Hills

I've found that taking half a day off during the week leading up to a race and heading downstate to hit some trails really helps me out on race day. Since I'm fortunate to have a boss who doesn't mind my last-minute vacation requests - which are always dependent on the weather - I got to make a trip down to Poto yesterday afternoon to ride with Mitch, Nichole and Aaron.

I was totally intimidated by the Potawatomi. In my mind, it's always been this unattainable, killer trail. A couple summers ago, I rode it and struggled miserably through the whole thing. The second time I attempted it, I broke my chain three miles in and had to walk out. Mitch loves it; I fear it!

But Nichole rides it all the time and convinced me that it should be my race-week training run. So the four of us met up yesterday and to my surprise, I had a great time! Sure, the first four miles we're pretty rough. But after than, my legs remembered how to work and I started to enjoy the trail. Some of the hills were still pretty challenging but I made it up most of them!

Of course, my legs are nice and tired this morning. I'd like to get down to the Rec and work out over lunch, but a few friends and I are going out to bid farewell to a coworker who's moving on. I might get some good stretching in this evening, but I have lots of homework and a neglected apartment to tend to. Since Mitch has been staying with my parents and working with Bobby all week, basic housecleaning is falling by the wayside!

Speaking on Mitch and jobs, I don't have any real updates. He's done a couple more apps this week, but his schedule with Bobby has kept him pretty busy. It's so nice that he can go down there and actually work, because he hated sitting around the apartment...still, I miss him terribly and hope he can find something permanent soon.