S. T was Evergreen masters. It’s hella early and I have to drive across town, but I like it. All I remember is one set of 10x100m on 1:40, odds free, evens w/ 50 stroke. Did the first in 1:28 and then drifted to about 1:37 which made the second half damn near continuous. Somehow, I need to get back to my old descending self. Good coach, fast team, challenging workouts. Slept through R’s workout. That happens maybe twice a year. I’m blaming Sheri because she slept through T’s workout which set a precedent. A solid workout, but only one, thus the dreaded √-. 

C. Got dropped on both race team rides. Set a negative p.r. R by getting dropped twice in the same ride. I had plenty of time on the slow slogs home to debate whether my lack of form was the result of my summer cold or from being undertrained as a result of the previous week. Weirdly, my form was better and I had more pop in April. What’s with that? Nutrition has been fine, but I haven’t been getting enough sleep. In actuality, I don’t think I’m riding worse, it’s just that the race team is riding better as a result of riding more miles than me. I’m not talented enough to hang with 50% of their mileage. At minimum, I need to ride a similar amount, but that’s not as high a priority for me. So maybe I just need to accept getting flicked off the back at some point during each training ride. But if I go in with that attitude, it’s guaranteed to happen. It’s part physical, part mental. In the spring I was riding with a little swagger, now I just don’ t have sufficient ass time to ride as confidently. One more variable is the uncertainty surrounding RAMROD. I’m 156th on the waitlist so it’s going to be close. If I knew I was in I’d be a little more motivated to go long. I did go medium-long on SU finally. 5 miles on, 5 off. Wasn’t lighting the course on fire, but also felt like there was still fuel in the tank at the end. There was wind and rollers. If T and D weren’t racing they might have pulled up to me mid-ride and asked, “Ron, on or off right now?”

R. Bagged M’s run to do final summer school prep before the first class. Rest of the week was standard, except for mile 21.6-22.6. Four of us on SA’s standard 10 miler. At one point the “youth” (late 30’s/early 40’s) dropped back about 20m. I told the Supplement (early 50’s) it was time to show the youth that we’re like fine wine, just getting better with age. “When we hit the church driveway, we begin our mile time trial.” The Supp had been waiting all morning for that invitation. 6:41 with an uphill finish. Score one for the geezers. The dreaded √- due to missing M’s run and not making up any of the miles.