Day 3: I get it now

I see how this is going to work.

Last Tuesday was at Level 9 sprints. Wednesday was Level 9. Today was Level 10 - our "breakthrough" day.

When the first sprint of the first round of interval comes, I'm ready. I'm out the gate like gangbusters. RPMs are high, around 118, I'm feeling good. 20 seconds, no problem.

Rest for 10 seconds (feels like 2), then second sprint. OK, not as fast, RPMs a little slower. By the end of the last interval, I'm dog tired.

At this point, Melanie says anything above 100 RPMs is good. For me, the ability to breathe at this point would be good.

Here comes the second set. There's not much chatter or laughing now as Melanie exhorts us to beat Joshua's RPMs of 123 (he's two bikes over and the only guy in our group of four today). I get up to 120 on the first interval after the rest, but after that, lucky to break 114.

Being such a goal-oriented person, I'm just looking toward the last interval. And of course that's when Melanie says to do the last interval at Level 12, "just for fun." Luckily, none of us had enough breath left to swear out loud.

So that's how it's going to be. Wednesdays we'll feel just the slightest bit comfortable and then, bam! Friday comes along and we breakthrough, just for fun.