Monday, June 21, 2010

Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly. -- Stephen R. Covey


Well, we are now only 19 days away from the Triple Bypass ride... wow! I am starting to get a bit excited, to say the least. Not because I don't think I am ready for it, but because to date, this will be my longest ride. Throw in a trio of mountain passes and a few substantial climbs, and we should have a really good time.
Yesterday was the last triathlon before the Big Ride, and I knew going into it I wasn't going to be breaking any speed records. I had decided a couple of weeks ago that my intent with this one was to go the Nike route - "just do it" - and not risk any injuries. I got through the swim without much of a push. My focus was to see what kind of "time trial" I could manage on the bike, and pretty well walk quite a bit of the run - have I said how much I hate running? on gravel? yuk! Anyway, for the 14 miles, I managed a 19.5 average on the bike without feeling like I wore myself out. I still think I need to work on my pre-race nutrition, because I still haven't managed to get breakfast nailed down. My stomach was a little on the rumbly side when we got into the water. But that's a goal for another day.
I watched a number of friends run past me on the trip around the lake. I think if I can learn to run between now and the next triathlon, things will be quite a bit different. I plan on taking the advice of my coach after the Bypass, and working on bricks -- ride, then run right afterward. Yesterday, I felt like my hips wanted to lock up on the run, so I need to work through the physical bike-to-run transition a lot.
First things first, though - 3499 of my closest friends on 120 miles of Colorado roads - yippee!