Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid...

Recovery week also means fitness testing. Thursday I did a broken 1000-yard swimming test set that wasn't any faster than the cycle before, but my consistency improved quite a bit. The Coach thinks I might be "muscling" my stroke and wants to look at it to make sure I'm thinking about "length". I think I just need more yardage. *Shrug*.

Saturday I returned to San Juan Trail to repeat my hill climb from last cycle. This time I made it a loop by taking Old San Juan Trail clockwise to Viejo Tie and returning via San Juan Truck Trail (though a truck would NOT fit on it; odd). Anyway, it turned out to be 17.6 miles and 3,260 vertical feet. Friggin' awesome trail; next time I'll remember to stop and snap some photos. I digress....

So I pulled into the parking lot and it was FULL of cars. WTF!? Honestly, in the years I've been riding that trail I've NEVER seen so many people out. The combination of rain the day before and the rocky, sandy soil there meant EVERYONE AND THEIR MOM decided to rid SJT that day. That's what I get for hitting the snooze-bar...

Luckily, I was able to find a parking space in the bushes (SO glad I have 4wd :) ) , throw my gear on and hit it before the really big groups got moving. I'm talking two groups of 5+ people each.

I warmed up by threading my way around people strung out on the trail and found myself a litttle space in front and behind me to do my 20 minute interval. I shifted into the middle ring, hit "lap" on my Garmin and CHARGED....and had to slow down every few minutes to wait for people to find room so they could let me by. A little frustrating. Still, once I got home and read the data, I got a full 1/4 mile and 140 vertical feet further, though I stopped the timer 30 seconds early. Imagine what I could have done with a clear trail! That's a great improvement. I'm stoked.

Sunday was my 5K run test (today as I write this). It was raining when I got up and I stalled as long as I could waiting for the rain to stop. It eased into a sprinkle and I put on my cold weather gear and hit it. I had the track practically all to myself: a welcome change from Saturday morning's trail conditions. I hit the "lap" button to start the interval and went for it. I won't give you my mile splits, but I ran my 5K 20 seconds faster than last month! Another awesome improvement!

So my fitness is improving right on schedule in order for me to accomplish my season goals (swimming is lagging, but it'll come around). I'm really excited because my "season" starts Saturday with the Vision Quest MTB "race". It's supposed to just be a ride, but they "recognize" the top finishers and you get bragging rights for a full year. Last year it took me over 8 hours, this year I'm looking to SMASH 7 hours. Here's the course profile from GeoLadders. Look for a report on it next week.

Dude!...
Sweet!...

E