Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Bit the bullet - surprisingly, I felt good.

After feeling dodgy yesterday and waking up to a "stiff as a board" neck this morning,rainy skies and children with head colds I decided I had two choices. The first was to sit around and mope and feel sorry for myself or get on my trainer like I said I would, and just DO IT. So I just did it - got the kids all sorted out, did my regular stretching and strengthening, tidied up the house as I wanted no distractions and set myself the task of riding the trainer for an hour. The stretching I did previously made my legs feel wonderfully ready to start spinning. Usually they feel a bit tight and fatigued after only 10 minutes of pedalling, but this morning they felt great.
ItalicThis inturn had a wonderful "Pay it forward" effect on the rest of my body. The more I pedalled the more invigorated I felt. The hour flew by without really realising it, even the kids were like "What the? Have you finished already?". Maybe the monotonous hum of the trainer as I plodded along made them fall asleep. I can't blame them really for getting bored. I, on the other hand, got alot out of today.

Realisation: I got it together today when it was so much easier to give in. This has made me feel extremely empowered and I trust me even more than I did before. I know my thoughts will never let me down, so when push comes to shove in the days ahead that will be harder than I can even imagine - I know I will be STRONG and push through anything.

I remember when I was younger and a competitive swimmer I thrived on the coach pushing me and making me try harder than most of the other kids my age in the squad. I moved up from the junior squad to senior squad in less than a year and I think it was because I had a bit of grunt in me. You would never have thought so, I was the smallest and skinniest but I was all for making my coach happy and I loved the feeling of being good and accomplishing something others thought I couldn't. Looks can be deceiving.

Now I know that I can achieve anything I set my mind too, even when I don't feel all that great. Now I know I am strong and everyday I am getting stronger - especially when I am faced with days like today. I should bite the bullet more often - it's amazing what you will learn

6 comments:

  1. The body can be amazing but the mind more so. Nicely done.

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  2. I am so glad I knuckled down and just did it Patrick.I feel so much better for it physically but most of all mentally.

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  3. Look at you, sitting in the aero position, like a true triathlete.

    What I have notice, people train for swimming, biking, running, and even nutrition. Not many train the mental aspect of the sport. I am a strong believer to training about the mental part, bad workouts are also mental toughness workouts, those days will do wonders on race day when you start to reach a dark spot of the race.

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  4. Mental endurance need to be trained just like everything else - nice going, Barb.

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  5. Kovas, according to Barbie's countdown clock we have 340 days, 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 46 seconds (give or take due to our wave start) to convince the wives this needs to happen and get to Port Macquarie.

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  6. BDD: thanks for the comment about looking like a true Triathlete. I am trying :)

    Kovas: It sure does - now that winter is on it's way I should be an expert come spring :)

    Patrick: How awesome would that be :)

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I am so happy you have stopped by. You have made my day.

Your hard work will be rewarded.

"The path to a dream is paved with sacrifices and lined with determination. And though it has many stumbling blocks along the way, and may go in more than one direction, it is travelled by belief and courage and conquered with a willingness to face challenges and take chances" Barbara Cage