I Feel Bad About My Bike
Friday, May 18, 2007
The other night after master's, I was sitting in the hot tub listening to a couple of Iron-athletes (one man, one woman) talk about their training and race experiences. They gave me tips on everything from open water swimming tactics to wetsuits to what to put -- or not to put -- in your special needs bag. And one of them commented that at a certain point in training you become "one" with your bike, but it takes a very, very long time -- up to a year at least.
I sighed. I love my bike. It fits me like a glove. It's so light I can carry it up stairs with one hand. I know how to adjust/tighten my aerobars, inflate the tires, and take its wheels on and off(not a full roster of what I need to be able to do with it, but more mechanically-intimate than I've ever been with anything else). And, besides, it's kind of cute.
But since last week's debacle, I've lost all desire to spend any road time with it, let alone working on becoming "one."
I have no problem jumping on my trainer for some quality interval time. I'm one of those rare people, I think, who doesn't mind training indoors on treadmills or stationary trainers. I actually like them. They're just so darn convenient. And if I have music or something to watch, boredom doesn't factor in at all. In fact, I'm more likely to get bored on a long run/ride outside.
But that last long ride really messed with my head. Call it lack of confidence, or will, or whatever you want, but I have a six-hour ride coming up next week, and I'm already dreading it. A lot. And if by "a lot" you guessed that it's the first thing I think about in the morning, and I dread it hourly during the day, then you'd be correct. I'm dreading it more than I've ever dreaded any workout before. Hell, I have a marathon to run in two days, and you know what's weighing on my mind? Not trying to run 26.2 miles in under four hours...but next week's ride.
It defies logic, really. You would think that biking would be a breeze compared to running. But I mind running for four hours a whole lot less than I mind biking that same amount of time.
Really though, in thinking about it by writing this post, I've come to the conclusion that it's the Ironman course that's gotten to me...not so much the biking. Because when I think about biking elsewhere -- at home in Iron Mountain, for example, or even this weekend in Green Bay -- I don't get the same, sick to my stomach, visceral reaction that I get when I think of The Course -- that damn course with it's hills and unmarked roads and cows and more hills and unmarked roads and cows...over and over again until you lose your mind.
I think it seriously messed with me. It took my mojo. And I really, really need that mojo back. Maybe I'll spend my (hopefully not more than) four hours on Sunday trying to figure out just how to recover it.
Posted by Erin 9:09 AM