Spring Break part 2, the exciting conclusion(?)

To bring you back into the position I was in on Thursday night. I hadn’t taken a rest day and I was feeling pretty tired, like having a hard time with stairs tired. But I felt like I hadn’t really been riding that hard at the time. In Hindsight, it made sense that I was starting to get tired. Looking at the numbers, at that point in the week I was just about to tick over 20 hours in the mountains. I woke up not having the same pop as earlier in the week and kitted up like a blind man walking towards a wall. About 10 miles in and I was hurting. I wasn’t hitting the wall, or even really falling off the back too bad, but I was struggling in a way I hadn’t before. I was numb and wasn’t enjoying it save the scenery. I wasn’t familiar with the feeling so I decided to call it a day and was out of breath the whole way home. I was a little concerning, but I felt ok the next day on a nice little 50 mile excursion up Stecoah Gap. I didn’t understand it at the time, but I made the right call.

After packing up I made the trip back with little sleep and am still in the process of getting everything settled. Good news, I’m caught up on all the work, pretty much at least. So I had some time to reflect on the year so far, where I’m at and where I’m going.

I’ve done a butt load of miles this year already. I think Strava has me a 3,500 km or something and I haven’t even pinned a number yet. But it’s all gone by very fast. I think that’s because I’ve been enjoying it combined with the hurricane that surrounds you when you are focused on something like this. The results of this it seems to me is that I’m riding extremely strong and will hold this without difficulty because it isn’t taxing me, I’m not tired, I haven’t done an interval yet. But I worry that because I’m on such good form that I’ll get burn out soon.

I have emerged with a different outlook on things for the coming season. I was hoping for a good season, but I wasn’t expecting things to take off. I suppose I was waiting for my form to explode. Well, we’ll see what happens in the next week after racing, but I think it might have just destroyed a small town, according to those around me. I can only hope this is the case. If it is, bring it on. Like I said earlier, let’s make this dream come true. If it isn’t the case, I’ll keep plugging away in hopes that it’s just around the corner.

But to say this is easy, but to do it is another thing entirely. I stand here now with great legs after a long and enjoyed base miles period.  But from here I am a little lost. I know about what to do, but I’m afraid to mess things up. With racing starting up next weekend, I know that the intensity will come, but what should I be doing in training? I know now that I really do need a coach. I’ll keep working getting one, but I fear it’s too late. A good way to put it is that I’ve worked hard to build this fragile form, but I don’t trust myself to hold it.

Just writing about racing is literally making it difficult to sit still. I really don’t know how well it will go; who will be there and how they’ll be feeling, but I have higher and higher expectations each day.