Life of a Athlete.

An athletes best friend and fuel source (most of the time).


The hands of Mark Batty hard at work....

15lbs of Pad Thai!

8 days of training later.... I think I may be a bit tired. It totally makes sense though, in the last 8 days Mark and I have ridden 30hrs total, not bad, not bad. A few 5hr days, a handful of 4hr days and 2 shout-outs later I am feeling it. It is a good feeling (I am sitting contemplating what I am riding today), maybe a rest day? or maybe a 4hr day up Lemmon? I am drinking coffee and maybe once I see the bottom of my mug I will get my butt in gear. I had the privileged to make 15 lbs of pad Thai last night! We had a bit of a pot luck dinner with a Chinese or Thai theme, so Mark made 10 lbs of coconut rice and I did the Pad Thai. It was so good to indulge on good food with good friends!

Can I get a Deluxe Breakfast with hotcakes please?

On the road, and in a high roller motel in the middle of New Mexico. Here are some quick highlights of our trip down to Tucson.

-Planned on leaving Wednesday morning, really left in the evening.
-Also planned on getting ripped apart at the border, we didn't.
-We were not planning on pulling any "through the night'ers", we did.
-Planned on eating healthy, uh.......
-Ran my car to a 52L fill up, it is only a 50L tank. That was close.
-Got a freaking parking ticket before we had even left Toronto. Great start to the trip.
-Overheard a conversation from a cowboy in a gas station subway restaurant talking on the phone to many people trying to cancel his credit cards. He had just been robbed at gun point! He had pulled over to try and help a lady with a flat tire on her car, he only got out of his truck, walked over to the car to find a dude with a gun, "give me everything", the robber said. He did, and now he was stuck in the middle of Texas with no wallet and no money to get home and no body had offered to help him out yet. So mark and I split the cost of filling his tank. It was a shit situation he was in, and hopefully if something like that ever happened to one of us someone would do the same.

Anyways, it is time to go and see what junk food they are calling breakfast in this joint.

Peace out.

Mark and I are going to be hitting the road around noon today, we have a few last min stops in TO before we point the car south, actually it is more south west. We are headed to Tucson and will be there for the next 3 weeks. After a few solid weeks of shoot outs and sunshine Mark fly's to the Dominican and I go dirt bagging it around Arizona/ Utah. After a week or so of minimal showers, big training days and sleeping under the stars I will make my way over to Cali for some surfing(and riding). I will keep you guys posted on what is happening in the south west. Over and out.

Winter?

The last few weeks have been quite enjoyable for training. Especially if you compare this year to the two winter's past. I have been riding inside and out, on nice days when the road is dry, it is a "outside day". On days when riding outside is not ideal, I am cruising the rollers, or cross training (insert skiing or snowshoeing). Riding the rollers is same old boring stuff that has no point to be written about. Riding outside is exciting when you see something cool, maybe like a great gray owl! Which I did see yesterday! It was very cool, so quiet and sleek flying from a tree in front of me and swooping overhead and across a farmers field.

Last week I did one of my all time favorite ski loops in Ontario. It was in Kolopore and involved skiing most trails there, just under 5hrs worth. I had forgotten my headphones and was forced to be a observant of nature. I ended up having one of the best days out skiing in some time. I couldn't help but to stop a handful of times and just take in the view and amazing scenery. As athlete's we far to often get zoned in on what we are doing, and are far to focused on having a perfect "training day". I usually hate stopping while I am exercising and I usually have music going religiously. That day out skiing in Kolopore, I appreciated the fact that I was taking for granted too many things everyday.

When my laundry is still, I will tumble.

Winter is here. Full on, friggin cold and flooding with snow. It seems that the minute the ball dropped (new years) it has not stopped snowing! I have been fighting a damn cold for the last week (or four) and it seems that it may be starting to give in. It is a constant battle for balance between training, rest, recovery and other(insert whatever you desire, I chose late nights with too much wine). Anyways my mind has been saying "come on, toughen up and let's go!". My body on the other hand has been combating with only so much energy in a 24hr period. So if I want to run 4hrs, well that means I am stuck on a couch the rest of the day. Or if I want to go out to shake my booty in the evenings, well hopefully it wasn't on a 4hr day, cause I'd be skunked.(insert secret weapon, coffee)!. Anyways it was a stellar holiday, one of the finest in my mind! I am really itching to get out skiing in a bit so I will sum up below what has been happening lately.

1-Great new band, USS or short for Ubiquitous Synergy Seekers. 2 man show, where Nirvana meets a modern DJ, or something like that. They are sick and have some great music! Check them out.

2-I had a interesting conversation finishing my run while cooling down walking the 100m home, with a fellow local snow-shoveler and it went as follows:

Shoveler: How many minutes you been out today?
me: hmmm, 3hrs, times 60 min per hour, so 180min.
Shoveler: Looks at me with a bogus frown/smile. ie. idiot face.
Shoveler: Why? (the big question).
me: Shoulder Shrug.
Shoveler: I would have froze after 20 min in this weather. (-20 ish with 60km gusts).
me: licking a salty icicle from the drop forming from my nose.
me: It's not that bad out. (really I know it is shit out).
Shoveler: Are you going to Everest or something?
me: Now I am making the idiot face frown smile thing.
me: Nooo,, well one day I guess, but no time soon.
Shoveler: On days like today you are supposed to stay inside and drink beer and watch tv. Not be outside running around like a pansy playing in the snow.
me: back to licking icicle.
me: Is that so? Who would of known?
Shoveler: Well, since your out here, would you mind giving me a push?
me: Sure. (Not realizing what I would be pushing).

we walk around the corner to find a cube van a little stuck.

me: back to idiot face. That?
Shoveler: What?
me: I think she may be a bit stuck eh. (as I kick a tire).
Shoveler: That thing? no, no no, my snow blower, as he leads me around the corner to find a Snow-blower so old, that it looks like you may as well just shovel the bloody driveway. Either way the thing is under some serious snow cover.
Shoveler: you pull, I will push.
me: K.

We get the snow-blower out and started (I really didn't think that it was going to start).

me: well I better get going, I have some beer to drink.
Shoveler: Smiles, thata boy. Thanks for the push.


Wow, so I really didn't think that conversation was going to be that long.... So because of that I am ending it here and going skiing.

Peace.

December Wink.wink. (Wink,wink).

Eat to much. Drink to much. Eat to much again, drink to much again. Vow that training has started and that I need to cut back on the Christmas dinner's and Drinking. Lasts one or two days then, eat to much again followed by drinking way to much.
I have come to realize that it is way more for fun and probably more healthy to enjoy good food and good drinks with great friends, which sounds bogus but mentally makes all the sense. Isn't athletics 90% mental and only 10% physical? So why bother fretting over the minority?
I have been a long time believer in this philosophy, but not always been the first to follow suit. For the month of December I have trained as usual, but made sure that I was taking almost every opportunity to give'er (piss off mark). Alright within reason. Long story short, I am not to sure where December went.

On another note, Adam figured out how to legitimately swap itunes libraries(so cool) because he has so much great music! I am getting tired of the same old "radio" tunes that seem to be overplayed far to quick, especially some really good songs. It just seems that as soon as the radio gets a hold of the song(s) or they realize that people like them, they crush it.

I have been fighting winter outside so far everyday in one form or another. Some time has been spent on the bike, but on really hard days outside(-20or below, w/wind chill) I have resorted to skiing, snowshoeing or running. I have really just put a focus on "work", which is basically calories out. If I feel like running a marathon today, I will. If I feel like skiing a marathon tomorrow I will. I still have plenty of time to get specific, but for right now I am still trying to engage in as many things as possible other than riding. I have yet to expel any calories on the trainer, and I am not planning on riding inside until the new year.

I met up with Peter G for a last minute pole run, followed by a Starbucks coffee date. We Ran around Hockley Valley on trails that he was familiar with. The Starbucks we went to was also familiar to him, as they knew exactly what he wanted and even added extra foam on top.She said she did it because it "looked good", then Pete replied, "or was it because I looked good?".