Legs of Lead...

but that's because of another successful weekend. Now, technically it was supposed to be a "recovery" type week and all in all, it was...kinda :)

Yesterday's ride was awesome - 20 mph winds, riding at a 45 degree angle to not get blown over and all in the name of charity and training!

Because of the wind, my ride plan changed from riding hard to enjoying the 50 miler. It was a short ride anyway, why did I think I needed to work so hard? I found myself invoking the same changes, for the same reasons, as I did last weekend for the half marathon. And guess what happened?

Hell ya, baby...I had a freaking great ride!!! Apparently, I like annoying hills and vicious winds. I felt strong the entire ride and never went to a bad place mentally, even when the crosswinds were blowing us all over the place. I concentrated on my leg turnover and keeping my upper body as relaxed as possible. I didn't want to have a stiff neck/shoulders after the ride. Because that sucks.

Again, I'm not sure what happened or why, but I just felt really good.

So good that after the turnaround, the boys came flying by and I was feeling fiesty; I thought, "do I go with them? do I give it a shot?" And without hesitation, I grabbed on to a wheel. I figured that I would hang on for a minute until I got dropped and then I would finish the ride with J. But that did not happen - for a while.

I couldn't believe it...I wasn't getting dropped...I was holding on...and I was flying!! Call me a wheel sucker, I don't care...it takes a lot of work to not get dropped by them. Eventually, after the last right hand turn and less than 10 miles from the finish, I started to fall off the back. And that was ok. It was a slow, painful drop but oh, so worth it!

I made the last couple of climbs by myself and still felt good. I pulled over at the last aid station only to find that it was a mere 6 miles from the finish - back on the bike and steady to the finish. I finished that ride on a huge adrenaline high - I "rode" today. Chalk it up as another milestone training day.

The only thing better than an awesome ride today? Getting to eat Fuddrucker's burgers after with two awesome ladies!!
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Gotta take 'em when you can get 'em because we all know that training is always sprinkled with those sessions that aren't so great. But that's ok because now I know that I can be strong. That I am strong.

Even though my run today was mediocre, at best, it never deflated my confidence. I expected to have one of these days soon and given the effort from yesterday, I'm not surprised it happened today. The first several miles were really hard as my quads were not happy and a hamstring was angry too. I just made sure I kept running. C kept me honest and did a great job helping me stay on pace. And at the end I had 10 more running miles logged in my book.

Training has never been more fun.

(and no, I didn't have a stiff neck/shoulders afterwards!)