17 days

17 days till Dalton 24 hour mtbike race. 17 days to rid myself of these saddle sores so i can get some nice new ones. as i read back through my training log, i see some good patterns, but also notice a lack of long rides during the month of may. i had lowered duration and increased intensity for 4-5 weeks during first 3 EFTA events and am now wishing i had done a couple more long rides... but all things being equal, even if i'd done a couple more epic rides, i'd be wishing i'd done a couple more. So, with only 17 days left to prepare, it's finally time to focus on what i need to do to take what i have into this race in the best possible condition versus think about what i didn't do!

My 20-days out plan was to increase duration by as much as 75% and maintain a decent intensity level for first 10-12 days, but the heat has been draining my batteries (and having to recover from Sunday's debaucle) - and i've only managed 5 hours in the past two days. While it was my plan to finish-up yesterday's training ride(s) with an easy 90min mtbike spin in the Fells, my legs were shot, it was 92 outside and i laid on the floor for almost that long, just beat from the day & hot bike commute home. By 715, it had cooled-off, i felt better, got some quality food cooking and headed outside to continue work on some stone steps until it was pitch dark. I'm supposed to be chipping paint off our worn front and side steps, but that job sucks, so i'm building some stone steps on the side of the house where i hose the bike-off. Much more creative work, but if i don't get cracking on the paint chipping soon, Jenn is going to loose patience with me. I digress.

I had to take it pretty easy this morning and am hoping an easy intensity ride home will allow me to get that mtbike ride in i wanted to do yesterday... but at this point, while i really want to work my legs, i don't want to risk stress or injury, so it's a take-it as i feel kinda thing (rob's advice yet again). Thursday morning I'm riding in the early morning (545a), a tough adjustment for me as i usually get-up at 645, grab some java and pedal on the indoor trainer for 30mins while the caffeine works its magic... but, if the sun's shining i might as well make use of it and wake-up earlier and ride outside versus on the indoor trainer... Friday is a wild card day, Saturday is an epic mtbike ride, then Sunday will probably be a rest day. Then the following week i'll get-in as many hours as i can mon-wed before lowering duration and increasing intensity for 8-10 days leading into Dalton. That's it. That's the master plan. Of course, how i plan to race the race is still a "secret" (pedal!) but what i'm doing to get there isn't. I'm sure 5 or more soloists have ridden more yearly hours than i, but this race is so much more complicated than that. All I can do is keep bringing the quality and keep having fun. That's the biggest key to any of this.