Today was my last planned ride for the month, and I had about 21 miles left to reach a personal milestone of 200 miles in a month. It seems like every time I get close, I either do a very challenging event or weather gets the best of me, or I just seem to fall a little short. Last month I came within a few miles and just missed the mark. This month I ended up needing 1 good ride to finish up what should be a spectacular month for me.
That said, today was a planned ride with a few of the guys from work to go over Paris Mountain. This makes 3 rides in the past month to tame the beast, which almost seems unimaginable to me. The route took us up the Swamp Rabbit past Furman, and then up the steep side of Paris Mountain and over the top. This would also be the first time planned where I didn't go back down the same side I went up on Paris Mountain, which would be a new experience for me. With a fantastic day ahead of us, we took off on the route.
It's still amazing to me that riding up the Swamp Rabbit is a relaxing ride, even at a 16 mph pace. We didn't rush up to Furman, but we didn't dilly dally at all. We made our way up to Altamont road, and started the accent up Paris Mountain. The first half mile or so I felt really strong, but I could tell that my legs were tired from the Boot Camp and the Sunday Brookwood ride. By the time I reached the water tower, I had some doubts on if I'd have enough legs to make it all the way up to the top. That said, I was still determined to NOT let the mountain beat me. I had to struggle more this time than my previous attempts to keep my heart rate in an acceptable zone while climbing. I had to find ways to recover whenever possible. I kept my wits about me, and took the chances I had to recover instead of attacking when I really thought I should be. I made it to the top, and checked my time. Not a lot faster than last week, but still faster. Not what I was expecting, nor what I was attempting to do with the run. We got back downtown, and I needed just a mile to complete my goal of 200 miles. Thus I took a longer way back to the car, and got a fantastic ride in.
No comments:
Post a Comment