It was not easy getting out of the apartment this morning. I read the whole NY Post before I decided this IM thing means morning workouts are a must. So off I went. Since I was late I missed the entire team and did the workout on my own. I kind of feel like my entire IM training has been alone but no biggie. I luckily brought my iPod with me to keep me entertained. I did 4 loops and they felt great and believe it or not I wore capri cycling pants (with toe warmers!). First loop I spun high cadence on the hills - or at least as much as I could in the big chain ring. Second loop I did every single hill out of the saddle, no matter how long they were. Work those quads!!! Third loop I did everything in the big ring and some pretty tough back cogs. I was going slow but working the legs hard! The word of the day was PULL, PULL, PULL which is what I pretty much chant to myself on every hill. Last loop I did hills as I would in a race. I'm very pleased with my average speed because I know it would be a few mph higher without my workout experiments, especially that third loop which resulted in very low speeds in that gear and low cadence combo. I hung tough with a cyclist on 2 of the loops and didn't let him drop me. Woot!