Its early in the morning and as lay in bed half awake I can hear the rain. As I drift reality and dreams become indistinguishable. I am climbing Mt Fig. I am dancing on the pedals. I am feeling good; my legs are like pistons. The 8% grade is slipping by along with the rain and the mud. I am smiling. It feels great to be back on a steep climb; its me against the mountain. I relish something to push against.
Then reality sets in and I am fully awake. The dream seems more of a reality because I am on the trainer starting a hard workout to prepare for camp. The ride consists of a warm up, 2 mn at 130,150,170, and 200 watts, a brief rest and the workout. The workout is SEs, slow pedaling at 180 watts for 2mn, followed by 2mn at 260 watts. I repeat the sequence 3 times or until my legs fall off. I need to concentrate, say my mantra, rotation/hydration, to make the exercise easier.
The 260 watt SE hits me like a truck. I can see the the pop coming, I can feel the stress transfer from the computrainer up my my calfs past my quads and hams through my hips until my legs are singing. I keep repeating, rotation/hydration rotation/hydration rotation/hydration. I look at my feet to make sure my form is correct. Time is moving very slowly. The 2mns takes forever. I am sure it really is 5mn and the clock is playing tricks. The dance is more like a shuffle.
Just as suddenly the SE pop is over, the 260 watts are now a blissful 180 and then a recovering 120 watts. Life is good until the next set. Somehow the 5mn interval between sets moves very fast. Reality and time are skewed again. I am getting ready for the pain season. Life is good.
