When I was a kid my mom would always talk about “Spring Cleaning” – the period when winter was over, crocuses were pushing up through the last remnants of snow, and we were to get organized, clean up, throw out the old, and like the flowers I suppose, begin fresh and anew.

For me, this time of year is the end of December. Perhaps the purging is a reaction to the uselessness of the Christmas “stuff getting.” Perhaps it’s related to closing out the fiscal year, the calendar year, the training year. But January is a time for new beginnings, and I want to hit the ground ready and running.

As the Christmas decorations go back in the closet – out comes a bag of stuff for Goodwill, and another for the trash. There’s a purging of the file cabinets, there’s the cleaning of the fridge, and then there’s the list making; the training chart, the race calendar, the budgeting for trips and events. With a clean apartment, a new set of plans on my corkboard, and a long list of goals, it’s going to feel good to get started on 2012.

I taught the last Spinning class of the year on December 30^th. Most people do sports where they face forward and travel forward, but for me it’s a novelty. So to get on a Spinner bike and imagine myself sprinting on a wide open road was especially poignant that day. I felt the thrill of riding towards 2012, leaving 2011 further and further behind. Moving forward. Nothing gets me in the zone like riding a Spinner bike, watching the rhythm of my legs in the mirror, eyes forward, hips back and working hard. For me, the physical element is directly tied to my mentality, and one assists the other.

Thanks to those Spinning endorphins, I totally kicked the ass of 2011 that day. And with the past week’s cleaning and purging and planning, the running start I’ve gotten on 2012 is making me feel like I could probably beat that one too. And so I will, one ride at a time, all year long.

Coach Sara-Mai Conway