The Off Season

This year I'm attacking my racing from a different angle.  I'm going to take an off season, and in this off season, I'm trying not to ride my bike.  If you know me, that's an incredibly difficult task for me to accomplish, but I'm working really hard at staying off my bike and spending more time in the gym (Just what I need..right?).  So this last month I took the opportunity to try "new" things, get buff at the gym, clean my house, and teach more classes. IMG_2711

Chris was more than thrilled to hear I was taking time off my bike.  In order to take advantage of this, he took me up to Mt. Baker and we went snow shoeing!  For those of you who know me, you know, this was no small feat.  First off, I hate the Mt. Baker highway, all the twists and turns with a steep drop off, freak me out.  Secondly, I hate being cold.  Thirdly, I would rather ride my bike, I don't have to drive anywhere to do this.  So I learned a few things while snowshoeing.

  1. Snow can be fun
  2. Snow can make you work so hard you start sweating and forget about being cold.
  3. Snowshoeing up hill is very difficult.
  4. I can have fun in the snow.

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I have also been spending quite some time (HAHA, not really) getting buff at Trailhead Athletics participating in their F.A.S.T. class.  Every Tuesday I have been heading over to their Sport Specific gym and have been getting my sweat on.  I know you ask "but Courtenay, aren't you a Personal Trainer"?  Yes I am, but sometimes it's nice to not think about my own workout, to have someone else build my workout for me has been so fantastic.  Usually, I find myself stuck in my rut of doing the same thing every Tuesday because it's easy and I know it.  So now, my body is challenged in different (but yet the same) ways and I find myself bulging out of my jeans, in an uncomfortable, yet awesome way (and no, my belly isn't growing, but it seems my quads are getting bigger than necessary).  I'm also finding that my shoulders and guns are more vividly defined and I feel stronger than ever.  What is a F.A.S.T. class?  Functional Agility Strength Training.  We do lots of fun full body, power, plyometric, and strength activities that challenge the entire body.  Not only do they make me lift heavy weights and throw balls above my head at a wall, but they also make me RUN (**gasp**).  I love being challenged in this aspect, because as we know, I'm a bike racer, not a runner.  So thank you Trailhead for being awesome (not a plug at all, because if I where to recommend someone to work out with, it would be me :-P).

Since the inception of my time-off-the-bike and now, I have jumped on the saddle and started some fun riding.  Training, but yet...not training all at the same time. I have decided that if I'm going to try this, I should shift my attention to the discipline I love the most.  While I will still be racing road and mountain this Spring, it'snot my focus.  I'm not going to burn all my motivation training right now, but more or less ride when I want to and when I don't want to ride, I wont.  I'm not really sure how this will leave me come road racing, but eh, we shall see!

So lets raise a glass, um, a wheel?  A water bottle?  A bike?  To my future and see what it may hold in this athletic endeavor I have set for myself.

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