There’s no place like home!
Time for a little life update – I am home!!
I am so incredibly happy to be back in our house in Duluth. My husband is in the military and gone for training for the next couple of months so I will be here until the baby comes + some time after when Ethan joins us for his paternity leave! If you haven’t been to Duluth before, I HIGHLY recommend it. It is a really cute little city right on Lake Superior with miles and miles of mountain bike trails, hiking trails and ski trails for proper enjoyment of all of the seasons.
In the couple of weeks that I’ve been home, I’ve already ridden at three different trail systems. I love being able to mountain bike and hike right from my house. It is such a luxury to be able to pick and choose between so many trails. Do I want to ride rocky? Technical? Flowy? Hilly? Old school? This really is a training paradise. I have a list of trails I am excited to ride next spring when I am back to training! Being 31 weeks pregnant slows me down quite a bit but it has been an interesting change of pace to not follow a training plan and just focus on the enjoyment of being outside and it is great to have so many options and be able to choose easier trails that I feel I can safely ride while pregnant. It has also been fun to enjoy the scenery more, especially in a place that I love so much.
These past couple of weeks I have been braver about getting into cold water. It’s been so refreshing on hot summer days to dip into creeks, rivers, inland lakes and Superior and cool off. I will certainly continue this into future years. Hard training rides followed by a little swim or float to cool off and recover are in my future!
I’ve also started coaching with Duluth Devo. This year I am working with the 6-8 year-olds, which is the ideal speed for third trimester. We have been working on ready position, shifting and braking so far and it has been great to see some progressions with these little girls. As a bonus, this age group is just goofy – one girl decided she didn’t want to be vegetarian because she “likes salmon and hot dogs too much” so she is going to be a hotdogitarian.
I feel so lucky to live in such a wonderful place and I can’t wait to bring this baby on all of our North Shore adventures!