Kansas

We are in Kansas for the Kansas 70.3 triathlon. Steve is doing this one and I’m glad I was wise enough to not to sign up for it! It’s too early in the season for me to have gotten the proper training in and it’s blood hot here! While Steve rested today, I went to a bike ride. I started off thinking I’d ride an hour because I didn’t know the area and didn’t want to get lost. Once I got going though, I felt great, stayed on one road and didn’t make any turns so as not to get myself lost. After about 20 miles it was time to turn around because my water and Gatorade supply were running low. It was really beautiful with all the lush green vegetation, cute farm houses, and miles of hills covered in the crops of the season. I rode back to the campground and decided 38 miles wasn’t going to get me through the MS150 or the ½ Ironman in August, so I filled up with water and headed back out. The next 8 miles were ok, and the last 8 miles just plain sucked. The heat settled into my body, my legs were fatigued and my brain was cooked. They say when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Well, I generally curse, whine, question my sanity, slow down, bribe myself with rewards (which generally involve chocolate), and wonder how I’m going to cycle 150 miles. But something keeps me going. Is it my commitment to accomplishment something? Is it thinking about so many people who would love to ride a bike 56 miles but can’t? Is it a sheer unwillingness to give up? Is it that I have my goals and if I don’t train I don’t meet the goals? Yes, it is all those. But mostly, it’s the fact that if I don’t ride my butt back to the starting point, the only other option is walking the rest of the way in those silly bike shoes… click, click, click…