Bike on the brain

As the triathlon roller coaster goes in my life, I tend to be more focused on one discipline more than the other two. Mentally more so than the actual hours of training but sometimes the training as well. It’s the same as how I can feel really strong in one discipline and feel like I’m losing it in another. It’s never all up and it’s never all down. Right now running is still pretty nonexistent, I’ve been struggling mentally in the pool and riding has become a big focus for me. 

For a few weeks riding could be summed up in one word: climbing. First it was the climbing ride before camp, and then it was lots of climbing at camp, and then it was hill repeats and more climbing work. I even did a metric century "race" at an aerobic effort up a mountain. None of which made my back and knees feel any better. Rides have returned back to the normal rolling hills of South Carolina but the pain is persistent.

Right now I have mixed feeling about riding. I love being on my bike! I love the fact that my rides are starting to get long and I’m putting in more hours and miles. I did 5 hour rides the last two weeks. Neither was particularly hard work, it was just long and tiring. Although I love that I’m finally getting in those long, what feel like all day rides, I’m not enjoying it as much as I should. A part of it is the pain. The first hour is by far the best. My legs still feel fresh, it feels easy, it’s not blistering hot yet, there are few cars on the road, I get to watch the sun rise. But as the hours go on the pain starts to settle in. My back starts to hurt and I can’t get it to away whether I sit up or stay in aero. The top of my knee hurts with any sort of real power I put into the pedals. Now my hip starts to get a bit cranky after several hours. And of course sitting on a bike seat for that many hours brings major discomfort. The pain isn’t bad enough that I feel like I need to stop which is good when I’m 30 miles from home. It’s just enough that it’s the main thing on my mind. It becomes counting down the miles until I’m home, counting down until the next time I told myself I could take a quick break to get off my bike for a few seconds to stretch out.

The pains aren’t the only issue. Part of it’s the heat. Let’s not forget the heat. All of my rides end up at some point being in 90F+ temperature and I seem to have this uncanny ability to ride when there are no clouds in the sky. I know you’re probably thinking suck it up and drink more. And I have. My body is finally adapting to the heat but it’s still not fun looking like I went swimming while on my bike. The other issue though is much more mental. It’s something that took me a while to put my finger on and I’m still trying to figure it out. It’s something that doesn’t just affect the bike but affects my training as a whole. I still have some thinking to do but I’m trying, I really am, to bring the joy back to the bike.