I’m not sure if I’m trying to distract myself from an impending feeling of overwhelming burnout or if I’m just “nesting” for the winter, but lately, I’ve been scrubbing the house down, one room at a time. It started with the bedroom- I uncluttered every corner, picked up no fewer than 100 safety pins off of the floor and any other horizontal surface in the room (any of you who race road and/or CX know what I’m taking about), dusted all of the furniture with Pledge, picked out a bundle of t-shirts for the grease rag bin, and bagged up (for Goodwill) all of the sweaters and work clothes that I’d accumulated during my few years teaching at U of M.

I can’t tell you how much I despise sweaters. I hate them more than I hate low-tpi tires and the section of I-55 between Memphis and Jackson. They make me feel instantly round and dumpy, no matter how well they fit. My shoulders get claustrophobic in anything that isn’t 4-way stretch, too.  It felt good shove them all in a bag, and it felt even better to have the extra hangers for my skinsuits and long sleeve cycling jerseys (I’ve taken to a policy of not buying any more clothes hangers. If there aren’t enough, it’s time to get rid of some stuff.)

I digress.

My cleaning moved on to the half bathroom, which I refer to as the “cat room,” because it’s where the litterbox lives and the cats eat. It gets a daily sprinkling of litter and cat food crumbs, so I scrubbed the floor, baseboards, cabinets, toilet, and counter tops. A few days later (prompted by Marley the Terrier head-butting a full cup of coffee off of my computer desk), I gave the same treatment to the computer room. I realized in cleaning the wood floors that they’re in desperate need for some sort of extra care above and beyond cleaning, so I’m going to look at Whole Foods today for a floor polish that isn’t toxic to small animals. Because let’s face it…

Yeah, Indy scarfed down a half of a baby bok choy. He’s just f*cking adorable.

Once I find a suitable polish, I’m moving on to the kitchen and living room.

The impending feeling of doom/burnout is a real possibility. I haven’t taken a real off-season break in I don’t know how long. It may have been as long ago as the time following 2012 CX Worlds. I’m not sure. I’ve had a few “couple of weeks easy” times, but no times when it’s just been, “GTFO and do something other than ride your bike.”  I’ve basically done it to myself by getting nutso and telling my coach something along the lines of, “I’M SO FIT NOW, I DON’T WANT TO STOP AND LOSE IT!!!” So now I find myself dreaming of the end of my CX season in ~3 weeks when I go to Chattanooga for the State Championship race. Post-season activities will include at least 1 horseback riding lesson, finding a cave, and fishing. I don’t even know if the fish bite in the winter, but I’ll probably go fishing anyway.

For now, I’m just doing what I need to to stay where I am. My fitness is actually pretty boss right now. As long as I maintain it between now and then, I’ll be satisfied with however I finish at the State Championship race, and I’ll promptly run off into the Ozarks once I’m home and re-packed. ‘Til then…