So Alive

Some days make you feel more alive than others.

Yesterday I felt alive, but tired. I couldn't seem to wake myself up all day. I actually considered drinking some coffee. Don't worry - I didn't do it. :)

I've been hitting the track hard with Kenny. We've been doing multiple motor pace sessions. I didn't admit it to him, but my body was a little tired from climbing Goat Wall on Saturday. Bruises cover my body with a few scrapes here and there. But I'm so glad we climbed it - that will make you feel alive, for sure. Ryan said a friend of his climbed the same route the following day and they ran into bears. Oh my!

So when Kenny said I'd be doing 2k efforts behind the motor in my aero bars, I thought, oh crap. Here we go. But amazingly - my body was ready for the challenge and I was able to dial in my efforts. We did three total - and the last one was by far the strongest. I love thinking about how bad it hurts when it hurts so good - how smooth to make it - how to make sure everything in my body is relaxed and unless you can read my mind, you can't tell if I'm hurting or not. It's a catch 22 with that ability - Kenny has a hard time knowing if he needs to increase the speed or if I'll crack. All I think about is smooth movements, staying straight on the black line, relaxing my upper body and concentrating on spinning. It's as though my body goes into auto mode - taking me around and around as fast as can be. We aimed for 33mph and got it. Solid.

Day two - more 2k efforts. This time in a smaller gear so my rpms would be higher. It's so important to stay relaxed. My shins have a tendency to flare up - and I just have to calm them down mentally and tell them to relax. Once they do, my legs are flying and I'm thinking about how much closer I can get to the motors rear wheel without actually hitting it. My body only allowed two of those efforts - the last was much stronger. Just goes to show how important it will be for me to adequately warm up to make my pursuit the best it can be. We were able to hit 33 on the final lap of my effort - a hard thing to do in an 88".

I went to bed at 10 I was so tired. Alive, but tired.

This morning I woke up early (9 hours of sleep, yes!) and hit the gym up. It was hard to throw weights around -but mental training is part of the game. And it's supposed to hurt. I'm starting to think I was born to do this - I love it so much. It definitely makes me feel alive.