I've tried several meditation/mindfulness-based apps, and this has become my go-to. I ponied up for a yearly subscription this past year after using the more limited, free version for several previous years. Unclear whether it was (a) paying for something, (b) having full app functionality, or (c) all-time stress highs thanks to ER residency that led to my drastic uptick in app-based mindfulness consistency, but I used this app on about 3/4 of my days (most often 10 minutes before bed). The "Daily Calm" featured on the home screen was my go-to, but I also worked my way through 7 days of Managing Stress, 7 Days of Calming Anxiety, 7 Days of Sleep, and the Relationship With Self Series.
2. Favorite New Nutrition Product: Untapped Ginger MapleAid
I have been through more drink mixes than I can count. Something seems to work for me for about 6 months, and then no longer sits well. And what works during the winter does not work during the summer, and vice versa. This is the latest and most appetizing in my rotation. Simple ingredients, not too much sugar, and it actually tastes like ginger - it has a strong kick. Also good warm, which is what I've been doing for winter riding - brings out the ginger even more when hot! Plus it comes from Vermont and a fellow Middlebury Alum.3. Best New Thing I Bought: Salsa Cutthroat
I love this bike. I spent about 6 months after I finished my initial build trying to get the fit right, and now it's there, and I love it. Everything's matchy and pretty, and it rides over pretty much anything, can be loaded down with bags for bikepacking, has a generator hub for ultra-distance needs, and has been on lots of adventures already (mostly in Iowa, see below). It's not the speediest over short distances ("short" being <150 miles) and quite a bit heavier than most "gravel race" bikes, but it's doing double-duty for that as well until another bicycle child is acquired.
4. Best New Experience: Solo Bikepacking
5. Best Race I Went To: 24 Hours of Cumming
See the recap here. In short, this topped the list because of the 36 hour party it turns into, all of the new gravel friends I made, the mind-bending 100k loops I rode through the day and night and part of the day again, and the hills, because I am a masochist who loves Iowa hills.6. Best Race Photo of 2018: DK and Land Run Chase the Chaise pics
Prior to Land Run, I thought Salsa Cycle's "couch photo op" on course was going to feel gimmicky and that I would hate it. But then I kind of loved the picture. And then I accidentally took probably the best race pic of my life while feeling like death at DK, also on the chaise. Note they have added a tasteful lamp there.
7. Best Thing I Drank: Shacksbury Cider
Bone dry, craft cider, from local orchard and foraged wild apples in Vermont. 'Nuff said. Wish it was easier to track down in the great state of Oklahoma.8. Video I'm Using the Most (Still): Foundation Training
A PT friend of mine turned me on to Foundation Training four years ago, and I'm still using it. Highly recommend if you have any spine, hip, pelvis, stability issues, or if your mobility has just generally started to suck because you're an adult who maybe spends a large portion of the day in front of a computer. I started with the movement sequence in their book, and now just use this video routine:
9. Favorite Pit Stop: Casey's General Store
Casey's, where have you been all my life. I'm probably so in love with this convenience store because I'm typically in dire straits when I encounter it (Trans Iowa, Spotted Horse Ultra, that time I bikepacked 300-some miles in a thunderstorm), but you can get many life-saving things here. My proprietary 1:4 ratio of hot chocolate to coffee. Mechanic's gloves. Car engine lubricant for your drive train. Plastic bags for your feet. Pickles, potato chips, snickers, Clif nut butter bars.10. Favorite sleep hack for shift work: Sunrise Alarm Clock
More accurately a "wake up lamp" than alarm clock. This magical egg-shaped machine gets gradually brighter starting 15 minutes before the alarm (chirping birds or chimes) goes off. I usually wake up with the light a few minutes before the alarm sounds, which is much nicer than the iPhone beeping. Shift work with constantly changing circadian rhythms is tough, might as well trick your body into thinking day is night and night is day and mid-day is...whatever.
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