So whats been going on?

The off season was a good one.  I started back at school, with only 2 more semesters left.  I should be graduating by December '11.  It only took 6 years...

I kept busy with a moderate amount of snowshoeing whenever possible, did some weight lifting, and kept on the bike at least a day or two per week so I didn't get too slow this year.

The biggest addition to my training this year has been a pilates class at the Rec Center twice a week.  That is the hardest thing I have ever done!  I feel like I'm in pretty good shape even when it comes to doing things that aren't just riding a bike, but I struggled with finishing these sessions for weeks.  It took about 2 months until I could finish the whole class without stopping and taking a break, but now I can't get enough of it.  Hopefully the benefits will be noticeable on the bike with a more stable core but I already seem to have a lot less upper-body movement too throughout the ride.  Plus my whole body doesn't feel worked over after a ride, just my legs which makes recovery easy too.

I just got back on the bike about 3 weeks ago, after a banged up knee from a crash at the beginning of January.  It was just a stupid little crash having fun on snow covered trails, but it ended up being a little bit more and kept me on the couch for a bunch of weeks.  I'm glad thats over.  So I jumped right back into the big miles and just finished my first big block of the season.  It's awesome to see past years of training starting to come back and pay dividends now.  Last year during the winter, I bumped up my base block to quite a bit more than I've ever done before, more than I thought I could even handle but its starting to pay off.  What was hard for me to finish last year, seems like cake this year, mostly in the way of day to day recovery and being able to handle a series of 4 or 5 big hard days strung together in a block.  I think its proof that going beyond what your used to really pays off, even it happens a little ways down the road and even if it feels like way too much at the time.  Know the difference between your head being tired and your body being tired.

My race schedule for 2011 will be a lot more local than the last 2 years.  Partly because of the whole school thing and needing to take summer courses, and because of where at the ProTour events are this year.  I'll have a couple of big events, like the Wisconsin ProTour, some Triple Crown events, and a bunch of AMBC's.  Plus one other thing that isn't totally finalized but would be kinda a big deal.

Now that the snow is all gone and temps are getting warmer, its not taking as much coaxing to get myself out the door and the miles are coming a lot easier.  This week won't take any coaxing though, I'm in Daytona Beach just in time for a rest week.  Lots of easy spinning, napping, laying by the pool, and tan-line work.  I've only been here for 10 hours and there already burned in.