I got Slightly Perturbed?

Wow...this morning was a tough one.

Dana and I met up to do the "Angry Man" ride. I am not sure that I was Angry for very long...but I definitely maintained an acceptable level of irritation! :) Keep in mind, being Angry is a GOOD thing! I WANT to be Angry. If I'm Angry then it means I am keeping up with the boys! So, I say Slightly Perturbed because I worked my butt off today. I spent quite a bit of time in the red zone, and a LOT of time at my threshold. My heart rate and breathing were rapid, I was really feeling it in my legs and my lungs. It was GREAT! So, when I say Slightly Perturbed...that's actually a pretty good thing! :)

I stayed with the group for the first 10 miles or so and then the legs just weren't warmed up yet. A few rabbits took off and everyone else began to chase. I just couldn't hold on to it. I eased off and stayed with Dana. We started working together and began to pick people up. We ended up with a pretty decent group of 4 or 5 and just tried to keep the tempo up as much as we could. Then...fate intervened. We turned a corner only to see the pack in front of us again. Apparently, we had inadvertently taken a short cut. Oh, well, who cares! Dana and I both looked at each other and said, "If we haul and they get stuck at a light...we're GOLDEN." So we did! We caught up in about a mile or two.

I managed to stay with them for a bit, until we hit some of the rollers on Militia Hill road. Ugh. My legs were just cooked. So, I got to the top of the hills and started reeling people in again. I spent the majority of the last 10-12 miles on my own, time trialing, but that was actually just fine. I feel good about maintaining 23 mph on West River on the way back into town. All in all, 46 miles on the bike in just over 2 1/2 hours.

I am happily sore and looking forward to some good food, good drinks, and good company tonight at the "PA is the Greatest State Ever Party!"