I didn't get to bed until 2 am this morning but it wasn't all due to celebrating the new year. I called Jonnene to share the passage of one year to another, just as she called me about 15 hours earlier when the new year passed through Perth. Both calls lasted quite some time and I'm dragging about the house now. I'm trying to get motivated to do a relatively short bike ride later and then go to a friend's house for a chili party he's putting on...something he's done every New Year's for about 17 years. This will be the first time I've been able to attend.
I got in my last ride of 2006 yesterday and it was up in northern Bossier Parish, or as we call it: the Rocky Mount Ride. This was my first foray into the hills since I did the road race in Monroe back in September and it was painful, just as I thought it would be. By the time it was over I felt like I'd been hit in the thighs with sledgehammers. On a couple of hills I climbed pretty well but the rest were pretty ugly. Ten of us started and I managed to hang on for the first 26 miles through crossed eyes and scrambled brains. Then I had to give up and let the group go....I had warned them this might happen and to go on without me since I knew my way around the countryside. I turned onto Highway 2 and about 200 meters later my rear tire blew out, so forcefully that I felt the air rushed past my legs with a sound that was similar to a gun shot. That was fine with me, since it gave me a chance to rest a bit while I removed the damaged tire and installed the spare. Then I limped back to where we all had parked, put everything up, and left a note so that everyone would know what had happened. I covered 41 miles all told but the last 15 were pretty weak since the hills had taken a lot out of me. I still had to climb those hills on the return! Personally, I think downhills should be equal in time to the uphills but they go by way too quickly.
So, for the year I totaled 4,126 miles which is about 3,000 less than I would like to do but this year was interrupted so much by a lenghty illness in March, the wedding in May (which was fine by me), and my time off in November. After each of these times I had to practically start over from scratch to get back into race shape again. But if you take in both 2004 and 2005 when I rode a combined 7,483 miles, when I had this constant, irritating pain in my legs every time I rode (which, by the way, disappeared last March and hasn't returned), 2006 doesn't look so bad. I think 2007 will have an increase in miles and some better results in my races. My only interruption will be traveling to California to pick up Jonnene and Sophie (the dog) in late January or early February, and I'll probably be needing a brief break by then anyway.
And.....I put in about 164 total miles of running in 2006, including my half-marathon trail run last November. After a weak 69 miles in 2005, preceded by 237 miles in 2004, that was quite an improvement. I'll try to go for 200 again.
Resolutions for 2007 (that I think I can actually keep):
1. Be a good husband.
2. Eat better.
3. Read more.
4. Attempt to improve in everything else.
5. Constantly be amazed. When you think about it, everything is pretty darn amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment