- Ride early and remember how much you LOVE bicycling!
- Pretzels are my very good friend. ALL OF THE SALT.
- Salt your water, if you're not the type to use sports drink with sodium [I am not]. I use Lyte Show electrolytes as an add-in, which has *some* sodium, but today added ~1/8 tsp to my water bottles. I feel great here at 10 PM. Never felt dehydrated, even while running in mid-day heat.
- If your coach tells you to run at a "race intensity" pace, it should be for the race you're training for. Last time, I went out at sprint/Olympic intensity, then crashed. This time, I aimed for a slower pace. It worked. No crash, and I was able to pick it back up after a walk break.
- Worried about whether you can pick yourself up and get back on your pace target after a walk break? Try it in training! In general, it's really hard for me to do this - once I stop or slow down, I give up. Turns out I can actually pick it back up. That was one of the questions I wanted to answer in today's training, and I'm happy to say I surprised myself and DID IT.
- TRAIN FOR THE WORST. While my last two big rides and bricks (before today) were miserably hot and windy and awful, it definitely built my confidence up that I will be able to handle that, if those are the conditions in Oregon. Note: I didn't train in the rain, specifically, for my upcoming race. BUT, I have done long rides in the past where I found myself in freezing rain, hail storms, thunderstorms, and long downhill stretches under downpours in the desert, and I survived. If it rains on me in Oregon, I'll be ok, I've faced it before.
- YOU DESERVE A CROWN. No really. And since the only one available here on your bike ride is in your mouth, well, let's have that Skratch gummy energy chew pull it out for you. Thank God I didn't swallow it.
- BE NICE TO YOU. You can't hate yourself faster, or thinner, or better, so be your own best friend and cheerleader. Miles 6-7.5 today were very tough, I was in a dark, dark place. But I really made an effort to be my own light and love and talk myself through it in a positive way. This paid off, those last two miles averaged out almost to the "race intensity" pace I started at.
GO ME!
I'm three weeks out from Oregon. One more long run this week, and then I'm at the GLORIOUS TAPER. I feel good. I feel ready. I feel very, very grateful. Many times today I heard Father Tom in my head saying "Bow your head and pray for God's blessing." And I prayed, and I RECIEVED that blessing. What a gift. I am so very grateful I can do this. I am proud of me for DOING THIS, for working toward becoming the athlete I've wanted to be for the last 20 years. In the words of my best YouTube friend, Caroline Girvan, THIS IS A JOURNEY I NEVER WANT TO END.
--
"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15, NIV)
No comments:
Post a Comment