, or just tune out right now ;) I always wonder how many readers I lose after the first couple of sentences!! Anyways, December came and went. Had a great Christmas with the family and spent a couple of days up at the cottage. Unfortunately the weather decided to warm up for those few days and getting in some skiing didn't happen. Ran the Hamilton Boxing Day 10miler and froze. The temperature combined with the wind coming off the lake made the conditions brutal. Add to that I wasn't paying attention and at the second aid station spilled most of the cup of water on my hands which then froze my gloves solid and then froze my hands solid. Good run though, and felt good burning off some of those turkey calories!!! The New Year has brought some big changes. Instead of heading to Alabama for training camp as I have the past two years (I really miss you guys) I decided instead to head west to Tucson for my, ah-hum, "Training Camp" ;). I of course left the packing up until the very last moment and spent the first week of the new year stressed out, add to that my IT Band picked that very week to say hello so I ended up taking an unplanned very early season week off. I tried not to let it frustrate me as it is going to be a very long season, but it was very frustrating. All packed up I started the drive Jan 11 under clear blue sunny skies. My Dad had warned me that I should get on the road early and get as far south as quickly as possible because of a storm warning. Hmm, well that didn't happen, storm.. what storm. Cruised across the border in Port Huron no problem, still clear blue sky. Rolled through East Lansing and as soon as I-69 turned south, voila, huge storm. White out conditions by Fort Wayne and death grip on the steering wheel all the way to Indianapolis. I had hoped to make it all the way to St Louis the first night but had to bail on the far side of Indy. Day two brought another hell day of driving with more trucks and cars in the ditch that I have seen in a really long time. Finally arrived in Tucson after four long days in the car, eating horribly and barely working out, feeling pretty beat up and glad to be done. And here I am, enjoying the beautiful Tucson weather and great training environment. I am staying with good friend Kathryn Bertine and hubby George while I get my own living arrangements worked out. I'm slowly getting to know my way around and getting into the swing of things. Biking up Mt Lemmon, MTB in Tucson Mountain Park, running in Sabino Canyon, the training here is really unbeatable and so different from what I am used to. Hopefully just what I need to take my racing up another notch this year. So the adventure has started... leap of faith to say the least. Training is back on track with two big volume weeks and the race season is just around the corner. I am now much closer to my coach, so Gareth and I will be able to plan some better testing and training sessions together and really get everything dialed in for a great season. I am still finalizing the sponsors for the year but very excited to have Extreme Endurance, Maxxis, Nineteen and Rudy Project returning and super excited to be riding Fuji Bikes this year. I have been out on the trails on my new DSR 1.0 and it totally rocks. (Now it is just up to the legs to get that bike split down where it should be!!!) I have never been one to make New Year's resolutions but I do have great hope for this year. Excited to make new friends, renew old friendships left by the wayside for far to long and keep old friends close. To everyone, I hope 2011 brings great things!!