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Sunday, March 3, 2013

Battle of Wills

Today's ride turned into a battle between my rational self (RS) and my irrational self (IS). The wind and hills added fuel to the argument. Here's the gist of it as I struggled to comlete 7.5 miles on the bike. You need to know that my irrational self goes back and forth betweeen "What were you thinking, you are never going to make it" to "Failure is not an option, ya big baby"

RS - It's colder than I thought. My face hurts. Keep going if you still feel uncomfortable after one loop around the neighborhood you can go home. But I really want to get some outdoor minutes so I hope that doesn't happen.

RS - (after leaving the neighborhood and heading out on 252 toward the Springton Reservoir). Man this wind is rough. I feel like I'm hardly moving and I haven't even hit the hills yet.
IS - You can't use the wind as an excuse. Suck it up.

RS - (about 4 miles in). These hills with the wind are killing me. I need to ride outdoors more and get stronger. The century ride course will be much flatter so if I can work through the hills of Media I'll be in good shape.
IS - You really should go out and drive the century course. Maybe it's hillier than you think. Maybe you should reconsider doing the century ride.

RS - I'm starving and lacking energy even on the flats. It can't all be the wind. (Start thinking about what I've eaten today). Breakfast at 8 but then you caught up with Dave and the news and then did your taxes. It was three hours later before you headed out here. Maybe you should have had something else to eat before the ride.
IS - That's just another excuse. You just aren't cut out for this biking thing.

RS - Shut up. I've got plenty of time. I need to keep riding as much as my marathon training allows. Give myself a chance to get used to riding longer. When Bob Potts is over I'm switching my emphasis to bike miles and I'll have 4 months until the ride. I can do this. I have to be patient.
IS - Are you sure? (evil laugh)
RS - No, of course I'm not. But it makes sense that I'll have a lot of rough days until I get used to riding and less rough days as I get further into the schedule. I've been through this with running. I just have to be patient.

RS - Now that yoga is at 5:30 on Wednesdays and daylight savings time starts in another week, Maybe I'll be able to put in some easy miles on the bike after yoga. Two days a week on the bike will give me more confidence and shouldn't hurt my marathon training.

RS wins this round. Some days it's more of a struggle than others. Keep smiling and keep moving, right?

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