I’m an idiot if all I do this winter is run.  My brother-in-law told me over Thanksgiving of his plans to train for a triathlon in the spring.  Chad already runs and recently bought a very cool road bike.  But he’s considering adding swim lessons to his regimen.  And then my buddy Rob is advising me about all sorts of alternative workouts I could be doing over the winter to strengthen my core and rest my knees.  But I’ve been preoccupied with the recent drop-off in my running mileage.  And for no good reason.

Baby it’s cold outside and I don’t have to be.  Here’s the plan.  I’m going to return to my weights in the basement.  They sit right outside my office.  I’m going to add a real pull-up bar to the ceiling rather than using the iron support beam that kills my fingers.  I have an elliptical machine in the basement as well that I’m going to ride when either it’s too cold outside or I can’t get off conference calls.  I might actually move that into my office.  And lastly, I’m going to pick up a new outdoor activity.  Karen is interested in snow shoeing.  That looks awesome.  It’s a lot like running, but it’s certain to be lower impact.  There’s minimal equipment to buy – relative to skiing.  And I suspect it will cost much less overall than skiing, but at the same time it will get me outdoors in the Colorado wilderness.  This might even be something the whole family could do.  It’s officially on my list of things to look into.

It’s simply nuts to think all I should do to train for the Austin Marathon in February is run.  I’ll burnout from boredom and it will possibly even lead to injury.  You hear all the time how cross training is more effective.  Snow shoeing won’t even feel like training.  It’s a bonus that now I am fit enough to try new sports and recreation.  If you’re already into it, tell me what I need to know to get started snow shoeing.