I received a category upgrade in cycling from a 4 to a 3 today. I wasn't in a big hurry to upgrade because the 3s race with the 4s in the majority of races, so it doesn't make much difference to be one or the other. However, with some races they split out the women into two groups 1/2/3 and 3/4, so the 3s have options on which races they want to do. If nothing else it is symbolic of the progress I've made and the stellar season results I've had so far. And it is indicative that my training plan is working. I didn't want to fork out the dough to hire a coach, so I decided to learn how to be my own coach. I researched and studied and asked questions, and compiled everything into a big binder that I use as a reference.

Being a cat 3 also means that I care less about where I finish in the race and more about winning primes or payouts. So I would need to finish well if the payouts are good, but if the primes are better, then I'll burn my matches going for primes instead. For the first part of this season I had to focus on placing as high as possible in order to prove to the association that I deserved the upgrade. So I am looking forward to trying different strategies and taking some risks during races for the rest of the season. I'm not sure I'll have the dedication to put in the training hours if I set a goal of moving up to a 2 next year, so I'll just enjoy being where I am now.