Nervous?

It is January 24Th, Christmas was just over 4 weeks ago, anybody else feeling that the time is flying by? Racing season starts for me in 2 months, kicking off with NMBS#1 in Fontana California. I am excited and yet nervous all at the same time. I am training either indoors (riding trainer/ strength) or Nordic skiing. I am taking a bit of a different approach to my program for this year, trying to be much more specific with each workout. I only have a certain amount of time to train, even though we all wish there were more hours in the day. I have quickly figured out that with working outside in the cold, I am favoring the indoor trainer sessions. Don't get me wrong I love going for a ski in -30 weather, but I can gain more from being indoors. Now any of you who know me, up until this year my record indoor ride time was probably no more than 30 minutes. I much favor being outside than in. Really who likes starring at a wall? Although I am known to pound some big hours, with training stress coming in the from of pure volume, I am actually kind of digging the specific stuff. I mean you can't gap out the same and venture off into LA LA land, you always are thinking about what is going on, or what is coming next and you know what time flies by. I am almost up to 4 hr rides inside! Now mind you those are my endurance days, but come on, for me that is a feat. Last year I would way rather log a 200km day way before doing 4hrs on the trainer. I had a bit of a weakness in my noggin about training inside, I not only have met my goal to get my damn head around the fact that this is the way it is and get tough, get your head in, or get out.

A Constant.

Last night I went to the Hunstville stop of the Banff Film fest World Tour. It's a evening where people from all different kinds of activities and life styles come together to view some of the best outdoor footage shot over the past year(s). Among the crowd were Paddlers, Climbers, Skiers and Snowboarders, Cyclists and avid outdoors people. They all have some sort of a interest in the outdoor Culture and lifestyle. Even if you do not have a great interest in the outdoors, you can not help but get that little tickle down your spine as you watch some of the films. It is inspiring for some, motvating for others.

There was a common interest in the crowd there last night, we all turn to the outdoors at some point in our life. Whether it be any of the above listed sports, we use them as a way to get out, get some from fresh air, some time alone, or to spend some time with friends. We use our activities for such a wide range of reasons and to each their own. Maybe to burn some holiday pounds off, or to capture some of Nature's fine sunsets, or even sunrises for that matter (I do). The outdoors is a Constant. It is something that hopefully will always be there.

Everyone has something they turn to in their life. For some its Booze, Butts or even Food. It is something that comforts you. A Constant, something you can turn to when your up or down, good or bad, when your bummed or feeling good. And for some it is what is, Big beard or not its simply getting Outside.

Breakfast Pre Tempo Workout

99 out of 100!

Life is like a game of blackjack, except on a scale of 100. Whoever gets as close to 100 without going over wins. Where ever point is a measure of stress, and everything counts, if you happen to go over, you lose. It is a good way to keep yourself in check. It does not matter if you are an athelete or not, it is something to think about. For me this week was as close as I think I have ever gotten without going over. I feel as if I have had a proper mix of training, work and life and I still feel good, but today is definetly a rest day.

Winter

Today was a solid 3 hour trainer ride with some strength tossed in to mix things up a bit, 180 Min's starring at a wall trying to stay motivated gets kind of hard. I only have 3 channels on the tube and after the news is over at 9am the rest of the morning is a gong show, some Ellen and Dotto Tech is all that was on. Oh and some Religious talk show. So I resorted to the tunes again as I always do, Loud and motivating. That has got to get the wheels rolling a bit faster, and then I got thinking of how cold it is going to be outside for the next 48 hours, and when they talk about where Fahrenheit and Celsius meet, you know it is going to be cold out there!

Where did the Holiday's go?

Last that I remember it was 2008 and Christmas was still a couple of days away. I sit here now, on my first real day off in the last 18 days and I am trying to remember how my Holiday's went. In a nutshell my days were a blurred routine, up at 5:05am, get the coffee brewing (that's Priority), put some oatmeal on the stove, get the fire stoked (or going if it was a cold night), use the toilet, eat breakfast and be on the bike for 5:50am. It is a dialed system that I have lay ed out for my morning and it has to be otherwise I would not get out of bed, who would? I ride for 90min probably with some specific workout, either some intensity or efficiency focus. I start to strip down with 3 min remaining in my workout, that way I can jump straight into the shower. Get dressed and go. Grab coffee en route to work, maybe ad a little treat in there, yes it is still only 8:15am but I have already been up for 3 hours.

Work is the easy part of my day, and I find it quite relaxing. I teach Snowboarding full time. To some(most) people teaching snowboarding all day is more than enough energy expended in one day, but just teaching snowboarding does not get you fast on a bike. Or does it? Actually it probably helps with the technical side of racing Mountain bikes. Agility, coordination etc. I work until around 3:30pm and hit the road with another coffee(and some banana bread) and try to squeeze in some more training time. Usually a 1-2 hour xc ski. I always rush to get to the trails to try and get as much of the workout in the daylight as possible. I really don't mind the skiing in the dark, it just gets colder and darker and makes it a bit less motivating to stay out there. After that it is straight home, maybe with a detour to pick up Meg and on to home. Build a fire, the temp at home after being gone all day hovers round 5 degrees, we heat with wood only, Yay. Eat dinner, lay out all my wet cloths to dry, make my lunch, stoke the fire and crash!.