Two Steps Backwards And Ten Watts Forward.

 "There's no such thing as over-training, only under resting"

  Allen Lim.

Some wise words that I have applied this week, taking the foot off the accelerator for a little R&R.  Since mid October its pretty much been full gas with the training, and after struggling to hit all the necessary targets last week it's time for a short mid preparation break to recharge.  And to be honest I'm excited about it.  I'm excited that the preparation has been spot on so far that I can afford to do this, and also excited that I have the confidence to make smart, educated training decisions when things aren't working out.  It is all too easy just to plow though and keep digging a bigger hole for yourself and I've seen it happen.  And for me it was simple back track of doing 6hr days at our team camp during what was meant to be my recovery week not leaving me rested enough (surprise, surprise) to start the next block.  Easy-Peasey-Lemon-Squeezey.

It's actually been the perfect week to spend a little less time in the saddle too, with work kicking up a gear signing up two new clients and a pretty decent snow storm blowing in.  So I'm going to make the most of it tomorrow with Kat and I planning to head out on my first snow shoeing adventure!  Should be a riot, and we plan to take one of the foster dogs from the Great Pyrenees rescue out with us.  Stay tuned!

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So with the buzz of my last post it was way cool to see SRAM release a new gruppo this week, being the Apex. The nice feature that will appeal to entry level bicycle enthusiasts will be the wide range 11-32T cassette ratio that combined with a compact crank, might be the nail in the coffin for triple users.

"The lower Q-factor, less gear redundancy and estimated 274 gram weight advantage of the Apex compact over the Shimano 105 5603 triple has, SRAM says, been rewarded with a number of production bike manufacturers already placing significant orders for the new group."   cyclingnews.com

Sounds pretty good to me....and looks sweet too in bad ass black...