What a blast !

I attended my first bike riding development group. I learnt so much. We started off by just learning how to manouvre corners - basically the leg on the outside of the corner should be down while the inner leg is held up, this helps your stability around the corner. I also need to relax my arms and try not to lock my elbows. A little easier said than done. My elbows automatically hyper-extend so it takes a little more concentration than those that just have normal locking elbows.

I also learnt to focus ahead versus just meters from my front tyre. Makes sense really - The possibility for collisions is far higher when you are looking at the ground just ahead of you. This came in handy when we did our next exercise in sitting just behind someone. I do believe they call this "drafting" in a race. The instructor wanted me to get quite close but I am not confident with this yet, so I held myself about 2 ruler lengths away and tried to follow right behind but just as I thought I had it mastered I would get the wobbles and my straight line looked like it had been drawn by someone in kindy. I tried.

Next we had a guest speaker on what saddles are appropriate for bike riding. Come to find out my seat is too soft and not appropriate, so the next day I went to my local bike shop and put a seat on layby. This one has the slit down the middle so hopefully my nether regions will be much more content when I get the saddle paid off and fitted. Everyone was having problems with their bum, oh not me - I just have to be different :)

The last component was bunch riding. Lucky there was only 4 of us in our beginners group. I dont mind riding close by someones side. Felt comfortable. What I was not comfortable with was letting go of one hand and placing it behind my back. Whilst my right hand was holding on all was good, I could ride in a straight line. Left handed riding is something I definately need to work on. I got the death wobbles straight away. It was like watching a little child learn to ride. Nevermind. Practise makes perfect, or so I keep trying to tell myself.

Quote.

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible".

Arthur C. Clarke

Ouchee.

Ok, so I have the comfy pants, great, so why does everything down south still hurt? Is it the seat or the newness of my body to the riding? Whatever it is I wish it would hurry up and stop hurting. My friend Susan and I get off the bikes wishing our lower half belonged to someone else.

I am yet to figure out how people ride for more than 25km without getting off their bikes feeling red raw. I try riding for little more to the right then for a little bit more to the left, some of it positioned more forward, the rest sitting more on my tail. Whichever way it all still hurts. What am I doing wrong? Maybe downstairs just needs to toughen up.

Every bump in the road after the 15km mark makes me see stars. I have even resorted to lifting my bum out of the saddle over the smallest of bumps to give my derriere a reprieve. There has to be something missing. Maybe my next purchase will be one of those seats with the middle bit missing. Maybe thats the missing link (no pun intended).

I have also started training in trying to get off the bike and start running without looking like I have done a doody in my pants. Not sure if I will ever look like a graceful swan in this transition, I find it very difficult. My brain sends the necessary signals down the right pathways to my legs but somehow it gets scrambled and my legs move in the necessary fashion to propel me forward but they feel so disjointed. Truly an odd sensation. I just need to keep on practising the transition and doings small runs/fast walks straight after getting off the bike.

Hit the road Barb......

I did it, I did it, I did it. Remember the little goal some 4 posts back about riding on the open road - well I owned it today. This goal is home and hosed, all mine. Ok, now I'll settle down a bit, it was only 5km but I wasnt even scared. There were hardly any cars out - I think 4 may have passed me but I went up and back and felt good doing so.

Generally if I am on my own training I like the therapeutic value of music to get me pumped but today when I went out on the road I thought it wise to lower the volume and only have one ear piece in so I could atleast hear what was coming from behind. You know - should I need to bail and throw myself off the bike into some mushy patch of dirt on the side of the road. How funny would that look.

I also practised turning my head to the right and looking over my shoulder without veering all over the place. I didn't do too bad but still need more practise. "Rome wasnt built in a day" and you can tell neither will my cycling skills....lol.

My speed is ok but not great. I am cycling at about 25km/hr and feeling every ounce of that speed on my quads. I just need to get stronger in my legs but it is a bit hard when I am limited as to my running still. It will happen, just have to keep cycling.

Getting off my bike is an entirely different issue and needs a whole post of it's own. I shall focus on this on my next post. Stay tuned!!!

The Wall

I used to do indoor rock climbing some 8 years ago, my youngest Kyle was only 3 yrs old. I had forgotten how much fun it was and how much of a great workout it was. I think I was sweating buckets within 15 minutes of doing the first wall. Our bootcamp group accomplished so much on this Saturday climbing walls we thought we couldnt.

For the first time in ages, I said outloud as I was climbing one wall "I can't" and I wanted to be let down. Thank God I had Barry holding the ropes, he refused to let me down and kept telling me to think about what it was I was asking for and if it truly was what I wanted. Of course it wasn't, but the pain in my arms were so bad and I didnt have grip in my hands. In my head there was a battle going on and was I going to let the negative thoughts win - NO WAY.

I made it to the top inch by inch, grunt after grunt. I even think I let out some choice words. And when I finally got there I was so elated. My friends said to me "You made it, you can do this Triathlon". I guess I can but I still have to work hard on keeping my mind focused and never give up. Things may hurt, so bad sometimes you feel like your dying but your not. Its a reminder for me that I am alive and going places. I can do this.

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.

Alright, I did it - 4200m. I can't believe it, well - actually I can but it seemed like I almost wouldn't on the night.

4900m was what was written for the session. An unrealsitic goal for now but I know I will get there. The week before I had completed 4000m and my goal is everytime I hit the water 200m more is what I expect and nothing less. After all it is only 4 laps more. I can use this as my cool down. So that is what I did.

I think it was about 2/5 of the way into the session I was faced with 6x300m, probably the toughest sets yet. Not only because I just don't like them, so in my head I kind of already switch off but also because the day before I had attended bootcamp and my arms were extremely fatigued. So I did 3 without flippers and 3 with flippers. Should these be part of my session this week I shall try 4 without flippers and forge forward towards my goal.

With 700m to go and 16 minutes left in the session - would I get there. YEP - 4x100m F/S kick with flippers in 10 minutes and 300m in 6 minutes. Boy, talk about determined and stubborn.

I even have my coach now pushing me to go that extra 200m.

Not on

So I didn't get to go to the bike riding lessons as the weather just didnt want to behave. I was a little disappointed as I really want to understand my bike and become best friends with it rather than acquaintances. So I instead went to my usual bootcamp which I was planning on just moving forward a day so I could fit the bike session in. This bootcamp has become my usual routine since before October 2009. It's not something I am willing to compromise on. Sure there are days where things just crop up or where all the appointments in the world just happen to coincide on the same week, but when that happens I make sure that I make up for it one way or another. That may mean having to change my routine slightly for the week. But I make sure I stick to it.

I still havent conquered the goal of getting out onto the road to ride. This will happen, I am more than 100% sure. This is something else I am not willing to compromise on. Once I say I want to do something, I become a bit like a "dog with a bone",- driven. The one thing I have realised along this journey is that I can do anything. Sure they may not resemble some olympic athletes achievements but they are achievements nonetheless. They are my achievements.

I love being me, life is good. What more can I ask for?