Training for 2010 - Racing and Blog Posts alike

 Well it’s that time of year again – the time of 10 mile vacant stares, tweeky muscle pains and almond butter cravings.  These are a few of the “symptoms” that I experience when getting back into the swing of structured training for the upcoming season – and they aren’t exactly HELPING my blog-writing skills!  I thought it would be pretty easy to keep this new website updated…looks like, along with getting into the rhythm of training, I’ll have to work on training my blogging skills – thanks for reading either way!

The length of the “off-season” varies from year to year and depends on how taxing, both emotionally and physically, the races and training of the season were.  Of the many off-seasons I’ve had, I found that 2009 left me feeling fairly energized and motivated for 2010.  Still, I managed to take at least 2 weeks completely off (of exercise in general) for our sweet street motorcycle trip and spent most of October and November doing whatever I felt like doing.  So far, “whatever I felt like doing” has equated to some house/bathroom remodeling, cyclo-cross and mountain biking. I've also been hiking, running and hitting the gym for some cross fit and my self-prescribed lifting program.  And, of course, riding motorcycles!

Street & Dirt Motos: Teton National Park & Nederland

The off-season has been a blast with all these different activities but now I’m getting my 2010 focus on!  Thanks to my coach and my official lifetime ban on trainers/stationary exercise, the fun will continue all the way into the race season.   I’m certainly back in the swing of regular workouts but still have plenty of room for fun, off-the-bike activities. 

Of note, I’ve been running just enough - I'm now able to put in :45-:60min while maintaining my ability to walk the next day.  This combined with some good hiking has been a great way to get the fitness going but, really, I’m waiting for the snow.  Jeremy and I finally got out into the backcountry yesterday and it was a great tease.  Despite living in the Rocky Mountains, and despite it being December, there just plain old hasn’t been enough snow for good skiing.  The conditions are still a bit patchy and the avalanche danger is HIGH right now, so we’ll be sticking to slopes below 30 degrees and not getting in too many turns.   I’m happy either way – there is nothing more amazing, relaxing, and challenging than skinning uphill for a few hours on back country skis.

Hiking with Brava & Kobi and Backcountry skiing

Still, I’ve been making it out on some good snowy mountain bike rides and nothing makes me dizzier, sleepier or, well, spacier than 3 hours of mountain biking on the snow.   But, hey, that’s why I love training – I love the feeling that you get after pushing your body to the level necessary to beat some people at the races!  The feeling of adaptation as you get more fit is also unbeatable.  Hopefully, my blog writing skills will also improve in a similar fashion – I’m a bit out of shape but feel very motivated to improve my blog-fit as 2010 approaches….