Friday, August 10, 2012

The incline: This Girls' Kryptonite

As a cyclist the thing I hate the most is a gradual incline. Give me a vast expanse of flat land and I am one happy camper. I'm a prairie girl, the love of flat is in my DNA. My second choice would be hills because at least you see the end point, plus you get to go down the other side. Gradual inclines though, those are torture.

I went on my first "long" ride this week down the highway from the cottage. I say "long" because it was only 20km but I didn't want to push myself too hard. I just wanted to have a nice ride to start off my serious training. Guys, that 20km kicked my ass. It wasn't the overall distance, but about 3.5km of straight incline that almost killed me.

My mental breakdown went something like this:

km .5 - Oh, an incline, that's okay, it will be over soon.
km 1 - *looks ahead* awww shit.
km 2 - I just really want to stop, this is not awesome.
km 2.5 - Yup, I'm just going to quit, I can be fat for the rest of my life....
km 2.55 - Just keep pedaling

And keep pedaling I did, I promised myself I could quit, that I could just turn around and go back to the cottage, but for some reason I never did. My mantra became "you can do this" and it got me though to the end. I knew that if I kept going I would get to turn around and go back down that same stretch, and I would get to go fast. That was the carrot I dangled in front of me, and I fell for it. The way back was worth it though, I did not lead myself astray. I even managed to find my max speed and grinned like a lunatic all the way home.

Hard rides are inevitable, but I know that if I just keep pedaling I will make it though, hopefully with the wind in my hair and a grin on my face. If not, any km I can get in the saddle will only help in the long run.

Friday, July 27, 2012

So....

I'm just going to put this out here. This is me, ten months post-partum.


While I wasn't a supermodel pre-partum, the aftermath of a baby is not hot folks. NOT. HOT. The thing is, this body right now is my reality, but not my future, and I can't just treat it like crap because it isn't what I wish it would be. This paragon of un-hotness has developed, birthed and nourished three beautiful babies, which is awesome, and deserving of respect. It became what it is because of me, no excuses here, but it will become healthy and strong because of me too, no excuses. My goal right now is to learn to love and respect this body, as it is now, this body that I have hated and been at odds with most of my adult life. This is not an easy process, to undo so many years of disrespect. I can though.

This is my plan, a century ride. A canadian century though. I came up with this a couple years ago, after I did the MS Bike Tour. Because I can be lazy at times I chose not to do it, but I have regretted that choice ever since. It will take place on Thanksgiving weekend, and my route is from my home to my aunt and uncle's house for our gathering.  


The other part of my plan is to not set a weight loss goal. That's right, all I'm going to do is eat well and train hard. My goal is to condition my body to the point where it can ride a bike for 100km in a row. Simple. I will also be posting about my training here as a log to hopefully keep me motivated. This is only just the beginning, but I need my body to be strong if I am going to be able to attain my dreams, be the person I see in my head. 


Behind this big ass is an athlete folks, just wait and see.