Getting ready for fun in NIel, Belgium

We’re in the last clutches of 2014 and for many cyclists, thoughts have already drifted to 2015. Goals are being set. Preliminary race calendars are being reviewed. The 2014 season is being analyzed (perhaps over-analyzed). Team rosters are coming together.

It’s easy to get caught up in the anticipation of a new racing season – even when it’s still December 2014. Heck, I’m caught up in it. I started mumbling to Marc in November about my plans for 2015… And yes, if you follow me on Strava you’ll see that I’m riding more now than I did all last spring and summer.

I’m riding the trainer in the basement because I enjoy it. There was a time when I said I would never ride the trainer again – this was at the end of my racing career and I was a bit burnt out from all things bikes. I swore I was done with the trainer and I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to be riding the trainer for hours in the basement.

Well, now I do. Because I enjoy it. Because I can see that it is getting me somewhere. I can feel my legs getting stronger. I can see that I’m slowly building up some fitness. I have a sense of accomplishment afterwards. But most of it all, I enjoy. I guess you could say that it is fun.

This is my new approach for 2015. So long as it’s fun – I’ll do it. I thought I was doing this the last couple years, but really I wasn’t. I was doing things because it seemed like this is what I did now that I wasn’t racing anymore. This is only sustainable for so long. Without fun there really isn’t much point. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing: riding, running, skiing, swimming, lifting weights, yoga – if you don’t enjoy it, you won’t do it to your best potential (whatever that potential is, it’s completely up to you) and you just might end up resenting it.

As for my mumbling about 2015… Well, yeah, I want to get back to my previous levels of fitness. I want that feeling back again. But I’m not doing it with an “at all costs” approach.

My fun for the next few days looks like this: hot power yoga, snowy trail run, trainer ride, and a snowy mountain bike ride. Think about your next few days and make sure you think fun when you think of what you’re doing. Fun is good.