The Brady Laughing AngusWe all have things we measure ourselves by. It doesn’t always have to do with exercise. It could be the time it takes me to get to work, to get my disheveled self ready in the mornings or the time it takes me to get in and out of Starbucks for a Venti Iced Americano. Some mornings I’m so impressed (my co-workers would probably disagree) with what I can do in under 45 minutes…dog, bird, garbage, recycling, shower, breakfast, pack lunch, coffee…sure, I may look like hell but I get it done and in record time. Once we have a time in our heads it’s really hard to go backwards.
Wednesday night I did my Brady Mountain route. It was H-O-T. I remember the self talk and something about not being too frustrated if I’m a few minutes slower because of the heat and the beating my legs took over the weekend. The heat was brutal. The air was thick. My shins were sweating before I rolled out of the driveway. I told Mike to keep his phone on because I was about 50% sure I was not making it up Cascade. I had already planned my bail out at the new pizza joint before Mt. Peter. I would have an iced tea and enjoy the AC as I waited on my sag wagon. Never enjoyed that iced tea. I made it home by pedaling. The cows laughed and judged me a little as I was a sweating, snarling mess coming up Brady. By the time I got to our road and to the point where I stop my watch and start my cool down I was under my PB by 1 minute 30 seconds. Yes—AWESOME!! Boo—SHIT!!! Now I have to work harder and I’m going to be upset from now on when I don’t see that time or less.
A personal best is just that. Personal. It could be a measure of general health or something tangible to measure progress. The clock can measure that for us. For good or for bad. Whether we choose to ignore the tick tock or embrace it is up to us.
Wednesday night I did my Brady Mountain route. It was H-O-T. I remember the self talk and something about not being too frustrated if I’m a few minutes slower because of the heat and the beating my legs took over the weekend. The heat was brutal. The air was thick. My shins were sweating before I rolled out of the driveway. I told Mike to keep his phone on because I was about 50% sure I was not making it up Cascade. I had already planned my bail out at the new pizza joint before Mt. Peter. I would have an iced tea and enjoy the AC as I waited on my sag wagon. Never enjoyed that iced tea. I made it home by pedaling. The cows laughed and judged me a little as I was a sweating, snarling mess coming up Brady. By the time I got to our road and to the point where I stop my watch and start my cool down I was under my PB by 1 minute 30 seconds. Yes—AWESOME!! Boo—SHIT!!! Now I have to work harder and I’m going to be upset from now on when I don’t see that time or less.
A personal best is just that. Personal. It could be a measure of general health or something tangible to measure progress. The clock can measure that for us. For good or for bad. Whether we choose to ignore the tick tock or embrace it is up to us.
Wow, I can make comments again....
ReplyDeleteWay to be Joc...That TT route is a killer..