But man, that's what you've gotta do. It hurts, it really does, some days the hurt tries to beat out the good. The good is always there, some days you've gotta dig really deep to find it - but it's there. Yesterday the good was the way back, that mean headwind made for a big gear spin on the way back, wow did I pick up some speed.
Hell week - Kanza is now a month and a half away, and yeah I'm nervous. The first week of May I'm taking as a "furlough" week, so I've been thinking to myself that I really need to do something good and difficult that week to really prep mentally for Kanza. Physically I'm not going to get much better in 45 days, but mentally I can go some ways. The idea now is to do a (metric) "century a day" that week. 62+ miles/day for the 5 weekdays. If it doesn't hurt I'll push the mileage to where it does - but I have a feelin' it will. That will be some good mental prep, I think, to really make it so I know I can do it come May 30.
See, that's just it - it's really all mental. I mean there are points where physically you just can't go on anymore - a la the GLGA cramps that wouldn't let up enough for me to actually spin the cranks - but most of the time the muscles are sore yet still poppin' out the miles. Those days you just have to dig down, find it, and run with it. If this thing was easy, I'd be done already, but I'm not. I'm still struggling to lose weight, still struggling to find the motivation and still trying to just crest that one last hill before I get home.
So don't feel bad when you can't - because you can, it's just really tough. Dig a little deeper, reach for the apple instead of the burger, and know that in the end it's really goona be good. Like me, it might take you a couple years of repeated failure, but it's good.
Hell week - Kanza is now a month and a half away, and yeah I'm nervous. The first week of May I'm taking as a "furlough" week, so I've been thinking to myself that I really need to do something good and difficult that week to really prep mentally for Kanza. Physically I'm not going to get much better in 45 days, but mentally I can go some ways. The idea now is to do a (metric) "century a day" that week. 62+ miles/day for the 5 weekdays. If it doesn't hurt I'll push the mileage to where it does - but I have a feelin' it will. That will be some good mental prep, I think, to really make it so I know I can do it come May 30.
See, that's just it - it's really all mental. I mean there are points where physically you just can't go on anymore - a la the GLGA cramps that wouldn't let up enough for me to actually spin the cranks - but most of the time the muscles are sore yet still poppin' out the miles. Those days you just have to dig down, find it, and run with it. If this thing was easy, I'd be done already, but I'm not. I'm still struggling to lose weight, still struggling to find the motivation and still trying to just crest that one last hill before I get home.
So don't feel bad when you can't - because you can, it's just really tough. Dig a little deeper, reach for the apple instead of the burger, and know that in the end it's really goona be good. Like me, it might take you a couple years of repeated failure, but it's good.
8 comments:
Those tailwinds make the out-and-back worth it, don't they?
db - hell yeah they do. They help the push too, I always think "one more mile of this on the way out is one more I get to rock it on the way back". Keepin' that in mind seems to help. The opposite - tailwind out, headwind back - are the opposite - probably my least favorite kind of ride.
Gotta end it on a big gear spinnin note to make it a good memory, I think.
Stick with it.........your doing it.
> Gotta end it on a big gear
Exactly. My friends who don't ride find it funny that I don't know what route I'm going to follow until I get outside and figure out which way the wind is blowing. The cyclists understand -- you want the tailwind on the return leg.
Hate the start,
Love the end,
Makes you want to go and do it again.
Man, the worst is when the wind changes mid ride, right at the turnaround, headwind BOTH ways. I don't think I've ever had it be a tailwind both ways, whats up with that?
Thanks guys for the support - it's been a fun ride. I'm diggin every day like it's my last - gotta live the bike, right?
Joe - the double tailwind day is a glorious one. Most notable for me was my first full century last year, we had an awesome double-tailwind surprise. I say surprise because we were sure we'd have a killer headwind on the way back, but nope, a killer road ride ensued.
You have a care package in the office at cycleworks! Stop in and pick it up when you can.
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