The Space Bewteen

Sunday afternoon I had my longest ride since Ironman Lake Placid on tap. On the parkway with Coach T. Now Coach T is one hell of a triathlete. One hell of an Ironman. This season he's taken a bit of a break and he's getting himself back in shape. My days of riding in front of him are going to be VERY short lived.

This was a 3.5 hour pancake flat ride with the meat and potatoes of it being 120 minutes at tempo wattage. That's slightly faster than 70.3 pace, I was both scared and excited for it. Anyone who knows me knows I am a climber. But Ironman Florida is anything but hills, so this is where I need to be at right now.

The first hour was an easy spin and it drove me nuts. I wanted to fly but with Coach T behind me I didn't dare. After all, why bother getting a coach if you are going to throw it away? I ahve been guilty of that before and it hadn't worked. So trusting the plan has been my new motto.

Finally the 60 minute mark hit and I was off, jumped right into tempo range and felt great. Mentally I broke it into four 30 minute segments. It felt good to ride hard again. It felt strange to have no hills, no 10 minute descents to rest my legs. I came to the realization that IM Florida would be all about focus, and that's what Coach T is teaching me.

Pace and focus.

Because it is easy to ride hard. But riding alone, and riding at a certain effort level takes a certain amount of focus. I looked behind me and Coach T was not there. Like I said before my days of that happening are short lived. I can't even revel in them because when this man gets in shape I am dead.

My mental game plan was mantras. Focus was one of the obvious ones. And then a little phrase I learned form Lisa Bentley,

"Race with heart.... Finish what you start."

Amazing how you can repeat that over and over to yourself for over and hour. Amazing how repeating that to yourself for 120 minutes can eliminate the mind from drifting anywhere else. My mind wanted to drift, but I quickly reeled it back into it's place. Between my ears and focused on the road.

When we were done Coach T came rolling in, smiling. He claims to have one speed... slow.... but don't ever listen to him if he says that. Like I said I am soon dead on these rides.

I was surprised at how quickly I recovered form this effort. I was surprised that my evening run felt so good. I am surprised how good I feel today. Perhaps it is excitement about leaving for Germany tomorrow.... perhaps things are beginning to come together.

This morning I finally cut off my Ironman Lake Placid silver bracelet. It's been a month and the celebration has ended. A new focus has begun. A focus of training, a focus of mind. A focus on the possibility.

You just never know what can happen when you focus.

:-) Mary Eggers