At some point every athlete will experience a moment of crisis and ask themself "Why am I doing this to myself."  By day 5, I had to remind myself that this was what training camp was all about (You are supposed to be tired! If you were not, you weren't pushing your limits.). I was beginning to tire, but we, as athletes, endure and chip away each day to improve.
    On day 8 of my training camp, I finally reached that breaking point. 4 hours into a bike ride through the Kittatiny Mountains, I had my moment of clarity.  Now, Peter's Valley, Walpack Ridge among other towns, are all small country towns hidden in these mountains, that unless your grew up there, you probably wouldn't even know they existed. I had been pretty lucky for most of the day as it had only been light rain up until this point. But knew the forecast had been calling for heavier rains yet to come. Riding near the Pennsylvania border along lightly familiar roads, I came across some road blocks.  After looking down the path, it was obvious that these roads had been blocked off for the winter and untraversed for months now. The rain was now beginning to pick up and knew the blocked off road was my quickest connection back. I tried to stop in a restaurant for directions, but it wasn't open. As the saying goes, "When it rains, it pours." I continued on and came across some town names I recognized, but was unsure of how far out of the way the roads would be taking me. Unsure of how long the ride back would be, I decided to back track on the only roads I did know. And that's when it hit me...in the rain, climbing back through the ridge...I began to ask myself that frightful question. "Why am I doing this?" And almost immediately I had my moment of clarity. The answer..."So I don't have to ask myself that question during a race".  I began to think about some of the tougher races I will be doing this year...Quabbin Reservoir Classic 120 Mile Road Race, the Killington Stage Race. I climbed a little harder. I began to think about my goals for the year. Who else is out training in this weather? I took solace in that - and I embraced the rain and pressed a little harder down on the pedals...
    
"The human body can only do so much. Then the heart and spirit must take over.” – Sohn Kee-chung, 1936 Olympic Marathon Champion