Triathlon adventures

Thought I'd pass on an adventure I had this past weekend: A double century on Saturday and a half-iron triathlon on Sunday. It's on my blog nowhip.blogspot.com. Note that it is in two posts, so you have to scroll down and read the earlier one if you want to get some of the background. I eat exclusively vegan and my friend/teammate/co-conspirator is completely raw vegan.

Training & the Brain

I've come to the conclusion that training for athletic endeavors is 75% mental and 25% physical. There are two major ways in which my head seems to always get in my way. First, especially when I'm working out by myself, I wimp out or don't push myself hard enough. This happened today when I kept working in one minute walks during my morning run. Ugh. Why did I keep doing that? I didn't really want to walk but my brain kept saying, "Oh, just walk for a minute. It will feel so much better. I promise . . . " And, then, I'd stop and walk. Ugh, that sucks!

This first mental problem of mine though is no where near as bad as the second. The reason for that is that I usually don't work out by myself. I'm either training with my women's tri group or riding with a friend. And, one of my strengths is that I will listen. Hence, if my women's tri coach tells me to do something, I just do it. I don't really think about it. I don't even consider not doing it. If I'm there doing a workout with him, I just do what he says. This, however, leads me to the second, and previously stated, worse mental problem.

I have the hardest time actually making myself workout. I seem to always be able to find excuses. It has been the case recently that I've been working so much that finding time to exercise is difficult, but that is also bullshit. Triathletes are busy folks and the rest of them figure out ways to train. I just lack motivation, will, something. As I ran this morning, I thought of Vegan Run Amok. She's training for her first sprint triathlon and simply does not miss a workout. She's got a plan and she follows it, every, single, day.

I lack motivation. Vegan Run Amok has mentioned a few times that fear is motivating her. She wants to make sure she can finish her first tri. Other athletes just seem to love what they do. What else explains marathoners, ultra runners, and ultra cyclists (is that what y'all are called?). Y'all must love it or something? The weird thing is that I love it too when I actually make myself do it. When I'm swimming, running, even cycling, I like it during the exercise, but I guess I don't like it enough that the feeling gives me the motivation to make sure I'm working out at much as I should.

What got me out of bed this morning to run was that I'm starting to get a little soft around the middle. Now, we can't have that! ;) That might motivate me for awhile, but hopefully my waist will shrink quickly and I'll need something else to motivate me. Anyone have suggestions? Any ideas how to increase motivation, commitment, or will? I need help!

Exercise as Meditation

[Cross-posted on my home blog The Potato Vine]

One of the things I like best about exercising is that it keeps my head on straight. When I get out of the routine of incorporating several workouts into a week, I just get off in a lot of ways. I'm just generally not as good of a 'little one' as I am when I'm working out. Absent regular exercise, I end up drinking more alcohol and can be prone to bouts of depression. (Don't worry not super severe.)

When I am exercising though, everything seems to look a little brighter. I feel better about myself and generally more positive. Research shows that part of this can be explained by the endorphins that are released when we're working out. I think I get other benefits though as well. When I'm training, my mind can't obsess. It has to quiet down. I have to count my yards if swimming. If biking in a group, I have to be very focused on what every one else is doing around me and how safe our conditions are. If I'm running, I'm either thinking, "Okay, now sprint for this straight away, " or "high knees, high knees, high knees," or there is just silence.

You simply can't think about much else when you're pushing your body hard. Your body forces you to focus on the minute, to focus on yourself, to focus on just being there. That is something we need to do more of. We need to be in the moment more often. So, I'm grateful that exercising helps me do that and I look forward to my workouts partly because they feel like meditation sessions.

Biking How I Hate Thee

Yes, I'm a tri wanna be who pretty much hates cycling and I'm turning to y'all for some help. Both running and swimming I'll get a hankering for if I've been too lazy to work out in awhile, but I never think about cycling. I never want to get on the bike. It doesn't matter how nice it is outside or who I'm riding with (okay, that does matter a bit), I'm never really excited about cycling.

I've decided that a major reason for this is that I started cycling with basically Olympic-like cyclists who I could absolutely never keep up with and therefore consistently felt like an idiot and had absolutely no fun. This experience after many many times basically made me feel like I suck so bad that I think we could understand why I wouldn't be excited to get on the bike. And, don't be thinking that I'm exaggerating about their prowess because I'm not. The women I train with aren't normal. Last year my group sent more women to Nationals than any other tri group in the nation (or so my coach says so if that's wrong blame him). Seventeen (!) of the women I trained with qualified for and competed in Nationals.

You're likely thinking so why don't you just cycle alone? Do people really enjoy this? Do they do it? I don't know anyone who cycles/does training rides by themselves. Plus, I don't know as much about the bike as I should. That's embarrassing to admit, but there it is. For example, I theoretically can change of flat, but never have really had to do it myself. Not to mention, there really aren't places around where I live that you feel terribly safe riding by yourself. You head out of town and it gets real rural real fast and not a little bit freaky. I have done some rides by myself out of necessity when training for an event, but they've been few and far between.

I guess I'm just looking for stories of how others got inspired to like cycling. Was it immediate? Did it grow on you? Any recommendations for how I can get myself to like it more or at least just do it more?

Workout Buddies

Last week was great for my training thanks to a visit from an old workout buddy. Well, she's only 26. I guess I mean a long-lost workout buddy. She left me in Cali and moved to the hinterlands of Minnesota. I shiver just thinking of it.

Anyway, I had absolutely no difficulty working out almost everyday that she was in town. We'd pick a time, I'd pick her up, and we'd be working out in no time. Of course, it helped that she didn't have a car with her so I knew if I didn't pick her up, she'd be deprived.

It works the same way with my running. My partner, CC, asked if he could run with my women's running group and my coach said sure. CC loves it! Whenever there is a scheduled run, no matter how much I try and talk him out of going, he finds a way to get me there. Amazing.

Given their tremendous power, I've decided I need more workout buddies! Does anyone else find that having people to workout with is a major motivator? How did you find your workout buddies? Can you share them? Any suggestions for ways to replicate that motivation even when a buddy isn't around or training that particular sport/discipline?