In the saddle

Today I had a really solid training day in all three disciplines, but I am going to focus on the bike. On my ride today, I came up with a few things I should share with my followers, and I have also seen great progress in my cycling lately.

First of all, I have gotten pretty fast. All of those interval workouts at Washington Park are paying off, and I can now sprint like I've never been able to! I play games with myself while on rides... Today there were two big groups of cyclists coming at each other on the trail, and I was behind one of them. Rather than being cautious and slowing down, I did what I do best (meaning be brazen, decisive, and stupid) and shot the gap so to speak. I made it, but I would not recommend trying this... I was going over 25 MPH and had I not been lucky, I could very well be writing this from the hospital.

All of this being said, I might give a word of advice to those who would cross the path in front of me... run FAST, don't stop in the middle to see where I am going, and be aware that I already assume you are an idiot. I only bring this up because it happened about 7 times on my ride today, and each time the "pedestrian" pulled the "deer in the headlights" move and I had to swerve, slam on my brakes, and swear at them under my breath.

I realized I hadn't added a picture of Ruby yet. This is my training bike, a Specialized Roubaix Elite. I call her "Ruby." She is my mistress since Sara is my girlfriend, but I like this view of her best. As you can see from the goose egg on my cyclometer, I was not brassy enough to take this picture while actually riding...

I had a friend today ask me, "how do you do it each day?" The question caught me off guard I guess. Let me give you some insight into my mindset. I don't think of it in terms of "how am I going to go this hard today and still have something left in my legs for tomorrow?" I simply put each training session in front of me as one task at a time. I do it because I hate losing, not because I love winning. I do this because I know it is necessary, I don't even think of it as a choice. I know I can do it simply because I know I can do it. I don't know if this makes me special or different, but it is how I think, and I feel like a lot of athletes would agree with me.

Anyway, I just wanted to update you all since it had been a while and tell you that my cycling is really solid. My pedal strokes are smooth, with a motion similar to scraping mud off of my shoes. My cornering is flawless, with my weight distributed between my outside foot and my inside hand.... (If you were paying attention, that was a brief lesson in bike handling!)

Until I post my recipe in about 20 minutes, follow the Pace Rabbit!