"Just Keep Moving." It's a staple to endurance racing, sure, but it's also a pretty stellar mantra for life. Everything has been a whirlwind as of late. Work is increasingly busy across product management, website management, and live events. The kids are each day's highlight, but insanely active. Without fail, I also set a high bar for myself with race fitness as I feel it's benefits throughout life. Everyone has their own "reason" for racing. A slim percentage base it solely on podiums. Let's be honest, most don't have the skill, time, focus, drive, or a combination of many things to have that be the driving reason. For me, it burns off stress, gives me energy to juggle all the things, and assists in making healthier choices around consumption. Besides that, it's about the adventure, people, and seeing new places that I normally wouldn't. Sometimes when things get intensely crazy, its best to recenter on the "why" behind time allocation. Family, health, friends, job - check!
I'm looking forward to spring races - winter has been far too long already. Training blocks have gone well, maybe even a bit ahead of last year now that I know what I am doing! On the race front, I challenged myself to not be a creature of habit, registering for new races and passing on some repeat offenders. In addition, spacing a bit better to keep the fire lit all year versus burning out at points - we shall see. So far I've relied on indoor training and my Stages power meter, but I'll face the elements in February to get in additional hours that I can't find indoors. I've also started back into running a touch. In short, I miss time on the trails and my ankle is healthy. Bicycle racing just continues to be more exciting - thrill of speed - and the training fits my life better as I bike commute the majority of summer which builds great base. I will be going back to my first love, Superior Fall Races, in September to run a trail marathon though. We will see how it goes!
Lastly, as things get extremely busy and training ramps up, recovery is always interesting - especially as a dad, employee, etc, etc. I always play with the obvious offenders - nutrition and hydration - both the timing and amounts. In that regard, beets or juicing beets, has always worked extremely well to increase endurance, lactic threshold, ability to withstand longer amounts of stress, and recovery timing. In short, it increases blood oxidation levels and the extremely disgusting taste has paid noticeable dividends in performance. Well, back to extremely disgusting taste and juicing (more time spent doing weird shit)...
This year I am super excited to be an ambassador for Altred By Sur (dude you lost me at weird name). In short, they took all the greatness behind Beets and distilled it into a tiny pill that is Clean Sport certified and 100% plant based. I've found it to be a powerful aid in performance and recovery. Aside from what they stand for and a great product, I can officially use the juicer for tastier things that don't look like a murder scene.
Check them out and try on me at a 50% discount if you've also been a fan of beet juicing. (use code below in image).
Can't wait to write about adventures and racing in 2018 - let's go spring!
I'm looking forward to spring races - winter has been far too long already. Training blocks have gone well, maybe even a bit ahead of last year now that I know what I am doing! On the race front, I challenged myself to not be a creature of habit, registering for new races and passing on some repeat offenders. In addition, spacing a bit better to keep the fire lit all year versus burning out at points - we shall see. So far I've relied on indoor training and my Stages power meter, but I'll face the elements in February to get in additional hours that I can't find indoors. I've also started back into running a touch. In short, I miss time on the trails and my ankle is healthy. Bicycle racing just continues to be more exciting - thrill of speed - and the training fits my life better as I bike commute the majority of summer which builds great base. I will be going back to my first love, Superior Fall Races, in September to run a trail marathon though. We will see how it goes!
Lastly, as things get extremely busy and training ramps up, recovery is always interesting - especially as a dad, employee, etc, etc. I always play with the obvious offenders - nutrition and hydration - both the timing and amounts. In that regard, beets or juicing beets, has always worked extremely well to increase endurance, lactic threshold, ability to withstand longer amounts of stress, and recovery timing. In short, it increases blood oxidation levels and the extremely disgusting taste has paid noticeable dividends in performance. Well, back to extremely disgusting taste and juicing (more time spent doing weird shit)...
This year I am super excited to be an ambassador for Altred By Sur (dude you lost me at weird name). In short, they took all the greatness behind Beets and distilled it into a tiny pill that is Clean Sport certified and 100% plant based. I've found it to be a powerful aid in performance and recovery. Aside from what they stand for and a great product, I can officially use the juicer for tastier things that don't look like a murder scene.
Check them out and try on me at a 50% discount if you've also been a fan of beet juicing. (use code below in image).
Can't wait to write about adventures and racing in 2018 - let's go spring!