Some Thoughts on the Off-season

By Mike:

With the marathon over and no plans for another race for the rest of the year, I've been getting a ton of questions about what I've been up to for the last few weeks. I've been taking it pretty easy and many folks have been surprised by that. Easy's a relative term however so to give you an idea about just how easy is easy I did a Turkey Trot 5K at a pace slower than my recent marathon.

The off-season (for me at least) is a time to recharge and to explore other things I like doing such as strength and conditioning work in the gym or snowboarding or just plain downtime. To make sure I don't lose too much fitness, I do some maintenance work such as easy runs or trainer rides with a good DVD or TV show. I know some people will preach that there is no off-season but if you're like me you may want to allocate time for other non running/cycling/triathlon things as well and this is a perfect time to do it... well at least for the folks on the northern hemisphere! Unless you're a professional though it's hard to imagine going through multiple back-to-back seasons without some sort of respite and even then most folks probably still need some sort of "vacation."

But anyway... there's no right or wrong answer... fundamentally I think it comes down to the priorities in life.

Like Father, Like Son

By Ton:

Today, December 5^th, is Thai National Father’s Day, so this post is in honor of Mr. Pongsatorn C. (aka “My Dad”) for proving that age is but a number. Refusing to be outdone by his son’s racing endeavors this year, Mr. Pongatorn put in the training and finished his very first 10k race in Bangkok a couple weeks ago. CONGRATS!

Next up… his first half marathon before turning 60.

Here's to inspiring each of our loved ones to find their own finish lines in 2011. Their achievements fulfill us much as our own. Cheers!