What a way to start the 12-week countdown until Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Nice, France…poisoned by…
Well, let me recap a little first. The last couple of weeks have been rather ‘blah’, including not even writing about one whole week where I thought, ‘if there’s nothing positive to say, then I’ll keep my big trap shut and typing fingers silent’. But, something weird has happened, I have limited time this week to squeeze training- work- chores- preparation to go overseas, and life in and it’s like I’ve been poisoned with some sort of productivity potion.
Sunday
Undeterred by lack of sleep and torrential rain throughout the night, I was buzzing with excitement to be the Bay to Bay 12km lead female ‘rider’. This may have been the initial stages of my poisoning, where you’re not sure whether it’s lack of sleep or something more potent, but you start to feel a little giddy. Trying to stay abreast of super speedy runners on a mountain bike while dodging other runners and sounding like a bad train station recording with “lead runner coming through, stick to the left please” was not my usual training day. Never the less, my attitude has become ‘every little bit helps’. Plus, the feel-good factor has to be a mental boost in some way or another, right?! That giddy feeling had progressed into an almost hallucinogenic trance, as no one in my family (or myself) could believe that I spent the afternoon packing for my trip to China…a full week early. This was unheard of. I hate packing and NEVER do it before I’m absolutely forced to.
Monday
This poison was in full potency by this morning. I’m still laying off running as, ironically, my glute medius is being a true pain in the butt! But, I’m also keen to ride as much as I can this week as I won’t be able to ride for the following 3 weeks while in China. So, after an extremely productive morning at work I go on my merry way in the rain! Who is this woman? What is this poison? And, how can I get more of it? Lots of questions and even more realisations of how much more you can achieve when you’re truly busy with limited time.
Tuesday
On today’s ride to the velo there was rain, road rage (not mine), a flat tyre, a malfunctioning cannisters (or possibly user error, yeah nah?!), and a long walk home. BUT this poison was filtering through my system and having an effect on every one of my senses – I could smell the success of training, taste the grit of getting it done, hear only the good honks from passers-by (thanks, Sandra S.), feel all the delicious burn of my muscles, the refreshing puddle splashes and sexy sopping wet knicks. And, despite my woes I was able to see that the rainbows trump all the troubles.
Wednesday
Three days in a row of riding was proving that this poisoning was like the proverbial pie at the top of the climb to the Pie in the Sky – actually, it was literally like the blueberry pie – luscious, sweet and such a treat. I’m addicted (to the benefits of this productivity poison, and maybe the pie). Today, my poison surged strong with the company of others. Jess, Michael, Sean and Maz were great company on a chilly start to the morning!
Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Like all poisons, there comes a time when your body naturally needs to purge. The toxicity of my training high was all too much for my busy work/ family schedule prior to Sundays departure. Despite the productivity poison for training being depleted, it meant that I could get a whole heap of work done. And, so I did. One of the benefits of ‘banking’ a few good sessions meant my mind-altering poison had allowed me to dismiss the guilt I would normally feel at missing sessions. That, and advice I received from seasoned super strong triathlete Andrew M., where he explained that you need to trust the work you put in consistently and call upon that at times when you can’t do exactly what you want.
Of course, there won’t always be perfect training weeks or perfect life/ training balance. But, I’m so glad I got what I could get done this week, despite the obstacles. More so, I’m satisfied with my mindset. I constantly battle with my thoughts about training, especially the enjoyment vs effectiveness factor. It’s a win for me to control the guilt of missing sessions and coming to terms with the next three weeks being haphazard attempts at keeping my fitness. Fingers crossed I find little bits of poison along the way, just not Chinese food poisoning!
So, what are you Poisoned By?
myPB 