If being type A wasn't enough, blend that with ADHD, 40+ hours of cubicle hell, and a regression in outdoor outlets. Transitioning into winter always kicks my ass mostly because it's also a transition of focus. Races are further apart, the warmth and light of summer is long gone, and sometimes you just want to keep rolling towards race level fitness. After the thrill of Heck of the North, I drank beer(s) often and denied the on-set of off season. I swore off Minnesota winter and had dreams of seasonal spots such as Moab, Tuscon, etc. The reality is, prime fitness isn't 365 and training full force 365 also leads to a blow-up. Mentally or physically, few can be razor sharp all year. For all the folks feeling the same pain, here's some inspiration to pull you through and capitalize on time away.
Off-Season is pretty legit (?):
Next year is going to be rad. It's going to include being a dad of two, a bike packing race through the mountains, and way more dirt via 2 wheels. Additionally, I'd love to discover more grassroots events and hand my race entries to less corporate entities. Grassroots is where it's at folks!
Until then, expect a few travel recaps, training discoveries, dad bod struggles, and photos of whatever caught my attention.
Happy Friday!
Off-Season is pretty legit (?):
- Fewer rides = more power - time away has led to more explosive and focused trail sessions. I simply have the pop to work hard because I feel more well-rested. Looking to learn a bit more about this over the off-season to apply it to training next year.
- Time to research - being new to the sport, it's nice to be in student mode again and learn from others. I have used time away from training to research lifting and training techniques that I can integrate into next year.
- Travel - Sometimes pulling away mid-season can be tricky. I've become less stressed over the years, but it's still nice to have no agenda. As a family we've had time to hike and explore areas of Wyoming and Idaho as well as just capture this amazing fall.
- Hobbies - ADHD leads to other things like too many hobbies. The fly rod has been out a bit more as well as those running shoes.
- Photos - I really hate the negativity in Facebook, but love Instagram. If anything, it's self-fulfilling and quite fun to take rad shots mid-way through adventures near and far. Slowing down and taking in the beauty of a commute sunrise or local trail has also driven my appreciation for Minneapolis sky high.
- Planning - Picking goals and key races for next year helps to cope with seasonal change and reset the drive towards new adventures.
- Shoring up Weaknesses - I hate lifting hard in-season, it just doesn't work for me. However, it is always awesome to return and achieve a new soreness that wasn't thought possible. Not to mention, a year full of races has always left me with new weaknesses.
- Mental Break - not looking at metrics and not being in a hurry leads to just enjoying the movement of an activity. It's a great time to not look heavily at tracking mechanisms, diet,
- Community - Whether it's riding more with friends, volunteering locally, or jumping in nonchalant races simply for the after party around a fire, off-season has proven perfect for this.
- Career - Yep, in a perfect world, desk jobs wouldn't exist (EVER!!), but I've always found the off-season a great time to remain focused, work longer, and reflect whether things are still moving in the correct direction career progression wise.
Next year is going to be rad. It's going to include being a dad of two, a bike packing race through the mountains, and way more dirt via 2 wheels. Additionally, I'd love to discover more grassroots events and hand my race entries to less corporate entities. Grassroots is where it's at folks!
Until then, expect a few travel recaps, training discoveries, dad bod struggles, and photos of whatever caught my attention.
Happy Friday!