Another beautiful day in Italy....

Ok so again I should be studying for my 3 midterms on Wednesday but no motivation = not getting anything done. I read Baumann's blog and it sounds like UW kicked some major ass in DePauw this weekend...looks like we have a pretty strong team this year. Awesome...I just wish I could be there for it, but there's always next year when I'll be a crapload stronger and wiser.

So today I didn't do too much at all. Today was suppose to be a study day. 3 of my classes were cancelled so I could study...what do you think I did? That's right...nothing to do with homework. I got up at 9am for breakfast and then like I usually do, I went right back to bed. I slept until about 12:45pm and then went to lunch at 1pm. After lunch I played a 40min game of soccer. I'm definitely a better goalie then when I'm on offense. Today I only had one goal scored on me for the first half and then only 3 more in the second half. I also scored 3 goals (I think) during the game...however we lost 7-10. Oh well, its not my sport anyways. Right after that I wanted to go for a quick juant on the bike. So I got out for a quick 50km ride. It was actually pretty quick. Only took me 1hr 35min, with the two climbs towards Barbarino. I wanted to go a little bit harder today to see how my legs were feeling. They were definitely feeling really good...even with the 20mph headwind I had on the way out. I did the first climb in a gear higher than usual. I was able to complete the whole climb in my 39-23, two gear increase since I got to Italy...and with a cadence of about 60-70 all the way up. On the way back on wanted to really see what my legs had. So on the 13% climb back home I geared up to 39-19 and just busted ass up it. Sitting down the whole way. I was able to keep a cadence of probably around 75. Not too bad. And I was really tired at the end of it and my legs still felt very very strong. So on the way home I averaged about 32mph (thanks tailwind) and decided to put in 5 all out sprints, about 400 meters in length. I got up to almost 40mph each time with one time actually getting to 40mph! So it was a good quick ride to see where my strength is at. Tomorrow I plan on putting around 4-5 hrs on the bike.

So it may sound impossible, but I'm up for the challenge....I have determined that my main goal for this summer is to upgrade to Cat 2 before Superweek, or at least a couple days into Superweek and then upgrade to Cat 1 by the end of Superweek...if not, then by the end of the summer. I have the dedication to do it. I've been improving alot lately. And seeing that theres only short steep climbs in Wisconsin I think I have a pretty good chance of meeting this goal. I'm able to hold 35mph for at least 10km with the pack, I can sprint at least 38mph, I've been getting faster and stronger up all climbs, and I don't tire as much in any of these. I'll be ready when I get back....with a new custom made bike thats 5lbs lighter than mine right now and me being about 10lbs lighter, hopefully. I will become P-R-O.

I would like to get a powertap, but thats a little too expensive right now and I really don't like watching my wattage, speed and time while I'm riding...it actually slows me down...cuz I start thinking wow, I'm only putting out 300 watts and I feel like crap...puts the self-esteem down. I would also love to get one of those altitude simulation masks. That would help out a lot...simulating 20,000ft a couple hrs a day.

Tonight I will be studying to about 3am, hopefully...maybe throwing in an episode of l'OC. We'll see how much studying I get done though. Happy training...

Ciao