Where did the last few months go?

Christmas Eve above the snow line

It's been a while since my last post, and a LOT has happened since then. I decided, as we do in triathlon, to take a break from much of the social media scene for the remainder of 2013 (post-Austin 70.3,) and have just been slowly getting back in to the swing of it lately. After the last race of the season, I find that there's a bit of a depression, even if only slightly, that the race season is over. You've worked so hard, every day, up to this pinnacle point of the season, and then it's all over. It's tough to get into the off-season, to be able to wake up some days and not have anything planned, to just go with the flow of your days and weeks. It offers some freedom, the freedom to do whatever the heck you want to do.

The freedom to eat whatever size pancakes you want!

If I wanted to go to the gym and lift weights, I did.

If I wanted to go row on the erg, I did. I got so excited about rowing that I came close to retiring from triathlon to be a rower. 

Trying my hand at rowing

Almost.

I spent a LOT of time NOT running, swimming, or biking through November, mostly hitting the gym, the rowing erg, or baking something. I began mountain biking a fair amount later november and through december, as we had a rather warm start to winter. Mountain biking helps build fitness and explosive bike power, as well as gives you a completely different stimuli to road riding. It's also just plain fun.

Fun in the woods....

....Even fun in the snow!

Can't forget café rides with your buddies...

...and riding with the ladies!

Once the snow started to fall, it was XC ski season!!! I find XC skiing to be a massive boost through the winter. I come back to cycling MUCH stronger, and a lot more fit than the year before. Plus, it's loads of fun. It's even a ton of fun when you're watching your buddy race up in Callaghan!

Elliot's First Race of 2014

Getting retro

I've been spending a lot of time working on my run and strength over the last month, with a fair bit of time on the ski trails. Having all the time off lets you reset your body and brain, and lets you slowly grow that hunger to train and race. For AAA personality triathletes like myself (and I know a lot of you,) it can be bloody difficult! But when you start to slowly get back in to it, and start the rebuild into the new season, your body and mind will thank you. You may not notice it at first, but come august, when you've spent a lot of time breaking yourself down with training, you'll REALLY appreciate it. I'm feeling superbly fresh, and I'm ready to do what it takes to exceed my expectations this year. Continuing into my 4th season with Coach Björn Ossenbrink, I'll be starting the year with a 3 week Tucson training camp, staying with my good buddies Jesse and Amy. The big races this year will be Challenge Atlantic City and Challenge Penticton, both full iron distance events, finishing up with Austin 70.3 again.

I've also been building on and creating new relationships with my sponsors, and will shortly announce who my superstar support network will be! It's been an exciting few weeks as I finalize everything, and things are starting to really happen.

I hope everyone has had a superb Christmas and New Years, I know I sure enjoyed a week up in Sun Peaks skiing, all while making some awesome new friends! Best of luck to absolutely everyone this year, go fast and enjoy every second of the journey.

With all of that, I leave you with this, 'How to Be a Road Biker':

http://youtu.be/kMAEXMt3O9c

Stay tuned, and stay safe!

Nathan