As the nights get colder, my life and training starts to transition. I'm done riding my road bike now, it's time to give my MTB and 'Cross bike their time in the spotlight. There has been a lot of snow riding, whether it's on gravel roads or on singletrack. I've also been in the gym and doing uphill running for leg strength. After the first few weeks of winter training, it always starts to get hard to motivate yourself to go out and get the big hours in. You really have to dig deep and figure out why you're doing this. Because I'll be honest, most of the time winter training is not fun. It's cold, slow, limited, and boring. Once in a while you'll get that perfect day with sun, no wind, and perfectly packed ice/snow, but that rarely happens. This year it has helped a ton to have groomed MTB trails to ride on in mission creek.
It's also been a bit weird to be home during Christmas, I keep feeling like I should be in Belgium racing. A lot of my friends are out racing in Belgium and I kinda feel... out of the loop. While everyone else is out racing in the mud, I'm here riding snow. On one hand it feels good. I couldn't have kept racing after the road season I did, I would have been below par fitness wise and mentally. The strain of everything being super serious and disciplined is not there either, which is nice. After the last few years of racing almost year round, I got used to constantly feeling like everything has to be perfect, which isn't healthy.
Outside of Cycling, the farm has been doing well. We currently have 7 litters of little piglets on the farm so most of the chores are localized to the barn. The snow and freezing temperature has kept the farm from getting crazy messy like it does in the spring and summer. We've now had 25 litters on the farm in less than a year, and some of our sows are approaching their 2nd or 3rd litter on the farm. The nice thing about chores is it keeps you outside and is never boring, the pigs always have something to say and want attention. It's been less than a year of doing pigs full time and we're already supplying 8 restaurants and the Duluth Co-op.
Things have been tough, but that's just a part of life, athlete or not. Some how I have to find the strength to push through the snow.
