Mid Winter

Some mornings getting up and going out into the cold couldn't feel better or more motivating. Today, it'll have to wait, in the summer the early morning bike ride is easier and harder, it's definitely colder. Going uphill on skis requires much less layering and strategy to avoid hypothermia.

Good

It’s been a rough fall, loss in a more important way than I ever imagined has put this cross season in perspective.  It’s made me want to be fitter, not faster, more healthy and holisticly focused. Keeping the bad choices and negative thoughts at bay. Easier said than done some days and others just rolling through as though I’ve never made a misstep. Mid race today-thinking about loss, putting things out of my mind and getting that minute’s work done. Driving better than I have in a while and trying to clear the cobwebs negativity leaves behind. It’s ok to feel good, it’s ok to be satisfied, drive is great but sometimes park is ok too.

Back on Track

Putting fitness and riding back to where they usually live on my priority list has made this week tough. No lack of motivation for the normalcy of intervals and the taste of deep efforts. The drive grows from a different place that I'm not entirely familiar with. Now, CX is back where I like it to live, looking at the schedule and feeling the goals solidify into the season I know I can have.

1st one for the year

Today it felt like my head was being held underwater for the whole hour. In a hot tub. I had enough air for a few laps then the efforts cost more and more, not on form not on task not on focus-whatever it was I paid for early confidence with a thorough lack of power and instead it became a training ride with race efforts. Not good but it gave me a chance to learn drifting the new bike (2018 Boone 9) with new tires (Challenge Baby Limus for dry courses).
The heat crept up on me, the ice sock on my upper back didn't do all I needed it to, I should've sat in the nearby pond for a half hour before the start. The heat was the antagonist today, as soon as it got me my system went into the survival mode and I tried and tried to cool, not today. It was good to open the account, to give my legs and lungs a taste of the next 4 months. It's here.

Open Space

I went thru one of the most open spaces I think I have ever been today. It had to be 10 miles in any direction before there was a substantial break to the topography, kind of like Kansas but with mountains rimming the expanse. Warm and exposed, quietly hiding in my own space as I passed through. It was beautiful, I felt insignificant, comfortable.

Ready

I'm ready to break dishes, the snap will return and the accelerations will come easy. Ready to go, I know that the season is long and there is still lots to do, giving up a workout so one more wheelset can be readied and one less half finished project to make the prep for important races less stressful.

Obvious

There's an innate beauty in repetition, our OCDs as athletes that keep us on the outside of the doctors office and on the perimeter of everyday life. We operate in plain sight, not hiding just functioning in our own way and ticking off the boxes that come with a set of good efforts. When the good ones are outnumbered by the bad we start to reconsider what we're doing, is a tweak in order? Or, will we come out of this hole better, stronger, wiser for being in it. This comes to mind as summer becomes CX Season. It's here and I'm not sure I've done enough. But if I felt good about it why would I even race? That's the reason we line up, if it was a foregone conclusion the racing would lack every single appealing characteristic.

CX is Coming

I rode a new bike today, a little bit of tempo and a little bit of exploring what might be in the tank leading into September. The good and bad of your biggest races happening so early, attention to detail is never more focused than late August as the summer ends and the season begins in a field sprint. Hmmm, just like CX. I'm getting it all lined up, unfortunately it takes away from the training but maybe too much right now isn't the best thing.

More Dirt

Not having CX bikes yet isn't the worst thing it just makes the MTB routes I choose different. It's not that I haven't recovered from the Epic I think it's that I'm not recovering from the day before. Crappy sleep choices only offset by good refueling has me 50% there after every effort. At least I have the work of #WorldCupWaterloo pushing my efforts that little bit deeper into the box. The MTB still feels fresh and lively, so I know I'm not stale, but I am ready for some CX training.  The high end is there, we'll see if the rest of the engine is firing.

Getting Out Of The woods

My first ride of any real measure since the Epic-as tired as I was going into it, surprisingly I didn't  suck. When I started pedaling the idea of a good ride seemed reachable, great weather and the motivation gained from watching this:

The ride was good, a little more than I've done and a lot more positive feeling. Maybe there's something in there after all. https://www.relive.cc/view/1153747019 The MTB
is good but I'm excited to ride the new Boones, maybe tomorrow...