Traumatized

OK followers-I think I am still in shock that I managed to live through the duathalon on Tuesday evening. You see Winnipeg had a wind warning in effect, and just so we are all clear, the wind was gusting at times to over 90km/hour. Psychological trauma definitely occured for me!

Here I was soo concerned about how to pace myself -all that went out the window, when I realized that I just needed to focus on staying on the bike and throw out any aspirations of improving time. At points on the ride, I nearly got blown off. The biggest problem is that the gusts were completely unpredictable so that at any moment you could be caught off guard.

I learned very quickly that I could use a lot more leg power-and that will be a long term goal of mine to work on. Going up a hill in those conditions was absolutely horrible. And while I don't tire out aerobically on the bike very often, it is my leg muscles that burn baby burn! This is not good when after the bike you have to run. The result is rubber chicken legs and the potential for bonking!

I guess at the end of the day, I did learn something very valuable. This is it....that despite how much training you put in, despite how hard you have worked, despite all the reading you have done, there is nothing that you can do to prepare for the unknown-whether that be bad weather, a flat tire, a broken bone etc. All you can do is be the best you can, but the dissapointment and heartache one feels at not being able to perform at your best is undescribable. I guess though it is at these moments, that I feel more determined then ever to carry on-to improve, and ultimately reach the goals I set out for myself.