I Love You Atlas Peak Road

This week I was able to get back into a little bit of work. After a very easy 5 days last week and a few good workouts over the weekend to get rid of the cobwebs I got to dive into some hill repeats, albeit relatively short, on Tuesday. I headed to one of my favorite places to do hills---Atlas Peak Road. There are some switchbacks and some steep pitches surrounded by not quite as steep sections. It is great climbing and allows one to actually shift instead of just slamming it in the easiest gear and grinding away. Since I have done repeats on this hill before I have a general knowledge of how long it takes me to get to certain landmarks. My last couple workouts on the hill prior to Vineman were a little off. I was a bit behind and my heartrate was refusing to cooperate right away. My body was on defense and not allowing me to do any more damage. However, on Tuesday my heartrate and legs were ready and willing to cooperate. I climbed hard and steady and was getting to certain landmarks more quickly. Progress! It was so nice to see. I did a run yesterday with my training partner, John. I have not given him props yet but he tore up the course at Vineman---4:18. His big goal was to break 4:20 so it was super exciting to see him come across the line sub 4:20. We crossed paths on the run and since we were both in the pain cave there was a slight acknowledgement but we were putting all our efforts into moving forward as quickly as possible. He told me that usually I am a more "jovial" runner and on that day I had no expression; absolute concentration and pain was written on my face. We hit up a great trail run yesterday and worked hard on some hills and it was awesome to feel my legs coming back from the dead. My coach and I are being careful and today is a just a swim, some strength exercises and yoga. I am sure I will be back to work tomorrow and over the weekend.

I am already excited to race on August 15. It will be a shot at redemption in terms of getting started on the bike without hitting the deck and having my legs underneath me for a solid run. After that I have a few things in the works and one race involves a twist in the normal format---draft legal. Gulp! T1 work and flying mounts here I come. I am glad I have done Cyclocross racing, it will put me ahead of the game a bit. Happy and Safe Training everyone!