Week Three - Day Three

TIME THERE: 25 min.
TIME BACK: 27 min.
WEATHER: clear, 13C, 4 km/hr wind there; clear, 32C, 20 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt (sweatshirt in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:
When I arrived at work this morning, my supervisor asked me what my time was - how quickly I made the commute this morning. I told him I've been holding steady at 25 min. (at least on the way there) for a few days now. He had commended me earlier for challenging myself to improve my time, and he seemed impressed that I've been able to cut my time from 33 min. to 25 min. in only two weeks. He's a cyclist himself, so I really felt good about myself after his encouragement.

It seems, though, that I'm in a bit of a pickle now. When I got on the bike this morning, I started worrying: what if my time slips today? What if my time starts creeping back up? What if I can't beat 25 min. and I've already hit my speed peak? I felt the pressure weighing down on me - the pressure to beat 25 min. if I could, but especially the pressure not to let my ride time get longer again. What if I failed? I started making preemptive excuses - well, maybe today it's a bit windier than usual; I'm really tired because my daughter hasn't slept through the night since the weekend (which is true - damn teething); I'm eating less, so my thighs start burning and getting tired more quickly; this is my first full week because the past two weeks have each only been four days long, and that's bound to wear me out; etc.

Once I got on the bike the excuses started melting away, replaced instead with doubts about whether this competitiveness in me is such a good thing. Maybe it's not. After all, when the snow comes I'm going to have to slow down for safety reasons, and I won't be able to cruise up to intersections quite as quickly because I'll need more lead time before stopping. Worst of all, pedaling through snow is going to be a huge encumbrance - I've heard it described as equivalent to biking up a steep hill in terms of exertion required. This thought scares the hell out of me, since hills are Satan incarnate. So what will I do then? My ride time will stretch longer and longer, even while I'm working harder, and maybe I'll even start beating myself up about it. That doesn't sound so healthy.

The more I thought about it as I pedaled my way to work this morning, the more it dawned on me that it might be more helpful to think of this time before the bad weather comes as a training opportunity. Maybe this time spent cycling in good weather can be dedicated to increasing my fitness, working on my stamina, thigh strength, and balance, and getting me ready to face bad-weather cycling. Maybe if I concentrate on that instead of my ride time I'll be better off! Less pressure, anyway, and maybe I'll do better once the snow comes.

So what might that look like, this "training opportunity"? Should I start riding in a higher gear to increase my thigh strength and fitness? I have noticed that parts of my ride when I felt like dying before now don't get me working nearly as hard - to the point where I've wondered how I might find ways to increase the workout I get. Of course, it didn't occur to me then to upshift a gear and therefore add to the pedaling resistance - instead, I thought of attaching a Stone of Triumph to the back of my bike (sadly, it just wasn't feasible to pull off).
Maybe I should challenge myself to work harder again, to hell with the ride time! Hmm, something to think about, anyway. We'll see. Maybe tomorrow I'll throw all caution to the wind and try making the ride harder for myself. I'll keep you posted!