First time feeling fast

Sunday I felt fast for the first time. I could really feel the effects of my training on the trail. It was a huge motivator for me to keep working hard. I pasted my comments to my coach below.

-------------------------


Sunday I rode my mountain bike. I felt a little run down before I got
on the bike. My legs were snappy but I think mentally I was just
tired. I couldn't really ride at 120 AHR. I was in the granny gear
the whole time. I basically tried to it in the smallest gear possible
that I could still keep a smooth pedal stroke. Every time I looked
down though I was doing at least 150 AHR (unless I was coasting
downhill). I kept working on it the whole day. I think it is just a
matter of me keeping a more constant effort instead of my rapid
acceleration/decacceleration thing that I normally do.

My pedal stroke seemed choppier than I expected. Also the back of my
leg above the knee was sore after Saturday's recovery ride on the
mountain bike. I wondered if I should lower my seat a little. Felt
like I couldn't pull my pedal stroke all the way back. When I got to
the back of my stroke (after pulling through the bottom) my leg would
be pulled up back to the handlebar. Didn't mess with the height
though because I wasn't sure if this was the way it supposed to be or
not.

I did the Snap Intervals in my big ring. Man it was fun to go that
fast. I am not sure I have every gone that fast on flats and up hills
before. I was catching air going uphill. Pretty cool.

I broke my training on the second interval. This guy was annoying me.
Riding my wheel and skidding all over the place. He claimed he lost
his riding buddies on wanted me to pace him. So I messed with him a
little. Every time he would get on my wheel I would speed up and ride
him off my wheel. After I gapped him a couple hundred yards, I would
slow down and let him catch up. I did this 3-4 times before he
finally popped. I probably wasted about 15 minutes and I saw my heart
rate go as high as 180. Not good for training but fun none the less.
I was surprised at how calm I was when cranking up hills. I knew I
was working but I never felt out of control and sloppy.

After my little racing session, I went back to doing my snap
intervals. For some reason I thought I was supposed to do 5 sets of
snap intervals instead of 3. Once I got on to my fourth set, my mind
started to get a little hazy. My handling was degrading as well. My
legs never felt tired. Again I think it was all mental.

When I got home I felt spent, I just layed around for a little while
and sipped recovery drink and ate some pasta. It took a couple hours
but finally I snapped out of it. I feel fine today.