The Year Without an Off-Season*

Mr. Cold Miser is in full force today.

It wasn't quite 40 below, but Sander and I went skiing.  Today was important because it was the day of Sander's first decent of an Aspen Mountain Black Diamond, the Northstar run.  He's been eying this run since the start of the season, and with the fresh snow, today was the day.  He was a little nervous looking down the run, but before I could say a single word of encouragement, he said, "Oh well, lets go dad!" and took off.  And he legit skied it.  It's funny, not one thing I do in sports makes me as excited as watching him get excited about hitting his goals, not one.  But while it wasn't 40 below, it was close, so we celebrated the run with some hot chocolate at the base and called it a day.

For me, I ran this morning, skied in the afternoon, and have PowerTap class tonight.  This off-season is shaping up like one I had years ago where I had a marathon in January (the Gasparilla Marathon), which is to say, there won't be one.  I have another January marathon this year, Disney (actually, I'm doing the "Goofy Marathon-and-a-Half" where I'm running a half-marathon on Saturday and the Marathon on Sunday), and Sander is running the 5K and Katie's running the 5K and half-marathon (we're raising money for the American Stroke Association-I had a stroke in 2006, not something I recommend).  Combine that race with the Duathlon Nationals in April, and there's not much chance of getting any rest this winter.  I have to admit, I forgot how incredibly boring long runs are on a treadmill set up in my garage.  I tell myself that mind-numbing boredom must be good mental training for long running, but my mind, which knows me pretty well by now, knows I'm pulling that out of my kouli**.

The worst part is that being winter, I can't even go with the "At least I'll look good in my board shorts" motivator because all you wear this time of year are big ol' winter clothes.  In fact, its worse because I don't have my usual winter blubber to keep me warm so I suffer even more on the mountain, or on those few days I try to man-up and run outside.

On a completely unrelated note, I found this message on my water bill.

 
This is a great example of copying a trend you cant pull off.  My water department is the 55 year old man at the club with the "I'm in Green Day" get-up.  Sure, Facebook and Twitter are all the rage these days, but really, who want's to be a "fan" of their water department?  Seriously, what is my water company thinking?  Maybe that after writing my check I feel so good about the whole situation that I want to become a fan?  Or that having them hit me once a month for cash isn't quite enough communication so I want to follow their goin's on a more regular basis?  Isn't this like being a fan of the IRS?  What's next, wardens asking inmates to "friend" them, or follow his musings on Twitter.  Yes, companies use Facebook and Twitter to reach their customers.  No, the water utility can't pull that off.  And you, old guy at the night club, ditch the eye-liner and 17 rings, it's not working.  Sorry.

*Obviously a riff on "A Year Without A Santa-Claus."  I think this is one of the more underrated Christmas movies from my childhood.  Rudolph and Charlie Brown steal all the glory, but the "I'm Mr. Snow Miser" song is far and away the catchiest song of the stop motion season. 

**Greek for "buttocks."  Reading the Power2people/Jason blog is fun and educational!