Wednesday, May 09, 2012

A month of firsts

This has been a month of firsts.  And probably a lot of seconds, thirds etc.  And some things which just seem to happen ALL the time, forever (like not catching up on blogs, failing to tick everything off my to-do list).  But for the purpose of this blog and because you are no doubt bored of my excuses for not being up to do date on your blogs - let's focus on the firsts:

First ever 54 mile bike ride - IN THE BAG! (Can you see that it says on the photo "please do not steal images"? Now I feel guilty.  But not guilty enough to buy it...

It was wet and cold.  My triclub teammates said I was brave for wearing 3/4 length leggings.  I don't have full-length ones or I surely would have worn them.  But no matter - I had invested in a new pair of gloves and I was just psyched.  Before the race I experienced another first:
Yes I had to get that folded up new tire on my back wheel.  Aarggh!
But YouTube is a wonderful thing and I managed to take my back wheel off - I was SO afraid of doing that before AND I managed to replace the inner and the outer tube (a pothole had pushed a stone through both).

The race (or rather a sportive, but when you're not racing why split hairs?) was great.  The hills were a bear, especially for someone who doesn't train on them but in a perverse way I enjoyed them.  When I was climbing I was working SO hard I could not think of anything else - it was almost meditative.  Apart from my very heavy breathing. We took a break after the first 20 miles and then ploughed on for the last 34, eventually all riding on our own at our own pace.  I was happy to complete the ride in just over 4 hours, feeling strong and still in one piece. I even managed a 10 minute brick run afterwards!

The other - HUGE - first, is that I have got off my butt and made myself work at my personal training business.  I've really put some effort in some different directions and while one of them - a franchised group exercise setup - is beginning to look less appealing to me now, I think that the exercise of going through it and figuring out how to do it has proved extremely useful.  And as a result of feeling the fear and doing it anyway, I have my first 3 clients!  I'm on my way.

And this weekend is the final first - for now - my first ever triathlon.  Like with the bike race I'm excited, not scared.  I know I can swim 400m now, I know I can cylce the distance, i know I can run a 5km race (is now a bad time to confess that I've never actually run an official 5k?) - so the question is just how I handle it.  Pacing and strategy is what it's all about, in my mind, and I'm going to see how I manage this.  I have a habit of taking things a bit too easy, so I'm going to push from the outset and see how I go.  And see how I handle the practicalities of the transitions - that bit does make me slightly nervous..

Race report to follow - I'm going back to my to-do list.  If I can do a tri, I can do anything.  And repeat. 


9 comments:

pensive pumpkin said...

yay!!! sooo happy to hear from you today! glad everything is going swimmingly (pun intended) and cannot WAIT for your race report.

i'm out there trying to do some last minute rebuilding. such is life.

GOOD LUCK!

Evolving Through Running said...

All good stuff! 54 miles is seriously impressive. Changing a tire is a colossal pain. I'm still learning - takes me forever. Congrats on the clients and best of luck in the tri. You're going to do great.

Unknown said...

I am so excited for your first tri and I can't wait to read the race report! You are going to fantastic!!

John J. Ellis said...

Hey Petra!

Great perserverance! I look forward to the race report.

John E.

lizzie lee said...

Oh My... I wish you the best... and can't believe you've never run a 5K... Great set of First! And like your marathons, you'll be soon a Master of Tris...

Enjoy, and looking fwd to read the report....

Jill said...

Woohoo, it's race weekend! I'm sooo excited for you. I hope you have an absolute blast and smile every mile. I can't wait to hear all about it...email me quickly and tell me, okay? Nothing length, just a short note :).

So cool about your clients, that's fantastic. If I lived close by, I'd definitely hire you to kick my butt some!!

Too funny you've never run a 5k, yet there are you being a Boston Marathon star. I'm not surprised...you aim high and settle for nothing less.

Go, Petra, Goooooo!!

xoxo

Kari said...

What an amazing month! Really impressive - and I'm quite scared of changing bike tyres too, so I'm impressed with that as much as everything else :p

Dennis said...

Wow, I wish I could bike that far. Congrats on having such a successful month.

Susan said...

You are made of steel!