Tis the Season

With the racing season over and my so called fitness quickly slipping away and riding time still slim, I find myself searching for ways to keep in shape. Now that the pooch is gone, I can't seem to will myself out of bed in the morning for a quick jog on the road so until I decide to give trail running a go, that's out, I'm not in the mood (or finding the time) to get to the gym yet, (that'll probably happen when it's really cold out) and other outdoor activities like hiking are also out for now so I've had to look elsewhere for my exercise endorphins and to keep the gut at bay. As a result I've decided to re-focus on doing Pilates a few days a week to keep (get?) the bod limber and the core strong and I'll also be starting up my cyclo-core workouts again. Each year I start both of these in the fall in hopes of maintaining a strong core and limber body through the summer but one thing (excuse) always leads to another and by spring I end up pretty much ditching them both in favor of getting outside but then by summer's end my back is a wreck and I suffer like a dog in races like the Bradbury 12 where the rest of the body was strong but the core was weak. My back still hurts just thinking about that race.

Pilates isn't exactly the manliest of workout routines and buying something from Cyclo-Core is like signing a deal with an e-mail spam devil but they're about all I've got for now so I'll take it.

For quite some time I was questioning why I ever signed up to be on the cyclo-core e-mail list because the owner sends info-mercial type e-mails on a daily basis (sometimes even twice a day) but his persistence has finally paid off because I recently was convinced to click on over to one of his pod casts (about his vermont 50 experience) and I have to admit it was somewhat interesting. I'm not sure that I'll ever call on one of his pod casts when I have other distractions at my disposal but when I'm stuck at the computer at work doing something mundane, listening to a crackpot talk about his green bubble of protection can be somewhat interesting.

With that said, it's 4:15 am, I've been awake since 1 (must be spending too much time reading Thom's blog, stupid insomnia is contagious) and I think it's time to get my shit together and head out the door for a mountain bike commute. Just wish it wasn't 32 degrees out.