They hay is in the barn

At the end of every high school cross country season, my coach would sit the team down for a meeting before the state championships. Inevitably, he would lead off by saying, "The hay is in the barn." To me, it had become the phase to signify that the hard work is done. No matter what it relates to, that phrase tells me to get my game face on and prepare for the task at hand.



This past weekend, I ended my hard work with my last long ride. I traveled out to the middle of nowhere Indiana for a 112 mile bike followed by a 6 mile run. This day was going to be the last true race rehearsal. I awoke early in the morning to make the hour long drive to thebeginning of my route. I was to do 3 loops of 37 miles over some of the very same roads I traveled as I began my riding and racing some 20 years ago.



As the sun came over the trees, I set out on my first loop. The temperature was perfect and the winds had not begun. It was a prelude to the day. I tried to find speed where ever I could on the course. The only real stress was the occasional loose dog looking for a race. As the first hour came to a close, I looked down at my power and was a little saddened. i had tried to keep right at 69%, but had fallen a little short. A quick glance at my odometer had my spirits turned around. I had covered 21.6 miles in the first hour and it felt as thought the whole way was downhill. Honestly, I was a little unnerved. I really should not be going that fast. The questioning and self doubt began. Had I destroyed my whole ride? How off was my power meter? What is going on? I took a breath and remembered all the training I had done. I remembered measuring the route out on two different map programs just to make sure i had the distance correct. Well, i decided I just see what happens.



If the first hour felt easy and my speed was up, I figured the best thing I could do was to try to duplicate it. As the second hour ended, my ergomo had nothing new to report. I was moving around the loop with low watts and high speeds. By the middle of the second loop, the headwinds picked up. As soon as I turned into the wind, them I was taken back to my earlier bike racing days. During my training, I dreaded the route because the return trip to my house guaranteed a ride straight into the wind. When I stopped to refuel at the end of lap 2 I was still right on pace. My watts were steady, and i was still moving at an average of 21+ mph. The third lap was what the end of a long ride should be....a little bit of work. By now the temp climbed into the low 80's and the head winds were steady. Once I hit 100 miles I dialed down the pace. I do not care how good I feel at race day, right now, I have no business riding 112 miles in 5:17. By the time I finished I was looking at 5:20 and I felt great.

I had mapped out a solid 1 mile loop with a small little hill toward the end. I started off with little pain or cramping. I went on to knock off a series of miles faster than IM pace without much issue. By the end of the workout I knew that I was ready.

The hay is in the barn.