Look at that BIG GREEN BAR!! Probably shouldn't have gone on this ride today since I'm technically still recovering from Eagleman. But I thought, "What the heck?" My friend "Coach" Mike, asked me again to come and do this ride with some of the athletes he's coaching for Lake Placid and Louisville. Though tough, I like the ride. It offers the variety of riding in the valley north of Frederick, into Gettysburg, and combines that with some decent climbs and screaming downhills. This time Mike had brought folks of varying abilities. Pretty much after we start, it was clear there were a couple of groups, pretty fast and then not quite as fast. Mike took the 4 folks with him that were fast and since I knew (for the most part) where we were going, stuck with the slower folks as they're not from around here and don't know the roads. Cloudy and pleasant to start but I knew that wasn't too last and it didn't later. The first part of the ride takes us north to Gettysburg which I've done many times before. So pretty uneventful. At Gettysburg, the people riding with me decide on taking a few pics at Little Round Top, always a good photo op! We meet up with the faster group in Gettysburg for some water and to take in nutrition. Head back out again and move along the rolling terrain W-NW of Gettysburg for a while. Meet up with them again at I think 68 miles out at this restaurant we missed last year. After this, the fun really starts - hills! This first one is short but it is steep! We are rewarded with a nice downhill though - 42 mph! And we go on like this for a while between rollers, some definite hills, and screaming downhills. Now, not too far away from a stop at Blue Ridge Summit, I suddenly recognize where we are, BUT...I'm normally going down the other way. O-M-G! This is a dreadful uphill climb! Didn't do this last year because we went the wrong way and I forgot about it. Man, THIS IS TOUGH! Thank goodness for triple chainring! After this, a nice downhill and easy ride to the next rest area. One of the folks has bascially had enough and decides just to wait for her friends to get back to the cars and come get her. It's about 15-20 miles back, so that's over an hour wait. She doesn't care and I kinda don't blame her. No sense in pushing yourself to the point of utter exhaustion, especially since it was quite warm. Now, decide not to take the last hill marked on the course, detour around it, and just push to the end. Hit route 550 which is a fairly nice ride back into Thurmont. From there, it's about 8 miles on lightly rolling terrain. We're now near where started taking a left, going through a covered bridge (there were 5 today, 6 if you count the one twice), right up a slight hill, and right into the park where we started. Whew! The fast group is there and found they took a long way around back, so they were just getting back themselves. Told Mike about the gal we left at Blue Ridge Summit and the folks she came with will go back and get her. Heck they were going to have pizza there...sounded good to me and almost wanted to hop in the car with them ;). Well, not sure about tomorrow. I'd like to swim but probably won't. Think it's probably the endorphins talking right now, but I'm actually considering going for a run in the morning...can't you believe it?? Monday is DEFINITELY a day off. Will start mapping out Savageman strategy tomorrow and Monday.

I'm taking a down day for a couple of reasons. 1) I have some post-race "blahs". Motivation is a bit low at present to start training or even any real activity back up 2) I'm tired today for some reason and 3) I have this self-supported century I'm doing tomorrow. Yeah, can you believe it? I've done the route twice before so I know what to expect and it sounds like it will be somewhat casual. So expect like 6-7 hours and a BIG GREEN bar on my stats for the end of this week. Cleaned my road bike, put a different wheel on cuz it's tire looked better, and also the 12-27 cassette so I can climb a bit better. Hopefully it's okay and I may have to make some seat adjustments. So century ride tomorrow. Sunday - rest??? Perhaps a light run on the C&O but I'm really not sure just yet. I figure for Savageman, I'm going to have to do strength training, hill workouts (bike and run), and possible power intervals in addition to just easy run/riding. Let me see how this will work and start to put all that down on my schedule. Looks like I might get out on the bike course 2-3 times beforehand, so that will work to gage how well I'm doing. And of course, losing about 5-10 lbs would really help. I have reached a kinda plataeu at the moment and may have to really work at losing more so I can get a better power-to-weight ratio. Wish me luck tomorrow.

The roads were wet and it looked like we might get some more rain in a while. So, I decided on just spinning downstairs on my trainer while watching a movie for a while. I thought only 40 min but then just kept spinning for the full hour. As it turns out, I might've been able to go out after all. But, it's okay. Recovery spinning rather than any sort of hills is okay. Hmph, haven't done that in a while and usually avoid it like the plague if I can get out at all. I must admit, I'm kinda in a down period where I just want to sit rather than do anything. Pretty typical after a long period of training followed by a race. I am almost considering taking a down day tomorrow before this self-supported century ride I'm going on. Will see. Might do a light run around the neighborhood in the afternoon if it doesn't storm. Well, more later.

A recovery day. As it was quite chilly for June (48!), I decided to do a short run first at Ft D and then cool off in the pool for a bit. Sparkling morning, low humidity, bright sunshine, and really no wind! Wow! What a morning to be alive! I kept the run pretty light though I was feeling pretty good. It was good that I did as my lower quads started to complain just a little. Then swam just for a bit to keep the arms tuned while cooling off from the run, though I wouldn't have needed to with the cool weather. Tomorrow is unsure. Hoping for an afternoon bike but it may storm. Will see.

Recovery day today, though gotta ya folks...this is the BEST I've EVER felt 2 days after a Half Ironman! I mean usually I'm hobbling around due to the delayed onset soreness in my muscles. My quads are just a bit sore this time. So, today I decided just to do an easy spin in zone 1 on a stationary bike at the gym for 40 min. Then when I got home, decided I should probably do the Flexible portion of the yoga DVD I have that's specifically for cyclists/triathletes. That felt pretty good, long time since I've done it. Tomorrow, though it will be chilly in the morning, I'll probably swim and then a short, easy run at Ft D. Thursday, maybe a ride in the valley after work Friday, easy perimeter run around Ft D if I feel up to it. Now Saturday, I've been invited on a self-supported century+ ride that I've done twice north of Frederick into PA and back. Not sure about Sunday yet. I'd like to do a longer run but will see how my legs feel. Have to start mapping out my strategy for Savageman. I see a good amount of hill training and perhaps a good amount of leg strength training in my future.

Rest day today after Eagleman. I had gotten a sports migraine last night and took meds. Felt better in the morning. Other than that, really don't feel bad. A bit of soreness in the legs which is expected. Will see about tomorrow how I feel as the 2-day rule goes into affect. Think I may sit in the jacuzzi and soak a bit. Now I may take another day off, but might go to the gym tomorrow for some light aerobic machine work to keep the muscles active. Eagleman 2011 Race Report has been posted. Decide about the rest of the week tomorrow.

I will post more tomorrow but wanted to let folks that follow know that I CRUSHED my old HIM best time of 5h 43m and also my time on this course today! New HIM PR! Time - 5h 25m 41s! Best time I did at Eagleman previously was 6h 01s. Again, more tomorrow and later this week I'll post my race report.