Rest Week

Aaaaaahhhhh yes! The coveted "rest week" is here at last! Unfortunately for my body, but fortunately for my sanity, a cyclist can't be on top form all the time. Its not possible to just keep training and racing without a break. Well, you can try, but you'll probably end up like me post-Redlands: mentally and physically broken, looking for a hole to crawl into. A good plan will include some scheduled breaks after big races or particularly hard blocks of training. I'm in the midst of one of those breaks now, and it is fantastic.

A normal week of training entails dozens of hours of focused, brutal workouts that see you riding through wind and rain and leave you completely wrecked on the couch drinking protein shakes and watching old Flying Circus episodes. A rest week is "filled" with short easy spins to the coffee shop or through campus to see how the summer heat has affected women's fashion. I've been taking the time to cook extravagant meals, grab cherries and spit pits on the back porch and sleep as much as my body will allow me.

Oh you heard right! My body is now in charge of my sleep schedule. Huzzah! You see, I finally anted up and moved into some deluxe accommodations across the street. I'm the proud leaser of my very own room, complete with a bed, a door and all the other fantastic accouterments you'd expect of your modern domicile. Now, I will certainly miss my old roomies, but I will not miss waking up to banging pots and pans at 6:30 everyday. Plus, I'm right across the street so I can visit them anytime I want. I'm sleeping better now than I have at any point in the last 5 months and I'm pretty sure this will do more for my racing than any number of VO2 intervals.

I don't think I gave Adam enough credit for his Hood performance in my last post. He was in the top ten on numerous stages, including a 7th in the challenging Scenic Gorge ITT (before bullshit penalty), and a 5th in the crit (vicious attack photo by Pat Malach). He fought tough all week and finished 10th in the GC. For his efforts he was rewarded with the responsibility for the teams Mt. Hood race report. He did a pretty good job writing the thing and you can read it here.

The District ITT championships is this Sunday. Call me crazy, but I'm actually looking forward to this race. A 40k ITT is kind of like balancing on your nuts while someone whips you in the legs. Everyone is suffering the same agony though, and if you can pull out a good result its supposed to mean you're stronger, or tougher or more stubborn or something. I think that's probably cool on some level. I'll tell you for sure after the race.