There's something beautiful and carefree in the spring when there's no structured training or intervals. Last year when spring came along I was very much into using the time to do some volume training and SKI. A lot. This year I think I am recognizing the importance of truly taking a break and doing some other activities.

For instance, I've been going to the climbing wall. The Burkys make fun of me, "going climbing horizontally again?" they ask, because I don't, so far, actually climb up the walls, I've only been going sideways. (I think climbers call this traversing, but I'm not sure I want to "be a climber" so I'm going to continue saying climbing sideways for now.) I looked down at my hands when I was typing recently and and thought, "there's strength in those hands." And it was fun to have a new thought along those lines. (My feet, conversely, still feel quite weak compared to when I was doing endless relevés and dancing sur les pointes.) I am finding the bouldering problems to be engaging and it's good to be a complete novice at something... I go for one new random skill per year and this year I'm starting with climbing sideways!