The "Non-Competitive" season

Well I'm still at it. Training for the '08 season. It's somewhat disheartening to not be as strong of a rider as I was during the racing season. It's much more of a struggle to get up hills. My lungs can handle it, but my legs get tired more quickly than during the racing season. It probably doesn't help I haven't been doing much climbing during my training rides.
Almost all of my training is done on flat/rolling terrain. I guess we're trying to build/maintain my aerobic engine. The strength work will come closer to the start of the season.
I guess it's not reasonable to try and maintain my fitness all the way through the non-competitive season through to next season. I would get burnt out, and I've already been close to burn-out once this month. It doesn't matter if I can kick-ass on the bike now, it only really counts during races.
Speaking of races, I have my first CX race in over a month this Sunday. I'm not too excited about it. I don't know why. I had a blast last year, but for some reason I'm not getting that into it this year. It's probably because I didn't train last year, I only raced.
Maybe my experience would change if I could hydrate during the race. My mouth gets so dry that I start mentally breaking down. I'm going to try to carry a small flask of fluids during this Sunday's race and see how things go. Speaking of which I need to get my CX bike ready for this weekend.