Week 48

Already week 48, only 4 weeks of 2016 left! What happened?!? They say that time goes faster after you've had kids, but this year was just ridiculous.

Week 2 of 2017 training done and dusted. Now 32 weeks until goal No. 1 of 2 for next season. Feels like a long way off!
Training went well in the week. Felt pretty good in the interval sessions including a commute home from work on the winter road bike Tuesday,  another session on Zwift for some mid-week base, then CX style intervals on Thursday.

On to the weekend for 2 days of base. Saturday was a ride with the club and the 'mellan' group in Genarp on the MTB - then Sunday out with the kids and Malin again, same as last week. Only now we have the second trailer, so I pulled Hilda and all the extra bits and pieces, and Malin pulled Albert. We popped over to Björnstorp in fog to the Christmas market, but got there just as they were packing up.

Outside the pizzeria on the way home from our Sunday outing

Saturday's MTB weather was 'MTB perfection'. Cold, crisp and dry. It was around 2-3deg C minus, with blue skies and crisp dry air. The ground was hard and frozen, and the trails dry and grippy. I love these conditions here in Sweden when we get them. I don't remember that ever happening back home in the UK, at least not in the south during the winter. It was always so sloppy and wet. But here you can get a perfect riding day in the middle of winter anywhere from October to March. If you push the bike into a corner, you can really hear the tyre working on the hard ground, almost like riding on tarmac. Nice to be on the MTB again too after a couple of weeks of just CX and road riding. Makes you remember why you ride MTB. Fast, fun trails and the feeling of exhilaration when you get a corner 'just right'. :-)

We unfortunately missed the Malmöcrossen CX race this weekend, but time just didn't allow it, and I had already decided not to race more cross before Xmas due to an injury I had picked up in my right foot at CX SM. Haven't been able to run since then due to pain in my foot which appeared after the race - a cramp like feeling in the sole of my foot, which was still present after 7-8 days. Still, it hasn't hurt while cycling, so just the running and CX races that have suffered. Feels pretty much ok now, and I could run to the train this morning (ahem....) without hobbling.

Big thanks to CykelCity this week for a quick turnaround on my front wheel of my training MTB. The bearings had seen better days after a couple of hard winters.