Yeah...it's been 229 days since my last post.  It's called winter!  Here's a quick wrap-up of what's happened since my last post:

- Jenn and I went on an awesome 2 week trip to Europe...and I can't wait to go back.
- Around Thanksgiving, I had what appeared to be a not-too-serious bike crash with my buddy, Joe Kurtz.  It appeared he took the brunt of it.  But, as it turned out...I did.  I had shoulder problems for about 2 months...and pulled the cartilage from my ribs.  This definitely had an affect on training.
- I skied pretty hard with friends in Park City (skiing is definitely my other love).
- I came down with some sickness that lasted about 2 months.  Also affected my training.
- Oh...and the most important off-season event....I got a new bike...a 2011 Felt DA.

After being out most of last year with injuries....I figured I'd have no motivation issues coming into this season.  Wrong.  I'm not sure if it's just all of the setbacks I had over the past few months, or if I'm just getting tired of all of the structured training, or if I'm just getting old....but getting into training has been tough.  Now that we're getting closer to the warmer weather, I am getting more motivated.  It's also motivating to be able to get outside on the new bike.  I'm really psyched to race on it.  It is FAST!

Anyway, I'll keep this post short.  On the race radar this year I have Escape From Alcatraz, Buffalo Springs 70.3, Age Group Nationals, Rev3 Maine and Ironman Florida.  In addition, I'll be doing a bunch of local races too.  Also, over the next week or so, I'm going to try to finish up my report on my sports hernia surgery.  I've been told that a bunch of people have read it and found it helpful.  Now that I'm just over a year removed from it, I think it's safe to say that it was successful.

-P