Solid week of training! I’m pretty pleased. I think what I’m most impressed with is that this last year, I was blessed enough to be able to focus on my training and not have to go to an office to work. Now that I’ve started working again, albeit the office is still very flexible with me, I was successful in fitting in my workouts, work, meetings, volunteering with the Colonoscopy Assistance Program 5k race, attending my son’s all-city honor band performance and taking my other son to his karate classes. Ok, laundry didn’t get done one day but like my missed workouts… I got it done the next day.
Balance is a tricky talent. But even more important than mastering a balance in your life, the ability to adapt to any situation, obstacle or interference is critical… not only in training … but in life.
That is what my mother taught me. She was incredible at it.
I attended my second time trial for Team McAllen’s cycling team individual time trial this morning. We’ve been getting a lot of fog lately so for safety reasons, they pushed down the start time to 9:00a.m. The thing about pushing it down into the day is that the wind picks up closer to noon and the wind here in the gulf coast area is a biotch.
My first time trial was a bit scary for me. It was cold, drizzly and new. I wasn’t familiar with the race course and didn’t really know what to expect. This time, there were no excuses. I knew what to do. I knew how to do it. It wasn’t cold. It wasn’t drizzly. But there was wind… and a lot of it. So, ADAPT.
Many of the usual suspects were right there along side me. Mike, a regular 5a.m.’er on Tuesdays and Thursdays with me, had just finished his race and chimed in with his insight. “Start off slow otherwise you’ll lose your oxygen at the turn.” He gave me turn by turn advice that was spot on. This guy knows what he’s doing and I’m so glad he shared it with me!
Mike Padgett demonstrating his tactic to beating the wind today… Just create an aero bulge to the front and the let nature do the rest…exhale through the back.
Team McAllen Cycling Individual Time Trials begin
I did almost the whole entire TT on my aerobars that Wally got for me. I smirked a little as it dawned on me that it took almost an entire year for me to get used to aerobars!! And I think it was my excitement of me being on my aeros that it wasn’t until after the race that I realized that I had stayed on my big wheel the entire time. I should have shifted more because of the wind. Hindsight is always 20/20. Next time.
Sure enough, Mike’s advice kicked in. Just when I turned the corner to book it… I felt a little like an old school Looney Tunes cartoon. You know that cartoon character that churns his legs so fast that smoke arises… but goes no where? I was pushing so hard on my legs that I promise you, my thighs were on FIRE!!! Terri passes me. Mike Overly passes me. Ugh… I feel myself slump over in defeat. I glanced at my Garmin and see 20mph. Ugh! I don’t know what was going on. I was pushing hard and didn’t seem like I was going fast at all.
“Go Myssie!!! WTH! GOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Don’t you slow down! Don’t you slow down! You can push for this short time. Don’t you dare tell me you can’t! Throw up when you’re done. GGOOOOOOOO!!!! What are you waiting for??? What you waiting for?????” my inner voice was having a Gwen Stefani conniption!
Ok, so I gave it all I had. Front 242 was blaring. (Yes, I broke the rules and wore my earbuds… but it was a controlled closed course so it was safer for me to do it here) I hit it harder than I ever thought I could. And then I scared myself… I actually heard myself grunt. No, I’m serious! I grunted… like a possessed horse or something!!! I was busting a gut to keep up with the two hammerheads that passed me. Oh man hit it hard and I was back up to about a block away when I saw Mike take the corner and go into lightening speed. The volunteer at the corner waved me down and yelled “car back!”. I glanced over my shoulder to see if it was safe enough to take the left turn without getting hit when zoooooommmmm Spish passes me!!! The car slowed enough for me to go but good lord my spirit was crushed. I couldn’t even see Terri anymore, Mike seemed like he was a gazillion miles away and Spish was just about to eat Mike’s tire. I glance down again at my Garmin.
14.
Oh crap. Seriously? The wind took it’s beating on me and it won.
One last right corner… my head is hanging low. I look up and see the crowd and here comes the adrenaline!!! It’s the finish!!! I tuck in and give it my all. BOOM! pump pump pump!!! And then I look up…
Hey… why do they seem to have moved further away from me?????
smh
I cross the finish and go a bit further just to gather my bearings and take a peek at my Garmin and Strava. Pathetic. I realize that my time is unofficial and wrong off the bat because I hit my start time about 15 seconds before the actual start and hit the stop way after I stopped… but still. I had hoped for a much longer margin of difference between my time last month and this month. How could I have done worse than I did last month???
I rode back to the gang with my tail between my legs and disappointment on my face, I’m sure. That’s when Mike Padgett came up to me with a big old fist bump and the news that I had shaved a minute off my time from last month!
So… as I sit here typing away… I am eagerly awaiting the official times to be posted.
A minute… ok, that’s encouraging!
Hindsight visions: 1.) Stop worrying about reaching your goal weight and eat something good those few days before you know you’re going to book it for this long! 2.) Lock up your heart so it doesn’t get broken and drink all that wine before an event like this! 3.) Get a better bike playlist on this phone! 4.) It’s ok for those guys to pass you. They’re rockstars and on a completely different level than I am. But one day… ya, one day… I’ll be there. Until then, just do my best and don’t let their best get me down. 4.) Make arrangements for a babysitter for the kiddos so I can go for coffee and pancakes afterwards. This is a really cool crowd. 5.) Wear a heart monitor and a go pro next time. Let’s do this right.
RunMyssieRun 