On a Roll!

Things have been going really well for me in the past month, and even more in the last week. I'm making big progress in the pool and on my bike. I'm becoming more confident about my Sprint Triathlon objective and I'm having a lot more fun training. I think my mental has gotten a lot stronger and this is having an impact on my training as well as on my life in general. :-)

A few days ago, I took the plunge and started shopping for a wetsuit. I'm excited about my first "real" open water swim, where I'll swim in non-shallow waters. This used to scare me, but now it sounds exciting. I ordered my wetsuit online and should receive it sometimes in the next 10 days. I hope it fits well!

Yesterday, I went for a run and it went OK. I was relieved because my last runs have been very tough and it killed my motivation to go running. I was planning on running the 10K at the Montreal Marathon on Labor Day weekend, but I'm not so sure anymore. I'm not sure I want to train for a 10K in the heat of the summer. At the same time, if things go well, then I wouldn't mind increasing my distance. Since the event doesn't sell out, I have a lot of time to make a decision, I guess.

Today, I rode my longest distance ever! I was planning on going out for 35K, but ended up doing 40.8K because I felt fine and I needed the mental boost doing the distance would give me. I'm still super excited about my achievement! I'm tired and I'm hurting a bit, but it was great. I am really enjoying riding my bike. I think it's the only time in my daily life when I am truly in the present. When I'm on my bike, I listen to my thoughts and follow them, but I usually don't worry about the past or the future, which is a nice break. I also started singing to myself while on my bike. When there's no one around, I sing some happy songs in a low voice and it cheers me up instantly! I love how happy I am on my bike these days. :-)

During my ride this morning, I recognized the site where I had my accident almost 2 years ago. I was happy to see that I could notice the site without feeling fear or anxiety about it. I didn't have any flashbacks and didn't really feel uncomfortable on my bike after we passed the site. I guess this means I'm fully healed, even if my ribs sometime tell me differently when the weather changes.

Life is good. :-)

Joy-full at Riverkeeper!

Today, I participated in the Riverkeeper Triathlon, as part of the Sprint Tri Relay. I was the cyclist of the team and it meant I was to ride about 23K today.

When I woke up, it was raining. This made me nerveous, because I'm not used to riding my road bike in the rain. Usually, when it rains, I postpone my rides... The only times I ride in the rain is when it rains on my commute back home! I usually enjoy doing stuff in the rain, and this morning was no different.

The rain started coming down hard when the race started. My friend Cynthia was our swimmer, so i went back to T-Zone to get ready as soon as she started on her swim. By the time she finished her swim, I was already quite wet from standing under the rain. I ran the whole time between the T-zone and the mounting line, which is a first for me. There is usually a time when running with my bike that I need to stop and walk. Not this time!

Cynthia was continuing with the Sprint Tri on her own after her swim (she swam with two chips!), and I didn't want her to pass me too early into the race so I made sure I started off hard from the start. She only passed me a few kilometers from the end of the bike leg, so I am very happy with that. The bike ride went great, despite the rain and my shoes that got full of water 1-2 kilometers into the race: I felt strong, I was not out of breath, I was feeling in control on my bike. At times, I even had bursts of joy when I was thinking how hardcore it was to do a race like that in the rain. ;-)

There was only one time during my race when I didn't feel as good, and it's when I thought about a difficult situation at work. When this thought occured, it was as if I had suddenly gotten very tired, weak and unmotivated. It was really strange: I felt the energy coming out of me! Fortunately, I realized what was happening and put a lot of effort to bring my mental back to happy thoughts of riding in the rain and feeling strong on the bike. I also started singing to myself, happy happy happy songs from Glee. It worked and I was soon back to cruising speed!

I finished strong and my bike computer tells me my average speed was 23.6 kph. This is awesome, considering this includes my run in and out of the bike, at 6-7kph for a few minutes! I'm also glad to have seen the results of all the bike training I've been doing since March (I almost have 500K under the belt already!) - I am becoming a much stronger cyclist. :-)

Next up: a 5K run on Canada Day and the 40K bike leg of the Olympic Tri Relay at the Carleton Place Triathlon in July.