Hi Kathy,



Do you have an off season ever? It seems like you are always racing. What do you do in your off season if you take one?



Once your race season is over it is time to consider taking a break. It is important to let your body recover from a long season of racing. It is also important to give your mind a rest from all the training and racing stress. It is because of all this that I do take an off season and the length of it depends on my current situation and goals. Here are a couple things to consider while deciding how long of an off season to take.



1. Listen to your body. You really want to make sure you are not forcing things either way by not taking long enough off or by cutting your off season too short. For instance, last year when I had dislocated ribs I took one whole month off because I needed to heal. That month was valuable healing time for not only my ribs but my body too and I knew I needed it. But this year I decided to only take two weeks off when I had surgery on my broken hand. And, two weeks was definitely enough time because I could not wait to get back in to racing and training. Sometimes you just simply know what you need to do by your state of mind and you need to go with that and not second guess yourself.



2. Set your goals. I would highly recommend setting your goals for the upcoming season and from there determining how long you are going to take off. If you want to be faster in the Fall or not loose much fitness, then only take a few weeks off but if time is not an issue and neither is loosing valuable fitness then I would err on the side of a longer off season.



Just remember that some people need more time off than others for varying reasons (level of fitness, previous season exertion levels, how much travel was done, etc) and getting that physical and mental time off will do wonders!



As for what I do in my off season? NOTHING. That means that I don’t run, I don’t swim, I don’t ride and instead I hang out, reconnect with my family, get things down around the house and simply do what I please. If at any point during my off season I feel like I need to get out and about to get the blood flowing I will do yoga and /or pilates but that is all! If you do decide to do a little activity during your off season, keep things fun and very unstructured.



Kathy Sherwin

Velo Bella – Kona Elite Cyclocross Team