Today during my last long ride before the M2M Half IM next weekend I wanted to get some confidence climbing in. It was already drizzling as we headed out towards Saluda and we quickly realized that going to the long way around to the watershed was going to leave us wet and cold. We could not even see the mountains as we rode towards them which basically told us it was a sure thing that it was raining up there.  We figured we would stay closer to home and do our "work" on the Saluda Grade which only is a quick 35 min ride away. Since Brad has to work this weekend he had the day off today so was able to ride with me which was a nice treat. Ther e is some comfort in riding with someone who will ride hard when you want to or console you if you are having a bad day. At the bottom of the Saluda Grade I hit my lap button simply so I can compare my rides up the mountain. We were both feeling pretty good so we pushed the pace right from the get go. About 3/4 of the way up I started thinking I might have overdone it, but I was able to keep the pace steady and cadence in a good range so we pushed all the way through to the top. We both knew it was a good solid effort. After hitting the lap button I was rewarded with the data...it was one of our better efforts EVER! Of course our ride was far from over and we were both now mentally preparing for more climbing on tired legs. 

As we made our way up the mountain the fog was so thick you really could not even tell where you were. Thankfully Brad had a flashing light on his bike! The thick fog made a road I ride on all the time seem foreign. I felt like I could not ride down the hills fast because I could not really see what was coming, riding up the hills, they seemed to never end because all that was ahead of us was very thick fog. The reason I share this with you is because initially going into this part of the ride I was concerned about my legs, but as the time in the fog went on I realized that it wasn't my legs that I needed to worry about. In order to ride hard into the unknown I had to TRUST MY SKILLS despite being uncomfortable with the inability to see ahead. I know that I can stop quickly, corner well, climb any hill that is out there so what was I so worried about? I was worried about making a mistake descending because the consequences of that are pretty serious. I was worried about animals darting out in front of me, heck I was spending time worrying about things that normally I would simply react to and handle, but all of a sudden because of this fog they were "issues". Of course I had no option other than to work through this, but it also gave me time to think about athletes that I coach and how they react and respond when they are put in uncomfortable situations, be that in a race or in training. There are always times when things are going to happen that are completely out of your control. You simply have to adjust and adapt and move forward. Sometimes things we expect to give us problems never do, but how we react and deal with new unexpected situations, especially in racing can set you up to have the race of your life. Be the athlete that can best adjust and adapt quickly and you will find that even riding in dense fog can be rewarding.