20 September
I entered a virtual cycling event, which required cycling 25km on 19 or 20 September.
I knew it would be tough, following my fast 10km run and yesterday’s hike. I also thought it was only 20km. Thank goodness I checked the event info before leaving the house!
I plotted a route that was mostly flat, and decided to take it easy. It was forecast to rain at some point, so I donned the wet weather gear... a raincoat with a torn sleeve 🤣
It was a little windy, but as I was zig-zagging around neighbourhoods it was bearable. That being said, it got a little boring, but it was the easiest way to keep the route flat. Ish. Flat-ish.
10km in and I was getting tired. Not sore, just drained. I have been reading Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins, and he talks about digging in to the cookie jar. When times get tough, think about tough times in the past, and how you got through them. I have been a lot more cold, exhausted and miserable than I was today.
Also, I had the treat of a literal cookie to look forward to: a giant one at that. Like, as big as my hand.
So I missioned on. And it started to drizzle.
And then I stopped by Paris for a quick visit. Woohoo! Viva travel!
At about 15km I pulled into the petrol station where I bought the giant cookie. And a chocolate. The chocolate kicked in at about the 20km mark. By then it was raining properly and I was taking on hills.
No matter which route I take, there will also be a hill or two to get home. So I opted to tackle one or two tough ones a little sooner and get them out of the way. I wonder how many people I pass when I am huffing and puffing up a hill, head down, muttering away...
I got home, drenched and tired. But I figured, well, I am already soaked, I may as well go do my walk and go to the shops. So I switched out rain coats, got my backpack and set off via the fairy message... which meant going up the hill!
My legs were like lead. They had passed the point of the muscles hurting. There wasn’t a message on the board, but I had the wind and rain at my back as I headed down to the shops, so I felt okay about the lack of motivational message.
As I reached the road where I could turn right to the shops, or left and head home, I decided “you know what, I’m done.” My fingers were purple from the cold. I did not fancy walking up the hill with several kilograms of groceries on my back. I was 1km in, and I realised that “just enough is good enough”. I didn’t need the 1.5km that going to the shops would add.
So I turned left, walked around the block, got my mile and called it a day.
After a hot shower and some coffee I felt a little better. A nap was tempting but it didn’t happen. I ran out of time. Wow. Who runs out of time to have a nap?!
If you don’t push yourself, how will you determine how far you can go? And what you need to push past that point.
Topic: My African Dream (Read 228136 times)
