This past week was a great week of rides and my first mountain bike race of the season.

Tuesday I rode with Kevin and he helped me do a planned training ride which included a mix of flat threshold and maximum effort. The purpose of this ride is to get me used to having my heart rate at a fairly high level, have it spike up even higher and then go back to a fairly high level. I basically spent the entire time chasing him at an extremely high heart rate. I felt like I was going to throw up and I’m sure he barely had his heart rate elevated! It was good and I definitely needed this workout to get ready for some races.

I was not able to join my regular Wednesday women’s ride because of an evening work obligation so I rode my mountain bike at Lebanon by myself in the morning. It was really nice but I would definitely prefer riding with the ladies.

I took Friday morning off and went for a planned 4 hour road ride. I was originally going to mountain bike, but because of the weather and the wet trails, I stuck to the road but on my mountain bike instead of my road bike. I rode one of my favorite routes - through Eagan/Mendota Heights area, across the Mendota bridge, through Minnehaha Park, up River Road, across the Midtown Greenway through Minneapolis and out to Hopkins, back to Minneapolis, through the Lakes area, east on Minnehaha Parkway and back to the Mendota bridge. It was a nice long ride but I came to the conclusion that I’m tired of riding by myself. Because of work etc…I’ve had to fit in rides whenever I can which lately has meant going before work in the morning. I’m definitely happy to have a normal work schedule now and am looking forward to some more rides with friends.

The best part of Friday’s ride was that I discovered a new energy food - Mel O Glaze donuts. In the numerous times I’ve ridden past this donut shop, I’ve never stopped. I can guarantee you that will never happen again. I’m not a donut fanatic but I do love regular glazed donuts and I’ve heard these were good. They are amazing. I think the woman behind the counter was amazed at how quickly I ate the donut as it only took me 2 seconds. I can’t wait to go back!

Saturday, my friend Kim and I headed out to Wausau, WI for the Big Ring Classic. We met up with some other friends and pre-road the race course This area has amazing bike trails and I was really looking forward to riding on some sweet singletrack. The race organizers did not disappoint. I had to keep reminding myself that I'm doing these short races to train for endurance races but I still get nervous everytime. The race was 16 miles, it was fast and there were lots of women racing which is great. Congrats to Dana for winning Kim’s dinner cup challenge and congrats to Kim, Janet and Nicole for doing so well yesterday. You rock!

I have been fighting a cold since last Wednesday and I think yesterday’s effort put me over the top. I am home resting today with a sore throat, headache and congestion. However, I’m enjoying the needed rest and my cats are happy!