Oh boy oh boy – could spring be arriving early to us lucky folks in Ottawa? This past weekend we had some excellent weather and there were more than a few hardy cyclists out riding in the brilliant sunshine. I was still housebound with my recent cold – but the rest has paid off and the cold appears to be gone. Which means that I’m hoping this warm weather trend continues – I’ll be out there this weekend pedaling and moving rather than pedaling and not moving!

So this cold as I mentioned is basically gone. I rode for 45 easy minutes yesterday and 60 slightly less-easy minutes today – both times will no ill effects.

One interesting discovery thanks to this cold has been some inspiration found in an unlikely place. Inspiration all thanks to Halls. Yes, Halls – the cough drops… Marc picked up a bag of them for me and upon unwrapping my first berry-flavored Halls I discovered a wrapper with inspirational words on it. These inspirational words are bilingual and really are quite brilliant. Just the words one needs when forced down with a cold or sore throat. So all thanks to Halls, here is some late-February inspiration (maybe you can use these words today when you hop on the trainer or convince yourself to ride outside this weekend):

Go For It
Let’s Hear Your Battle Cry
Nothing You Can’t Handle
Don’t Try Harder. Do Harder!
Be Unstoppable
Get Through It
Don’t Give Up On You
Don’t Wait To Get Started

See – pretty darn inspirational and convincing! (Yes, I saved my Halls cough drop wrappers.. My mom is super talented creative embroiderer and she “makes” fabric out of wrappers. Yes you read that correctly. She collects wrappers from candies, bars, gum, etc and somehow converts them into fabric – I have a wallet made out of wrappers. So I thought she could use these wrappers with inspirational quotes to create some nifty fabric!)

Alright and for today – well our collective mission is to think spring and to think sun. If we all put our minds together we can make this happen and get out for a ride on Saturday and on Sunday.

Frankly, I’m frustrated. Really frustrated. I have another cold. Just as I was getting back into structured training and making some gains – I was hit by a cold. A cold that forced me to take six days off the bike. Fine a cold is a fact of life… I’ve been back training now for two weeks and guess what? I have another cold…

Grr. Very frustrating. This one is only in my head but I have that “hurts to swallow” feeling as well. Not impressed. I know it is only February but I want to ride and train. Kind of feels like two steps forward and three steps back.

Sorry for whining here…. Anyway, I’m taking a second day off the bike. Hoping that the rest will help and I can get back to riding on Saturday. Apart from being stuffed up, congested and coughing a bit I feel pretty good… I’ve been sucking on Zinc lozenges and taking the powerful oil of oregano (wow this stuff is potent and I think it does help).

Alright, so this is where I’m at. I have a cold. I’ll get over it. Okay whining is now over. Have a great Friday!

Over the last couple of days all I’ve been able to think about is racing my bike again. I’ve been thinking about the spring and summer races I’ll be doing. I’ve been thinking about what I’ll do in these races (yes, a bit crazy but I can’t help it!).

In short – I’m itching to race my bike again. When I’m riding my bike in the basement watching another episode of Damages (pretty good for the trainer..) and grunting through another set of intervals, I’m thinking about racing. I’m think of goals left unsettled, of new goals, and of simply getting out on the open road.

This is a good thing. I think I’ve finally reached a point where I’m back to full health – my nasty ulcerative colitis flare of 2010-2011 is well-behind me, my body has rebounded from the medication side effects, my back is fully healed from my 2011-2012 season-ending injury, my confidence is back, and I’m feeling good.

I finally feel like myself again. The self that really just wants to get out and have some fun on the bike. I have no outcome goals for the spring/summer racing. My goal for each and every race is to go as hard as I can – to push myself, to be engaged in the race, and see what I can do. I fully expect this approach to racing to end with some surprises – likely some blow-ups on the bike, some lucky moves that put me in a successful break, and others that simply show me what I still need to learn.

I don’t know how other cyclo-cross racers approach their spring/summer racing campaigns (so tell me!) – but this is what I aim to do. I’ll be building fitness and strength during this time so I’m excited to see what does happen.

Yes, I’m excited. I wish I could get out and race today! It is hard to believe that I’m turning 40 in a few months – I have a feeling this will be a good year.

(My good friend Nikoline Hansen emailed me this photo today – it was taken of us at the 2009 Treviso, Italy World Cup – this race seems like a lifetime ago. It was the start of a dream season. Nikoline and I met that day during the pre-ride and have been friends ever since. Amazing what the bike gives you.)

Today is a very good day! This morning I had an appointment with my sports medicine doctor and I received some excellent news about my fractured L3…

Well, it has healed – two weeks ahead of schedule. After some tests and movement analysis, my doctor has given me the all-clear. So this means I can get back to yoga and really go full-steam ahead with training for the upcoming spring and early summer racing season.

Even better news is that my bone density scan revealed very positive results regarding my bone strength. There was some concern that I might have osteoporosis – but the bone density scan has revealed that my bones are actually stronger than average.

All of this news gives much some extreme confidence in my body and overall health. There will be no lingering thoughts in my head when I start the cyclo-cross season in September that my back is not ready for the impacts of cyclo-cross racing.

A good day indeed! 2012 is looking better and better each week.

Like most Canadian cyclists, I am getting very well-acquainted with my trainer. I’m doing lots of pedaling in place and watching a lot of television programs and movies to help pass the time. No complaints here – I’m super happy to be back to regular training and most importantly to seeing my fitness come around.

It is amazing what a short break can do to your fitness! We’re still taking things fairly moderately this first month since I’m not 100% recovered from my back injury but I’m making steady progress every week. I had an encouraging appointment with my physiotherapist last week – she said that I am getting stronger and now I’m allowed to stretch. I have missed stretching so much – my hamstrings, calves and quads were starting to get super tight. So now I’m getting super friendly with my foam roller and doing some gentle yoga moves in my basement after each trainer ride.

Really other than this, there isn’t too much to tell you about. I am not going to spend any time commenting on the recent “big news” in the cycling world. What is there to say?

I’m simply looking forward to getting my bike out on the open road again! It is tempting to plan a spring training camp somewhere but I have to remember that my focus is cyclo-cross and I don’t need to go away in the spring to prep for a race season that starts in September. I have taken a good long look at the 2012-2013 cyclo-cross calendar and I’m super excited about the upcoming season.

I’m very happy to be racing in Plzen and Tabor again to kick off my European season. There is also a World Cup in Rome so this will be a new course for me. The North American schedule is chock full of races so it is going to be a busy month and a bit before I take off for Europe.

But for shorter term goals, I’m looking forward to the spring and early summer racing season. I’ll be out at likely all of the local and area racing events. Back out at the Tuesday night crits as well. And something new for this year, I’m going to be helping out with the OBC program set up for younger kids – I think this will be a great experience – I’m sure I’ll learn a thing or two from these young kids as well (hint – I need to learn how to hop a curb!).

If you’re in Ottawa and are looking for something to do on Friday night – how about coming out to Empower Me yoga studio for a free yoga class? This class is sponsored by Lolë and is a great way for you to kick off the weekend. I’ll be there so let me know if you’re coming out.