Crash, boom!

It's been a while since I posted and I think I've settled into a nice training routine. My main problem at the moment seem to be getting the motivation to hit the pool. But I'll work on that! :-)

This morning I was out riding on Tamaki Dr, keeping my cadence high, my HR zone 1 and focusing on making perfect circles with my feet. My training book says to focus on one foot, then the other, then both and make sure you're pulling as much as pushing. I do these rides once a week and I think the technique is helping. In addiiton, the spinning is kind of a recovery workout. I really like it, although I find it hard not to push myself!

Anyway, so I was happily riding along this morning heading into the last 2mi of my ride.. The traffic was getting a bit bad and just as I was passing by the Orakei Basin, a car made a right hand turn and didn't see me. I hit the brakes hard and skidded, but couldn't stop in time. I was right in her way and she hit me. She wasn't going too fast, but I still got knocked a bit and ended up laying on the road still clipped into my pedals. I feel pretty lucky that this all happened at low speed and that I'm fine. I have a couple scratches and bruises on my legs but nothing too bad. It's definitely a reminder not to get over confident on the bike. A crash happens way to quickly and it's way more important to finish the ride safely than to finish it fast. Safety first!

Family vs Training

And without a doubt, family wins. And they will every time. I just hope that they don't play off against each other too often! Tonight I had a gym session on the schedule, but got a call at work about a family issue and had to go deal with it. Since Mom is in a rehab place since she just came out of hospital there are a lot of logistical issues to deal with. I had to skip the gym and deal with those. It's just a gym session so it doesn't matter much. And to be honest I am pretty tired so could use the night off anyway. Heading to bed now in the hope to get up in the morning fresh and have a great morning ride!

My main worry with this is that I know I'll be trying to fit in an extra gym session for the rest of the week. Let it go Louise!

First Day Nerves

Training officially started today. I'm excited to follow my new plan and begin the journey again. I'm so excited to have that absolutely amazing day again! I'm nervous though and I have some thoughts and fears I didn't have last time. Last time I trained with my boyfriend at the time, Tom. We both signed up for Ironman St George together and did all of our training together. Even logistics of getting to the race and finding a place to stay we handled together. But this time I don't have that.

I've decided not to use a coach, but to follow the plan from a new book that I've been reading. I think I've learned a lot about training and how to get faster and I know I have the strength to get through the training on my own.

But how do people do this on their own? Although they're proud of me, my family pretty much thinks I'm nuts. So on today's ride I started to think. This is a lonely journey I'm going on alone. It would be easy just to say, "you're right, this is nuts", and sit on the couch playing video games with my family. But realistically that's not me. I love running and I love biking. And some days I even like swimming! I love everything about Ironman and I want to do it. So screw it, I am doing it!

So here I am sharing my experiences and hoping that I can relate to other people training using sites like Dailymile and Facebook. I need to find some tri-groups and take every opportunity to train with people who share my passion.