Natt Ross diary: Winter tri guy

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This winter Colorado has experienced a white, wet, cold one -- especially in the Front Range where I reside. The nasty weather has made for an interesting winter training regimen. Like most cyclists in the state, I have spent my fair share of time on the trainer and rollers. However, at some point in January, I cracked. Enough was enough, and I found myself cross country skiing, running, and snow biking more and more. Guess what? Those outdoor activities comprise the exact categories of the USA Triathon National Championships that were slated for my hometown of Winter Park the first week in February. Naturally, this race really intrigued me.

Back in the day, I was an All American NCAA Division I skier. A combination of skiing, running, and academic scholarships paid for college. After school, I was completely burned out on ski racing, so I coached the Western State College team and Summit High School teams before leaving the scene completely to focus on bike racing.

I love to classic ski and find time every winter to kick and glide for hours on end. It is a peaceful workout that completely taxes one's body. It's probably the best exercise you can get period. Over the past ten years, I have ski raced less than ten days. Talk about burned out on nordic racing, there are so may great races in my backyard, but I just didn't have the desire to put on a race bib and line up at the start.

My motivation changed big time this winter with the horrific weather that gave me a bad case of "Cabin Fever." I was running again and had a bad-ass setup for a snow bike.

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