Since my shitshow at Sussex CX I have been trying a new schedule with the family to help the riding side of things. It's hopefully going to help my motivation and having to ride less at night or on the trainer. Motivation has been spotty this season for one reason or another and it doesn't help when I know I have to go out on a cold night or ride the trainer. I HATE the trainer. I would rather ride outside 120% of the time but with the family that just doesn't happen. Plus the fact that when it's cold it takes damn near 30 minutes to get dressed and undressed on a cold ride, that's just extra time away from all the other things I need to be doing. So sometimes the trainer is the smart choice - although I would rather not. The new schedule didn't really pay off this past week as the snow storm kinda blew the plans but it happens. I ended up doing shoveling intervals and had to shorten rides for one reason or another. The good part is that I'm not stressing about racing any more. I may race a couple more times this season and maybe not. I'll see how I feel and see how the weather is. I have enough races to hopefully land on the CX podium for this season. That's kinda crazy given how crappy I felt for some of the races but it really helps when there is only 5 guys racing each weekend so there's that. I've just been enjoying getting out on the mtb again. This past Sunday I got out with some of the guys from my team and all of the state of NJ at Allaire and we had a blast. It beat the 6+ inches of snow and slop still hanging around my neck of the woods.
Hopefully my next few weeks/months will be good as I just got through the worst part of the year for me. Nov 9th and 19th are the worst days of the year for me. The anniversaries of the passing of my close buddy(1yr) and my father(7yrs) make this a really hard time of the year but I'm past that and feeling better. Couple that with starting to eat smartly again sucks but I'm trying to think ahead to next season and drop some unwanted tons and feel like myself on the bike again. I know I won't have the fitness of 2011-2013 but I would like to be lighter and more energetic. It's been a week so far and I'm seeing some gains in the weight department but not in the power department. I feel like I have no juice on the bike and I know it's partially because my body is in shock of all the lack of food I'm giving it. Don't get my wrong I haven't turned anorexic, but I have been much less yet super clean calories. Empty is the new full - right?
Thinking ahead to next season, I'm not sure as to what I want to do. I'm missing the traveling and destination races. So I'm looking to do a couple and the wife is on board. I'm thinking about the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek in NC, or maybe the Stoopid 50 in VA for an early season race, followed by the Mohican 100 and the Wilderness 101 if I can get my act together. It's gonna take a lot of work to get back to where I'd feel comfortable racing these, but if the past is any indicator, if I want it bad enough I'm going to make it happen. The one thing I want to make sure I don't do it to race just to race. I've done enough at this point that if I know I don't feel well or can't give it a good effort then I'm going to back out. I don't have anything to prove and I still want to have fun on my bike. Beyond that the H2H will be on the radar in either the XC or the Endurance form. Or maybe a combination of both. I don't want to lock myself into a series if I'm not going to fully commit to it and I think I get sucked into it to easily.
Short track is definitely on the list as well. Like I said earlier I gave up coaching ski racing this season so hopefully that will pay off in my riding. That should give me a nice block of time to get my shit in gear for racing in 2019. I really don't like being mediocre at racing. I'm hoping that this offseason can be a good one and get some fitness and happiness back for next season. We'll see.
And here's a pic of more woodworking therapy I did this past weekend. The firepit finally has all the furniture complete. Now I have to debate if I want to start making and selling some of these. I've had requests already.