Like a phoenix from the ashes

Today the unimaginable happened. All things being equal, I beat IronPhil to the top of the Glen Fruin hairpins! Now, while I obviously take it and place it on the marital mantelpiece as a victory, it's actually more of a marker that I must be doing something right. For months I've joked that one day, when he's least expecting it,  IronPhil will turn around and find me right on his back wheel, breathing down his neck. I've also joked that after spending the whole winter training on my heavy Giant, come the spring I would rise like a phoenix from the ashes and kick ass on my lightweight carbon Trek.
So this morning, with the spring sunshine finally breaking through the rain clouds, we took the big boys out to play. Phil on his Cervelo, me on the Trek. I couldn't believe the difference, straight away I was effortlessly keeping pace with my guru. We hit the first gentle rise and before I knew it, I was overtaking him,  worked hard to keep the distance to the top. Hmm, nice one, I thought, as IronPhil asked whether I'd been really working hard. "Yeh, a bit," I replied. Good job he  couldn't see the gritted teeth!
Then the totally unimaginable happened, we hit the bottom of the Glen Fruin hairpins and I found a pair of legs that didn't seem to belong to me, so I decided to use them. Pedal for pedal, I matched IronPhil, round the corners, up the incline, out of the saddle, back in the saddle, he just wasn't getting away and I wasn't dying either. Then over the last cattle grid, onto the last really tough pull, he started to take the lead. Yet again, I cranked up a notch, up a few gears, more gritted teeth and I was past him. I knew victory was mine when yelled: "Go for it!" Not only had I closed the gap, I'd positively shut the gate and mowed the grass too!

Now, the competition between us is just good-natured fun (a bit like the Brownlees!) but I have followed him up that route so many times, dropping further and further behind as the hill climbs higher and higher. So today is a sign that all that tough winter training is paying off. Just looking at my electronic log, over the last few months I've climbed higher than Mount Everest - over 32,000ft of climbing in my legs. It's definitely not 'all about the bike' but it maybe 'all about the breakfast'.
For a short while, the unimaginable is creating a smug wee smile on my face; tomorrow it will be the unmentionable, and next week, if IronPhil has his way, it'll be the unrepeatable! After a proud pat on the back, my husband has already been consumed with concern, his male pride has taken a right old bashing and he's already analysing what went wrong out there this morning. A few comments along the lines of: "You got up earlier than me & you'd had breakfast," have been passed. OK - so if a bowl of muesli is all it takes to knock over 30 seconds off a PB - I'll be starting my own nutrition blog next - watch this space!