There is nothing quite like prepping for the first race of the season – particularly when you are prepping in Calgary, Canada.  Woke up this morning to freezing rain along with sprinkles of snowflakes the size of my head – almost. Oooh, I guess it’s looking like that oceanside bike prep will be done indoors this weekend.  Yeeehaw!!!!!!  (I am sending excitement vibes electroncially to you – feel them??)

Actually, no, it’s all good.  Once you wrap your head around the fact that you will go through about 5 bottles, and double that amount of ‘mini towels’ (all which I swear to return to the YMCA!) to soak up the copious drips of sweat and saliva…yep it’s all good:)  May not be the most enjoyable way of spending a Saturday morning/early afternoon.  Heck…who needs cappuccinos while grazing over the morning newspaper at the local coffee shop playing your favorite mellow tunes?  Not I….bring on sweat fest!!  Besides…isn’t that cappuccino just THAT much better after you’ve fulfilled your goal of the day?  Truly. 

Besides, we Canadians (or Russians or whomever else faces winter bliss) must remember that races are won or lost in these sweat lodged basements of ours, watching the same old ‘Rocky’ or ‘American Flyers’  DVD over and over only to get that moment of inspiration from that ‘one scene’ – you all know the one – the one that makes you realize why you’re doing this in the first place.  Remember folks, “It ain’t about how hard you can hit, it’s about how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward, how much you can TAKE and KEEP MOVING FORWARD.”  The essence of basement training when spring is just around the corner….