Shoulder seasons can be tough.
Riding outside is hit-or-miss depending on the weather and skiing hasn’t happened yet. For me the trick to keeping the muffin top at bay is to stay active and be flexible about what workouts I can do and when I can do them. Survival through the shoulder seasons depends on the right tools.
As far as late November and December are concerned I’ve been lucky as it’s been mostly comfortable enough to get some rides in. Those have been almost exclusively on the cross bike and have featured mostly dirt roads and pavement. The dirt roads tend to be better when the ground is still frozen so they stay firm rather getting soft and rutted.
I’ve also started running again. Nothing amazing- but I’ve gotten in a handful of 20-30 minute efforts. If I use part of the path from my ‘cross circuit course and then duck into the woods by the river I can be out on dirt almost all of my 25 minute run. It’s not that I necessarily dislike pavement, but it’s tougher on my knees, and really if I’m going to be running in winter triathlon or a mountain bike race it’s going to be on variable terrain and not tarmac.
Although I’m the first to admit that I like shoes and have an extensive collection of them I’m not quite well informed enough to feel comfortable offering an expert opinion on them. I can say that I’ve been using the Xterra XR1.0 and so far I really like it. It’s neither clunky nor flimsy and provides a firm but forgiving ride on trail. Although it’s innovative tread design makes it more pavement-worthy than other trail shoes it’s still a little too lightly padded for me to use on the road. And I don’t really want to be on the road anyway.
At some point here it’s going to start snowing again, and when it does I’ll officially switch over to winter mode. I have to say it’s a little odd being in mid-December without a flake of snow on the ground.
Fortunately for now I have the right tools for the job.