I've been doing some pretty crazy stuff lately. Ran a 10k and placed 5th in my age group which made me feel like an invincible athlete. Rode my bike for 7 hours for a total of 106 miles the day before a 15k. Then, the fall. I had to walk the whoooooooole 15k and came in.... 274/280.... Yeah. Had my highest high and lowest low about 2 weeks apart. Going from "I'm totally gonna be an Ironman" to "What the hell was I thinking!?!" There is something to be said about building up my mental endurance, especially with relation to failure, so I'm trying (unsuccessfully at times but trying nonetheless) to chalk it up to experience and learn from my mistakes. I think the problem was that I rode my heart out on the bike and just didn't have anymore of my to give. I could have run the race, physically I was a bit sore but fine otherwise, I just wasn't mentally present enough. Lesson learned.
With what I'm thinking of as the most colossal failure of my athletic career to date, I've also been reflecting a lot on where I am and how far I've come. 3 years ago, I couldn't ride more than 2 miles without getting winded and needing to rest. Now, I can ride 106 (with stops admittedly) and come home breathing normally. 6 months ago, I couldn't run half a mile without feeling like my lungs were going to explode, now, I can run up to 7 and still feel just fine, thank you.
My point isn't to brag, far from it. My point is that I can see athletic progress towards my goals and that feels so good. I'm still a far cry from an Ironman and I am anxiously avoiding even starting to work on my swimming, but I am getting there. The hardest part of this process has been not to psyche myself out. I don't have to be ready for Ironman tomorrow! I have 6 months and, with the huge amount of progress I've seen so far, I'm excited for even more progress!
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