I don’t really know where to start so I will just start rambling. . .. I have had huge breakthroughs in all areas of  life.  A total rebirth actually.  I have fully integrated so much of what I have been working toward for the last 8 years.  It is hard to even explain, but I feel, and am, so much lighter.  The dark has completely circled around to embrace the light.  A circle complete, and a realization that the darker the night, the brighter the stars shine.

I have fully integrated the Jaguar animal medicine that has been mine since birth, magically picking up the crystals I need to communicate with my guides, and calling upon my animal totems for strength in all areas of life.  The magic is all around now, and the hard work and pain has been worth it.  I have a depth and richness that only comes from where I have been.  Did I mention I feel freaking amazing when I am on the bike, the skis, the snowshoes, whatever?

I don’t train anymore, I play outside.  I don’t HAVE to do anything, I WANT to do it.  Exercise has always been something I felt I was chained to, now it is finally just an “exercise” of free will and joy.  The waves will always come and go, but as Stargazer Li said, “you are now ready to live your life, not your stuff”.  I am following the golden trail before me, and appreciating the beauty, elegance, creativity, harmony and motion in the dance that is my life.  Today is a warrior day, so it is a good day to go big!  Seek your joy. . ..

Jaguar on the hunt

A lion vibe, no?

Like Rhianna would. . .. A few posts back I wanted to write a trinity.   About the food, the training and the lifestyle. I guess this is the lifestyle bit.

I have touched on many of these topics in the past.  Simply put, find a way of living that INSPIRES you.  It really doesn’t matter what it is.  Just seek that “thing” that does it for you, and ride that wave until you hit the next one.  Life is such an individual process.  Everyone will not like what you do, what you say or what you believe.  Who cares?  At the end of the day, you are who lives with you.  You are the judge, the nurturer and the goddess (or god, if you are a guy . . . )

You can’t stand on your head in enough ways to please everyone, so STOP TRYING.  Let it flow.  Let the hill climb give you energy rather than suck you dry.  Let the challenges and the confrontations fuel you rather than deplete you.  Let the magic be visible every day, everywhere.  It is your life to live.  Make it count.  Be controversial.  Speak your truth.  Do things your way.  Every day.  The things that work for me may not work for you.  It is not advice that matters, but someone, anyone, giving a hint that there is always a way that is easier.  Always a way that is full of light and a way that simply makes you smile. Go that way!!

I just want to say a quick thank you for voting me female mountain biker of the year on cyclingnews.com.  I really appreciate it!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/koerber-voted-cyclingnews-female-mountain-biker-of-the-year

Climbing the switchbacks at Worlds

I also want to say a big thank you to the universe for lining things up magically after a bit of a hard push at the end of the year (see last blog. . . ).  Myles and I are both on the other side of our “healing crisis” and looking forward to all the freshness that this year will bring.  The cross country skiing is open 2 minutes from my house, so that’s a bonus!  The snow has been great at DMR, there is still plenty of powder in the trees.

Tonight I have a session with Stargazer Li.  I am so excited!  She is an astrologer as well as just an amazing “out there” person.  I always feel better when I feel smaller and the universe seems bigger.  www.stargazerli.com.  This week is a week of balance, and this year is all about shedding and reconnecting.  Sounds perfect to me!

My family is coming out this weekend for some back country sessions.  My snowshoes are ready and so are my lungs.  Watch out Koerber’s!  They want me to shop for them before they arrive.  I don’t know how I am going to fit all that food in my car. . ..

Today is  a pretty sweet day; Pilates, massage, hot-springs with TC, and then of course my session with Li.  Yesterday I saw Ami Nathwani here is Durango.  She is an Ayurvedic practioner here in Durango.  She is so cool and tapped it, she gets me!  I saw her last year about this time and we really changed my diet for the winter to help with the training load and my emotions/anxiety.  Ayurvedic medicine is all about balancing your Doshas, and believe me you can get out of whack pretty quick.  I am a Vata-Pitta combo and I am always walking a thin line between to much “ether and air” and too much “fire”.  You could take a quiz online if you are interested in see how you can balance yourself out with diet and lifestyle. www.whatsyourdosha.com

For example, hot yoga is awful for me (stirs up too much fire and inflammation) but restorative yoga, belly dancing, hot springs and almond oil massages are just what I need to keep me balanced while doing all the other training.  Diet wise, salads and leafy greens are off the menu until March.  I have added more root vegetables and soothing teas to my daily plan. Like I said, I did all this last Winter, but it is amazing how much I forget from season to season!

I hope everyone is feeling better in this NEW year.  I know alot of us were spinning in chaos, but so was the planet!  If you were feeling it, you were just tapped in.  Sometimes it is hard to be so connected, but when the stars align, you have to admit is pretty magical!!

It’s snowing!  I feel like I have been in the “waiting place” on so many levels.  Waiting for it to be Winter not grey Fall. Waiting for a schedule that I can work around with Myles and TC.  Waiting to go on vacation, then waiting to get back home.  Waiting to feel like getting back to a training plan.  Waiting to feel excited again, waiting for life to feel less chaotic and a little more blissful.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Then I just got fed up.  Enough of the waiting! I told myself, “I am getting after this.  I am going do whatever I can to feel good on the inside and then I will watch as the things I am stressing about fall in place magically around me”.  I needed to put the oxygen mask on myself first before I could help anyone else.

As you know, I am really into alternative healing and connecting to the energy that creates worlds.  I have been on an intense healing mission since 2004, with many ups and downs along the way.  I would get a hit of energy and ride it for a while, but I would always end up crashing and facing the same demons over and over.  It seemed the more I tried to “fix” myself the worse it got.

Although the past couple years have been filled with amazing personal and professional moments, I found myself struggling much more than I had hoped.  The end of this season was a huge relief for me.  The pressure was off.  But that is not how life works. The pressure is always on!  I feel that many of my experiences are not for sharing, but needless to say there were many things I was facing personally.  On top of that Myles has been going through huge transitions as well.  Yes, change is good, but I would like to admit that it is very hard.  And exhausting!

I just had a dropper full of “restructuring” tonic from keeping time essences.  Pretty cool stuff.  Check out www.keepingtime.com.  Thanks Meredith Rose!

So, I just finished a 3 day anger release ceremony.  It is really hard to get mad after denying it for years.  Very healing though!  Don’t worry.  It was my own little ritual out in the woods and no one had to deal with the wrath.  For so long I had just been maintaining the notion that spiritual people are not meant to get angry.  Well, sometimes you have every right to be angry and you should just let it out!  My release was more tears than rage anyway. . .

I also met an amazing woman here in Durango (Marie Redfeather) who has guided me through a light-body healing as well as a soul retrieval.  It has taken me 33 years to be ready to do this stuff, and believe me it is intense.  So right now I am integrating all these deep level shifts.  I find it no accident that I started this last healing push right before the Winter Solstice and now we are facing Mercury in retrograde.  I never did take the easy road!

So, cheers to change! And getting mad, and getting it out and being excited to move forward.  I have started to paint and just ordered a belly dancing CD.  I felt guilty yesterday for not going for a run (or wanting to) but that guilt is just the old me.  I have run (or pedaled) on guilt and fear alone for over half my life.  Now I will run when I want, and I won’t be running away from myself.  Or running to find myself.  I will just be running because I love it.  Here is to reclaiming your true power this year!  Happy 2011. . . . love and light and all the good stuff.  xo

PS.  The work is never done, so it might as well be fun!

Pretty much everything has changed.  For the good!  I have been asking the universe for everything I want, as long as it includes the most loving solution for all.  I got it! A new job with TREK World Racing for 2011 an 2012.  TC and Myles here with me as much as possible.  Health. Happiness. Abundance in all forms.  New friends, old friends, stronger love.  In many ways the best year of my life has also been the hardest.  It has been worth every second.  No doubts, no fear, all new.  Big changes are my speciality!  I am packing for Vegas, again, I know.  With a girlfriend this time.  Lots of shows, lots of sparkle and heels.  Hope you all are fabulous.

http://www.refresheverything.com/drysidevelodrome

Thanks!!

It is hard to know where to begin when offering training tips.  I think it is different for everyone, so I can only share my personal experience.  I plan on writing a book about this someday, but for now I will try to keep it brief.  I have a unique philosophy on training and racing.  I believe that less is more, and the power of your thought is greater than the power of your legs.

I have reached this conclusion after years of struggling, over-training, over-analyzing, over-obsessing and basically just suffering.  I was always naturally athletic, but my sense of self-worth was always compromised.  I believed that if I could be lean enough, pretty enough, fast enough and victorious enough I would finally be happy.  I put all my eggs in the bike racing basket, and when my results were poor, so were my spirits.

It has taken a few life crises, many loving and caring guides and major life changes to see that I had it all backwards.  I needed be compassionate and nurturing to my body and soul, regardless of what happened on the race course.  The harder I tried, the more I really just wanted to love myself.  When I can align myself with a high-love vibe, and be appreciative for my life, that is when the magic happens.  I have made a pact with myself that I will approve of myself before the results, and that no medal is needed to feel that my life is worthwhile.  When I free myself up to be the joyous creature I came here to be, then the training and the racing is fun again!

My success on the bike is directly linked to the effort I have made to clean up my vibrations.  Let the past go, relax about the future, just have fun today.  Here are a few physical training tips, as well as some tips to get into the “zone”.  Let’s face it, the zone is all about feeling good and living in the moment, and that is always fabulous!

1) Align your thoughts first, and then go train.  If you hate it, if you are dreading it, if it sounds like no fun, I think you are wasting your time.  FEEL good first, and then do the physical work.

2) Once you are out there, make it count.  Ride with someone faster than you on the hard days and enjoy the challenge.  Appreciate what your body is willing to do for you!

3) Realize that sometimes your best is doing less.  If you honor your feelings, you will know when it is time to take a break.  Getting in touch with “you” is the most important thing you can do as an athlete, and as a person.  Only you know how you feel, only you will be cheating yourself out of rest or training.  You are your own witness.

4) Feel the love, everywhere in your life.  As much as possible surround yourself with love and give it out endlessly.  Eat good food, have friends, thank your body for putting up with you, relax, share, do what makes you feel good!

5) Try standing-start hill intervals.  One foot on the ground, ready, go.  10 minutes, repeat 3 times.  You will always be confident on the start line!  The starts in mountain biking are very important, you want a clear track and a clear head.  Practice does make perfect.

6) Take time OFF the bike.  I love exercise, it helps me FEEL great.  I leave my bike in the garage from October until the beginning of February.  I run, I cross-country ski, snowshoe, snowboard, stretch, do workout videos and play.  I believe my body needs a break from hunching over, and so does my spirit.  By the time February rolls around, all I want to do is ride, no matter how cold it is!  You can alter this formula however you choose, but time off the bike is key to making big gains from season to season.

7) Surround yourself with people who understand your passion, and who have passions of their own.  You want to infect each other with greatness!  My coach Rick Crawford believes I am awesome, Myles believes I am awesome, my friends and family believe I am awesome, and I think they are all awesome!  Choose to be around people who love you just as you are, and love others just as they are.  Breathe the clean, rarified air of positive vibes.
Be multi-dimensional.  Hang out with friends, have some wine, buy some shoes you like, watch some movies, laugh more.  Don’t wish your life away waiting for the next race.  Make your life count right now.

9)  Use your imagination.  Be delusional about your greatness.  Be a warrior, be an angel, be a kid again.

10)  Use your breath. Let it go, let it be easy.  Breathe through your heart to connect in love.  Breathe through the back of your head to watch your effort dissolve into nothingness.  Trip out on it!

11)  Have fun out there. . . . you are divine.

TC getting ready to hit the pump track