Brr. Twas cloudy, drizzly, cold, windy — generally unpleasant and getting worse so over lunch I pointed my bike into the wind for 5 minute intervals. Figured I’d better get on it, because the way I was feeling, I knew if I even got close to a sofa and a warm blanket the likelihood of me getting my ride in might drop to slim to none. Some might say, “What’s the harm in skipping now and again?”
I’ll tell you… because skipping just gets easier. Every time you quit or skip, you get better at it. Just the same as when you stick it out, even when you’re dead last, you get tougher. I don’t mean physically so much as mentally, but the importance of your mental game cannot be overstated and boy o boy did I get some practice in today. The moment I rolled out of the building and into the wind, the following inner conversation commenced:
Whiner: Ewwww, I don’t wanna…I don’t feel good. waaaah.”
Racer: Yeah, it’s icky. You think those other women are sitting around? Just how hard do you want them to kick your butt? You a quitter?
Whiner: No, but I just don’t feel like it. My legs hurt. I can’t breath in this wind. My ankles are cold.
Racer: You know you’ll warm up shortly and the wind will help get your numbers up.
Whiner: I’ll do one.
Racer: That’s the spirit. You want to do well for the team next season, you gotta do your training. One at a time, that’s the way.
Whiner: Groan….. OK. Here goes.
This conversation went on for an hour with Whiner trying to quit and Racer trying everything in the book to keep Whiner on task. Eventually, five intervals were completed and both were enormously grateful to return to the warmth of the office.
Surprisingly, there was a sense of success upon completion despite lower than normal numbers. It was that bit of triumph over adversity feeling. That “when it gets tough I can hang, dammit,” mindset, which is exactly what’s required in this sport. So, although the numbers will say I was pretty weak sauce today, come Saturday, methinks it’ll be warmin’ right up and I might even have a can of whoop-@$$ to wash it down. 
In the meantime, however, I’m gonna treat Whiner to ginger cookies and cocoa while Racer reviews the “5 Core Skills of the Mentally Fit Athlete.”
Other good reads from Pez Cycling News:
tags:
cold weather•
intervals•
pez•
training•
winter•
winter riding
