Spring ramping.....
It's been a while since the last operation comeback post regarding getting back to normal following my broken leg. Well it's now Feb and my leg is healed after the winter and I'd say I'm 100%....except for the fact that I've decided to have a surgery on March 6th to have the 6 in plate and final screws removed. I don't want any complications in the future and I will feel much better knowing that I am supported by my own bone and not some ti plate.

Anyways the winter went well and the recovery was easier than I expected. I ended up running the Rock Canyon 1/2 Marathon with Heather on Dec 1st with only 5 runs under my belt since surgery. Not bad to finish in sub 1:45 for the whole thing when I only planned to just run part of it with her for support. I have to say thanks to Carrie, Heather's training partner, for letting me use her entry since I wasn't even registered, but also sorry that she had to roll her ankle on their final long training run prior to the race.

I also got a chance to race at CX Nationals in Kansas City, KS on borrowed bike (thank T.G.) and borrowed shoes (thanks Scott). It was awesome ripping around in 15 degree weather breaking ice covered ground from the prior weeks Midwest ice storm. I started last row of 60+ riders and ended up racing into 10th place to finish. Not bad considering I hadn't ridden or dismounted a CX bike since 2006 CX nationals in Providence, RI. I wish I could just stick to one discipline but damn I love bikes...period! That also reminds me...since I couldn't race the Leadville 50 during the summer due to my broken leg, the promoter gave me automatic lottery into the Leadville 100 for 2008 (which isn't easy to get). I'm excited about that to do some high altitude trail racing that starts at 10,200 and goes up above 12,000 ft. Woooo hoooo! I hope to prep for it by racin the Firecracker 50 in Breckenridge the month prior on July 4th. It should be a good tuner 1 mth prior to see where I'm at on the mtb.

Now that it is Feb, I've actually logged some good winter miles on both the road bike and mtn bike to keep it fresh over the cold months. Luckily the MOB crew planned a quick training camp over MLK day in Tucson for some warm base miles and I was able to haul down in the team van for 60 deg riding while it was single digits here in CO. That sure was nice to get 5 good days of miles and even some intensity hitting up the Saturday morning Shootout, that is coined as one of the fastest group rides in the nation. And I must say for an hour it was a slugfest.

Since then a few weeks ago, I've really been ramping up the training since our team will be racing at Valley of the Sun stage race in Phoenix in 2 wks. Luckily I've got an uber talented teammate, Scott Nagelkerke, that has raced from a Cat 5 to Cat 2 in less than one year to ride with on the weekends. It's nice being able to put in long days and have twinkle-toes push me up the climbs while I show some strength pulling on the flats and downhills.

As of last night I had pull off a makeshift TT set-up on my road bike, since I don't have a true TT bike yet for VoS. I may be getting one but don't want to be setting it up day of the race and I figured some carbon clip ons and some time on it prior will make a huge difference.

I must close with the fact of how fired up I am to compete this year following the broken summer of 2007 and the transition to CO of 2006...both of which put a big damper on racing. This season looks to be totally different!