Beyond Luck

Today, I allowed my focus to wander, my mojo to band, and luck had the best of me. Here in western New York the weather is playing with me. Through the week it was summer and come weekend it turned into early spring. Periods of sunshine mixed with rain. 55 degrees.

My intention was to ride the parkway this afternoon. Dearest Husband cleared his schedule so I could have this piece of time for myself. I looked towards the lake and saw nothing but dark clouds, I looked at my driveway and saw nothing but rain.

My computrainer owned me for the next 90 minutes. It was an easy hour, and then I began the 20 / 40 minute sessions we had planned. And then I made the mistake of looking outside.

SUNSHINE!

I ripped my bike off the trainer and headed out. Not 5 minutes into the ride I flatted. I changed it. I flatted again. It began to pour. I began to freeze. I rode home, mounted the bike again. Hopped on, flatted a third time.

I sat on the garage floor.

Had I not crashed last week I would not have been disappointed. But here I was with a second ride in a second week ending in the bust.

I gave up. I gave in. I threw my hands in the air.

"Try again tomorrow" Curty announced, meaning he'd again give me some time to get this done. He doesn't want to see me quitting. And I know he wants a good vacation in Florida.

Grateful to him, I agreed. We scheduled Sunday and I laughed. This was the way Coach T had originally planned the week.

As I sat back and reflected on the debacle, I felt tired of debacles. It has been a long time since I have had one. In the spring I had a hard time staying on the computrainer more than 3 hours. I had set myself up today. I should have gone to the parkway anyways and just froze. I'd at least be sitting here with a good story about how I froze my ass of for 100 miles. Florida will feel great compared to that.

With this reflection I cam to the realization that I very well could crash at Ironman Florida. I very well could have 3 flats. What would I do then? Would I quit? Would I stop? Would I look for sympathy in the arms of my husband.... who did everything he could to get me back on the bike today.....

I need to be the girl on the line at Ironman Florida who does not quit. I need to know that I will no longer fold when things don't go as planned. I need to ride in Ironman Florida being the one who trained in the worst weather. I will then appreciate the sunshine. If I would have just taken 5 minutes and allowed myself to refocus, I wouldn't have given up. I didn't give myself a chance.

The past 2 long rides contained things beyond my control. Crashes, flats..... now I realize that I need to focus on dealing with the unexpected. Dealing with the bad luck. There is no guarantee things will go smoothly at Ironman Florida. I will become the expert at rolling with these kinds of punches.

Tomorrow I shall suit up again and we will get this ride done. Come rain, hail, snow or sunshine this ride gets done.

As I continued my reflection I had another epiphany. Usually I bag a long run and not a long bike.

Becoming that runner? I wonder.

Thanks for stopping by.

:-) Mary Eggers