the fun and the not-so-fun

The plan for the weekend was to do 2 long days of riding out of Mulberry Gap in the North Georgia mountains. Eddie and I arrived in the early afternoon on Saturday, just in time for the afternoon shower. Except this time it wasn't just a shower, it was a several-hour downpour. We started with a short section of gravel road and then a nice singletrack climb. The climb was hurting me. My legs were not in the game..unfortunately this has been the story much too often lately. Blood tests done last week have revealed low iron status. Well, at least I know how to fix that but it will take a little time.

While I usually push through the fatigue, I have started realizing (with some helpful advice from my coach) that doing so is only making things worse. The easy workouts have been seeming too hard, and the hard workouts have been of very poor quality. Despite my coach suggesting I take Saturday completely off, I thought I would take my chances..and it didn't work out for me. I reluctantly decided to finally be smart and pulled the plug early. I rode back to Mulberry Gap for a nap in the cabin..I must have been tired because it just took me a few minutes to fall asleep and I am not a napper..the rainfall on the roof didn't hurt. Eddie got a nice 6 hour ride in, I think it must have rained for at least 4 of those hours! Dinner was pork BBQ, organic local sweet potatoes, apple bread, yummy rolls, and peach cobbler. Have I mentioned how much I love this place???

I went to bed at 9pm that night and got a great night of sleep. I woke up on Sunday with the intention of doing a solid 5 hour race-pace ride but I was nervous that I would still be fatigued. I fueled up with french toast, waffles, sausage, and fresh peaches. I filled 3 bottles with PowerBar Endurance and stuffed some PowerGels and Power GelBlasts in my pockets. I crossed my fingers that my body was going to feel rested this time.

Thankfully, I felt good from the start...hello race legs! I led the charge up the first climb and as often as I could throughout the day.

alone at the top with my Rotwild

One of my favorite climbs

Eddie forgot his handlebar bag but was carrying extra weight anyway as preparation for the Trans North Georgia race.

While I didn't hit my weekly training hours, I am really happy with the quality of the rides this week. I've also realized that I am going to have to do a better job of prioritizing QUALITY REST. I don't do that very well...there's always too much going on! I am also really happy with how I have been handling this warm weather..I am going to keep my fingers crossed that it is HOT for the rest of my races this summer!! Thanks, PowerBar and nuun for keeping me hydrated. Oh, and while I'm on the topic of warm weather...keep checking MTB Race News for an interesting feature coming up!! You will definitely want to read it.