Training daze, oh training daze.

The days are growing shorter, the air is growing colder, and the season is winding down. Yeah, right.

I just finally registered for my first 'cross race (CX @ Brewery Ommegang) and that means I'd better whip my butt back into shape. You see, since I've had a few things going on this summer (like a wedding, work being turned upside down, and of course the horrifically oppressive heat and humidity) I've been relying on my early season form and conditioning to carry me through. Of course, looking at my Sporttracks info recently reminded me that I've been a horrible slacker, and I've really needed to kick it up a notch. This means the traditional teeth gritting, leg crushing interval workouts, ridiculous climbing workouts and stupid hard time trial efforts. All that is interspersed with occasional recovery rides and the search for new, interesting roads to ride to keep the training from getting stale.

The past weekend involved a recovery ride to get breakfast on Friday morning (it was bloody COLD) and then a big climbing day Saturday (can we say steep hills?) followed by some short 'cross skill drills today. I've also bolted a 38 tooth inner chainring on my Foxtrot, which should give me just a bit of extra breathing room considering those heavy/solid Ksyrium wheels shod in huge, knobby tires.

So after reflecting on the past week of training, what has come to my attention? I need to toughen up a little bit more mentally, which I'm working on. My running mount-ups need a little work too (dismounts and hopping barriers is a perfect two step at this point, but it takes about 4 steps to re-mount.) My sharp accelerations are pretty good, and my endurance and pacing is pretty good.

So...three weeks to go. That means about 2 more weeks of hard training and then about a week of taper time. All the while I'll still be watching the days get shorter and the air getting colder. Ah well, I guess the season has to wind down sometime.