Well, in exactly one week, 24 Hours of Moab/National Championships will be a reality. Yuki and I are racing the Coed Duo category… and needless to say, it is going to be tough. I have never raced a duo for 24. I have raced a duo for 12 hours, and several 4 person teams for 24 hours. Some say duo is the hardest format which makes me anxious. All you have to do is suffer for 24 hours, right? Sounds easy on paper, but I know what the painful reality will be like – FUN, TOUGH, and an ACCOMPLISHMENT. The field is stacked this year (duh, it’s nationals).
Anyway, I haven’t been able to do a lot of training since… well, June! It’s been race/recover, race/recover. The vicious cycle of the race season. This week, I have been trying to eek in just one last week of training for Moab, although it probably won’t do too much. I’ve been doing all the classic canyon climbs around Boulder, but at a hard pace. Moab will be tough because every lap, I will have to go almost as hard as I can. The effort is much different from what I have been doing this year. In a 75-100 mile race, I ride at sub-threshold at a steady pace which is a lot slower than an XC pace. So… pushing it this week to remember what that feels like has been helpful.
Today, I did some hard efforts up Lefthand Canyon – one of my favorite places for intervals because the canyon is 16 miles long, and 4000′ up to the top. The road is not overly steep, so you can spin a little more in a harder gear.
I spent about 30 minutes checking out this view:
And then the rest of the ride enjoying the fall colors:
It’s that time of year where you sweat going up the canyon. At the top, you add a vest and arm warmers, or maybe a wind jacket… and then you shiver and your teeth chatter on the way back down. I am in search of some windproof mittens to put OVER my gloves for canyon descents. Anyone have any suggestions?
My sleeping habits have been off since Vegas… I can’t seem to get to sleep before midnight. I am trying to treasure my sleep, since next weekend I will not get any!
Tomorrow – time to hit the dirt on my mountain bike. Yesssssssss!
Assos Early Winter Gloves. Co0worker has them and loves them. He ordered one size bigger than he would normally wear so he can put a liner under them. would also allow you to keep your regular gloves on I’d imagine.
See ya in the desert!!!!