Because I had so much fun riding last night around Mt. Sutro I decided to make a course of sorts for my early morning training ride. It starts at the base, climbs up into the neighborhood streets before you hit the switchback climb and trail that goes around the top of the mountain before dropping back down the other side. Each lap there's about 600' of elevation gain in almost 3 miles. Do a few of those and you equal the amount of climbing going around the Marin Headlands.
The best part of this type of course and training is that I'm really going to hone in on my technical trail skills; corning, navigating around switchbacks quickly, hopping up and over small obstacles, weaving in-and-out of trees. While it feels like I'm going slower I'm actually working just as hard to keep a rhythm, as I'm definitely using more upper body strength to keep moving. It simulates more traditional cross-country race courses in general, rather than the sustained fire road climbing, which has its own training benefits. Now all I need is some East Coast gnar, and I'll be set.