Interesting....

Well, winter's definitely over and it's time to start building fitness. Even though my back is still gimpy (it hurts every morning getting out of bed), I'm now seeing a physical therapist to try and get this corrected. Thus far, the issue seems to be one of core strength (or lack thereof) coupled with riding more. Cyclists are constantly in flexion in the lower back during workouts and without proper "opening up" of the lower back muscles, pain can persist. Couple that with ridiculously weak abdominals and the picture becomes more clear. So I'm now doing some specific core muscle stretching and work with the PT. I'm hopeful that the pain will subside over the next 6 weeks or so....
I also have decided to enlist some pro help with training this year. Since I've gotten more serious with riding the last couple of year, it's becoming apparent that I don't know very much about efficiency when it comes to training. I pretty much just ride my bike a lot. Which is fine, but with 3 amazing little kids and a lovely wife that I want to spend time with, I need to fine tune a plan and eliminate garbage miles. To that end, coach needed to have an understanding of my 30 minute time trial effort. F*ck if I know, I've never actually done a 30 minute TT so it was an adventure in pain. I set up the trainer in the garage, popped on the iPod, warmed up for a good 20 minutes and then cranked. As hard as I could for 30 minutes. The monitor said the avg HR was 163 bpm...I am pretty sure that I gave it everything...I was seeing spots by the last few minutes. My goals are to do a few more road races this year as well as a few MTB races and gear up again for 'cross. I'd really like to grab a couple of podiums next year and I'm hoping that coach will provide the guidance.

In other news we have a beautiful new addition to the Sweeney clan...my brother and sister in law welcomed Cameron Patricia Sweeney into the world this week. Can't wait to meet her!!!

We also have a new string of kids' sports gearing up (which is also why the aforementioned coach was put on the payroll, as Dad is going to start coaching...). Meghan is in farm league softball with her buddies which I think is going to work out better than teeball. She was the only girl on her team last year and it started to wear on her by the end of the season. Caitlin gets her first shot at team sports this spring with Munchkin soccer. It's our belief that she's going to enjoy the conflict and rough-play; getting bounced around pushed Meghan away from soccer and I'm thinking Cait is going into the scrum with elbows up!