As Yogi Berra said, “It’s like deja vu all over again.”

We are registered again this year for Breathless Agony, 114 miles with 12,000 feet of climbing.  And I’m again questioning why I am going to put myself through this (with my mom’s voice in my head answering, “Because you’re an idiot.”) We rode it last year but were only able to complete 60 miles, as Jonathan’s back decided to give out on that day.

We’ve been training fairly steadily through February (Jonathan a little more than me), and we’ve set at least one PR nearly every ride.  We are certainly stronger this year than last year at the same time.  But we have a ways to go before being “Breathless Agony” ready.  Unfortunately for me, that means revisiting my old friend Mt. Baldy, ranked as the 20th most difficult climb in the U.S.  My legs and lungs hurt just thinking about it.

The good news is we’ve got our fueling figured out.  No more worrying about what to eat the night before, the day of, during the ride…after last year we’ve got it dialed in.  Our breakfast is the same as any other day, and we use bars to fuel on the bike if/when we get hungry.  The only challenge I currently have is I can no longer tolerate Quest Bars – a low carb protein bar that had been my go-to bar.  The bars contains sugar alcohols and my stomach has decided it will not deal with any more sugar alcohols.

I’m on the hunt for an alternative, and right now the only thing I’ve found is a new bar by Atkins that contain no sugar alcohols – their Harvest Trail bar.    I guess it’s back to using more Super Starch and ketone supplements, too.  Oh, and Slim Jims, my personal favorite.  I just love the heckling I get when I have one sticking out of my jersey.