Steamboat was fun, as always. Hotter than I like, and the first couple of miles doesn’t have too much tree cover so the sun felt worse than it probably should have. I cam in about 30 seconds per mile slower than I should have (again, just like the 5k from two weekends ago). But still, it’s a great race with some incredible runners at the front, and awesome volunteers and crowds.

The fall will be busy. I’ve decided to run the Lake City Marathon as basically just a long training run.  The next week is the inaugural Fox River Valley Marathon here in Saint Charles; I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to partake in the first running of my hometown marathon.  Then in mid-October I’m running the Des Moines Marathon.  Seattle in November?  We’ll see.

Next year should see some fun things as long as the body agrees with my admittedly ambitious schedule.

• Steamboat Classic 4 mile, Peoria, IL, June 19
• Great Western Freedom 4 mile, Saint Charles, IL, July 4
• Lake City Marathon, Winona Lake, IN, September 11

There’s a couple of other runs that I’m considering.  Suffice to say that cycling training has been shunted off to the side for now.

Last night I got in a nice 11 mile run along the Great Western Trail.  I went out not really thinking that I’d go that far, but when I got to three miles (which would have made it a six mile run on my out-and-back route) I figured that another mile wouldn’t hurt.  Then I added in another, making it a ten miler, and figured that I could get another half-mile out before Kristina would start to get worried.  Yeah, it was slow.  And I have a bit of soreness this morning.  But oh so worth it, if only for the confidence I now have that only running long can give.  And I can also be confident that my pace can only get faster.

Running is going to get me through the next couple of months; cycling will be somewhat limited.  That’s not a bad thing right now.  I’m going to be running the Steamboat Classic four-miler in June, and I’m thinking about possibly running a half-marathon in late summer or early fall.  After that, the cyclocross season will be knocking on the door, which is really what I’m most interested in.

This is the story of my off-season, or more accurately my second half of ‘cross season and my offseason.  Since mid-October, I’ve barely been on the indoor trainer, and have only run a minimal amount of miles on the treadmill.  The good news is that I’m finally at the stage where I can run or bike and not feel fatigued within thirty seconds of starting; the bad news is that I’m seriously far away from any semblance of race shape.

In the words of Vince Lombardi then: “Gentlemen, today we start the big push.”