Downtime

The 2012 season is behind me. It has been a little over three weeks since I raced Ironman Arizona, and I now find myself in this somewhat strange place of feeling like that was an eternity ago, yet at the same time, yesterday.

I will be totally honest and say that I haven't come close to solidifying my race schedule for next year. My mind and life has been occupied with many other things. Spending time with friends and family that I haven't seen in quite a while has been great. A truly refreshing relief and pleasure.

My "offseason training" has been pretty unfocused. And I have enjoyed that. I have been spending time back up in my hometown and getting back to my where I planted my "roots" in endurance sports. I have really enjoyed getting back to some runs with my old running group, Club Ed, and having great conversations with the friends I've met there over the years.

Swimming has been pretty much non-existent.  I think I've been in the water four or five times since Arizona. This is both because I wanted to give my shoulder a bit of a break to rest and recuperate, and because I simply haven't wanted to swim. And my overarching rule this off season is "If I don't want to do it. DON'T!" So I haven't.

I have however, been riding quite a bit. No time goals, no watts to hit, no planned routes; just ride with friends and enjoy the scenery. I am actually surprised at how much time I've spent in the saddle. But it's time I have wanted to spend, so I have.

With that, I will leave you with some photos from my first ride on my TT bike and first over three hours since IMAZ. A fantastic day in LA with a good friend and incredible scenery.

Just a bit up one of the more famous climbs in LA

Snaking Road

Same climb, with a little Instagram touch

Malibu is not all ocean front

Looking out over the Valley

Coming back down to sea level

Back on the Coast

Santa Monica Pier and nearly the end of the ride