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Thursday, June 16, 2011

Your hesitations could cost you

I have spoke of this before. And I even had a brief conversation with http://www.theroadmultisport.com/ about this while riding side by side last Saturday.

Training is training. It is what gets you to where you want to go and who you aspire to be. It is not always pretty. It is unfortunately not always effective. Sometimes it's life changing to forward progress. Sometimes it creates set backs.
There are times when it's a blast. And there are times when it is nothing more than a pain in the ass.

Everyone at any level of training has encounter these thoughts and feelings.
I for one am a morning person. I love to train in the morning. I love to get out there sleepy eyed and wake up to life and my day on the road. Weather it be running or riding. I like to get it done early and bask in the accomplishment the rest of the day. Even when it's a hard,drained out session It still makes me smile that I got it done.

Even with all that being said, there are many mornings when I literally have to convince myself that getting dressed, fueled and going is the right thing to do that day.
It is so easy to talk any one's self out of training and getting out there. Let alone follow a hardcore or even a simple discipline plan.

The one thing that I have to tell myself @ dark o clock. Is that somewhere today, at sometime, the very people I compete against are asking themselves the same question I am. And if I hesitate,for more than a few minutes, it's going to cost me.
It's easy to say I'll do it later and get it done.But in reality if that happens in my life there is a 75 % chance that work out is gone. The hard part it to push in and through. To persevere and and get it done. Even if it seems like day's go by where it becomes a test of attrition. The end results are so much sweeter.
I have had a few of those day's lately, including this morning in which it prompted me to spit this all out.
Between training and racing in the last 75 days I have put in roughly 1500 miles on the bike and raced 13 times. I have thrown in some random run days but it equates to less the 25 miles and doesn't really warrant too much mention.
My point is this. I have a much needed vacation coming in 72 hours and really have no reason other than staying on point of fitness to train. The weather this morning was full on California June gloom with a stiff wind and so much mist it might has well been sleet.
My coffee was tasting perfect and my furry slippers felt awesome. But I still had to tell myself, if I don't go it will cost me.
I hesitated no more. Put out the effort to gear up and push out.
Max speed for the first 10 miles out was 16.2 mph in an all out effort. And drenched with fog and sleet to the bone in minutes. I had to laugh. I kept telling myself are you for real ? you can ride at 19 mph with your hands off the bars without effort, and this is the best you can do?
But it was really that ugly. It took everything I had in me to keep it together and tell myself I was right on track. And everything I was doing now, like it or not was how you make things change. This is how we create a presence. This isn't easy. This is why such a small percentage of people ever follow through and achieve goals. Get over yourself and off of your pity party.
It was just about this time that I had finally made it to my turn around point.
My easy,flat out and back recovery ride ? was 1/2 over and I could turn around and grind back the other way. But by the grace of mother nature that nasty head wind was now at my back and within seconds I was cruising, and I mean effortlessly cruising at 27 mph. I chased down a local club, La Habra cycles. They always has some group on the road with 6-30 riders. I hitched on, sat in and was back to my house in almost 1/2 the time it took me to get out. Fully recovered and once again happy that I persevered. I had banged out 22 miles in 1:01:36.
Don't let your mind get in the way of your progress. Don't let that hesitation cost you your dreams and goals.
Just know there is someone else across the street, across the town, or even across the country that is making it happen today. And they could care less how you feel.
I don't often re read my blogs, I just put thought down that come out of my head. I hope this comes off the way I meant it and not a hey look at me. Because it's meant to be quite the opposite. It's meant to say hey look at you ! How awesome are you !

thanks for reading.


Train hard,train smart, and be active.             

8 comments:

  1. I use this same motivational mantra.

    Out there - someone is training harder than me.

    I have a set of motivational videos that I regularly watch, mostly road cycling training 'pump me up' bits. To top up the motivation.

    Anyhow, I thought you might like this one if you haven't seen it before:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMWbxA-8CNw

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  2. Did you happen to run in to our guy? Doubtful.

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  3. Really like this post. I'm not at a point yet where I'm worrying about what the other guy is doing. After all I've only been road cycling for 2yrs, running for 5mos, and swimming for 2mos. However, the thought process still applies. That other guy training out there while I hesitate? That's me at my full potential ... and I lose ground to him with every workout skipped. And frankly, I've skipped a few too many lately. Great post and thanks for the kick in the butt I needed!

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  4. JohnP - I'll veiw that when I get home. Thanks.

    P - surely you jest. I could of tried to recrute from La Habra (ppfftt) but why would you leave that ? We keep searching homie.

    Tri4- It applies to all, at all levels- I myself have only returned to this life 10 months ago after a long,long hiatus (sadly). I wish I would have had a fragment of the dedication I posses now with age. Than that of which I had with youth on my side. I just wish I could find the right person(s) to share it with.
    Keep on, keepin on.

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  5. You know, maybe it's the level I'm at (way down), but for me it's not about what someone else is doing but rather that I know I'll feel better if I go and I'll feel like crap if I blow it off. Once I'm out there, I'm rarely sorry that I am, and once I'm back, I'm ALWAYS glad I went.

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  6. What a great post! I tend to stay up late at night, enjoying the quiet evening time with my wife after the kids, but that leaves me dragging in the early morning. It also defeats my training plans, which have fallen way off course. Thanks for the reminder.

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  7. My fav post to date.
    I'm stealing a paragraph. It's. Awesome.
    The @ dark o clock part.

    Freaking. Awesome.

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  8. Very nice. Congratulations on getting out there. ::high fives::

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