A wrap to 2025

Hi, it’s only mid-December but I wanted to go ahead and get this blog done for the month. I just came back from California where I was at the 2025 PossAbilities Christmas Gala. This is my third time attending the gala. It’s always it’s fun to go out there to see how other individuals with and without disabilities are involved with the program. It’s really cool to see others in the Paralympic program and how they are progressing. Their blogs are available here as well to read. It’s also really Move to see how funds go to benefit others with disabilities. It’s not just a spinal cord injury but TBI, birth defect, and so much more. It’s always nice seeing the younger teens and adults performing on stage. It was unique and awesome seeing a young woman with a prosthetic leg performing a cheerleading performance with her friends. I was featured in a short video about my season this past year and the direction I plan on going over the next year or so. I’m so grateful for Loma Linda and the PossAbilities program. They have been integral to helping me in my journey on my hand bike. Where I will all go on the hand bike is still to be determined. It’s been an unbelievable ride so far after many years finally getting up on World Cup podiums and world championship podiums.

I was sick over the past week or so. It seems like everybody I know has been sick with whatever’s going around. Many were sick this past week or so as well. Today was my first day back training and I just did an hour zone 1 and zone 2 which is pretty easy. Tomorrow we’ll ramp the pace up a little bit more and I’m gonna get back to the gym finally and strength train. I haven’t been to the gym in over three weeks now watching the shoulder discomfort I’ve been having a little left. I think I’m good to go though as I really wanna get back to some rowing at the gym. It’s only three months until the 1st World Cup in Thailand. That is not too far off… I think it’s gonna come sooner than we think. I don’t feel like I’ve lost too much performance as up until I got sick that was easily meeting 3rd and best efforts without fully trying. That is huge for this time of year. I need to make sure I maintain and gradually build as it’s going to be another long season. Turned out that I’m only gonna teach 2 courses at the university which is gonna make training easier and take some stress off of me for the May World Cups. Sleep is so important… I really need to focus on racing and that can be difficult because there’s so many things I wanna do.

I got to go visit my brother after the Christmas gala earlier this week. Only get to see my brother once or twice per year. I would love to go out and see him more as he has four children. The oldest is racing mountain bikes and is a senior in high school. It’s really cool that he wants to go into the fire department and is starting his EMT training already. Family is important to me. I’m gonna spend Christmas with my mom and stepdad who only live about an hour from me here in Arizona. Their neighbors are from my hometown as well and we’ve known them for years which is really cool to see them as well. We will probably all have dinner together. I’m sure I’ll go for a bike ride with my mom Christmas Day as well 🙂 until then, just a week away, I’m gonna make sure I get back into the training routine. Consistency is key! It’s tough to get out of schedule with being sick and having some discomfort. I’ve never had shoulders discomfort like that and have that last that long. Gotta be careful as I want to perform at my best!

At this point, my goal is for 2026 particular metal at every international event. That includes World Cups and the World Championships. It’s doable but it’s gonna be very difficult. I need to make sure I continue to maintain and gradually increase strength and power over the course of a 30 to 40 minute time trial. It was nice to see that my Rd. racing did not suffer in the 2025 season even though I was focusing on going 30 to 40 minutes as hard as I could. The coach I was with for the first half of the season 1 immunity and more miles but I refused. I think I know my body best. I’m definitely open to feedback but I’ve been at this so long and I’m seeing what works for me. I also take my training to zone 4 and zone 5 a lot more than was encouraged. I think that is good though because it’s not in excess amounts of time. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and the happy new year. You’ll hear from me again in January!