Day Of Truth

9-13 mileage 56

MTD mileage 237

Today is the day I test my legs for the upcoming Atomic Man Half Ironman. This half ironman at this location is considered one of the hardest in the country. Lucky for me, I am on a team. Today I have planned on meeting up with a couple velofriends Lindsey and Jeff to ride the route. 56 miles of pulling my friends. I ate good the night before and felt solid at the start. I wanted to set a time to use during the race as a base time. The course is considered tough because it climbs over what the locals call the cry baby hills. Jeff reminded us they are also referred to as the three bitches. You see, they are not long or even very steep, only 6% at the max. They are just long enough and just steep enough and all three in a row, that make you want to hit them hard. I pushed over them in the first loop. This is where I believe I can make time during the race. I do not have tri bars and would not consider them this late in the game. I know I can climb harder than any part time biker. I also know they will go faster on the flats. OK, we travel out to where I believe the turn around point is and head back. This means over the hills again. I hit them hard again and return to the starting point in 1:24.

Second loop, I take the first 4 miles a little easier and climb a lot easier. I feel strong the rest of the loop and when it is time to come back over the hills, I hit them hard. I can not believe it, I have a chance to finish under 3:00. I push to the finish and wow 2:59 on a perfect day. Not too hot and hardly any wind for the area. I want to thank my velo friends who helped me push along. I also need to add a couple of qualifiers to this time. 1st, I have rode 5 of the last 6 days and my legs were not 100%, and I also took 30 mins in between loops due to a work conference call. So 2:59 comes with some baggage. Either way, I feel good about the race. Two weeks to taper and be ready.

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