Enjoy the Moment

This past Sunday I rode with Ironman veterans Matt and Steve. I took it upon myself to tap this wealth of knowledge and asked them what, with their experience, was the best advice they could give me as I faced this challenging race. They both said hands down it was to enjoy the moment, enjoy where you are at and savor it, because that is what it is all about. Steve also said that he would take it easier on the first half of the bike which is hard to do as you are caught up in the excitement. Oh yeah, and he also said stay away from sugar-free gummy worms. He had first-hand experience with those and it was not a good thing.

As my nerves begin to build I've been reminding myself to enjoy the moment and not panic about the future. I tell myself what a great experience it will all be and honestly I've enjoyed the journey thus far. Robby asked me if I was excited that I was almost done with all my long training and after thinking about it, other than some of the long HOT rides and the heat in general, I've really loved the training. I think in order to train for something like this, you have to enjoy it.

Riding with Matt and Steve on Sunday was a treat. We went out to Fitzhugh where it takes you by Pedernales State Park and there are far fewer cars. It was nice to be on the road and not have to worry about traffic merging or veering onto the shoulder. All we really needed to worry about was the killer yellow lab barking at us behind the fence. My legs were pretty tired from the Saturday hill run, but I still felt okay riding, I just didn't put it in the big gear and cruised along. The route was hilly, but as I've learned hills always look worse than they really are to ride up them. A bonus to my training is I feel like I can tackle a lot of things, hills being one of them (except for maybe Jester, that one scares the you know what out of me) so I just calm myself down and try not to worry about them as much as I used to worry. Matt and Steve rode along horsing around and playing games (like who can make it up the hill the farthest without pedaling and basically coming to a stop before starting again). I was just happy to be in the hill country pedaling along. I had a run after our ride and while it was hard to go home and then start back out, I did and as usual I felt horrible at the start of the run and by the end of the run - great!