Lightly crisped

My legs are lightly browned, crispy without being burnt. I guess you could call them toasted.

I am not entirely sure why, the ride this morning was a solid one, but I didn't think it was as hard as that. I could be wrong though. Either way, my legs are feeling it now. A little bit annoying given that I had a day off yesterday, but then again not all that surprising given that I am at the tail end of a training block. Fatigue has a cheeky way of building up on you.

Despite how I feel now, the ride went well this morning. It was two hours with a bunch of hill repeats and then one big long effort. The legs felt a bit flat on the hills, but I got through them okay. The long effort went more smoothly. Painful, obviously. But not too much of a hassle.

I also got a nice little reminder to not get too cocky on the bike. I got a brief glimpse of what serious cyclists look like this morning after my hill repeats. I was riding along and got passed by a very rapid pack. The speed they were going there was no way I was going to accelerate up and catch them. I did catch up to them at the next intersection though and decided to see how long I could hold a wheel. Not long it turns out. It wasn't so much the riding where I lost them, but the corners. These guys can handle bikes. We went through a rapid left, right combination where I lost a little bit each corner. Out of the corner they then then accelerated rapidly up to around 50km/h. I know this because I was doing 45km/h when I lost them and they were pulling away. With the little gap I had let open, and then the rapid acceleration, boom, forget it, game over, I wasn't catching them up. Very impressive. I often forget there are some very good cyclists rolling around Perth and so it is good to get a reminder now and then. I am pretty sure I saw at least one set of Australian team kit in the pack and something tells me they weren't wearing it because they picked it up cheap at the local bike shop.

Funny weather this morning though. Chilly at the start, but then warming up to be lovely. I made the mistake of dressing for the conditions at the start and so ended up being pretty warm by the end. Not the end of the world. Just a sweatier version of the world than I would usually like.

Walk/Run on the program this afternoon. Slightly longer efforts this time around, but less of them. A bit faster though. I will have to wait and see how the legs are going by this afternoon, but I should be okay I think. Some walk/run is better than no walk/run, besides I suspect once I get going I will feel okay. I am currently working my way down to race weight, and so am watching what I eat a bit more. However, I suspect today I need some fuel, so I am planning on having a bit of a bigger lunch. I am hoping that between that and continued hydration I will pick up by this afternoon.